"Wait!" the leader standing at the door suddenly said, "Li the Coward, it's you!"
When Li Tan heard this nickname that hadn't been used for many years, he was startled. He looked up at the leader and saw that the one-eyed leader looked familiar, but he couldn't remember who he was.
The leader laughed and said, "Don't you recognize me? I recognized you even though I lost an eye, but you don't recognize me even though you have both eyes. I am Zhong Hu Zi."
Li Tan suddenly remembered that this man was his comrade from when he was serving in the army, nicknamed Zhong Hu Zi. Memories of the past, which he had buried deep in his mind, surged back, but the screams coming from the village reminded him that he was no longer facing his old comrade.
"Zhong Hu Zi, what are you doing?" Li Tan shouted. "Tell the people outside to stop!"
Zhong Huzi's one eye gleamed with fanaticism: "Too late. Now that we've started, it won't be so easy to stop. Li, you may not be brave, but you're quite clever. If you're willing to help me, I'll spare your life, how about it?"
Li Tan heard the screams outside gradually subside, and his heart was breaking. But he knew this was not the time to act on impulse. After a moment's thought, he said, "I can help you, but you have to spare these children."
Zhong Huzi revealed a cold smile: "No, we must nip it in the bud. This is the only way to survive in this chaotic world. I will not leave anyone to seek revenge in the future, nor will I leave anyone to guide my enemies."
Li Tan looked back at the children, then at the soldier he had subdued, and sighed inwardly: "Zhong Hu Zi, come and fight me one-on-one. If you win, I'll agree to any conditions. If I win, you'll release the children and I'll go with you. How about it?"
Zhong Hu laughed wildly, "Hey, Li Danxiao, how come you've suddenly become so bold? If you hadn't been cowardly and ran away at the pass back then, we wouldn't have lost Lone Wolf Fortress, my left eye wouldn't have gone blind, and I wouldn't be a mercenary wandering around like this. If you had been this bold back then, you wouldn't be where you are now." He paused, then said contemptuously, "Now, if you want to be bold again, it's too late."
Li Tan's face showed shame. Although what Zhong Hu Zi said was not entirely correct, it was mostly true. Being exposed as a coward in front of these children made him sigh and say, "Enough nonsense, do you dare to fight me one-on-one?" A mercenary leader like Zhong Hu Zi could not refuse his challenge, otherwise he would lose the trust of his subordinates.
Zhong Hu Zi's maniacal laughter turned into a cold laugh: "You really want to fight me one-on-one? Aren't you going to run away?"
Li Tan said, "I ran away once before, and now I want to be a hero."
Zhong Hu Zi nodded and said, "I promise you, I will let you die like a hero!"
Li Tan kicked the subdued soldier aside, raised his sword in a military salute, and his expression turned solemn. From Zhong Huzi's tone, he had deduced that Zhong's scattered troops had been chased. If he could hold them off until the pursuers arrived, the children could be saved. Although he knew it was just wishful thinking, he could only pin his hopes on a miracle.
Zhong Huzi drew his sword and strode over. Li Tan silently recited the "Righteousness Mantra," and a light blue magical shield protected his body. This shield could reduce the destructive power of the opponent's attack to a certain extent.
Zhong Hu Zi just smiled contemptuously. The magic of a Confucian magic master at the sage level is very terrifying, but Li Tan is only a novice hermit. The Confucian magic he can use and its power are limited. For an experienced warrior like him, it does not pose much of a threat.
To the children's horror, Li Tan was covered in blood under the storm of Zhong Hu Zi's greatsword attacks. Although his protective magic shield prevented him from dying immediately, it was only a matter of time before he was killed. Even the children, who knew nothing about combat, could see this.
But Zhong Hu Zi became impatient. He didn't have much time to deal with Li Tan. The deadly pursuers were not far away. He had to get rid of this coward as soon as possible. So he let out a loud shout and slashed at Li Tan with his greatsword. Li Tan was about to dodge when he felt as if something was pulling him down. He had no choice but to take the heavy blow head-on.
Zhong Hu Zi continued to use the slowing spell from the Taoist earth magic, making Li Tan's movements less agile. His greatsword clashed with Li Tan's knife repeatedly, producing loud bangs. Blood gushed from Li Tan's mouth. His opponent not only used magic to restrain his movements, but also incorporated Buddhist magic to enhance the power of the greatsword's attacks—it was also possible that the greatsword itself was a sword enchanted. These repeated clashes had ruptured his internal organs, and the blue light that had been protecting his body had disappeared.
Zhong Huzi stopped attacking, gave Li Tan, who was still standing, a warrior's salute, and ordered his men, "Burn!"
In an instant, flames rose around Li Tan's house, and the children rushed out, only to be mercilessly killed by Zhong Huzi's men. Li Jun witnessed this tragic scene but could not cry out. He dared not rush out, nor could he stay in the burning house, and was at a loss for what to do.
The room grew hotter and more suffocating. Li Jun could no longer bear it. He would rather rush out and be killed with a single blow than be slowly burned to death here. He rushed toward the door, but at that moment, Li Tan's body fell down and pinned him down. Blood flowed from Li Tan's wounds, soaking Li Jun in blood.
