Love Like the Galaxy

Chapter Forty:
A Terrifying Journey (Part 2)

Another content warning for you guys! The last half of the chapter includes fighting and it can get descriptive. There’s mention of sexual assault and horses getting hurt.

…

Nearly a hundred of Cheng family soldiers were divided into two halves; half of them surrounded the carriages of Shaoshang, Madam Sang, and the others while the other half moved forward with their swords, preparing to fight. For a moment, the two sides met in short order and, seeing the hideous and bloodthirsty expression of this group of people, Shaoshang couldn’t help feeling a little scared. Especially when the thieves and bandits realized that there was a lot of money there, and young and beautiful maidservants, and they showed evil and greed. Madam Sang covered Cheng Wei’s eyes and returned to the carriage. The maidservants were mostly full of fear and the timid ones had shrunk into balls and cried.

After the initial shock and nausea at the bad image of these thieves and bandits passed, Shaoshang trembled and drove out from the back of the carriage, pulling out her dagger that Cheng Song had given her and laid it across her chest. Silently calculating the number of enemies and friends, she felt that her bravery should only need to stay at the level of appearance.

Unexpectedly, this group of thieves and bandits was very fierce. Seeing the disparity in the number of people, they still swung their knives at them. It was obvious that the domestic soldiers were not very powerful. Such a pity that what they were facing now was not an ordinary government army. Before leaving, Father Cheng had deliberately bought half of the guards who had followed him for many years and included them in the convoy. The courage and bravery rolled out of the mountain of swords and blood, fighting with the same number, and killing the thieves and bandits like moths.

The two sides fought fiercely for a while, and the Cheng soldiers had already killed most of them. There were still thieves and bandits on the ground, shouting before they died, ‘You wait, we’ll come later to kill you all!’

“They were just the scouts of the thieves and bandits, lightly riding around to investigate if there were any targets for looting and killing, and they’ll have a large team of people behind them.” Old Master Li looked at the corpses all over the ground and, in the cold weather, his vest couldn’t help but be full of sweat. After so many years of chaos, he had considerable experience in the behavior style of bandits.

Upon encountering this incident, everyone no longer delayed and hurried to Old Master Li’s village. Unfortunately, misfortune did not come singly. Due to the urgency of driving, Madam Sang’s car collided with a stone pit that was not in a pile, causing the left wheel to break and the side of the carriage to overturn. All the women in the carriage were trapped inside.

When pulled out of the damaged carriage, it was discovered that Madam Sang’s left leg was seriously injured. Although there was no fracture, there was a big hole in the flesh. Shaoshang grit her teeth and immediately asked someone to push down all the large trunks in a carriage and told Madam Sang and the other women to enter it. She also left behind dozens of unimportant luggage chests and they continued their journey with light vehicles.

Old Master Li couldn’t help but secretly applaud her for being so decisive at such a young age.

It wasn’t long before the sound of killing and shouting came from behind them, and the momentum was much stronger than the previous wave of people. Everyone’s faces changed. Shaoshang saw that there was still a long way to go from the countryside under the jurisdiction of Old Master Li and it was obvious they wouldn’t be able to make it. She looked at the way to the west and thought to herself that they couldn’t escape that way either.

One person rode alone through the forest, and the thieves were busy looting the convoy, so they must not care about themselves. She knew the route well and, as long as she escaped to Chenliu County, she would be safe. She would pretend that the convoy was broken up and she had been driven there.

But – before Shaoshang’s eyes, a bleeding and pale Madam Sang appeared, as well as Wei Wei and the twins. She shook her head.

The mountains and forests on both sides of the road looked familiar. She quickly grabbed Old Master Li, who was driving beside her, and asked, “I remember on the way here you said there were many vacant hunting houses. May I ask Grandfather, which hunting house here is backed by the mountains and is there an upstream flowing water nearby?”

She had never read military theory but she at least knew the idiom ‘being attacked from both sides.’ If there were more enemies than their own guards, and there were many women in the convoy, they would be defeated sooner or later if they were surrounded like before. It was better to rely on the terrain to hinder them. With enough food and medicine, and a source of water, it wouldn’t be a problem to take shelter there for a few days.

Besides, it could take two or three days sooner, or five or six days slower, and there must be reinforcements in both Hua County and Chenliu. But what if there was no such hunting house? That would only lead to a back-to-back fight and they would be resigned to fate.

Old Master Li knew his hometown well and led the convoy to the depths of the mountain forest, moving left and right, and found a wonderful shelter. Built on a concave cliff, there was a stream flowing down from the mountain on the rock wall next to the house. The owner of the house had fled many years ago. Old Master Li felt that this place was dangerous and strange so he renovated five or six big houses for future hunting.

