“Damn it, get lost! If you don’t scram, I’ll beat you to death with this club!” A violent roar suddenly rang out. Hearing there was excitement to watch, everyone quickly craned their necks to observe.
They saw it was the tea pavilion owner with several helpers standing in the simple horse stable on the left side of the pavilion, cursing viciously at a vagrant in tattered black clothes. This owner’s tongue was extremely vicious, but after cursing for a long time, that person showed no reaction whatsoever. Seeing this, the owner became even more furious and looked ready to swing down his club to beat the man.
Though this big man surnamed Yu looked fierce and crude, he actually had a kind heart. Seeing that person hunched over, curled into a small ball looking very pitiful, he quickly spoke up: “Shopkeeper, I can see he’s ill. In this place with no village ahead and no shop behind, if you drive him out, aren’t you taking his life? How about this—I’ll pay, and you carry him inside for a cup of hot tea to warm his body.”
“This honored guest doesn’t understand the situation,” the owner turned around, already wearing a different expression, and said with a smile: “This person came from the south. Recently there’s been some trouble in Nanjiang—various tribes have been rioting and rebelling, fighting fiercely. Combined with many days of heavy rain, corpses have been rotting and stinking in the swamps, causing plague. I’m afraid this person carries disease and might infect others, so I won’t let him stay here. If the honored guest isn’t afraid, I’ll let him come in.”
“What? He has disease? That won’t do!” Before the big man surnamed Yu could speak, the others immediately stepped back, as if afraid that plagues and viruses might jump out from that person’s body, and began shouting loudly. Some people even yelled for the owner to quickly throw that person far away. Seeing everyone’s strong reaction, the big man surnamed Yu couldn’t say much and awkwardly watched as the shopkeeper and helpers carried that person toward the muddy ditch outside filled with sewage.
Though the south had a warm climate, it was still the depths of winter. Having just experienced heavy rain, throwing someone in a ditch to soak in rainwater would certainly cause death within two hours.
“Stop!” Just as that person was about to be thrown down, an aged voice suddenly rang out. The old man in blue robes coughed twice, slowly walked out of the tea pavilion, came to the owner’s side, glanced at the man in tattered black clothes, and said in a deep voice: “Put him down. Let me take a look.”
The shopkeeper awkwardly set the man down, saying neither warmly nor coldly: “This person might have disease. If the honored guest isn’t afraid of catching it, please examine him freely.”
“Since the shopkeeper carried him without fear, this old man naturally isn’t afraid either,” the old man in blue robes laughed lightly. He extended his hand to pull out the person’s thin, delicate arm and began carefully taking his pulse.
All around was silent. Everyone watched from a distance as the old man diagnosed the person’s pulse. On this desolate plain, one often traveled for days without encountering a single soul, so naturally everyone gathered to watch such excitement.
“He’s fine,” the old man suddenly raised his head and smiled faintly: “He just hasn’t eaten for too long and fainted from weakness.”
Even though they were strangers to that person, everyone sighed in relief at these words. The big man surnamed Yu said in his deep voice: “Shopkeeper, since this old gentleman says he’s fine, go get something easy to swallow for that young brother to eat. Saving a life is always your good fortune.”
The tea pavilion owner wasn’t a bad person either. Previously he was only afraid the man had disease. Seeing him lying there motionless for two days, thinking he was half-dead, he wanted to throw him out. Now hearing he was actually fine, he and his helper carried him back together. Several men clumsily fed some warm water into that person’s mouth, but he was already unconscious with cracked lips and couldn’t swallow at all. Seeing this, the old man approached and pressed a thin finger to a point on his neck. The person’s mouth automatically opened, and seeing him swallow the water, everyone immediately cheered with great joy, as if they had accomplished something remarkable.
“Shopkeeper, saving one life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. Thank you for your trouble.” The old man in blue robes smiled faintly, took a brocade pouch from his chest, placed it in the shopkeeper’s hand, and walked out with the guards. The old man went to the middle carriage with thick blue curtains, spoke a few words respectfully in a low voice, then mounted the second carriage. Soon, the convoy of five carriages slowly began moving, gradually departing toward the north.
The shopkeeper was slightly stunned. Opening the pouch in his hand, he saw it was full of silver ingots. Seeing this, the surrounding crowd immediately exclaimed in amazement. In these times of war and chaos, such a bag of silver could buy several tea pavilions like this. As everyone marveled at the old man’s generosity, they looked north in unison, only to see the convoy had traveled extremely far, gradually becoming just a faint shadow.
