A Step into the Past

Volume 21 5

Book 21 Chapter 5 - Held Back In Reserve

Xiang Shaolong could no longer worry about exposing his identity and hurried towards the north gate.

If his guess was not off, the reason why those kids would call him a “bandit” was that they had seen his wanted poster somewhere and recognised his face.

Now that he was known as a public enemy in Wei and if those kids that had seen him went home and told their parents. The alarm would be raised in the whole of Daliang in no time at all.

So if he missed the opportunity to escape now, he wouldn’t be able to do so at some later time even if he had grown wings.

At this junction, he no longer had the time to blame his own negligence. Fortunately, dark clouds started to form and cover the sun. As the gate grew in sight, snowflakes were dancing in the sky, providing him with a little cover.

When he reached a position where he could clearly observe the gate, he hid behind a big tree by the roadside, waiting for an opportunity to break out of the city.

The gate was staffed by around thirty guards who inspected both people and carts going in and out of the city in a routine manner and did not seem to be particularly cautious or strict.

Xiang Shaolong was relieved and looked for an opportunity. If he managed to chance upon the sort of mule team that he entered the city in with, he would easily get away.

Despite waiting for nearly an hour, there were no carts traveling out of the city, even traders were scarce. During this freezing cold season, it was certainly not suitable to go on a journey and the absence of travellers was to be expected.

Around this time, the sound of hurried hooves could be heard and a large group of over 100 Wei cavalry came galloping at full speed towards the gate and swiftly dismounted. They seem to be preparing themselves to face a fierce and imminent enemy.

In the midst of the wind and snow, Xiang Shaolong faintly heard someone mentioning his name.

His heart sank.

The scenario that he hoped to avoid most had just happened.

The Weis knew he was in the city before he could get away.

The snow was getting heavier and heavier.

After he bought some small tools from a blacksmith shop, Xiang Shaolong snuck back into the warehouse and hid himself. He inserted a small but extremely sharp saw plus two fine iron rods into his hollowed-out soles and glued back the bottom layer. Unless his soles were stripped off, otherwise no one would expect anything unusual. At this moment, he did not know exactly how these would be put into use, so they were just preventive measures.

After some time, Qiu Lin came back again.

Xiang Shaolong remained in hiding, hardening his heart to ignore her call.

After Qiu Lin left disappointedly, he waited patiently till dusk before leaving the warehouse and returning to snow-filled streets.

The Wei troops were constantly patrolling the streets, check points were again setup at road junctions to question passerbys.

Xiang Shaolong knew that the Weis had embarked on a rigorous and thorough search, so he used the rope hook to mount over house by house. Only with great difficulty did he reach the Wei imperial district.

Thinking of the fact that the locust tree is still around but the people are no more, he can’t help but felt dejected.

He wondered if Lady Ping Yuan is well and safe when he was suddenly startled out of his reminiscing by the sound of galloping horses.

Xiang Shaolong quickly steadied his mood, and under the cover of darkness, moved toward the living area of the ministers in the palace.

Because all the residents here were rich and respectable, no soldiers come to patrol and search.

Xiang Shaolong, using his the special task force skills, ran in a zigzag manner, suddenly stopping and running, alternating between slow and fast.

At last, he stopped in front of a magnificent mansion house.

This inscription above the door read ’Lord Long Yang’s Residence’.

After letting out a deep sigh, Xiang Shaolong followed the wall towards the direction of the building.

Arriving at the inner courtyard, he slipped on top of the wall. Only after confirming that there were no guard dogs on the prowl did he land on the ground.

He was in no hurry to find Lord Longyang. After inspecting the surroundings, he selected a large tree and shot out his grappling hook, pulling himself on top of the building.

Only after stabilizing his footing did he place Bloodwave, his dagger, and his other tools in a branched crook of the tree.

Returning to the ground, he snuck past several buildings at a go before arriving at the garden at the innermost residence.

Due to the blizzard, everyone in the residence had secreted themselves inside the building, making it extremely convenient for him to move about.

Passing by the garden, he trod upon a stone path, crossed a stone bridge, and arrived in front of a tall building.

Seeing that the building was three stories high and was located directly in the middle of the inner courtyard, he knew that he had arrived at Lord Longyang’s residence.

By now, night had fallen. But lamplight shone out from the windows of the three-storied building, and an indistinct voice could be faintly heard as well.

