Chapter 30: He Called Us Useless

Although Niu Youdao quickly circulated his cultivation and suppressed the breath that had gone down the wrong way, he somehow seemed to cough even harder, as though he were about to hack up his lungs. Still coughing, he pointed at himself and waved repeatedly to the others, indicating that he could no longer manage and would have to excuse himself. Then he simply left the table and walked away, coughing the whole time.

He just ran off like that?

The others looked at one another in speechless disbelief. Shang Shuqing remained quiet. After hearing Yuan Gang's words, she had wanted to ask Niu Youdao to sing the lyric with its melody. Instead, he had not even given her the chance to speak. Watching Niu Youdao's retreating back, the corner of Yuan Gang's mouth twitched. Others might not know what Master Dao was like, but how could he not? Niu Youdao was using the coughing as an excuse to escape. Yuan Gang had wanted to turn the tables on him, only for Master Dao to remain Master Dao. He did not even bother making an excuse. He simply seized the slope Yuan Gang had given him and rolled straight down it. The trap had failed. Yuan Gang had played the villain for nothing. He had nothing more to say.

Without bidding farewell to anyone, he turned with the sword in hand and strode away like a stranger. Only then did Shang Chaozong and the other two fully realize what had happened. Niu Youdao had used the opportunity to flee. They looked at the food and wine on the table, all thoroughly sprayed by Niu Youdao. There was no way anyone could keep eating.

Lan Ruoting shook his head. "The lyric is unquestionably excellent. I only wonder which of them was telling the truth."

Shang Chaozong snorted. "Whose words do you think are more believable? Does that even need asking?"

Shang Shuqing took several graceful steps and stopped beside the railing, looking out at the great river rolling beneath the moonlight. Slowly, she recited:

The rolling Yangtze sweeps eastward,
Its waves washing all heroes away.
Right and wrong, success and defeat—
All turn empty in the blink of an eye.
The green mountains remain unchanged;
How many times has the sunset reddened?...

Then she murmured, "What a line—'The green mountains remain unchanged; how many times has the sunset reddened?...'"

After a pause, she recited another familiar pair of lines.

Sober, he sits only before the flowers;
Drunk, he comes again to sleep beneath them.

She sighed softly. "One is bold and weathered by the passage of ages; the other is filled with wine, flowers, and pastoral ease. Yet both carry the same indifference toward worldly fame and profit. It is entirely possible that they came from the same person. He still refuses to open his heart to us. He is deliberately maintaining his distance. Brother, I'm afraid we won't be able to keep this man. Sooner or later, he will probably part ways with us."

Displeasure appeared on Shang Chaozong's face. "Following us is dangerous. Wanting to protect himself is only natural."

Lan Ruoting sighed. "Whatever else may be true, his desire to leave proves at least one thing: he wasn't planted beside us by some outside faction with malicious intentions."

Inside the tent, Niu Youdao sat cross-legged on a felt mat and meditated.

The tent flap lifted. Yuan Gang entered and asked flatly, "Were the late-night snacks good?"

"What could possibly be good about them? Steamed, boiled, roasted—then steamed, boiled, roasted again. There are far too few ways of cooking food here. Once we're settled somewhere, that problem needs fixing."

Niu Youdao opened his eyes midway through the complaint and shot Yuan Gang an irritated sideways glance. "Monkey, you're really something. Turning your elbow outward to help outsiders?"

You still have the nerve to say that?

Yuan Gang gave him a look of pure disdain and could not be bothered arguing over such nonsense. He planted the sheathed treasured sword upright in front of Niu Youdao, then turned and sat down on the felt mat opposite him.

"Master Dao, we're not far from Nanshan Temple now. Are you certain someone will make a move against you there?"

Niu Youdao immediately forgot about the earlier nonsense. The two of them did not take such minor matters seriously.

After thinking briefly, he said, "If Tu Han hadn't warned me, I probably wouldn't have considered it. But once he did, and with that fake letter in hand, the odds are probably nine out of ten. If someone plans to kill me at Nanshan Temple, there are only two possibilities. Either people from the Shangqing Sect are hiding there waiting to make their move, or someone else has been arranged to kill me there."

