Chapter 55 - Marquis

The hidden sentry post was well-hidden outside of the camp. The soldiers were well-trained; the older soldiers with several years of experiences under their belt had reminded them before, with regards to everything that could happen on the battlefield. Furthermore, Shen Leng’s men were even more capable than the average soldier. Du Weiming and Li Tuming brought their men and finished setting up a surrounding defense. Du Weiming told him that he was going to examine the surroundings for a bit and reminded Li Tuming to be more careful.

Li Tuming laughed and said, “You are like a wet nurse. Aren’t you annoyed?”

Du Weiming waved his fist at him. Thereafter, he went towards the other hidden sentry post.

Li Tuming climbed onto a tree and assumed that he was safe. He looked down onto the surroundings and could not help but curl his lips upwards. He patted his chest lightly…it was where he kept the five taels of silver. Every now and then, he would take them out to take a look. It made him extremely happy.

Five taels of silver was not considered a lot. But the meaning behind it was different. If he brought them home, perhaps his parents would be eager to lift them up and admire them.

“Marquis…”

Li Tuming muttered to himself. His eyes started to narrow, as he smiled with his eyes. He thought about how Chen Ran was right when he said that his goal should be to become a marquis. He was overwhelmed with emotions. Even though an extremely difficult goal to attain, it would make him a lot more firm and resolute having a goal to work towards.

“The battalion commander is a good person.”

He muttered to himself and lifted his head. He looked through the gaps between the leaves and stared at the vast sky full of stars…when he was a child, he would sit in front of the door of his house on the slope. His father would point to the sky at the bright stars and tell him that those were stars representing the lives of important people. His Majesty had one, and the generals had theirs. The Great Scholar had one too.

Li Tuming asked his father, “Do I have one?”

His father smiled and rubbed his head. “As for you…I’m sure you do. Our Tuming, you will become an important person one day.”

When Li Tuming remembered how happy he was at that moment, as he ran and ran yelling in a frenzy that he had a star, and that in the future, he would become a great general!

His parents leaned against each other and smiled as they looked at him. Thereafter, for some reason, his father started to cry. The ordinary man who had lived through many changes cried uncontrollably and sorrowfully. No matter how much his mother tried to comfort his father, it was of no use.

Even to this day, Li Tuming still did not know why his father cried so sorrowfully that day.

Li Tuming clenched his fist and told himself that he would carry out his duties well, under the wing of the battalion commander. And one day, he would return to his village gloriously on a big and strong horse, bringing pride for his parents.

At this moment, he suddenly sensed something amiss behind him. He turned around abruptly and a hand extended from amongst the leaves and grabbed him by the neck. The other fist struck him on the temple hard, from the side. Li Tuming felt his head spun before he lost consciousness.

Nie Yuan’s men grabbed Li Tuming and hauled him back to the shrubs by the river bank. Nie Yuan took a dagger and covered Li Tuming’s mouth with one hand. He then stabbed Li Tuming’s thigh with the dagger in the other hand.

Li Tuming groaned as he regained consciousness. In an instant, he started sweating profusely around his forehead.

All he could see was double vision. Within the darkness, there seemed to be many people surrounding him. A moment later, the pain in his thigh jolted him awake. He shook his head. He was about to scream, but his mouth was being covered, hence he could not make a sound.

Nie Yuan squatted down before Li Tuming, as he flicked the dagger with his finger. Immediately, the pain caused Li Tuming’s entire body to tremble.

“It’s very close to the artery. The military has a doctor that taught basic lessons to you people, and explained how to treat and dress your wound. Of course, I’m sure he mentioned how important the artery is. The dagger is half a finger away from cutting your artery. In less than 30 minutes, you will die. And this is one of the most painful ways to die.”

“Firstly, you will feel your wound burning up. Thereafter, your entire body will be extremely cold. When the surroundings are very quiet, you will be able to hear the sound of your blood flowing, but you will still be very awake…”

Nie Yuan lowered his head and leaned closer to Li Tuming’s ear and whispered, “I will now release my hand. Don’t you dare to yell. You know what will happen to you if you don’t cooperate.”

Li Tuming went pale; his body trembled violently. He nodded his head with all his might. It was his first time being that close to death.

“Who’s leading the troops?”

“Battalion…battalion commander Shen Leng.”

“Oh?”

Nie Yuan’s eyes lit up. “Enemies are truly bound to meet each other.”

Hearing those words, Li Tuming quickly responded, “You are the person at the dock earlier in the day!”

Nie Yuan shushed him. “Don’t be too loud. Do you want your comrades to hear you and save you? Trust me, they won’t be faster than my dagger. Tell me where Shen Leng is.”

Li Tuming trembled even more violently. His teeth were chattering - he did not know whether it was because of fear or because he was bleeding. He felt very, very cold.

Hence, he used all his strength to grit his teeth, not allowing himself to make a single sound. After that, his entire head started shaking.

“You’re not telling me?”

Nie Yuan laughed. He flicked his finger on the dagger once more. “I know that the majority of Shen Leng’s men are new recruits who do not have much loyalty towards him. Why would you sacrifice yourself for others?”

Li Tuming gritted his teeth too hard and started to bleed from the mouth.

“Alas…”

Nie Yuan lifted his hand and covered Li Tuming’s mouth. He pulled out the dagger from his thigh and stabbed it in hard. Li Tuming’s body shook violently. He let out sounds that sounded as though he was blowing the bellows.

“I have already given you one more chance - I did not pierce into your artery. Now, are you ready to tell me where Shen Leng is?”

