Changning’s Imperial Army - Chapter 118

Chapter 118 – Animosity

In the eyes of the locals, Gui Si was a strange person. Even though it was his first day of work. This was because he had clearly told his boss that he would only work half a day every single day, but he assured him that he would not do less than the other porters. It was winter, which was the off season for his business, hence, his boss did not mind it. However, little did he expect Gui Si to complete an entire day’s worth of workload of a normal person in half a day. He took his lunch and left.

The boss was very happy to have encountered a coolie like him. He only had to pay him half a day’s worth of wages and he did not have to provide him with dinner, while at the same time, getting more work done. He felt as though he had picked up some gold. He specially instructed Gui Si not to go to other stores, and said that he would take good care of him. Gui Si told him that he did not know how long more he would work for. He did not say anything more and just left.

After he took his lunch, Gui Si started finding out more information pertaining to Shen Leng. Gradually, he found out that Shen Leng was actually a well-known figure. It was not difficult for him to get more information about Shen Leng. The entire Anyang had heard of Shen Leng’s name, not just near the Navy’s camp. He was known as a legend.

Soon after, Gui Si arrived at Wei village. At the entrance of the village, he chatted with an elder who was smoking tobacco. The lonely and bored elder liked talking to strangers, especially the ones who were willing to hear his stories.

Hence, within the span of half an hour, Gui Si found out where Shen Leng resided in. Nonetheless, he did not dare to ambush him at his residence without careful consideration. Because he knew he was no match for Shen Leng.

For him to be promoted to a Class A Fifth pin general within such a short period of time, how was it possible for him to be incapable?

“Every time, during his special vacation, General Shen would return to our village and stay here for about four days. I saw him a few days ago when he returned. I think he’s returning to the Navy’s camp tomorrow. I sit here every day and am able to see people coming to and fro. If nothing happens, General Shen will be leaving the village early in the morning tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

Gui Si was a little nervous. He did not expect himself to find Shen Leng that quickly. The sudden news made his palms sweaty.

“Is General Shen exceptionally capable?”

“Naturally, that goes without saying. Whenever the water bandits on Nanping River hear General Shen’s name, they would become very terrified. There was a rumor that the Qiuli people outside of the southern coastal border region are vile savages who are extremely ruthless, and yet they were greatly defeated by General Shen.”

More often than not, the lonely old man liked to flaunt his knowledge. It was also a means for him to reconcile with his loneliness.

“Oh, I see…”

Gui Si asked once more, “General Shen must be extremely well-skilled in martial arts.”

“Of course, I have seen General Shen kill water bandits before. He killed seven to eight of them by himself…no, he killed dozens.”

“Uncle, you sit here all day long, how is it possible that you saw him kill those water bandits?”

“I…well in any case, I have seen it before.”

Gui Si looked all around. There was a pathway outside the village; after walking straight for about half a mile, there was an abandoned meadow. It meandered, following the Nanping river channel. Walking another mile or so on the main interconnecting path would lead him to the Navy’s camp.

Outside of the village, to the right of the pathway, it was the woods. It was not dense. A few years ago, The Navy constructed some barracks, hence they chopped off the trees nearby, leaving behind only small trees that were worthless. However, it was enough for them to hide behind them.

Gui Si swept his gaze all around before landing back onto the lonely old man. “Uncle, when does General Shen normally return to the Navy’s camp? Does he leave the village after daybreak?”

“You don’t have to wait till daybreak. I always see him every time.”

“Why?”

“I feel bored staying alone at home. Now that I’m older, I sleep later and wake up earlier. After I wake up, the house becomes cold and cheerless instead. It feels nice and warm to sit by the river to watch the sunrise.”

The elder smiled, but there was bitterness in his smile.

Gui Si stood up. “Thank you, uncle. Take a rest, I will come over to accompany you later.”