Xiang Shaolong stealthily stepped on top of one of the windows and quietly looked inside the building.

Inside was a large hall. Two servant boys were seated at either side of the doorway, yawning widely.

Seeing this, he knew that Lord Longyang had yet to return. That was why those two poor boys had to force their eyelids open as they tiredly awaited their master’s return.

Lord Longyang naturally must have heard the news that Xiang Shaolong had arrived in Daliang. Perhaps at this very moment, he was in the palace discussing this matter with He Liangping.

Xiang Shaolong thought quietly for a period of time, then firmly made up his mind. Climbing back outside, he climbed to the highest level of the residence, then pushed the window open and entered the room. He had entered what he believed to be the private bedroom of Lord Longyang.

The way the room was decorated was very feminine. A slender, sloping recliner bed could be seen. It was covered in perfume, filling the room with the sweet scent of spring.

Under the light of the lamp affixed to the nearest window, the room appeared graceful and elegant. One shelf was filled with all sorts of little curios and toys, but only a single precious sword had been hung on the wall, demonstrating the martial energy of the room’s master.

Xiang Shaolong, paying no mind to proprieties, laid down on the bed and immediately fell asleep.

After some period of time, the sound of footsteps startled him into wakefulness.

Xiang Shaolong immediately sat up, his rapt gaze instantly focusing on the slowly opening door.

Lord Longyang walked into the room, his feet moving slowly, as though encumbered by a thousand-pound heavy pair of shackles. “You two, go to bed!”

The two servants acknowledged the order and left.

Lord Longyang mournfully walked in, letting out a sad sigh.

Xiang Shaolong whispered, “High Lord!”

Lord Longyang’s ‘elegant form’ trembled as he turned to stare, astonished, into his bedroom.

Xiang Shaolong pushed aside the veil covering the bed. With a low laugh, he said, “High Lord, how have you been?”

Lord Longyang’s face ‘bloomed like a flower’, “Shaolong! You really came!”

Xiang Shaolong hurriedly made a shushing gesture with his hands. In a quiet voice, he said, “Don’t startle anyone here.”

Only now did Lord Longyang come to his senses. Distressed, he said, “Shaolong, why did you come to Daliang, much less reveal your presence? Now the King has ordered a regiment of twenty thousand crack troops to enter the city and search for your whereabouts.”

Xiang Shaolong smiled. “Your King seems to have forgotten that he is King, and also wed his beloved Empress, thanks solely to the efforts of I, Xiang Shaolong!”

An incomparably complex look flashed by Lord Longyang’s ‘elegant eyes’. Forcing out a laugh, he said, “In order to protect and preserve all that he now possesses, the King would be willing to sacrifice his own parents, much less you.”

Letting out another sigh, he said, “Shaolong, you are too formidable! You defeated us so often that we are now afraid of you. Now, all of the Six Kingdoms know that so long as Xiang Shaolong exists, it will be very difficult for us to protect our countries. Under the spectre of our countries being ruined and our families perishing, what would you do, Shaolong, if you were in our positions?”

Xiang Shaolong looked deeply into his eyes. Calmly, he asked, “And what about you, Lord Longyang?”

Lord Longyang trembled slightly. His head lowering, he said, “Even if I risk my life, I shall treat Shaolong as I always have.”

Xiang Shaolong said, “High Lord, you have not disappointed me! It can be said that right now, in Daliang, I am friendless and without allies. Only you, High Lord, have the power to secretly, mysteriously deliver me from this city.”

Lord Longyang said, “Where do you want to go?”

Xiang Shaolong was silent for a long moment then replied, “I want to go to the Kingdom of Zhao. I am much more familiar with that region, and it’s much easier to return to Qin from there. Hah! Do you have anything to eat or drink, by the way?”

Lord Longyang said, “That’s not a problem. I’ll order my servants to prepare some food. I’ll just say that I’m hungry.”

Xiang Shaolong said, “Don’t startle anyone. Some water and some pastries will be enough.”

Lord Longyang said, “Can it be that you don’t even trust me anymore?”

Xiang Shaolong apologetically said, “That’s not what I meant. But it’s always best to be careful. Is there anyone else here?”

Lord Longyang replied, “Only two serving boys. They should be asleep on the second floor. Wait here a while. I’ll go downstairs to pick up some pastries for you.” Pushing the door open, he left.

