Chapter 1 Three Suns 1-1
Chapter 1 Three Suns 1-1 One person, one ride, rushing to the endless forest.
Without reading many books, Shu Helun had already traveled thousands of miles. When he looked back to the footprints left by the horseshoes, some deep, some shallow, he had originally thought that this was the best ceremony for his coming-of-age, and it gave him some sort of self-contentment. But, when he looked forward at the forest under the evening sunlight, some of that fell into unease. He stopped, opened the baggage on the horse's back, and pulled out a steamed bread. Holding it to his mouth, he wanted to bite a few mouthfuls, but finally put it down. Instead, he turned back to the water bag at his waist and drank a little of the mountain spring water he had found on the road.
The water poured into his stomach as a memory visited him. The instructor of the army’s reservation camp had been irritated by his prank, and while many of the girls applauded him outside the camp and cast admiring looks . . . to be honest, he'd left behind too much fun. The only belief that supported him until now was finding the guy, and nobody knew which corner of the deep forest he would hide in. From the capital of the Kingdom Rui to here, he had been riding the emperor's fast horse for ten days. Before he left, he received a letter with only two sentences. Even later there had been no further news. "Bad boy, whey are you in such a damn place?" He frowned and slammed his fist on the tree next to him. The small, thin tree immediately broke and divided in two. "Guys, here’s prey!" There was a voice in the woods? The boy was startled. No way! His horse has been galloping, and no one had given chase, but this punch to the tree had called out the bandits? In the forest of the night, little green lights shown through here and there. He could tell they were flames, but this was the first time he had seen the small, flickering green glow. Don’t stare at the fire! He felt the danger, but more dangerous were the strangers who held the fires and hid behind them. Run! He turned his head and wanted to return to the road, but the green lights were waiting on the way. Suddenly, he heard the sound of buzzing, and the green lights all flew up and shot at him. They were flaming arrows! The young man took out his sword, and quickly parried the arrows, drawing a beautiful circle of silver rainbow. The arrows hit the sword and fell to the ground. More astonishing was that the falling arrows’ lights extinguished instantly, but then released green smoke, like a screen. He flew up and jumped on a big tree limb as the foggy smoke rose, but and the poor horse whinnied in fright and fell to the ground. He did not know if it was dead or alive. "Hey! Are you from the Yaoyang tribe? I come to the mountains to find somebody, not to use force!" he called out. "Let me take you up and we'll talk about it later!" he heard a woman's voice say slyly. Shu Helun clenched his teeth and jumped from one tree to another in order to escape the poisonous fog released by the arrows. But the other party did not listen to him, and directed the arrows toward him, as if they want to force him into fighting back. "I've never beaten a woman, so don't force me to be rude to you!" He made up his mind, plucked the sword, and leaped to the ground, no longer dodging. He quickly squatted, then lunged and ran quickly toward the direction of the female voice to attack. Despite this, the woman seemed to turn a deaf ear to his words. He was certain that she knew he'd evaded the attacks she had ordered launched against him, so she would also know she must not rush to regard him as an enemy easily taken down. His guess was instantly proven. Two feathered arrows, longer than the previous ones, zipped at him, one by one. "Good guy!" He couldn't think about it, but kicked the ground and turned two somersaults. The two long arrows missed and brushed past his left hair and his right ankle. Before landing, he was already before the eyes of the woman like a rampaging mustang, kicking at the woman's face. "Oh!" the woman screamed. Shu Helun thought he had hit his target, but his toes were in pain—he had kicked against a hard shield. He still didn't see the woman's face. When he stood on the ground, the woman also stepped back a few steps and almost fell down. Awesome! The teenager took back his foot and his floating placket, taking a half step back to steady himself. He had amazing leg strength from an early age, thus his mother had invited a Master to teach him how to use this to fight. It is why he was in the reserve army of the Royal Army. Although he could not say that he had swept the army, he had repeatedly defeated dozens of people in practice, so the instructor looked at him differently. But the woman just shook a little. "Get back!" The woman was mad when she gave the order, and the group of people who shot the arrows followed her into the depths of the jungle. Shu Helun didn't have time to catch one of them and aske for directions. The group of people had disappeared into the indigo mist. The young man looked in the direction of the enemy's departure, gritting his teeth and closing his eyes. "I have never chased deserters. Catching somebody to lead the way and not finding a stronger opponent is no fun either."
Although he thought he won the "battle," he did not dare take the archers lightly. In particular, the female leader, who could withstand the strange power of his leg, and could also retreat without any harm. She must have been a master of ambush. But even masters eventually made a mistake. He clearly remembered where the archers appeared and where they had left. He jumped into a tall tree. The fog was already settling at his feet. He looked up at the shining Big Dipper in the sky, and smiled. "Am I finally going to enter the territory of the Yaoyang tribe?"
Guessing from the color of sky, it was about four o’clock. And the more he went forward, the more confident was his judgment. As long as the stars in the sky had not disappeared, he could distinguish between the north and the south. Even enemies who were good at hiding couldn't retreat without leaving footprints. Along the way, he searched for such clues with only one flaming twig, and gradually approached his destination.
Soon, he could see the boy . . . He repeated this to comfort himself; he had never thought that the world was not satisfactory. The woods not far from him were sparser. For Shu Helun, he could not go closer for a sneak peek because the green lights had appeared again. He could not confirm whether they belonged to the same team as before. Those light spots had already begun to disperse, and because the terrain was wide, they surrounded him from all sides.
"The defeat was still a dare to attack again. This is not an easy campaign . . ."
This time, Shu Helun was completely shocked. The green light spots were not the feathered arrows carrying fire anymore, but various weapons, including swords and knives. The green lights were not because of gunpowder, but because they were coated with a glowing powder that gave off a pungent smell. Was that smell also poisonous? He held his breath and quickly slashed a sword to break through. He was temporarily able to leave the encirclement of green light. He pulled a box from his bag and opened it. Contained in the box was the precious snow lotus slice handed to him by his mother before the trip. It was said to be able to resist a hundred types of poisons. He took a piece, bit, and then, by inhaling the fragrant smell, briefly eliminated his discomfort from the smell surrounding him. But the enemy had not given up the siege against him. Although his break through the lights was successful, it was only a retreat—not a defeat. Suddenly, a long spear streaked by his back. He hurriedly turned around and avoided being hurt seriously. His clothes were slit and his skin cut, leaving a hole in the fabric. A shallow laceration crossed his skin and a few drops of blood fell.
Shu Helun took a breath. If he had not been quick enough, his heart would have been pierced by the spear. He had heard that the Yaoyang tribe in the Kingdom Rui was extremely mysterious. Even if he found how way to enter their territory, it would be difficult to find the boy. He had no intention of hurting innocent people; however, at this moment, the enemy was too numerous. If he only kept on defending, it would be dangerous.
Suddenly, the enemy was slashing a sword at his chest. Shu Helun raised his eyebrows and drew a dark knife.
"Ah!" A wailing came, and he saw the enemy covered his right shoulder with his hand as his sword fell. The hit was not fatal, but the enemy could not use the weapon anymore. "General, Pioneer Ding Bu was injured by the enemy’s hidden weapon!"
In the chaos, Shu Helun heard a voice reporting in the middle of the enemy, and the title "General" made him wonder. It had to be true. As the rumor said: In Yaoyang, which was not under the control of the Kingdom Rui, did an army exist?
"Bums!" the roar of the female leader came from the enemy. "A boy can defeat you all. Don’t you remember our doctrine from your training, that if your enemy hits you once, give back to him ten times worse? Come with me! Let me give him a lesson personally!"