The elder watched Gui Si leave and he thought to himself about how young men loved telling lies. His son and daughter-in-law also said that they would go back to visit him often, but it had already been months since he last saw them.

However, he did not expect Gui Si to return after three hours. He carried a very big bundle with him and he even brought with him a roasted chicken, as well as some small appetizers, coupled with two pots of wine.

Gui Si placed the bundle next to him, and opened up the greaseproof paper that was wrapping around the chicken. He passed one pot of wine to the elder. “Let’s drink some wine.”

The elder immediately became more energetic. Hee was not poor; when his son and daughter-in-law visited, they would give him quite a fair amount of silver. He never had to worry about food or clothes. However, drinking alone and drinking with someone felt different.

The roasted chicken was so-so. It did not go with the wine as well as shelled peanuts.

Fortunately, there were shelled peanuts too.

Both of them paired the wine with roasted chicken, shelled peanuts and the moonlight, finishing two pots of wine. The elder was somewhat giddy, feeling extremely satisfied. Hence, he invited Gui Si to his house to rest for the night. Since he was from out of town, it might be hard for him to find a place to rest for the night.

Gui Si shook his head. He looked at the moon and said, “I am not sleeping tonight. Perhaps in the future, I will be sleeping for a long time.”

He took out a cloth bundle and placed it on the place where the elder frequently sat in. “If you come out to see the sunrise tomorrow morning, help me pass this to General Shen. I would like to join the military too.”

The elder thought to himself: No wonder. So he was using me as a backdoor. But it’s a good thing too, I can’t drink his wine for nothing.

He grunted and supported himself up. He leaned on his walking stick and tottered back home unhurriedly. He forgot to ask why he did not pass the item to him right now.

Gui Si sat at the entrance of the village alone, as he looked at the moon. Just like that, another two hours had passed. It was very late into the night. Even though Jiangnan was not as cold as the north, the winter night was still unbearably cold. Gui Si rubbed his hands against each other and felt as though he did not have much time left. Hence he carried the bundle and stood up before walking towards the pathway. At this very moment, he felt that the scenery by the river bank was rather beautiful. He was even pondering where he should place his grave. But, who would do it for him?

On the second day, before daybreak, the elder had already woken up. He vaguely remembered that he promised someone to do something for that person. After thinking for a while, he remembered it. He grabbed his walking stick and made his way out. At the entrance of the village where he sat at, there was indeed a cloth bundle. He thought to himself about how that person had a big heart, and that he was not afraid of losing his things.

He leaned against the wall and hugged the bundle. He put his hands into his sleeves and looked towards the river bank. Not long later, the river would start to reflect the red sky. Even in winter, the river still reflected the fiery red sunrise.

He suddenly thought about how he should not be late. Because of the wine he drank the night before, he woke up slightly later than usual. He was afraid that General Shen had already left the village. Hence, he felt as though the cloth bundle that he was hugging became somewhat heavier.

Just at this moment, he heard two people talking and laughing. Even though they were still far away, the elder could tell that it was General Shen and the fella whose last name was Chen. He seemed to be a close brother of General Shen.

“Uncle An, next time, don’t come out that early. It’s winter now, and now that you’re older, your blood circulation will be slower and it can be problematic. You should rest a while longer in the warmth of your bed. After you get up, move around a bit before you leave the house.”

After hearing Shen Leng’s voice, the elder felt warmth in his heart. “Good morning, General Shen. You don’t understand old people like me. The bed actually does not feel warm.”

Chen Ran laughed, “Uncle An, you might be old, but you’re young at heart. Your bed doesn’t feel warm because you are lacking another person, right? Someone soft, warm and smells good.”

“Battalion Commander Chen, are you saying that Uncle An is strong in will but weak in power?”

Shen Leng kicked Chen Ran in the butt lightly. “Rude.”

Chen Ran laughed and jumped out of the way. “It’s just that Uncle An looks young. Every single time I feel as though Uncle An is younger than me.”

