Chapter Ninety-Five: The Bloodstained Long Sabre (6)

Kong Sheng’s shoulder was sliced open by Li Xuan’s airborne thrust, a strip of flesh torn away and a deep groove left behind. Blood flowed without stopping, staining half his robe crimson.

Suppressing the pain, he clamped his heels hard against his horse’s flanks. Chasing Wind knew its master was in peril and, throwing itself into the effort, it charged and leaped with all its strength, hurtling past the crown of one soldier’s head and kicking another blocking the way straight to the ground. Only then did it finally carve out a bloodstained path.

The snowfield was a scene of chaos, with men and horses thrown into disorder. Though none of Li Xuan’s men had been killed, many had been wounded by Kong Sheng and the other three. As for Li Xuan himself, the blow to his chest’s most private and vulnerable place had been devastating. Kong Sheng’s punch had carried such tremendous force, such overwhelming impact, that it not only injured his internal organs but nearly shattered the softest and most fragile part of his body. That indescribable agony was beyond all words.

With a dark, humiliated expression, Li Xuan pressed a hand to his chest and, supported by two maids, climbed onto the cushioned carriage. Not far away, a retainer who seemed to be a squad leader shouted for his men to form up and pursue. Dozens of murderous soldiers swung their long sabers, mounted up, and prepared to chase Kong Sheng and the others to the bitter end.

Li Xuan clenched his teeth. In a voice hoarse and shrill, he said, “Enough. Gather the provisions, organize the caravan, and keep moving. Ignore those men for now. I have my own plans.”

Though he was burning with humiliation and rage, his mind remained astonishingly calm. Things had already grown noisy enough. If his people now pursued Kong Sheng and the others so openly and so aggressively, local officials might be alerted, and the news could even leak out. That would be a loss outweighing any gain.

“You vile scoundrel, to dare... to dare strike at me... truly despicable!” In the carriage, Li Xuan wrapped himself in a thick cloak and pressed a hand against the still-throbbing pain in his chest. His fine, delicate face was dark as water, while the killing intent in his eyes grew ever denser. “Kong Sheng, just you wait. When I escort the grain back to Pengcheng, even if you flee to the ends of the earth, I will kill you and vent this hatred from my heart!”

It should have been a fatal strike, yet Kong Sheng had somehow dodged most of it. Though he was still wounded, the injury had not reached the root. On the contrary, Kong Sheng’s desperate punch had landed like a hammer blow, leaving the proud and noble Lord Li Xuan trembling to his core, shame and injury mingling in a way he could not express.

Li Xuan had never suffered such a loss. Had he not considered his great mission and the earnest trust placed in him by King Li Ju, he would already have gone mad with pursuit, vowing not to rest until Kong Sheng and the others were dead.

...

Kong Sheng and the other three rode hard across the snow-covered plain. After running for more than ten li and seeing no sign of pursuit, they finally found a sheltered slope out of the wind, dismounted, and began bandaging Kong Sheng’s wound.

Though the injury had not struck a vital point, the loss of blood had been too great, and even Kong Sheng’s stubborn will was beginning to falter.

Mu Changfeng sprinkled some healing powder over the wound, then wrapped it tightly in cotton cloth before letting out a long breath. “That brute struck hard. Still, your punch must have left him far from comfortable as well, Young Master.”

Thinking back to that moment, to the strange softness he had felt at the point of impact, a peculiar smile rose unconsciously to Kong Sheng’s face. So it really was a young lady disguised as a man. Yet to be so ruthless and vicious at such a young age was truly rare.

Wu Xian looked on anxiously and said, “County Magistrate Kong, we’ve offended such a group for no reason. I’m afraid this will bring us serious trouble!”

Kong Sheng shook his head calmly. “Don’t worry. We’ll just keep going. I don’t think they’ll dare to pursue us openly.”

