Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Long Fanyun worked with Old Man Mu for the first ti, so he was nervous.
Long Fanyun did not know much about Old Man Mu, but these days he had heard many rumors about him from people of Norland. He considered Old Man Mu as a devil, and his hatred and fear towards the old man increased. However, Long Fanyun was curious about Old Man Mu.
Now, Old Man Mu did not look like a bad guy. Instead, he seed to be a poor old man who had not experienced many happy things. Long Fanyun could hardly connect this old man to that rciless Ferocious Old Devil.
Long Fanyun looked at Old Man Mu.
“What are you looking at?” Old Man Mu stared at Long Fanyun as he asked. He pretended to be an amiable man to please Dragon King and Shangguan Ru. However, facing swordsman from the Great Snowmountain, he exposed his bad temper. He continued, “Do you have a crush on ? You already have girlish Shangguan Fei to entertain you.”
All of a sudden, Long Fanyun beca flushed. He reached for his long-saber, but he did not draw it. Until now he had not realized that he had not brought a weapon. He exclaid, “I want to challenge you to a duel now!”
Long Fanyun could not stand this sha. He had a wife in the Great Snowmountain, so he could not tolerate being accused as a gay. Otherwise, he would have no face to return to his hotown.
Old Man Mu raised his head and looked at the furious swordsman. Suddenly he burst into laughter, his sinister smile hidden in his wrinkles. He replied, “Do not get angry. I’m just kidding. Everyone knows that only applies to Shangguan Fei. He is not good enough for… I know Lord Long is straight and not interested in n.”
Long Fanyun’s anger subsided. He understood he was no match to this old man. But if this old man continued to provoke him, he would fight even he would be defeated.
Old Man Mu continued, “I finally understand why Dragon King chose you to pretend to be Cavalry Hang. You two not only look alike, but also have a similar temper. Listen to . When we reach the encampnt, you’d better pick out a soldier inside and fight him. I promise that no one dares suspect you.”
At this ti, just after the second shift, the night was thick, and there was a man lying in the grass. Long Fanyun had stripped the man’s coat and put it on himself. The cavalry in Norland seldom wore undergarnts. The man was not dead, only knocked out by Old Man Mu.
Old Man Mu was right. When Long Fanyun wore his coat, he looked like Hang Cavalry.
Long Fanyun got on the horse and opened a leather sack. He told Old Man Mu, “Hide in here.”
“Old Mu took a deep breath. For years, he had to hide in his leather bag as long as he acted during the day. But the only advantage of his loss of power was that he was no longer afraid of the light and that the leather bag was no longer a suitable shelter. He took a deep breath and murmured to himself, “I used to sleep with your woman, today I will steal your horse. I used to sleep with your woman, today I will steal your horse…”
Old Man Mu entered the leather sack. He looked around through the peephole, but he saw nothing. Therefore, he leaned backward to make himself more comfortable. “It’s not bad. Instead, I feel a sense of safety as if I were on my way ho,” he thought.
Old Man Mu did not have a ho. The ho he referred to was where he had learned kung fu from his master. His skillful master, envious fellow male apprentices and master’s beautiful wife stayed there. In fact, he did not rember the appearance of his master’s wife. But when he thought of her, Han Wuxian, the Master of Xiaoyue Hall, would enter his mind and then he would imdiately drive those thoughts out.
Old Man Mu thought a lot in the leather sack. Long Fanyun was not as composed as Old Man Mu. The task Dragon King had assigned to him was difficult and dangerous. He did not fear being killed during the task; however, he was afraid of failure: in which case he would be scoffed by his companions, and Dragon King’s plan would be ruined.
Dragon King wanted to teach King Rizhu a lesson.
Long Fanyun had heard that King Rizhu had cursed Dragon King, so he had supported Dragon King’s revenge. But when Fang Wenshi had heard Dragon King’s plan, he was stunned and tried to stop him. He said, “Please do not act on impulse. We have not reached their royal court yet. We can not offend King Rizhu. We’re here to negotiate instead of…”
Dragon King had taken him aside and whispered to him. Fang Wenshi reluctantly changed his mind and no longer opposed stealing the horse.
