Chapter 136: The Debt of Rescue

After leading his men out of the city and traveling about ten miles east, Li Yun indeed began to spot people fleeing westward from time to time. Some carried their own bundles and hurried along, while others dragged their families with them, every single person laden with a pack.

However, carriages and horses were already a rare sight.

Those who managed to escape at this juncture naturally possessed some means, though their family fortunes could hardly be considered substantial.

The truly wealthy and powerful gentry of Qiantang Commandery had already fled with their entire households long before the city was besieged.

Such people were exceedingly well-informed.

In truth, Commandery Governor Liu Xiang could also have made his escape from Qiantang Commandery early on, for his sources of information must have been the sharpest of all. Yet, no matter how corrupt an era might be, there are always a few officials endowed with integrity and a conscience.

This Governor Liu was precisely such a man.

In ordinary times, he never hesitated to accept his share of wealth when it was due. But when catastrophe struck, having assumed the office of Governor, he never once entertained the thought of leaving.

In fact, it was precisely because their chief official refused to run, remaining instead within the city of Qiantang to coordinate all sides, that Qiantang Commandery managed to hold out for two unbroken months without falling. Otherwise, the rebel forces would have breached the city gates long ago.

The powerful and wealthy had fled early on, and those remaining were the ones who escaped in the chaos when the city's defense collapsed. The majority of them belonged to the middle class of the city.

Li Yun intercepted a young man who looked like a scholar. Carrying a pack, the young man was hastening along his way in a panic. When stopped by Li Yun and his men, he was frightened out of his wits and repeatedly bowed and saluted Li Yun.

"Official, Official, this humble commoner truly has no more money on him."

He cried out in desperate plea, "I really have no money left..."

Before Li Yun could ask a single question, the scholar was already weeping bitterly, tears streaming down his face. Evidently, his emotions had reached the verge of collapse and were spinning somewhat out of control.

Li Yun watched him for a moment, then looked over at Li Zheng.

"Get him some water to drink."

Li Zheng nodded and handed over a water skin. After taking a sip, the scholar's emotions finally steadied somewhat, allowing Li Yun to speak. "We are not going to rob you of your money. I want to ask you about matters inside Qiantang Commandery."

Still shaken, the scholar took quite a while to calm down before wiping away his tears with his sleeve.

Behind Li Yun, a mocking voice piped up: "So soft and womanish!"

Li Yun turned his head and glared at the culprit, who immediately shrank his neck and fell silent.

After weeping a little longer, the scholar raised his head and looked pitifully at Li Yun. "Official, you... go ahead and ask."

Seeing his delicate and weak appearance, another burst of suppressed laughter broke out among the bandits. Li Yun glanced at Li Zheng, who immediately turned back and barked in a low voice, "Step back a few paces, all of you!"

Once they had retreated, Li Yun asked, "When was Qiantang city breached?"

"Yesterday..."

He scratched his head, glanced outside, and looked somewhat dazed. "No, I've been walking for a day and a night, so it should be... it should be the day before yesterday."

"The rebel thieves besieged the city for two months, but these past few days they suddenly concentrated all their forces on the eastern side, attacking like madmen. Governor Liu called upon all the commoners in the city to mount the walls, but there were simply too few people left inside. After holding out for a day and a night, we still couldn't hold it."

"Just before the city fell, Governor Liu had the western gate opened, and those of us who could managed to escape."

He choked back a sob and gritted his teeth, adding, "Though the vast majority still failed to get out."

Li Yun pondered for a moment and asked again, "What about Governor Liu?"

"I don't know."

The scholar shook his head. "I didn't see him. I heard... I heard he died at his post..."

Li Yun furrowed his brow once more and inquired, "Do you have family?"

"We were separated."

The scholar clenched his teeth. "Military officer, my surname is Feng, and my name is Feng Han. Can you please help me find my family?"

Li Yun rubbed the space between his eyebrows and replied, "How about this: you go straight west from here and settle down in Qingyang County. If I happen to run into your family members, I will tell them to go to Qingyang to look for you."

Hearing this, Feng Han was overjoyed. He stood up and bowed deeply to Li Yun over and over again.

"Thank you, military officer! Thank you, military officer!"

Li Yun cleared his throat and continued, "Let me ask you this: approximately how many rebel soldiers are there in Qiantang?"

"I don't know."

Feng Han shook his head. "When we were trapped in the city, the rumor was there were one or two tens of thousands. While fleeing along the road, I heard that several thousand rebel soldiers broke into the city, looting everything they saw and killing people at the drop of a hat..."

"Quite a few people were terrified by them and fled in a panic."

At this point, the young Master Feng spat onto the ground and cursed fiercely, "That so-called Prince of Yue claiming to equalize wealth for the common people—how is he any different from mountain bandits and brigands!"

"He's even worse than the imperial army!"

Hearing this, Li Yun raised his head to look toward the east and slowly said, "Very well, I have a general idea. You may be on your way."

Feng Han stood up, cupped his fists in a salute to Li Yun, and after asking for the direction to Qingyang, he departed with unsteady steps.

After the scholar surnamed Feng left, Li Yun led his men further east. Along the way, he saw an increasing number of refugees. Every so often, he would stop someone to inquire about the situation inside Qiantang city. By the time they reached the thirty-li mark, he had a fairly clear picture of the state of affairs in Qiantang.

