The lovers were walking side by side on the dirt road. They reached a small pavilion on the side of the road. There were benches in the roadside pavilion. This place looked deserted and very old, as if it had not been used for many years. The lovers decided to rest and avoid the hot summer sun.
"I should have brought an umbrella," Zhao Renshu complained. He lay on the bench and put his head on Ping'an's lap.
Guo Baiyu sat next to Ping'an. He took out his handkerchief and squeezed some water onto it from the leather canteen. He stretched out his left hand and touched Ping'an's chin, then gently turned her face to him. He wiped her face with the wet handkerchief. After wiping Ping'an's face, he wiped his own. He poured more water on the handkerchief, squeezed out the excess, and then gave the wet handkerchief to Ping'an. Ping'an took the handkerchief and wiped the sweat off Zhao Renshu's face.
"If you kiss me, I will be fine," Zhao Renshu looked up, closing his eyes and smiling at her.
She smiled at him, then lowered her head and kissed his lips gently. She returned the handkerchief to Guo Baiyu and then kissed his lips gently as well.
Guo Baiyu took out an orange and began to peel it. After peeling the orange, he took the first segment and fed it to Ping'an. Then, he took the second piece and fed it to Zhao Renshu. He ate the third slice himself. He kept feeding them and himself until the last slice of orange was gone.
Ping'an's left hand was on Zhao Renshu's face, and her head rested on Guo Baiyu's left shoulder. Guo Baiyu peeled another orange and fed them again.
"Hey...." Zhao Renshu looked up.
Guo Baiyu simply hummed in acknowledgment.
"This is very sweet," Zhao Renshu said. "I like it."
"If you like it, we can buy more when we get back," Ping'an offered.
"I'm not talking about the orange. I'm talking about us," Zhao Renshu clarified, closing his eyes again. "This moment is very sweet."
The sound of galloping horses in the distance caused Zhao Renshu to open his eyes and sit up.
Three horses stopped at the roadside pavilion. Three people dismounted and walked towards the lovers.
"Yingyu? What are you guys doing here?" Guo Baiyu asked, surprised.
"My sister is worried about you," Wu Meirong replied.
"I already told Xiao Mei to let you know that I would be back in a few days," Guo Baiyu stated.
"You left without saying a word again," Wu Meixiang said, her gaze sweeping over Ping'an and Zhao Renshu.
Zhao Renshu, annoyed at the three "monkeys" ruining their sweet time, scoffed, "He is his own person. He can go wherever he wants. I don't think he needs your permission." Zhao Renshu smiled and stroked his chin with his left thumb.
"He should go where you go?" Wu Meirong asked indifferently, a hint of disdain in her voice.
"I believe it with all my heart," Zhao Renshu replied, giving Wu Meirong a frivolous smile. "If I walk out of here, he will follow, but if any of you walk out of here, he will not follow." He continued to flirt with her with his eyes.
"You... Shameless!" Guo Yingyu snapped, his face reddening.
Zhao Renshu laughed, making Guo Yingyu and Wu Meirong even angrier. Wu Meirong tossed her outer long shirt to one side, pulled out her two short butterfly swords, and lunged at Zhao Renshu. Zhao Renshu grabbed her wrist.
Zhao Renshu teased Wu Meirong by pulling her wrist closer to his nose, then started sniffing. "What kind of perfume are you using? It smells very fresh." He sniffed several more times.
"YOU!" Guo Yingyu was so angry that he took out his sword and lunged at Zhao Renshu too.
Zhao Renshu jumped backward out of the pavilion, dragging Wu Meirong with him. As Guo Baiyu and Ping'an watched the two attack Zhao Renshu, Wu Meixiang took out her twin butterfly swords and jumped over the bench, joining her sister and her soon-to-be brother-in-law.
Guo Yingyu and Wu Meixiang kicked at Zhao Renshu's feet, but Zhao Renshu jumped up, pulling Wu Meirong with him.
"STOP! Stop fighting!" Guo Baiyu shouted.
Ping'an jumped over the bench. She took out her whip and released it directly at Wu Meirong, who was still in mid-air. Ping'an's whip wrapped tightly around Wu Meirong's waist. Ping'an pulled her down to the ground.
