Taiheiki

Chapter 97 Escape
Aqiu quickly shrank back inside. When he looked up a moment later, the man had already walked to the long house and was talking loudly with two people next to him. Aqiu wanted to listen, but the distance was too far and the wind was interfering, so he couldn't hear clearly what they were saying.

More and more people came aboard, some even bringing down a few horses to the stream to drink and wash. Others unloaded half a deer from the boat and began cleaning and cutting it by the stream, then roasting it over the fire. The aroma of meat wafted in, and Ah Qiu felt his stomach growling. The tall man walked over to the stream and sat down, surrounded by four or five armored men. When the venison was ready, someone brought him the tastiest parts for him to taste.

Just as Aqiu was thinking about how to escape, a yellow dog came down from the boat and scurried briskly over to the tall man, circling him with its tail raised. The man casually picked up a piece of venison and tossed it near where Aqiu was hiding. The yellow dog immediately ran over. It lowered its head to pick up the venison and was about to eat it when it suddenly raised its head and barked fiercely at the thorn bush.

"Oh no! I've been discovered by this damn dog!" Ah Qiu cried out inwardly. Just as he was trying to figure out how to escape, he heard someone shout, "There's an assassin! Help! Help!"

As soon as he finished speaking, seven or eight men in crimson robes rushed up, fully equipped with bows, crossbows, swords and spears, and shouted, "Get out now, or we'll shoot you!"

Ah Qiu felt a tightness in his crotch, and nearly peed his pants. He quickly stood up and raised his hands: "Don't shoot, I'm not an assassin!"

Seeing that Aqiu was only about thirteen or fourteen years old, the leading man's expression softened slightly. "You two go in and take a look. See if there are any crossbows hidden inside?"

"Here!" the soldier responded, then hid in the thorn bushes and came out a moment later: "No!"

"What's your name and what were you doing hiding in there just now?" the man asked.

"My name is Aqiu. I was herding sheep over there with my friends!" Aqiu pointed to a small hill not far away.

"Herding sheep? What about the sheep?"

"He has been taken back by his companions!"

"Then why don't you go back with me?"

"I've never seen a ship like this before, so I want to hide and watch!"

"You little brat, you're quite brave!" The leading man laughed. "Aren't you afraid that we're thieves and will take you away?"

"I'm very good!" Aqiu stretched out his neck: "I can climb trees, crawl through bushes, swim, run, and throw stones. No one in the nearby villages can compare to me! I was just unlucky to meet this dog, otherwise how could I be caught by you!" This somewhat childish answer immediately caused a burst of laughter.

"Really?" Wei Cong smiled and looked at the young man in front of him. He had messy, thick hair, well-proportioned and powerful limbs, a prominent nose, bright and lively eyes, and the outline of muscles was clearly visible under his light brown skin.

"Of course it's true!" Like all boys his age, Ah Qiu had an inflated sense of self-esteem. He pointed at the bow of the guard beside Wei Cong and said, "If you don't believe me, we can try it. Shoot an arrow diagonally into the air. I can catch it before it hits the ground!"

"Is this true?" Wei Cong laughed, "This is no joke!"

"Of course!" Ah Qiu puffed out his chest proudly. "I've tried it many times. Everyone in the village knows Ah Qiu from Ge Village!"

"Well then!" Wei Cong gestured for a guard to come forward. "If you can really catch the arrow before it hits the ground, I'll reward you with 10,000 coins!"

"Ten thousand coins?" Ah Qiu was startled. He looked at Wei Cong again and said, "You don't think I'm a child and you're trying to tease me, do you?"

"How dare you!" Liu Jiu's face changed drastically. "Stop talking nonsense, kid! Kneel down and apologize to my husband!"

"Forget it, forget it!" Wei Cong waved his hand. "Your name is Aqiu, right? Don't worry, as long as you really do it, I will definitely make it happen. I will never break my promise!" He then took out a gold cake from the purse at his waist and shook it. "See? This is a gold cake. One weighs half an ounce. There are twelve in this bag. They are worth ten thousand coins!"

Ah Qiu had never seen gold, but seeing that Wei Cong didn't look like someone who would lie to him, he nodded and said, "Okay, let's give it a try!"

"My dear, let me do it!" Liu Jiu took the bow and arrow, pointed it upward at about 45 degrees, and looked back at Wei Cong. Wei Cong smiled and raised his right hand and said, "Aqiu, I will start as soon as I swing my hand!"

