Wen Boyuan said, "Please conduct yourself with dignity, Eunuch Hu. You mustn't spread rumors spun from shadows and wind." He had already experienced Hu Xiaotian's cunning and fickleness many times and knew he could get nothing of value out of the man's mouth. Flicking his reins, he rode toward the head of the procession, making it plain that he disdained Hu Xiaotian's company.
Watching Wen Boyuan ride away, Wu Jingshan could not help sighing. With a wry smile, he said, "Eunuch Hu, we're all traveling the same road. We ought to look out for one another. General Wen stayed up all night looking for you, too, sending out every capable man under his command. Even if he achieved nothing, he deserves credit for his efforts."
Hu Xiaotian silenced him with a single sentence. "How do you know someone wasn't making a great show of things to pull the wool over everyone's eyes, Lord Wu?"
"Well..."
Hu Xiaotian said, "The same thing already happened in Black Pine Forest. What happened at Lu Family Village was strange, but if you think it over carefully, you'll find that the methods were much the same."
"But surely there's no reason for our own people to harm one another." Though he harbored suspicions himself, Wu Jingshan still did not believe Wen Boyuan would attack their own people.
Hu Xiaotian said, "Perhaps that's precisely what makes him so clever. Lord Wu, we don't seem to be heading toward Wuxing Commandery."
Wu Jingshan said, "We're going through Peak Forest Gorge to Azure Dragon Bay. I haven't had a chance to tell you. According to the men we sent out to investigate, a civilian uprising really has broken out in Wuxing Commandery. Several thousand people have now swarmed toward the Prosperity Granary, intending to seize its grain by