Zhan Zhao Adventures - Chapter Six (Part IV)

Chapter Six: Crane Rushing to the Sky (Part IV)

Inside the old barn, it once again fell into silence.
 
The entrustment of life, the entrustment of trust, caused these two people inside the barn—who had never even exchanged their true names—neither to know how to open their mouths.
 
This silence unexpectedly seemed somewhat unfamiliar.
 
Little Brother Huo's left leg was aching in a heart-drilling manner again. That unavoidable palm strike from Old Mother Hanshui brought him, surprisingly, an unspeakable hidden pain and unspeakable trouble.
 
Zhan Rifei said: "Brother Huo, the injury upon your leg——"
 
Although Little Brother Huo's brow knit together because of the injury and pain, he still forced himself to maintain a completely indifferent look upon his face, saying in a careless and casual manner: "As long as there are three shichen of regulating the breath, it ought to restore to normal. Only where do we have the time of three shichen right now."
 
Zhan Rifei raised his head to take a glance at the massive horizontal beam at the top of the barn; a brainwave already struck him, and deliberating, he said: "Since we want to travel by separate ways, yet you harbor injuries upon your body, it cannot be helped, we might as well just gamble it for a round."
 
He looked at Little Brother Huo, a trace of slyness flashing within his eyes: "Do you still have the strength right now to fly your body onto that horizontal beam?"
 
Little Brother Huo took a glance at the height of this horizontal beam from the ground and said: "Even if it were a horizontal beam higher than this, it still cannot stump me."
 
Zhan Rifei said: "Since it is so, Brother Huo might as well provisionally conceal your body upon the horizontal beam for a quarter of an hour. After Brother Huo conceals your body, I will also immediately depart from this place. Even if the pursuing troops rush here and see that the barn has no people, they naturally will pursue onward, and will not search minutely."
 
Little Brother Huo said: "But then aren't you going to lead away all the pursuing troops?"
 
Zhan Rifei smiled a bit and said: "Since the one they want is me, they naturally will not pay too much attention to you. Furthermore, playing hide-and-seek with these people does not necessarily require very good lightness skill."
 
Within his voice, it was filled with firmness and self-confidence, as if he already had a well-thought-out plan in his breast and held wisdom and strategies in his hand, forcing Little Brother Huo to believe it——after all, he indeed was much shrewder than himself.
 
Therefore, the words hidden at the bottom of Little Brother Huo's heart were hesitated over, and did not speak out from his mouth: "Why don't we come up together to hide for a bit?"
 
——Everything Zhan Rifei did naturally had his reasons.
 
Little Brother Huo thought within his heart; his body had already softened up, the lightness skill of "Jinghongyipie" unfolded, and his person had already drifted onto the horizontal beam.
 
Looking at Zhan Rifei beneath the beam, who still stood right there as if he was not very anxious, Little Brother Huo could not help but say: "Since we travel by separate ways, then you leave quickly——"
 
Only his words suddenly broke off.
 
Just as if being cut apart from the middle by a pair of scissors!
 
——The reason his words were not finished was because his mute acupoint within his neck suddenly went numb, and naturally even words could not be spoken out.
 
Next, a pain struck upon his upper back, and his entire body instantly could not budge or move either!
 
With two light "thud" sounds, two tiny pebbles tumbled and fell back onto the ground.
 
——Who covertly immobilized him?
 
Little Brother Huo's entire body for a time went freezing cold.
 
Inside this barn, there fundamentally was no other person.
 
He after all still launched a sneak attack against him.
 
——Why did he launch a sneak attack against him?
 
——Is he exactly a friend, or an enemy?
 
Within Little Brother Huo's heart, it was already filled with sadness, pain, anger, and humiliation.
 
——Could it be that he himself after all trusted the wrong person?!
 
Zhan Rifei's voice, however, was still so peaceful: "Brother Huo, offended you. Your acupoints will naturally be undone after three shichen."
 
He was already wheezing slightly, appearing as if even an attack taking advantage of someone's lack of preparation caused him, who harbored heavy injuries upon his body, to be even more weak.
 
Little Brother Huo upon the beam could not budge, yet Zhan Rifei beneath the beam unexpectedly did not leave either.
 
Zhan Rifei precisely waited, as if waiting for some person.
 
——Why did he still not depart? Could it be that he already possessed the certainty of holding victory within his grasp?
 
——He had not even seen the pursuing enemies; how could he possess the certainty of achieving victory?
 
