Chapter 10: 第九章 破伏

Qin Yang rode his black horse, still walking leisurely along the main road from Wu'an to Zhao Village. It was already dusk; the sun had long since set, and a thin, cool breeze drifted through the air. He felt the coolness with leisure, feeling quite content in his heart.

He knew very well that someone was surely waiting for him in the mountain hollow ahead, thinking of the gold on his person and wanting his life. Although he could not foresee these unrecorded historical events, his nearly ten years of service as a special forces soldier had given him an extraordinary perception of danger. He had analyzed it carefully: if they wanted to ambush and kill him, that hollow ahead, filled with dense trees and thickets, was the best place.

Thus, he was simply killing time; he trusted his judgment. From the moment he left the Lin Merchant House after exchanging his gold and discovered he was being followed, Qin Yang had determined that a "pocket" was waiting for him. What he needed now was a single word: "delay." He wanted to wear down their patience, letting them slowly reveal their flaws in the endless wait, while simultaneously giving Zhao Yun ample time to prepare everything.

Qin Yang’s reasoning also stemmed from another consideration. He wanted to see just how high the level of "sniping" was among people of ancient times; this would allow him to understand the combat skills of the ancients from multiple perspectives. Although Qin Yang knew these people certainly could not represent the peak level of this era, having a preliminary impression was better than none—this was Qin Yang's consistent principle.

It was only seven or eight *li* from Wu'an City to that hollow, yet Qin Yang and his horse had taken nearly half an hour to get there; the pedestrians on the road were walking much faster than him. Facing the sidelong glances of others, Qin Yang accepted them calmly, completely unbothered. It was only the black horse that seemed somewhat indignant, several times attempting to gallop forward only to be restrained by Qin Yang.

However, no matter how slowly he walked, he eventually arrived. Reaching the front of the hollow, Qin Yang began to survey the surrounding terrain. To be precise, this hollow wasn't quite a "hollow" in the true sense. It was only about half a *li* long, running east to west, high in the north and low in the south. The high point was over three *zhang*, while the low point was less than one *zhang*, and both the entrance and exit were quite spacious. If one were to spur a fast horse, they could charge through in an instant.

Qin Yang saw it clearly, and his heart grew steady. He dismounted at the entrance, whispered a few words to the black horse, and pointed ahead, signaling the horse to enter the valley and wait at the exit. The black horse seemed to understand; with a long neigh, it went straight in. Qin Yang smiled, his figure shifted, and he instantly vanished into the thickets of the northern ridge.

At this moment, the men ambushing on the northern ridge heard the horse's neigh and grew excited, each gripping their weapons tightly. The leader was a burly man with a full beard, roughly thirty years old, dressed in short combat attire. He was thick and sturdy, holding a three-foot long sword, exuding a fierce aura.

"He's finally here. Damn it, we've been waiting since noon, and not only am I covered in stinking sweat, but I haven't even seen a hair of him. Once we catch that kid, I'll definitely tear him into ten thousand pieces to vent my rage!" the burly man said resentfully.

"Boss, there doesn't seem to be anyone at the entrance?" a lookout came over to report.

"What? What did you say? No one at the entrance?" The burly man didn't even have time to scold him. He stood up with a "whoosh" and looked toward the valley floor. In his haste, he actually slipped on a few stones; the stones tumbled down the steep slope, startling a few birds that flew off fluttering. The black horse in the valley seemed to sense the danger and ran even faster. In the moment of everyone's daze, the black horse flashed past them like lightning, growing more distant in the blink of an eye. It left the dozen or so men standing there in a stupor.

"What happened? Damn it, where did he go? Lin Wu, go back and ask the Master what exactly happened! Did that kid grow wings and fly away?..." The burly man was filled with confusion.

"Excuse me, brothers, are you looking for me?"

An incredibly calm voice suddenly came from behind the group.

"Ah!!" The men turned around in utter horror, only to find that someone had been standing behind them at some unknown point. This person was smiling faintly, leaning against a tree, continuously chewing on a grass root, while holding three bags in his hands.

"You—who are you? What are you doing here?" the burly man asked sharply.

