Chapter 107: On the Run

Wei Ba fled along the rugged mountain path like a stray dog, while Jin Dongliu followed behind him, gasping for breath and pushing himself to the limit. He had spent more than a month longer as a prisoner than Wei Ba and was consequently much weaker. Unaccustomed to mountain roads, he moved far more slowly than Wei Ba. His mouth hung wide as he tried to draw in as much air as possible, his frail chest heaving violently, every rib clearly visible.

Wei Ba stopped and glanced at the faint torchlight flickering in the distance. Then he shouted to a young, masked, powerfully built man ahead of them, “Hey, carry him.”

The man stopped and looked at Wei Ba hesitantly. Wei Ba immediately cursed him. “What are you staring at? Didn’t you come to rescue him? If he gets captured again, what the hell good will it do for you to run away?”

“Carry him,” another masked man barked.

Though this man was somewhat slight in build, his position was clearly not low. At his command, the burly man immediately turned back, hoisted Jin Dongliu onto his back, and continued onward.

“Keep up, keep up,” Wei Ba urged in a low voice as he broke into a run.

After helping Jin Dongliu send out his plea for aid, the spies hidden in Hanzhong had arrived soon afterward. With Zhuge Liang’s cooperation, they had quickly rescued both Jin Dongliu and Wei Ba. As Wei Ba had said, rescuing Jin Dongliu was their primary mission; saving Wei Ba was merely incidental. If Jin Dongliu had not insisted, they would never have brought Wei Ba along. They would have simply cut him down in the tent.

Without realizing it, Wei Ba had already passed once through the gates of death.

Ten men had come to rescue Jin Dongliu. The taciturn masked man appeared to be their leader, and everyone acted according to his orders. Even though Zhuge Liang had already arranged everything, rescuing someone from a heavily guarded prisoner camp was no easy task. Ten men had gone in, but only four had come out, including Jin Dongliu and Wei Ba. In other words, Zhuge Liang had casually eliminated eight spies.

In these times, arranging a spy was no simple matter. Accent, appearance, and habits of life were all difficult to disguise. Those capable of serving as spies were either experienced veterans who could become a dragon when posing as a dragon and a tiger when posing as a tiger, while mastering the accents of every region, or else locals recruited on the spot. Locals could blend into their surroundings more easily, but their loyalty was much less certain.

In short, any spy capable of remaining hidden in a particular place was a valuable elite. Only such people could uncover accurate intelligence. Losing eight of them at once was undoubtedly a devastating blow to Cao Wei’s intelligence network in Hanzhong.

They had risked everything merely to rescue Jin Dongliu, unwilling to let a general of Cao Wei become a sacrificial offering when Shu Han launched its attack. Wei Ba did not know precisely whom these men served. Judging from their familiarity with Jin Dongliu, however, he guessed that they all belonged to Cavalry General Sima Yi, stationed at Wan City.

The thought that Sima Yi had managed to plant so many spies in Hanzhong after only a few years in office made Wei Ba’s heart pound with fear. He could only hope that Zhuge Liang would use this opportunity to sweep up the stragglers as well, extracting more information from the captured men.

They had traveled more than ten miles from the Mianyang camp, and the sounds of the pursuing soldiers had gradually faded into the distance. Only then did Wei Ba let out a sigh of relief. He stopped, surveyed the surrounding terrain, and then turned toward the northern slope and began climbing.

“Stop!”

The burly man set Jin Dongliu down and stepped across the path, blocking Wei Ba. The mountain trail was narrow, yet it did not hinder him in the slightest. Wei Ba could barely see how he had moved.

Wei Ba took a step back and eyed the masked man, whose hand rested on the hilt of the blade at his waist. Frowning warily, he asked, “What are you trying to do?”

“What are you trying to do?” the slighter masked man countered coldly.

“Escape, obviously. Ji Valley is just ahead. Once we enter it, we can make straight for the Central Plains.”

“Who told you we were going to the Central Plains?”

The masked man slowly approached. Together with the man blocking Wei Ba, he hemmed Wei Ba in from both sides, making it plain that the slightest disagreement would end with Wei Ba sprawled on the ground.

“You want to kill me?” Wei Ba gave a cold laugh, pressing his back against the cliffside as he prepared to strike at any moment.

“We never intended to save you in the first place.”

“I want to save him.”

Jin Dongliu dragged his heavy feet toward them and reached out to push the masked man aside, but the man did not budge. Jin Dongliu paused, then shouted unhappily, “How dare you disobey my order?”

“I am not your subordinate. I have no need to obey your orders.” The masked man did not even glance at him. His eyes remained fixed on Wei Ba. “Rescuing you was our mission. Obeying your commands was not.”

Jin Dongliu stared at him in astonishment.

“This man is Wei Yan’s son. Whether he truly intends to surrender to our Great Wei remains uncertain. Perhaps he has other motives. Taking him back could bring disaster upon us. It would be more prudent to kill him here.”

“You can try,” Wei Ba said as he slowly rolled up his ragged sleeve.

“You are no match for us,” the masked man said calmly. “You have gone three days without food and are physically exhausted. Besides, your martial skills were never equal to his.”