——He clearly spoke of proceeding to the capital city by separate ways, and also gave Little Brother Huo this yellow silk fabric; why did he himself still wait right here?
 
Zhan Rifei already no longer spoke. It seemed that speaking had already exhausted the strength of his entire body.
 
As if entering meditative concentration, he leaned against one side wall of the barn. Only by the intermittent, slight wheezing could one hear that it was his breathing.
 
Little Brother Huo suddenly felt his breathing was very peculiar, appearing as if for a while long and a while short, for a while sparse and a while dense.
 
Only this breathing suddenly caused a chill within his heart. A notion that had consistently been tormenting him covertly flashed up abruptly, and could no longer be pressed down.
 
——Could it be that his true strength is truly completely spent, and beneath the outbreak of heavy injuries, he is already unable to move or act?
 
——If it were so, why did he have to wait until he himself reached above the horizontal beam before not hesitating to waste true strength to suddenly strike and immobilize himself?
 
Not knowing how much time passed, Little Brother Huo upon the beam and he beneath the beam both appeared to have waited for as long as a century.
 
Little Brother Huo wondered within his heart, whom exactly was he waiting for?
 
Finally, faintly, from afar came a burst of horse hooves sounds, shaking so that the earth was vibrating.
 
Among the hooves sounds, bursts of whistles and the rapid chirping of sounding arrows were mixed. Hearing that peculiar and sharp whistling sound of the sounding arrows, it was clearly of the same way as the riders encountered just now.
 
The pursuing troops came so fast!
 
Only, which route of pursuing troops exactly was this?
 
——If it were the imperial guards of the Xiangyang Prince's Mansion, upon their clothing there naturally ought to be the insignia of the imperial guards.
 
——If it were not the imperial guards of the Xiangyang Prince's Mansion, how could they possess the drawing of shadows and shapes of figures secretly issued by the Prince's Mansion?
 
Before long, the horse hooves sounds had already arrived outside the barn.
 
In an instant, all around, the whistle sounds and the sharp whistling of the sounding arrows suddenly ceased, and the horses also no longer walked; one only heard the sounds of footsteps, and the sounds of knives and swords striking each other, coming from near to far, yet there were no human voices.
 
The ones coming were clearly warriors trained in an orderly fashion.
 
Next, all the sounds completely stopped.
 
Within Little Brother Huo's condensing of Qi and screening of breath, he only heard a person's clack, clack, clack leather boots sounds, sounding all the way over from the outside.
 
This person walked very slowly; the heavy footsteps fell one by one, as if stepping upon Little Brother Huo's heart.
 
Hearing the rhythm and sound of those footsteps, the oncoming person ought to be tall in stature, yet along with the footsteps sounds gradually drawing near, his silhouette—which finally penetrated through the broken and old barn door and shot in—was however short.
 
——The sun outside the barn, presumably, had already risen very high.
 
The leather boots sounds rang to the outside of the barn and suddenly stopped.
 
Next it was again silence.
 
After a long while, a person's voice rang out: "Guard Zhan is styled the Southern Hero; sure enough, his reputation is not spread in vain, and he possesses points surpassing ordinary people. Inside the Copper Net Array, Heaven's Net and Earth's Net unexpectedly could not trap you; the Prince's several thousand fine riders, and half of the elites of the Jinshi Hall, with drawings of shadows and shapes of figures, chased continuously for five days, yet unexpectedly all returned empty-handed as well!"
 
His voice was low, deep, thick, and pleasing to the ear, yet carried a majesty and pressure difficult to describe.
 
Only this single sentence of his, transmitting to Little Brother Huo's ear, was just as if a thunderbolt arose out of nowhere! His heart unexpectedly gave a "thump" leap.
 
Although his entire body could not budge, his face also could not restrain itself from twisting because of shock, for a time even unable to catch his breath.
 
——So it unexpectedly was him!
 
Unthinkable that this black-clad youth was unexpectedly precisely that Zhan Zhao whose name moved the rivers and lakes, styled the Southern Hero, and currently the Imperial Sword-Bearing Bodyguard before the Emperor's carriage!
 
His heart again very quickly sank down.
 
Along this way, his voice, countenance, smile, and look, his talk and behavior, his startling talent and wisdom, his peerless martial arts, scene by scene, as if right before his eyes.
 
This kind of person, how could it not be him?
——If it were not him, who else could it be!