"I am the person you are looking for. My name is Qin Yang. As for what I am doing here, there is no need for you to know. On the contrary, can you tell me what you are doing here?" Qin Yang replied lazily. The alertness and reaction speed of these men were not enough to make him feel any pressure; furthermore, their lack of patience, lack of proper protection, and tendency to easily expose their positions were massive flaws. On a battlefield in another dimension, making such low-level mistakes meant only one thing awaited them: "death."

"Fine then. It looks like you really are someone who doesn't fear death, actually daring to come to our door. I'll say you're a man; leave the goods behind and we'll let you live! Otherwise, my brothers and I will throw you to the wolves," the burly man threatened. However, because the man before him was like a phantom, he lacked confidence, making his words seem somewhat hollow.

"Oh? Fine. The goods are right here. If you have the ability, come and take them." Qin Yang still did not move, not even changing his posture, merely watching the burly man and the others quietly.

"Boss, don't waste words with him. Finish him off so we can go back and report early." As soon as the man named Lin Wu finished speaking, he had already lunged at Qin Yang with a short sword.

Seeing someone take the lead, the others shouted to one another and prepared to rush forward in a swarm. But before they could take two steps, they stopped dead in their tracks. For a moment, they were frozen in all sorts of awkward poses, making the scene look utterly ridiculous. This was because they discovered that Lin Wu was already lying on the ground clutching his right arm and wailing, while the short sword in his hand had ended up in Qin Yang's hand. None of them saw clearly whether Qin Yang had even moved, because Qin Yang was still leaning against the tree just as he had been before. It was as if Lin Wu had handed the sword to Qin Yang himself and then injured his own arm.

"Boss, does this kid practice sorcery?" another person in the crowd spoke, unable to hide his terror. He knew Lin Wu's skills; among these men, aside from the Boss, no one could withstand Lin Wu's short sword. Yet Lin Wu had fallen to the ground in a single encounter, while the opponent had barely moved. They had done many such things, always clean and efficient, but they never expected to encounter such a bizarre occurrence today. This opponent's strange behavior had exceeded the cognitive limits of everyone present, so they could only explain it as sorcery.

"All of you back off. I will weigh him to see just how much he's worth," the burly man commanded. He knew that aside from himself, the rest of them going up would be useless and might even get in the way. Although he felt some fear seeing Lin Wu fall so inexplicably, he wouldn't be satisfied if he didn't try; if he returned empty-handed, he wouldn't be able to face the Master.

The crowd responded and immediately retreated to the side. Two men saw Lin Wu wailing so loudly and wanted to step forward to help him, but they were afraid of Qin Yang attacking, so they stood there hesitating.

At this time, Qin Yang spoke: "Help him back. Don't just take up space without doing anything." He casually tossed the short sword back into the crowd.

The two men felt a sense of relief and quickly dragged Lin Wu away.

A flash of gratitude suddenly crossed the burly man's eyes, but it was immediately replaced by a look of solemnity. He was about to make his move. He slowly raised his sword, his eyes fixed intently on Qin Yang.

Seeing that the burly man was poised to strike and possessed some presence, Qin Yang did not dare to be negligent. He took a step forward and cupped his fists toward the man: "If brother wins against me, you may take the gold. If I am fortunate enough to win, would you all be willing to listen to one word from me?"

Unaware of the trap, the man snorted, "If you win, everything is yours. Come on, stop your damn yapping. You have a weapon but don't use it, so don't blame me!" Before his voice had even faded, he swung his sword in a diagonal slash toward Qin Yang. However, because he had spoken, his gathered momentum had already leaked away somewhat.

Seeing the trajectory of the sword, Qin Yang thought to himself, *The form is decent, but it's a bit slow.* Instead of retreating, he advanced. His right foot took a side-step forward, his left hand clamped onto the man's right wrist like lightning, and his right hand grabbed the man's right arm. With a slight rotation of his left foot and a burst of strength from both hands, there was a loud "thud," and the man's massive body flew over Qin Yang's head and slammed heavily onto the ground several feet away.

"Is there anyone else who wants to try?" The golden afterglow of the setting sun pierced through the treetops, enveloping the towering Qin Yang, making him look like a celestial deity.

