Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 315 Ding Xiu and Li Xian

One was killed and two were injured, one of whom was seriously injured. The hunter was very satisfied with the result. He quickly put away his bow and arrow, stepped on the branches on the tree trunk, and climbed down quickly.

Because of his hasty movements and the slippery ground, the homeless man lost his footing and fell forward, landing flat on his face. He stumbled to his feet, wiped the mud from his mouth, and then drew Yiming'a's sword from his waist and ran straight towards the scene.

boom!
The homeless man kicked the gate open. At this moment, the whites of his eyes were already covered with scarlet bloodshot.

"Brother?" Hearing the noise, the young captive immediately opened his voice and shouted in Chinese: "Brother, is that you?"

The homeless man's pounding heart suddenly stopped when he heard this. He froze in his tracks, staring in astonishment at the young man curled up on the ground. But the next moment, tears of disappointment welled up in his eyes.

At this time, Hushubu, the only one still conscious in the yard, had stood up. His right arm had lost sensation, so he could only use his left hand to hold the knife to face the enemy and use his body to protect Yindahuqi, who was constantly spitting blood.

Hushubu knew that Yindahuqi was going to die, but Hushubu still wanted to protect him.

"Are you here to save him? I'll give him to you, and you let us go." Seeing that the vagrant was not holding a bow, Hushubu made way and came to the side of the captured boy.

"Oh." Unable to suppress the sadness that had already solidified into beads, the wanderer simply blinked his eyelids to squeeze it out of his eye sockets. He sneered and replied in Jurchen: "If you only put down the knife, I can give you a quick death."

As he spoke, the homeless man continued to approach.

"Stop! Stop right there!" Hushibu's lips had turned pale due to the heavy blood loss. "Aren't you afraid that I'll kill him?"

"Kill him if you want. I don't know him. I'm here for your heads." The nomad had already reached a position where he could dash right in front of Hushbu. "But if you put down the knife, I'll kill you," the nomad repeated.

"Ah!" With just a few words, the negotiations broke down. Hushbu yelled, and with the last of his strength, he raised his knife and tried to chop off the boy's head, hoping to drag someone down with him before his death.

But Hushubu's movements seemed so slow in the eyes of the homeless man. The homeless man suddenly exerted force on his right leg and dodged in front of Hushubu in a flash.

Hand up, knife down!
Blood gushed out from the smooth cut and splattered all over the ground.

A sharp pain, unbearable even by his body's defenses, washed over him. In the blink of an eye, Hushbu lost all sense of his left hand. He watched in horror as inertia slowed his palm, separating it from his still-swinging left arm.

"You are asking for trouble." The homeless man kicked Hushubu, who had lost the ability to resist, to the ground, without showing him any mercy and leaving him struggling and bleeding on the ground.

--------

The campfire had gone out. A homeless man sat alone under the thatched roof, gnawing on rabbit meat stained with dirt and blood. If he were a scholar, he would surely recall Yue Fei's words: "With great ambition, I would eat the flesh of the barbarians when hungry, and drink the blood of the Xiongnu when thirsty."

Unfortunately, the vagrant knew three languages ​​but couldn't read a single word, and he didn't have the lofty ambition to "restore the old country." Since his escape, he had only eaten the steamed bun he had taken from Yiming'a's body, and now he was starving, he didn't mind eating the rabbit meat that the Jurchen Tartar had gnawed on.

"Who are you? Where do you live?" the homeless man asked the still-bound boy while chewing on his meat. "Are you Han Chinese?"

"Where is my brother?" The young man lay on the ground with his head tilted back, looking at the homeless man who was sitting in a relaxed Guanyin posture.

The homeless man's eyes flickered. "I even know who you are, so how can I know where your brother is?"

"Aren't you the reinforcements my brother invited?" asked the young man.

"What good can your brother do for me?" the wanderer shrugged. "I came here for those three heads. One is worth several dozen taels. What's wrong with you? Why did you let three Tartars capture you here?"

"Shouldn't you let me go before asking me questions?" Hearing that the person in front of him had nothing to do with his brother, the boy's eyes dimmed.

"You should beg me, not talk to me like that." The homeless man threw a knife and stabbed it firmly in the boy's eyes. "But I'm in a good mood today, so I'll give you a knife. You can figure out a solution yourself."

