A Clash of Gods - Chapter 57

Chapter 57 The Flower Market
The capital city Jianye was still heavily guarded, and the markets on the street or in the alley would be cheerless at dusk. But it was at noon, so people as well as carriages and horses came and went on the street continually and it was still bustling.

There were many officials dressed in uniform and their carriages in the capital.

Yang Ning was riding a horse on the long street beside the Qinhuai River. It was fashionable to ride a horse in the capital. The young noblemen liked to have their horses decorated in an outstanding and unique way, and even the scholars liked to ride on the street. It was a fashion trend in this city.

The scholars and noblemen rode horses and passed by, with smiles on their faces, and they looked up automatically. They didn’t need to look aside or want to look down because the walkers would look up at them.

They just watched the beautiful buildings and the gorgeous women inside.

The talented man and beautiful woman would make a perfect match. And they thought themselves graceful. Wandering beside the Qinhuai River, every rider just wanted to be the hero in a story on everybody’s lips.

There were many pleasure-boats on the Qinhuai River. Some nobleman in expressive clothes could be seen occasionally walking out of a cabin. He stood on the bow, followed by some people and looked as if he was making comments about the state affairs.

It could be seen on the Qinhuai River every day.

Yang Ning passed by the bank of the Qinhuai River for the first time. It was early now and he was not in a hurry. Yuan Rong rode a horse next to him and felt confused, wondering where Yang Ning would take him to.

Yang Ning wanted to go out of the mansion and Duan Canghai certainly couldn’t stop him. But these days the master had been in danger several times, and he planned to guard him in person. Yang Ning was clear that Duan Canghai and Qi Feng were tired recently, so he just told Duan Canghai to find two guards randomly in the mansion to follow him.

After passing the Confucius Temple, Yang Ning turned to a long street, which was different from the prosperous street beside the Qinhuai River. As soon as he entered the street, he smelled the flower fragrance. He looked into the distance. It was full of colorful flowers and green leaves. There were many flower shops on both sides of the street. It was a flower market.

Yang Ning was surprised. It was October, but the flower market was still open unexpectedly. He didn’t know anything about flowers and plants. When he passed by on horseback, the flower fragrance came into his nose, and he saw all kinds of exotic flowers and rare herbs, many of which he had never seen. He thought these plants must be expensive as they could blossom at this season.

However, the weather was pleasant in the south. Even though it was October in autumn, it was still warm.

Yuan Rong suddenly realized something and expressed with a smile, “After a long trip, are you going to take me to the mansion of Marquis of Martial Arts? Aha. I haven’t seen your brother-in-law for a few days. We can go to see him today.”

“Brother-in-law?” Yang Ning was stunned and turned to Yuan Rong but didn’t ask.

He knew that he behaved not like the former heir of the Marquis of Honor. He could be unclear about some connections, but he couldn’t ask frequently. Otherwise, others would be suspicious.

When he turned his head, he suddenly found a figure not far away. Many people were coming and going in the flower market, but most of them were women. That figure was tall and big, eye-catching in the crowd. Yang Ning found it at a glance and felt nervous. He recognized the man immediately, who was the elder in a grey robe dressed as a eunuch the other day.

Yang Ning had seen this man twice. The first time, he looked like an old gentleman, and the second time, he disguised himself as a eunuch. This time, he was dressed in a grey robe with long beard.

“What is he doing here?” Yang Ning got alert and jumped off the horse’s back. The elder in grey didn’t notice him and passed through the crowd.

This old guy’s identity was uncertain, but Yang Ning was sure that the beard was fake. Just a few days ago when he saw the old man, there was no beard. It couldn’t grow up in merely several days.

He couldn’t help but chase the old man and squeezed through the crowd to the other side. Yuan Rong didn’t know what happened and shouted, “Ning, where are you going?”

Seeing that the elder in grey was not far away in front of him, Yang Ning sped up. Suddenly, he heard a scream and found that he bumped into somebody in front of a flower shop. The voice was soft, and it seemed to be a woman. Yang Ning didn’t have time to apologize and ran a few steps forward, watching the elder in grey disappear in the crowd.

He stopped in his tracks and looked around blankly. People came and went, but the elder in grey was nowhere to be found.

Yang Ning frowned. At the moment, he heard rapid horses’ hoofs from the other end of the long street.

With his brows wrinkled, Yang Ning thought it was a long market street and there were many people walking. Although he was riding a horse, he just made it walk slowly. However, these horses’ hoofs were in a hurry. Would they tread somebody to death?

