Woman

One night passed without incident. As usual, Liu Yuanzhou got up early, dressed, and jogged to the top of the mountain behind the village.

Today was cloudy, and the wind was picking up, swirling yellow dust into the sky, making the whole sky a hazy gray. Liu Yuanzhou stood on the mountaintop, the wind whistling in his ears. He looked out as far as he could, but the distant mountains and the village below were hidden in the dust, as if he were the only person left in the world. He took a deep breath, "Ah..." and shouted, but his voice was quickly swallowed by the wind and dust. He didn't stop, continuing to shout.

After venting on the mountaintop, Liu Yuanzhou felt much better. He went down the mountain and returned home. His parents hadn't gotten up yet, but his elder brother, Liu Yuanbo, was already up, tidying up the new house. The walls, which had been plastered a few days ago, were completely dry, and Liu Yuanbo planned to build a heated kang today. Liu Yuanzhou said to his elder brother, "Brother, I'll go up the mountain to chop a load of firewood first. You guys eat breakfast without waiting for me." With that, he grabbed an axe and a water bottle, slung a rope over his shoulder, and headed towards the mountain behind the village.

Liu Yuanzhou was going to a place called Cattle Back Ridge, which was quite far from the village, so people from the village rarely went there. Cattle Back Ridge was home to a shrub called Locust, whose wood was very durable for burning. Liu Yuanzhou thought that with his elder brother's wedding approaching, he should prepare more Locust for cooking during the banquet.

He walked along the village road for two or three li, turned into a gully, climbed a high mountain, and then walked along the mountain ridge for five or six li to reach Cattle Back Ridge. The journey wasn't far, but the mountain was covered with Locust and some unknown bushes, with narrow paths winding through them, making it extremely difficult to walk. It took Liu Yuanzhou nearly half an hour to reach the place, and he was already panting heavily. He stood on the mountaintop and saw that Cattle Back Ridge was shaped like the back of an ox, high on both sides and low in the middle. Looking west, he could see a white line in the distance, which was an official road.

Liu Yuanzhou sat down on a leeward slope, took a sip of water, and planned to rest for a while. The vegetation on this hillside was sparse, and the slope was dotted with soil pits of various sizes, the smaller ones as big as washbasins, and the larger ones big enough for a person to stand in with room to spare. The old people in the village said that these pits were left behind by medicine thieves after digging up medicinal herbs. Liu Yuanzhou had never seen a medicine thief in his life, so he didn't know if it was true.

After resting, Liu Yuanzhou took off the rope and water bottle and placed them on the ground, picked up the axe, and walked towards a clump of Locust. The Locust was about the height of a person, like a large ball, with densely intertwined branches filled with thin thorns the thickness of a thumb. Liu Yuanzhou struggled to chop down a Locust tree. He straightened up to rest for a moment, and then he caught a glimpse of something flashing in a soil pit not far below.

"What is it, a pheasant?" Liu Yuanzhou's heart stirred. He picked up the axe and tiptoed over, peering into the pit. He was instantly frightened into a cold sweat and quickly took a few steps back, his heart pounding. It wasn't a pheasant at all, but a person.

After a moment, Liu Yuanzhou saw the person stand up from the soil pit. First, she looked around, and then she looked at him and said, "Little brother, where is this place?" Her voice was low and hoarse.

Liu Yuanzhou saw that the person's hair was disheveled, and he couldn't see her face clearly. Although her voice was hoarse, he could still tell that it was a woman's voice, and her accent didn't sound like a local. She was wrapped in a gray cotton robe, which was tattered and revealed the cotton inside.

"Who is she? What is she doing here? A beggar? A medicine thief?" Liu Yuanzhou wondered. He composed himself and replied, "This is within the territory of Shi Fu County, Yan Prefecture, about a hundred li from Shi Fu County."

"Have I entered Yan Prefecture?" the woman murmured to herself, then asked, "Little brother, could you do me a favor and take me to the county town? I will repay you handsomely."

Liu Yuanzhou thought for a moment and replied, "There's a market town a dozen li away, where you can rent a mule cart to go to the county town. I can take you to the market town." Although he didn't know where the woman came from, it was easy for him to take her to Crouching Tiger Slope, and he wouldn't lose anything. As for taking her to the county town, that was impossible; he had never been to the county town himself.

"Then thank you very much, but my legs are not convenient. Could you carry me there?" the woman said again.

This startled Liu Yuanzhou. He stammered, "This, this, as the saying goes, men and women should not touch hands when passing things, it's not appropriate."

"Come and see, I have an injury on my leg," the woman sighed.

Liu Yuanzhou didn't suspect anything. He walked over to look at the woman's leg, but before he could see clearly, he saw a black shadow pounce on his face. Liu Yuanzhou was shocked. Just as he was about to raise his hand to block, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck, and a force penetrated his body. Then he felt all the strength leave him, and his body collapsed to the ground like mud.

