The next morning, the women distributed the remaining mantou. One of the noblewomen's daughters approached them carefully and hesitantly handed Zhi Cheng and Qing Lai a small basket. When she didn't leave immediately, Qing Lai looked up at her.
"Can I help you?" he asked kindly. Zhi Cheng stubbornly took a bite of his steamed bun. Qing Lai had made no move to leave his side. It wouldn't have been decent to force himself on the ladies, but Zhi Cheng didn't think it was decent for him to force himself on him instead.
The young woman in the spring-green robe and the clinking jewelry, some of which she had lost on the run, cleared her throat and seemed to be searching for the right words.
"My name is Yi Fang fen!" she introduced herself. "I wanted to say thank you, also on behalf of my maids. Without you and your friend ...."
Zhi Cheng caught half the bread roll in his throat and looked at the doltish young lady with his mouth open and his brows drawn together. Qing Lai waved her off.
"That goes without saying. I'm glad we were able to help. Just a little more, then scouting troops will come to look for survivors of the caravan," he reassured her. The young woman breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you!" Then she ran back into the arms of her maidservants. Zhi Cheng swallowed the dry mantou and bit his tongue. As long as Qing Lai was in the immediate vicinity, it was better to keep her mouth shut. Nothing clever would come out anyway.
"What makes you so sure that someone will come?" asked Zhi Cheng in passing. He thought Qing Lai was too naive and gullible. Qing Lai stretched out his legs; he had spent the whole of last night sitting cross-legged on the cold floor.
"Firstly, the trading caravan belongs to an influential merchant from Chaisang, and secondly, I was on my way to Tianda, the emperor's heavenly capital, to visit my brother," he explained.
"If he's so stingy, he should have invested properly in an escort group for once. Then he wouldn't have lost the goods," Zhi Cheng remarked. Qing Lai scratched his chin and laughed nervously.
"Ha ha ha, to be honest, I was the hired escort. Ha, ha," he confessed, "I needed a cheap ride so I wouldn't be a burden on my brother, ha ha, so I offered to do it. Free of charge, of course, ha ha ha," he cleared his throat, embarrassed.
Zhi Cheng massaged the bridge of his nose. "With all due respect, Brother Qing. Your fighting power is certainly not to be underestimated, but who would think of hiring a pacifist as a mercenary? For free?" he groaned.
"I have a certain reputation in the martial arts world, but I didn't expect so many of them, nor did I expect them to be so aggressive and angry. They usually attack in a group of six to eleven men. I could have easily managed that without panic breaking out and people fleeing headlong," he defended himself quietly.
Zhi Cheng choked on the bag of water. There was some truth in that. In the end, it was he who had lured over forty barbarians to the carriages. He didn't let on.
"A certain reputation, then?" he said mockingly. "What kind of reputation do you have that a merchant from Chaisang puts his entire caravan in your hands?" He couldn't help but snort.
It was good to doubt him. To finally vent some of the pent-up anger inside him. Qing Lai looked dejectedly at the ground and sighed.
"My adoptive father is Li Rong," he confessed so quietly that Zhi Cheng might not have heard him under other circumstances. If his voice hadn't been so deeply etched into him.
He spat the water across the floor and gasped for breath. Li Rong was the former top general of the imperial army. He had retired a few years ago and his youngest son Xiao Xiang yu had taken over his post.
In his youth, he would certainly have been one of the few people Zhi Cheng would have given a wide berth to. Even though he had devoted himself to physical martial arts, he was famous for sealing his inner qi so tightly that no magical or spiritual attacks could harm him.
Zhi Cheng wiped the water from his chin. So his black magic and poison attacks would be ineffective on him.
"I didn't know Li Rong had two sons," he said. People only found out that he had a son when Xiao Xiang yu was appointed as his successor. Before that, no one had made a connection between the legendary supreme general and the promising youngster. Qing Lai scratched his head. This conversation was making him uncomfortable.
"ha ha I'm the black sheep, so to speak," he confessed.
"Your brother... will he be looking for you too?" asked Zhi Cheng. Qing Lai sighed.
"I'm afraid you won't be able to stop him," Qing Lai replied.
Zhi Cheng leaned against the rock. He could well do without a family reunion. Xiao Xiang yu was certainly neither a pacifist nor a healer. He had to get rid of Qing Lai as soon as possible. Killing him was out of the question; in his newfound freedom, he could well do without becoming the hunted sworn arch-enemy of the supreme imperial general and his stepfather. Qing Lai promised trouble, and Zhi Cheng pushed far away the fact that it was only him who had caused trouble so far. Qing Lai stood up.
"I'll examine the injured," he said. Zhi Cheng automatically stood up as well. Qing Lai would ask him for help again anyway. He took the basket and collected the empty clay pots. The young noblewoman helped them.
"You don't have to get your hands dirty," Qing Lai said, taking one of the chipped pots from her hand.
"I don't mind," Feng fan replied with a smile. "My family wasn't always noble. During a riot in our town, we were left behind to protect our lord's belongings. When the revolt died down, he never came back. Later, we learned that he and his family had fallen into the trap of looters outside the city," she sighed.
"The governor didn't want to make a big fuss about it. Since my father was familiar with our lord's business, he was promoted to businessman without further ado," she explained.
Zhi Cheng glanced sideways at the woman. She was very eager to provide information. Within the rocky walls of Duifang, such honesty would not be possible. Everyone had something to hide, and the constant simmering anger and hatred of the inhabitants made honest relationships almost impossible. Instead, there were hundreds of tight-knit gangs and groups.
"Then I'll ask you to make a fire so that we can boil out the old bandages and make new ones," Qing Lai instructed them. Feng fan nodded, pleased that she could help.
Zhi Cheng led the way down to the ice-cold lake in the cave. Qing Lai was astonished. While they filled the pots with water, Qing Lai also took the opportunity to wash herself a little. Zhi Cheng could make out the slender figure under the damp undergarments. Although he was more wiry than muscular, his fighting strength was not to be underestimated. He had narrow hips, sinewy arms and long legs.
"You'd better not mingle with the ladies like that," Zhi Cheng remarked pointedly. Qing Lai looked down at himself.
"That would be too intrusive, wouldn't it?" he laughed. "Although they didn't mind you either," he remarked, pointing at Zhi Cheng.
The outer robe was made of a fine silk, so the fabric kept slipping over Zhi Cheng's shoulders and wouldn't hold. In the end, he had given up and walked around with his chest half exposed.
He shrugged his shoulders, but pulled the fabric straight again. It didn't bother him when the women gawked at him, it bothered him that Qing Lai didn't mind.