As expected, all the walkers on the street stepped aside, and some people couldn’t dodge in time and fell on the ground, crying.

Several fine horses ran quickly from the other side of the long street and the horses’ hoofs were urgent. Seeing people and horses lying on the street, they didn’t slow down. Yang Ning frowned and was about to make way. All of a sudden, he felt restless and found a child at the age of seven or eight squatting on the ground in the middle of the street and playing with a clay figure, with no adult around him. The child grabbed a clay figure with one hand and had a good time, without sensing the danger approaching.

The horses ran like flying and didn’t find a child squatting in the middle of the street. Some people on the side of the street had noticed him and shrieked.

Yang Ning rushed over like an arrow.

He ran at high speed, but the horses would come at any time, only about ten meters away from the child. With Yang Ning’s speed, when he reached that kid, if the horse couldn’t be reined in time, he might be knocked away with that child.

But he didn’t hesitate at all.

He knew that only he could save that child at this time. If he risked his life, he would have a chance to save him. Otherwise, this child would be trod by the horses and had no hope to survive.

In the screams, many people looked away and couldn’t bear to see the shocking scene.

All the horses were excellent and ran at lightning speed. The horse in the front was only three meters away from the child, and Yang Ning was that far away from him.

The distance was the same, but he and a horse ran with different speed.

Yang Ning naturally couldn’t compare with a horse when it came to running. He felt his heart was chilly. In emergency, he only hoped that he could focus all his strength on his legs. Seeing that he was going to be slower than the horse, Yang Ning grunted. At the same time, he felt that the force on his chest poured out to his legs, like a torrent.

When the force was put into his legs, Yang Ning jumped like a leopard. He grabbed the child’s arm and pulled him into his arms and rolling to the side before the horse approached.

That horse hissed and jumped before its front hoofs fell on the ground and trod the place where the child had been earlier. If Yang Ning were late for one minute, the child would be dead under the hoofs.

“Bang!”

When Yang Ning rolled, he couldn’t control himself and bumped into a flower bed in front of a flower shop, feeling pain all over. Fortunately, he gathered his strength and raised his hands with the child in the midair.

“Ah…!” With a scream, a woman tried to grab the child and shouted in a sobbing voice, “Ding, how are you?”

Yang Ning had cold sweat all over his body. Hearing the woman’s cry, he turned his head to find a lady under the age of thirty who was dressed like a woman from a wealthy family. He knew that this child must be related to her. He gave the child to her and smiled faintly. “He…must be fine. Don’t worry…”

The woman held the child and checked him from head to toe. Finding that the child was safe and sound, she relaxed. As Yang Ning sat up, she said instantly, “Savior, thanks a lot. Thanks for saving my child. I will repay you for your kindness…” Then she continued hurriedly, “Savior, you…you are bleeding…” Regardless of anything else, she took out a handkerchief and gave it to Yang Ning. “Be quick to wipe it. I will send for a doctor…”

Yang Ning sensed the fresh blood falling from his forehead and it hurt badly. He thought that he just knocked the flower bed and it was a minor injury on the skin, so he didn’t receive the handkerchief and shook his head with a smile. “It doesn’t matter…” He tried to stand up, but he found that the originally powerful legs were soft and weak. He could hardly get up for now.

“Good brother…” Yuan Rong had rushed to him and was shocked. “Are… Are you okay?”

Yang Ning raised his sleeve to wipe the fresh blood on his forehead and shook his head. His legs were feeble, which scared him.

Just now in emergency, he felt that his legs became forceful all of a sudden, as if the inner force in his pubic region was transferred to his legs in his anxiety.

If the force didn’t pour in, he couldn’t have power to save the child before the horse came.

But that force disappeared totally and his legs were numb and got cramp. Not long ago, Duan Canghai had warned him not to transfer the inner force easily. This time, it was an accident, but he didn’t know if it had damaged his body.

“Oh my God, you are awesome!”

An arrogant voice came, and it was not the accent in the capital. Yang Ning’s face darkened and he looked up to see a big majestic-looking horse in the front not far away from him. A man on horseback looked down at Yang Ning nonchalantly. The sun shone the horse and left a long shadow on Yang Ning.

The fine horses following behind arrived.

The men were dressed in dark green clothes, but with white headcloths around their heads, with machetes on the waists. Although they were not tall or burly, they all looked ferocious. The people who knew martial arts could find at a glance that they were martial arts masters.

These men were obviously trained and everybody grabbed the rein of the horse with one hand and pressed the handle of the machete with the other. They all looked at Yang Ning with their sharp eyes. It seemed that Yang Ning was the chief criminal.