THE SECOND FLEEING 1

CLAAANNKKK!

Zhu Su's eyes widened, surprised. The soldiers he had healed were now standing before four of them. Protecting them from the enemies' attacks.

"Run, all of you! Let us face them!"

"But... your wounds haven't got recovered properly... You shouldn't be allowed to fight..."

One of the soldiers smiled. "As warriors, our duty is to fight in the battlefield till the end. So, how can we be so whiny, making "waiting for the wounds recovered" as excuses and then fail to fulfill our noble mission?"

Another soldier answered. "Definitely. Moreover, you have healed all of us. We are indebted to you. Now is the time for us to return your favor."

The enemy stepped forward, and was now dueling with the soldiers. Seeing Zhu Su was still unmoved, the soldier shouted in exasperation, "Sir! It has been our duties to fight and die here! But not with you! Your duty is to heal and help others! Thereby, you must live! Don't care about us! Run away!"

Zhu Youdun dragged his father. "Fu Wang, come on! We must go!"

Zhu Su bit his lips. Now the soldiers - whom he had treated before - were fighting fiercely with those who wanted to kill him. Though their wounds were still not recovered, they were willing to protect the four of them by risking their lives.

Finally, with loath mind Zhu Su forced himself to turn his face away. And ran away from all of them.

Running as far as he could.

As far as he could.

Please forgive me, Mogaung soldiers! And thank you very much for your help. May Heaven protects all of you, may you are still be allowed to return to your homes alive. I will never forget you guys. And, hopefully, we will still be destined to meet again one day.

***

Only one thing they knew - running as far as they could. They just ran, and ran. Running through the forests, scrubs... through the farms and fields... stepping on the slippery river banks... moving from one place to another... They did not know how many villages they had come into. They did not know how many nights they had passed by sleeping in a cave. If they found lodgings they would stay in a decent place, but the situation was often not as comfortable as they hoped. Moreover, they did not dare to remain in an area for too long since they feared the enemy could track their whereabouts.

"But, Fu Wang... they mustn't be after us anymore. I don't see any soldier figures. We don't need to keep running away, we can stop and relax."

Lightning flashed horribly, followed by the roar of thunder which almost made their heart jump out. It rained very hard outside the cave where they took as the shelter. They were all warming themselves near the campfire they had just made.

Still staring at the burning campfire, Zhu Su answered grimly. "But do you want to live here? We still have to find a decent place to live."

Zhu Youdun looked outside. It was a dense forest. He shrugged. "Of course not. I mean, after we find a village, we mustn't live nomadic anymore and stay there."

"Good idea." Zhu Su answered with the same grim voice.

"By the way, how is Mogaung now?" Hu Nayin asked.

"I can only hope that they are all well," Zhu Su answered in a tired manner. "Although I'm not sure whether my wish can be realized or not."

"War always harms commoners. If their country wins the war, they get nothing, but if their country loses, they are invaded and massacred by the enemy." Gao Qing said seriously. "This situation, makes me disgust the most with the leader who is eager to enlarge his area of ​​power and thus make many people suffer. Such the leader, is a selfish person, is evil-hearted. How can he have compassion if the death of his people means nothing to him?"

Then, he threw a look at Zhu Su, eyes as sharp as a knife.

Zhu Su immediately knew the real meaning of Gao Qing's stare. He bit his lips.

"You agree with me? The leader who launches aggression just for his lust for power and sacrifices the innocent people just for his egotistical desire, is an evil-hearted person?"

Zhu Su made no reply, he kept staring at the campfire in silence.

"You still can't get rid of your grudge," Gao Qing said to the point. "Yes. It has passed a long time ago, and my words still don't get any agreement from your mind. It's still unacceptable for you, why you must endure such kind of destiny. You want to get your status back, get what you are supposed to own back to you again..."

"I want to take revenge, is for my wife and my son."

Now Zhu Su was staring back at Gao Qing.

"Not for my selfishness," Zhu Su said gloomily. "You may not see the death of our loved ones in front of our own eyes. So maybe you don't know how painful I am, when I saw Ruina had become a lifeless corpse before me..."

"You forget? Did I witness my brother being sentenced to death in such a miserable condition? But, I don't decide to keep my grudge forever, right?"

Zhu Su swallowed hard. "And what hurts my heart the most, is when I look at Youdun struggling to lift a heavy bucket, wearing shabby clothes that are uncomfortable on the body, and doing a series of menial work that is difficult for him. I don't want him to live that way forever, I want to give him a proper life, like before..."

Zhu Youdun looked at Zhu Su in astonishment. "Fu Wang..."

"But still, it's all just for your sake? Not for the sake of the people? And just to put your son on the throne, then you can sacrifice many innocent lives?"

The lightning clanged, and thunder boomed again.

Suddenly, Zhu Su laughed. But his laugh was full of gloomy. "Don't discuss it anymore, Sir. After all, as you say, who am I? It's even so hard to save only my own life, then how can I gain power to wage war? So, no need for us to debate this problem, right? What we need to discuss is how to survive later?"

Gao Qing threw dry branches on the campfire. "Yes, you're right."