Xiang Shaolong saw that as he left the room, his hands trembled slightly. In his heart, Xiang Shaolong sighed. He knew that he had probably made a mistake by coming here tonight.

Without the assistance of Lord Longyang, he couldn’t come up with any other ideas as to how he could leave Daliang.

And now, he had to worry about Lord Longyang dispatching people to apprehend him. Fortunately, he had already prepared for this eventuality and had prepared an escape path.

His heart aching, he pushed the window open and once more clambered down. When he arrived at the bottom floor, Lord Longyang also had just arrived at the lowest floor.

Sneaking a peek into the window, he saw Lord Longyang, tears silently streaming down his face, retrieve a bottle from some hidden location and scatter some sort of powder from inside the bottle onto the tea kettle.

Seeing the actions of this ‘friend’ of his, Xiang Shaolong’s hands and feet grew cold. He deeply regretted this visit.

But he didn’t have any other choices, aside from seeking out Lord Longyang. And even now, in his heart, he didn’t feel the slightest bit of reproach towards Lord Longyang for betraying him.

After seeing this, Xiang Shaolong returned to Lord Longyang’s bedroom on the third floor, pretending to have been sitting there quietly the entire time, waiting for Lord Longyang’s return.

Having wiped his tears dry, Lord Longyang entered, holding the tray of delicacies and the tea kettle which he had scattered the powder into.

As the two sat down, Xiang Shaolong ravenously wolfed down all of the food, then suddenly pretended to have heard something. In a low voice, he said, “I think someone is coming!”

Frowning, Lord Longyang said, “How could anyone be coming?”

Xiang Shaolong said, “Just now, I thought I heard someone outside. Go take a look and see if I was mistaken.”

Lord Longyang didn’t suspect a thing. Rising, he strode towards the window and looked outside.

Xiang Shaolong took the chance to grab the kettle of tea and poured all of it out onto the floor near his feet, then put it back.

Lord Longyang looked in all directions but naturally saw nothing at all. Returning to the table, he sat down and said, “There’s no one there.”

Xiang Shaolong sighed. “Nowadays I’m filled with suspicion. Even when I hear the wind blow and the grass sway, it feels as though I am being pursued by soldiers.” After speaking, he grabbed the kettle of tea and pretended to drink it all in one go.

A look of utter sadness appeared in Lord Longyang’s eyes, and he didn’t speak.

Xiang Shaolong patted himself on the stomach. “What’s the situation with Li Mu’s counterattack on Zhongmou?”

Lord Longyang laughed bitterly. “You should know better than me. Aside from you, who can take down Zhongmou in a single strike as though it were naught but flipping one’s hand around? I also heard that, in his attempt to capture you, Li Mu also suffered the loss of a regiment of men. For now, with it snowing so heavily, it’ll be difficult for the Qin reinforcements to come. Once the spring comes and the flowers bloom, the Qin reinforcements will come and Li Mu will be forced to retreat.”

Xiang Shaolong felt relieved. Rubbing his forehead, he said with ‘surprise’, “I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been too exhausted, but I’m starting to feel woozy and sleepy.”

In a low voice, Lord Longyang said, “Then go to sleep for a while! In the morning, I’ll come up with something to send you out of the city.”

Xiang Shaolong, acting as though walking was very difficult for him, allowed himself to be escorted by Lord Longyang to the pallet.

Yawning twice, he pretended to have passed away.

After Lord Longyang called his name twice, he leaned over Xiang Shaolong’s body and wept bitterly for a while. Sighing, he said, “Shaolong, please don’t blame me. For the sake of Great Wei, I have no choice but to do what I do.”

After Lord Longyang opened the door and left, Xiang Shaolong sprang to his feet and quickly departed.

When he scaled down the wall and landed on the ground, Xiang Shaolong felt an incomparable sense of loneliness and solitude.

Right now, the best place to hide would be, without a doubt, the royal palace. Because the palace was large, well-populated yet strictly restricted, nobody would dare to mount a search inside.

But because the royal palace was surrounded by particularly tall walls and backed by a river, he could only gaze upon it but not enter.

When he thought about the palace, his heart was moved as he suddenly remembered those passageways located underneath the former residence of Prince Xinling, with which he was so familiar.