Mu Changfeng took a map from his pack and spread it on the snow. With a grave expression, he said, “Young Master, if we follow the original route, we’re bound to run into Li Xuan’s caravan. I think we should take a risk and go this way instead, by a shortcut. It’ll actually shorten both the distance and the time.”

He extended one finger, starting from Runzhou and drawing a straight line toward Xuzhou, then tapped Suiyang. “If we go to Suiyang by this route, in my view, it will save at least three days compared with detouring through Shouzhou and Yingzhou. More importantly, it keeps us from colliding with our enemies. The only concern is that this route passes through Chuzhou. Chuzhou is a major hub of river transport and one of the four great salt-producing regions under heaven. Salt traffic there is prosperous, which has made it coveted not only by the rebel army but also plagued by bandits. It is not an easy road.”

Kong Sheng covered his shoulder wound with his hand and stared at the map in silence.

The route Mu Changfeng proposed was, in plain terms, to avoid the regular imperial roads and take mountain paths instead, cutting straight through the line from Chuzhou to Xuzhou. The direct distance would indeed be several hundred li shorter than the detour through Shouzhou, but that region was clearly a crossroads of competing interests. In peaceful times it was a vital artery of grain and salt transport, orderly and prosperous; in wartime, it became a stage for rebels and bandits alike, chaotic beyond measure.

The government offices in Chuzhou responsible for grain and salt transport had long become little more than empty shells. By contrast, the great powers surrounding it were colliding there in strength. The Jiangnan military and political faction led by Yang Qi had established a commercial salt bureau in Chuzhou, the tendrils of An Lushan’s rebel forces had also come south from Lu Commandery, and King Li Ju, retreating to the Huai and Yangtze region, was even less willing to let go of this easy piece of meat.

That was the crucial reason Li Xuan’s caravan had given up this so-called shortcut and instead gone around by way of Shouzhou. Kong Sheng had initially reached the same conclusion.

But now things were different. They had already offended Li Xuan’s party, whose backing was clearly no ordinary matter, and had become enemies. If they continued on the original route, they would inevitably run into Li Xuan’s people again. To avoid further conflict, changing course had become the obvious choice.

“Brother Mu, you once roamed the world as a knight-errant. Are you familiar with the terrain in this region?” Kong Sheng asked softly.

Mu Changfeng nodded slightly. “When I escorted my mother back from the Hetong region to our old home in Jiangning, I took this route to avoid rebel raids. At the junction of Chuzhou, Sizhou, and Pengcheng there is a great lake, and on that lake are water bandits who control hundreds of li of surrounding waters. They occasionally plunder the two counties of Xuyi and Hongze and are extremely rampant. Beyond the lake, between Sizhou and Pengcheng, there is a mountain called Chumen, where more than a hundred mountain bandits have gathered. They too bring misery to the local people and rob passing merchants.”

“Young Master, these are the two bands of thieves we must guard against.” Mu Changfeng slammed his hand down hard on the Sizhou section of the map. “In truth, these bandits are still out in the open. The wolves wearing human skin, the robbers who are not really robbers, hide in the shadows and can appear everywhere. If we take this road, we must be exceedingly careful.”

Kong Sheng nodded. He understood very well that Mu Changfeng’s “great lake” was none other than Hongze Lake, and the so-called wolves in human skin, the robbers who were not truly robbers, were the various forces radiating outward from powers such as An Lushan’s rebels. Their hidden claws were far more dangerous than the thieves in plain sight.

“So be it. Brother Mu, we’ll change course through Chuzhou, go by way of Xuyi around Hongze Lake, then pass through the outskirts of Pengcheng via Sizhou and decide the rest based on the situation.” Kong Sheng rose at once and said in a clear voice, “The four of us are not merchants, and we are not carrying wealth or goods. We may not necessarily attract the attention of bandits. Even if we do encounter a few thieves, it will not be a serious matter.”

He waved his hand. “It’s already late, and there’s a small town ahead called Luogang. We’ll spend the night there and continue north at dawn tomorrow.”