Chapter 21: Crossing The Wall
“Swish.”
A very faint rustling sound came from the corner of the wall.
The sound came from the simple hourglass Xiao Yi made from bamboo tubes. The joint between the two bamboo chambers had a small hole, and the bottom was wrapped in cloth and filled with flour, placed by his feet.
He pressed his ear against the wall, listening carefully to the sounds outside. He occasionally took out some of the flour from the bamboo tube, and when it all flowed out, he refilled it.
“Can I help?” Qiu Shuang asked.
“Shh.”
After a long while, Xiao Yi finally moved his stiff limbs. Turning his head, he saw Qiu Shuang still staring at him intently.
“What are you doing?”
“Timing,” Xiao Yi said. “There’s a patrol of Imperial Guards in the alley. They pass by every five or six minutes, so we can only act after they’ve gone far. That gives us about two to three minutes.”
“Minutes?” Qiu Shuang’s eyes showed confusion, and she softly asked, “Timing with this? How long is that?”
“You’ll know by looking.”
Xiao Yi refilled the bamboo tube with flour. Because the joint had a curve, timing with only one side was more accurate.
“We must enter the Li Residence before the flour runs out.”
Qiu Shuang crouched down, tilting her ear to listen carefully, then looked up at the high wall, rehearsing in her mind.
When the rustling sound stopped, she couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise, “So soon?”
“Mm.”
Qiu Shuang said, “But the wall is so high. We might find a way to climb over, but how do we get over the high wall of the Li Residence?”
“We don’t have time to climb in and out; we’ll go straight over.”
“How?”
“No rush. Let’s move some objects over first to make it easier for us to get onto the wall.”
Not far away were some broken old water vats. The two of them worked together to move them to the wall and turned them upside down, stacking them.
During the process, whenever any action was needed near the wall, Xiao Yi insisted on waiting until the patrol soldiers’ footsteps passed and then setting up the bamboo tube before starting. Thus, even though they accidentally smashed a jar, they were not discovered.
Finally, they had set up their “ladder” to the wall.
“I’ll go up to observe. You keep watch, and when the time is up, poke me with the bamboo pole.”
“Okay.”
Xiao Yi climbed onto the wall and looked into the alley. The patrolling Imperial Guards had just gone far.
This was a section he had specifically chosen. There were no lanterns around, only moonlight and the distant fire to illuminate the area. After the Imperial Guards’ lanterns moved away, it quickly fell into darkness.
The alley was more than three meters wide, and the ladder couldn’t reach the high wall of the Li Residence.
Fortunately, above the high wall on the opposite side was a row of small, flower-shaped window holes, about two meters high from the ground, and about the size of a fist.
Xiao Yi was staring intently when he suddenly felt his thigh being poked twice with a bamboo pole. He quickly retreated back inside the wall. A moment later, footsteps sounded.
He got off the wall, took out rope from his luggage, and split it into two pieces, each over three meters long. He tied one to a crossbow bolt and the other to the hilt of a dagger.
After the footsteps faded a bit, he refilled the bamboo tube with flour. Because the joint had a curve, timing with only one side was more accurate. He climbed back onto the wall with the crossbow, aimed at the Li Residence’s flower-shaped window holes, and pulled the trigger.
“Click.”
It missed.
Xiao Yi pulled back the crossbow bolt, reloaded, and fired. He did this three times. Qiu Shuang poked him again, so he had to pause for a moment and start again.
The hand crossbow did have a sight for aiming, but it was very crude. If he had the chance, he intended to add markings to make it more precise.
Taking a deep breath, he forced himself into a more focused state.
Single-minded, his gaze was like a hawk’s.
His finger on the trigger pulled it decisively.
“Whoosh.”
The crossbow bolt shot straight into the window hole, and the rope tied to it was also pulled in.
Xiao Yi tugged on the rope. The crossbow bolt was stuck in the window hole, tautening the rope, but the shaft was too brittle and would break with slight force.
He was prepared. He hung the dagger on the rope with a short length of rope.
Just then, Qiu Shuang poked him again.
Xiao Yi frowned, but didn’t stop immediately. Instead, he sped up his movements.
Time was tight, but fortunately, he remained calm and made no mistakes due to panic.
Finally, he secured the dagger and let it slide across to the other side along the rope.
Footsteps could already be heard in the alley.
In the last moment, Xiao Yi quickly glanced back. In his peripheral vision, he saw the dagger slide into the small flower-shaped window, making a soft sound.
He held his breath, afraid that this sound would be heard by the Imperial Guards, making them look up and see the rope hanging above.
“What was that sound?” someone outside the wall suddenly asked.
“Did someone drop something?”
Xiao Yi inwardly cursed, thinking about how to respond, when he suddenly heard a childish kitten’s meow.
“Meow—”
He looked down and saw Qiu Shuang tiptoeing forward, covering her mouth and meowing again in a lowered voice, as if the kitten had already gone far away.
“Meow—”
It was uncannily realistic.
“It’s a cat, it ran off.”
“Grandpa thought it was your egg that dropped on the ground.”
“Haha, screw you.”
The scolding and footsteps outside the wall gradually faded away.
