Fang Henshui didn't struggle much before choosing to obey. If he had known that the group of people riding tall horses below were students of the Martial Arts Academy, he might have changed his mind. Unfortunately, he was just a constable from a remote fishing village, never having seen Chang'an City or the Martial Arts Academy.
He knew the two monks were cultivators, but if he had known the people below were from the Martial Arts Academy, his first reaction would have been that the Martial Arts Academy people were stronger, even if he was certain the two monks were terrifying. As a Sui person, his ingrained thinking still led him to believe the Martial Arts Academy was the most powerful place in the world.
What he didn't know was that it was fortunate he hadn't made another choice. Fortunately, he didn't recognize the Martial Arts Academy's uniform; fortunately, he was a coward.
So he didn't die.
Sliding down the hillside, the ragged Fang Henshui immediately attracted the attention of Yuan Chengshi and the others.
Almost simultaneously, the students at the front of the martial arts academy drew their swords. Although they had only been studying at the academy for a few days, the students who had stopped quickly formed a defensive formation. All of them huddled together, horses facing outwards; this circular formation could defend against attacks from any direction.
When they saw that the person rolling down the hillside was covered in blood and so filthy that they were almost unrecognizable as human, the students visibly relaxed their guard. One of them couldn't help but let out a low gasp of surprise.
"Save me..."
Fang Henshui knelt down with difficulty, prostrating himself on the ground and pleading, "I'm seriously injured, and my companions were captured by villains on the mountain. I barely escaped, please save me!"
"Are you from Jiangnan?"
Liu Shuang frowned slightly, spurring his horse forward a step, and asked.
"Yes... I am a constable from Du County, Chuzhou, Jiangnan."
Fang Henshui said breathlessly, "I came to Chang'an on official business on the orders of my magistrate, but when we were almost there, we were kidnapped by several skilled thugs. They initially wanted to let me go back to get ransom, but after learning we were from Jiangnan and had no relatives in Chang'an, they tried to kill us to silence us. Today, I finally found a chance to escape. Please, you all, save me."
He kowtowed as he spoke, his pitiful appearance heartbreaking.
"You say you're from Du County, Chuzhou, Jiangnan?"
Liu Shuang was taken aback and couldn't help but ask, "What proof do you have?"
He was indeed from Chuzhou; his father was the prefect of Chuzhou. Fang Henshui laboriously removed the constable's badge he had always kept from his person, presenting it to Liu Shuang with both hands, saying, "Young master, please look, this is my badge."
Liu Shuang bent down to take it, glanced at it, and then turned to Yuan Chengshi, saying, "He is indeed a constable from our Great Sui Dynasty. His accent is definitely from the Chuzhou area; there shouldn't be any mistake. It's just that I didn't expect that such a powerful figure would dare to kidnap a Great Sui official in Chang'an, right under the emperor's nose. Brother Maocheng, should we intervene?"
Yuan Chengshi, whose courtesy name was Maocheng, pondered for a moment and shook his head, saying, "We should not intervene today..." "We're here to compete with the master, we don't have time for this! Give him some food and a few taels of silver so he can go back to Chang'an and report to the authorities. We have important business to attend to!"
"No!"
Fang Henshui crawled forward two steps, blocking Yuan Chengshi's path, weeping, "I still have a companion on the mountain. If those bandits find out I've escaped, they'll surely kill him. I beg you gentlemen to save my companion! We are all citizens of the Great Sui Dynasty, we can't just stand by and watch him die!"
As he pleaded, he pulled open his tattered clothes, revealing the flesh that had been cut away, immediately drawing gasps from the crowd.
Yuan Chengshi frowned in disgust. "We have other urgent matters to attend to. Giving you money and food to get you back to Chang'an has already delayed our journey. If you continue to obstruct us, don't blame me for being impolite!"
"Your father is supposed to be an official of the Sui Dynasty!"
Just then, Ma Lilian, at the back of the group, urged her horse forward angrily. "Don't kneel before him! You're a Sui Dynasty constable, how can you be so weak-kneed? If he won't go to save your friend, I'll go with you. I don't believe anyone would dare to commit such atrocities just a few miles from Chang'an!"
"I'll go with you too. This matter cannot be ignored. Even if the teacher were here, he would never stand idly by!"
A student jumped off his horse, gripping his sword, and said to Ma Lilian, "They're just a bunch of bandits. We don't all need to go. If the two of us can't take down their hideout, we're doomed!"
"I'll go too!"
"I'll go too!"
The crowd chimed in, clearly dissatisfied with Yuan Chengshi's attitude. As citizens of the Sui Dynasty, especially those from aristocratic families, their personalities dictated their pride. How could bandits be allowed to roam outside Chang'an?
"Something's not right!"
Niu Huahua frowned. "Not to mention outside Chang'an, no one in the entire capital region would dare to violate the imperial laws. This mountain area is sparsely populated; how would bandits survive? I think this guy's background is suspicious; let's not fall for his tricks."
"Just as you said!"
A student raised his head and said, "This is the capital, Chang'an, and he's an official; would he lie to us?"
Yuan Chengshi was silent for a moment before asking Fang Henshui, "How many bandits are there?"
"Seven or eight, all extremely fierce."
Fang Henshui lowered his head and said. "You've utterly disgraced the Chuzhou government!"
Liu Shuang cursed, "You're supposed to be a county constable, yet you've been captured by a few lowly bandits. Have you forgotten the principle that a government official should rather die than suffer humiliation?"
"I dare not forget!"
Fang Henshui kowtowed, "But I still have urgent business to attend to. I cannot die until I reach Chang'an and have a clear explanation from the Ministry of Justice officials! Once I have fulfilled the magistrate's request, I will atone with my death!"
