Don't Fail to Appreciate Kindness

The bamboo raft drifted out of the small river and merged into the larger one. Niu Youdao put away the bamboo pole and let the raft follow the current. Dongguo Haoran had said that a dying man's words were often kind, so there was no reason for him to deceive himself. There was no need to be overly suspicious.

Sitting on the raft, he shaved some thin bamboo strips with a hatchet, pulled out some dry firewood he had prepared beforehand, and used a fire starter to kindle a small fire on a flat slab of rock. He roasted the bamboo strips until they sweated out their green sap. Once they had become sufficiently pliable, he cut them into short sections. He pulled out the hemp thread he had prepared in the village and tugged it to test its strength. Deciding it should be sturdy enough, he tied the bamboo sections at intervals along the thread, binding them at their middles.

He then pulled out a stalk of wheat and cut it into tiny sections. Bending the highly pliable bamboo strips into a loop, he used the little wheat sections to cap both ends of each bent strip, preventing them from springing open. He reached into a hole in his ragged clothes and fished out a small handful of wheat grains. He had picked them out one by one from the muddy ground in the village, probably spilled when the bandit soldiers looted the grain. He pinched a grain and stuffed it into the hole of the wheat section holding the two ends of a bamboo strip together. He repeated this process, making more than a dozen simple traps along a single hemp thread.

Afterward, he lowered the hemp thread into the water, tied one end to the raft, and left the rest to fate. Niu Youdao stopped worrying about it. He took a section of bamboo tube, scooped up some river water, and slowly swallowed it after warming it in his mouth. Sitting on the raft and warming himself by the fire, he admired the scenery on both banks, his eyes clearly filled with curiosity about this world.

He had no idea how much time passed before he suddenly felt the raft move beneath him. It seemed that something was tugging at it underwater, and his expression brightened. The movement continued, but he remained seated and still. Before long, the disturbance subsided.

He pulled in the hemp thread from behind the raft, and soon a fish weighing two or three pounds was dragged from the water. The bamboo strips had sprung open and propped apart both of its gills, and in hardly any time the fish was already half-dead. One shouldn't underestimate this tiny, simple fishing trap. A fish's gills were its breathing system underwater; once its breathing was obstructed, even a fish that lived underwater would be drowned by the water. The bamboo strips were springy, and the fish couldn't break free after a few struggles. With its oxygen cut off, it quickly lost its strength underwater. Once caught, it was very difficult for it to escape. A fish hooked on a line, by contrast, could struggle underwater for quite some time.

Of course, this little trap had a flaw: it was difficult to catch large fish.

There was no helping it. The village's conditions were limited, and there had been no food for him to bring along. He could only make do with whatever he found and adapt to his surroundings. He had to find a way to fill his stomach along the journey.

He removed the fish and tossed it aside, then reset the small wheat sections, added bait, and lowered the trap into the water again. The other wheat grains had already swollen from soaking, and he estimated that the chances of attracting fish had greatly increased.

He picked up the half-dead fish, took out his dagger, gutted and cleaned it briefly in the river, then rekindled the fire. He skewered the fish and happily roasted it. Since he could catch fish, the ecology here seemed to be quite good. He planned to eat, drink, relieve himself, and sleep on this bamboo raft. He had heard that the region was plagued by war and chaos, so staying on the raft was probably safer.

The fish had just finished roasting. Niu Youdao was blowing on his scalded fingers as he happily ate, but before he had taken more than a few bites, the raft began to tug again beneath him. Niu Youdao grinned.

At the same time, far away on the bank, a horse-drawn carriage was jolting along at full speed, with a group of riders galloping after it. They caught up quickly. The cavalrymen on both sides swept past, raised their bows and crossbows, and fired wildly into the carriage. Cries of agony rang out, and the carriage was soon forced to a halt.

As the raft passed by, Niu Youdao slowly gnawed on his roasted fish and watched soldiers throw several corpses from the carriage. One person seemed not to be dead and was kneeling on the ground begging for mercy. A general rode closer, thrust out her spear, and pierced the kneeling person, knocking them to the ground.

To Niu Youdao, who had lived through another kind of world, such murder in broad daylight was a little too much. More importantly, what he had seen in the village had already prejudiced him against this group of government soldiers. He had no favorable impression of them, yet all he could do was watch coldly from the sidelines.

The general pulled back her spear and noticed Niu Youdao as well. How strange—a man roasting fish on a bamboo raft?

Niu Youdao also realized that the soldiers had noticed him. He promptly pretended to be a law-abiding commoner and went about his business. He hauled in the hemp thread from behind the raft and brought up another fish.

A look of interest appeared in the general's eyes. She said to one of her subordinates, "In the dead of winter, wearing tattered, threadbare clothes, yet he has a way to fill his stomach. This boy looks clever. With a little training, he might make a good recruit." Her voice was that of a woman.

The subordinate understood. She wanted to capture the boy and recruit him into the army. He immediately shouted at Niu Youdao on the raft, "You there, boy! Get to the bank. I have something to ask you." He was trying to lure him over.

How could Niu Youdao dare go ashore? He pretended not to hear, casually wiped his hands on his clothes, pulled the roasted fish from the bamboo skewer, and continued burying his head in his meal, putting on an act of deafness.

Thwack! An arrow quivered where it had struck the bamboo raft, right beside Niu Youdao, nearly making him jump out of his skin. What if it had been off by just a little?

He raised his furious eyes and looked over, only to find that it was the general who had killed someone with her spear.

Sitting atop her horse, she held her bow pointed at him and shouted, "Boy, come here!"