Several members of the convoy explored the terrain and decided that it was a good place. With those words, they cut down many large trees with thick trunks from the forest, tied them together like fences to resist horses, and surrounded the flat ground in front of the house. After nearly an hour of busy work, a large group of thieves finally crossed through the dense forest to find them.

This wave, consisting of three or four hundred people, roared loudly, and the fighting was even more fierce and terrifying. However, they seemed to have been temporarily combined, with neither tacit cooperation nor unified orders, and insufficient military readiness. After the first wave of dense arrow rain, there were only scattered cold arrows.

In addition, the flat area in front of the house was narrow, so the thieves and bandits couldn’t rush them and had to rely on waves of people and horses to add more oil. After the leader of bandits shouted, “Brothers, give me the goods and you can take as you please,” the two sides slowed down. It was dark and bright, neither breaking through the resistance nor driving the bandits away.

At their leisure, both sides were tired and hungry, glaring at each other while eating, mentally calculating how to break through/resist each other.

At the most dangerous moment, dozens of bandits, relying on their tall horses, crossed the barriers and rushed to the hunting house at night to try and break through the defense line in one fell swoop. Fortunately, the experienced guards had arranged several tripping ropes in front of the house in advance, dragged down the horses when they came up, and then swarmed up to kill the thieves who fell from their horses. Even so, there were still a dozen or so thugs who had excellent equestrian skills who managed to jump over the ropes. Before they fled, they leaned over and grabbed seven or eight maidservants who were fleeing, pressed them down on their horses, and fled.

Shaoshang originally thought that the other party would take these girls as hostages and threaten them to surrender. After fighting for a while, Shaoshang began to understand. In this era, there was no master who surrendered just for the sake of a few servants. Even the thieves understood this kind of ‘universal value’ and would never make such a ‘stupid’ request.

Standing behind the human wall made up of guards, Shaoshang felt bitter, and wondered if being reincarnated was really such a good thing.

Among the kidnapped maidservants was a girl with a dimple on her left cheek. She was not yet fifteen years old, smart and lovable, and Madam Sang doted on her every day. She often enjoyed listening to Shaoshang play the flute.

A thief rushed to her and stretched his hand out to grab her, but the two martial maidservants who guarded her were all good hands and immediately stepped forward. One slashed their sword several times and cut off the thief’s outstretched palm and the other rolled on the spot, slashing the horse’s leg with a series of double attacks. The horse suffered from the pain, threw the thief off and was immediately chopped into meat paste by the guards.

“It’s enough for the bandits to bully and assault them, they won’t kill them?” Shaoshang tried to stand up straight. At this time, the concept of their chastity wasn’t strong; the girls only needed to survive.

The two maidservants looked at each other. One of them said, “Young Mistress, don’t think about it. Only if you survive can you take revenge.”

Shaoshang felt a chill in her heart, and the hand holding the sword hilt trembled violently.

These two powerful maidservants were sent by Madam Xiao to be by her side – so, had Director Xiao ever encountered such a sinister and bloody situation? Had she ever struggled to escape like that, and also watched the people around her be taken away? Be killed?

“Niao Niao, come back quickly! What are you doing standing in front of me? Be careful so you won’t be injured by the flying arrows!” Madam Sang was yelling anxiously as she struggled to stand in front of the big house, using A’Zhu as a support.

Shaoshang trotted over but found that her left calf was bleeding and she frowned. “Aunt, go and lie down.” Then she and A’Zhu helped Madam Sang inside.

There was a fire in the middle of the room. Old Master Li sat by the fire and was being treated by a maid for a knife wound on his arm. Cheng Wei and the twins had been taken to another place to settle down. Shaoshang helped Madam Sang to the side of the simple bed and helped her lay down. She asked a maidservant to bandage the injury again. A’Zhu poured out a bowl of sweet date soup from the copper pot hanging from the fire and fed it to Madam Sang.

Shaoshang turned her head and bowed. “I have troubled Grandfather. You were enjoying being with your grandchildren at home and now you’re suffering here.”

Old Master Li still had a smile like Maitreya Buddha. “Back then, the soldiers and bandits ganged up together and caused chaos in the village,” he said. “That was a tragedy in the world! Don’t worry, my girl. I asked a few servants to go to the village from the mountain road yesterday to ask for help. It will be faster than Hua County and Chenliu. When the time comes, there will be an attack from both sides, and we will protect Madam Sang and Young Mistress.”