"Do you want to kill me?" The boy was terrified. If the knife moved down half an inch, it would have pierced his head.

"Don't talk nonsense. Untie me now before I finish eating. Maybe there's still some cooked meat for you." The homeless man looked at the boy with interest and said, "If I finish this meat, you'll have to compete with the lynx for raw meat."

After a while, the boy struggled to cut the rope with a sharp knife, and also cut several cuts of varying depths on his body. After cutting, he did not forget to stick the knife into the ground to show his kindness.

"Good boy. Here's a reward for you. Eat it and get out of here." The homeless man tore off a piece of meat with his teeth and threw the rest directly in front of the boy.

The young man was stunned for a moment. Equally hungry, he didn't show any disdain for the food offered to him out of pity. He immediately picked up the food, patted it twice, and began to tear into it. "Thank you," he said as he chewed.

"You are quite polite, young master?" The homeless man stood up and walked to Yindahuqi, who had stopped breathing.

"I've read for two days." the boy replied.

"It's good to study. I have never studied." The homeless man pulled the arrow out of Yindahuqi's neck and threw it aside. Then he grabbed Yindahuqi's braid and straightened his neck.

"Don't," Hushbu begged with his last breath.

The wanderer glanced at Hushibu, and without hesitation, he raised his knife and cut off Yindahuqi's head. Yindahuqi's heart had stopped beating, and he had almost drained all the blood, so the knife did not cause a spray of blood.

"Here!" The homeless man threw the head at the boy's feet. "Sell me your ass and I'll give you this head."

The boy instinctively dodged. "Butt?" He was puzzled at first, then his face paled as he understood. He shook his head suddenly and said, "I don't want to be a rabbit husband."

"Tsk." The homeless man said with a wicked grin, "This head is worth at least twenty-five taels of silver. No matter how white your ass is, it's not worth that much."

The nomad went to harvest Erbihe's head again. "And if I want to fuck you, I don't need your consent."

"Are you interested in having an affair?" The young man looked at the homeless man in horror, his chewing speed slowed down, and his body subconsciously leaned away from the other person.

"What do you think?" The wanderer walked up to Hushubu, carrying Erbihe's head. Hushubu was already dead. "Why don't you just obey me? Why force me to kill your brothers in front of you?" As he spoke, he cut off Hushubu's head.

"Whoosh!" the homeless man exhaled. "Throw it over here." He waved at the boy.

"What?" the boy asked. "Why are you so stunned? Of course it's my silver!" The homeless man said, "Do you think I really like your butt?"

"Okay." The young man swallowed hard. He truly couldn't fathom the man's actions. He wouldn't be surprised if the homeless man suddenly rushed over and killed him with a single blow. So, even though he was reluctant to carry the head, he still obediently grabbed the braid and brought Yindahuqi's head to the homeless man.

"This Jurchen Tartar is really considerate. Even after shaving his head, he still left a tuft of hair for me to carry." The homeless man took the head, as if he were holding three money bags in one hand. "Take off his clothes too."

"Yes." The boy obediently took off Hushbu's coat. "Here you go."

"Expand."

"Okay." The young man didn't dare to look at the scarlet and pale head, so he turned his head slightly, grabbed his sleeves and shook out the wrinkled and dirty clothes.

"Are you stupid?" the homeless man complained, "How can I pretend if it's spread out vertically?"

"Oh!" The boy finally realized that the man was using the clothes as a bag. So he quickly held the clothes horizontally and scooped them into a bag shape.

"What's your last name?" As the homeless man let go, the three heads fell into his clothes.

"My last name is Li Xian. I haven't been married yet, so I don't have a courtesy name." The young man answered honestly.

"That's pretty damn particular. A noble family, huh?" The homeless man faced the young man, took two steps back, picked up the rope that tied the young man, cut off a small section to seal the bag, and then used the remaining part to wrap around the bag to turn it into a shoulder bag.

"A branch of the Ningyuan Li family." Li Xian said.

"What are you doing in Liaodong as a person from western Liaoning?" A hint of vigilance flashed in the vagrant's eyes.

"Ningyuan does not refer to Ningyuan City, but to Ningyuan Earl." Li Xian explained carefully.

In May of the seventh year of the Wanli reign, Li Chengliang was awarded the title of Earl of Ningyuan for his meritorious service. From then on, all the Lis in Tieling Guard who had even the slightest connection with Li Chengliang claimed to be members of the Ningyuan Li branch.