Her voice was clear, bright, and rather pleasant. Only then did Niu Youdao realize that she was a female general. Her battle armor and travel-stained appearance had made it impossible to tell her sex. He immediately flew into a rage, raised his middle finger at her, and shouted two words: "Bitch!"

Although the female general couldn't tell what his raised middle finger meant, she could tell from his curse that the gesture was definitely not praise. An ordinary commoner had dared curse government soldiers to their faces. He had some nerve—and was rather interesting. She gave a cold laugh.

More than a dozen of her subordinates immediately drew their bows and nocked arrows, aiming them this way.

"Damn it!" Niu Youdao cried out. How had he forgotten that they had bows and arrows? He shouldn't have cursed and provoked her. With a flip, he plunged into the icy river.

A rapid series of thwacks rang out. More than a dozen arrows struck the spot where Niu Youdao had been sitting moments earlier. Sparks flew, and the firewood burning on the stone slab was sent tumbling by the arrows.

The female general let out an "Oh?" Her eyes revealed even greater admiration. This boy was no simpleton—his reaction speed was fast enough. An ordinary person would probably have been scared witless, but his first reaction had been to evade danger in advance. This confirmed that he was indeed a good prospect and further fueled her interest in taking him under her command.

She raised a hand and stopped her subordinates, who were preparing to shoot again. With a teasing look, she led her unit alongside the drifting bamboo raft.

Underwater, Niu Youdao reached up and grabbed the raft's edge. When he surfaced to look, he discovered that the pile of dry firewood on the raft had been ignited. He hurriedly splashed water with his arms and doused the newly kindled flames. If the raft burned, he would have no means of transport, and with his current physique, he probably wouldn't be able to take Dongguo Haoran's corpse to Shangqing Sect.

Seeing that the opposing troops were leisurely keeping pace along the bank, clearly intent on watching him, Niu Youdao clung to the raft, kicked through the water, and pulled it toward the opposite bank.

The female general casually drew an arrow from her quiver, nocked it, drew the string, and released it with a whoosh.

Niu Youdao looked back at the arrow's shadow as it flashed past. The arrow was quivering where it had struck the trunk of a crooked tree on the opposite bank. The corners of his mouth twitched. The river was at least sixty or seventy meters wide, yet she had easily hit a tree that wasn't even very large. Her meaning was painfully obvious: she was showing off her archery and warning him that if he dared come ashore on the opposite bank, she could drop him with a single arrow. He shouldn't even think about escaping.

Niu Youdao really had been considering it. If all else failed, he could give Dongguo Haoran a watery burial and slip ashore to run. It wasn't that he was heartless; the water was simply too cold, and if he stayed in it much longer, he would lose his life.

The female general wore a teasing smile, as if asking how long he could stay in the water. She led her troops along at a controlled pace, keeping Niu Youdao firmly in sight. She also had the soldiers spread out in a long line along the bank, watching the river for a great distance to prevent him from swimming away underwater.

After holding out for a while, Niu Youdao's teeth began to chatter from the cold. He finally couldn't endure it any longer and shouted, "General, we have no grudge between us. Why are you forcing me to my death?"

The female general replied, "No grudge between us? Who did you call a bitch just now?"

"..." Niu Youdao was speechless for a moment before shouting again, "Could you, as a great person, find it in your heart to forgive a small man?"

The female general answered bluntly, "No!"

Niu Youdao shouted, "What will it take for you to let me go?"

The female general said, "It's simple. Come serve under me and atone for your crime. Become my soldier!"

So overbearing. If I went with you, wouldn't you torture me to death? Niu Youdao grumbled inwardly. He didn't dare believe her and strongly suspected that she only wanted to trick him ashore so she could deal with him. Since she was being unreasonable, he had no reason to hold back. He shouted, "I'm not interested in being your soldier. How about being your man instead?"

The female general sneered. "You haven't even grown all your hair yet, and you still dare to be so stubborn? Let's see how long you can stay in the water!" She nocked an arrow and drew her bow as if preparing to shoot.

Niu Youdao drew a deep breath and plunged underwater. Grabbing the vines woven beneath the bamboo raft, he hid below it and moved forward underwater.

Yet after waiting for a while without seeing any movement, he cautiously surfaced again. The moment his head emerged, the woman once more drew her bow threateningly, forcing him back underwater.

After repeating this several times, Niu Youdao understood. She was toying with him. But he still didn't dare not evade—what if she really shot him? He was beginning to doubt Dongguo Haoran's words. Hadn't he said the Protective Talisman would keep him safe throughout the journey? Why hadn't it shown any effect?

He had no choice but to slip beneath the pile of dry firewood and hide. Dongguo Haoran's remains lay beneath it, but he couldn't spare any thought for whether stray arrows might harm the dead.

Fortunately, Heaven never sealed off every road. Just as he was thinking of a way to escape, complicated terrain appeared along the riverbank ahead. The horses could no longer approach the water easily. The river began winding and changing direction, and towering mountain silhouettes appeared in the distance. The river seemed to be flowing through a mountainous stretch, and its current also appeared to be growing considerably faster.

One of the soldiers rode up beside the female general and whispered to her for a while. She gazed at the terrain ahead and fell silent briefly. Then she took out a token, tied it to an arrow, and shot it from her bow. The arrow struck the bamboo raft. She then shouted loudly, "Boy, listen carefully! Since you entertained this general so well today, I'll point you toward a way out! The world outside is ravaged by war and times are hard. If you change your mind, bring this token to the authorities in Guangyi Commandery, and they'll find me for you. I can't guarantee anything else, but I can guarantee that you'll have enough to eat and warm clothes. You might even make something of yourself. Don't fail to appreciate kindness!" With that, she wheeled her horse around and led her troops back the way they had come, galloping away.