At this moment, Liu Yuanzhou was extremely terrified: "What is she going to do? Could she really be a medicine thief? Is she going to kill me to silence me after discovering my secret?" He wanted to speak, but he couldn't say a word, only making "uh uh" whimpering sounds.

The woman said apologetically, "I'm sorry, little brother, I'll have to trouble you for a moment." With that, she dragged Liu Yuanzhou into the soil pit where she had been staying. Then she took off Liu Yuanzhou's cotton coat and untied her own robe to cover Liu Yuanzhou. She hesitated for a moment and put on Liu Yuanzhou's clothes. Her size was about the same as Liu Yuanzhou's, so the clothes fit her well. After changing her clothes, she panted and rested for a while, then took off Liu Yuanzhou's hat and put it on her own head, messed up Liu Yuanzhou's hair, and grabbed a handful of dirt to smear on his head.

After doing all this, she stepped out of the soil pit and looked at her masterpiece, nodding with satisfaction. She took out a white pill the size of a fingernail from her pocket, a trace of hesitation flashed in her eyes, but in the end, she closed her eyes and swallowed it. Then she lay down on the edge of the soil pit, no more than four or five steps away from Liu Yuanzhou. She curled up and breathed in a special rhythm, the time between inhaling and exhaling gradually lengthening, until finally, her breathing was almost inaudible.

As for Liu Yuanzhou, he couldn't move his body and was at the mercy of the woman, but his eyes could still see. The fear in his heart gradually turned into surprise: "What exactly is she trying to do?"

Liu Yuanzhou sat in the soil pit, unable to move, with only the sound of the wind and the rustling of tree branches in his ears, but there was a faint fragrance lingering at the tip of his nose, and he felt a strange sensation in his heart.

He didn't know how long had passed, but Liu Yuanzhou gradually became anxious: "Why can't I still move? Could it be that I'm paralyzed?" Thinking this, he became even more terrified. Just then, he heard a cracking sound of footsteps outside, and Liu Yuanzhou was startled, becoming excited. Could it be that the people from the village had come to find him? But then he thought of the woman next to him, and his heart turned cold. He shouted inwardly, "Don't come over, go back to the village and get people!"

As if hearing Liu Yuanzhou's inner cry, the footsteps stopped.

"Miss Qin, I see you, don't hide anymore. I've caught you again. This time, you should fulfill your promise, right?" the person said, his voice rough, a man's voice, and his accent was also not that of a local. Liu Yuanzhou was disappointed. "This man is here to catch this woman? They know each other?"

Liu Yuanzhou couldn't speak, and the woman next to him, Miss Qin, didn't answer either.

Seeing that no one had answered for a long time, the man became impatient: "Miss Qin, as the saying goes, things should not be done more than three times. This is the third time I've caught you. Please tell me how to use that thing." After a pause, the man softened his tone and said, "From the Western Borderlands to Northern Mongolia, and now to Qin Province, it's been more than ten thousand li. I think my patience is sufficient, and my sincerity is also sufficient. As long as you agree to what you said, I, Bage, swear by Eternal Heaven that I will never tell a third person about this matter, and I will immediately offer the antidote."

The only response was silence. Bage was slightly angry, thinking, "I've let her go twice. It seems she doesn't really want to cooperate with me. Now that we've entered the territory of Yan Prefecture, which is the territory of the Tai Xuan Sect, I can't delay any longer. It seems I have no choice but to use force."

Bage made up his mind and no longer hesitated, walking towards the soil pit. He had already seen the person lying on the side, and only thought it was a woodcutter from a nearby village who had been subdued by the woman, thinking, "Could it be that he saw her beauty and wanted to take advantage of her, not knowing whether to live or die."

Liu Yuanzhou understood the general situation between the two of them after hearing what the man said. At this time, the sound of footsteps rang out again, heading towards him. Liu Yuanzhou thought, "It seems he's mistaken me for that woman." Through his messy hair, Liu Yuanzhou finally saw the man's appearance: in his thirties, with a rough face and a scar on his left cheek, wearing a black short jacket.

"Miss Qin, I'm sorry," Bage said, reaching out to grab Liu Yuanzhou in the pit.

Liu Yuanzhou was shocked and screamed in his heart, "Big brother, you've mistaken me for someone else, the person you're looking for isn't me."

Suddenly, a figure leaped up and pounced on the man. There was a muffled "Pfft" sound, and the figure retreated just as quickly.

At this moment, Bage had an expression of disbelief on his face. "When did she call for help? Did someone from the Tai Xuan Sect interfere?" He had taken a punch to the back, and while there was nothing visibly wrong, his internal organs and meridians were already shattered. He felt his life force draining away, and he was filled with regret. "I'm not willing to accept this, I hate this..." His vision gradually blurred, and he finally fell into darkness.

Liu Yuanzhou saw the man freeze after taking a hit from the woman. Then, he began to tremble all over, blood gurgling from his eyes and nostrils, before slowly collapsing. He was so stunned by all of this that he temporarily forgot his fear. Everything the woman had done was now explained: "So, she was planning to ambush this man."