At that moment, Su Sheng finally galloped up on horseback. Seated in the saddle, he called out loudly to Li Yun, "Captain Li! The news has been reported to the Great General. We are only twenty or thirty miles away from Qiantang here; let us fall back and retreat to Linshui!"

Li Yun shook his head. Looking at Su Sheng, he said, "General Su, very few enemies are pursuing this far out at present. It is unlikely they would leave Qiantang in large numbers. Look..."

Li Yun pointed toward the east. Straining his eyes, Su Sheng saw a group of "soldiers" dressed in red garments chasing a crowd of commoners toward their direction. Among this group of refugees, there was only a single carriage, while the pursuing rebels numbered five or six horsemen with the rest on foot, almost all of them with drawn swords, their blades stained with blood.

It appeared that although the rebel soldiers pursuing them out of Qiantang city were not numerous, they did exist. After all, large though Qiantang was, the wealthy households were limited.

Since thousands of them could not all get a share of the fat spoils, some would inevitably break out to hunt down and slaughter the fleeing refugees, even if their numbers were small.

"We are here, firstly, to get some combat practice, and secondly..."

The man surnamed Li said indifferently, "To save as many as we can!"

With that, he looked once more at the distant enemy. The foe had closed the distance somewhat, allowing Li Yun to see clearly that among the fleeing "commoners," some wore the uniforms of the imperial garrison.

They were likely scattered remnants of the garrison who had managed to escape Qiantang.

Without further hesitation, Li Yun gripped his long spear and gave a shout.

"Follow me into battle! Take no prisoners!"

Su Sheng looked at Li Yun with a trace of astonishment in his eyes, but he quickly snapped out of it and roared, "Charge!"

"Slay the rebels!"

Li Yun and his men hurried forward at a brisk pace. Moving with extreme swiftness, they closed the distance in mere moments. These rebels numbered only twenty or thirty; seeing a hundred or so men rushing aggressively toward them, they naturally felt a wave of fear.

Compelled further by the dozens of cavalrymen accompanying Su Sheng, the mounted rebels panicked and wheeled their horses around, preparing to retreat.

"It's the court's running dogs! There are too many of them!"

Someone shouted, "Fall back first and report this to General Zhao!"

As the horsemen turned and fled, Su Sheng gave a cold laugh, cracked his riding crop, and dashed after them.

Meanwhile, Li Yun and his men engaged the infantrymen among the rebels. Having pursued their prey for a long time, these rebels were already physically exhausted. Before long, Li Yun, running at the forefront, caught up to them. He kicked one rebel sprawling, then glared at another coming at him with a raised saber. With a cold smirk, Li Yun met the attack with his spear. The weapons collided, and the rebel's saber was knocked directly out of his hand!

Li Yun's spear momentum unabated, he swept it gracefully, slicing open the man's throat.

By then, a third rebel mustered the courage to charge at Li Yun, only to be run straight through by a flick of Li Yun's spear.

At that point, the rest of the rebels were frightened out of their wits by this god of slaughter and lost all will to fight, turning tail and fleeing. Li Yun unslung his bow from his back, shot down yet another man with a single arrow, and then waved his hand, shouting, "Charge! Kill them all!"

The band of "bandits" responded like wolves and tigers, howling as they swarmed forward.

Li Yun withdrew his spear, approached the horse carriages, and looked at the several wounded garrison soldiers standing guard before them.

From a distance, he had mistaken this group for ordinary commoners. Now that he was close, he saw that while there were commoners among them, these particular individuals did not fit that description.

For instance, the people inside the carriage guarded by the garrison troops were most certainly not ordinary commoners.

The carriage windows had been tightly shut all along, and only hurried closed when they saw Li Yun approaching.

Approaching the carriage, Li Yun glanced over and asked, "Are you the garrison troops of Qiantang?"

One man stepped forward. Instead of answering, he stared viciously at Li Yun, gritted his teeth, and shot back, "Are you subordinates of Su Jing?"

Hearing that tone, Li Yun frowned and nodded. "We are."

"And you still have the nerve to ask who we are!"

"Qiantang was besieged for over two months, and you were right next door! Why didn't you rescue us?!"

"Why didn't you rescue us?!"

"Now that Qiantang has fallen, you come here to play the good guys!"

Growing annoyed, Li Yun retorted angrily, "I didn't even have official military orders for this trip! Had I known you lot had such an attitude, nobody would have come to save you!"

Just as those soldiers were about to retort, a woman's voice drifted from inside the carriage—soft and mournful.

"Brother Wang, whether they came or not was not up for them to decide."

"Speak properly..."

The carriage curtain was lifted, and a young, pretty woman with blood-stained clothes and tear tracks still lingering on her face descended from the carriage. She bowed deeply and gracefully to Li Yun.

"This humble maiden pays her respects to the General for his grace in saving our lives..."

Before she could finish her sentence, she slumped limply to the ground and fainted.

Li Yun strode forward quickly, caught her, and turned his head to ask, "What is wrong with her?"

"The eldest young lady sustained some injuries..."

The garrison soldiers nearby rushed forward anxiously as well, chiming in, "She hasn't closed her eyes for a day and a night..."

Li Yun lifted her back into the carriage, pointed ahead, and instructed, "That is Linshui County. You should go to Linshui first."

Then, with an unfriendly tone, he added, "Remember, before entering the city—"

"Lay down your weapons and strip off your armor."