Chapter 5: 5 Hard Road to Travel

5 Hard Road to Travel

The sun hung low in the west, dusk drew nearer, and the shadows of all things stretched longer and longer.

A sturdy young man pulled on the reins, shouting one call after another to urge on the thin donkey pulling the cart. A pale-faced youth lay half-reclined on the donkey cart.

The surrounding wilderness was extremely silent, save for the old crows perched on the tips of withered trees, letting out an occasional hoarse cry.

"Hmph."

The youth let out a soft sound, and the sturdy young man stopped his steps, saying, "Zhaozi, you're awake?"

The youth gave a "Hmm," slowly sat up, pressed a hand to his temple, and said, "My head hurts."

The young man sighed and said, "Lie down a while longer. We'll find a place to stay up ahead, and you can drink a bowl of hot soup to rest and recover."

Tang Zhao only felt as if needles were pricking his brain, and said, "Drinking soup probably won't help. Where is this?"

All around were still trees, a continuous expanse of woods that seemed to have no end. By day, the autumn leaves had seemed full of vitality facing the Sunlight, but at dusk, they became desolate. A cold wind blew through the mountain forest, whistling and howling, and fallen leaves danced with the wind, burying the small path that those before them had walked.

That young man, Tang Zhao's companion Sui Feng, said, "We are still in the mountains. The road we came by is gone; that single-log bridge fell down somehow. I don't know where that righteous gentleman went either. Since we can't cross the river, we can only enter the mountains."

Tang Zhao realized and said, "We haven't walked this mountain road before. Will we get lost?"

A moment of Silence.

Tang Zhao only felt his headache growing more severe, and holding his head, he said, "What a complete mess."

His fingers slowly loosened, revealing the Longevity Lock.

The crack in the white jade on the lock remained, a shocking sight.

Tang Zhao stared at it for a few extra moments, feeling as if there were a wall before his eyes, waiting for him to crash into it headlong, until his head was broken and bleeding.

Sui Feng sighed, "We've already been lucky today. After you passed out, that old man at Xue Fu was still relentless, and even nearly snubbed that official's face. I saw that things weren't right and brought you away quickly. Fortunately, they didn't follow us."

Tang Zhao said, "Sigh, Xue Daxia... Xue Daxia... in the end, he is..."

Sui Feng waved his whip to drive the donkey and said, "Don't think about it. It's in the past, and we don't need to see him again. Don't take it to heart."

Tang Zhao said, "Feng Ge... when I wanted to come, Sui Uncle agreed, but you were always disapproving. Did you know about Xue Daxia's ways beforehand?"

Sui Feng said, "I haven't met Xue Daxia, nor have I met the Great Hero gentleman. But I have met the Licentiate gentleman, the Landlord gentleman, and the Shopkeeper gentleman. I reckon the gentlemen of this world are all much the same."

Tang Zhao said, "Indeed, all crows under heaven are black. To think there are so many gentlemen in this world."

Sui Feng sneered, "You are a child from a good family; you've only studied books in the past, so how would you understand this? From now on, follow us in the wandering life, and these things are truly commonplace. Don't be angry; if you can't swallow this kind of anger, won't you be angered to death in the future?"

Tang Zhao said, "I'm not angry."

Sui Feng sighed silently, drove the cart forward, and said, "I hope this road is the right one. What are we to do if we can't get out of the county boundary by tomorrow?"

Tang Zhao said, "What county boundary... oh."

He remembered; at the gate of Xue Fu, that old man had told them to get out of Heiyang County.

But... he only mentioned it once, right?

Sui Feng said, "We must be quick. What if they come after us?"

"How could they?" Tang Zhao shook his head, "Even if they were wicked and vicious, they wouldn't be so bored as to..."

The Strongman young man shook his head incessantly and said, "You don't know; you can't gamble on this sort of thing. That was said by a great gentleman; they may be allowed to not take us seriously, but we are not allowed to not take their words seriously. This is the first thing we must remember when walking the wandering life; it concerns our lives."

He was usually reticent, but at this moment he had a bellyful of words to say, especially since Tang Zhao knew nothing of the principles of many wanderers; if he couldn't teach him well, he would truly be unable to move an inch in the future.

Tang Zhao followed his words and said, "One cannot overestimate the character of the noble."

Sui Feng said, "That's right. But can one overestimate the character of the poor? 'Carters, boatmen, shopkeepers, and foot-runners—kill them even if they are innocent,' that is also an old saying. 'Poor mountains and evil waters breed treacherous people' is not false either. Not to mention our peers in the lower nine trades. In short, trust no one but yourself, and mind no one but yourself."

