Cavalry

Chapter 115: Cavalry

Silver. Several cartloads of silver.

Lü Zhuangyuan had noticed the deep ruts carved into the dirt by the wagon wheels and knew those carts must be hauling something heavy. But he never imagined it would be silver.

Just how much silver is that? If they gave me even a little, I could build several opera houses, couldn’t I?

Right as Lü Zhuangyuan’s eyes were going glassy staring at it, the wind-blown door curtain dropped back down.

The nuns had clearly taken note of the strange reactions from the people around them, but they couldn’t be bothered to care. They just sat there like so many massive stone weights, eating.

“Stop staring. Eat. Hurry up and finish the meal so we can get out of here. That much silver… it means trouble.”

The Lü family troupe circled their two carts into a half-moon and continued their meal.

Of course, as the honored guest, Zhao Wu’s treatment didn’t change—unlimited white flour buns and salted duck eggs, even when he said he didn’t want any more.

It was while they were eating that the stench gradually thickened.

A slightly thinner nun appeared beside them without anyone noticing how she’d gotten there, drooling as she stared at the salted duck egg in Zhao Wu’s hand.

“How much for that egg?”

“Aren’t nuns not supposed to eat—” Lü Xiucai started to say, before his father cut him off with a tap from his pipe.

“What kind of talk is that, Reverend? They’re just a few eggs, nothing important. Take them, take them.”

Lü Zhuangyuan reached into the jar, fished out two salted duck eggs, and held them out.

The nun shot a guilty glance toward her companions by the carts, then grabbed one egg. Too lazy to even peel it, she tossed the whole thing into her mouth and crunched.

“I pay.” A string of copper coins, half-worn and reeking of sweat, was tossed onto the cart.

As the rich, oily yolk burst across her tongue, the fat nun’s eyes narrowed in pure satisfaction.

With an appetite like that, two of Lü Zhuangyuan’s eggs wouldn’t last long. She reached her fat hand directly into the jar of salted duck eggs.

As if eating grapes, she opened her mouth, swallowed one after another, utterly delighted.

Zhao Wu could only watch and wonder: Doesn’t that much salt burn her throat?

“Da-da-da-da-da—”

The thunder of hooves erupted like a sudden rainstorm. Everyone turned to look.

At the far end of the road, on the horizon, cavalry had appeared.

“Soldiers! Run!”

Someone shouted, and the other travelers scrambled to their feet, grabbing their bags and diving into the surrounding woods.

Lü Zhuangyuan wanted to run too, but he had a cart.

By the time the cavalry reached them, the only people left on the road besides the Lü troupe were the nuns.

Lü Zhuangyuan gritted his teeth. He forced a baffling smile at Zhao Wu, then helped the man forward.

“Young Master Zhao, I could tell from the start—you’ve got such a powerful senior brother, you must be just as gifted. Don’t hold back on us now.”

“I… I’m not. I’m not…”

Before he could explain, the cavalry in black iron armor thundered past in front of him, sending a mouthful of grit into Zhao Wu’s open mouth.

The sound of hooves was laced with the clatter of weapons. This wasn’t ordinary cavalry. This was an elite unit. Zhao Wu caught a glimpse of the banner carried among them—a large character written on it: “Four.”

“Halt!”

A low, thunderous command made everyone flinch.

Then, with surprising speed, the cavalry actually stopped.

A black row of them stood there like a wall of iron, white steam blasting from the horses’ nostrils.

True to form: swift as the wind, steady as the pines.

Zhao Wu’s eyes went wide as he saw an officer among the cavalry, four long blades strapped to his back, stomp off his horse.

He leaped a full dozen meters straight to the nuns, landing hard enough to crack the earth into two pits.

“Nuns of Anci Nunnery! The border is in crisis! The army urgently needs funds. I am requisitioning this silver. I will write you a promissory note. Take it to the Ministry of Revenue to collect your payment.”

The others heard this too, including Lü Xiucai. “Dad, what’s going on? Why is there fighting over in Siqi too?”

“My little ancestor! Can you not speak for one moment?”

Lü Zhuangyuan clamped his hand over his youngest son’s mouth, pressing his body as low as possible behind the cart, praying the soldiers wouldn’t take an interest in them.

You Zixiong treated the opera troupe like they didn’t exist. His entire focus was on the fat nuns before him.

When he noticed that the nuns were still sitting there, stuffing their faces, completely ignoring his words, You Zixiong’s brow gradually tightened.

“Did you not hear my command?”

As the words left his mouth, his right hand gripped the hilt of a sword at his waist—a blade with a black tassel.

In an instant, the air was filled with the reek of slaughter. It was as if this spot had become the heart of a battlefield between life and death.

The pressure infected the surrounding cavalry. Their eyes reddened. Their bodies grew hot. Even their horses began pawing the ground restlessly.

“No. Too far to go.”

Several nuns spoke at once.

“If you’ve got the nerve, make a move. But think twice before you do.”

The refusal pushed the tension to its breaking point. Some of the cavalry had already begun to draw their bows.

Just as Lü Zhuangyuan was about to whip the cart and flee with the others, the killing intent vanished.

You Zixiong’s face hardened. He grabbed the black-tasseled longsword at his waist and hurled it forward.

“This is my sword! You Zixiong’s sword! Take this blade to the Ministry of Revenue to collect your silver! You’ll get not a coin less!”

As the black-clad nuns crowded around the weapon, eyeing it with greed, touching it with their filthy, fat hands, the fire in You Zixiong’s gut burned hotter.

But he understood. The entire kingdom of Siqi was in chaos right now. He couldn’t afford to make new enemies. Especially not these nuns.

“Dark Peak Riders! Hear my command! Divide the silver! Evenly distributed—one share per rider! Orders are as solid as a mountain! We must reach Kun City in three days!”

“As you command!”

All the cavalry dismounted at once, rushing to the carts to begin moving the silver with practiced, orderly speed.

As the sound of hooves gradually faded into the distance, Lü Zhuangyuan and the others snapped out of their daze like waking from a dream. Everyone was gasping for breath, drenched in sweat as if they’d been hauled out of a river.

“Dad, I… I wet myself.”

“Aren’t you ashamed! And you still have the nerve to say it! Go change your pants!”

Despite his bluster toward his youngest son, Lü Zhuangyuan’s own legs were trembling. A lingering, helpless dread gnawed at him.

“Ahh… looks like Siqi is falling into chaos too. No good. This place is too dangerous. I need to find that little Daoist as fast as I can, and get out of this cursed land with him.”