Chapter 114: True Feelings Revealed at Life-or-Death Moments (1)

Suddenly surrounded, they were clearly facing hostile intent.

Mu Changfeng showed no fear. He drew the long sword at his side and placed Kong Sheng behind him. Wu Xian and Wu Jie likewise drew their curved blades, taking up positions on either side and fulfilling their duty with utmost vigilance. Both men had served as commanders of the imperial palace guards and had endured the slaughter of battlefields. Though their skill was naturally inferior to Mu Changfeng’s, it would still be difficult for three or five ordinary strongmen to get near them.

Li Xuan slowly drew her sword, her expression grave. Her swordsmanship and lightness skills were in no way inferior to Mu Changfeng’s. If she joined forces with him, complementing one another, the two of them could come and go freely even amid armies numbering tens of thousands.

Now that the five of them stood as one, with danger upon them, she could hardly sit by and do nothing, much less protect only herself.

The pavilion was completely surrounded by the men in blue who had poured forth. Nan’gong Wang, the young man in hempen clothes, stood with his hands clasped behind his back. The despondency and sorrow he had shown moments ago had vanished, replaced by radiant confidence. Throwing back his head, he laughed loudly and pointed his folding fan at them from afar.

“How laughable! You have walked straight into the trap and do not even know it. Throw down your weapons at once, bind yourselves, and await death! In consideration of the affinity formed by our qin and xiao performance, this mountain recluse may yet leave your corpses intact!”

Kong Sheng’s expression did not change. Clearly, these bandits were most likely the Hongze River Pirates, notorious for raiding far and wide. What he had not expected was that they would lay an ambush here, nor that the leader of the Hongze River Pirates would be a refined gentleman like Nan’gong Wang.

He immediately realized that Yellow Ridge Town, which resembled an isolated paradise beyond the mortal world, was probably the secret base and headquarters of these Hongze River Pirates. Otherwise, how could this place alone remain a pure and peaceful haven? With such an extraordinary man as Nan’gong Wang at its helm, it was hardly surprising that the town could preserve a utopian tranquility apart from the rest of the world.

Kong Sheng stepped forward slowly and called out, “It seems, then, that you are the honored chief of the Hongze River Pirates, Master Nan’gong. This truly surprises me. Who would have thought that the infamous leader of the Hongze bandits would be such an elegant gentleman? You call yourself a mountain recluse, yet why have you become a bandit?”

Nan’gong Wang wore a faintly mocking smile. “You are not wrong. These brothers of Hongze have indeed placed a mountain recluse at their head. You call me a river pirate, while I regard you as nothing more than a petty thief. You say we are notorious, yet I regard it as Heaven’s duty to protect the common people of this region. Throughout Hongze, I am a living Buddha to ten thousand households, revered by all.”

With a sharp snap, Nan’gong Wang opened his folding fan and waved it before his chest, his movements elegant and dashing to the extreme. That was how it appeared to outsiders and to his followers, at least. In Kong Sheng’s eyes, however, clutching a folding fan in the dead of winter could mean only one thing: he was showing off. And he had refined the art of showing off to absolute perfection.

Before Kong Sheng could answer, Li Xuan, unable to restrain herself, angrily cut in from behind him. “The Hongze River Pirates have run rampant across Hongze, Xuyi, and Sihong. Wherever you go, you burn, kill, rob, and plunder, committing every imaginable evil. And you, the chief of these bandits, still dare to call yourselves protectors of the region, living Buddhas to ten thousand households, revered by all? I think the people of Hongze would gladly hack you into pieces and grind your bones to dust!”

Nan’gong Wang gave a cold laugh. “I have no interest in arguing with you over right and wrong. But the one hundred and eighty-nine brothers under my banner all come from poor families around Hongze. Some were driven to desperation by the officials; others refused to endure the oppression of local tyrants. We gathered at Hongze and became bound as brothers, swearing before Heaven to protect our homeland and shield our parents, to live and die together! We kill corrupt officials and gentry whose crimes are monstrous, and we rob the wealthy who oppress honest folk. We share all the grain and money we acquire. Where, then, is this mountain of evidence against us?”

“Some bandits have borrowed my name to collude with the authorities and bring disaster upon the countryside. They have even guided the An rebels, allowing them to ravage the three counties. As far as I can see, this is nothing more than the work of scoundrels among the government troops of Chuzhou City. What has it to do with us?”

