I Am Immortal in Great Yu

Chapter 103: Chapter 48: Toying with People (Part 2)

”Brother, I’m not afraid either!” At that moment, Fang Ling, who had been frozen stiff, finally snapped back to her senses. She rushed forward and squeezed in between the three of them.

Then, Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family grabbed her by the ear and pulled her aside. ”Don’t bother your brother... And settle down. You just put on these new clothes today and you’ve already gotten them dirty...”

Aside from her pale face, she was doing much better now. She looked at Fang Rui. ”Brother Rui, are you alright?”

”I’m fine. Mother, Third Sister, let’s go!”

Fang Rui looked at Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family and Third Sister, then at Fang Ling and Nannan. Surrounded by their concerned gazes, an indescribable warmth surged in his chest. It was as if this deep, dark, and endlessly evil night was nothing at all.

...

After that, Fang Rui led the way, swaggering through the streets with his bloodstained Broadsword in hand. He led Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family, Third Sister, Fang Ling, and Nannan, and no one dared to cross their path.

Even the Chief Constables and officers from the Government Office gave them a wide berth.

...

They returned to Willow Alley without any further incident.

He unlocked the door.

Upon entering the house, it was clear that a thief had climbed over the wall and broken in.

”Oh, this is just...” Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family said anxiously, about to go check what had been stolen.

”Mother, wait! Let me check things first... Besides, didn’t we put all our valuables in the cellar yesterday?”

Fang Rui stopped Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family and did a quick sweep of the house. Once he confirmed there was no danger, he let her, Third Sister, and the two little girls inside to gather their things.

”A kitchen knife, two burlap sacks, and the lamp oil are missing...” Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family muttered.

In short, it was all just small, trivial items.

As for the larger items, just as Fang Rui had said, they were mostly in the cellar, so nothing of great value had been lost.

The cellar.

Fang Rui moved aside the pile of large rocks, pushed away the hay covering the entrance, and went inside. He brought some cornmeal and Sorghum Flour out to the courtyard, ready to be taken with them shortly.

In the inner room, by the flickering firelight, Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family and Third Sister bustled back and forth, packing. The two little girls also joined in, gathering the small trinkets they hadn’t been able to take the day before.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

Just then, a knock sounded at the door, accompanied by a tentative shout. ”Brother Rui, is that you home?!”

”Uncle Changlin?”

Fang Rui recognized the voice. ”Mother, Third Sister, you two stay in here and keep packing. Take your time, no rush... I’ll go see who it is.”

He said, then went to the main hall to open the door.

”Brother Rui, it really is you!”

Uncle Changlin looked visibly relieved to see Fang Rui. ”I saw you had a light on, so I came to take a look. I’m glad it’s not a thief... The house was locked up all day. Where did you all go?”

After the incident with Song Dashan, Fang Rui had earned a reputation for repaying kindness and avenging wrongs. That was why Uncle Changlin had made a special trip to check, hoping to earn a bit of goodwill. Otherwise, he would have likely kept to himself, believing it was best not to get involved.

”Thank you, Uncle Changlin. During the day, we were at our other courtyard in the city...”

Fang Rui answered vaguely before asking, ”Uncle Changlin, the bloodstains on your clothes... What happened?”

”This afternoon, I was conscripted and sent up to the city walls... In our Willow Alley, almost all the men from the families that stayed behind were taken... I even dropped a rock and killed one of the Taiping Bandits!”

”Then again, he might not have been a real Taiping Bandit. He was dressed in rags, looked more like one of the refugees they captured... Those bandits are cunning. They don’t fight themselves; they just force the refugees they’ve caught to charge the walls...”

Clearly, for a commoner like Uncle Changlin, being conscripted to defend the city walls was a monumental, once-in-a-lifetime event. It was an experience he would remember vividly for decades.

So it was no surprise that as he spoke, his face lit up and he gesticulated wildly, losing some of his usual composure.

”Is that so?!”

Fang Rui played along. ”I’ve lived this long and never seen a real battle! Uncle Changlin, you were up on the walls. What was it like? Were there a lot of Taiping Bandits today?”

It was a rare opportunity to meet an acquaintance who had witnessed things firsthand, so of course he had to ask for more detailed information.

”A lot?! You bet there were! A massive, swarming horde of them... The foot of the city wall was covered in blood...”