Silence. A deep silence. No one made a sound, including Lin Wu, who had been wailing just moments ago, and the burly man lying on the ground.

After a long while, slowly, very slowly, came the sound of weapons being dropped on the ground and the heavy breathing of the crowd.

Finally, the burly man crawled up and bowed toward Qin Yang: "My skills are inferior, and I have offended the Young Master. I am willing to accept whatever punishment you deem fit. I only ask one thing of you: please spare them. They are all just people from poor backgrounds..."

Before the burly man could finish, a commotion erupted from the distant ridge behind them. There were sounds of rolling stones, shouting, the faint neighing of horses, and...

Hearing this, the crowd grew even more panicked. Without any further hesitation, they knelt down in unison and pleaded in a chorus: "Young Master, spare our lives! Young Master, spare our lives!..."

Qin Yang smiled. He saw that this man possessed a sense of righteousness, willing to take punishment himself to save others, and felt a sense of admiration. He reached out to pull the burly man up, but left the others to continue shouting on the ground.

Qin Yang asked, "Brother, you seem to be a brave man. Why not engage in an honest trade instead of doing these shady dealings? Tell me, who else do you have at home?"

"To answer the Young Master, I am from Yingchuan County, my name is Chen Meng. I have an older brother who went to build the Great Wall and hasn't returned in years. Five years ago, the government called for more men. My elderly mother was ill and my younger brother had not returned from his travels. I pleaded to serve after my brother returned, but the officials refused. Thus, a dispute arose with the officials, and I accidentally injured someone, leading to my being hunted by the government. I escaped desperately and ran all the way to Wu'an. It just so happened that the Merchant House was recruiting guards, so I applied. Master Lin saw that I had some martial skills and made me a minor manager of the house, which also involved doing some business without capital. However, the group I lead only seeks wealth; we have never killed anyone. Even when seeking wealth, we only target goods of unknown origin, just... like the ones the Young Master has..." The man's voice grew smaller as he spoke.

"Good. I believe you. Go back and tell Master Lin to conduct his business honestly from now on and stop doing these immoral things. If I ever hear of such things happening again, I will ensure he leaves not even a corpse behind," Qin Yang barked sternly.

"Young Master, you... you are letting us go?" Chen Meng asked in astonishment.

"What? Is that not okay? Before I change my mind, get lost!"

As soon as Lin Wu and the others heard Qin Yang tell them to get lost, it was like hearing the music of the heavens. They immediately scrambled to their feet and vanished into the distance, not even bothering to pick up the weapons they had dropped.

Only Chen Meng did not leave; he remained standing before Qin Yang.

Qin Yang asked in surprise, "Why don't you leave? Are you waiting for me to kill you?"

"If the Young Master wishes to kill me, Meng will offer his neck for the blade. The Young Master is righteous, and Meng has no way to repay you. From now on, I wish to follow the Young Master and serve you like a dog or a horse," Chen Meng said sincerely.

Chen Meng admired Qin Yang's skills even more than he appreciated him sparing his men. Although his men had ignored him and left without a word, he did not mind; in his heart, he only cared about acting according to his conscience. Perhaps the word "righteousness" was his only principle for conduct, and it remained so toward Qin Yang.

Qin Yang was stunned, then cupped his hands and said, "Brother Meng, you overstate it. I am deeply grateful for your kindness. However, I currently have no fixed residence and dare not burden you. If one day I secure a place for myself, I will surely invite Brother Meng to share a drink of brotherhood! But please, Brother Meng, do not mention the word 'follow' again. We shall only share the bond of brothers, how does that sound?"

Hearing Qin Yang's words, Chen Meng was even more moved. He gave a deep bow and said, "Brother Yang humbles himself to associate with me; Meng is beyond grateful. We part ways for today and shall meet again in the future."

"Good. Come, let us strike hands as a vow!" Qin Yang's heart also warmed.

"Good! Strike hands as a vow!" Chen Meng responded immediately.

With a "clap," their large palms met firmly.

Qin Yang watched Chen Meng walk away before descending from the ridge toward the exit of the hollow. He never imagined that this Chen Meng, whom he had befriended today, would bring him so many surprises in the future. But that is a story for another time.