The Parting of Ways

There was no sound for a long time. Li Jing was about to come out of the canoe when he saw that the place covered by the big net moved, and Lai Huer climbed out of the ground, gently lifted the fishing net, stood up, and threw the fish picking knife on the ground, his hand covering the stomach, looking extremely tired. He glanced at the canoe and said, "Come out."

Only then did Li Jing and Meiniang climb out of the canoe. Zhang Ke was taken aback. Qing Ni cried out and rushed forward to hug Meiniang.

Li Jing picked up Little Alone Star and leaned over to check on Han Zhong. Han Zhong's eyes were still open, but the sword cut on his throat was deep, and blood stained his clothes. Looking at the old man Zhang Xian, his eyes were slightly closed, and he seemed to still have a weak breath. Wang Shanke, on the other hand, had long since died.

Little A Yue jumped on her master and shook him hard. The old man struggled to open his eyes, said weakly: "A Yue, master ... master is dying ... that ancient Qin is yours now, the score is in the Qin ... . if you can meet your brother in the future, he will teach you ..." he forced a smile and closed his eyes.

"Master ... Master ...,"A Yue cried, lost her voice from crying.

Xie Kangtu sighed, "Mr Zhang is truly one of the few gentlemen in the world! In order to honour his promise and protect the orphans, he is willing to sacrifice his life. A Yue, you must remember that your master is the most trustworthy person in the world!"

At this time, Lai Huer had finished bandaging his wounds and then removed his mask to reveal his face. Zhang Ke bowed and said, "We thank Mr Lai for saving our lives."

Lai Huer said: ''State uncle need not be polite. This shadowless ghost hand is really powerful, so I dare not move in the beginning. In martial arts, I am far from being his rival, so when Zhang used his zither to break General Wang's power and hurt the ghost hand's vitality, and then launched the trap, it was only then that I was able to kill him, and I was also seriously injured." His face was grey like gold paper, and cold sweat was pouring out.

Xie Kangtu said, "How did Mr Lai know that we would come here?"

Lai Huer said, ' Mr. Xie, in fact, I was in the ship's second class cabin. After the big ship caught fire, I jumped into the river first and arrived here. At this place where the big ship sank, my straw hut is the only shelter on the south bank, I predicted that someone would come ..."

Xiao Meiniang suddenly interjected, "General Lai, I'm afraid you're tracking us?"

"Lai Huer is at the service of your good princess!" Lai Huer bowed and saluted, not replying directly to Meiniang, " you being of royal lineage,; I have a responsibility to protect ..."

It suddenly occurred to Li Jing that Lai Huer was originally with Prince Yi Huang all the way, and seemed to still be the prince's personal guard, apparently he was sent by the prince secretly to track down the escort Xiao Meiniang.

Xie Kangtu sighed: "The fire destroyed the ship and hundreds of lives were buried in the river, what will General Lai do?"

Lai Huer said, "This is the border of Chen, and the officials will come tomorrow to take care of wreckage You all rest first, and may I ask highness Mr. Zhang , Mr. Xie and this little brother to help me dispose the corpse. Let's bury it behind the house."

So Lai Huer lit some candles. Xie Kangtu found two hoes, Li Jing was in charge of lighting the candles, they dug four earth pits at the back of the courtyard. Lai Huer dragged the Shadowless Ghost Hand out of the pit and buried it, along with Wang Shanke's body, in the pit, shovelling the soil. The burial of Zhang Xian and Han Zhong was much more labour-intensive, first they found a few planks of wood to serve as coffins, then put the corpses in and covering them up, filled in the pits and then piled the soil from the two pits on top to form two new graves. Xie Kangtu suggested that Zhang and Han's graves should be marked so that they could be commemorated in the coming days. Lai Huer found a piece of wooden board and carved the words "Tomb of Zither Master Zhang Xian Zhong Yu" and inserted it in front of the graves. When he was about to carve a second plank for Han Zhong, Li Jing stopped him: "General Lai, we are at the border of Chen, if you carve the words 'Tomb of Han Zhong, Lieutenant of Sui Luzhou General Administration', I am afraid it will cause inconvenience. I think that even Mr. Zhang Xian's inscription is not necessary."

Lai Huer, Xie Kangtu, and Zhang Ke heard this and all looked at the young man in unison. Zhang Ke said, "The dead is honorable. Mr Zhang and Lieutenant Han died for the sake of faithfulness, and it is extremely inappropriate not to leave a mark to commemorate them."

Li Jing said, "In usual cases, we surely should make Old Mr. Zhang and Big Brother Han proper graves and erected monuments, however, the ship sank nearby, and the Chen officials will surely come to track it down, so carving a monument is like providing a clue, which will surely remind the officials to unearthed their graves. In this case, not only will it fail to commemorate Old Mr Zhang and Brother Han, but on the contrary, it will be difficult to preserve even their bones, and it will be difficult for them to rest their souls in peace."

