Staggering Journey (5)

When dawn broke, Zhang Xing did not choose to leave the little mountain village straightaway. In fact, he and the other two routed soldiers stayed there for another four full days.

On the first morning, the three living men dug a large pit beneath a small hill outside the village and hastily buried the three dead men other than Du Meng.

During the process, however, Zhang Xing discovered to his surprise that physical labor was extraordinarily easy with the enhancement provided by circulating this so-called True Qi.

And so, that afternoon, without any need to consult the Compass, Zhang Xing asked the other two routed soldiers to help him try repairing the thatched earthen house whose roof had been burned off, which apparently belonged to a widow. Once the locals realized the three men were genuinely working, they offered guidance and assistance, and the repairs were easily completed by noon the next day.

By then, the villagers had already lowered their guard considerably.

And by the evening of the second day, after the three men had gone on to complete some simple repairs to the houses throughout the village, eggs and sliced salted pork had appeared at dinner.

Clearly, these were things the villagers had hidden earlier.

On the third day, the three stayed on, helping the old and weak in the little mountain village drain their fields and replant their crops-the rain over the preceding days, combined with the earlier "natural disaster," had visibly damaged a stretch of farmland behind the village.

Draining the fields took half a day, and replanting the coarse grains took a day and a half. By then, the villagers had become very welcoming. They began approaching the three men to talk, seemingly no longer much concerned about the deadly clash a few days earlier. Only then did Zhang Xing learn that the court fighting the "Dongyi people" was called something like Great Wei.

Great Wei, Dengzhou, Dongyi-these things that seemed familiar yet were not would certainly have given Zhang Xing more to ponder a few days earlier. But having seen a True Dragon, and with Du Meng's corpse now beside him, he no longer felt much inclination to concern himself with them.

And so, once the fourth day had passed and the morning of the fifth arrived, Zhang Xing had no further reason to stay. He asked the villagers for a wheelbarrow, laid Du Meng's icy corpse, preserved with True Qi, inside it, and pushed it himself. With one routed soldier scouting ahead and the other steadying the wheelbarrow, he went straight out of the village, ready to head west toward the familiar lands of Dengzhou.

But just after leaving, he encountered an odd group-three or four village elders, accompanied by seven or eight young and middle-aged women dressed as married women, blocked their path.

"What does this mean?" Zhang Xing looked at the villagers before him, momentarily baffled.

The elder leading them was clearly still somewhat timid. Faced with the question, he actually did not dare answer, while the seven or eight women simply lowered their heads and knelt in the road.

"Brother Zhang."

One routed soldier stole a glance at Zhang Xing's expression before speaking cautiously. "The villagers have seen that we're honest men who can work, and they're hoping we'll stay. Their village has hardly any able-bodied men left... as long as we stay, we can each pick one of these seven or eight widows for a wife."

Zhang Xing understood at once, yet found it rather strange-In this world, could you get a wife simply by helping repair a house and turn over some soil?

Yet somehow, it also seemed only natural.

"That's not it." The elder at the front hurriedly waved his hands and explained. "What the villagers mean is, if you three soldiers are willing to stay, each of you can marry two or three. The pretty ones can share your room, and the ones you don't like looking at can still help tend the house! And as for Master Zhang here, even if he wants four or five, the village would gladly agree! Someone to live in the houses, someone to work the fields, someone to drive off the wolves when they come-what else could we hope for?"

At these words, though all seven or eight widows kept their heads lowered, they could plainly be seen blushing to the roots of their ears. The two routed soldiers were somewhat stunned as well.

As for Zhang Xing, he stood dazed for a moment before realizing that "Master Zhang" actually meant him, then hurriedly waved his hands.

"No! No!"

That refusal made all seven or eight widows look up together, then their faces flushed crimson and tears began to fall. The elders all sighed as well.

Clearly, there was both the shame of humiliation and a grief born of helplessness driven to its end.

Realizing something, Zhang Xing hurriedly explained, "It's not that I look down on any of you ladies, much less that I don't understand your difficulties. It's simply that I promised my brother I would let his fallen leaf return to its roots... so I dare not make any other promises."