The elder laughed out loud. The wrinkles on his face eased up a lot.

“General Shen, someone wanted me to pass this to you. It’s someone who’s from out of town…he said he wants to join the military. I’m guessing that it’s not too good for him to personally send it to you. He asked around and found out that you come here, hence he told me to pass it to you.”

Shen Leng looked at the cloth bundle. “What is his name?”

“What is his name?”

The old man was stumped for words. “I forgot to ask.”

Shen Leng took the bundle and tossed it far away. At this moment, an arrow came flying towards Shen Leng. Shen Leng took a step back and at the same time, he pushed Chen Ran away. “Send Uncle An home!”

Shortly after, the second arrow came flying over. It was aiming for the cloth bundle. Shen Leng was a few meters away from it, hence, all he could do was look on as the arrow shot it. The bundle fell to the ground and burst open; fine powder flew everywhere.

Shen Leng immediately tore a piece of cloth from his clothes and covered his mouth and nose. However, an unpleasant odor had already gotten into his nose.

“What is this smell?”

Chen Ran had just carried Uncle An, but his body swayed from side to side a little before he collapsed to the front.

Shen Leng frowned. He drew out his black cord sword from his back.

The third arrow flew over; Shen Leng used his sword to break it into two, and at the same time, he clearly saw the direction in which the arrow was coming from. Hence, he charged in that direction. After he took the first step, the fourth arrow came flying over and landed next to the place where Uncle An often sat in. Someone had dug the ground before – there was something buried in there.

With a bang, something burst open again. The fine powder erupted once more. Shen Leng could only feel himself going dizzy.

The black cord sword in his hand became heavier and heavier. He even felt as though he could

This time, five arrows were fired at the same time. The repeating crossbow was extremely accurate. One of the arrows was aimed at Shen Leng’s throat, one was aimed at his face, one was aimed at his heart, and the other two arrows seemed to leave Shen Leng with no choice but to head in one direction to hide.

Shen Leng’s legs exerted strength and he leapt over to one side. The five arrows landed onto the ground. When he landed onto the ground, he felt as though there was nothing beneath his feet. Even though his head was becoming heavier and heavier, he still reacted fast. He took out the scabbard of the small hunting knife and pressed it; iron hooks shot out and hooked onto a tree not far away. Shen Leng leapt out of harm’s way – beneath his feet was a trap that was dug beforehand. There was a thin layer of earth and weeds on it.

The sky was not bright yet. If one did not scrutinize it, it was impossible to tell.

On top of a tree that was more than twenty meters away, Gui Si frowned slightly. He did not expect himself to fail in his attempt to kill Shen Leng. Every step was predicted accurately. He was someone who specialized in using such methods to kill a person. Even though he seldom used them after following Pei Xiao for years, he did not forget every single day of his life in the underworld.

With the help of the scabbard, Shen Leng jumped out of the trap. Before he landed onto the ground, an arrow had already come flying over. It was not an arrow from a repeating crossbow – it was swifter, heavier and more ruthless. Under his current state, it seemed as though it was impossible for Shen Leng to dodge it.

Shen Leng’s reaction time was truly a lot slower. He could only struggle to lift his black cord sword in front of him to block his chest. The arrow collided into the black cord sword; the huge impact jolted Shen Leng into falling backwards.

In the split second when Shen Leng collapsed onto the ground, the second arrow flew over. He flipped over to the side; the arrow landed onto the ground. Some of the soil flew up and hit Shen Leng in the face. It was slightly painful.

There was a small but sharp stone embedded in the soil. It created a shallow cut on Shen Leng’s forehead.

Shen Leng wanted to stand up by supporting his hand against the ground, However, he felt weaker and weaker. His eyelids were getting heavier too.

He could vaguely see a man in black jumping off a tree not far away. The man had a dagger in his hand, heading towards him. Thereafter, his vision became more and more blur.