“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was going to be such a big deal,” Wu Ying said to his friends as the villagers gathered into an appropriate greeting committee while others scurried around pulling tables into the village square, shouting for food and drink to be brought, for the fire pit to start.
“Hua dan!” Yin Xue swore at Wu Ying, shaking his head at the peasant’s forgetfulness. His return would obviously create a commotion, one that would throw off all kinds of plans.
Tou Hei just offered his friend the placid calm he always projected, though Wu Ying heard a muttered prayer when he turned away.
Wu Ying took a deep breath before facing the oncoming villagers. He plastered on a smile, readying himself to greet them and explain matters. What would come would come. And really, this wasn’t so bad. They were his friends, his family, people he had grown up with. He could sit through their celebration, give them the hope of making their way out.
And if he found some of the conversations boring, a little prosaic, Wu Ying kept it to himself.
***
The celebration lasted well into the night, ending only because the village ran out of food and wine to supply their esteemed guests. Tou Hei, Li Yao, and Bao Cong were highly popular at the celebration, their easy familiarity with everyone making them favored guests. Yin Xue held himself aloof, as was his wont. Still, Wu Ying noticed a few of the younger girls clustering around the noble Lord, offering him smiles and hints of further pleasure. More than one parent kept an eye on Yin Xue and the young girls, ready to head off any unfortunate incidents. Ambition was good, but unchecked ambition without hope of achievement only led to disappointment and grief.
As for Wu Ying, he was of course the proud returning son, the honored guest. It was only late in the night, when most of the villagers had stumbled off to sleep off the alcohol, that he found time to speak with his parents. Seated in the warm and familiar surroundings of their small hut, Wu Ying regarded his parents.
“The village looks prosperous,” said Wu Ying. It was an obvious comment, but face to face with them, he was not sure what else to say.
“It is. Thanks to you. And Li Yao is a very lovely girl.” Wu Ying’s mother offered him a smile. “She will make a fine cultivator. And wife.”
Wu Ying narrowed his eyes, trying to discern the meaning of her words. But he could not find the barbs within them, so he could only nod and smile in return.
“I am very happy you have so many friends, so many willing to help you with this foolishness of yours. Even if I’m surprised that one of them is Lord Xue,” his mother said.
“He’s not a friend,” Wu Ying said.
“But what you’re doing is foolish,” Yu Ri said. Wu Ying’s father glowered at his son, rubbing his aching knee in reflex. “Joining the army, but not officially with your Sect? Journeying into the State of Wei? What made you choose such idiocy?”
“Need. It’s the only way Lord Wen was willing to let you all go. And they’re taking slaves now,” Wu Ying said. “There’s no way I am allowing you to become a slave.”
“No need to worry about that. Your father’s too broken to become a slave. They’d just kill me first,” Yu Ri said wryly.
Unsurprisingly, his mother smacked his father on the shoulder.
“It’s okay, I would kill you first,” his father told his wife.
That received a much harder blow.
“Putting aside your father’s black humor, you are doing too much for us. Filial piety can only go so far,” Fa Rong, Wu Ying’s mother, said.
Wu Ying set his jaw. “It will go as far as I need it to go. I will not abandon you.”
His parents shared a sad look before they clasped Wu Ying’s hands.
“Your path is different from ours now. You might not see it yet, but we do. Do not let the past hold you back from your future,” Fa Rong said.
“My future will have no meaning without my past,” Wu Ying said firmly.
To those confident words, his parents only shared a smile. Turning away from more serious topics, the family spoke about the other, more important portions of their lives, the everyday occurrences that wove together a person’s existence.
***
The group left late the next morning, saying goodbye to a much smaller crowd. Unlike the villagers, the higher cultivation levels among the Sect members meant they recovered faster after drinking. Of course, faster did not mean entirely untouched; but the group had watched their intake. Even so, the group was subdued as they rode their horses away, intent on making up the distance between them and the army.
“They are a nice group,” said Bao Cong.
“Thank you,” Wu Ying replied with a smile. He turned around, regarding his friends. “They liked you all too.”
“I know.” Tou Hei shook his head. “Some of the younger girls were…”
“Aggressive,” finished Bao Cong.
“As were their mothers,” Li Yao said with a laugh. “Both ways.”
“That’d be Auntie Qiu,” Wu Ying said with a half-smile. “I thought Bao Cong almost fell for Qiu Er.”
“She is quite lovely…” Bao Cong’s voice grew remote, his eyes dreamy. Tou Hei smacked Bao Cong’s leg with his hand. “What? She was.”
“I noticed her shooting glares at Li Yao,” Tou Hei said. “Did you insult her somehow?”
“I did nothing!”
“She had a crush on Wu Ying,” Yin Xue said, speaking up from behind. “Though he was always oblivious to it.”
“I was not!” Wu Ying scratched his head. “I just didn’t want to get involved with her. And you. And Fa Hui.”
“Fa Hui?” Li Yao said.
“My friend. My best friend from the village.” Wu Ying quieted as he recalled his friend. His friend who had not answered a single letter. Who had not written to him. Not a single letter in two years.
“Har. Yes, we did fight over her back then, did we not?” Yin Xue’s voice was amused.
“I noticed she avoided you,” Wu Ying said.
“We talked.”
“And?” Wu Ying probed.
Rather than answer, Yin Xue kicked his heels into his horse and sped up, leaving the group behind. Wu Ying exchanged a glance with Li Yao, who shook her head, dissuading her boyfriend from bothering Yin Xue further.
The group rode together for a time, stopping at a village when it was time for lunch. Seated together, Wu Ying extracted a map to allow everyone to see it. He traced the route they would have to take, first down the roads and across before they stopped at the town of Xin Ming. He tapped the town.
“We have a decision to make here.” Wu Ying traced his fingers down the map along the river, stopping and tracing it further east as it met a canal. He then returned his finger back to the starting point and did the same with the southeasterly road. “These are two routes we can choose. The first might be faster. If there are no obstructions and we can find a boat to take us, sailing will be faster. Of course, that requires us to pay for the boat, or potentially buy one.
“The other option is technically shorter, but slower as we will be going over land. It is a direct route though, and we won’t be at the mercy of blockages. In either case, I expect it will take us about two weeks to get close to the army.”
“And how do you expect us to sneak by the border guards?” Bao Cong asked.
“Simple. We buy some new clothing and disguise ourselves as scholars,” Wu Ying said.
“Scholars in a war zone?” Yin Xue said. “Flimsy disguise.”
“What would you suggest then?” Wu Ying said.
“Li Yao or I could play nobles,” Yin Xue said. “The rest of you could play guards. Maybe even Li Yao and I could be husband and wife on our first journey around, perhaps visiting the ancestral shrine. It would give us a good reason for being there. And for having so many guards.”
Bao Cong nodded. “That will allow us to keep our weapons. And it’s better than playing a merchant. We don’t have the money to buy the goods.”