Wu Meixiang was upset when she saw her sister being pulled down onto the ground. She jumped up and began to attack Ping'an. The more experienced Wu Meixiang violently attacked Ping'an.
Wu Meirong got up and joined her sister to attack Ping'an. The two sisters were using their twin butterfly combination to attack Ping'an. Guo Baiyu jumped up just in time, blocking one of Wu Meixiang's attacks. Guo Baiyu's counterattack knocked Wu Meixiang backward several steps.
"Sister, are you alright?" Wu Meirong cried, running to her sister.
Guo Baiyu turned around, facing Ping'an with both hands on her arms, and asked, "Are you hurt?"
Ping'an shook her head.
"Guo Baiyu! What does this mean?" Wu Meirong shouted angrily.
Zhao Renshu grasped Guo Yingyu's attack with his left hand and hit Guo Yingyu's right shoulder with his right hand. The attack caused Guo Yingyu to fall to his knee.
"Don't push too far, or I will be serious," Zhao Renshu warned, letting go of Guo Yingyu's right hand, and walked towards Ping'an. Zhao Renshu put his hand on Ping'an's right shoulder. "Are you okay?"
Ping'an nodded.
Zhao Renshu pinched Ping'an's right cheek. "Next time when we are fighting, stay far away. I don't want you to get hurt." He heard moving noises behind one of the trees. Then he shouted, "Come out, otherwise I'm sending arrows your way!"
An old man in his sixties slowly came out from hiding. He was a short, fat man, but he was well dressed.
"Please don't kill me," the old man said, very frightened.
"Who said we were going to kill you?" Zhao Renshu asked. "What are you doing here?"
"But you said you wanted to shoot me with an arrow," the old man stammered.
"That was just a threat. I'm not really going to shoot you," Zhao Renshu clarified.
"My name is Su Bofen. I risked my life to ask for help," Su Bofen cried. "So, when I saw you fighting, I thought you were bandits."
"Where are you from?" Zhao Renshu asked.
"Sunshine Town," Su Bofen replied. "Right now, in Sunshine Town, people are disappearing without a trace. Most of them were good-looking women and men. The Mayor hired some hunters to investigate the disappearing people. Those hunters now work with the bandits. They refuse to let us leave town. Anyone who visits or happens to enter our town cannot leave."
"I guess Lao Shan is right," Zhao Renshu mused aloud. "Very strange, but very interesting."
"Why do you think we are bandits?" Guo Baiyu asked Su Bofen.
"About two months ago, a group of about fifty bandits came to live on the mountain," Su Bofen explained. "They blocked the gate to the town. They don't allow the residents or visitors to leave. Visitors will be kept in inns. There is no more room left in any inns."
The sound of galloping horses made Su Bofen jump behind Zhao Renshu. The man in red stopped and jumped off his horse. It was Fang Yaoting.
Fang Yaoting smiled and walked towards Guo Baiyu. Guo Baiyu shook his head in disbelief.
"Fang Yaoting! Why are you here?" Guo Yingyu demanded.
"The road doesn't belong to you," Fang Yaoting retorted.
Then from behind Fang Yaoting was a horse carriage. When the carriage approached, the driver was Lee Dachin. Zhao Renshu, Guo Baiyu, and Ping'an looked at each other. They didn't need to guess who would come out of the carriage. They already knew who it would be. Out of the carriage stepped Guo Longtong, Chen Changchao, and Wu Wangwei.
"Argh!" Zhao Renshu murmured angrily. "Stupid, stupid little sister..."
Guo Longtong smiled and waved towards the gathering crowd. "Baiyu!" He turned to Guo Yingyu. "Oh, Yingyu? We didn't know you'd be here too?"
"Explain why you four are here?" Guo Baiyu asked, his voice strained.
"We are going to visit you," Guo Longtong began. "We met Childe Fang at the gate of the city. We followed him here because he said he was going to where you are."
"And you just follow him?" Zhao Renshu demanded, fused with annoyance and frustration.
"Well... Le..." Guo Longtong stammered. Lee Dachin pinched him. "We want to visit Baiyu since it has been two and a half years."
"Heaven must hear our prayers!" Su Bofen said happily, stepping forward. "Please, all you young and beautiful, skilled heroes, please help us!"