Xie Kangtu nodded his head and said, "Little brother has a point, however, Old Mister Zhang and Lieutenant Han died for us, they can't be the same as the two villains Shadowless Ghost Hands and Wang Shan Ke. Besides, without a tomb or monument, it will not be easy to distinguish and find them in the future."

Li Jing said, "The dead are gone, so why look for them? If we talk about feelings, Brother Han and I spent a lot of time together and were like brothers. But from the point of view of the truth, we are not allowed to express our feelings. It doesn't matter where the bones of the faithful are buried, it is most important to bury them in our heart."

Lai Huer clapped his hands and praised, "Little brother's words can solve a hundred worries! Good, I'll follow your idea."

So the wooden monument was destroyed, the two new graves were levelled and the soil was evened out to make the ground look flat, but the new soil could not be covered. Zhang Ke was a little worried: "If any Chen officials or soldiers come here, they will still dig up the graves because of the new soil."

Lai Huer said, "Don't worry, I already have a plan to deal with it."

So, Xie Kangtu asked A Yue to kneel down and kowtow at the place where Old Man Zhang Xian was buried to bid farewell to his master; all of them bowed their heads in silence. Li Jing, on the other hand, turned to an old tree on the slope and silently memorised in his mind the location of the graves of Old Man Zhang Xian and Brother Han.

It was already the middle of the night. The crowd was sleepy and hungry, but they smelled the aroma of fish. It turned out that Meiniang had already cooked a pot of fish while everyone was busy. The people were so hungry that they picked up the coarse bowls and drank the fish soup. After all, Little Alone Star and A Yue were young, and choked a few times because they drank in a hurry.

The people then had a chance to greet each other and chat. It turned out that Xie Kangtu operated a shipping company in Jiangzhou (now Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province), with a total of more than a hundred large and small transport vessels under his jurisdiction. Xie Kangtu and Zhang Xian had long been acquainted with each other, and provided A Yue with a hiding place on the ship, while Han Zhong also revealed his identity and asked the ship owner to help him. At that time, Xie Kangtu received a report from the ship's crew that disguised soldiers had set fire to the cabins on the ship, and immediately took Zhang Xian, Han Zhong, Alone Star and A Yue to escape from the bilge by canoe, and met Zhang Ke and Qing Ni who had jumped into the water to survive, and together they rowed to the south bank, and came together when they saw Lai Guer's hut from afar, but they didn't realise that Wang Shanke and Shadowless Ghost Hands, the ones who had set the ship ablaze, were one step ahead of them. The people analysed that Wang Shanke was under Xiao Mohe, and should be arranged behind to exercise the poisonous plan after Xiao Mohe got off the boat - the boat was too big and the people were mixed up, so they simply set fire to the boat without caring about the death of hundreds of people.

The developments of the matter were basically clarified. Although Li Jing had some unanswered questions, he didn't have time to think about them. It was a great pity that he could not meet Han Zhong before he died in battle. However, after all, Alone Star was unharmed, which gave him a little peace of mind.

After the meal, Lai Huer let the people rest on the hay in the house in the middle. Li Jing was so sleepy that he couldn't keep his eyes open and fell asleep. At some point, someone gently knocked on him. With the faint starlight outside the house, Li Jing opened his eyes and saw that it was Lai Huer.

Lai Huer led Li Jing out of the grass hut and onto the hillside. The night wind blew and Li Jing felt a chill. Lai Huer squatted down, let him sit on the ground, and said softly, "Little brother, you don't need to say anything, I know that you're Chief Han's man, and I'm also clear about the boy's bloodlines; Empress Dugu spent 30,000 gold to take his life, that's why the Shadowless Ghost Hands reappeared in the world."

Li Jing had no ill feelings towards Lai Huer, so he said, "General Lai, Brother Han is dead, are you going to arrest us and send us to the capital?"

Lai Huer said: "Even if your brother Han Zhong is not dead, it is easy for me to catch you. I grew up on this river, and I know everything on both sides like the back of my hand. However, I am not here to capture you and your little brother, but to protect the princess, do you understand?"

Li Jing remembered that last night he and Meiniang were skin to skin, Lai Huer would have been hidden in the house and witnessed all , previously he did not show up, he was preparing to deal with a strong enemy, and now to find themselves out to speak alone, he knew it would not be good for him.

Lai Huer said: "Little brother, although you are young, but your strategy to dispose the new tombs is very good, which shows that you are talented in wisdom. However, the princess is of royal blood, while you are a commoner, and moreover, quite young... ...."

Li Jing said, "General Lai, who exactly is that Prince Yi Huang? Why did you deliberately show mercy to me the time before?"

Lai Huer said, "A prince is a prince. Since you know that the prince likes the princess, you know what to do. As for your little brother, you know and I know, I will not tell the truth even to the prince." after those words, he extended his hand, requesting a handclap to signify the commitment to keep the promise.

Li Jing stretched out his right hand, touched Lai Huer's palm and said, "Sincerely thank you, General Lai."