"Yeah!" Aqiu responded, leaning forward slightly, looking at Wei Cong's arm nervously.

"Start!" Wei Cong swung his arm suddenly, and almost at the same time, Aqiu rushed out. Liu Jiu looked back at Wei Cong, and when he saw Wei Cong nodded, he released the bowstring.

The arrow flew out, turning into a tiny dot in an instant. Wei Cong turned his gaze to Ah Qiu's back. The child was indeed very fast, perhaps the fastest runner he had ever seen, but even so, it was far from fast enough to catch the arrow before it hit the ground. Liu Jiu shook his head and whispered, "What an ignorant little brat!"

puff!
With a dull thud, the arrow penetrated deeply into the soil. Aqiu was still more than ten steps away from where the arrow landed, but he did not stop. Instead, he ran forward at the fastest speed and soon disappeared into the bushes.

"Liu Jiu, I think we've all fallen for that little guy's trick!" Wei Cong laughed. "That kid never wanted to win the bet from the beginning. He just wanted us to give him a chance to escape!"

"This little thief!" Liu Jiu's face flushed with anger: "My dear, let me catch him back!"

"Forget it! He's just a half-grown kid! I was planning to ask a few more questions and then let him go!" Wei Cong waved his hand nonchalantly. "He's been lying all day, so there's nothing wrong with getting lied to once in a while! Come on, let's go back and eat venison!"

"But will that kid bring people to attack us after he runs back?" Liu Jiu asked.

"There's nothing to worry about!" Wei Cong laughed. "It was already dark when that kid ran back to the village. Even if we rush to the county town overnight, the county magistrate won't dispatch troops until at least tomorrow evening, by which time we'll have already left here. If they only rely on a few archers in the village, we have three hundred armored soldiers and well-equipped crossbowmen. How can they do anything to us? We just have to be careful not to let them burn our boats at night!"

"Okay!" Liu Jiu nodded: "I will send people to be careful and alert!"

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By the time Qiu returned to the woods, his limbs were completely stiff. The sky was already pitch black, a crescent moon flickering through the clouds. "Be careful, don't make any noise!" he reminded himself as he walked through the woods. He didn't dare run in the dark, fearing he'd trip over tree roots or get lost. To his left, the lake lapped gently over the shallows; to his right, a gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the trees. In the distance, the howling of wolves was chilling.

When Ah Qiu heard someone calling his name, he felt his legs go numb and he quickly answered, moving closer to the voice. "Ah Qiu!" his companion glared at him, eyes wide open. "I thought I'd never see you again!" He held a torch, his expression tense. "After finding out you were spying on the pirate ship, your father was furious. You're dead this time! He's going to give you a good beating!"

"You are such an unfriendly person. Why did you tell him all this?" Aqiu said angrily.

"If you can't even hide something like this from the village elders, you're not a true friend!" A middle-aged man with a deep affection and dignity walked out from behind the tree. He was dressed in a short brown robe and had a pair of short spears hanging from his waist. When Ah Qiu saw the middle-aged man, he lowered his head like a mouse seeing a cat. "Master Yuan, you're here too!"

"With a young man as troublesome as you, how could I not come?" the middle-aged man said coldly. He walked closer to Qiu, confirmed that he was uninjured, turned around and whistled, "I'm glad you're okay. How did you get away?"

"Hehe!" Ah Qiu laughed when asked about his proudest achievement. "That river bandit leader looked smart, but he was actually quite stupid. I just tricked him and he escaped!" He then recounted how he had pretended to race against arrows and used that opportunity to escape. Finally, he said, "It's a pity I didn't see his expression with my own eyes, otherwise it would have been very funny!"

"Do you think you won?" asked the middle-aged man.

"Of course, that guy fell into my trap and let me escape, so of course I won!"

"You took such a big risk and almost lost your life, but what benefit did you get? What loss did the river bandit leader have if he let you escape?" asked the middle-aged man.

"This..." Ah Qiu was stunned by the question. After a while, he replied, "I escaped. Isn't this the biggest benefit?"

"That doesn't count. If you'd listened to their advice and not put yourself in danger in the first place, you wouldn't have had to go to such great lengths to escape! How can that be considered a benefit? Besides, you might not have escaped by any means! Let me ask you, were there any arrows flying from behind you when you escaped?"

