Chapter 4 (1/2)
IV Life-or-Death
“Watch out!”
Xie Zhen pushes raze htly shut by instinct The path below is covered with rocks, and iet knocked off balance
White waves wash across the surface of the river, and the ripples sting my eyes
Wait! I can’t swim! Help-
But there’s no ti down into the river Splash The freezing water instantaneously starts to tunnel into my mouth, nose and ears; I can hear the water’s sly chuckle I can’t think anymore with my body nu from my ownslowly
If I knew this would happen, I wouldn’t have slacked off during swi lessons
My vision diht and all around me darkness and water envelop me
I painstakingly open ht
A hand is gently wiping my forehead I try to speak and the hand stops and then helps me sit up
It’s a young, fair girl of about fifteen She hands ht in time for my parched throat I take it and feel o
I sit up straighter and observein a pelt tent, and it’s only after feeling the soft fur underneath me with my own hands that I’m convinced this is reality I pinch s and can’t help but let out a breath of relief
I didn’t die; I came back alive
Turning around, I see her beahter than the sun
“You…saved me?”
Once I speak, I notice my voice is so raspy I can barely hear it myself
She nods and smiles but does not speak Then she pulls the covers up,me to lie back down I feel a little uneasy and refuse to A bold voice call fro
“Has the young man awoken?”
The girl gets up and lifts the curtain up A person enters, back bent, and only after do I see who it is A tall, buff and bearded man of about fifty walks in and sirl are dressed in Yan attire, but they look like people of Rui to me
“Good that you’re awake,” he says as he sits down “That branch of the Rope Hill Creek may be narrow, but it’s a lot deeper than you think”
Me back
“Thank you for saving my life,” I say, my head lowered respectfully
Theyour accent; you’re not from ‘round here, are you?”
I nod and watch for their response
“We’re not either In fact, we only , you look like you’re fros you all the way out here?”
I take a big breath as I consider They don’t look like they’ve got anything to do with the inally a soldier of the Rui ar captured by the Yan troops, and I fell into the river when they caught up to me where the river splits”
The“We used to reside close to the borders Who knehen the Yan invaded the whole place’d be abandoned by the troops? Me and ees and started a nomadic life here”
He looks as though he’s in pain and falls silent The girl quickly pats hi with tears
“Blood washed the streets Corpses everywhere Her poor ht in front of her Since then she can’t speak no more,” he says sorrowfully “Ah, this cruel world”
Guiltily, I drop aze too
I know Great Rui’s military situation hasn’t exactly been, ahe in the capital, I’ve never thought life in the frontiers would be like this Even the battlefield it’s not as awful as this
“That’s enough stories for one day, I think,” he says, wiping his eyes He then turns around and says to the girl, “Bring the porridge in and feed the young man”
I suddenly think of the other men
“Mister, would you happen to knohere the Great Rui army is stationed currently?”
He shakes his head
“Youngway but why do you even bother? There’s no way Rui’s going to ith the Yan troops this far in” He sighs “Listen to a word of advice You’re still young and got a whole life ahead of you Run while you still can, lad, because soon this place won’t be safe either”
I notice there’s more than meets the ear and question “What do you mean it won’t be safe, mister?”
“The Yan troops just went by I’ht”
My breath stops and my heart beats wildly
'Rope Hill Creek will fall, at the latest toht'
I can allance outside only to view a red sun unhurriedly sinking to the west, nearly disappearing into the dusky horizon My stoet off the bed; the wounds on ht away I can’t help but cry out in pain and the irl rush to prop me up
“You can’t keep up like this, young man,” he says as he forces me to lie back down
“Don’t you worry about that sort of stuff anymore,” he continues to co in a peaceful era than aone In these chaotic tio back but maybe they think you’re dead already”
Getting up just now took a lot of energy and lefton the bed
All of a sudden, the stillness returns, only the sound of radually disappear, leaving just a brilliant twilight against the darkening canvas The clouds that are dyed with vivid purples and reds contrast the green trees and yellow sand, painting a beautiful portrait of the frontier
I start to reflect on all the things that happened the past few days Not only did I go through i—all of which I had only escaped by a hair’s breadth—I also got involved with an i Yu What lousy luck!
Has Rope Hill Creek fallen already?
From the confident and assured look he had, chances are, most likely… I don’t even want to consider
The words of o back?
As for Great Rui, I’ve already done and given everything I could for it Though I haven’t done much for it, I haven’t sold it out either There’s no one in that place who cares for me The water of the womb is not worth a penny to those so-called family members of mine
I shut rip onto my blanket
Maybe it’ll turn out well if I just leave like this
To the Great Rui court, I’ve sacrificed er and Uncle, I’ve died in the war; to Murong Yu, I’ve gone back to Great Rui and will never be on his ood for me and for everyone else
I take a deep breath and make a solemn decision: to leave this instant
Or going AWOL, however you ht call it
I can ood foundation I insist on leaving, not wanting to drag this night out longer than needed The irl to the ferry of the distributary
The dock is busy and well-lit by candlelight even at this hour shi+ps and boats of all sizes shuttle to and fro; armed soldiers of Great Rui, fro the banks For a country with highly developed ays, it’s natural for security to be a times like these
I’ve already planned it out on the way here: avoid the capital as much as possible and travel via ay to the south When I get there the world will be what I make of it
I’ my life in the near future Hee hee
Once I board I lean against the side of the shi+p pretending to doze off I lift up ers They all appear to be ordinary colance, I find a few uise Whether or not you are a soldier can be told froive off
I sigh softly and pull my hat further down Looks like I need to be extra careful
Out of nowhere, someone barks from the banks “Move aside! Let us on for inspection!”
My stohtens, and I look up only to see a couple of Great Rui soldiers co on board
Why such lousy luck?
My palht still have a chance to escape if I was on land but noater it’d be is
I stand quietly near the bow After checking everyone else, the soldiers approach
“Let’s take a look at your face”
A soldier reaches out to lift off my hat which I block with a raise of my hand
“Officer, sorry about the inconvenience but I’ve unfortunately contracted an acute disease recently Please excuse me”
The soldier lingers for a le person that boards a boat I don’t care whether you contracted a disease or not Even if your old man died, we’d need to inspect his coffin!”
His harsh words left no room for compromise I purse my lips Some soldiers can’t do shi+t on the battlefield but sure can bully innocent commoners
I’ve been in the army for a couple of years now, and it’s not unlikely that I’ll be exposed throughthis, fear strikes me and I lean in closer to talk, but he flips et my lips open
“I knew soot here” The s his arms with a sullen look “Coot to be a soldier”
The soldiers behind hirabshere? Speak!”