Wish You All the Best - Chapter 38
Chapter 38
Time waits for no one, flowing away like a rushing stream. It was once again midsummer; the gentle breeze was breezy and soft, and the vegetation thrived. That day, beside an ancient ferry crossing named Dayi in Yazhou, a ferry boat was loaded with over a dozen travelers waiting to cross the river. The boatman pushed off the bank with his pole, slowly guiding the craft away from the shore, just as he was about to head toward the center of the river, a cry drifted on the wind from the bank: "Boatman, wait!"
The boatman turned back and saw four or five people approaching on the road. They soon reached the bank; the group was dressed in plain, travel-worn clothes. Among them, a slightly slender young man with a serene brow and bright eyes was surrounded by the others, appearing to be the leader of the party.
"Boatman, return! Take us to the opposite bank!"
A man beside him shouted to the boatman, his voice resounding like a drum.
Although this ancient ferry was close to the roadside and was the only essential path from the west bank to the east, it was located in a remote area with few travelers. Moreover, the river was vast, stretching dozens of yards wide, and the current in the middle was swift. A round trip took at least half an hour, so the boatman sometimes didn't make many trips in a day. Seeing more people arrive, his face lit up with joy. He responded loudly and busied himself maneuvering the boat back. With a thick local accent, he bowed to the group and said, "Sir, my boat is small; this trip can take at most two more people. It cannot squeeze you all in. The water in the river's center is swift; too many people is dangerous."
The others looked at the young man. He squinted slightly, gazing out at the vast opposite shore, and nodded.
The boatman settled on a price and busied himself urging the original passengers to sit together to make room for the new guests.
The man said to those around him, "Yang Yun and I will cross first; you all wait for the next trip." He said "Thank you" to the boatman and stepped onto the stern.
This man was Pei You'an. Seven or eight days ago, he had left Ü-Tsang, taking the near route through Yunchuan, and embarked on the road to the capital. However, because this stretch of the journey was treacherous, with many mountains and rivers, and the post roads were impassable, his progress was not fast. It was only today that he had arrived at this ancient ferry leading to the east bank.
The boatman bowed repeatedly, saying he didn't dare to be thanked. Once they were aboard, he pushed the pole again to drive the boat from the bank, then slowly rowed the ferry according to the current, heading toward the opposite shore.
The boat gradually approached the center of the river. The wind picked up, and the current became swift. Among the passengers, those who were faint of heart became nervous. The boatman, however, had traveled back and forth for years; his expression did not change. Standing steadily on the stern with bare feet, he rowed while telling the guests local legends. He was quite talkative and eloquent, and the passengers were soon attracted by the stories he told, gradually becoming less afraid than they had been at the beginning.
Yang Yun was always vigilant. Now that they were in the middle of the river, he guarded Pei You'an, leaning against the gunwale. He looked at the other passengers and saw a young woman dressed as a local at the stern, in her early twenties with fair skin. Perhaps because she was timid, she was holding a bundle tightly in her arms, eyes closed, not moving at all. The others were also ordinary passersby; nothing suspicious could be seen. He thought that once they reached the opposite bank, the post roads would gradually become smooth, and from tomorrow, they could use horses to speed up their journey. Just as he began to relax, he suddenly heard Pei You'an beside him ask the boatman: "Sir, have you been running this ferry here for many years? After landing, how far is it from Huayang Prefecture? What is the most convenient way to go?"
The boatman laughed: "I've been steering this boat for half my life; you asked the right person! After landing, go straight ahead. After a few dozen miles, there is a fork in the road. Go east for two hundred miles, and you will be at Huayang Prefecture. Are you going there for business, sir?"
Pei You'an watched the boatman, smiled slightly, and said: "Exactly. Thank you, boatman."
The boat slowly reached the center of the river. The boat body swayed slightly, pulled by the current. The boatman's expression became serious, and he no longer chatted with others. He carefully pushed the bamboo pole, cutting through the water. Suddenly, a "pop" was heard; the bamboo pole, as thick as a calf's leg, bent too sharply and suddenly snapped into two pieces. The incident happened so suddenly that no one expected it. Even the boatman seemed stunned, standing stiffly at the bow of the boat, motionless.
The boat lost its stability and immediately began to spin in the river vortex. The hull rocked side to side, and the passengers on board were all panic-stricken. The young woman screamed repeatedly.
Yang Yun was startled, but he had already seen a spare bamboo pole laid across the bottom of the boat. He shouted: "Don't panic, boatman! Catch this!" He picked up the bamboo pole and passed it to the boatman.
The boatman finally reacted and hurriedly came over to take the pole. As he passed Pei You'an, an unexpected turn of events occurred. He suddenly bent over, his hand quickly reaching into his waist, and he pulled out a dagger. As soon as it appeared, the tip of the dagger slashed toward Pei You'an’s neck.
Yang Yun was horrified, but he reacted instantly. Screaming "My lord, watch out!", his eyes split with fury, he dropped the pole and leaped over to intervene. But it was too late. The boatman was too close to Pei You'an; the dagger was swung in the blink of an eye. The movement was accurate and ruthless—where was there any trace of a boatman left? This was clearly a highly trained assassin.
Just as Pei You'an was about to bleed on the bow, the situation shifted again. He seemed to have been prepared. A sharp glint flashed in the depths of his eyes, and he leaned backward. The dagger missed its mark. The boatman was stunned; before he could react, his wrist was firmly clamped by Pei You'an's five fingers. With a backhand motion and the "puff" sound of metal entering flesh, the dagger was plunged into the boatman's heart, buried to the hilt.
The boatman's figure suddenly froze. One of his own hands was still clutching the hilt of the dagger, making it look as if he had stabbed himself in the heart, ending his life.
