Chapter 396: Encountering an Old Acquaintance

Just as Zhang Xiaohua was debating whether or not to give chase, his externally released divine sense suddenly saw that Banner Leader Gao, who had already run out of the village, suddenly turned his head for a look, flipped his body, and hid behind a large pile of firewood at the roadside. Not long after, two burly men, each riding a horse, galloped past the roadside. As they rode, they chatted: “Banner Leader Gao’s martial arts are truly extraordinary. He disappeared in just a moment—he’s even faster than a horse! Hmm, and he’s carrying someone with him, too. Sigh, who knows in what year or month you and I, brothers, will ever reach such a level.”

In the darkness of night, the sound of horse hooves was quite loud and traveled far. Once the two horses had gone off into the distance, Banner Leader Gao slipped out from behind the firewood pile. Glancing at the pitch-black night, he turned around and, unexpectedly, headed back toward the village.

Zhang Xiaohua, observing all this with his divine sense, was quite surprised. But then he understood: this Banner Leader Gao was indeed a crafty one. Seeing Banner Leader Gao return to the small courtyard, Zhang Xiaohua quickly floated up onto the wall again, carefully lowering himself to watch his every move.

He saw Banner Leader Gao still clutching the little girl under his arm, not letting go. Entering the house, he tidied up a bit, seemingly searching for something and stuffing it into his clothes. This time, he left the house again, not even bothering to close the door, and floated onto the roof. Zhang Xiaohua thought to himself: “This fellow is indeed cautious, but with such actions, I really must keep up with him.”

Thinking this, he didn’t rush. After all, with his divine sense monitoring, there was no way Banner Leader Gao could escape far. So, Zhang Xiaohua continued to extend his divine sense while heading toward the village entrance, planning to call for Sibu Xiang and Huanhuan. But after just a couple of steps, a smile once again appeared on his face.

Sure enough, Banner Leader Gao only made it to the north side of the village before stopping. He slipped off the roof and entered another clean little courtyard, pushing the door open and going inside.

“A crafty rabbit has three burrows.” This well-known saying instantly popped into Zhang Xiaohua’s mind.

Zhang Xiaohua arrived at the village entrance, pulled Huanhuan to sit with him in the firewood pile at the village head, and used his divine sense to observe for a long time. Seeing no further movement from Banner Leader Gao, he figured the man would be resting there for the night.

This suited Zhang Xiaohua perfectly. He, too, burrowed into the firewood pile and closed his eyes to cultivate.

The next day, before Zhang Xiaohua even opened his eyes upon waking, he heard the commotion of people and horses outside. Releasing his divine sense, he saw that this small village was already surrounded by many armed soldiers. The small courtyard where Banner Leader Gao had first appeared had been discovered, and many soldiers were searching inside. Moreover, teams of soldiers were going door to door, knocking as if conducting a house-to-house search.

Seeing this, Zhang Xiaohua secretly thought, “This is bad.” With such a commotion, Banner Leader Gao must have already escaped by now.

But when he shifted his divine sense toward the courtyard where Banner Leader Gao had stayed the previous night, he discovered that Banner Leader Gao was actually still sound asleep. “Eh?” Zhang Xiaohua was surprised. “How can this fellow be so calm?”

After carefully observing the movements of the soldiers, Zhang Xiaohua finally nodded to himself in understanding.

Indeed, Zhang Xiaohua had always looked down on the authorities, believing them to be nothing but parasites and incompetents, not worth paying attention to. Yet within his divine sense, he saw that among the soldiers encircling the village entrance, there were actually quite a few skilled fighters. Moreover, there were several men in official uniforms with white hair at the temples, carefully examining the ground and muttering among themselves. After seeming to reach a consensus, they walked toward another man on horseback.

The man on horseback appeared to be an official. After listening to their advice, he furrowed his brows and shouted something loudly. Instantly, the soldiers who had been searching house to house ceased disturbing the villagers, obeyed the order, and gathered at the village entrance. Once the ranks were organized, the official waved his hand, and the entire troop of soldiers marched toward the west side of the village—the very direction in which the two riders had fled the night before.

However, before leaving, the official looked around the village entrance as if searching for something. Only when nearly everyone had left did he finally slap his horse and ride off in pursuit.

In just a short while, this nameless little village quickly returned to silence. In that instant, Zhang Xiaohua’s admiration for this Banner Leader Gao surged like a river, endless and unbroken. This fellow was truly brilliant—he had feigned last night and then simply slept soundly in the house, completely throwing off the pursuing soldiers!

This was similar to the tricks Zhang Xiaohua had played in the small town outside Danhe City, but seeing Banner Leader Gao’s composure and timing, Zhang Xiaohua felt he was far inferior.

In that moment, Zhang Xiaohua seemed to realize that not everything in this world could be solved by martial strength alone. He immediately became a bit more wary of this Banner Leader Gao, who, on the surface, didn’t seem all that formidable.

Sure enough, after the soldiers had chased off for barely the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Banner Leader Gao also woke up. He stepped outside, listened carefully for a moment, then returned to the courtyard, found a dilapidated carriage, and led a small donkey out from the backyard to harness it to the carriage. Afterward, he went back into the house and, from who knows where, found the little girl, carrying her out and casually placing her on the carriage.

