Chapter 277
Book 24 Chapter 12 - Safely Back At Xianyang
The minute Xiang Shaolong touched the ground, he immediately plastered himself to a dark corner of the wall. He could hear Cao Qiudao’s faint footsteps, guessing that he must have blown his top and is descending the stairs in pursuit.
Scanning his surroundings, he caught sight of his Hundred Battle Scabbard lying a short distance away from his feet. Hastily picking it up and tying the sabre to his back, he exerted a huge amount of energy by climbing back to the top of the platform via the grappling rope.
Cao Qiudao is obviously no longer on top of the platform.
Prostrating on the floor, Xiang peeped down and observed Cao Qiudao running past the bottom of the platform. At the same time, he detected rustling of leaves and branches on his right and left, a sure sign of ambush. His a.s.sa.s.sins must be in a state of confusion after failing to discover his whereabouts.
He counted his blessings for the close shave. If he had logically walked away from the grappling rope, he would have stepped right into their trap.
His plan to return back to Stargazing Platform is a brilliant stratagem. Not only can he spy on the enemy deployment, he could take a breather and bandage his wound.
Minutes later, he abseiled down the southeastern corner of Stargazing Platform. Recovering his grappling hook and rope, he borrowed the cover of the vegetation and scampered to the south wall of Qixia College.
He is well versed with the surrounding terrain of Qixia College and is aware that a thick forest exists beyond the wall. The forest provides a favourable condition for his getaway.
By now, he has recuperated some of his stamina. While it is insufficient for a proper fight, it is more than enough for him to make his escape
Somersaulting over the high wall, he used this opportunity to shoot the fire arrow that was meant to signal Li Yuan to him.
Subsequently, he raced at full speed towards the predetermined point where Xiao Yuetan had left the s...o...b..ard.
This is a distraction ploy, intending to lure the enemy to the place where the arrow was fired. He wanted to mislead the enemy into believing that he was injured and immobile, and was forced to ask for reinforcements.
Running nonstop for a hundred feet, his knees suddenly buckled and Xiang Shaolong fell flat on his face.
It turned out that the ground is still covered with snow that runs a few feet deep, making it extremely arduous to walk. Though Xiang Shaolong is fitter than the average man, he just fought a strenuous duel and suffered an injury with major loss of blood a week ago. Unable to catch his breath, he was seeing stars for a few seconds before nearly blacking out.
The freezing snow splattered on his face reignited his senses. Glancing around, he saw total darkness everywhere.
Fortunately, far behind him, he could decipher the lantern light from Stargazing Platform. Like a lost sailor who has found his guiding lighthouse, he was pointed to the right direction.
Xiang Shaolong forced himself to climb back to his feet and staggered along the snow to a nearby bush. Diving into the clump of greenery, he collapsed and sat down to rest.
The starry night is simply enchanting but Xiang Shaolong is in a state of panic. With his worn out and tired body, there is no room for appreciating these wonders.
Closing his eyes, he resisted the urge to pa.s.s out due to a lack of oxygen. Gritting his teeth, he strained to stay awake.
After much difficulty, he managed to harmonize his breathing. But when he opened his eyes, he instantly knew that he is in trouble.
Under the illumination of the bright moon and the twinkling stars, the footprints left by his staggering is completely visible. It was truly shocking to see the footprints accurately leading to his present location, clearly identifying his hideout to his pursuers.
At this juncture, he could barely keep himself from fainting. Standing up is totally out of the question.
Despite the chilling winter season, his entire body is covered with sweat.
His ears picked up the sound of footsteps approaching.
More than ten human silhouettes emerged at the edge of the dense forest several feet away. Moving their feet high and low to trespa.s.s the deep snow, they are advancing towards him.
By simply following his footprints, they can walk straight to his hiding spot.
Xiang Shaolong thought to himself that it is game over for him as he watched the enemies come closer and closer while there is nothing he can do.
By just travelling another three hundred feet through a spa.r.s.e forest, he would be able to reach the hill where the s...o...b..ard is hidden.
It is truly excruciating to lose at the edge of victory.
Even if he could force himself to start walking, the enemies would quickly catch up due to his feeble legs. He would rather reserve his strength to take out as many a.s.sa.s.sins as he could to vent the anger in his heart. With this notion, he untied the two flying daggers around his calf and hid them in his hands.
If not for the enemies’ refusal to light a torch, they would have seen him by now.
The sound of hoof beats suddenly arose.
The a.s.sailants were taken aback.
A lone rider appeared out of nowhere and loudly bellowed: "Who are you people?"
Recognizing Cao Qiudao’s voice, Xiang Shaolong was overjoyed. Keeping his flying daggers, he tried standing up.
With Zerk! Zerk! sounds, the group of attackers unexpectedly started to shoot arrows at Cao Qiudao.
Cao Qiudao let out an angry snarl and unleashed a flurry of sword brilliance. Broken arrows rained down around him, demonstrating their uselessness against his skills.
Xiang Shaolong finally managed to regain his foothold and began jogging towards his prize.
Behind him, tragic cries filled the skies. Apparently, an incensed Cao Qiudao has embarked on a killing spree.
Baffled by his sudden burst of energy, Xiang Shaolong actually made it into the forest before collapsing again.
Noting the sounds of running and galloping all jumbled up, Xiang Shaolong deduced that the ambushers are running their lives in multiple directions.
Xiang Shaolong can finally put his mind at ease, thinking that with the enemy swordsmen running all over the place and leaving their footprints, his own ‘virgin footprints’ would not be as obvious as before. Lying p.r.o.ne on the ground for some time, he slowly got back on his feet before proceeding forward once again.
