486 Behind (2/2)
Long Fanyun had originally not wanted to enter the town, but unexpectedly, Shangguan Fei, who was usually timid, grew brave at that moment. ”Let's go in to ask for directions. Furthermore, it'll be less conspicuous if we were to bump into soldiers of the Golden Roc Army in a tavern than outside of town.”
Once they entered the town, Long Fanyun had no choice but to put in more effort to act like a bodyguard. As such, he followed behind Shangguan Fei and let his 'master' speak.
”No need for that. We'll have a couple of drinks standing up,” Shangguan Fei replied to the tavern manager. He had actually never been to a small tavern like this. He spent most of his time in Jade City hiding in North City and the Stone Castle, but strangely, he was unafraid in his first trip behind enemy lines. He was extremely calm, and even he himself was perturbed by his own behavior.
Shangguan Fei immediately gave the tavern manager a good impression by paying up first and looking amicable. It took him just a few words to get the manager to tell him about everything in the town.
”The Hui Kingdom is not far away in the northwest, and it'll take only slightly more than half a day's travelling on horseback to reach there. However, trying to buy a horse will be difficult. They've all been expropriated. You could hire two donkeys the next day, though. They're pretty fast.”
When the manager was talking to Shangguan Fei, a soldier suddenly crashed into the bar counter and reached a finger out, saying, ”Give me another jar.”
The manager dared not to say anything and hurriedly ordered a counterjumper to fetch a jar of wine out.
The soldier turned and cocked his head sideways as he looked at Shangguan Fei. ”Why are the two of you not in the army?”
Most men in the Xiaoyao Lake region who were fit and young enough had either joined the Dragon army or been forced into hard labor by the Golden Roc Fort. Those that hid themselves dared not to show themselves in public. As such, Shangguan Fei and Long Fanyun, who were in their youth, were very conspicuous.
”I'm working for the Meng family,” replied Shangguan Fei casually. To the machetemen in Jade City, only the Meng family, aside from the Golden Roc Fort, could act as a deterrent.
The soldier hugged the jar of wine on the bar counter in one swoop, his gaze still fixed on Shangguan Fei. He asked coldly, ”Do I know you?”
”Who knows. If you're from Jade City, we might've met before.”
The soldier felt that it was a reasonable explanation and grunted. He then stared at Long Fanyun and took a good measure of the swordsman before hugging the jar of wine back to his table.
Long Fanyun did not speak throughout the entire incident, but he no longer considered Shangguan Fei purely as a good-for-nothing anymore.
The tavern manager was probably enamored of Shangguan Fei or afraid of courting trouble. When the soldiers in the tavern were not looking, he whispered very softly to Shangguan Fei, ”That person was pretending to be drunk.”
The manager was the person who best knew who had drank the least wine in his tavern. The soldier had just arrived and was holding his liquor well; he was definitely that drunk to be walking unsteadily.
Shangguan Fei grinned a little and handed a silver nugget to the tavern manager before drinking up the wine in his cup.
Without horses, the two men could only continue walking on foot. What gave Long Fanyun consolation was that Shangguan Fei was no longer complaining about aching legs. ”That person recognized me. It's strange. I seldom showed myself in Jade City, so how did he know me? He must've heard about me from someone else.”
”It's possible that he didn't recognize you. Most probably, he was just suspicious. Even if he did, it's fine. I'll hold them off and you just focus on escaping.”
”Really?” asked Shangguan Fei, moved. ”Actually I have one or two moves up my sleeve as well.”
Long Fanyun did not reply; he did not have much faith in those 'one or two moves'.
As the two of them were afraid of losing their bearings, they had to take the risk of using the main roads. However, it was a quiet night, and it seemed that the soldier had believed Shangguan Fei's explanation and treated them as merchants working for the Meng family.
It was only until daybreak when Shangguan Fei started to act up again and he began to complain about his aching body. Just as he could not walk any further, a group of soldiers caught up with them.
Shangguan Fei was surprised with his own behavior again. Unexpectedly, he was not really afraid and only took cover behind Long Fanyun subconsciously. As he gazed at the broad shoulders of the swordsman, he felt more assured.
A total of 20 cavalrymen surrounded them.
The 'drunk' soldier from the night before was amongst them and he whispered something into the ear of his leader.
Their leader was dressed differently from the others and did not wear any armor. He was clad entirely in black and the logo of a Golden Roc was embroidered on the shoulders of his shirt, expressing his identity.
”Long Fanyun,” said the man in black.
It turned out that the person the soldier had recognized was not Shangguan Fei, but the Dragon King's captain of the guards.
”It is I,” replied Long Fanyun as he drew his scimitar. He would not lie when faced with an enemy.
The man in black's move fluidly as he dismounted, drew his own saber and attacked; it was as if his feet had not touched the ground.
Long Fanyun met his attack nearly simultaneously.
A direct frontal attack was not the style of the Golden Roc Fort, and just as Shangguan Fei was about to remind the swordsman, two other soldiers suddenly leaped up from their saddles. The level of agility and teamwork was not that of ordinary soldiers or machetemen.
Shangguan Fei suddenly felt a surge of bravery. Since he was standing behind Long Fanyun, he should take up the responsibility of protecting his back. That said, he was not armed and could only face the enemy with his bare fists.