novelraw Chapter 298: Should We Stay?
Chapter 298: Should We Stay?
The next day, early morning.
Zao Ying got up from bed with a split headache.
The sensation of a hangover was truly unpleasant; she patted her head and suddenly jolted awake, thinking, “Where am I?”
She looked left and right, and discovered she was lying in a small stone hut, with nothing inside except one bed, one table, and one coat rack.
She quickly pushed the door open and went out, only to realize she was inside the super large barracks of the “rebel band in Guyuan,” which was entirely made up of little cubicle-like small rooms, their doors neatly lined up and extending out along both sides of the corridor.
She casually pushed open one door and found one of her subordinates inside, snoring soundly, drooling, clutching his belly, looking happy and satisfied.
That foolish appearance was exactly like that of a full pig.
Rubbing her painfully aching head, she slowly walked out of the barracks; outside, on the open ground, the “rebel band in Guyuan” was already doing morning drills.
The man who called himself “Old Ghost from Guyuan,” but whom others referred to as “Instructor He,” was standing at the front of the formation, demonstrating a martial art routine.
More than five hundred people followed his moves, punching together.That martial art routine was extremely fierce, every move involved locks, holds, neck twists…
Zao Ying just watched for two glances before breaking out in a cold sweat, thinking: If I faced these people, and they suddenly pulled out a killing move, I’d probably be gone in one blow.
Seeing that she had gotten up, Instructor He waved at her, smiled, and said, “Boss Zao, we’re doing morning drills here, no time to entertain you; you take your people and go get breakfast from the cooking teams.”
Zao Ying thought: After such a great meal last night, today’s breakfast should just be plain porridge or noodle soup to get by, right?
She couldn’t help but run to the cooking teams, and saw that it was all meat buns prepared inside—the kind stuffed full with meat filling, the fragrant scent of meat and dough mixing together; she could even picture the satisfied smiles on her subordinates’ faces as they ate them.
“What kind of place is this? Ah!”
This wouldn’t do; she had to get out and see what was really going on here.
She woke up her subordinates, telling them to hurry and go gnaw on the buns; she herself grabbed two buns in her hands, gnawing as she strolled casually out of the barracks.
After exiting the barracks in that small mountain valley, there was a flat, gray hard road ahead, which surprised her a little, but she was a horse thief; she didn’t like such hard roads that hurt horse hooves.
Fortunately, beside the hard road, there remained a dirt path; it seemed those doing road construction had already considered this issue long ago.
She walked forward along the road and soon saw an enormous fortress, a fortress wall three meters high showcasing the owner’s formidable power; beside this enormous fortress were fertile farmlands, colorful buildings, a chugging small train…
The sheer volume of bewildering things she took in over a short time made Zao Ying’s mind jam repeatedly, almost unable to keep up.
Just then, a middle-aged man approached her and smiled at her, saying, “Boss Zao, how are you? I’m Thirty-Two, the Steward of Gaojia Village. We’re just a desolate village in the wilderness; having esteemed guests like Boss Zao come truly honors us.”
Zao Ying thought: A Steward was one of the biggest roles besides the master himself; this man couldn’t be overlooked. Yet, when he uttered those last words, his exaggerated expression and gestures made her really want to punch him.
She clasped her fists: “Steward Thirty-Two! I just arrived; I don’t know the rules here. I’m wandering around aimlessly; please don’t mind me.”
Thirty-Two laughed: “What do you think of our Gaojia Village, Boss Zao?”
Zao Ying: “Prosperous! Novel! In these times of famine and chaos, it’s a rare and precious place.”
Thirty-Two silently chuckled; the probe was over. That morning, the Deity had sent him a large paper decree, ordering him to keep Zao Ying to train cavalry; after probing, he felt success was possible.
“Four years of drought.” Thirty-Two sighed long and hard: “The people are suffering; thieves are popping up everywhere outside; this Shaanxi region has fallen into… ah… utter ruin.”
Zao Ying had question marks in her head: “What did you just say?”
Thirty-Two: “Ah, basically it means very difficult times.”
Zao Ying nodded: “Yes, indeed difficult!”
Thirty-Two: “Is the quite promising career of a horse thief difficult too?”
Zao Ying shook her head bitterly: “Hard, getting harder. Back in better times, robbing government grain convoys or birthday treasure shipments was almost effortless, but after three years of drought, birthday treasures are gone, and grain convoys are tougher to rob every time; those sent by the court to oversee grain… they’re practically inhuman.”
Thirty-Two’s mind flashed to the gaunt face of Hong Chengchou, Shaanxi Grain Transport Supervisor, thinking: That skinny guy is tough? Didn’t seem like it. Oh well, not the point here.
“Since it’s getting harder to snatch anything.” Thirty-Two smiled: “Boss Zao, haven’t you ever thought about finding a secluded paradise-like place to stop, settle down, and live stably for a while?”
Zao Ying immediately understood; this guy had been blabbering all this time to try and recruit her.
Mutual absorption and merging among greenwood forces wasn’t unusual.
Zao Ying had been recruited before, but she never agreed because she didn’t fancy those groups.
But this time…
She unexpectedly didn’t reject him outright; recalling the formidable combat strength of the “rebel band in Guyuan” she saw at Duzhucun, then thinking about the luxurious big barracks they lived in, the Eight Great Bowls of Xi’an they ate.
She felt a slight, subtle stirring of interest.
If they attached themselves to such a powerful faction, she and her 120 subordinates could live well from now on, right?
Zao Ying couldn’t help but ask: “The rebel band in Guyuan and Yongji Xing Honglang, did you recruit them with the same kind of talk?”
Thirty-Two laughed: “Boss Zao, don’t misunderstand; I’ve never used any special words. Xing Honglang sticks around because she often does business with our village—back and forth, we’re familiar—and she can leave whenever she wants; we wouldn’t stop her, but she considers this place her home now and doesn’t want to leave.”
Zao Ying thought: Huh?
Thirty-Two continued: “As for the rebel band in Guyuan!”
He grinned, showing a mouth of slightly yellow teeth, in a very strange smile: “The real rebel band in Guyuan is doing forced labor in our village’s prison right now; the force you saw was the militia local gentry of Gaojia Village.”
“What?” Zao Ying was utterly shocked: “You mean that was militia?”
Thirty-Two grinned and climbed to higher ground: “Come, come, Boss Zao, look at the real rebel band in Guyuan over here.”
Zao Ying climbed the rise after him, following his pointing finger; she saw a gray structure off in the distance, clearly prison buildings because they had many strange barred gates inside; a large group of sturdy men had just gotten up and were being let out from the prison… these men didn’t look ordinary—they were spirited and tough, or rather, fierce individuals.