"Oh, so you're from the clan of General Li." From the sarcastic tone, it was clear that the wanderer had no good feelings towards Ningyuan Earl Li Chengliang. "Where do you live then?"

"Tieling. I used to live in Tieling." Li Xian lowered his head, a trace of sadness in his eyes. "Now, I have nowhere to go."

"We live pretty close, then. I'm from Kaiyuan. But you're a young master, and I'm a hunter. We're different after all." The homeless man's suspicions were somewhat dispelled. He slung the bag of human heads across his shoulder and asked, "One last question. Master Li, why are you here? And with your head shaved like that?" The homeless man rhythmically tapped the knife handle with his bloody fingertips, as if beating out a melody.

Instantly, sadness filled Li Xian's trembling eyes. "Two years ago, Tieling fell, and both my parents died. My brother and I were abducted by bandits and taken to their lair. We then had our heads forcibly shaved, leaving only the back of our heads exposed. After that, my brother and I were assigned to work under a bandit official named Liu Aita."

"Liu Laoer." Liu Aita was originally from Kaiyuan.

"What?" Li Xian didn't hear clearly.

"Go on." Youmin waved his hand, not wanting to explain too much.

"Last year, the slave bandits wanted to build a new lair, so my brother and I were sent to the new place to do forced labor. Not long ago, the slave bandits launched another attack on the Ming Dynasty and needed slaves to transport supplies. My brother and I were among them, so we followed them."

Li Xian's brows were furrowed as he spoke. But the vagrant still insisted on exposing his scars. "Where's your brother? He didn't abandon you and run away, did he?"

"Impossible!" Li Xian immediately denied it. "Brother treated me very well and protected me everywhere after I was abducted. After we escaped, we were discovered and the bandits chased us. Brother said we should split up and he would come find me. After that, I don't know what happened."

"Then he's probably dead." The homeless man sighed subconsciously.

"You're talking nonsense!" Li Xian cursed excitedly. "Brother, I wouldn't do that!"

"I hope so." After staring at Li Xian in silence for a while, the vagrant instructed Li Xian, "Master Li, go take off his clothes, and then pack up all the swords and weapons, including arrows. These things can be exchanged for money. I'm going to cut two pieces of meat from the lynx. We can't stay here anymore, we have to continue heading south." He bent down, picked up the knife that cut the rope, and walked towards the lynx that had been skinned.

"You want to take me away?" Li Xian looked at the vagrant.

"No, I just brought a donkey that can carry things." The homeless man had his back to Li Xian, so Li Xian couldn't see his expression. "If there was a real donkey for me to choose from right now, I would definitely choose it over you." As he spoke, he used a knife to cut off the lynx's four legs and several large pieces of fat, stuffed them into the lynx's skin and packed them up. "This package is enough to eat for several days."

"Where are we going next?" Li Xian followed the vagrant's instructions and used his clothes to pack up all the weapons and tools of the three Jurchen soldiers.

"Go south to Weining. That place is still in the hands of the court. We should be able to exchange these heads for silver." said the vagrant.

"You are so powerful, can I ask you to do me a favor?" Li Xian asked cautiously. "I want to."

"No. Don't even think about it." The wanderer interrupted Li Xian. "I know what you're going to say, but I won't listen, let alone help you. I don't do things that don't benefit you."

"I can give you benefits!" Li Xian said immediately.

"I'm not interested in your ass. I just want the money." The homeless man rolled his eyes.

"No! No. I have some silver in my basement. If you can help me find my brother, I will give you all the money when the imperial court recovers Tieling!" Li Xian looked like he was about to cry. "Even if, even if you can only find..."

The wanderer interrupted Li Xian again: "Are you a fool? In this vast mountain, where can I find such a person for you? My last name is neither Jueluo nor Xiong. Pack your things, it's time to go. If this thief comes back now, your family will be wiped out."

"I," Li Xian, was afraid of joining the bandits again, and I was also afraid that after this trip, I would never see my brother again.

"Either you come with me or get out of here." The homeless man yelled and turned away, "Hurry!"

"." Li Xian was stunned for a moment, but finally followed silently.

Shortly after leaving the village wall, Li Xian cautiously asked the wanderer, "I haven't asked for your name yet."

"Ding Xiu."

(End of this chapter)