Chapter 48: Wa Po Village
The cold night ended, and the floating dust in the ruined temple gradually became clear in the faint morning light.
Xiao Yi was awakened by the sound of horse hooves from the official road, and smelled the burnt odor from the dying campfire, mixed with the scent of blood and stale wood.
He was covered with a felt blanket, which was stained with blood.
Zhang Mantun sat cross-legged opposite him, like a silent stone statue.
“Tie Ya? You’re not sleeping?”
“Mm.”
Zhang Mantun’s broad shoulders moved, and he slowly raised his head, his stubble looking even more tired.
He grunted in a muffled voice and said hoarsely, “I don’t trust them yet. We’re all in the same boat; I can’t let you be in trouble.”
“We still have to travel; how can I not sleep?”
“It’s nothing, I can sleep even while riding a horse.”
“While we haven’t set off yet, you should get some rest.”
Xiao Yi smiled, patted Zhang Mantun’s shoulder, and stood up, knowing that this big man, though rough, possessed almost stubborn integrity.
The rift between them, born from Shi Deyuan’s death, seemed to have completely dissolved with the fading of the cold night.
Exiting the temple, he rubbed his face with snow and felt much more invigorated.
Outside, Lu You, Fan Si, and Wei Liang were already awake, feeding the horses with fine feed.
Seeing him awake, Fan Si quickly scooped up snow with a copper pot, put it over the fire to melt, took out a few handfuls of millet from his luggage, poured it in, and then carefully took out a jar of salt and sprinkled some in.
Before long, Zhang Mantun woke up to the aroma of the porridge. The five of them each held a broken pottery bowl, shared the porridge, and a warmth spread in their stomachs, gradually reaching their limbs, finally bringing some heat to their bodies.
After eating the porridge, Wei Liang rushed to wash the pot, and Fan Si handed out the water skins to everyone.
“I collected the snow last night and melted it.”
He was a considerate person.
Zhang Mantun was also thoughtful and said softly to Xiao Yi, “I’ve been watching. this water is drinkable.”
“What date is it today?”
“The seventh.”
Before setting off, they did a final check of their luggage. Fan Si checked the bowstring, and Lu You picked up Cao Dang’s heavy saber and weighed it, clicking his tongue in admiration.
“Damn, Cao Dang’s weapon is heavy; you really need strength to wield it.”
“Give it to me.”
Zhang Mantun snatched the saber and swung it around a few times, shaking his head, “It’s not that heavy… Mount up!”
The cold wind was still sharp, but fortunately, it wasn’t snowing during the day.
On the official road, rows of horse hoof prints and cart ruts receded into the distance.
Xiao Yi unfolded a map on his horse. The rough paper was yellowed with sweat stains. Between Chenqiao Posthouse and Weicheng, Cao Dang had marked a spot with a red pen.
Following the drawn route, the path to Wa Po Village should be a fork in the road going northeast, but he couldn’t tell how many li were left until the fork.
This map was very abstract.
As he frowned, Fan Si rode his horse forward, riding abreast of him, and asked, “Captain, I’m very familiar with the terrain of the Capital Region. Shall I lead the way?”
“Do you know where this fork in the road is?”
“About seven or eight li ahead, past Chenqiao Posthouse.”
Seeing that he was indeed familiar with the terrain, Xiao Yi asked, “Are you from Kaifeng?”
“No, I’m from Hebei County, Hezhong Prefecture. I’m kind of a fellow countryman with that fellow Wei Liang; he’s from Anyi, Jiezhou. We’re both from Hedong.”
Xiao Yi didn’t understand these place names very well and said, “We’re brothers; there’s no need to be formal. Tell me about your home.”
Fan Si said, “Where we’re from, the old folks say it was the ancient Gu Kingdom, and later it belonged to Duke Huan of Jin. It’s backed by the Zhongtiao Mountains and at the foot of the Yellow River plain. My father’s generation lived by poling boats and planting water-resistant beans on the riverbank. But for prosperity, it has to be Jiezhou, where Wei Liang is from; they have huge salt ponds. The money I used to bribe my way into the Imperial Guard was borrowed from him.”
Xiao Yi nodded and murmured, “So you’re from Shanxi, the area around the Yuncheng Basin.”
Fan Si carefully shook his head and smiled, “Captain, it’s Hedong. I don’t know what a ‘basin’ is. We call that area ‘Hedong Plain’ or ‘Jieliang Plain,’ just the great flatlands east of the Yellow River.”
“How did you end up serving in the Imperial Guard in Kaifeng?”
“During Emperor Gaozu’s reign, he raised troops from Taiyuan and conscripted my father. That’s how we followed him. Later, when the Khitans abducted Emperor Shao of Jin, my father’s unit held on until the Khitans withdrew from the Central Plains and surrendered to our Great Han Emperor Gaozu. They earned some merit, and I became a son of a military household, managing to get into the Imperial Guard.”
“Are you married and have children?”
