Chapter 7 The Moment (Part I)
After Yuxiao insisted, Dr. Wang accepted the payment and left. When
the two men in uniform, likely government guards, started questioning how Yuxiao became hurt, he skipped over what had happened in Yuyang and just described his ordeal in the woods. The guards were alarmed, saying this was a criminal case and that he needed to go to the county government to explain things before he could leave.
Yuxiao did not want to draw attention and had never dealt much with the government at home, but he thought he would cooperate this time, as it shouldn't take too long. The guards, seeing how easily he accepted, said, "We can save your time. It'll be faster if we ride there."
Yuxiao agreed to their demand, had the hotel clerk get him some clothes, and headed out, heedless of the late hour and his wounds. As he watched the guards get on their horses, he felt a bit awkward. "Sir, I'm sorry. I'm okay with a horse carriage, but can't ride a horse."
The two guards looked at him. The taller one said, "Why don't you ride a horse with me then?"
Yuxiao nodded, and then said to the clerk, "Could you check with your bookkeeper? I used two gold coins on my horse and carriage. Could you use one of the coins for today's expenses?"
The clerk was overjoyed at the good deal. He hurriedly replied, "I'll get on it now," and ran to the accounting office to repeat Yuxiao's request.
The accountant was happy, too. He walked over to Yuxiao with a gold coin. "Sir, you're really going to give us a gold coin?"
Yuxiao nodded.
Hearing this, the accountant handed one gold coin to him. "Okay, a promise is a promise. The two guards here can be our witnesses."
Yuxiao was puzzled by their wordiness. Why would he go back on his word? He stuffed the coin into his money pouch, copied the guard's actions in getting on the horse, and sat behind the taller guard. With his hands on the guard's shoulders, he said, "Let's go."
The two guards didn't waste words. They nudged their horses with their knees and set off toward the south. Yuxiao felt a lot less rocky riding on the horse's back than in the horse carriage. He was intrigued. It's better riding the horse than sitting in a horse carriage, not to mention faster, and less bumpy too. I should get a horse, too, after I'm done with this.
He started paying attention to how the men rode the horses. As one guard pulled on the reins and his left hand applied more force, the horse headed left, and vice versa. Whenever the man squeezed the horse's belly with his legs and said "Jia," the horse would go faster. He was fascinated by all the details and didn't notice the guards taking him into a narrow road that was lined with many trees on the sides, which blocked much of the moonlight.
The two guards looked at each other, but Yuxiao was still watching one guard's hand motions and not their gazes. Yuxiao heard the man yell, "Shhh!" as he pulled back on the reins. The horse reared up and pawed the air with its front legs. Yuxiao felt off-kilter and fell off the back of the horse, right into a spread-eagle position. Stars danced in front of his eyes at the fall. Before he could get up, a foot was on his chest and a sword pressed to his neck.
Yuxiao was shocked, but not scared. "Sir, what's going on?"
"You are a killer!" the guard yelled, pressing harder on the sword. "You killed four people already. I ought to end you now."
Yuxiao tried to explain. "They were going to kill me. I had to fight back."
As he talked, the other guard searched him. Before long, the guard found a small pouch with glittering contents. The man grew excited. "Brother Li, we got a fat cat here."
Yuxiao started to panic as they took away his only wallet. The guard who took the wallet said, "Let's just end him and take off."
The guard named Li still had his foot on Yuxiao's chest. His hands held onto the sword and his eyes glinted cruelly. Without a word, he raised the sword to slam it down on Yuxiao's neck.
Someone else trying to kill me? Yuxiao thought as his body reacted. He took a deep breath and kicked his legs forward. Li was about to hit Yuxiao when his foot on Yuxiao's chest sank a little. Pain sprung through Yuxiao's back, and a force pushed him and the sword. The sword edge barely brushed Yuxiao's face.