Chapter - 116 Woman with a Loose Tongue Sharp As a Spear (9) (1/2)

Ding Minjun sat and breathed deeply for a long time. Then, she put her sword back into its scabbard and hobbled slowly out of the woods.

Chang Yuchun and Zhang Wuji huddled in silence, seeing and hearing every single thing that transpired during the battle that had taken place so unexpectedly in the night. When Ding Minjun left, they finally heaved a sigh of relief.

Zhang Wuji spoke first: ”Brother Chang, Auntie Ji is my Sixth Uncle Yin's fiancée. That Ding woman said that she … she had a baby with someone else. What do you think? Is it true or false?”

”She is spouting nonsense,” answered Chang Yuchun. ”Do not believe her.”

”Right,” said the boy in agreement. ”When I see Sixth Uncle Yin, I will tell him about it and ask him to teach this Ding Minjun a good lesson. This will also help Auntie Ji to vent her anger.”

”No, no!” said his companion at once. ”Never ever mention this matter to your Sixth Uncle Yin. Do you understand? Once you mention it, things will become worse.”

”Why?” asked the boy, totally puzzled by this unexpected word of caution.

”These statements are very unpleasant,” answered the man, ”so you do not need to repeat them to anyone else.”

Zhang Wuji mumbled an ”Mm!” in acknowledgement. After a while, he said, ”Brother Chang, are you concerned that the matter is true?”

Chang Yuchun sighed and replied, ”I really do not know.”

At first light the next day, Chang Yuchun stood up, placed Zhang Wuji on his back and strode off once more. His strength had returned after the night's rest, so his movements were more nimble than the day before. After several li (1 li = 500 metres), they rounded a bend and came upon a main road.

Chang Yuchun was surprised: Uncle Hu lives in isolation in Butterfly Valley. The place is very remote, so why is there a main road here? Did I take a wrong turn?

Just as he was about to look for a villager and ask for directions, hoofbeats sounded. Four Mongolian soldiers appeared on horseback, waving their sabres and shouting: ”Walk quickly, walk quickly!” They rode right up to Chang Yuchun, waved their sabres menacingly and rode off again.

I have finally fallen into the mouth of the tiger again, the man thought, only to drag Brother Zhang along as well.

His injuries had left him without any ability to fight. He could not even defeat an ordinary Yuan soldier, so he had no alternative except to trudge forward. Soon, he noticed that many other people had appeared along the road, driven by the soldiers as if they were beasts. A glimmer of hope appeared in Chang Yuchun's heart: These barbarians seem to be oppressing the common people, so they may not necessarily be looking for me.

He walked along with the crowd until they arrived at a fork in the road, where a Mongolian army officer waited on horseback. There were sixty to seventy soldiers with him, each brandishing a huge sabre in his hand. The common people bowed at the officer as they passed by, while a Han-Chinese man demanded their surnames. A number of the people were let off with a kick or a slap each after they reported their surnames. When one man said that his surname was Zhang, a Yuan soldier seized him at once. Another man had a newly-bought vegetable knife in his basket, so he was stopped too.

Realising that something fishy was going on, Zhang Wuji whispered into his companion's ear: ”Brother Chang, you had better fake a fall, roll into the long grass and leave your sabre there.”