There were two reasons why Long Fanyun worshipped Dragon King who was several years younger than him. For one thing, Dragon King was skilled in martial arts. For another, although he showed no rcy to his enemy, he seldom forced his subordinates to follow his orders; instead, he could always find a proper reason to persuade others, which Long Fanyun admired most.“Dragon King and I rarely speak or laugh, but Dragon King could be eloquent if necessary, while I can not.
Compared to Dragon King, Shangguan Fei is just a talkative joker,” Long Fanyun mused.
Long Fanyun spat towards the ground at the thought of Shangguan Fei. “Why did I think of Shangguan Fei? It’s a huge disgrace to Dragon King to compare Shangguan Fei to him,” he thought.
Dragon King’s plan was simple. Old Man Mu made was in charge of knocking people out, while Long Fanyun stole the horse. Long Fanyun had a similar temperant to cavalry from Norland. Besides, he knew horses so he could ta Fla Foal.
The defenses at the Naihang Tribe encampnt were loose. Compared with the n there, the horse would be more difficult to handle. According to his observation, this horse could wake up dozens of soldiers including King Rizhu with a single neigh. Therefore, this task mainly depended upon Long Fanyun.
Old Man Mu could easily knock out soldiers. Even if he was in danger, he could quickly run away. As for Long Fanyun, Old Man Mu would not help him. After all, Dragon King had not asked him to keep Long Fanyun safe.
When they were approaching the Naihang Tribe encampnt, Old Man Mu reminded Long Fanyun, “Hurry! Rush in!”
“What?”
“Rush in, idiot. Are you waiting to be questioned? I just said you looked like people from Norland. Have you forgotten their style?”
Long Fanyun understood what Old Man Mu ant. He galloped up to the encampnt and shouted around, acting like a drunk.
Several guards rushed out to the gate of the encampnt. They questioned Long Fanyun in the local tongue, but Long Fanyun ignored them. Instead, he rode faster and broke into the encampnt, nearly hitting the guards.
He entered the encampnt. The guards cursed him angrily, but no one chased after him.
King Rizhu had his reason to have such a loose defense. No one dared provoke him in Norland. Although he ranked last among ten lords, even King Dari, who ranked first, needed to pay so respect to him.
He thought himself a sensible man. “I pretended to be on a hunt. I intend to et Dragon King before the other lords do. I will not et danger during the hunting or the eting. Therefore, I do not need my n to be on patrol day and night. The war is coming, and I will have my opportunity to strike.”
Long Fanyun and Old Man Mu would co later. For the cavalry in Norland, midnight was the best ti for them to drink. The whole encampnt was holding a feast. Soldiers with wine bowls and at on their hands rode around aimlessly. They saddled their horses even if they only needed to enter the tent next to theirs.
Soon Long Fanyun blended in with the crowd. He often got a big bowl of liquor, which was strong and hot. When he drank it, he felt like his throat and stomach were on fire. Particular drinkers might dislike it, but Long Fanyun enjoyed it.
After he finished ten bowls of liquor, Long Fanyun had the sa thoughts as people born in Norland. “A man should drink. It’s a pity that Dragon King does not drink,” he thought.
Long Fanyun managed to approach the tent of King Rizhu in a roundabout route. However, he could not find an opportunity to steal the horse.
Lights inside King Rizhu’s tent were on. At least thirty n stayed inside. They drank and sang without order. Sotis they spoke their local language, and sotis they spoke Central Plains Chinese.
Fla Foal was chained up in front of the tent. Under the light, it looked bloody red. The horse ate fine cereals, receiving attention from the crowd. The horse raised its head and gave a neigh now and then. Every ti it would neigh, it would win praises from the crowd.
King Rizhu was in good mood. He raised his bowl of liquor and cried in Central Plains Chinese, “It’s a pity that Fla Foal is not a man. Otherwise, I would pass my title to it. Look at it. It looks like a king. Except for Khan, who deserves to be a king better than it? The king of the Central Plain is not even qualified to feed it.”