Xiao Yi let out a sigh of relief and saw Qiu Shuang returning. She looked up at him with eyes seeking praise.
“You learned well.”
“I can still help, right?”
“Time it.”
Xiao Yi tugged on the second rope on the wall. Because the dagger was stuck in the window hole, the rope was quite secure. He braided the two ropes together and tied them to the dougong (bracket complex) of the Shi Residence’s high wall.
Afterward, he got off the wall, leaving some time for rest.
“We’ll climb over using the rope in a bit.”
“Okay.” Qiu Shuang hesitated, “I’ve never climbed before, but I’ll get across as quickly as I can.”
“I’ll tie a safety rope to help you leverage… Turn around.”
“Oh.”
Xiao Yi tied the last, shorter rope around Qiu Shuang’s waist.
“Give me your hand.”
Qiu Shuang extended her hand. Xiao Yi glanced at it; her fingers were like white scallions, and her skin was soft and tender, clearly unaccustomed to hard work.
He took out a piece of cloth wrap and wrapped her hand.
“You go first when the time comes.”
“Thank you. I can go behind, so I don’t hold you back.”
“No need. We don’t know what the situation is on the other side, so you’ll scout.”
“Oh… you wrapped it really well.”
After a short rest, the two of them climbed onto the wall one after another. Upon seeing the rope, Qiu Shuang’s body visibly stiffened.
She stepped on the narrow ridge of the wall, trying to stand up carefully, but her legs were shaking violently.
“Sorry… I think it’s been too long… Let’s start over?”
She tried to hide it, but her voice was trembling.
Having brought along this young girl, tonight involved more trouble and risk, but since making the decision, Xiao Yi had not uttered a single word of complaint or regret.
He knew that the longer he delayed, the more frightened she would become. He maintained a calm tone and said, “Don’t be nervous. Take a deep breath. You can do it. One strong push.”
“Mm.”
Xiao Yi looked down and attached the safety rope at Qiu Shuang’s waist to the main rope with a slipknot.
He felt Qiu Shuang’s hands grip his arm, as if her legs were too weak to stand.
“Hold on. Put your feet on it too. Move your hands and feet one after the other.”
“I… I can’t lift my feet… Let me prepare…”
Seeing that Qiu Shuang still wanted to mentally prepare, Xiao Yi didn’t give her time to hesitate. He directly lifted her feet, placed them on the rope, and pushed her out.
“Ah.”
After a soft gasp, Qiu Shuang began to climb the rope.
As soon as he saw her movements, Xiao Yi immediately realized he had made a mistake.
Due to his years of extreme sports, his assessment of the difficulty of this task was skewed, and significantly so.
He occasionally looked at Qiu Shuang, then at the bamboo tube, his brow furrowing deeper.
The flour in the bamboo tube was flowing quickly; it was almost gone, yet the girl was still hanging in the middle of the rope, swaying.
It was clear she was trying her best, but it was obviously not enough time.
Xiao Yi made a decisive move, swept the bamboo tube off the wall, and grabbed the rope.
“Creak.”
The rope tightened, and it sagged a bit.
Xiao Yi’s arms stretched out like a monkey’s. In an instant, he was behind Qiu Shuang, pressing his chest against her back, clamping her with his legs, and lifting her up.
He gritted his teeth, using his core strength to support Qiu Shuang’s weight and push her forward.
Because he was so adept, he quickly reached the Li Residence’s wall. He pushed Qiu Shuang up to climb, but the roof tiles offered poor grip.
“Ouch, ouch!”
A song suddenly came from the alley. Xiao Yi turned his head and saw the light of the lantern carried by the patrol soldiers.
“Stretch out your hand, touch my sister, Sister’s thighs are round and soft, oh, da da da…”
The singing, accompanied by footsteps, approached. Qiu Shuang grew more panicked, and her hands became weaker.
Xiao Yi’s eyes flashed fiercely. No longer seeking stability, he pushed off the wall with his foot, released one hand holding the rope, and with a sudden surge of strength, lifted her onto the wall and flipped up himself.
The two of them flattened themselves against the Li Residence’s wall, motionless.
The sound of boots crushing snow from outside the alley approached, “crunch, crunch.”
The patrol soldiers had arrived. The clanging of their armor was close at hand. If even one of them looked up, they would see the rope above and the two dark figures on the wall.
Time had never felt so long.
Finally, the humming and footsteps gradually receded, and the lantern’s glow disappeared at the alley entrance.
The two of them let out a simultaneous sigh of relief.
Xiao Yi retrieved his dagger and shot the rope back into the Shi Residence’s high wall with the crossbow, so as not to be seen hanging outside.
Looking inside the Li Residence, there was a bamboo garden by the high wall. He grabbed a bamboo stalk and landed lightly, then helped Qiu Shuang down.
The tension of the night dissipated, and exhaustion immediately washed over them. They sat leaning against the wall, feeling the tremors of survival, and remained silent for a long time.
Outside the wall, the clamor of the Shi Residence suddenly intensified. Hooves pounded on the flagstones, approaching from a distance, with shouts and battle cries erupting.
“Catch them!”
“Don’t let them escape…”
Xiao Yi and Qiu Shuang exchanged a look, seeing shock in each other’s eyes.