As if the question had scratched an itch or simply sparked his desire to talk, Uncle Changlin opened the floodgates. ”...and there were Martial Artists climbing up the Cloud Ladders, leaping high, but they were mostly stopped by the men from the prominent families... We just moved rocks and pushed them down... Your Uncle Man Tang was with me, not too far off. His legs went weak, and he nearly fell right off the edge. I was fine, though...”

”That’s courage for you! You’re amazing, Uncle Changlin...”

Fang Rui praised him aloud while inwardly processing the useful information. ’First, the fighting is brutal. Second, the Taiping Bandits are numerous, and they’ve captured or recruited a lot of refugees, forcing them to swarm the walls in human-wave attacks...’

’The Taiping Bandits arrived this morning... no, maybe earlier—last night... Uncle Zao Hua, Uncle Fu Quan, Uncle White Stone... those families left the city yesterday. They might have run right into the bandits... They could be among those being forced to attack the walls...’

’They left the city to avoid conscription, but it was like jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. What a cruel world... The common people... alas!’ he sighed to himself.

”Uncle Changlin, how are the casualties for the Official Army in the city?” Fang Rui asked.

”It wasn’t too bad for us. We went in the afternoon, and the attackers were mostly refugees in rags being forced to charge. Not many made it to the top of the wall, so our side had few deaths... I heard the morning was the truly brutal part... The bandits’ Martial Artists launched a surprise attack and got over the wall. Of the men conscripted this morning, eight or nine out of every ten died...”

Uncle Changlin said with relief, ”I heard that Lai Liliu was originally in charge of conscription for our part of the alley, but for some reason, he ended up dead... That caused a delay, so our group was pushed to the afternoon. It wasn’t nearly as brutal for us...”

”Anyway, I have to thank whoever killed Lai Liliu. I wonder which hero it was...”

”I see!”

Fang Rui nodded slightly.

He never thought that by killing Lai Liliu last night, he would indirectly save so many people from the neighboring alleys.

The two chatted for a few more moments.

Once the excitement wore off, the night wind seemed to sober Uncle Changlin up. Remembering his own situation, his expression turned sorrowful. ”...We have to go back to the walls tomorrow... Brother Rui, I don’t know if we’ll see each other again. Take care!”

”You too!”

Watching Uncle Changlin’s lonely figure depart, Fang Rui couldn’t help but think of Uncle Zao Hua and the other families who had fled the city. He closed his eyes, and the night wind carried sounds of wailing and grief to his ears, like a lament for the times.

”This world...”

A thousand emotions welled up in his heart, but they all dissolved into a single, long sigh. The sound barely traveled before it was swallowed by the immense darkness, lost amidst the voices on the wind.

「A short while later.」

Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family and Third Sister finished packing. Fang Rui restored the cover over the cellar entrance, then locked the main door.

Just as they had the night before, he carried the two large sacks of grain and other heavy items, while Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family and Third Sister carried lighter bundles, each holding one of the little girls by the hand as they left Willow Alley.

...

The journey was uneventful, and they returned to Sweet Water Well Alley.

They each washed up.

After washing up, the two little girls, Nannan and Fang Ling, didn’t even consult Fang Rui. They just held hands and ran off to his room together.

”Brother Rui, you sleep with the two girls tonight. Tell them a story so the noise outside doesn’t keep them from sleeping... And you, Third Sister, come talk with me for a bit...”

Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family said, pulling Third Sister into her room.

Of course, this was just an excuse. She was worried that Fang Rui would get carried away and, lacking restraint, harm his body at such a young age.

’Am I really that lacking in self-control?’

Fang Rui naturally understood his mother’s intentions. He felt both amused and a little embarrassed. Shaking his head, he finished washing up and returned to his room.

As for going to the Black Market?

There was no need for that now.

With Lord Hu’s patronage, he wasn’t short on silver, so there was no need to sell his finished medicines. They had all the supplies they needed, and there wasn’t much to be bought at the Black Market in any case...

Of course, the most important reason was that the city was becoming more and more chaotic. He couldn’t be at ease unless he was at home watching over his family.

The moon was bright, its clear light filtering through the window and casting a frost-like glow before the bed.

Fang Rui’s gentle storytelling voice drowned out the sobbing and shouting from outside. In this little bubble of peace, the two girls, Nannan and Fang Ling, drifted into a deep sleep.

He pulled the blanket over the little girls’ bellies, then closed his own eyes and gradually drifted off.

Until—

In the dead of night, he was jolted awake by the sudden eruption of battle cries from the direction of the city gates.

...