In his terror, Li Jun fainted and knew nothing more.
When he woke up, he saw a group of soldiers surrounding him, and he started crying again. An officer pointed to the half-charred body on the ground and said, "This man saved you. Do you want to avenge him?"
Li Jun recognized the body as Li Tan's. Many years later, he finally understood that Li Tan had shielded him from the fire with his own body, and that Li Tan's blood had soaked him and allowed him to withstand the intense heat of the fire. But he would never know whether Li Tan was dead or alive when he fell and pinned him down.
He nodded, wiping away his tears. The officer then asked, "Where did those people go?"
Li Jun vaguely remembered hearing Zhong Huzi give orders to prepare to march west before he lost consciousness. So he pointed west and realized that it was already daylight. He had been unconscious for a whole night.
The officer silently saluted Li Tan's body and gave the order to advance to the soldiers. A moment later, only Li Jun remained standing alone amidst the ruins.
Li Jun didn't go back to his house; it was a complete mess, and there was no need to go back. After a moment, he picked up the knife from beside Li Tan's body and chased after them westward.
Thus, Li Jun's childhood ended at the age of nine.
Chapter One: The Troubles of a Young Mercenary
Section 1
Are you alright?
Luger looked at the boy with concern and asked slowly. It was not that he had any special affection for the boy, but rather it was his instinct as a Qiang person (Note 1). He kindly inquired about the boy who was only half his size.
Shaking his head wearily, Li Jun avoided Luger's concern. Since the massacre in his hometown, Li Jun had been wandering with the mercenary group tracking Zhong Huzi. The mercenary group's leader didn't care if he was a child; all he cared about was whether he was a qualified soldier. When he demonstrated an advantage that adults couldn't match in intelligence gathering and assassinating sentries, this nine-year-old boy completed the transition from child to soldier. Seven years passed in the blink of an eye. Li Jun had survived countless battles and bloodshed, which was a small miracle. He had watched his comrades fall one after another in the flames of war. Any emotion he felt today could turn into a handful of dust tomorrow. Therefore, he had almost forgotten normal human emotions. So much so that their little mercenary group's leader, the old mercenary Xiao Lin, nicknamed "Xiao the Double Blades," once said with half pride and half worry, "Our kid is a born warrior. I don't think he's suited for peace."
Li Jun left Luge, climbed a tree, and closed his eyes. He had just traveled dozens of miles of mountain road. Even a Yue person who was used to climbing mountains (Note 2) would feel like his bones were about to fall apart. He quickly fell asleep. This was one of the special skills he had practiced for five years. He could fall asleep immediately under any circumstances.
Luge knelt devoutly on the ground, pressed his forehead close to the soil, and prayed softly to Mother Earth and Daughter Jing (Note 3), which is a custom of the Qiang people.
The two outer sentries, resisting the temptation of sleep, exchanged lewd jokes, the sounds of mountain springs and summer insects drowning out the distant noises. Xiao Lin circled the camp, finding nothing amiss, and then found a grassy nest to lie down. As a mercenary working for money, the Chen army he served had suffered a crushing defeat in Hong Kingdom, their main force almost completely annihilated. They had no choice but to flee for their lives; the faster they left Hong Kingdom's borders, the safer they would be. For mercenaries, no one was willing to pay ransom, nor was anyone willing to support these dangerous individuals for free; capture usually meant certain death.
The evening breeze swept through the woods, and the rustling of the leaves began to drown out the murmuring of the mountain spring, preventing the sentry from hearing the approaching danger.
Moonlight seeped through the branches onto the ground, allowing the attackers to slowly approach the sentry. The weapons in their hands gleamed coldly, and the one in front made a shushing gesture.
As they drew closer to the sentry, the man at the front raised his dagger.
With a muffled thud, the sentry immediately turned his gaze and let out a warning whistle. Two arrows shot from the woods, and the attacker scrambled behind a tree, turning back to yell, "Which bastard dared to fart at this hour?"
"Me." A voice sounded behind him.
"Who?" The attacker, who hadn't expected anyone to actually answer his question, forgot what he was there for and glared angrily at his companions hiding behind the tree. His companions peeked out and looked at each other, shaking their heads.
"It's you, isn't it, you stinky king?" The attacker's threatening gaze fell on a somewhat overweight man, who hurriedly shook the knife in his hand and said, "It wasn't me, it wasn't me..."
But in his nervousness, "Pfft..." came another sound, this time clearly audible to everyone. A dozen pairs of murderous eyes were fixed on him, almost making him cry: "It really wasn't me... It wasn't me at first, it's me now... but..."
Before he could finish speaking, the attacker said, "Don't say any more. I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourself. Charge!"
The arrogant king, shrinking his neck, said, "If we charge in, we'll be shot dead..."
The attacker, brandishing a dagger, said, "If you don't charge in, you'll be killed right now!"
The arrogant king looked fearfully at the dagger in his hand and muttered, "But it really wasn't me at the beginning..."