Chapter 139: Escape

Cai Rongxue was beautiful beyond compare, her features so dazzling that Li Sanjian did not dare look directly at her. Yet the sight lasted no longer than a flash of summer lightning. After Cai Rongxue swiftly pulled her veil back into place, only Li Sanjian among those present had seen her clearly—and even he had glimpsed only half her face.

“That’s it?” Zhu Ming asked blankly, widening the slanted eyes he usually kept narrowed as he stared at Cai Rongxue.

Zhu Ming had seen no more than a strand of dark hair beside her ear. After that, there was nothing left to see.

Cai Rongxue ignored him and lowered her head in silence.

“You… you shameless wench! How dare you toy with me?” Zhu Ming cursed furiously. He reached out once more to seize the veil from her face. “Take it off at once and let me have a proper look. I haven’t even seen you clearly, and already it’s over?”

“If you wish to see my face, you must first have my husband’s permission,” Cai Rongxue said, dodging desperately as Zhu Ming lunged for her.

“Your husband?” Zhu Ming asked in astonishment. “Who is your husband?”

At those words, Li Sanjian thrust out his chest. Ignoring the bandits shoving him from all sides, he struggled to place himself between Cai Rongxue and Zhu Ming.

Cai Rongxue gave Li Sanjian a gentle glance and said, “The first man to see my face is the man who becomes my husband.”

“What?” Zhu Ming was not angered but amused. His face twisted into a savage grin. “When did this poor scholar become your husband? No, that does not count. Take off the veil at once, or I’ll strip you naked right here and let every one of my brothers enjoy the view.”

“Whether it counts or not is none of your concern.” Cai Rongxue raised her head and looked at Zhu Ming without the slightest trace of fear. “If you insist on this, I shall kill myself here and now.”

“Die? You think threatening me with death will frighten me?” Zhu Ming roared, enraged and humiliated. “I’ve seen plenty of women like you. In the past, every little maiden threatened to kill herself, but in the end they all submitted to me. No. Today, you will submit whether you wish to or not.”

“I have seen shameless men before, but never one as utterly brazen as you.” Unable to bear it any longer, Li Sanjian glared at Zhu Ming. “You call yourself a grown man and a hero of the martial world, yet you bully a helpless woman like this? What sort of justice is that? What face do you have to—”

“Hey, hey, slow down! Wait until I’m finished speaking, will you?”

Li Sanjian had suddenly seen Cai Rongxue produce a dagger from somewhere and point it at her own chest. Terrified, he seized her small hand and spoke hurriedly.

“Get out of the way!”

Zhu Ming shoved Li Sanjian so violently that he staggered. He glanced at him with contempt.

“What use are you, you penniless scholar? Get lost. Stop getting underfoot, or I’ll chop you into pieces and feed you to the dogs.”

By now, Li Sanjian was consumed by fury. Since arriving in this world, he had never suffered such humiliation—least of all in front of a beautiful woman.

This disgrace would be repaid one day, Li Sanjian swore inwardly.

With a feral grin on his face, Zhu Ming slowly advanced toward Cai Rongxue.

Cai Rongxue turned to Li Sanjian and gave him a faint smile. The dagger in her hand had already pierced the skin over her chest, and a thread of blood seeped through her thin garment.

“Second Brother, stop.”

Just as disaster was about to unfold, Zhang Bu stepped forward and blocked Zhu Ming.

“Do not act so rashly. We must consider the matter carefully.”

Even now, they had not determined Cai Rongxue’s identity. If she truly were the daughter of an important court minister and they forced her to her death, they would bring calamity upon themselves and provoke the furious retaliation of the government troops. In that case, not a single man in the stronghold would escape.

Besides, Li Sanjian’s words had some merit, Zhang Bu thought. A hero of the martial world who bullied a helpless woman would become a laughingstock if word spread. It would damage the reputation of Mount Naizhi.

“Big Brother, what is there to deliberate?” Zhu Ming said resentfully. “How many prime ministers are there in the world? I refuse to believe she is really a prime minister’s daughter. That sour-faced scholar must have been spouting nonsense.”

“First determine the girl’s identity. That is the prudent course.” Zhang Bu’s expression darkened.

Did Zhang Bu not know Zhu Ming’s nature? Whenever he saw a pretty young woman, he became incapable of thinking straight. More importantly, the authority of the chief leader could not be challenged.

He had already ordered Zhu Ming to stop, yet Zhu Ming still refused to obey. Where, then, was the dignity of the chief leader? Zhang Bu was beginning to grow angry.

“And if she really is what that sour scholar claims?” Zhu Ming asked sullenly, glancing at Zhang Bu’s irritated face.

“If that proves true, we release them and send them down the mountain. We cannot bring a disaster of unprecedented magnitude upon the stronghold.” Zhang Bu’s voice was cold.

“Big Brother, we cannot do that. For this woman… for her sake, seven or eight of our brothers have already been lost. Would that not mean we had suffered heavy losses for nothing? Would that not be a terrible waste?”

Three or four of the bandits who had seized Cai Rongxue had been cut down by her guards. Then, out of nowhere, a woman in white had appeared and stabbed five or six more bandits to death. This kidnapping had already cost the stronghold dearly.

“What do you suggest, then?” Zhang Bu asked after a moment’s thought.

“Why not lock them up for a few days? We can send men down the mountain to investigate her identity, then decide what to do.”

Once Cai Rongxue was confined within the stronghold, how could she escape his grasp? Sooner or later, he would make her his bedmate, Zhu Ming thought to himself.