“Exactly. As for that boy toy who claid himself as Dragon King, it is his honor to catch a glimpse of Fla Foal. He dared…” soone followed.
King Rizhu downed a bowl of liquor and threw the bowl out of the tent. The bowl did not hit Fla Foal, but it almost hit Long Fanyun, who was pretending to have lost his way.
“Bastard. He dared make terms with . I guarantee that he will kneel on the ground to beg my forgiveness at dawn tomorrow. Do not treat him nicely. If I do not teach him a lesson, he will mistake Norland for a small kingdom in the Western Region.”
They freely cursed and insulted Dragon King when they drank. Everyone took pleasure in abusing Dragon King loudly. They used all swear-words they could think of.
Long Fanyun was irritated by their words, so he intended to ride forward. At this ti, Old Man Mu’s voice reached his ear, “What are you going to do? Do you intend to commit suicide? Let get out of the leather sack first.”
Long Fanyun was reminded by the old man’s words. “Even if I died here, I could not hurt King Rizhu The best retaliation is to steal his favorite horse,” he pondered. However, he could not stay here to hear them curse Dragon King, so he said to Old Man Mu, “I will ride around, and then co back here later.”
“You are a fool. We can not wait to steal the horse until they go to sleep. I will cause chaos, and you can take this chance to steal the horse. I will et you outside the encampnt,” Old Man Mu suggested.
“King Rizhu hates you so much. Once you were discovered…”
“Haha. What do you think turns from a tall, strong man into a short man? Although I am a good kung fu master, I have a handso look that even the king’s concubine did not want to miss . That’s why I altered my appearance…”
Old Man Mu did not stop bragging. Long Fanyun opened the leather sack and let Old Man Mu jump out.
Old Man Mu instantly disappeared into the darkness, leaving Long Fanyun waiting alone anxiously. He had no idea how Old Man Mu was going to attract the attention of King Rizhu.
Soon he knew.
The disturbance took place far away from the encampnt. But soon an increasing number of Norland cavalry called their buddies and rushed to where the disturbance had broken out. When they arrived, they joined in the fights.
The sounds of fights overwheld everything, and it soon reached King Rizhu’s tent.
“What the hell is happening?”
A soldier rode to them and said with a red face, “Fights! They are fighting against each other. I do not know who started it.”
King Rizhu said, his eyes sparkling with anger, “A group of little shits dared fight in my encampnt. Let’s go. I will kick their ass.”
Everyone followed King Rizhu, except Fla Foal.
Long Fanyun had already gotten down. He lay on the ground and pretended to be asleep; no one paid attention to him.
As soon as King Rizhu and his n left, Long Fanyun imdiately got up. He took out a black cloth from the leather sack, tied it to his belt and walked up to Fla Foal. Instead of taking the action hastily, he stretched out his left hand to stroke the horse, and then grasped a handful of grain with his right hand to feed Fla Foal.
After that, he opened his black cloth and tied it on Fla Foal. It did not resist.
King Rizhu called a group of people to appreciate the horse daily, so it had lost its vigilance to humans.
Long Fanyun was still angry when he was about to ride Fla Foal. He walked into the tent of King Rizhu and urinated into two jars of liquor.
King Rizhu thought it was a perfect day. That group scuffle erased the displeasure Dragon King had brought to him in the day.
“Did you see how I kicked that kid’s ass? He knelt on the ground, crying for his mother. Who dared look down upon for my age? Even after ten years, I can defeat kids around twenty!”
King Rizhu poured a bowl of liquor for himself and took a swallow of wine. It tasted odd. When he raised his head, he saw his subordinates gazing at the empty plot where Fla Foal had been chained up. He turned around, and found his favorite Fla Foal disappeared. When they had returned to the tent, they were too excited to notice the horse was gone.
Long Fanyun awaited Old Man Mu at the rendezvous. He saw the cavalry of Norland rushing out of the gate madly towards Dragon King’s encampnt.
Long Fanyun had no idea how Dragon King was going to handle King Rizhu who had lost his mind. He was not good at sches, but he believed that Dragon King could handle it properly.
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