Yuan Gang asked directly, "What do you want to do?"

Niu Youdao said, "First, I'm not tired of living yet. I don't want to die. The ideal solution is to make the Shangqing Sect believe I've already been dealt with. That would stop them from continuing to keep their eyes on me and let us leave calmly, buying us time to increase our own strength. Even if the Shangqing Sect later discovers I'm still alive, once we're strong enough ourselves, we won't need to fear them. That's the safest method. Otherwise, if experts from the Shangqing Sect start hounding us, things could become extremely dangerous. We don't know the people or the territory here, which puts us at a serious disadvantage. That's also why I haven't dared leave this group yet. However badly Shang Chaozong has fallen, he's still a prince. Unless some major figure gives the word, the Shangqing Sect still won't dare openly attack Shang Chaozong's men."

The two had worked together for many years and understood each other with very little explanation. At this point, Yuan Gang roughly understood what Niu Youdao intended.

"Substitute a plum for the peach?"

Niu Youdao nodded. "Exactly. That leaves two possible outcomes at Nanshan Temple. If the people waiting there are from the Shangqing Sect, then nine chances out of ten they'll recognize me. A substitute won't fool them, and afterward they'll still come after me. If they aren't from the Shangqing Sect, then we can deceive them completely and slip away."

Yuan Gang asked, "Specific plan?"

"The man has to come from among these five hundred," Niu Youdao said. "Find someone whose overall build and outline are reasonably similar to mine. You figure out a way to disguise him, then send him to Nanshan Temple in my place. If the killers aren't from the Shangqing Sect, then the moment the fake me appears carrying the letter, they will certainly attack. Once the man is dead, the killers will believe they've succeeded. Shang Chaozong's people will naturally go looking for their missing man, and we can use the confusion to break away quickly. If the killers are from the Shangqing Sect, they won't attack the impostor and alert the snake by striking the grass. If you see the man come back out safely, immediately send a distress signal and draw Shang Chaozong's men over to reinforce him. First, that gives us a chance to make Shang Chaozong's men tie down the killers. Second, it draws the killers' attention elsewhere so they can't immediately learn where we've gone. Either way, there's no reason for us to keep risking our lives alongside these brother and sister. Once we've lit the fuse, we leave immediately."

Yuan Gang nodded. "Understood. I'll handle it. You keep Shang Chaozong and the others steady."

Niu Youdao sighed dramatically. "Wasn't I trying to keep them steady just now? What were you making trouble for?"

Yuan Gang turned his head away, lay down on the felt mat, and closed his eyes as though he had heard nothing at all... At dawn the next day, Yuan Gang fetched water and prepared everything Niu Youdao needed for washing.

While washing outside the tent, Niu Youdao looked around and noticed men and horses moving everywhere. He turned and asked, "What's going on?"

Yuan Gang replied, "Caught a sentence or two. They're going into the mountains to cut timber and make rafts for crossing the river."

"Oh." Niu Youdao looked around.

After washing, he wandered about the camp. When he saw Shang Chaozong and the others standing on a slope by the river, pointing and discussing the water, he walked over on his own initiative.

"Your Highness, with all this activity, are you planning to make rafts and cross the river?"

Everyone turned and greeted him.

Lan Ruoting smiled. "Exactly. If it were only people crossing, it would be easy. But with this many horses, we'll probably need a hundred or more rafts before things become manageable."

Niu Youdao looked upstream and downstream. "There aren't any bridges?"

Lan Ruoting said, "Cultivator, there is something you don't know. Feng Lingbo, Commandery Governor of Guangyi Commandery, is holding troops for his own ends. To guard against the imperial army, he tightly controls all river traffic. As for the bridges, some have been burned and others destroyed. Taking a detour would send us far too far out of our way, so our only practical choice is to build rafts and cross here."

"Holding troops for his own ends?" Niu Youdao moved into the middle of the group and looked toward the indistinct scenery on the far bank. "A mere Commandery Governor dares oppose the imperial army? Is this Feng Lingbo really that formidable?"

