Volume 1 Chushan Bandits Chapter 2: A Guest in a Foreign Land
Near noon, there was still a thin mist in the valley.
The sun in early spring is as thin as a piece of paper cutout, curled up deep in the sky.
Xu Huai, a young man who had grown up in Tongbai Mountain for fifteen or sixteen years in a daze, was standing on the Eagle's Beak Cliff, which was about 25 feet high, with a conflicted heart, watching the carriage slowly approaching the cliff.
When the scholar in blue shirt stood up from the front of the carriage, the driver had already placed the long sword wrapped in a cloth across his knees. Xu Huai felt that the driver was like a hungry wolf, ready to pounce on the prey at any time and give it a fatal blow. He thought to himself, this is probably what Uncle Seventeen said about warriors? He really gave people a sense of sharpness!
Not far behind, three brave men who were casually pretending to be hunters, held the straight-backed long swords that were only commonly seen in the army at their waists in one hand, and pulled the reins with the other hand to speed up the horses, trying to stop the carriage before the eagle's mouth.
Seeing this, Xu Huai's heart tightened, and his hands tightly grasped the hatchet behind him. The veins on the back of his hands were knotted. After struggling for a while, he gritted his teeth and asked loudly, "Is the person coming here, Mr. Wang Bing, the old minister, the Chief Censor who was demoted from Beijing to Tangzhou?"
"It's me!" The scholar in green grabbed the reins and stopped the carriage. He looked over the cliff and said proudly, "You want to kill Wang Bing. I'm here. Please don't hurt the innocent!"
Xu Huai was filled with shock: Is all this actually true?
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…
It has been several days since Xu Huai regained consciousness, but he still hasn't figured out what happened.
He seemed to have spent more than ten years in a daze in the Tongbai Mountains, then he fell off his horse and suddenly woke up, filled with countless unfamiliar memories.
Perhaps these memories were already in his mind when he was born.
He could not remember anything about his childhood. His mother told him that he suffered from a serious brain disease after he was born. When an attack occurred, his body would spasm violently and his hands would scratch his head uncontrollably, as if countless steel needles were pricking and stirring deep in his head.
After he grew up tenaciously until he was eight or nine years old, his brain disease was alleviated and he had some vague memories of what he had experienced, but he seemed to be covered in a layer of confusion. He spoke and acted very clumsily, as if there was a missing string in his brain.
Occasionally I have some strange dreams, but I forget them after a few days.
Until a month ago, he fell off his horse and hit the back of his head. Although he was not seriously injured, he suddenly became conscious; it was like a shell was suddenly shattered.
At the same time, countless bizarre and strange memories burst out from the depths of my mind.
Unfortunately, when he calmed down a little and tried to recall these memories again, he found that he could not remember anything except for a few fragments or pictures that did not make any sense.
It was like a big dream.
Maybe it was just a dream.
Apart from some emotions and feelings of melancholy, sadness, joy, or distress, there is nothing left and nothing can be recovered.
If there was anything that was certain, it was that he was certain that these memories had existed deep in his mind, as if he had spent a lifetime in a completely unfamiliar world.
It is also certain that the strange dreams he had when he was young were related to these memories, and it is even possible that his childhood brain disease was caused by the inability to withstand the impact of these memories.
Of course, after regaining consciousness, some of the things he had experienced since childhood became clear to him.
Perhaps, it is far more than that.
Before this, he was forced by his mother to study in the clan's private school for several years, but he could not even read a few introductory scriptures fluently, let alone have a deep understanding of these scriptures.
Now, he not only fully understands the contents of these scriptures and the principles derived from them, but he can also see that there are many fallacies, pedantry, and other things that are not worth mentioning in them.
His thinking at this moment was sharper than ever before.
The whole person can be said to be reborn.
Many things that I had been ignorant of in the past suddenly became clear to me.
This is not what a boy who has grown up in Tongbai Mountain in a daze for fifteen years should have!
Perhaps those memories that he thought he could not remember, that were like a dream, that were nothing left, were not actually lost, but had fundamentally changed him.
Is he no longer "him"?
Then who is he?
Xu Huai was confused for several days. A few days ago, when he was leaving Huaiyuan Town and passing Yingzizui, a paragraph of text suddenly appeared in his mind. He felt like he was struck by an electric current:
"On the first day of the fifth year of Tianxuan, the Imperial Censor Wang Bing was demoted to Tangzhou. In mid-February, he was killed by bandits while passing through Yingzizui in Tongbai Mountain..."
This passage was like a small historical record, and after that moment it was engraved in his mind and could not be erased.
However, there was no similar robbery and murder case in Yingzizui at that time, and no court officials were demoted and passed through Huaiyuan Town. However, Xu Huai was troubled by this memory for two or three days, and suddenly thought of a possibility:
It is possible that this text is a “memory” of something that has not yet happened.
So, these days he went out early and came back late, and always ran to the Yingzizui Cliff to wait.
Not only did others think he was acting stupid again, he even doubted that his so-called "recovery of sanity" was actually the result of being possessed by a demon.
Until this moment when Wang Bing stood up from the carriage and admitted his name, the shock in Xu Huai's heart surged like a raging wave:
This piece of textual memory that suddenly popped up was actually verified at this moment: Those three people pretending to be hunters were the "bandits" that Wang Bing was destined to encounter on his way to exile?
The key point is that all of this actually appeared in his mind in the form of a paragraph of text a few days ago?
What about the other mostly forgotten memories, all from future generations that haven’t happened yet?