Li Tuming’s breathing hastened; his adam’s apple was quivering extremely fast. He felt his wound burning up, as though blood was spurting out of it.

聂垣松开手：“下一刀，没人可以救你了。”

“The battalion commander…the battalion commander is a good person.”

As Li Tuming spoke, his voice was trembling violently. He spoke hurriedly, “The battalion commander takes good care of us, and split the credit fairly amongst each and every one of us. He even said that he will help me become a marquis, and that I should not deny myself. Everyone will succeed…”

Nie Yuan exerted strength on his hand that was grabbing onto Li Tuming’s neck. A moment later, Li Tuming’s face started to turn purple, and his eyes protruded a little.

“Don’t delay anymore. I will ask you one last time. If you don’t tell me, you will die.”

“I will say…”

Li Tuming squeezed out those words. Evidently, he had thoroughly crumbled.

Nie Yuan released his hand. Li Tuming coughed a few times. He lifted his head and looked at the bright stars in the sky. He thought to himself: Indeed, there isn’t a star for me. I am not fated to be a marquis.

Thereafter, he laughed.

“Somebody, help! The water bandits are here!”

Li Tuming used his greatest might and struggled to yell as loud as he could. Before he could take a step, he got kicked to the ground by Nie Yuan. Nie Yuan was extremely furious to the point his face was twitching. He pulled out the dagger and slashed him in the thigh hard before charging out. His men followed closely behind him and very soon, they disappeared into the darkness.

The first person who heard him and rushed over was Du Weiming. He drew out his sword and charged out of the forest and happened to run into Nie Yuan and his men. Du Weiming swung his sword and said, “Stay!”

Nie Yuan ducked and charged forward, and passed through below Du Weiming’s arm. After that, he kicked Du Weiming in the chest hard. Du Weiming felt a wave of pain and flew upon impact before landing three to four meters away.

Du Weiming landed with a thud. He choked and nearly could not breathe. After a short while, he managed to cough it out. He tried to feel about for his hengdao, but touched a person…

Du Weiming quickly turned around. Under the faint moonlight, he saw Lu Tuming’s frighteningly pale face.

“Old Du…”

Li Tuming saw Du Weiming and unexpectedly started laughing. He tried to support himself. “You’re here…it’s really, really, freaking cold. Why is the wind here stronger than Nanping River?”

Du Weiming’s heart stopped abruptly. Instinctively, he wanted to carry Li Tuming to look for the military doctor. However, he got kicked too hard. Hence, he did not have the strength to lift him.

“It hurts…”

Li Tuming’s voice was faint, but it was heartbreaking. “My leg…really hurts.”

Du Weiming lowered his head and looked. He saw his blood flowing out like a small stream, hence, he quickly used both hands to press against it hard. However, his blood continued to flow out from between his fingers.

“I’m awesome, right?” asked Li Tuming.

“They wanted to kill me, but I refused to tell them where the battalion commander was.”

Shen Leng happened to glance over from afar. When he heard those words, his eyes reddened. He undid his belt and wanted to bind Li Tuming’s thigh. However…it was already too late.

After Shen Leng got there, Chen Ran rushed over. He shone the torch at Li Tuming’s face. It was very pale.

“Little…little fatty. You lied to me. I’m not fated to be a marquis. But you have to do a good job…”

Li Tuming looked at Shen Leng. “Battalion commander, I did not bring you disgrace, right?”

Shen Leng gritted his teeth and nodded. “No…”

Li Tuming exhaled a long breath. With much difficulty, he lifted his hand and pointed to his chest. “The silver…give it to my parents. Battalion commander, remember to pay a visit. I will…buy you wine…”

Shen Leng stood up abruptly, “Doctor!”

The military doctor carried a box of medication with two soldiers, who were protecting him, and rushed over. He examined his wound and immediately started to carry out emergency treatment. However, everyone could tell that he was merely doing what he had to do, the rest was in the hands of the heavens.

Shen Leng lowered his head and charged out like a cheetah. Du Weiming yelled out, “Wait for me!”. However, he was gasping for air and still did not recover enough strength to chase after him. He ran two steps before collapsing onto the ground.

He followed the river channel and chased straight ahead. However, following a trail in a darkness as such proved to be very difficult. Fortunately, the shrubs by the river were low. There were signs of people running over them and snapping the branches.

Shen Leng’s men lifted their torches and ran towards him. However, very soon, they lost sight of him.

The military doctor slumped himself onto the ground in disappointment. His hands were bloodied. He shook his head. “I can’t save him, the dagger stabbed him in the artery three times…”

In truth, Nie Yuan had stabbed him in the artery the first time.

Li Tuming’s breathing became weaker and weaker. His body started to twitch. “So cold…so cold.”

Chen Ran hugged him tightly. “It’s ok, it’s ok. It’ll be ok in a while. We will become a marquis together, and return home in glory. You wanted to do your parents proud and lift their heads up in the village, right? You have not received the reward from the previous mission…Tuming, you are destined to have a long life. You will not die.”

Li Tuming laughed with much difficulty. “Fool…the fortune teller said that amongst the five elements, I lack earth. That’s why my name is Li Tuming (Note: ‘Tu’ means earth)...guess I am not destined to have a long life.”

His vision started to become blurry. He looked up at the stars in the sky. There was one that was exceptionally bright. It became brighter, and brighter. Hence, his eyes were filled with light. He seemed to have seen Shen Leng’s face within the light.

“Battalion commander, you have a star. How great…”