Chapter 3, The Dispersed Ones

Seeing a low hill ahead covered with lush trees, Li Jiuyan's eyes revealed a look of ecstatic joy. He turned to Chen De and said, "Young Master Chen, the spring must be located atop this hill."

At that moment, a cool breeze blew in. Li Jiuyan, with his eyes closed, sniffed the air with his nose and exclaimed joyfully, "Moisture in the air." Without hesitation, he headed upstream. Seeing his peculiar demeanor, Chen De slung his bow quiver behind his waist and hesitantly followed him. The two walked along a dried-up mountain stream, gradually Chen De also noticed that the humidity in the air was increasing, prompting him to follow Li Jiuyan even more closely.

At that moment, a low shout suddenly came from the carriage: "Stop!" A middle-aged man dressed in a silk robe stepped down from the carriage. His complexion was slightly dark, his chin was shaven to a deep blue, and he sported a thick mustache, giving him a rather imposing appearance. He glanced at the two men on the ground who were still rolling in pain and waved his hand, saying, "First, save the people." Immediately, four men restrained the injured individuals, while others retrieved cloth strips and other items from the carriage to stop the bleeding. He then turned to Li Jiuyan and Chen De, cupping his hands in salute, and said, "I am Wei Zhong, a merchant from Taiyuan. My subordinates have inadvertently offended you both; I hope you will not take offense."

Li Jiuyan felt a deep sense of distress in his heart and could only respond truthfully: "In my youth, I served as a subordinate under your esteemed elder brother and have seen you on two occasions."

Fortunately, most villagers have some stored food buried underground to varying degrees. Considering that they can gather some wild fruits and vegetables along the way, this dry food is sufficient to sustain them until Taiyuan. After arriving in Taiyuan, they will be looked after by Li Jiuyan's son, who is under Yang Ye's command. With just a greeting, the villagers can follow the supply convoy of the Jianxiong army to Daizhou. In this chaotic era, with the protection of Yang Wudi's reputation, Daizhou offers a greater sense of security compared to other places. After arriving in Taiyuan, they will be looked after by Li Jiuyan's son, who is under Yang Ye's command. With just a greeting, the villagers can follow the supply convoy of the Jianxiong army to Daizhou. In this chaotic era, with the protection of Yang Wudi's reputation, Daizhou offers a greater sense of security compared to other places.

Seeing him so knowledgeable and perceptive, the tense crowd across from him hesitated. At that moment, a middle-aged man standing by the pond said, "It's our first meeting; how can I trust you? I have no choice but to offend you." After saying this, he waved his hand to the sides, and immediately four strong men drew their swords and advanced towards Li Jiuyan and the other person.

The two immediately leaned against each other again, their gazes briefly meeting, and then they coldly looked at the two remaining armed men on the other side. The two men were taken aback, not expecting Chen De and Li Jiuyan to speak softly while being so ruthless in their actions, leaving them momentarily stunned.

The remaining people are all here" Li Jiuyan sighed and pointed at the more than twenty individuals scattered behind him

The gentleman pondered for a moment and said: "Since you are the father of Li Dutu and also a soldier under my elder brother, we shall not make things difficult for you. Someone, bring some money and provisions for Li Laoge to assist him on his journey to Taiyuan"

On the morning of the second day, Chen Deyan, still in good spirits, had clearly become the deputy of the veteran Li Jiuyan, responsible for urging the villagers, who appeared lost and helpless, to organize their belongings and assist them in bringing along the necessary items

After a brief discussion, eleven villagers were willing to follow Li Jiuyan to escape to Taiyuan, and then further north to Daizhou. Among them were five strong village women who had lost their loved ones, while the rest were mostly weak and frail individuals. Li Jiuyan's son had previously sent word that the military governor Yang Ye of the Jianxiong Army had been sheltering refugees and encouraging them to cultivate the land. Chen De was certainly willing to go to Taiyuan, and thus he joined the group of refugees.