While Zhang Xiaohua was watching with great interest and secretly pondering, earnestly studying the scene, at the village entrance, from the spot where that officer had been standing earlier, a robust man in martial attire suddenly appeared, forcefully pulling along a spirited chestnut horse. As he walked, he looked around everywhere, seeming quite puzzled.

Indeed, the man was muttering to himself: “What’s going on? I was only gone for a moment with an upset stomach, and now everyone’s disappeared? And my cousin too—he didn’t even call me when he left? Where did everyone go?”

Zhang Xiaohua looked carefully and couldn’t help but feel delighted. This was an old acquaintance, someone he hadn’t seen in a long time, and to whom he was particularly connected—wasn’t this none other than Yu Deyi, Young Master Yu from Lotus Escort Agency, who had once trained with Zhang Xiaohu at the martial arts academy?

Speaking of Young Master Yu, he truly was fated with Zhang Xiaohua. On the road to Pingyang City to study martial arts, he had run into Zhang Xiaohua and Zhang Xiaohu along with Li Jinfeng and Yu Lun, and they had even entered the city together in the same carriage. While training at the Lotus Escort Agency, Yu Deyi had once used his family’s Purple Sand Palm to injure Zhang Xiaohua’s right hand. If not for the bone-tempering effects of Zhang Xiaohua’s Big Dipper Divine Fist, his right hand might still be useless. Later, at the Piaomiao Sect’s martial tournament, Zhang Xiaohua and Yu Deyi met again, but their results were completely different: Zhang Xiaohua passed several rounds in succession, while Yu Deyi suffered defeat and lost all face. Of course, since their results were different, neither knew the other’s record.

After the tournament, they hadn’t met again, and now it had already been five years.

Looking at Yu Deyi, a slight smile appeared at the corner of Zhang Xiaohua’s mouth—a pure smile at seeing an old friend, not the wicked grin one might expect from recalling the injury he suffered years ago.

At this moment, Banner Leader Gao had also finished hitching up the donkey cart and was heading toward the village entrance. If nothing unexpected happened, the two would soon meet.

Regardless of Yu Deyi’s current martial prowess or whether he could be a match for Banner Leader Gao, even if Yu Deyi could easily subdue Banner Leader Gao, it would ruin Zhang Xiaohua’s plan to “cast a long line to catch a big fish.” Therefore, Zhang Xiaohua absolutely could not allow Yu Deyi to interfere.

After a moment’s thought, Zhang Xiaohua took out a large handkerchief from his robe and covered his face. Twisting his body, he used earth escape to appear behind Yu Deyi, grabbed the back of Yu Deyi’s neck, and said in a low, hoarse voice: “If you value your life, brother, don’t speak. Hold onto your chestnut horse and come with me.”

Without waiting for Yu Deyi’s response, he dragged him by the neck and pulled him backward.

Yu Deyi had been looking around in confusion when he was suddenly caught and threatened. Feeling an irresistible force dragging him backward, he dared not resist, nor even speak. He stumbled along, pulling his chestnut horse with him, and before long, the two of them and the horse arrived behind several large firewood piles at the village entrance.

At that moment, Banner Leader Gao happened to be driving the donkey cart out of the village. He paused at the entrance, looked around, and then headed east, exactly the opposite direction from where the two riders had gone the night before.

The donkey cart moved very slowly, and Banner Leader Gao didn’t seem to be in any hurry. So Zhang Xiaohua simply followed at a distance with his divine sense, certain that Banner Leader Gao wouldn’t escape his surveillance for the time being. Only after the donkey cart had gone farther away did Zhang Xiaohua loosen his grip.

Sensing the hand release him, Yu Deyi immediately performed a swift somersault to distance himself, then drew his treasured sword from his waist. Pointing the sword, he shouted sternly: “Who are you? Not only do you hide your face, but you also sneak up and attack from behind. What is your intention?”

Zhang Xiaohua found this amusing and simply lowered his voice, speaking hoarsely: “Who are you? Why are you here?”

In truth, Zhang Xiaohua was being overly cautious. When he’d last seen Yu Deyi, he had been about fourteen, just at the age when a boy’s voice changes. Now, at eighteen, his voice had already deepened and lost its former sharpness. Even if Zhang Xiaohua spoke normally, Yu Deyi might not recognize him.

Yu Deyi furrowed his brows and replied: “This humble one is Yi Deyu, brother-in-law to the captain of the Fourth Unit of the City Guard under the Pingyang City Garrison Commander. I came along with him to help suppress the bandits. And you dare to seize me halfway through? Be careful, or I’ll have my brother-in-law send troops against you!”

By the end of his speech, his confidence was already wavering.

“Yi Deyu? Suppressing bandits?” Zhang Xiaohua laughed inwardly, but kept a serious expression and said: “Oh, so you’re with the authorities, here to suppress bandits, not here to rescue the girl. Well then, let’s just forget this ever happened—you go your way, and I’ll go mine. Consider it as if you never saw me today.”

With that, Zhang Xiaohua made as if to leave. But Yu Deyi, unwilling to let him go, shouted: “You villain! Could it be that you’re the scoundrel who kidnapped my niece?”As he spoke, Yu Deyi wanted to raise his sword, but didn’t quite dare. He glanced around, as if searching for help.

Zhang Xiaohua was taken aback and asked: “Your niece?”

Yu Deyi looked around and, seeing no one else, could only say: “That’s right, that girl is with the authorities. If you know what’s good for you, you’d better confess everything honestly.”