So the two of them returned with light steps. Inside the house snoring and breathings mixed together, making Li Jing's seriously disturbed and unable to sleep. He now had nothing but the clothes on his back, not knowing what to do tomorrow.

The next day the sky just broke dawn, Xie Kangtu first arrived at the riverside to tidy up the small boat he had abandoned in last night's escape for his life, ready to cross the river. As everyonewere in a hurry to escape, and lost their parcels, they did not need to pack up to set sail. Xie Kangtu lost his big boat and suffered a heavy loss, so he had to go back to Jiangzhou shipyard to make amends. A Yue had lost her master and did not know where to go. Li Jing took Alone Star with him, not knowing where to head without any money. Lai Huer naturally escorted Xiao Meniang, Zhang Ke and Qing Ni back to Jiangling.

After all went out of the door, Lai Huer cut the pillars of the hut with an axe, and set fire to the house. Li Jing noted that, although the pillars were not cut through, the house began to tilt after the fire, and tilted towards the place where the grave was dug last night. Then, even if the official army of the Chen tracked down here, it was just a pile of ashes and scorched earth, and it was extremely difficult to find traces of the excavation.

So the group boarded on the boat to cross the water. The river was wide, the water was vast, last night's fire boat left no signs to be seen, not to mention to find any dead bodies. However, after suffering such a big disaster, all were silent.

When the canoe arrived at the north shore, it was already bright. The terrain of the north bank is relatively flat, the grass and trees were sparse, and no one was around. Lai Huer said, "Thank you, boat owner, let's part our ways here." He said. He then led his hand, inviting Zhang Ke, Meiniang, and Qing Ni to go on their way. Li Jing could sense that Lai Huer had already privately explained to Zhang Ke and his party that he would escort them all the way to Jiangling, and it looked like he was abandoning the water for land travel.

Xie Kangtu arched his hand in farewell. When Li Jing saw Xiao Meniang walking towards the front with her head down, she did not turn to look at him, so she could not help but feel frustrated in his heart. Until the group of four disappeared into the depths of the jungle, Li Jing still did not see Xiao Meniang turn back.

Xie Kangtu didn't say until then, "Little brother, are you going to Jiangzhou with me? Or are you travelling on your own?"

Li Jing said, "Boat Owner Xie, I am penniless, so naturally I would be more than happy to have Boat Owner Xie's help. However, it is extremely inconvenient for me to bring my little brother with you, if you are in a hurry, I will think of another way." In his heart, he thought, "This boat owner is kind and generous, I think he will take us with him.

Xie Kangtu responded with an "em "Then please go on your own way, Goodbye." After saying that, he abandoned the boat, carried the ancient Qin on his back, pulled up A yue, lightly lifted his shirt, and walked towards the avenue.

A Yue looked back at Li Jing, and in those crystal eyes, there seemed to be reluctance.

Li Jing's mind was in a daze, and the hand holding Little Alone Star felt cold.

The beach was a bit wet, Li Jing still pulled Alone Star and sat down, looking out at the gushing river. Alone Star leaned her little head against his leg and suddenly spoke, "Brother, you are sad?"

Li Jing was taken aback. Since he came into contact with this child, he basically did not speak. Unexpectedly, when he opened his mouth, he even said the word "sadne", which was difficult for a three or four year old to understand.

"They ... they all don't want us anymore." Li Jing looked into his eyes, "So yes, I am a little sad."

"I saw that sister Meiniang had tears in her eyes." Alone Star said, "She is sad for you, and you are sad for her."

Li Jing was even more surprised. Alone Star blinked and continued, "The ship owner is good, he won't leave you alone, he probably left us for a while because that little sister is also in danger."

Only then did Li Jing look at Alone Star seriously. His eyes shone with wisdom, crystal bright and deep, like the stars in the night sky. The constant trials and tribulations seemed to have done no damage to his young mind. He remained calm, cool and observant. Although Li Jing had been receiving all kinds of training since he was three years old, he thought that when he was three or four years old, he had at most some intellect, but he could not talk about wisdom at all. The Alone Star in front of him, on the other hand, was born with extraordinary intelligence.

Suddenly, Li Jing had confidence. He stood up, pulled Alone Star, and walked towards the forest step by step.

The mangled forest by the river was strewn with fallen leaves. Li Jing led Alone Star, walking through the forest, onto the avenue. The road surface of Jiangbei Avenue was smooth, ruts clearly shown, it seemed that usually this road was often run by carts and horses.

Li Jing carried little Alone Star on his back and headed west.

The weather turned from sunny to cloudy, and it rained heavily in the afternoon. There was a mountain god temple by the roadside, Li Jing carried Little Alone Star into the temple, looking for something to eat. However, the broken temple was in disrepair, incense faded, a thick layer of dust on the shrine, the futon had been stained with dust and mud into grey and black.

Li Jing was tired and hungry, and after putting Alone Star down he felt dizzy. He had just helped Alone Star sit down on the futon when voices came from outside.