“No, Captain, don’t look at my mature appearance; I’m only seventeen. I haven’t even touched a young lady’s hand. My father always wished for me to return to Hedong and start a family. Alas, I’ve never been back.”
“Hedong Plain is indeed a good place.”
“Captain, if you have the chance, you should really visit our hometown. The dates on the riverbanks are as red as lanterns, and there are plenty of walnuts and wild chestnuts. The Yellow River carp is incredibly delicious… I remember from childhood that I never went back until I grew up.”
The speaker was unintentional, but the listener took it to heart. Xiao Yi also felt that the Yuncheng Basin was truly a treasure land and kept it in his mind to learn more about it when he had the time.
“Tie Ya, Lu You, where are you from?”
“I’m from Xingzhou, Hebei,” Zhang Mantun said. “You could say I’m a fellow townsman of Guo Que’er, whom you’re going to meet.”
As a former guard of Shi Hongzhao, his tone was casual, and he didn’t think much of Guo Wei.
Lu You couldn’t help but exclaim “Wow” in admiration, saying, “I was born in Kaifeng. Apart from this good looks, I have nothing else. I’m a butcher’s son, my family has some worldly goods, and I married a beautiful woman.”
Wei Liang couldn’t help but mutter softly, “Nonsense, your looks are farther from the Captain’s than the Yellow River is.”
“…”
After this conversation, they understood each other better, and their trust slowly deepened.
Not long after, they passed Chenqiao Posthouse, which was the first major post station north of Kaifeng. It was built beside the official road and had many shops on both sides selling food, fodder, horse tack, and winter clothes, even a tailor shop. It was very lively, with post officials, officers, attendants, merchant caravans, soldiers, and pedestrians bustling about.
Xiao Yi had no intention of stopping and rode his horse past.
Eating hu bing as they went, they turned into the fork in the road, only to see a chaotic string of horse hooves heading along the small path.
“Xiao Si, where else does this road lead?”
“It seems there are a few villages.”
Xiao Yi was still worried that someone was searching for Hua Nong, so he quickly tucked away his hu bing and sped up.
At noon, they could see sparse cooking smoke weakly drifting towards the grayish-white sky ahead.
The outline of a village gradually became clear.
The village was small and very peaceful.
A few emaciated children were squatting in front of a house, staring longingly at a man holding a bowl and eating millet rice. Occasionally, the man would spit out a partially gnawed bone, causing the children to scramble for it.
A wild dog lay watching not far away. Hearing the sound of hooves, it barked weakly and darted into the woods.
Xiao Yi reined in his horse and took a few deep breaths.
The children looked at him, shrinking their bodies like sparrows, their eyes filled with fear and a numbness beyond their years.
Wei Liang rode his horse forward and asked in a low voice, “Captain, that monkey-like man eating meat seems to be well-off. Shall we seize his remaining grain?”
“No need,” Xiao Yi said. “Take two hu bing and distribute them to these children. Bring that man over.”
“Yes… Hey, you monkey-like man, come here!”
The man holding the bowl had already turned back into the house. Upon hearing this, he had to cautiously walk up to Xiao Yi’s horse.
Xiao Yi said, “I have a comrade named Hua. He married someone from your village. Where does he live?”
“Th-th-th-there.”
“Has anyone come looking for him?”
“Ab-ab-about half an hour ago…”
They arrived at a courtyard at the west end of the village. The courtyard gate was open, and the lock hanging there had been smashed. The ajar wooden gate creaked in the wind.
On the small path in front of the courtyard gate, there were messy horse hoof prints.
Xiao Yi’s heart sank. He drew his saber, dismounted, and pushed the door open.
No one was in the room. The furniture was all there, and the footprints on the snowy ground were messy, with some signs of rummaging, but no bloodstains.
Unwashed bowls and chopsticks were on the table. One bowl was overturned, and the soup had a thin layer of frost on it; it must have been left from before last night.
The stove was cold. The wooden board on the rice jar was lifted, and there were still a few dou of millet inside. The water vat was full.
The main room contained paper and brushes, presumably used by Hua Nong.
Xiao Yi glanced around briefly and was about to leave when he suddenly noticed a line of characters written on the wall. He looked closely and saw it was “Carrying a small backpack, I’m going to school.”
He breathed a sigh of relief, judging that Hua Nong and the others had already left.
The Imperial Court’s pursuers must have set off overnight. Only Liu Zhu would be chasing the Guo family like a dog.
It was likely that that Sun Tou had reported Hua Nong’s matter to Liu Zhu again.
Exiting the room, Zhang Mantun was squatting with his back to him in the courtyard.
“Tie Ya.”
“Look, I found horse dung! It’s fresh, definitely from about half an hour ago.”
Xiao Yi nodded. He deduced that Hua Nong and his group had left before dawn, about half a day ahead of the pursuers. However, with women and children, their progress would be slow, and there was a risk of being caught.
“Let’s go to Baima Port and protect some individuals who can bring you immense wealth and honor.”
“Yes!”
The group set off again, following a small path northwest to merge with the official road, galloping north, their horses’ hooves kicking up a trail of snow dust.
