Chapter 16 A Little Scared

Who was Brother Ma inviting that he was being so formal, preparing for an entire day?

Hearing Hu Ma's instructions, both Li Wazi and the somewhat happy Zhou Datong and others wore awkward expressions. Seeing that Hu Ma's face seemed a little grave, they didn't dare ask any questions.

And so, that night they all simply rested early. The next morning, Li Wazi brought two helpers to tidy up some food and wine in the Zhuangzi (village), and even moved the Baxian (eight immortals) table over, placing it on the left and right. The wine and meat were the best he could get from the town.

And that day, Hu Ma really didn't do anything, just sat at the table and waited. Li Wazi and the others, seeing that it was already dark and there was still no movement, assumed that Hu Ma was inviting evil spirits and ghosts, and being already familiar with such things, hurriedly locked themselves in their rooms.

Hu Ma silently waited for a long time, until it was close to Xushi (7-9 pm) before he heard the sound of the Zhuangzi's gate clicking open.

Looking up, he saw a figure quickly leading a horse in, and then closing the Zhuangzi gate again. This person was thin and covered in dust.

Turning around, the first thing he saw was Hu Ma sitting next to the Baxian table under the red lantern, steadily looking at him. His eyes suddenly stung, and he silently tied the horse to the gate and walked towards Hu Ma with his head lowered.

"Brother Hu..."

The person who came was Yang Gong. He didn't even ask who Hu Ma had set up this table of wine for, before he said, "My brother is dead. It was Shen Bangzi. You've met him..."

"It was him?"

Hearing this, Hu Ma's heart also trembled slightly. He had indeed met this brother of Yang Gong's.

Yesterday he saw that although Yang Gong had a lot of men around him, there were all sorts of loopholes, and he didn't know where something might go wrong. He couldn't even find a way to offer a reminder. He didn't expect that something would happen so soon, and that it would even be someone he knew from the Red Lantern Society.

"Sit down first."

He sighed softly and took the teapot from the table, saying, "Have some tea first."

Yang Gong took a deep breath and said, "I want to drink wine."

Hu Ma nodded and switched it to wine for him, pouring it into the bowl in front of him. Yang Gong picked it up, poured half of it on the ground first, and then tilted his head back and poured it into his mouth.

Hu Ma watched him finish drinking, and then poured him another bowl before saying, "Brother, I know you're feeling bad, and I guessed that you would come to me, but you did something wrong."

"I know what you're doing now, and it's right for you to protect the people, but since so many brothers are following you, selling their lives to you, you need to be responsible for them."

"Now that things are so chaotic, you've left them behind and ran here alone. Have you thought about the consequences?"

"What if the enemy attacks?"

"What if the enemy sees you coming here?"

"..."

"This..."

Yang Gong looked up at Hu Ma, feeling that his calm eyes seemed to know everything. He originally had countless questions in his mind, but he was too lazy to ask them. He just gave a bitter smile and said, "I know it's wrong, but I had to come."

"That..."

He hesitated for a moment before speaking in a low voice, as if explaining, "Before I came, I already had them take everyone back to the mountains, and arranged for people to guard them. I thought that one night wouldn't be a problem."

"I told them that I was just coming to scout out some information..."

"Yes, you had Little Messenger Ghost remind me before, saying that they were going to rob grain, so I came to you to scout out information..."

As he spoke, his voice weakened, saying, "It's quite fitting, isn't it?"

Hu Ma thought for a while and smiled, "Alone, deep into enemy lines, scouting out information, that's plausible. I guess you know how to make up lies."

Seeing Hu Ma smile, Yang Gong suddenly relaxed.

He and Hu Ma had always been brothers, without any distinction of rank. But in front of him, Hu Ma was steady, while he was reckless. Therefore, every time he did something impulsive, he would be a little afraid of Hu Ma. Now that he saw him smile, he breathed a sigh of relief and said:

"It's not just scouting. Actually, I was also thinking, Brother Hu..."

He paused slightly, looking at Hu Ma earnestly, and said, "Why don't you come adventuring with me? I feel at ease with you by my side."

Hu Ma sighed and said, "I know you're doing great things, but I'm not very interested in these things. I just want to live a peaceful life. Even though I've been doing some things recently, it's because my enemies are forcing me and the situation doesn't allow me to."

"Even now, I'm full of trouble. If I really followed you to fight, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to help, and I would only drag you down."

"..."

"Enemies?"

Yang Gong was stunned, and then glared, saying, "I haven't heard you mention that? Who are your enemies? I'll help you chop them down."

"..."

"Remember what you said."

Hu Ma glanced at him and said, "There will be a chance to make it happen in the future."

Saying that, he poured him some more wine and said, "So, you came here tonight just to say these things to me?"