“Very well. We shall do as Second Brother suggests.” Zhang Bu considered the matter before answering.

It was not an entirely bad plan, he reflected. If Cai Rongxue truly was the daughter of an important court official, then the stronghold would have no choice but to escort her respectfully down the mountain.

* * *

The nights in Lingnan were strewn with stars. Countless points of light filled the heavens, while several great and brilliant stars hung overhead like enormous lanterns, illuminating the mountain paths of Mount Naizhi. From the heights, the rugged roads below could be seen with remarkable clarity, crisscrossing one another in every direction.

“What are you thinking about? Why are you still awake?” Li Sanjian asked as he gazed at Cai Rongxue by starlight.

Cai Rongxue sat atop a mound of earth with both arms wrapped around her knees. At his question, she turned to look at him, then raised her head toward the starry sky once more and fell silent. No one could tell what she was thinking.

“Quite right,” Li Sanjian muttered absently. “Those damned mountain bandits could at least have given us something to sleep on.”

The bandits of Mount Naizhi had locked Li Sanjian and Cai Rongxue together. They had not mistreated them; on the contrary, they had provided them with decent food and drink. But they had given them no beds, blankets, or anything else on which to sleep. Nor had they bound the prisoners. Li Sanjian guessed that they assumed a frail scholar and a delicate young woman could not possibly escape down the mountain in the middle of the night.

The place where Li Sanjian and Cai Rongxue were held was a dilapidated little stone hut in the rear hills of Mount Naizhi. In front of it lay a small courtyard containing several stone benches and a stone table. Beyond that, a number of bandits patrolled the fence surrounding the courtyard with torches in hand.

Standing in the courtyard, one could gaze up at the stars and also see the roads winding up and down Mount Naizhi.

“Do not say such… such disgusting things,” Cai Rongxue finally said.

Disgusting things? Li Sanjian could not help finding that amusing. Did calling the bandits damned bastards really count as disgusting? If so, there were far too many truly disgusting thoughts in his mind. If he voiced them all, he could probably disgust her to death.

“All right, all right. Whatever you say, my lady,” Li Sanjian replied distractedly. At the same time, he looked around, studying the situation.

He noticed that the guards were not particularly vigilant. In fact, matters were even more lax at that moment; nearly half an hour had passed without a single guard appearing.

Could this be an opportunity to escape? Li Sanjian hesitated.

Even if no one was watching them, they might not dare flee recklessly. If they escaped only to be recaptured, the bandits might be provoked into harming them. Besides, Li Sanjian had no idea what the mountain paths were like. And in the dead of night, attempting to descend the mountain might result in them losing their footing and plunging to their deaths among these steep and rugged peaks.

That was the chief reason for his hesitation. Without someone to guide them, the two of them would likely meet disaster if they tried to flee.

But if they did not escape, were they supposed to sit here and wait for death? Or wait for the bandits to take pity on them? Li Sanjian thought bitterly.

“What was the result of your provincial examination in Gui Prefecture?” Cai Rongxue suddenly asked. “You… you never told me.”

“Provincial laureate,” Li Sanjian replied without thinking. He then resumed examining the surroundings, paying particular attention to the mountain paths and searching for a route down.

“Provincial laureate? Again?” Cai Rongxue exclaimed softly behind her hand.

The last time Li Sanjian had gone to the capital to sit for the metropolitan examination, he had done so as a provincial laureate, only to fail the subsequent stage. Cai Rongxue knew this. She had never expected him to win the same distinction again in Gui Prefecture, and her surprise was plain.

Li Sanjian glanced at her. At a time like this, why had she suddenly brought up such a matter?

They were trapped in a den of wolves and bandits, surrounded by danger at every moment. Their lives could end at any instant. Who could possibly have the leisure to think about examinations? Li Sanjian certainly could not.

Would he ever have another chance to sit for the metropolitan examination? Would he ever return to the capital, to Kaifeng? Would he ever see his mother, Madam Fu, again?

At the thought of his mother, a sharp pain seized his heart. If some misfortune befell him, how could Madam Fu go on living? How would his poor mother survive?

No. Whatever happened, he had to return to his mother. At that moment, Li Sanjian’s resolve became unshakable.

“What good is being a provincial laureate?” he said bitterly. “Aren’t I still sitting here waiting for death? A scholar truly is useless in every way.”

At that moment, Li Sanjian regretted everything. Why had he come into this world and devoted himself to books? If only he had known, he would have sought out renowned masters and trained in martial arts. He might have become a great hero—or even an immortal cultivator—leaping over rooftops and soaring through the air. Then dealing with a few petty bandits would have been effortless.

“Hee hee!”

Seeing his wretched expression, Cai Rongxue suddenly could not suppress her laughter.

“It is only temporary. Why must you take it so hard? One day… one day, once we escape this predicament, you will…”

Cai Rongxue was wearing her veil again, so Li Sanjian could not see her smile. But her laughter was as clear as a skylark’s, and it was the first time he had ever heard her laugh. His heart stirred despite himself, and he stared at her.

“How can you be so certain that we will escape?”

Before Li Sanjian had finished speaking, several faint sounds came from the darkness. Then someone hurled a torch onto one of the mountain paths. Its flame flickered erratically, as though pointing the way.

“Excellent! If we do not leave now, when will we?” Li Sanjian cried. “Quickly, let us go!”

He no longer had time to think. He seized Cai Rongxue’s hand, tucked the hem of his long robe into his belt, and hurried with her toward the mountain path indicated by the torch.

They fled like stray dogs from a ruined home, like fish escaping through a torn net.

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