At this, Zhang Xing turned back to the two routed soldiers, who were clearly tempted. "What about you two? Having no family left, having homes far away, fearing arrest by the court-I can understand all of that. There's no harm in staying. And these ladies are clearly all from decent families and capable of managing a household... in short, whether you want to leave or stay, I certainly won't play the villain... what do you say?"

The two routed soldiers looked at each other. Finally, one gritted his teeth and nodded, let go of the wheelbarrow, and stepped forward to take a widow by each hand. Seeing this, the other lowered his head and stepped forward to take two women's hands as well.

Zhang Xing nodded without saying more, took up the wheelbarrow himself, and headed down the road. The two men and the seven or eight women hurriedly rose and moved aside.

After seventeen or eighteen paces, Zhang Xing suddenly stopped the wheelbarrow and turned back. Beneath the sun, he gave the two men another admonition. "Since you're staying, treat them well. Above all, don't think you can bully them however you please just because they're widows... I may well come back to see you someday!"

Having said this, he did not wait for their replies, but pushed the wheelbarrow onto the road without looking back.

The little interlude stirred plenty of feelings, but did not delay his journey. By the afternoon, just as the sun began tilting westward, Zhang Xing had clearly left the mountains behind and reached the edge of a plain... standing on a small slope with his hands on the wheelbarrow, he looked out beneath the afternoon sunlight upon luxuriant vegetation and broad fields. Towns, villages, rivers, and roads were clearly visible, crossing like the lines of a chessboard. He could even faintly make out people and carts traveling along the roads, while scattered farmers, men and women alike, busied themselves in the fields.

Yet this ordinary scene left the transmigrator standing rooted to the spot. A full quarter of an hour passed before he came back to himself.

Then he drew a deep breath, gripped the Compass, and murmured an incantation. At once, the Compass needle sprang up and pointed toward a sunlit road running westward to the north.

And after Zhang Xing took that road, he indeed arrived outside another village before dark.

This was a plains region. Although the village still looked somewhat dilapidated, its scale was nothing like that of the mountain village before. It appeared to contain several hundred households, including quite a few deep, sprawling compounds. There was even a wooden fence enclosing the settlement, and five or six able-bodied young men patrolled its entrance carrying bows and shields.

Then, somewhat unexpectedly yet also quite naturally, the villagers stopped Zhang Xing.

It was unexpected because the Compass in his hand clearly pointed toward this village. He, Zhang Xing, wanted to fulfill his promise and take Du Meng home, wanted to find a safe road, wanted somewhere clean to spend the night, and wanted something hot to eat rather than camping in the wilderness and gnawing on the steamed corn buns in his clothes that were already beginning to go sour... and although he was gradually becoming less fond of this "Golden Compass" that could point toward his heart's desires, so far it did not seem to have stopped working.

As for why it was natural, that could hardly have been clearer-a stranger, young and strong, carrying weapons, and, more importantly, actually bringing a corpse that gave off cold air.

Putting himself in their shoes, he would have stopped such a person too if he had been a villager.

After a brief standoff, Zhang Xing did not insist. He decided to find somewhere outside the village to sleep, but just as he was about to turn the wheelbarrow around, an older woman's urgent voice suddenly rang out from inside the village ahead.

"I heard from the villagers that a soldier's come?"

"Yes."

Something stirred in Zhang Xing's mind. He immediately raised his head and answered before the young village guards could, speaking frankly. After all, besides Du Meng's corpse, the wheelbarrow held two helmets and two brow-tipped long sabers; it could hardly have been more obvious. When he looked up and saw that the speaker was an old woman with graying hair, he hurriedly asked, "I've just fled over the mountains from the east. Is there something you wanted to ask, ma'am?"

"Did the court really lose up ahead?" The old woman craned her neck to look at Du Meng's powerful body on the cart, then looked Zhang Xing up and down before asking seriously.

"Yes!"

"Which army are you from?"

"The Central Rampart Army."