Shaoshang was no longer ignorant of the world as she was when she first arrived. Old Master Li’s village could produce at most a hundred brave villagers, and the combat power was hard to estimate.

Old Master Li seemed to guess what the girl was thinking. “Young Mistress, don’t think that this old man is saying comforting words,” he said with a smile. “In the past seven or eight years, the road has been clear and bright and deserted. I don’t know what happened this time, but state governors above and county governors below. They are all capable of fighting, so I won’t sit idly by and watch these bandits act recklessly in the country. Let’s just get through the next few days.”

Shaoshang smiled but didn’t speak. If something went wrong, it would be the governor and county prefect. For example, didn’t the original owner of the Wan family’s new mansion, the Bu family, defect and rebel?

Thinking of this, Shaoshang asked, “Grandfather, did the Prefect of Yanzhou and the Prefect of Dongjun originally follow His Majesty, or did they vote for him later?”

Old Master Li was taken aback and touched his beard. “That… as for the governor of the state, I’m not sure. However, I have seen the county governor several times. He often loves to talk about how difficult the war was and how powerful His Majesty was during the banquet. I think he followed him from the beginning.”

Shaoshang breathed a sigh of relief. Upon hearing this, Madam Sang put down her soup bowl and smiled. “The people who came to serve were all heroes. His Majesty never treated them lightly. Most of them are appointed officials in court.”

That statement was very insightful. Shaoshang nodded. It was enough to know that the Dongjun Prefect was reliable.

Madam Sang didn’t know what was on her mind. “We’re in this situation and I don’t know how your uncle is doing,” she said mournfully. “If we had known this, we should have left earlier and would be in Hua County by now.” After over ten years of being a loving couple, it felt like a piece of her heart had been gouged out.

“I think Uncle will be fine but it’s Hua County that isn’t good,” Shaoshang said in a low voice.

Madam Sang didn’t know whether she was surprised or happy. “How do you know?”

Shaoshang sighed. “When we left Chenliu three days ago, there was no wind or rain, and Grandfather Li’s village was also peaceful. But Qing County didn’t look right. From this we can see that if there was any trouble, it would have started from the east.” She picked up a branch and used it to sketch a map on the ground. Sili, Yanzhou, and Qingzhou were lined up from west to east.

“His Majesty announced he would patrol several states in the east. From the day he sets off, even if he’s slow, he should be in Qingzhou. But now that we have all arrived in Yanzhou, the Imperial escort still lingers in the eastern county of Yanzhou. What does that mean? Qing County is strange, and there’s no news in Chenliu. What does it mean?”

This caught Old Master Li’s attention and he unconsciously asked, “What does this mean?”

“This shows that someone is planning to do something,” Shaoshang said. “First the Imperial journey was delayed, and then suddenly encountered difficulties, causing no one around them to notice instantly. The Crown Prince said that His Majesty only passed through Qing County a few days ago, and I guess it was during these days that the accident occurred. It was only west of Qing County and no one knows the reason behind it. Also…”

She pointed the branch east of Qingxian and drew a small circle. “I suspect the accident was either in or adjacent to Hua County! It’s because the magistrate of Gongsun County rushed to rescue him after hearing the news, leaving the town without much defense. When we first met those scouts, I remember they were heading southeast and north. If they hadn’t seen us first, they would have gone to plunder Qing County.”

Madam Sang’s joy was indescribable. She trembled. “As you say, your uncle is doing nothing now!”

“Why don’t you ask them to attack Qing County? The county walls are so strong,” Shaoshang grumbled unhappily. “Aunt, let’s worry about ourselves first. Now there’s a group of overjoyed bandits waiting outside to have a feast with us.”

She couldn’t help but secretly scold her third uncle for being such a shocking pit!

When they were in Chenliu, he had to rush on his way, and would die if they stayed two more days for a blind date banquet; when he was in Qing County, he was so righteous and insisted on leaving his wife and children to go to the city by himself. Was his head just a decoration? Couldn’t he make up his mind and act later? It would have been better for them to go to the county seat than to be hunted down in this desolate mountain forest. She was worried about Cheng Zhi? She should be worried about her own ass! Madam Sang wouldn’t be a widow, but Cheng Zhi would become a widower. Without her handful of soybeans and papayas, let’s see if he could cook a pot of soup again!

Old Master Li stroked his beard beside her. “She is a tiger girl in the general’s family after all!” he laughed. “Your family history is long and you are very insightful.”

Shaoshang smiled helplessly. At this moment, she strongly missed Father Cheng and Director Xiao. Her parents were wise and full of wisdom and wouldn’t let themselves fall into this situation!