"This—, it seems there isn't one!"

"Well, most likely the river bandit leader saw your young age and didn't want to hurt you. Otherwise, as you said, wouldn't they have strong bows and skilled archers? An arrow flew from behind. Even if you ran as fast as you could, could you still outrun the arrow?"

"So the reason I escaped this time was not because of my own ability, but because of other people's kindness?" Aqiu asked disappointedly.

"Even if you really managed to escape on your own, there's nothing to be happy about. If you can escape once, can you do it a hundred times?" The middle-aged man sneered, "If you rely on your limited ability to act recklessly like this, you'll end up losing your life sooner or later!"

"Coach Yuan!"

"Master Yuan!"

"You are really capable. You found Qiu so quickly!"

At that moment, more than a dozen villagers gathered, all of them looking for Aqiu. Hearing the middle-aged man's whistle, they drew closer. Seeing Aqiu safe and sound, they breathed a sigh of relief and greeted the man surnamed Yuan profusely. The man's surname was Yuan Tian, a native of Chen. He had fled to Yuzhang after killing someone in his hometown. At the time, the area was plagued by tigers in the mountains. At dusk, a tiger would enter the village, mauling livestock and even attempting to devour people. Yuan Tian had stumbled upon a ferocious tiger and killed it, saving the villagers. He then led several neighboring villagers into the mountains to slay the remaining tigers. The villagers, impressed by Yuan Tian's bravery, kept him with them. The young men in the village all learned martial arts from him, and they all respectfully addressed him as "Instructor" and "Master."

A yellow-faced man in his forties came over panting, and as soon as he saw Aqiu, he cursed: "You little beast, do you want to kill us all?" Then he raised the stick in his hand to hit him.

"Brother Wang!" Yuan Tian reached out to stop the yellow-faced man: "Aqiu already knows he's wrong, so stop hitting me!"

"Master Yuan, don't stop me!" the middle-aged man said angrily, "If this continues, sooner or later the whole village will be killed by this little beast. Instead of letting this happen, it's better to kill him right away!"

"Aqiu usually learns from me. His mistakes today are due to my inadequate teaching! If you want to punish him, please punish me first!"

Ah Qiu's father was helpless and slammed his stick to the ground: "You little bastard, why don't you thank your Master Yuan! If it weren't for his plea, I would have beaten you to death today!"

Ah Qiu quickly prostrated himself and bowed twice to Yuan Tian. Yuan Tian reached out and helped Ah Qiu up. He asked, "Let me ask you, how many boats did you see that group of people have?"

"Seven, one big boat and six small boats!"

"How big is the big one, and how small is the small one?"

"The big one is a full twenty paces long, and the small one is eight or nine. Oh, and both the big and small ships are very narrow and long, and the sails are red. They are very beautiful!"

"Twenty steps long?" Yuan Tian's face looked a little ugly. One step in the Han Dynasty was about 1.5 meters now, and twenty steps would be thirty meters long. Such a long ship was rare among civilian ships at that time.

"How many people are there?"

"There are at least a hundred of them!" Ah Qiu thought for a moment and said, "They're also wearing red robes. They look very impressive. Oh, and many of them are wearing armor, and some are holding crossbows!"

"There are armor and crossbows? Are you sure you're not seeing things?" someone asked anxiously.

"No!" Aqiu said, "The leader of that group spoke to me. He was eight feet tall. I saw clearly that his armor had many iron plates, like fish scales. The guards around him also had armor, which looked like leather!"

"Did you see any big flag on the mast?"

"That's not true!"

The forest was dead silent, the firelight illuminating everyone's face, filled with worry and fear. In recent years, the Jianghuai region has been plagued by unrest, with all sorts of bandits proliferating. Despite its remote location, Yuhan County was also a frequent haunt of bandits. But the difference between bandits was profound. In the first year of the Jiankang reign (144 AD), Fan Rong and Zhou Sheng, who gathered tens of thousands of men to capture prefectures and counties, repeatedly defeated the prefectural governors and their troops, ultimately forcing the imperial court to dispatch troops, were bandits. Meanwhile, starving civilians, numbering only a few dozen or so, armed with farm tools and bamboo spears, were also vanquished by roving bandits. The difference between them was perhaps even greater than that between a tiger and a dog.

(End of this chapter)