Wei Ba gave a short laugh. He had to admit that the man was right. The silent burly man standing before him was indeed an expert. Wei Ba had personally witnessed him fight his way out of the camp. More than twenty men had died at his hands, and every one of them had been killed with a single strike. He had never needed a second blow.

A master of that caliber was unquestionably a battle-hardened, professional killer. Forget three days without food—even at his best, Wei Ba might not have been able to defeat him.

“Still, if you want to kill me, it won’t be that easy,” Wei Ba said with a smile. “Don’t think I don’t know that you had a reason for rescuing me. Without me, you won’t be able to get out.”

Although they had escaped the camp, there were still many checkpoints throughout Hanzhong. Without someone to guide them along the proper routes, leaving safely would be extremely difficult. Crossing mountains and ridges would waste tremendous amounts of time and energy, while exposing them to even greater danger. If they encountered poisonous insects or wild beasts, their chances of survival would be slim.

Moreover, Jin Dongliu was extremely weak. Carrying a full-grown man over the mountains was no easy task. The Wei family had operated in Hanzhong for many years, and most of the soldiers stationed at these passes were Wei Yan’s former subordinates. With Wei Ba’s face, passing through the checkpoints would be far easier. At the very least, they could travel unhindered before the Chancellor’s military orders arrived—and might even trick the guards into giving them travel money, food, and the like.

The masked man hesitated, and the ferocity in his eyes softened slightly. He studied Wei Ba. “Since we are all intelligent men, let us make a bargain. You lead us out, and we spare your life.”

“Fine. But stop acting as though you are my benefactors.” Wei Ba pointed at his own nose, then at the masked man. “We are partners. I owe you nothing.”

The man looked somewhat helpless. As he nodded for the burly man to put away his weapon, he said, “But we choose the route. You will not play any tricks. If you arouse our suspicions, I can end our agreement at any time.”

Wei Ba had no choice but to nod.

The masked man ordered the burly man to carry Jin Dongliu, and they continued eastward.

They traveled for most of the night. By the time the sky was beginning to brighten, they finally stopped to rest. The masked man found a small cave and stood at its entrance. He tilted his head toward it, signaling Wei Ba to go inside and inspect it.

Wei Ba did not object. He entered first, saw that the cave was fairly dry and contained no beasts, then came back out and nodded at the masked man.

“There’s no danger.”

“Go in.”

The masked man tilted his head again, signaling for the burly man to carry Jin Dongliu inside first. Then he glanced at Wei Ba.

Wei Ba did not object. He entered the cave and watched as the burly man had just set Jin Dongliu down. Suddenly, Wei Ba lunged forward. He held a short blade in reverse grip in his left hand and drove his right fist viciously into the man’s left ribs.

Though the burly man possessed formidable martial skill, he had carried Jin Dongliu over mountain roads all night and was already utterly exhausted. Moreover, Wei Ba had shown no abnormal behavior along the way, while the leader had been watching him from behind. The man had never imagined that Wei Ba would attack at that moment.

He sensed Wei Ba’s fist, but his legs felt as though they had been filled with lead. He had no time to react.

With a sharp crack, at least two of his ribs broke beneath Wei Ba’s punch. The burly man cried out and flew sideways into the stone wall. Yet he immediately used the wall’s rebound to propel himself back. His right hand opened, five fingers curved like hooks, and shot straight toward Wei Ba’s face.

Wei Ba was timid by nature. He never acted without first making careful plans. Since he had chosen to launch a surprise attack, how could he have failed to prepare?

When he had entered the cave to inspect the terrain, he had already taken note of every detail. Seeing the man counterattack, Wei Ba secretly admired his agility, but he had no intention of giving him any chance to recover. He shifted his footing, evaded the man’s grasping hand, hooked his right arm beneath the man’s armpit, and slammed forward with all his strength.

The masked man had not yet regained his footing. Wei Ba’s sudden shove from behind sent him sprawling face-first onto the ground. Before he could recover, the short blade in Wei Ba’s left hand plunged viciously into the hollow of his lower back, and Wei Ba yanked it sideways.

The blade had gone deep, tearing open a wide wound. Blood gushed forth with the man’s scream, splattering Jin Dongliu’s face and head.

“What are you doing?”

Hearing the disturbance inside the cave, the young man following behind rushed in without hesitation. The instant he saw Wei Ba pinning the burly man to the ground, with blood spraying from the man’s waist, he was startled and reached for his blade.

How could Wei Ba give him the chance to strike back?

Using the force of the burly man’s desperate struggle, Wei Ba sprang into the air, drew up his right knee, and smashed it into the young man’s chest.

That knee had once caved in Pan Zhang’s breastplate. The young man wore no armor at all—how could he possibly withstand it?

He grunted and staggered backward. Blood burst from his mouth and nose, while his chest caved inward and his entire body began to tremble. His fingers could no longer hold the blade. With a clang, it fell to the ground.

Wei Ba had no time to look at him. He turned back just as the burly man rolled over. Wei Ba kicked him in the chest.

Another crisp crack rang out. Two more ribs broke beneath the kick. The man had only just raised himself before collapsing again, blood spilling from his mouth and nose.

Only then did Wei Ba let out a cold laugh.

“How does it feel to pretend to be me while killing people?”