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Yingzizui is located at the highest ridge of this hill. Since the carriage has not passed Yingzizui, it is impossible to see the situation on the other side through the gap in Yingzizui.
Since there were pursuers behind and assassins were lurking on the cliff, the driver guessed that there might be an ambush ahead. He did not expect the carriage to break out of the encirclement. He untied the cloth bundle, revealing a long blade without a scabbard .
However, after Mr. Wang Bing admitted his name, the man on the cliff fell silent. He didn't say a word for a long time, and didn't make any other movements. This made the coachman feel a little restless and confused: What on earth do these people want to do?
The carriage slowly moved to the foot of the cliff, and the driver stared at the top of the cliff. Although the trees blocked his view, he could now clearly see that there was a sturdy young man on the cliff. Although the way he held the hilt of the knife was quite ferocious, there was no cruelty on his face.
The three assassins pretending to be hunters behind him did not take the opportunity to surround him. Instead, they gathered together at a distance, staring at the cliff with surprise and suspicion. This made the driver even more confused:
Could it be that the young man at the cliff is not in the same group as the three people behind him?
The scholar in green was old and his eyes were blurry. He could not see the appearance of the young man on the cliff. He shouted again, "I know you are also entrusted by others. I have no intention of knowing where you are from. But please take my life and don't hurt the innocent!"
Xu Huai came to his senses and saw that the three bandits did not retreat after they had distanced themselves from each other. Instead, they gathered together two hundred steps away, each holding a longbow in their hands, and groaned inwardly.
He squatted on the cliff for several days, going out early and coming back late. He was just obsessed with verifying the memory that flashed through his mind, but he didn't want to be a hero to save Wang Bing.
However, the reactions of these three bandits also made Xu Huai feel strange:
Apart from the middle-aged man who looked like a coachman next to Wang Bing, who was quite powerful, shouldn't these three bandits retreat when they saw the difficulty since he was suddenly standing on the cliff and greeting Wang Bing?
What kind of treasure was hidden in the carriage that Wang Bing was riding in that made them want to rob it?
Don't they look like bandits?
No matter how greedy a thief is, he should at least cherish his life first, right?
Xu Huai was shocked when he thought of Wang Bing's mistaken belief that he was "entrusted by someone". Could it be that these three people were not bandits, but were the ones who were truly "entrusted by someone" to come and hunt down Wang Bing?
Xu Huai couldn't help but slap his forehead, thinking, if he hadn't caught him today, Wang Bing would be dead at the foot of Yingzizui Cliff. In the eyes of others, wouldn't it be that he died by bandits?
If the text memory that popped up in his mind was a historical record of today's events, then there would be no problem, right?
Xu Huai was shocked and regretful, thinking that what others said about him being a fool was indeed true. How could he be possessed and get involved in such a mess?
What should I do now? Should I tell the three guys behind me, “Just do what you need to do. I’m just passing by and saying hello. I won’t hinder you from assassinating Wang Bing?”
At this moment, Xu Huai regretted not covering his face with clothes. He didn't know whether the three assassins could see his face clearly as they were one or two hundred steps away.
If the assassin saw his face clearly, would he come to kill him to silence him after killing Wang Bing and his entourage?
Xu Huai thought about escaping from the back cliff, but there was an indescribable feeling in his heart that prevented him from doing so.
After a while, Xu Huaicai shouted towards the cliff:
"Old Master Wang, you must have misunderstood. My eldest brother admires you, and when he learned that you were demoted to Tangzhou, he was worried that the roads in Tongbai Mountain might not be peaceful again, and that there might be three or five ignorant thieves who might harm you, so he asked me to wait for you here. Old Master Wang, you guys just go ahead, and I'll take care of these three thieves. I don't think they have the guts to go into this eagle's mouth!"
The cliffs at Yingzizui were high and Xu Huai looked around and saw many trees. He thought that as long as he was careful, he would not be afraid of the arrows in the assassin's hands.
In addition, the walls of Yingzizui are steep, and Xu Huai believes that the three assassins may not dare to attack it. At that time, even if Uncle Seventeen and Xu Xin'an do not come to find him, he can hold on until dark and then find a way to escape.
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A friend, not an enemy?
The scholar in green robes stared at the cliff, also in confusion.
"I don't know what's going on ahead, but there's no doubt that the people behind are assassins sent by Cai Ying..." The coachman narrowed his eyes, looked at Xu Huai, and said in a deep voice to the scholar in green.
Given the current situation, they can only move forward.
The driver did not ask who the young man and the "big brother" behind him were, for fear that the assassin behind him would hear them.
Seeing the scholar in blue nodded slightly, he bowed to the cliff and said, "Thank you for your help, sir. If you need me in the future, I will do my best to help you!" After that, he swung the whip and hit the horse's fat buttocks with a "snap", and the carriage slowly started to move.
After passing Yingzizui, there is a downhill road and there are few pedestrians at this time.
The forests on both sides were sparse and the slopes were gentle. There was no obstruction, and it didn't look like there was any ambush.
The densely packed buildings of Huaiyuan Town can be seen at the end of the field of vision.
The driver whipped the horse even faster and headed towards Huaiyuan Town.
Encountering such an incident on the way, the girl hiding in the carriage huddled in the arms of her nurse, almost suffocated with panic, but hearing the noise outside the carriage, she couldn't help but lift the curtain and look towards the cliff, only to see the boy half-crouching among the trees at the cliff, his tattered clothes fluttering in the wind...
