Chapter 315: Seeing Off an Old Friend

I am Chen Wuji, the Provincial Soldier Captain of Yunan; I have urgent business to enter the city, so brothers on the wall, open the lower gate.

Chen Wuji rode ahead, holding high in his hand the military token and seal of the Provincial Soldier Captain.

Lao Gu and Luo San, who were cautiously peering out from the parapet, were startled by this voice.

"It's the new Provincial Soldier Captain!" Luo San whispered.

Lao Gu still had doubts: "Is it really him?"

Luo San shook his head: "How would I know? I've never even seen Deputy Commander Chen here! He seems to be holding a military token and seal, but at this distance I can't make them out."

"Then what should we do?"

"We can't open the gate; lower the basket!" Luo San said after thinking, his voice low.

"He is very likely Deputy Commander Chen, but to be safe we must be cautious; we can't offend a person, yet we cannot let the gate be lost while we are on duty."

Lao Gu advised: "Or we could send someone to inform the Brigade Commander."

Luo San's gaze turned dangerous all of a sudden: "Lao Gu, I've laid my heart out to you this much, and you still insist on your own view?"

"I just feel this is too big a matter for us two to decide." Lao Gu shook his head, his cloudy eyes full of worry.

Luo San gritted his teeth, ferocious fury seeping from between them, and said word by word: "Even if we can't make this decision, we have to make it, Lao Gu. After all these years of friendship, don't force me to raise my hand against you."

"I may be a lone man, but I don't want to die either. Let Liang Renjie that little bastard come over; he surely won't let this chance slip, and once we fight, neither of us can escape."

At this moment Luo San seemed to suddenly transform into a ferocious vicious wolf, baring his sharpest teeth at his old friend.

He unhesitatingly placed his right hand on the knife hilt.

Lao Gu felt a little flustered under Luo San's stare: "But what if those people outside are enemies? If the gate is lost, we won't survive either."

"So, lower the basket, but don't let him come up; just hang it in midair, enough for us to see clearly the token and seal in his hand. I've seen that thing before and know it; they can't fool me." Luo San said in a low voice.

Lao Gu hesitated for a long time, then finally said nothing more, stood up and said: "I'll go get the basket."

Luo San stared at Lao Gu's retreating back for a long time, until he descended the walltop, before slowly withdrawing his gaze.

He released his grip on the knife hilt, quickly rolled up his pant leg, and hid the dagger concealed there into his right sleeve.

Having done all that, he then lay down at the battlement and shouted down: "Deputy Commander Chen, at the third watch of midnight, my eyesight is not great either, so I really can't confirm your identity. Please bear with it; later we will lower the basket for you to climb up yourself, so we can verify your identity. The gate is an important post, and we truly dare not open it lightly."

"Good!"

Chen Wuji readily agreed, but then handed the military token and seal to Chen Wushuang.

"The provincial troops have been restless lately; keep your wits about you, watch out for arrows from the wall, don't go up onto the city, just toss these two items into the basket." He instructed.

Chen Wushuang's strength far exceeds his; if anything were to happen, he could escape more easily.

"Here!"

Chen Wushuang took the token and seal, then handed the torch he was holding to Chen Wuyi.

On the wall, Lao Gu dragged the basket over.

"You lower it, I'll keep watch." He handed the rope to Luo San.

Luo San took it without hesitation.

He first threw the basket out, then looped the rope around the parapet, pushed off the city wall with his feet, and grabbed the rope with both hands.

Lao Gu, meanwhile, picked up the long spear standing nearby; his wrinkled, troubled face flickered between light and shadow in the firelight.

Luo San suddenly said: "Lao Gu, although I like to take small advantages, I won't harm you. Keep your eyes on it; if we pull this off, maybe we can get an easier assignment afterward."

Lao Gu gave a muffled reply, slowly lowering the long spear in his hand to aim at the battlement: "I know..."

Just then, he violently swung the spear and thrust it toward Luo San: "San'er, you shouldn't be so rash; I have a wife and children, I'm not like you..."

As the spear was about to pierce his chest, Luo San suddenly whipped out the rope already coiled in his hand, hooked it onto the spear tip, and at the same time shoved his feet hard toward Lao Gu, his body sliding like a top to Lao Gu's side.

His speed was great; the instant he lunged forward, the dagger hidden in his sleeve slid out.

He slashed at Lao Gu's thigh; as Lao Gu winced and lost balance, Luo San swiftly lunged forward, stabbing him several times in the belly like lightning, then seized his throat in a chokehold.

"Lao Gu, you've spent your life hesitating, yet now when fortune comes you act decisively? If you hesitate again this time, what good would following the crowd do? I truly don't want to kill you, but why are you doing this? Haven't I made myself clear enough?" Luo San cursed hatefully, his eyes wide, his chest heaving.

The angrier he thought, the more he fumed; suddenly he raised his hand and dealt two heavy blows to Lao Gu's chest, then twisted and broke his neck.

"Damn it, choosing friends poorly has infuriated me!"

He flung Lao Gu's corpse, eyes still open in death, aside, gave the blood‑stained dagger two hard shakes, then squatted on the spot, puffing angrily, rubbed his cheeks hard, and forced out the tears that welled at the corners of his eyes.

"You utter fool, in your next life I'll buy you a drink; in this life you were never destined to drink with me!"

After composing himself, Luo San turned and gave Lao Gu another stab to make sure he was completely dead, then he retook the rope.

Lao Gu's spear had snagged the rope, lodging it exactly at the battlement, so the rope didn't slide down.

Luo San lowered the rope; after a while someone below called out that it was ready.

He had mustered all his strength to pull the basket up, but he hadn't expected the basket to be so light.

After pulling it up, Luo San shone the torch on it and saw that there was no one inside, only a military token and a seal.

He recognized both items; they could not be faked.

Luo San secured the rope, quickly picked up the seal and token, descended the wall tower, and opened the gate.

The clear clop‑clop of horse hooves rang out in the deep night, quickly approaching the gate.

Luo San half‑bent, head lowered, held the military token and seal high with both hands.

Chen Wuji reined in his warhorse, reached out to take the token and seal, and said: "Such a huge city gate, and only you are on duty?"

"Originally a small squad guarded it, five above and five below, but lately things have come up and the big shots have stopped caring about the watch; my fellow old partner and I were tossed two copper coins to hold the post." Luo San told the truth.

Chen Wuji glanced left and right: "But I only see you."

"He… was just killed by your humble servant." Luo San lowered his head even further.