Out of the blue, hoof beats can be heard approaching towards his back.
Petrified, Xiang Shaolong squatted down behind a tree.
Within the spa.r.s.e forest, it is pitch dark and it is not as open as the s.p.a.ce outside. There is no fear of someone noticing his footprints.
It appears that in his rush, Cao Qiudao must have forgotten to bring his fire stick. Otherwise, now would be a good time to light a branch or a torch to see his way.
Xiang Shaolong dare not breathe loudly because in this instance, Cao Qiudao has arrived at the other side of the tree where he is hiding. Riding a horse, Cao Qiudao was panting heavily.
If this Sword Saint had travelled on foot instead of riding a horse, he would have collapsed beside the tree.
CHA!
Xiang Shaolong groaned to himself, realizing that he had made a wrong guess, for this is the terrifying sound of the lighting of a fire stick.
Xiang Shaolong dared not waver. Pulling out a flying dagger, he leapt out and threw it towards the neck of Cao Qiudao’s horse.
The horse uncontrollably neighed and broke out into a frenzy of jumps, throwing Cao Qiudao off its back. The fire stick flew out of his grasp and landed somewhere far away as the forest was enveloped in darkness once again.
Xiang Shaolong burst out laughing: "You are trapped! Watch out for my flying dagger!" Sounds of a person rolling on the forest ground can be heard as a disconcerted Cao Qiudao scrambled to find a hiding place.
Aware that his ruse has succeeded, Xiang Shaolong hurriedly summoned his remaining energy and climbed towards his targeted hill as quietly as he can.
In terms of his stealth ninja skills, even ten Cao Qiudaos cannot match his agility.
Gradually recovering his strength, Xiang Shaolong has left the spa.r.s.e forest and is presently scaling the eastern face of the slope. When he was about to reach the summit, Cao Qiudao’s angry howls reverberated behind him.
Xiang Shaolong was infuriated. Picking up a ten kg rock that happened to be beside him, he weakly threw it towards Cao Qiudao who was hot in pursuit.
After flying for five feet, the rock simply landed on the slope and began rolling down.
Cao Qiudao dodged to a side and successfully avoided the rock. However, due to the wet and slippery slope, he stumbled and lost his balance. Rolling straight to the bottom of the slope, he was a pathetic sight.
Xiang Shaolong thought: It is high time you have a taste of dirt on your face. Continuing his ascent, he barely reached the top when a pair of beautifully crafted s...o...b..ard and snow skis entered his sight. Lying beside them is a neat and full backpack.
In his heart, Xiang Shaolong dedicated his thanks to Xiao Yuetan and Heaven. Using all his muscles, he sprinted to his resources and swiftly inserted his feet into the leg openings that Xiao Yuetan had fas.h.i.+oned with thick rope. It felt as if he was putting on a pair of tight fitting boots.
As Xiang Shaolong was slinging the haversack over his back, Cao Qiudao happened to appear behind him and he thundered: "Where do you think you are going?"
Standing up, Xiang Shaolong cheerfully laughed: "Back to Xianyang of course! Little Old Fella Qiudao, let’s never meet again!"
Cao Qiudao is now only ten feet away from him. Arching his body and powerfully digging the ski pole into the snow, Xiang Shaolong propelled himself off the hilltop and zoomed down the slope like a gust of wind. When he turned his head back, he saw Cao Qiudao’s ma.s.sive frame standing in a daze at the top of the slope, losing all his desire to continue the chase.
Xiang Shaolong kept skiing as the wind whistled in his ears. In a matter of seconds, he is miles apart from the abandoned Cao Qiudao who is still surrounded by darkness.
In his heart, he was deliriously happy. Although his body is aching all over, his heart was singing a song that was either composed by Xie Ziyuan or Feng Fei, which he could not specifically recall.
Except for Xianyang, he does not hold any responsibilities towards anything or anyone.
Beneath the brightening sky, Xiang Shaolong bent over a stream and swallowed several mouthfuls of water. Feeling much better, he sat down on a huge boulder beside the stream and opened up the backpack that Xiao Yuetan had prepared for him, wis.h.i.+ng to obtain some food to fill his empty stomach.
Inside the backpack was a map with directions to Zhongmou and some money for travelling expenses. There were also food, clothing, medicine for wounds, fire starters, etc, showcasing Xiao Yuetan’s thorough thinking in packing everything that he would need on this journey.
While opening the map, a roll of parchment was discovered. The parchment is filled with words and it was unsigned. It read: By the time Shaolong reads this letter, you should have defeated Cao Qiudao and safely left the boundaries of Lin Zi. Elder Brother has a secret that I can only reveal at this point in time. The ten strokes agreement between Shaolong and Cao Qiudao is something that I made up; that letter never reached Cao Qiudao. If not for this ploy, Shaolong would not dare to fight. If you chose to flee and skip the duel, the damage to your reputation is far worse than losing your life at the hands of Cao Qiudao. Shaolong would have lost the most critical factor in the campaign against Lu Buwei: Your confidence. In the heart of Crown Prince, you would no longer be the hero who chooses death over injustice. Of course Shaolong would not hold it against me if you are able to read this letter. Otherwise, there is nothing worth saying. Elder Brother would rather see you die under Cao Qiudao’s sword than to be labeled as a coward and a weakling. See you soon.
Reading the letter, his whole head turned numb, not knowing whether to find it amusing or petrifying.
Actually, several loopholes have been spotted. For example, Xiao Yuetan is constantly reminding himself that Cao Qiudao may dishonor