Reaching to the Sky - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The Mysterious Woman on the Water

    “Go quickly! We don’t have much time!” Lu Pingchuan shouted at the fat man .  

    The fat man already chased the younger man back into the main room . Now, he is waiting at the door to let the people out . He heard Pingchuan’s instructions, threw away the stick and quickly ran out .

    “Nanfeng, take good care . ” Pingchuan did not wait anymore and went north .  

    “Run fast, run fast! Come on!” The fat man immediately was already running and brought the dead chicken with him .

    Nanfeng threw the hatchet away and ran south with the fat man .

    “Hey! Why did you throw that away? That’s ours!” The fat man shouted from behind .  

    “Come with me . Move faster!” The south wind shouted .  

    The fat man followed Nanfeng as soon as he heard him . But when he got past the small door, Afu appeared in front of him . The fat man saw this, and changed his mind . He turned north .  

    Nanfeng saw what happened, but he could only do so much . “Don’t go back! Just run!” 

    “But where am I going?” The fat man responded .  

    Nanfeng did not answer . He did not know where to go, either . The most important thing to do was to find a safe place to hide as soon as possible . They should never be caught by the officers and soldiers .  Otherwise, they will be in a bigger trouble than where they are in right now .

    Nanfeng thought of a plan . After a few more steps, he fell to the ground on purpose . He wanted to lead the two guys to chase him . The fat man couldn’t run fast . If the two guys chased him instead, he would soon be able to lose them and the fat man will escape easily .  

    Afu and his buddy saw Nanfeng fell, and they immediately rushed towards them .

    When they were closing in on him, Nanfeng quickly got up, ran south, sidestepped to a laneway in the west, and then went south again . After passing through a dark alley, he once again changed direction and ran east this time .

    Seeing that the two men had disappeared, he slowed his pace into a brisk walk . At this time, the sky was already bright, and there were pedestrians on the street . Running so fast would easily attract their attention . It’s the least of his desires right now .

    Nanfeng grew here as a child, so he was very familiar with the environment . He knew where the alleys are and he knew where to hide .

    After thinking about it, he decided to go to Dongcheng . He heard that Dongcheng was holding a large-scale conference recently . By going there, he would just be another face in the crowd . No one would think that he would dare show there . Another thing is that the officers will find it hard to search for him there .  

    After deciding where to go, Nanfeng began to pay attention to the houses and shops on both sides of the road . Being alone in this place would be very suspicious . He should try to blend in well with the environment .  

    He also has no extra clothes or extra stuff with him . At this time, he has reached the intersecting junction of Dongcheng and Xicheng . If he turned east, he would eventually reach Dongcheng .

    Although he grew up in Chang’an City, he was not very familiar with Dongcheng . The reason is very simple . Hanakos like him could not go to certain areas . If you go to someone else’s area to beg, you will be confronted and be physically hurt . The assault, to what extent, depends on the people’s mood . They won’t mind killing beggars like Nanfeng .

    Unlike the low houses and bungalows in Xicheng, most of the houses in Dongcheng are single-detached homes . They are large and spacious, and the distance between the houses are very far .  

    The Fa Conference had already started yesterday . Although he was not personally here, he heard people say that the Fa Conference was held in front of Zhengyangmen . The emperor lived in the Imperial Palace, which is very near the conference . The gate to the south of the Imperial City is Zhengyangmen .  

    At this time, people here are already busy . Unlike other nearby cities, Dongcheng’s breakfast time is earlier as people here seemed like they have a lot of work to do . Nanfeng has not eaten yet so he tried to look for small food stalls .

    However, one thing that caught his attention was that many of the people who are eating in the restaurant are armed with weapons . At first glance, he thought they were the martial arts people . Some of them were priests wearing various robes .  

    He was lucky as he hasn’t yet seen anyone who knows him .

    In front of the Zhengyang Gate, a large wooden stage was set up . The wooden stage has a height of three feet and a width of nearly three feet also .

    The stage is covered with a red blanket . There are several seats on the red carpet . Since no one are present, the seats are all covered with red cloth .  The top of the table is covered with a large yellow silk, which must be used like a shade from the harsh sunlight .

    There are two rows of seats under the stage, carefully arranged from both sides of the wooden platform . Each row has more than a dozen seats in each row .

    There are lots of sheds on the sides of the seats . Each shed has wooden tables and benches inside .  



    There are soldiers guarding around the perimeter . Because it is still early, there are only a few labor camps in the field . Nanfeng expects that more guards will be here once the program starts .

    After looking around, he walked away from the field . There are several willow trees in the area about two miles away from here . He can rest there for a while .  

    Before arriving there, he discovered that these willow trees were growing beside a canal . There was a moat outside the Imperial City . He saw that the canal was drained by the moat . The canal is two feet wide . Because of the heavy rains yesterday, the water in the canal is still flowing .  

    Nanfeng climbed the biggest willow tree and found a strong branch to sit on . This is a weeping willow, and the drooping branches provided him with a better cover .  

    He relaxed a bit, and then began to worry about Chu Huairou and the others . They originally wanted to go here and participate in the conference . However, their plans were completely abolished .

    Nanfeng folded the wicker in his mouth and began to meditate . He was sure that the incident a while ago was already reported to the authorities . The government could not immediately send someone to take care of it . At least it had to wait until Chen’s people had further information of what happened . They still have more time to escape before the authorities close in on them .

    Chu Huai and Changle are likely to leave the city . They should . After all, Changle is a murderer and the main target of the government . Nanfeng doesn’t know if Pinchuan has reached the others in the temple . They should leave the city then .  

    Chu Huai and Lu Pingchuan are intelligent leaders . He should not be worried at all . What bothers him so much is the fat man . He is naive and his ability to adapt is not good . He is the one who is most likely to be caught . Nanfeng knows that he must find him .

    The seven people have lived together for a few years . Although they very poor, they are true friends with each other . No matter what happens, they will be there for one another . But Nanfeng could not avoid feeling a resentment in his heart . If Changle used his mind and did not kill someone, everyone is still safe and sound right now .

    On the other hand, he is also worried about Changle . If that doctor really insulted Chu Huairou, then Changle did the right thing . He did what men should do .  



    Before they decided to part ways, Lu Pingchuan once asked Chu Huairou if Changle had killed the wrong person . Chu Huairou did not answer . That was still up in the air .

   The south wind leaned against the tree and sighed heavily .

    Before climbing the tree, he saw a crow in it . He is close to it right now . Then he found that there is a white object in the crow’s nest . Although he doesn’t know what it is, it is certainly not a bird’s hair .  

    With suspicions in his heart, he climbed further looked looking at the nest . There is a pair of blue shoes, and underneath the shoes is a gray-white bag .  

    Nanfeng reached out and took out the pair of shoes . The size of the shoes is small . It could have been worn by a woman .

    The south wind clamped the cloth shoes under the armpit, and grabbed the bag, and untied it . There was a neatly stacked set of women’s clothes, underwear, lining, and a set of blue coats . Child, is a woman’s clothes .  

    In addition to the clothes, there are some more objects in the bag . He saw a small purse inside . When he opened it, he saw some copper coins inside . There are also a few pieces of broken silver .  

    Nanfeng felt so lucky and glad . The first thing that came to his mind was to buy some clothes so he could blend in with the crowd .  

    Just as he was about to climb down the tree with the bag draped on his shoulder, the voice of a woman came from below . “Give me back my bag!”

    Nanfeng followed the direction of the voice and saw the woman . What he did not expect is that the person was not on the ground . She is standing on the water .