These words aroused even more sympathy from the crowd.
"We can't just ignore this!"
"That's right, since we've encountered this, how can we just abandon it?"
Yuan Chengshi hesitated for a moment before saying, "Then let's camp here and rest for a while. Liu Shuang, you take nine men up the mountain to rescue them. The rest of you stay here and rest on guard. Don't let Fang Jie and Zhang Kuang ambush us; they're both scouts! They've already entered the mountains, we can't be careless!"
"Who wants to go? Follow me!"
Liu Shuang called out boldly, instructing Fang Henshui, "Can you still walk? If you can, lead the way!"
On a large, protruding rock on the mountain, Chen Ya smiled and said, "Master, that guy has finally given in completely. Look how well he prepared the bait!"
...
...
Fang Jie and Zhang Kuang were perched in a large tree, both extremely well-disguised. Even if you looked closely from below, you might not be able to spot them. These two border scouts were masters of concealment. One had earned twenty-one military merits in Fangu, the other had lived among the Northern Barbarian tribes for two years. People like them, if they didn't want to be discovered, would find it difficult to reveal their true nature.
"They haven't arrived yet, why are they so slow?"
Zhang Kuang whispered to Fang Jie, "According to the map you gave me, they should be approaching Crescent Lake from here. This is the only place we can travel on horseback, there's no reason why they haven't arrived by the time we've filled our stomachs."
Fang Jie was still savoring the deliciousness of the six-gilled fish; the flesh was indeed tender and smooth. No need to cook it, just a little soy sauce and garlic sauce, and it was incredibly flavorful. This was Fang Jie's first time eating raw meat, and he hadn't expected it to taste so tempting. He had always firmly believed that food was better cooked, even during his exile, he stubbornly insisted on eating only cooked food.
"If they're not lost, they've run into trouble."
Fang Jie said, "The former is almost impossible. Those aristocratic scions may be arrogant and domineering, but it wouldn't make sense for them to get lost. How could anyone who enters the Martial Arts Academy be a good-for-nothing? As for the latter… I can't think of any trouble. This isn't the border region; we can't possibly encounter enemies."
"That's right."
Zhang Kuang hesitated for a moment: "How about we split up and move forward a bit?"
"Okay!"
Fang Jie nodded, taking out a signal flare he had specially brought and giving one to Zhang Kuang: "Send a signal if anything unexpected happens. The master shouldn't be far from us; after all, he doesn't want to see his students get hurt."
"Okay!"
Zhang Kuang took the flare and stuffed it into his pocket, then nimbly slid down a large tree. He crouched low and moved through the dense forest, quickly disappearing from sight. Fang Jie saw Zhang Kuang running while leaving marks on the trees with his dagger—standard scout practice—which reminded him of the border town. After Zhang Kuang disappeared, Fang Jie slid down from the tree. He ran in a direction about five degrees off from where Zhang Kuang had gone, leaving marks as he went. Just as he disappeared, Mo Wanwu appeared on the tree where he had been standing.
He looked at the direction Fang Jie had disappeared in with a somewhat serious expression, his eyes filled with worry.
About three or four minutes after Fang Jie ran off, Mo Wanwu also moved. He maintained a certain distance from Fang Jie, not wanting Fang Jie to notice him. For some reason, he followed Fang Jie instead of Zhang Kuang.
Fang Jie crouched low and ran through the dense forest, his movements swift and agile, like a cheetah born for this jungle, sharp and alert. His mind remained highly vigilant, not letting his guard down just because this was a competition and not a real fight.
This was Fang Jie's attitude, difficult to change.
After running about two miles in one breath, Fang Jie quickly climbed a large tree and hid. Although the angle between them and Zhang Kuang was small, the distance between them was no longer short. Fang Jie peered forward from behind the leaves, carefully observing and listening for a long time, but still couldn't find Yuan Chengshi and his group.
"Could we really be in danger?"
Fang Jie frowned slightly, subconsciously touching his waist. Only when he touched the broken sword did he feel a little more at ease.
Thinking of the strange looks he'd seen in Mo Wanwu's eyes several times before, Fang Jie's unease returned.
Strange, but what was strange about it?
This was just a competition within the Martial Arts Academy, wasn't it?
...
...
Marylian remained at the back. Although she didn't want to, she was, after all, a girl, and the other Martial Arts Academy students who had followed Fang Henshui up the mountain naturally wouldn't let her clear the way. Liu Shuang was a smart man, so he didn't walk behind Fang Henshui either. He maintained a distance from Fang Henshui at all times, his right hand never leaving the hilt of his sword since the start of the ascent.
"How much further?"
After climbing for a while, Liu Shuang asked somewhat impatiently.
Fang Henshui, who was leading the way, panting heavily, lowered his voice and said, "Almost there, young master. See that big protruding rock? Those bandits' lair is behind that rock, in a cave. They've gone out to find food. We need to hurry and take this opportunity to rescue them."
After saying this, Fang Henshui continued climbing, but after four or five steps, he felt something was amiss. He stopped and looked back, only to find that the ten people behind him were looking at him with icy eyes. The previous sympathy had vanished, replaced only by hostility and indifference.
Especially the leader; Fang Henshui could see murderous intent in his eyes. He didn't know what he had done wrong, why their reactions had suddenly changed.
"Speak!"
Liu Shuang slowly drew his sword, pointed it at Fang Henshui's nose, and asked, "Who exactly are you?"
"I..." Fang Henshui opened his mouth to answer, but then saw the young monk emerge from behind a large tree. He clasped his hands together, bowed slightly to the crowd, and said in a calm and gentle tone, "Welcome, everyone, to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss."