A Clash of Gods - Chapter 12
Chapter 12 Escape
Yang Ning went out and waked Monkey a while after Old Bark left. Monkey hadn’t slept long, so he looked confused and said vaguely, “Boss… Boss Ermine, what happened?”
Yang Ning said with a smile, “You get up, and I will take you to a place.”
Monkey glanced out of the door, and it was still dark outside. He was about to ask, when Yang Ning said, “If you don’t go, you will regret it. You decide whether to go or not by yourselves.”
Monkey was very puzzled, but he still got up and waked other people. They were all confused. Yang Ning didn’t waste his time and led those people out of the Earth Temple, and asked Monkey to lead the way to the South City Gate.
Monkey and the others felt it very strange along the way and asked several times. But Yang Ning only told them that they would know when they got there. Not far from the South City Gate, they sat under a wall.
At 5:45, the sky had become vaguely bright, and some people had arrived at the city gate. After the city gate was open, Yang Ning immediately took Monkey and the others out of the city.
One should be strictly searched when entering Huize county seat. If one went out of the county by carriage, he would also be checked. However, the guarding soldiers could tell that Yang Ning and the others were beggars at the first glance, so they didn’t pay much attention to them. They went out of the city gate successfully and easily.
After leaving the city, Yang Ning did not say much. He walked fast and went four or five li away with Monkey and the others in a short time.
“Boss Ermine, where exactly are we going?” Monkey couldn’t hold back and stopped, “Now the whole Huize County can’t be considered peaceful. We may encounter bandits. It will be safer if we go back to the county seat.”
Yang Ning stopped and turned around, and said coldly, “Stretch out your hand!”
Monkey was startled. Seeing Yang Ning staring at himself with a serious look, he hesitated but still stretched out his hand. Yang Ning put a jade ring in the palm of Monkey. Monkey was stunned and wondered why.
“If you exchange this jade ring for money, you will get at least dozens of liang of silver.” Yang Ning said, “Monkey, you take them to leave here hurriedly. Go as far as you can. If I am not wrong, there will be someone searching for us in several hours.”
Monkey and the others looked at each other and didn’t know what had happened. But soon, Monkey held the jade ring in his hand and said, smiling, “Boss Ermine, did you make a fortune?” He only thought that Yang Ning stole the Hua Mansion last night and gave the benefits to them at this moment.
“I didn’t make the big fortune, but I made a big mistake.” Yang Ning said easily, “Xiao Yishui was killed and his party might want to blame it on me. You live in the Earth Temple together with me. They will also blame it on you. Therefore, you can escape to keep your lives now. Exchange this jade ring for money and your expenses will be guaranteed. We shall separate here and we may never meet again in this life.”
He kept it simple and neat. Right after that, he didn’t hesitate and immediately went southwards.
Monkey and the others were astonished for a while. Then they were all shocked and immediately chased after him and asked, horrified, “Boss… Boss Ermine, did you kill Xiao… Xiao Yishui?”
“It is no longer important who has killed him.” Yang Ning didn’t turn around and he went faster, “But if you follow me, you will be more dangerous. They may have followed out of the city. You choose where to go on your own.”
Monkey stopped and was stunned for a while. They watched as Yang Ning dived into darkness. After a while, a person behind him cautiously asked, “Monkey, what… what should we do now?”
“What else can we do?” Monkey spit on the ground, “Xiao Yishui must have been killed by this guy. We were wrong. We didn’t expect that this guy to be so bold, and his means were so cruel!” Reminded that they were against Ermine, he trembled, and felt scared in his heart, “We will surely be implicated if we are still with him. Don’t say anything else. We should hurry to escape. The sooner we leave Huize County, the better it will be.” He actually didn’t dare to go in the same direction where Yang Ning went, so he raised his hand and pointed to the east, “We go that way. Run!”
Yang Ning separated with Monkey and the others and took a deep breath. The cool breeze touched his body and he felt quite comfortable and relieved.
In one night, the situation suddenly changed. How could Yang Ning expect before that he would do such a big thing just after he traveled time and space here? It was even more impossible for him to foresee that he had to escape all of a sudden.
It was inevitable to escape from Huize County, and he needed to continue to search for the whereabouts of Xiaodie.
Xiaodie was sent to the capital, and it was easy for Yang Ning to tell that the situation of Xiaodie would be very miserable. Xiaodie had saved his life, so he couldn’t leave her alone.
Although he was well aware of his current weakness and he might not be able to find Xiaodie or even rescue her, he must try his best so that he could live up to his conscience.
He had some clues at this moment. At least he knew that Xiaodie and other girls were taken away by the escort agency. Their destination was the capital and they left three days ago.
So, in order to find Xiaodie, he had to find the escort agency.
They should travel half a month from Huize County to the capital, so they must be on the way at present.
Since there were a lot of girls, the team wouldn’t be too small. Because it was one of the best escort agencies in the capital, for the sake of safety, it was impossible for them to leave this brand aside.
As for an escort agency, it was not about how powerful the force was, but was about how broad their network was. Even if there were many masters, it would be almost impossible to be the escort in the world for an agency.