Haichao Yi was only a small town, but it was the final checkpoint for Nan Chu’s passage to Northern Qin and Xichuan. Together with the Northern Army camp and Lianyuan Fort fifty li away, they formed a triangle, becoming three important passes guarding Nan Chu’s interior heartland. This was the throat connecting Nan Chu to Northern Qin and Xichuan, with developed commerce and convenient transportation. Trading houses, pawn shops, wine towers, and tea houses were all present, making it quite prosperous.
In the distance, Haichao Yi’s towering city towers and bright lights appeared. The coachman called out and slowly drove toward the small town.
From the previous tea pavilion to Haichao Yi was only half a day’s walk. This convoy of carriages, delayed by unknown matters, didn’t arrive until evening.
At this moment, a black shadow suddenly caught up from behind. The eighteen guards were startled and cautiously looked back together. However, that black shadow quickly moved to the front of the convoy. A guard’s blade flashed, and the war horse under the black shadow panicked, rearing up on its hind legs. The figure on horseback fell like a sack, while the horse, regardless of whether its master had fallen, galloped away down the dark ancient road with wind-generating kicks.
The convoy stopped due to this sudden incident. The old man in blue robes from the second carriage quickly dismounted, followed by a guard carrying a torch. The old man frowned, discovering it was actually the person who had fainted from hunger at the tea pavilion that morning. His face was completely black, his clothes still soaked, eyes tightly closed—clearly he had been thrown on horseback and left to fend for himself.
A trace of anger slowly rose on the old man’s face, and a silent authority gradually spread around him. This old man had a peculiar quality—when he didn’t want to be noticed, he could hide plainly and ordinarily in the crowd without standing out at all. But when he had particular emotions, he naturally revealed a refined, dignified bearing.
In these chaotic times, human life was cheap as grass, but he hadn’t expected that shopkeeper to be so black-hearted.
“Uncle Zhong, what happened?” A distant, mellow voice suddenly rang out in the dark night. The carriage wrapped in thick cotton curtains slowly moved forward, stopping beside the old man. The old man called Uncle Zhong immediately became respectful, quickly walked to the carriage side, and said in a deep voice: “It’s a traveler we encountered at the tea pavilion this morning. He seems injured and hasn’t eaten for a long time, fainting from hunger. I previously paid the shopkeeper silver to care for him, but didn’t expect to encounter him here again.”
“We still have urgent business and shouldn’t invite trouble. Help him to the roadside and continue our journey.” The clear voice carried a trace of hoarseness and mellowness, very pleasant to hear, but the words spoken were cold and icy, without any warmth.
Uncle Zhong’s expression stiffened, but without any hesitation, he responded affirmatively. He turned to instruct the guards to carry that person and drag him to the roadside, finding a dry patch of withered grass to lay him down. Just as he was about to turn back, as if remembering something, Uncle Zhong hesitated, then returned to remove the blue cloth hood he was wearing and cover it over that person. The person was very thin and small; the hood covered his entire body, hiding him among the grass so that for a moment one couldn’t tell where the person was and where the grass was.
After tucking a packet of silver into his clothing, Uncle Zhong returned to the convoy, climbed onto the second carriage, gave an instruction, and the convoy slowly continued toward Haichao Yi.
Despite hurrying, by the time they reached Haichao Yi, the sky had completely darkened. Haichao Yi was a border fortress with dedicated Northern Army guards. Once night fell, the city gates would close, and without proper travel documents and tokens, they would never open the gates. Seeing this, the old man frowned tightly, came to the third carriage, and said respectfully to the window: “Young Master, the city gates are already closed. Should this old servant call for them to open?”
His voice was calm, speaking very naturally, as if this weren’t the gate of a southern fortress town but his own family’s door.
“No need. We’ll camp outside the city for one night and enter tomorrow.” The distant voice slowly responded, then fell silent.
Uncle Zhong nodded and replied: “Yes.” Then he went to direct the other guards and coachmen to prepare for camping.
These people were obviously accustomed to camping outdoors. Without Uncle Zhong’s instructions, they each busied themselves, lighting fires, finding a lush large tree, and arranging the carriages in a circle, with the other four carriages completely surrounding the one wrapped in blue cotton curtains. After everything was ready, it was already very late.
The guards and coachmen sat quietly on the ground, eating the dried provisions they carried.
All around was silent when suddenly the sound of galloping hooves came from the distance. Everyone remained sitting where they were as if they hadn’t heard, but their eyes revealed a trace of urgent vigilance. Uncle Zhong lifted the carriage curtain and squinted toward the approaching riders. He saw there were more than twenty people riding tall horses, wearing tight short clothing, looking like escort groups from the martial world, very fierce.
“Damn! Still a step too late!” The arrivals suddenly cursed loudly. One of them spat hard on the ground and grumbled while calling to the others: “We’ll stay here tonight and enter the city tomorrow.”