The Splendor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 33 Expulsion
The incense sticks before the Buddha burned out.

By the window, Xiao Yi gazed silently at the Guo mansion, which resembled a living hell, for a long time, like a Buddhist shrine.

He only snapped out of his daze when his clothes were tugged, and shook the snowflakes off his hair.

He looked down and saw Guo Zongyi's pitiful eyes.

"My lord, what... happened?"

Xiao Yi's Adam's apple bobbed, and in a worried tone, he said in a relatively relaxed manner, "The women and children of the Guo family have been taken away."

Guo Zongyi grew increasingly worried and asked, sobbing, "Then what should we do?"

“Go to Yedu and tell your grandfather that he will save everyone.”

"Ok!"

Guo Zongyi nodded vigorously.

Perhaps Xiao Yi's almost cold calmness affected the child; he raised his little hand to wipe away the tears on his face and stopped crying.

"Zongyi will listen to her husband, and will not cry or make a fuss."

"Good boy."

Xiao Yi gently stroked Guo Zongyi's head, then looked down and saw that Guo Xin was still asleep, her eyelashes wet with tears and her brows furrowed.

He couldn't bear to wake her, so he went to another window and observed Kaifeng.

Outside the temple wall, an old farmer selling vegetables squatted by the roadside, with wilted winter fruits and vegetables in a basket at his feet.

Looking into the distance, Kaifeng resembles a bluish-gray silk cloth crumpled by snow, its streets and alleys stretching irregularly along the veins of the Cai River and the Bian River.

The people inside the city seemed to be trapped by the heavy snow and the soldiers.

Glancing casually at a street corner, a rickshaw driver in a tattered coat pulled his oxcart past more than a dozen migrants. In front of a shop with a sign that read "Soup and Noodles," an old carpenter helped repair the roof and gave them a bowl of hot soup. Smoke wafted out from the cracks in the roof, bringing a touch of warmth and life.

The sounds of oars on the canal boats, the clappers of the garrison soldiers, the coughs of the refugees, the smoke from the stoves, and the roof of a thatched house collapsing somewhere... all blended together, becoming a vibrant force amidst the gray and white hues.

Further away, red flags were planted on the city walls, and a guard stood every ten steps.

The morning bell has already rung, but the city gates remain closed today. Dozens of people are crowded under the gate tower, and an old woman holding a child is weeping and pleading with the guards, probably eager to leave the city to see her relatives.

How can one leave Kaifeng, a city like this?

"Fifth Aunt, you're awake?" Guo Zongyi's voice rang out. "The family has been captured. We have to go find Grandfather to rescue them."

Xiao Yi turned around and saw that Guo Xin's once bright eyes had become empty, as if her soul had been taken away.

She looked at him, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Mother and the others...were captured? Is that true?"

"Yes."

"Mother is still alive? You're not lying to me."

"Yes." Xiao Yi said in a firm voice, "You need to save your family, so we need to see Commander Guo as soon as possible."

"it is good."

Guo Xin tried to get up, but her limbs gave way and she fell to the ground.

Xiao Yi reached out and helped her up, feeling that her arm was cold and weak.

Looking closer, I saw her biting her lower lip so hard that it bled.

"Don't hold back. If you want to cry, have a good cry now. If we wait until we come down from this pavilion, any emotion we have will lead to our deaths, and you will never see Marshal Guo again."

"woo woo woo woo……"

Guo Xin then burst into tears, and Guo Zongyi couldn't hold back either.

After a long while, Guo Xin's unfocused gaze, which had been fixed on Xiao Yi, began to slowly refocus.

"All right?"

"Ah."

"Let's go."

The three of them slowly descended the steep and narrow steps.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of rapid hoofbeats and loud shouts from afar.

Xiao Yi rushed to the fifth-floor window and looked out. At the temple gate, a troop of Imperial Guards cavalry, their armor gleaming, galloped in, roughly shoved aside the monks who were trying to ask questions, and poured into the Daxiangguo Temple, heading straight for the Mahavira Hall.

"what happened?"

"Those who came to arrest us, you can leave first."

Xiao Yi's eyes remained calm as he observed the layout of the Daxiangguo Temple.

The temple was vast, with halls surrounded by corridors. To the north was the direction of the Guo residence, and to the south was the mountain gate, neither of which were accessible. To the east was a vast vegetable garden, near a tributary of the Bian River, with densely packed houses on both sides. To the west was the Zisheng Gate, which connected to the temple's market. It was said that the two wings of the central courtyard could accommodate ten thousand people, and at this time, it was the morning market, very lively.

With a plan in mind, he went downstairs. At the fifth-floor window, Guo Zongyi was standing on a stool, peering out the window.

"Oh no! It seems the abbot is going to betray us."

Then, in front of the main hall, an elderly abbot, dressed in a red kasaya and with a plump figure, came out surrounded by monks. He greeted the soldiers with his palms together and then turned to the guest monk, shouting at him incessantly.

The monk in charge of receiving guests knelt down and shook his head repeatedly. The old abbot took the monk's staff and personally struck the monk in charge of receiving guests on the back. Afterward, he raised his hand and pointed to the monk's quarters.