With the brand, their travel would be without a hitch. Some escorts could even avoid the check along the way. This advantage, of course, wouldn’t be abandoned.
Yang Ning believed that such an escort team would be very conspicuous, so he wouldn’t fail to get information when he inquired along the way.
In addition, although the escort team left three days earlier than him, it was impossible for them to keep moving all day and all night. It was doable for him to get closer to them by using the time when they rested.
As long as he could catch up with the escort team, he would have a chance to get close to Xiaodie. Even though he couldn’t rescue her, he would follow her and eventually have a chance to make a move.
He thought as he walked, and the sky was already bright when he realized.
Looking forward, it was a rather broad official way. He frowned. He walked on the official way in such a grand manner. Once Xiao Yishui’s party chased him, he would be easily found. He realized that he was still escaping, so it was really not suitable for him to walk on the official road at this moment.
He turned to a detour, heading south all the way, trying to catch up with the escort team, so he didn’t take a break along the way. When he was hungry and thirsty, he took a few sips of water in the stream and found some wild fruit to eat. The next day at dusk, he was getting farther and farther from Huize County.
Before he realized, he walked along the detour, but turned to the official road again. He saw a grass shed at the intersection, and there was a bamboo pole outside the grass shed. On the shed hung a curtain, with the character “Tea” on it.
This should be a tea shed.
Yang Ning really felt a little thirsty at this time. When he walked over, he saw a man in his early forties sitting on a wooden chair in front of the tea shed. He smiled and said, “Sir, you…”
Before he finished, the man’s eyes were slanted and he waved, “Go away, there’s nothing for free here.” He turned around and didn’t look at Yang Ning.
Yang Ning was stunned, thinking that the quality of this man was really not good. Then he immediately lowered his head, realizing that he still dressed as a beggar. No wonder that the man drove him away. He thought that he was coming to beg.
“Sir, I want to ask you something.” Yang Ning would surely not leave like this. Instead, he stepped forward and smiled and said, “Were there any escorts team passing by these days? This is the official way to the capital, right?”
“Nonsense.” The man turned his head and said in an angry tone, “Since you know that the official road leads to the capital, how can you not know whether there are teams passing? There are many teams coming and going every day. Should I remember which of them was for business or for escort?”
The man had a bad temper, but Yang Ning didn’t take it seriously. He said with a smile, “Could you please give me some water? I am too thirsty.”
“Of course you can drink water. Not only water, we also have tea.” The man looked at Yang Ning disdainfully with a seemingly smile, “As long as you have money, we can also get you something to eat.”
As soon as he finished, a voice of a woman sounded, “Isn’t it just a bowl of water? There’s nothing reluctant. Don’t blame him when the business is not good.” A woman wearing an apron came out from the tea shed and handed a bowl of water to Yang Ning. Yang Ning took it in a hurry, and drank it up.
The man sneered, but said nothing.
Yang Ning handed the bowl back to the woman and said, “Thank you, auntie.”
“Did you come from the north?” The woman saw Yang Ning’s sloppy body, but she didn’t dislike him. Instead, she sympathized him, “It’s really pitiful. You are so young and have to live a vagrancy life. Young man, if you are hungry, I will get you a wheat cake.”
The man glared at her and said, “Why do you get him a wheat cake? If we treat everyone like this, how can we get interest? You dissipate our family fortune.”
The woman ignored him and entered the room and took a piece of wheat cake. It didn’t look good with its dry appearance, but Yang Ning hurriedly thanked her and took the wheat cake, and asked, “Auntie, I want to ask whether there was an escort team passing by these days? It was probably two or three days ago.”
The woman thought for a while before shaking her head, “There are carriage teams passing here every day, and I really don’t pay attention to them. Why do you ask about the escort team?”
Yang Ning was about to speak, when he suddenly heard the sound of horseshoes in the distance, which was from the north.
The man and the woman saw people coming and going all the year round, so they didn’t care, but Yang Ning’s heart was alert. He hid to the edge of the tea shed and looked to the north. In the sunset, he could only see five or six horses rushing here fast.
The fast horses were like arrows, and in a moment, they reached the tea shed. All of them were assistant constables in blue clothes. The leading person stopped the horse and took a glance. The man sitting on the chair had already stood up and came forward. He squeezed a smile and said, “Masters, are you going to have some cups of tea? Please come in!”
The leading assistant constable ignored his words. He took a piece of paper out and spread it, asking the man, “Look at it carefully. Have you seen this man?”
The man looked at it carefully, frowned, and turned his head, but found that Yang Ning, who was just standing by the tea shed, had disappeared. The woman came to look at the portrait and shook her head, “There are a lot of people coming and going, but I haven’t seen this person in the portrait.”
The assistant constable looked cold and said, “You look carefully. It may not look exactly the same.” Staring the man, he asked in a deep voice, “Why are you looking around?”
The man hurriedly said, “No-nothing!”
The assistant constable sneered, “This is a murderer who has escaped. He was sentenced to death. If you know him but don’t report it, you will be regarded as the accomplices and you will lose your lives for it… So, look at it carefully. Have you seen him actually?” He turned his head and gave a sign. Three assistant constables got off the horses, pulled out their swords on their waists, and rushed into the tea shed.
