9 Run For The Hills

Turning to look, Wu Niu noted the line of dried-mud shingles.

On closer inspection, the shingles of another building's roof appeared to be protruding through the sidewall. Either the person who built the shed or the building next to it must've miscalculated their placement and ended up building one into the other.

-Thank you for sucking at construction.

Backing against the wall and positioning his wrists at the least awkward angle, Wu Niu began to cut away at the thick binding ropes. However, the bizarrely slanted angle had also inadvertently cut into his wrists.

Blood dripped down from Wu Niu's wrists down to his fingertips and onto the dirty straw floor. Yet despite this, he kept cutting away at the ropes with unflinching indifference. Instead, his cuts became faster and faster.

After a few more seconds, the rope was cut most of the way through. At which point, Wu Niu ripped them clean off through sheer brute force.

As the binds fell to the floor, Wu Niu brought his wrists forward to inspect them. They were slick crimson and leaking out at a much to fast rate.

-I'm going to bleed out.

Promptly turning back to the shingles, Wu Niu peeled one-off and held it like a blade.

Holding the shingle firmly in hand, Wu Niu sliced the sleeve of his robe off. Sliding it down and off of his arm, he then used the shingle to cut the orange fabric it into two long bandages.

Wrapping the cloth around his wrist, Wu Niu made sure that the dirty side faced outward.

-all these cuts are definitely going to be infected.

With no more time to contemplate any further, Wu Niu pushed his way toward the warped boards. He clamped his fingers around the base of the warped board and tugged with every ounce of force he could muster. And yet, the board wouldn't budge an inch.

"hmm…?"

-Oh yeah.

Wu Niu realized that he needed better leverage. So, while laying down on the ground, he pushed his feet against the other boards and used them as that extra leverage.

The resulting board cracked and ripped out from the base of the wall, while still firmly hanging to the wooden ceiling.

"Yes." Wu Niu whispered.

Squeezing through the narrow hole, Wu Niu found himself outside and facing the eastern hill. Standing up and dusting himself off, Wu Niu walked toward the steep hill ledge.

The steep hill was a large grassy surface from its top to its bottom. It was also a very tall hill that had at its base long-stretched untamed forest. Indeed a perfect place for Wu Niu to make his escape. However, the hill was at a near 70-degree angle, which could spell certain doom for Wu Niu if he traversed it erroneously.

The base of the hill was quite a ways down, and at a cut-off distance in his vision, Wu Niu struggled to see whether it still maintained the same approximate 70-degree angle the rest of the way down.

It would be very risky to try and slide down, but Wu Niu couldn't see very many other options.

-Should I try it?

The steep hill was on the western side of the complex, whereas the path down was on the eastern side. If Wu Niu were to go down, he might be able to gain a thirty-minute head start between him and his pursuers.

-Screw it. I'm going for it.

The patriarch's voice immediately followed the sound of someone unlatching the pig shed door.

"Alright, come here. It's time for you to die."

Wu Niu felt the muscles in his mouth contract into an unsolicited smile.

-Not today.

"He went through that hole! Go! Quickly!" yelled the patriarch.

Wu Niu heard the sound of many approaching footsteps.

Wu Niu dashed up to the hill's precipice and laid himself flat against steep hill face. His hands gripped around a wooden fence to prevent himself from sliding away.

Rounding the corner was a group of men. The first man to turn the corner lifted his hand, calling out to Wu Niu.

"Wait! Wait, Nephew Niu!"

The man's voice was heavy as he ran for Wu Niu.

Wu Niu was about to let go, but he stopped to see the man calling out to him in.

The man was tall and wore a white farmer's clothes. He had brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a well-defined chin. Though his features weren't too visible with his impaired vision, Wu Niu knew who the man was.

He knew the man very well, which made it all the worse.

-Uncle Chin?! I thought I could trust you, at least!

Wu Chin was someone that was always so nice to Wu Niu. He was like the older brother he never had.

The fact that Wu Chin, of all people, was first in line to betray Wu Niu, felt to him like a knife twisting into his heart.

"Why would I wait?!" said Wu Niu flippantly.

It was quite apparent that Wu Chin wasn't expecting to get this far. But, truthfully, Wu Niu wasn't planning on accepting any offers anyways. He simply wanted to hear what Wu Chin had to say.

Stopping in place, Wu Chin wheezed and mumbled, "U-Uh.. I. Can…"

The other men saw Wu Chin had stopped and followed suit.

Behind Wu Chin, a wall of men had formed. The latest to arrive, the patriarch, read the atmosphere and stood beside Wu Chin.

-It's a good thing that I know all of their qis. If one of them had some long-range fighting or projectile qi, I could've been shot at this distance.

The patriarch pushed Wu Chin forward to attempt negotiation.

"L-Look why don't you just stay there, and I'll see what I can do—"

"Nope. Sorry, Uncle Chin. I don't believe you will."

Then as Wu Niu let go and began sliding down, Uncle Chin yelled, "W-Wait!"

As Wu Niu slid down, he yelled back, "See ya!"