"They're coming this way."

Guo Xin pointed and said, "Third Brother is over there."

Xiao Yi turned his gaze back and saw that Guo Xin had woken up and was standing in the courtyard looking towards the main hall, occasionally scratching his head in a daze.

"Zhan Zhao!"

"Zhan Zhao!"

Guo Xin heard the call, turned around, and looked around to find the source of the sound.

Where are you?

"Run! Out the west gate, to the market!" "Huh?"

"Go ahead and run!"

Guo Xin was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening and ran away.

Soon, the officers and soldiers were chasing after him.

"There he is! Catch him!"

The three of them went down to the third floor and looked out the window. They saw the old abbot giving directions to the soldiers, instructing them to surround Guo Xin from the west.

Upon seeing this, Guo Xin flew into a rage and cursed, "You bald-headed dog! Your mother has given you so much money, what kind of Buddhist pure land are you? You are ungrateful and sycophantic!"

Guo Zongyi was also filled with hatred and spat on the wall of Paiyun Pavilion.

"Pooh!"

The three of them ran down the steep stairs and out of Paiyun Pavilion.

The courtyard gate, which had been closed, was now open. An old monk in a tattered gray robe stood in the courtyard, holding a broom and sweeping the ground. His eyes showed neither joy nor sorrow, as if he had never seen them at all.

Guo Xin's words still echoed in Xiao Yi's ears. He thought to himself, "A truly enlightened monk doesn't need to give away a lot of money."

In the blink of an eye, he had already run out of the courtyard gate.

They wanted to go west to find Guo Xin, but the sound of hurried footsteps had already surrounded them from the west, so they had to change direction and flee eastward.

Passing by the dormitory, Xiao Yi remembered that his luggage was still inside, especially Li Tao's letter to Guo Wei and all the documents.

"You go first."

He rushed into the dormitory, grabbed his luggage, and left.

"Whoosh!"

The sound of arrows piercing the air rang out, and one landed on a pillar beside him. He didn't stop and quickly caught up with Guo Xin and Guo Zongyi.

Seeing that they were running slowly, Xiao Yi simply picked up Guo Zongyi with one hand and grabbed Guo Xin's arm with the other and ran wildly.

They ran through the intricate corridors, using corners and ancient trees as cover, ran through the wide vegetable gardens, and ruthlessly trampled over the cabbages that had been painstakingly planted in winter... Finally, they reached the east wall of the temple.

Xiao Yi put Guo Zongyi down, took out a rope from his bag, threw it, and hooked it onto the eaves.

"You go up and pull Yi Ge'er first."

He pushed Guo Xin directly onto the wall. When Xiao Yi turned around, two soldiers had already caught up with him.

The two men ran the fastest. Because they were not wearing armor and were dressed in dark black robes, they were probably constables from Kaifeng Prefecture. They also did not have bows or crossbows. As they ran, they showed greedy and sinister smiles.

Xiao Yi turned around to meet him and drew his sword.

"Boy, surrender..."

The sword flashed.

As soon as the constables rushed in front of Xiao Yi, one of them swung his knife down, while the other constables tacitly swept Xiao Yi's waist and abdomen.

Xiao Yi dodged to the side, the knife grazing his chest and then striking his thigh near the knee.

At the same time, he hooked his right foot and tripped a constable's ankle. The constable lost his balance and fell forward. Xiao Yi used his left hand to twist the constable's arm and use his body as a shield.

"puff."

"puff."

The sweeping blade struck the "meat shield" on the back, eliciting a scream.

The longsword, however, pierced the throat of another constable even faster.

Xiao Yi kicked down the constable with the sword in his throat, picked up the wounded human shield with his left hand, and swiftly sliced ​​the sword across his neck.

"呲-"

In the blink of an eye, the two corpses fell heavily to the ground, splashing up snow.

Xiao Yi finished them off with a sword strike, instantly staining two patches of snow red and filling the air with a stench.

"Amazing!"

"Come on!"

On the wall, Guo Xin and Guo Zongyi anxiously stretched out their hands, but Xiao Yi simply handed over his baggage, grabbed the hanging rope, and climbed over the wall in two swift movements.

"Walk along the wall first, and try not to leave any footprints."

"I'll help you."

"No rush, let me bandage it first, we can't leave any bloodstains."

Having been followed by Jie Hui before, Xiao Yi dared not be negligent. He sat down in the corner and took out some strong liquor from his bag to clean his wounds.

The pain caused the veins on his forehead to throb.

Guo Xin pushed Guo Zongyi, telling him to go first, and then anxiously asked Xiao Yi, "How can I help you?"

“Step a line of footprints to the riverbank, then walk backwards back.”

"it is good."

Xiao Yi gritted his teeth, applied the wound medicine, and wrapped himself in bandages.

Time was tight, and he moved extremely quickly, yet with a sense of composure.

A moment later, Guo Xin came back and helped him up.

The three of them walked along the wall, along a path under the eaves where there was no snow, and then turned into the rows of houses.

The bells of Daxiangguo Temple echoed once more, but this time they sounded like a ruthless order to leave.

(End of this chapter)