Although Lord Wuji of Wei had been forcibly pulled into the grave by King Anli as a funeral companion, his mansion remained. If it had a new master, that would be even better. Perhaps the new owner of the mansion didn’t know anything about the tunnels underneath.

How could he dare delay? Seizing the opportunity afforded to him by the still-falling snow, he raced towards the not-too-distant manor of Lord Xinling.

If he were Lord Longyang, upon finding himself missing, he definitely wouldn’t raise too big of a fuss openly. All he would do would be to hoarsely swallow the entire story and keep it hidden within his belly. Otherwise, the King of Wei might criticize and penalize him for dereliction of duty in letting Xiang Shaolong escape.

Within an hour, he had arrived at the secret forest located at the north wall of Prince Xinling’s mansion and had found that secret tunnel entryway.

He remembered how, in the past, he had carried the beautiful Third Princess Zhao Qian out of this tunnel in their escape. When he thought of her gentle disposition, totally free from the filthy aura that pervaded the court of the Zhao kingdom, a hundred different feelings swelled up in his breast.

Sick at heart and downcast, he felt for the edges of the steel board covering the tunnel and experimentally gave it a tug.

The steel board lifted in his hands.

Xiang Shaolong couldn’t help but stay there, transfixed.

He had just thought of the tunnels and decided to give it a try. He hadn’t expected to really be able to pull the steel covering off with a tug.

All tunnels are designed with the intention of being used as an escape route in times of peril. This is why they are all designed to be opened from within, and not from without. What the current state of the exit showed was that someone had fled from this tunnel, but no one had relocked it from the other side. From this, one could deduce that the mansion most likely had a new master now, one who didn’t know of the existence of these tunnels.

Xiang Shaolong felt a sense of exultation. Entering the tunnel, he closed the opening.

From his pocket, he withdrew a flint and struck it to make sparks of flame.

Underneath the flickering light of the flames, the tunnel seemed to stretch off infinitely into the distance.

Remembering how the tunnels were linked together with the copper listening tubes in Lord Xinling’s bedroom, Xiang Shaolong walked quietly and slowly on tiptoes in the opposite direction.

This time, he was particularly careful. He noticed that aside from the tunnel leading to the residence where Lord Shaoyuan stayed, there were three other exits as well, naturally going to different residences within the manor. After walking for about a hundred feet, he suddenly had a premonition and looked down.

Two pieces of yellow gold glittered, reflecting the light from his torch.

Xiang Shaolong reached down and plucked them up, placing them in his hands. He suddenly understood.

Previously, when Prince Xinling had been given the poison wine to drink, he knew that it would be hard for him to avoid this disaster. Thus he had given the order for his beloved concubines and relatives to take his valuables and treasures and flee for their lives via these tunnels, and they did so, slipping out by the hidden forest next to the stone wall.

One could imagine how, in the terror of the moment, as everyone was fleeing for their lives, nobody would even notice if they dropped two pieces of gold.

Right now, Xiang Shaolong was in dire need of money. With these two pieces of gold, his situation naturally had changed drastically. At the very least, he could easily buy a horse to ride.

Placing the gold within his pouch, he continued to move forward until he finally arrived at the wide-open door of what appeared to be a treasury.

Inside was a scene of utter chaos. Not a single bit of gold or jewelry was left behind. Only things such as jade horse carvings, ceremonial cauldrons, and precious weapons remained, enough that in the twenty first century, the collection would be considered a first class collection of antiques.

The four walls of the room all had lamps affixed to them, and there was even a big vase of lamp oil hanging in one corner. Xiang Shaolong felt joy in his heart. Blowing out the flame, he sat down, leaning against a wall, the room now so dark that he couldn’t even see his own hand in front of him.

He was, at least for now, in a totally safe spot.

But how would he be able to escape from the capital city of the country of Wei? There were more than two severe months of winter remaining. Would he have to hide in this lightless, sunless hole for more than two months? If he had to go out every day to forage for food, then as the saying goes, ‘the more one goes up the often, the more likely one would run into a tiger’. Sooner or later, he would be caught.

But for the moment, he had no free time to think about these troublesome problems.

Only in his dreams, now, could he reunite in song and with drink with his beloved wives and son.

For their sake, he would definitely persevere to the end. He would make sure that he would survive to meet with them again.