"I..."

Yang Gong's lips moved, hesitating to speak. He had already talked about the death of his brother, and had also said that he wanted to invite Hu Ma to go with him, but in his heart, there was clearly an even more important reason.

Hu Ma also saw it, but he didn't urge him, just silently drank with him, waiting for him to say what was on his mind.

Yang Gong was also impulsive several times, but seemed a little embarrassed to speak. After a long silence, he sighed softly under Hu Ma's gaze, "Actually, I'm a little scared."

When he said these two words, he couldn't even lift his head, as if he felt ashamed. But Hu Ma didn't show anything unusual, just silently looked at him.

Yang Gong spoke more smoothly, lowered his voice, and slowly said, "More and more brothers are following me. I tell them to fight whoever, and they go fight whoever. It makes me more and more afraid to speak casually. And..."

"And my old father-in-law, I sometimes don't understand what he's doing. And, and my wife... she's too good to me, too good..."

"Her whole family treats me extremely well, and I want to live up to them."

"But the more it is like this, the more I feel a little..."

Seeming not to know what words to use to describe it, he paused for a moment, and then said in a somewhat heavy voice, "Actually, I also understand that someone like me, how can I be worthy of a young lady like her?"

"Even when we just got married, I wasn't very good at it, lying in the bed, stiff as a corpse, but she, she didn't dislike me, comforted me well, and even wanted to help me with her hands..."

"?"

Hu Ma was stunned for a moment, and sighed, "No need to talk about these details..."

"I'm afraid you don't understand..."

Yang Gong looked at Hu Ma anxiously and said, "I'm afraid you don't know how grateful I am to her..."

"In short, I can marry such a wife, I wouldn't dare to think about it in eight lifetimes. Of course, I have to make her happy, of course I have to listen to my old father-in-law, but I... I also understand that what I'm doing is actually getting more and more dangerous..."

"Just look at the people I'm killing now to know..."

"Before, in my eyes, the Red Lantern Mother, that was the limit, but the bunch of guys I'm dealing with now..."

"They're even more powerful than the Red Lantern Mother!"

"They..."

"..."

As he spoke, he became a little agitated, wanting to say it loudly, but he had to hold back, "They killed all three hundred of my brothers in one night, tied their heads to the trees, and piled them into small mountains."

Speaking quickly, his voice even stuttered, "Even we, we only killed their leader when we won a battle against them yesterday, and dispersed the rest of the people, but they killed more than three hundred people, not a single one left!"

In the end, his eyes were even red, biting his teeth, not knowing if it was anger or fear.

Hu Ma just quietly looked at him, not in a hurry to interrupt, nor to comfort him.

"At that time, I just wanted to avenge my brothers..."

Yang Gong himself, also gritted his teeth for a while, before slowly continuing, "But today, I saw the people they sent, and I, I started to be a little scared again."

"I saw that they actually had so many people, who came from all over the place in one day. They, some were carrying banners, some were wearing armor, the horses they rode were better than ours, and the weapons in their hands were brighter than ours..."

"...I...I was really scared, I didn't dare to lead people to charge forward, so I could only let my brothers retreat back to the mountains temporarily, and come to you."

"..."

"Huff..."

Hu Ma had been quietly listening to him, and then gently sighed. His mood was actually a little heavy.

Yang Gong, it's actually not easy for him.

This is the real reason why he came to him. He was really a little scared. This person usually likes to shout and holler, with people before and after him, and be imposing and domineering, but in fact, he has always been such a sensitive young man who would hide in his heart because he lived in the stables.

From the beginning to now, his identity has changed a lot, but in fact, he hasn't even had much time to adapt to these life changes, and he has already been pushed to his current position...

Seeing that Hu Ma was also silent, Yang Gong was even a little worried in his heart.

He had experienced a lot, and his heart was a mess. He had never spoken his heart to anyone, and only trusted Hu Ma, so he would risk coming over in the middle of the night, but he was afraid that even Hu Ma couldn't give him any guidance.

Then, he really wouldn't know what to do...

...

...

At this time, outside the Qing Shi Zhuangzi, in the darkness of night, there were also faint, swaying white shadows, accompanying the night wind, floating away lightly.

They floated through dozens of miles in the night, and then gathered together in a lantern.

The one holding the lantern was a maid in green clothes. She quietly looked at the moths tumbling in the lantern, listened for a moment, and then turned and returned to the side of the black sedan.

The Tianming (heaven's mandate) General of the Truth Sect was standing next to the sedan, but she ignored him, and just said to the person inside the sedan, "The little ghosts have indeed seen it. The grain protecting general in the mountains quietly left the mountains, and now, he is in the Zhuangzi in front of Qing Shi Town."

(End of this chapter)