He ran, not for his life, but away from new problems.
Zhi Cheng was usually smarter, but since he considered mortals unimaginative and stupid, he hadn't considered that his actions would have consequences.
He had noticed that the thieves transported the goods over a short distance and didn't take a carriage or horse with them.
But he hadn't considered that they would naturally need a larger hiding place for their loot, which would also be guarded by more men, who in turn would wonder where their squad was that he had wiped out last night. No, he hadn't thought that far ahead.
Even if it wouldn't have been a problem for him to wipe them out, he was still afraid that such excessive actions would attract too much attention. So he chose to flee.
There were about thirty men on his heels, he could smell their stench and hear the clanking of their roughly sharpened weapons. He had run into a patrol on the way and when they were about to pounce on him, some of the stolen money had clumsily fallen out of his pockets.
Even such simpletons didn't need long to figure out why their colleagues failed to come home and why someone like him had so much junk.
The branches hit him in the face and he hit back cursing. The day had dawned, the blue sky arched over him and a few snow-white clouds crept across it. The wind was moderate and billowed up his garment, tailored from heavy silk.
The dry branches snapped under his feet and the trees were so close together that Zhi Cheng could only move forward slowly. He turned just in time when the forest finally thinned out in front of him.
He slid down a slope and stumbled onto a wide road. He looked around in all directions when he spotted a caravan in the distance. With a bit of luck, it would have enough bodyguards to stop the barbarians. If not, they should at least be busy with the civilians for a while, shouldn't they?
So much for benefactors. He shrugged and walked straight towards the swaying carriages. His appearance was perfect. His clothes dusty and dirty, his hair loose and tangled, he walked towards the first coachman. It didn't take long for the first men to break out of the thicket behind him.
"Oh dear!" Zhi Cheng whispered. The caravan consisted of several carriages, foot passengers, horses and donkeys, all packed to the brim. The coachman looked up, but he saw past Zhi Cheng to the crowds of highway robbers gathering in front of him on the road. He immediately held the reins tight.
"BARBARIANS!" he shouted. 'We're under attack!'
"I'm terribly sorry about this," Zhi Cheng apologized and pushed past the carriage to the back. An arrow pierced the side of the carriage just fractions of a second after he had placed his hand there.
Zhi Cheng spun around. They were surrounded, with more men running out of the woods all around them. He swore as the chaos and screaming began.
The women hid behind the men, who trembled with fear and dared not raise their heads. The horses whinnied and were spooked. Only a few armed men ran ahead and began a fierce fight. It was hard to watch.
The rough barbarians dominated the fight with sheer physical strength. The few hired mercenaries were, to put it mildly, incompetent.
They stabbed and thrust, whirled and waved their weapons, but hardly ever hit their targets. In panic, the first began to run away. Zhi Cheng raised his arm to stop them. Not so much out of good nature, but rather because he couldn't believe so much stupidity.
The forest was the territory of the looters, what did they expect by running into them? Some of the women misunderstood his gesture, they ran to him, hoping he would protect them.
Disgusted, he dropped his arm. He wanted to use them as bait, not suddenly be responsible for them. They looked at him with their big, watery eyes and held their children as if they were particularly pitiful.
The women's eyes widened in terror, and Zhi Cheng spun around. He had been hiding behind the largest and sturdiest carriage when suddenly one of the looters reared up above them. Lust for murder sparkled in his eyes and he licked his lips greedily when he saw the frightened women.
He raised his weapon and before Zhi Cheng could move to use one of the women as a shield, something white and flying obscured his vision.
A man leaped lightly over the roof of the carriage and landed between him and the barbarian. He had long, golden-brown hair that was tied back loosely.
Their eyes met. His eyes were light, almost golden, his face pale and somewhat dirty. When he saw Zhi Cheng, a slight smile played on his lips. For the first time, someone did not turn away from the sight of his red eyes, which had earned the Ghost King his nickname, the red-eyed demon.
The man in white spun around and, almost gently, placed his hand on the attacker's chest. Though he didn't strike hard or use force, the thief stopped.
His eyes rolled upward, and he slumped. The man turned around. His wide, white Taoist robe billowed slightly in the wind.
"Are you a scholar?" he asked. Zhi Cheng blinked. He had never before admired the beauty of another person except himself. But now, for the first time, he had to admit to himself that he was standing before someone his equal. He awoke from his lethargy.
"Um, what?" he asked. Since when did he act like an idiot?
"Help me get the people to safety," said the man in white.
"Sure!" Sure, my ass, he shouted to himself. He had wanted to use them to escape. To be able to shift his problems onto someone else, he didn't want to get even more entangled in them. The man with the golden eyes smiled.
"Thank you," he said sincerely. Zhi Cheng, who was about to change his mind, felt the words stick in his throat.
The other man had already turned around and cut a clear swath between the barbarians and the fugitives. Zhi Cheng turned to the women who had gathered behind him. Immediately, the smile fell from his face, and he looked at them coldly.
"Do you have bad ears?" he barked, 'move.' The women were visibly confused by his change of mood and, trembling, they began to avoid him.
Grumpily, Zhi Cheng urged the farmers to make a run for it. Strangely enough, the men were the first to take to their heels.
Zhi Cheng had just shooed the last ones into the forest when he turned around to report to the man in white. He paused and frowned. He had nothing to report to him. But when he stepped out from behind the protection of the carriages, he caught a glimpse of him.
Fateful Meeting