Li Jiuyan said: "An old man lives in Lishi, and he has a son named Li Chengxiang, who is currently serving as a captain in the Jianxiong army. A few days ago, their home was burned down by the Song people, and they had no choice but to flee north with the villagers.

Li Jiuyan, an old hand in the martial world, cast a glance at the crowd by the pond and inwardly exclaimed that it was bad news. This group was mostly composed of young and strong men with swords at their waists, their expressions fierce. The more than twenty horses drinking by the pond, though not yet saddled, were clearly high-quality warhorses from the northern regions. During the chaotic Five Dynasties period, local lords strictly prohibited the private trade of warhorses, yet they were still purchasing them at high prices, which incited a group of desperate individuals to specialize in smuggling warhorses from the north to the south, and then smuggling tea back from the south to the north. These individuals traveled between Khitan, Northern Han, Song, Later Shu, and Southern Tang, and if discovered by local military forces, they would immediately face death and the loss of their horses. Thus, they were particularly wary of having their movements exposed, often resorting to murder to silence witnesses. While serving in the military, Li Jiuyan had fought against these itinerant horse traders a few times and knew that their combat strength was formidable. Besides being fearless, they were also skilled in archery and horsemanship, making it difficult for either the Khitan horse thieves or the local military to gain the upper hand against this group.

Before departing, Li Jiuyan magically unearthed three broadswords, a crossbow, and thirty feathered arrows from his own yard. Since most of the fleeing villagers were elderly, women, and children, Li Jiuyan and Chen De each carried a sword. The other villagers took their own rations and some valuables.

Turning around a patch of moss-covered strange rocks, a deep turquoise pool suddenly appeared before them. Li Jiuyan and Chen De almost simultaneously exclaimed in delight, but then immediately ceased their cheers, for there was another group by the spring gathering water, all of whom halted their actions and regarded them with wary eyes

The mountain path was difficult to traverse. Every evening, Li Jiuyan would settle the villagers in the mountains, while Chen De led several youths to search for herbs to brew soup for villagers suffering from diarrhea or colds, which proved quite effective in alleviating their ailments. After four more days of this, the villagers and the *Tushu* companions' provisions were gradually running out, and it seemed they could only rely on foraging for wild fruits and vegetables to stave off hunger

Oh, your brother's soldier is the father of Li Chengxiang; I do have some impression of him. The gentleman nodded and turned to a follower, saying, "They say a tiger father does not raise a dog son. I know that Li Chengxiang is a brave general; you can indeed be called a father-son duo on the battlefield." Several people around him laughed heartily, clearly quite familiar with Li Chengxiang.

"Wait a moment." Hearing Li Jiuyan's thanks, the man raised his eyebrows and stared at Li Jiuyan, saying: "Brother, I am merely a merchant traveler. Why do you address me as 'Sir'?"

At this moment, the leader who had spoken earlier, seeing that the higher-ups were inclined to negotiate, urgently said: "Master, these two have injured our two brothers; this cannot be left unresolved"

Persisting onward, Chen De could not help but admire the survival will of the people in this era as he observed the villagers, though hungry and exhausted, still gritting their teeth and following along.

Taking advantage of the moment when the four sword-wielding men had not yet fully encircled him, Chen De suddenly shouted loudly and swung his blade towards one of them. Li Jiuyan followed closely behind him, keeping an eye on the other two sword-wielding men at his side. The man directly facing Chen De felt a sudden constriction in his breath and instinctively raised his sword to block Chen De's attack, while another man beside him also swung his sword at Chen De. However, Chen De's seemingly relentless attack suddenly shifted; with a swift motion, he unexpectedly struck the left arm of the adjacent sword-wielder. This maneuver was executed with such speed that onlookers were left dumbfounded. The man who was struck immediately felt a sharp pain and fell to the ground, clutching his wound.

"Let us go, let us go." After the villagers bid farewell to their relatives, pulled out the weeds from their ancestors' graves for the last time, and carefully wrapped their homeland to hold close to their hearts, Li Jiuyan led the group away from the village, looking back three times. Although following the Li River or the Fen River is an easy route, it is more likely to encounter Song soldiers who have intruded deep into Han territory. The mountainous area between the Li River and the Fen River is difficult to traverse, but armies generally do not choose to march through areas that are easily ambushed and have inconvenient supply lines. For safety's sake, Li Jiuyan decided to lead everyone directly to Taiyuan through the mountains, avoiding any state or county towns.