"Do you know the Longwater Army well?"

"What's his surname?" Zhang Xing's scalp prickled.

"Liu..." The old woman grew nervous as well.

"I don't know him." Zhang Xing felt a great weight lift.

"Not knowing him is actually a good thing." The old woman, too, abruptly let out a breath.

"That's true enough." Zhang Xing knew she did not mean the same thing he did, but still could not help looking at Du Meng's corpse with a bitter smile.

"Is this corpse a comrade of yours from the Central Rampart Army?" the leader of the young village guards, carrying a bow, suddenly interjected. He was a tall young man with sword-like brows and bright, piercing eyes; his plain clothes could not conceal his muscular physique.

"That's right. A comrade from the Central Rampart Army. We were in the same squad." Zhang Xing could not be bothered to hide anything. "He was one of the Hongshan people, and they care about fallen leaves returning to their roots, so before he died, he asked me to take him home..."

"The Hongshan people really do care about that in particular," someone agreed, arms folded.

"Why just the Hongshan people? Who doesn't care about fallen leaves returning to their roots?" an elder murmured with his head lowered.

"Why is he giving off cold air?" a boy asked curiously.

"I was afraid the body would spoil, so I infused it with True Qi."

"You're a cultivator too?" Another young man looked him over in surprise.

"Just some rudimentary military techniques." Realizing something, Zhang Xing hurriedly explained, "Nothing worthy of mention."

But he was met with a long silence. The situation seemed to have reached another impasse.

"If it's just one person, stay at my house. Sleep in my son's bed. It's only a meal!"

The old woman, who had fallen silent partway through the exchange, suddenly spoke. In the latter half of her speech, she clearly changed whom she was addressing, speaking instead to the young village guards. "He's only one man, after all. We still have dozens of able-bodied men in our village. Qin Erlang, you're capable yourself. No need to fear him... besides, someone willing to take his comrade home must have some respect for proper conduct... and as for this corpse, in times like these, who still worries about that taboo... let him in!"

At these words, the surrounding villagers began discussing it, but many nodded. The young village guards also looked, with some hesitation, toward their bow-carrying leader who had spoken earlier.

The young leader under their gaze-this so-called Qin Erlang-swept his eyes over everyone at the village entrance. After a little thought, he nodded. "Since Aunt Liu is willing to take you in, one night won't hurt. You may rest in our village tonight... but tomorrow you must leave promptly... I'll escort you there now, and tomorrow morning I'll escort you out myself... don't try anything clever, or my bowstring, Qin Bao's, has no eyes!"

Naturally, Zhang Xing had nothing to object to, and could only offer his thanks. Under these circumstances, their willingness to take him in was already cause for gratitude.

That night, perhaps Aunt Liu's feelings had been stirred by what she saw. Though one could not say she treated Zhang Xing like her own son, she was extremely attentive. She not only provided food and lodging, but also helped prepare a bundle for him and washed his mud-covered boots, leaving Zhang Xing feeling rather ashamed and uneasy.

After all, he would leave first thing the next morning and could not even repay this kindness of a meal with some hard work.

The first half of the night passed without incident, and Zhang Xing slept soundly.

But in the latter half of the night, someone suddenly began knocking urgently at the door.

Having at least experienced one bewildering deadly clash, Zhang Xing felt his heart turn icy for a moment, but still scrambled up to feel for his saber. Yet as soon as he stepped out of his room, he saw that Aunt Liu had already risen and thrown on some clothes, opened the door, and welcomed someone inside.

The newcomer was young and short, apparently one of the young men who had appeared at the village entrance that day, but not their leader, Qin Bao. After entering, he looked straight at Zhang Xing and delivered a startling declaration.

"You deserter... hurry up and leave! That bastard Qin Erlang has already gone to report you! The officers could arrive any moment!"

PS: Thanks to the three new alliance leaders, The Porridge Had Water Added, Not Zhou; He Changed the Imperium of Man; and Seventh Master Xunbao Qiao Hanhan. This book already has twenty alliance leaders. I'm overwhelmed by the favor.