Madam Sang was about to speak but was cut off by the guards shouting outside. “Reinforcements are coming! Reinforcements are coming!” Their voices were full of joy.

Everyone in the room was surprised and delighted. Shaoshang and Old Master Li stood up together. Madam Sang wanted to get up, but she was already weak due to her injury and blood loss and ended up passing out with little effort. Shaoshang asked A’Zhu to take good care of her aunt, then followed Old Master Li out of the house.

Based on the round-trip time, this wave of reinforcements must have come from Old Master Li’s village. Shaoshang was hesitant about Xiangyong’s combat power, but as she stepped outside, she found that the fighting outside was like thunder.

The mountain forest was originally as deep as water; no matter how much noise was made it was like throwing a stone into a deep pool without seeing any waves. However, the entire forest, which was filled with murderous energy, almost shook in front of her.

Shaoshang looked up and saw a wave of soldiers with black armor and white feathers rushing in like a tide, the hooves of their horses like tigers and wolves rushing towards her in an instant. They didn’t care about formation, they galloped to fight, first come, first fight, then filled the gap.

The group of bandits no longer cared about the Cheng convoy and quickly turned their swords and horses to resist. The elite Black Armored Army was far superior in both individual combat skills and group cooperation, let alone a continuous stream of Black Armored Knights arriving behind them.

Shaoshang was stunned. “Grandfather, this is from your hometown? How strong and brave are you all?” Were local farmers so fiercely armed these days?

“Where… where…?” Old Master Li was dumbfounded.

Shaoshang looked at the old man silently, so you admit it?

Suddenly, Old Master Li saw a group of strong rural soldiers mixed in with the black army. He immediately shouted at the young man in a long robe. “Wu Lang! My Lang! Your father is here! I’m here!”

More than a thousand black robes and armor quickly filled the pristine color of the mountain forest, leaving behind hundreds of soldiers who were killing the thieves and bandits. Under a high black gilded flag, they had a general with a black horse at the head. Hundreds of people stood quietly, like ghosts in the forest.

At this moment, the hundreds of black armored troops ahead were like starving wolves devouring sheep, instantly tearing away the most of the bloody lamb. Unexpectedly, there was a leader among the bandits who was very fierce. Seeing that none of his accomplices had been destroyed, the remaining ones had already surrendered in tears. They gathered the last ten or so loyal bandits to break through the encirclement of the Black Armored Army, then howled and charged towards the general, as if planning to face death.

The bandit leader fought fiercely and wielded a huge two-handed horse knife atop his horse, knocking down several guards in front like a mortal weapon. The general waved his hand to stop the guards who were planning to continue advancing. With his right hand, he took off a long golden weapon hanging from his horse and rode forward to meet him. The bandit leader turned red in the eye and swung his knife forward to meet him. The general’s hand moved like a string of gold and black, instantly spreading a golden radiance.

Shaoshang thought that this general must have astonishing physical strength. He held up the gold and black wheel in his right hand high, spreading its bright wings like a crimson phoenix, and then heavily chopped down from the front, causing the bandit leader to break off with a huge knife and arm.

“Good!” Old Master Li tore his throat and exclaimed loudly, like a tea house storyteller who was too emotional. “What a red phoenix gilded halberd! It’s truly unparalleled in the world!”

His beard trembled excitedly and he turned to Shaoshang with a smile. “I have two nephews in the Forest Feather Guard. I have heard this weapon is handsome and extraordinary, and I finally have an opinion today!” Then he looked contemptuously at the bodies of the bandits all over the ground. “I hate that the bandits are too incompetent to see the divine power of the beast patterned cloud breaking double axes.”

Shaoshang looked at the distant scene, then back at Old Master Li. So this old man was regretting the bandits weren’t strong enough?

She suddenly thought of something and turned to the martial servant next to her. “What weapon does my father use?”

“The general uses a nine-ring thick-ridged long knife, weighing more than 80 pounds,” he said.

Shaoshang didn’t want to talk anymore. It was no use calling such a name that weighs 250 pounds!
[I really have no idea what Shaoshang is saying here.]

At this point, the formal battle ahead had ended, and the guards of the Cheng convoy gradually moved the fences so the army in black robes could gather. At this moment, although the sky was bright, the sunlight was difficult to penetrate the dense forest and only a few faint golden rays leaked in.

The general put away the red-gold gilded halberd and was surrounded by the guards and slowly drove his horse towards her. Pale golden light was woven into his pitch-black armor like silk thread, and jumped onto his white body. The face was clear and handsome, hard to describe.

Seeing his face, Shaoshang immediately froze half of her body ­– could she get another rescuer? She felt that she could still hold down the fort here.