Nan’gong Wang spoke with such conviction that his indignation seemed entirely genuine.

As Kong Sheng gazed at him, a sudden premonition arose within him: perhaps Nan’gong Wang was not lying. The man was lofty and proud by nature and ought to disdain falsehood. And if his words were true, then the matter was far more serious than it appeared. In this chaotic age, if corrupt government soldiers were plundering everywhere under the banner of the Hongze River Pirates and profiting from the nation’s calamity, that was no trivial matter.

Li Xuan spat in contempt. She did not believe him in the slightest. Nor was she entirely to blame. She was a commandery princess of the Li imperial clan, the daughter of the Prince of Guo. How could she possibly believe the words of a river pirate chief while casting suspicion upon the government and troops on her own side?

Kong Sheng let out a long breath. “I daresay that Master Nan’gong and your brothers have no prior grievance with me. Since you repeatedly claim to stand for justice and make it your duty to protect the region, why have you gathered such a crowd to surround and murder travelers like us? Is that not a contradiction between your words and your deeds, between what you proclaim and what you truly are?”

Nan’gong Wang gave a light laugh. “You are quite the slippery-tongued boy. Back in Ancient Mulberry Town, you relied on force to burn down my inn, and then you hanged my brothers to death. And you still dare say that we have no grievance with one another?”

Kong Sheng and the others suddenly understood. The black inn in Ancient Mulberry Town had actually been a secret stronghold of the Hongze River Pirates. No wonder they had encountered this group lying in wait along the road. They had come to avenge the deaths of Six and Old Five.

Mu Changfeng immediately realized that there would be no peaceful resolution and grew even more vigilant. He calculated that the enemy had overwhelming numbers. If a clash broke out, he would ignore Li Xuan and Wu Xian and Wu Jie, protect Kong Sheng, and force his way out of the encirclement alone.

Kong Sheng suddenly smiled. “You say I am skilled at sophistry, but I say you are calling a deer a horse and turning the blame back upon the victim. You opened that black inn in Ancient Mulberry Town and preyed upon passing travelers and merchants, piling up crime upon crime. Those two villains attacked us first and meant to put us to death. Under such circumstances, were we supposed to sit still and await our execution?”

“Besides, we merely hung those two villains from the bamboo tower; we did not kill them. Had the local villagers been willing to rescue them after we left, their lives could naturally have been spared. But since the villagers themselves refused to save them, how can you turn around and claim that they died at our hands?”

Nan’gong Wang frowned slightly and turned toward a burly man in purple beside him, a man of about thirty with a thick, tangled beard and a coarse, rugged face. The fellow leaned close and lowered his voice.

“Master, do not listen to these villains’ nonsense. We kill only tyrants and never harm the innocent. We take only the ill-gotten wealth of unscrupulous merchants, corrupt officials, and rapacious clerks. As for this occasion, Six and Old Five took a liking to the several fine horses belonging to that fellow. They lost their heads for a moment and conceived the idea of drugging them unconscious, so they could take the horses and present them to you. Their mistake was minor, but a life was lost, and that is no small matter. Though they did not kill the man, he died because of them. How could we fail to avenge them?”

Nan’gong Wang pondered for a moment, then threw back his head and laughed wildly.

“You accuse me of running a black inn to harm people. That is nothing but slander and fabrication. In all I do, I need fear neither Heaven above nor Earth below. I act openly and honorably, and I have no need to defend myself. As for this matter, even if my brothers briefly succumbed to greed and sought to take your fine horses, they intended only to use incense to render you unconscious, not to harm your lives. Yet you acted with ruthless cruelty and went so far as to hang two of my brothers until they died!”

“My poor brothers committed only a minor wrong, one that did not deserve death. If I do not kill you all, how shall I comfort them in the underworld? And with what face could I stand before all my brothers?”

His expression was impassioned, his voice harsh with righteousness. Then he let out a thunderous roar.

“Why have you not dismounted and accepted death?”

More than a hundred burly men in blue raised a furious cry as one.

“Kill!”

Their battle cry shook Heaven and Earth, reverberating through the entire hillside and dense forest, startling a flock of birds into the air.