Zhao Renshu was very annoyed by all the unnecessary phrases about "beautiful people." He grabbed Guo Baiyu's arm and pulled him away from the group. Fang Yaoting looked at Zhao Renshu with angry eyes.
Zhao Renshu gritted his teeth in deep anger. "This is too much responsibility."
"What do you want me to do?" Guo Baiyu said quietly.
"You go back with them," Zhao Renshu suggested.
"What kind of solution is this?" Guo Baiyu countered.
"The perfect solution!" Zhao Renshu sighed heavily. "You take them and leave. All of those people." He turned back and pointed at the group. "Every one of them is following you here. Look at them. You have an angry fiancée, an 'I wish you die' brother, a worried sister-in-law-to-be, a crazy crush who loses his temper if anyone is close to you, a cousin, and his three friends who can't even defend themselves from a rat's attack." He caught his breath. Zhao Renshu felt his blood pouring out of his body, and his heartbeat accelerated.
From afar, the group couldn't hear what the two men were talking about. All they saw was the aggressive Zhao Renshu pointing at them, then pointing at Guo Baiyu. Zhao Renshu raised his arms and waved from side to side. He stomped his foot down as he turned around and shook his head like a crazy madman.
"What do you think they're talking about?" Guo Longtong questioned.
"From the look of it, Brother Zhao is upset at something," Wu Wangwei observed.
"Why? We are friends," Guo Longtong said, confused.
"It's either jealousy or he was possessed," Wu Wangwei suggested.
"That's it!" Fang Yaoting exclaimed. He grabbed his sword. "I've had enough of that jerk who thinks he owns Baiyu!"
Guo Longtong held Fang Yaoting's arm. "Calm down, it might not be what we think."
"If I go, then Ping'an goes," Guo Baiyu stated, surprising Zhao Renshu.
"Fine," Zhao Renshu conceded. "She will go with you on one condition: you will always be with her, and your fiancée is not allowed to approach her. I originally wanted to do this by myself from the beginning."
The two men returned to the group.
"Okay, we go back to the city," Guo Baiyu announced.
Everyone agreed to go back. Guo Baiyu walked to Ping'an. "You are going too," he told her.
Ping'an shook her head. "I am not going. I will stay here with Renshu."
"Best if you go back," Zhao Renshu urged. "If you don't leave, then he won't leave. If he won't leave..." He stopped and pointed at the rest of the people, "All these people will not leave!"
"If I leave now, later on, when they are back in the city, I will still sneak out," Ping'an insisted. "Therefore, I have no reason to leave."
Su Bofen was worried because all the great heroes would leave. One sole hero would not win the battle against fifty bandits. Su Bofen realized that if Ping'an stayed, everyone would stay. He walked over and knelt in front of Ping'an.
"Miss, please, I beg you," Su Bofen cried, tears streaming down his face. "My two daughters were taken away two days ago. I am a father. I am really useless. I can't even take care of my daughters. I risked my life out of the town to seek help. Please... help this father."
Zhao Renshu knew it was all over. Ping'an was soft to parents who loved their children. Guo Baiyu was as firm as a mountain. If Ping'an did not leave, Guo Baiyu would not leave. He had no choice but to endure all these annoying people temporarily. He took a deep breath and slowly blew it out.
Ping'an helped Su Bofen up. "I will not go. I will go help your daughters."
Su Bofen wiped his tears. "Thank you!"
"I am not going too," Guo Baiyu declared.
"I...." Fang Yaoting began, clearly intending to protest.
Zhao Renshu cut off Fang Yaoting's conversation and said sarcastically, "You're not going, right? Someone wants to volunteer to return to Capital City?" He looked at the group of people. "Anyone?"
No one answered.
Guo Baiyu advised all women, his cousin, and three friends to stay in the carriage. Zhao Renshu, Guo Yingyu, Fang Yaoting, and him would ride on horseback behind and alongside the carriage.
"Fine!" Zhao Renshu grumbled. "Everyone inside the carriage and on the horse!" He looked at Su Bofen. "Lead the way."
Su Bofen jumped into the carriage and sat beside Ping'an on the carriage platform. He held the reins, lightly urged the horse forward, and drove towards Sunshine Town.