At this point, Chen De drew his saber from his waist with a clang, adopting the Eight Slashes stance popularized by Li Jiuyan among his Northern Han troops. Li Jiuyan sighed and drew his sword, standing closely beside him. The middle-aged leader of the opposing side let out a strange "Eh?" and fell silent, closing his eyes as if he were merely waiting to hear the tragic cries of the two men before directing his subordinates to fetch water and leave.

In the evening, as all the houses had been burned down by the Song army, they could only sleep in the rubble. Chen De and the other two chose a spot not too far from the other villagers, laid down some straw on the ground, and Chen De and Li Jiuyan lay down close together, while Juan'er nestled beside them, sleeping in her clothes

Li Jiuyan immediately knelt down and said loudly, "Thank you, Lord Wei." He then pulled Chen De and prepared to leave

The middle-aged man, however, paid no heed, merely waving his raised hand to the side. The crossbowmen then lowered their crossbows, no longer aiming at the two. Wei Zhong said, "Observing the techniques of the two wielding knives, they resemble the Eight Slashes of my Taiyuan army. We are all men of the Han, so why must we harm one another? You may leave, but do not mention having seen us to anyone, understood?" With that, he waved his hand, and the crossbowmen opened a path.

The villagers' long sighs and short gasps intertwined with Li Jiuyan's snoring, making Chen De restless and unable to sleep. He thought to himself, "In the past, when reading historical texts that spoke of the Song dynasty exhausting the Northern Han, 'burning their camps and relocating their people,' I never imagined that war could be so brutal"

Li Jiuyan secretly thought it was bad; this group was well-trained, almost resembling an army. The crossbow arrows were aimed at the two individuals who had already been surrounded, waiting for the leader's command to shoot them like hedgehogs. Chen De was also sweating profusely, but his eyes remained coldly fixed on the leader.

A few days later, according to Li Jiuyan, we had already entered the territory of Luya Mountain and would soon be leaving the mountainous area. After setting up camp that day, Elder Li and Chen De went to search for a water source, while the other villagers tried to gather edible wild vegetables nearby

In this autumn, the rainfall is particularly scarce; it has been many days since any rain has fallen in the mountains. Most of the streams in the ravines have dried up, revealing rugged rocks. Li Jiuyan and Chen De have not seen a water source for a long time, and the two of them are enduring thirst and fatigue as they search everywhere.

The adult furrowed his brow and said: "So it turns out you are an old comrade from the army. Who can vouch for you?"

In the moment of distraction, Chen De suddenly turned to the back of the person who was originally opposite him and struck him again with a knife, creating a large gash, from which blood immediately gushed out

The middle-aged man, who appeared to be the leader, showed an expression of anger and shouted, "How ruthless! Bring it on, crossbow!" The swordsmen in the front row pressed closely against Li Jiuyan and Chen De, while seven or eight men behind them immediately took out powerful crossbows from the cart

After the discussion was concluded, everyone worked together to move the villagers who had been slaughtered by the Song army into a large cave, and then they bricked up the entrance to the cave.

The northern hills, seemingly small, are in fact vast. The two individuals took a quarter of an hour to walk from the foot of the mountain to the halfway point. Along the way, the vegetation was lush. Li Jiuyan occasionally crouched down to carefully observe the moisture levels of the moss and the footprints of wild animals in the mountains, constantly changing direction. Finally, he determined the location of the spring and began to walk briskly.

Seeing that Chen De had already placed his hand on the broadsword he carried, Li Jiuyan hurriedly pressed down on his hand and cupped his fists in a gesture of respect towards the others, saying: "I am merely here to fetch water from this pond, with no intention of offending any of you. I hope you gentlemen will show mercy, as we would never dare to disclose your whereabouts."