Tang Zhao listened silently, then suddenly smiled and said, "My family also instructed me: 'Speak only three parts of the truth to anyone, and never reveal your whole heart.' But if one truly trusts no one and minds no one, only minding oneself, can that really be done? Sui Uncle is one thing, but Feng Ge, you are a warm-hearted person. Can you do it?"

Sui Feng said, "I may not be able to do it now, but won't I be able to in the future? If I couldn't do it, how would I lead everyone to earn a living?"

Tang Zhao said, "Earn a living... ah, there is cooking smoke ahead!"

Sui Feng followed his gaze and saw, sure enough, a wisp of cooking smoke rising in the afterglow.

He was happy at first, then hesitated, saying, "Cooking smoke in the deep mountains, and only one wisp at that—I fear it is not a village. We shall go and see, but do not get off the cart. Unless I call you, you must not move about."

After traveling for a while, they gradually drew near the cooking smoke, and the curtain of night fell quietly.

In the dim forest, lights could already be seen.

"It is a village."

Sui Feng had guessed wrong; it was a village.

In the night, seven or eight thatched huts lay quietly in the mountain hollow, their silhouettes in the darkness strange and misshapen, like a pile of collapsed building blocks.

Only the one furthest inside had a Lamp lit.

Tang Zhao swallowed his saliva.

"Still... still going in?"

Sui Feng remained silent, pulling the donkey, walking step by step toward the light.

As they walked inside, the black shadows pressed in on them.

What met their eyes was a scene of desolation, the ground covered in rubble and dust, with occasional crossbeams and piles of thatch on the ground, already rotten and decaying, looking as if they would turn to powder at any moment.

Rather than a village, it was more like ruins.

Tang Zhao curled up on the cart, hugging his knees, feeling his whole body go cold.

Gradually, the Silence was torn open.

Human voices drifted into his ears in fragments.

The sounds were rustling slightly, and in that vague light in the distance, there seemed to be a strange clamor hidden.

Getting closer, the light was already enough to see by, and Tang Zhao squinted his eyes to see the only intact tiled house at the end of the village.

From the slightly ajar door, the noisy sound of people was endless.

Those were the sounds belonging only to humans, and there were many of them.

"We..."

Creak—

The door opened.

The light from the Lamp flared brightly, causing Tang Zhao to squint his eyes.

A wave of smoke mixed with the smell of alcohol and foul air rushed toward them.

The sound of voices grew louder, rowdy and boisterous, as if they had arrived at a tavern in the city.

In a desolate village in the mountains, could there really be a tavern?

No one came out; the door seemed to have been blown open by the wind.

If it truly were a tavern, there would be no need for anyone to come out; with the door standing open, it was already welcoming guests.

Sui Feng pulled Tang Zhao back, and the two of them peered into the doorway.

Dozens of gazes swished over, focusing on their faces.

Tang Zhao had lived for over a dozen years and had never been stared at by so many people at once. He would never have imagined that such a small village house could hold so many people.

There were over thirty people inside the room, filling every corner to the brim.

Seven or eight burly men sat around a fire stove, chests bared and robes open, looking arrogant and fierce. Most of them held wine bowls, appearing like a group of bandits gathered here; they were all staring at the two people at the door, their gazes as fierce as wolves and tigers.

All around them, however, were about twenty thin, small figures, cowering away from the firelight and huddling more closely together.

That was a group of children, the oldest around ten or so, the youngest six or seven. Each one was thin and withered, dressed in rags, with hair sparse or even bald. Their eyes made Tang Zhao feel even more uncomfortable than the burly men; it was a hollow and numb gaze, like so many frosted Beads. Most of these thin, small bodies were tethered by a chain, mostly at the ankles, with dozens of chains intertwined and wrapped around the room's pillars, like a raw-iron-colored coiled dragon.

"Heh—"

"Hahaha..."

It was unclear who started it, but after one laugh, the burly men burst into uproarious laughter.

Amidst the laughter, Tang Zhao felt uncomfortable and embarrassed at first, almost wanting to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

But they laughed harder and harder, more and more wantonly, and the laughter turned into malice, surging in from all directions like ten thousand swords piercing his body.

Instead, Tang Zhao gradually felt anger rising; the tide of rage washed away his timidity, causing him to open his eyes wide, straighten his back, and confront them.

A fat man sitting in the middle of the crowd slightly raised his hand.

The laughter stopped abruptly.

That fat man was the only fat person among them and was dressed the best, wrapped in silk and satin, covered in jewelry and treasures, his face glistening with grease, like a slick and smooth glazed egg.

The fat man examined Tang Zhao carefully, his small eyes gradually opening wide.

"This child—" he pointed at Tang Zhao, "is he for sale?"