Shang Chaozong and Shang Shuqing exchanged a glance.

He did not even know this?

They could not tell whether Niu Youdao was genuinely ignorant or deliberately pretending.

Lan Ruoting stroked his beard and smiled. "Naturally, the strength of a single commandery cannot oppose the entire imperial court. But the court is presently facing enemy armies pressing in from outside and cannot afford to create greater internal disorder. Feng Lingbo himself also possesses considerable strength. He has cultivation sects supporting him, and under his command are one hundred thousand elite troops. His eldest son, Feng Ruoyi, and second son, Feng Ruojie, are both fierce generals skilled in battle. Even his daughter, Feng Ruonan, is a woman warrior who yields nothing to men. Feng Lingbo's two sons and one daughter all command troops. They have defeated imperial punitive armies several times, forcing the court to placate him for now rather than drive him completely into rebellion. On top of that, Guangyi Commandery is a rich land of fish and rice, with a warm, mild climate, ample grain, and naturally a large population. One could say Feng Lingbo possesses excellent natural conditions for becoming independent. That is why he dares take advantage of the court's internal and external troubles to resist it."

Even a Commandery Governor below the central government dared hold troops and resist the imperial court. It seemed the State of Yan truly was in serious trouble.

Niu Youdao fell into thought. Under his breath, he murmured, "Feng Ruonan..."

He remembered something. Years ago, when he had only just left Small Temple Village and was floating downstream, he had encountered a female general. When she shouted after him, she had told him to come seek her in Guangyi Commandery.

The plaque she shot onto his raft had been engraved with a phoenix and the character "nan."

Hearing him murmur the name, Lan Ruoting tentatively asked, "Cultivator, do you know Feng Lingbo's daughter Feng Ruonan?"

"Heh." Niu Youdao smiled and shook his head.

At that moment, a disturbance suddenly broke out back at the temporary camp.

Shang Chaozong abruptly turned his head and shouted, "What's happening?"

Niu Youdao glanced back and saw Yuan Gang surrounded by a crowd. His brow moved faintly. The group quickly headed over. Hundred-Man Commander Guan Tie stepped forward to clear a path, and the men surrounding the scene parted.

When Shang Chaozong saw Yuan Gang apparently facing off against his personal guards, he barked again, "What's going on?"

Yuan Gang stood motionless, his face expressionless. Opposite him, another Hundred-Man Commander, Chen Shulin, pointed angrily at Yuan Gang.

"Your Highness, he said the men of our Yingyang and Wulie Guards are useless!"

Everyone immediately turned toward Yuan Gang. Shang Shuqing privately found the whole thing strange. Yuan Gang was absolutely not someone who went around looking for trouble. Why would he suddenly say something like this?

Shang Chaozong asked, "Brother Yuan, did you say that?"

Unmoved, Yuan Gang replied, "I did."

That single admission made the surrounding men's anger flare even hotter. Every face darkened. Even Shang Chaozong's expression sank. Lan Ruoting and Shang Shuqing exchanged a glance.

Niu Youdao carried his sword everywhere like a walking stick. Leaning on it with one hand, he called lazily, "Monkey, what nonsense are you spouting?"

Yuan Gang answered calmly, "It isn't nonsense. I only told the truth. Anyone who disagrees can test it."

The personal guards of the two elite units immediately began rolling their shoulders and flexing their fists, clearly preparing to beat Yuan Gang senseless. Shang Chaozong, however, visibly perked up. From the first moment he saw Yuan Gang, he had liked the man's bearing. He trusted his own eye and had long wanted to test Yuan Gang's true ability. Now the opportunity had delivered itself to his door.

"Good!" Shang Chaozong shouted. "Which brother wants to step forward and exchange a few moves with Brother Yuan?"

"I'll do it!"

"Me!"

"Your Highness, let me!"

A crowd of men volunteered at once. In the end, Hundred-Man Commander Chen Shulin barked a command that suppressed everyone else's voices. He would take the field himself.

[End of Chapter 30]