The boatman hunched over, staring fixedly at Pei You'an; his eyes were filled with unbelievable terror.
A wave crashed against the boat, causing it to rock. The boatman's body tipped backward, and with a "thud," he fell headlong into the water, vanishing into the current in an instant.
Everything happened in a flash. Not until the boatman fell into the water did the other passengers react. Screams filled the air again; the young woman even started to cry.
"My lord! Are you all right?"
Before Yang Yun could catch his breath, he felt the boat rock violently, and he almost lost his footing. Turning back, he saw several passengers panicking and standing up. The boat immediately lost its balance. A vortex surged on the river, causing the boat to tip to one side. Accompanied by a burst of screams, four or five people on one side fell into the water one after another, splashing and crying for help.
"Stabilize the boat! I'll save them!"
Pei You'an barked the order at Yang Yun.
Yang Yun's swimming ability was not as good as Pei You'an's. Startled, he regained his composure, hurriedly responded, picked up the bamboo pole from earlier, and stood at the bow, bracing the pole against a rock protruding from the water, struggling against the current. The boat finally stabilized and stopped spinning. Pei You'an had already leaped into the river and quickly sent the few people falling into the water back to the boat one by one. Finally, he climbed up himself. At this moment, he heard a faint cry for "help." Turning toward the sound, he saw the young woman who had been on the boat. She had been swept to the stern by the current. He hadn't seen her, but she was lucky—she had grabbed a piece of the towrope trailing in the water from the stern, which prevented her from sinking. He immediately went to the stern and reached out to grab her.
Just as he grabbed the woman's hand, Pei You'an's brow furrowed slightly. Instead of pulling her up immediately, he took one look at her and suddenly let go.
The young woman, who had originally appeared weak and about to drown, saw Pei You'an let go and revealed a fierce glint in her eyes. She grabbed the towrope and leaped up with unusual agility. She climbed onto the stern and, just like the boatman earlier, pulled a dagger from nowhere and stabbed toward Pei You'an.
Screams broke out on the boat once more.
Accompanied by the slight "crack" of a broken wrist bone, the young woman screamed in agony and fell back into the river. Her head bobbed a few times, and she finally sank slowly.
The remaining passengers were all ordinary people; how could they have experienced such a harrowing day? They knew their luck was poor and they had boarded a thief's boat today. Seeing Pei You'an kill two people in a row without changing his expression, leaving no room for mercy, they saw him turn his head and sweep his eyes over them. His gaze was sharp as lightning. They were already frightened out of their wits. The smarter ones scrambled to kowtow and beg for mercy, calling him a hero and arguing their innocence.
Pei You'an knew there were no more threats among the remaining people. His expression gradually softened. He returned to the bow, sat down slowly, and wrung out his wet clothes.
Yang Yun steadied his mind, used the momentum of the water to row the ferry forward, and finally pulled the boat to the shore.
As soon as they hit the bank, the passengers grabbed their belongings and fled for their lives without looking back. Yang Yun rowed back to pick up the remaining entourage. After landing, he saw Pei You'an standing by the river, looking out at the river island, lost in thought. Recalling the thrilling events one after another just now, he still felt a lingering fear and walked over.
"My lord, along this journey, I had already felt that someone was following us. Indeed, something happened today! Fortunately, your luck is blessed; there was shock but no danger. It is a pity that both of them died, and we couldn't get a confession. Does my lord know who is against you?"
Pei You'an withdrew his gaze and said lightly: "I don't have many enemies, but I don't have few either. It is hard to say for now. It is indeed a pity; I acted a bit too heavily earlier; otherwise, I could have asked."
Yang Yun heard his tone was as usual, as if he hadn't taken the assassination just now to heart. His mood eased, and he couldn't help asking again: "When the boatman assassinated you just now, I saw that you seemed prepared. How did you see that he was wrong? I also saw that his stance was stable, but for someone who has steered a boat for many years, training such a stance is not unusual, so I wasn't vigilant. Fortunately, my lord was alert; otherwise, if anything happened to you, I would have died to atone for the crime."
Pei You'an said: "This boatman was indeed a local. His skin was dark, and his technique for rowing was correct. He looked like an ordinary person, but did you notice that the skin on his feet and lower legs was much lighter than that on his face and arms? It shows he was never dressed in barefoot shorts all year round. Think about it: why would a boatman wear shoes and long clothes all year round? So when I asked him if he had been running the ferry here for years and he said yes, he was naturally lying."
Yang Yun showed admiration: "I am far inferior to you, my lord! Please give me more advice in the future! But that young woman—how did you see that she was wrong?"
Pei You'an said: "It's simple. The young woman's skin was fair; she was obviously not a rough peasant woman who works in the fields. Yet she traveled alone. This was the first anomaly, but it didn't rule out that she had special circumstances. When I grabbed her hand to pull her up just now, the back of her hand was smooth, but her palms had calluses in positions corresponding to someone who practices swordsmanship all year round, so I concluded that she and the boatman must be in the same group."
Yang Yun suddenly realized: "I also looked at the passengers, but I didn't pay much attention to this woman. Having learned this lesson, I will definitely be more vigilant in the future."
Pei You'an said: "Remember, when there is an anomaly, it is a demon. Especially with women. Later you will know, it is never wrong to be more wary of women."
Yang Yun admired him immensely and said sincerely: "My lord is wise; your subordinate remembers."
Pei You'an smiled slightly, turned his head to look forward, and said: "If my guess is correct, the Prince should have already entered the capital. There is no need to delay here. There should be a post station ahead. Go and ask for a few horses. Keep your spirits up on the road and let's arrive earlier."
Yang Yun agreed, and the group walked quickly along the post road.