Note: in the previous chapter I wrote something that I forgot to correct before publishing: General Li didn't studied in the military-training-academy that Shang studied; he was only trained by the same masters who train the students at the academy. It is completely plausible that these masters have decided to train the new generation of soldiers. About Shang's training comrades? Neither the movie try to explain what happened to them. (But I'll create an explication)
Chapter six.
One year later…
It was a summer afternoon, Yin was sat on the floor of the room he shared with Shang; he was with a scroll in each hand, studying foreign languages, more specifically Japanese. To practice his knowledge about it, Yin would read a word or a phrase in the scroll with scriptures in mandarin; he would write on a paper the Japanese translation and read the scroll with scriptures in Japanese to make sure if he had write the right translation.
"Honor above all…" Yin read the phrase in the scroll with scriptures in mandarin. He wrote four ideograms with a REALLY bad calligraphy on paper while pronouncing "Noniyuri ma…" He looked at the phrase he wrote and made an expression of "it could get MUCH better".
"I hope this time I pronounced it right and wrote it right." Yin said with his left hand covering his eyes and with his right hand he grabbed the scroll with the scriptures in Japanese. The phrase in the scroll had a much different calligraphy. "Naniyori ma…" He read out loud.
"Aaahhhh! Damn it!" Yin said very annoyed and frustrated and he threw the scroll and the paper in the air. He took a deep breath and threw himself on the floor, lying on his back on the floor.
"It is the tenth time that I tried to write and pronounce this sentence correctly and it was worse than the previous ones!" Yin said with his hands on his head. "If Shang were here I could ask him to help me; he's fluent in this dialect…" The fifteen-year-old boy said to himself with dismay. Suddenly; his eyebrows arched and he sat on the floor. "By the way… I haven't seen him in hours; what is he doing now?" Yin asked himself and got up, he left the room and he went looking for his best friend in the training area. There were some guys training there but Shang wasn't there.
"Humph; were could he be?" Yin said while he walked back to the school, when he touched the big entrance doll to enter the school his eyes widened. "The library! He told me he would be studying there, I'm so fool." Yin entered the school and he went up the stairs to the third floor; where was the library.
When he entered that room; there were shelves with various scrolls, maps and other study objects. Men and boys were reading, writing and talking with each other, he knew his friend had been studying there since the last three hours; he just needed to find him among the other men.
"It won't be easy to find Shang between all ours comrades and teachers." Yin said as he passed by a young man (of course it was Shang) who was sat at a table with like ten scrolls over it. Suddenly the boy grabbed Yin by his wrist and pulled him toward the table. "I'm right here." Shang said without take his eyes off the scroll he was reading; he was so quiet that Yin didn't notice that he just passed through his best friend.
"Shang! I didn't notice you were there." Yin said as he leaned on the back of the chair that his friend was sitting on. "Why were you searching for me?" He asked without look to his friend and kept studying.
"I need help to study the Japanese dialect; I can't even pronounce or write properly!"
"Well, if you had paid attention to that class two weeks ago and studied in the library with me you would not be having this problem." Shang said sarcastically and this time he looked at his best friend.
"I know," Yin said as he rolled his eyes and put his hand behind his neck "But you are my friend! A friend is supposed to help the other friend." He said putting his hands on Shang's shoulders and almost leaning his chin on the top of his friend head.
Shang made an annoyed expression and sighed. "Soshite hontō no tomodachi wa tomodachi ga hitsuyō to suru ressun o ataemasu." Shang replied as He went back to read the scroll with that was on his hands.
"Great demonstration of your knowledge pretty boy," Yin said calmly, but then he raised his arms up and frowned. "Translate for me to understand!" He said a bit angry.
"Real friends teach the lessons their friends need to learn…" Shang said ironically looking at Yin.
"Hey! That was not cool!" Yin said annoyed. "What a beautiful philosophy of yours..." He said despondent as he crossed his arms and sat on the floor.
"At least I'm sincere with you;" Shang said as he looked at his best friend that was sat on the floor by his left side. "You have to have one thing in mind: there will not always be someone to help you; whether your problems are small or huge."
"Uhhhh… the worst is that you're right." Yin said as he got up.
"I know, but I guarantee that if you dedicate yourself more you will find it as easy as breathing." Shang said as he got up from the chair and made a movement with his arms stretching upwards, after sitting for hours. "See you later Yin; use this scrolls I was reading." He said as he walked away from Yin and left that room.
"Okay…" Yin said to himself and sat at the table to read the scrolls his best friend left over the table. Shang was walking down the stairs and thinking "Yin may be my friend, but I will not let him circumvent the rules."
Days later, in the middle of the night…
"They cannot escape!" A guard cried out to the other guards who were next to him. Inside a maximum security prison, twenty extremely dangerous prisoners escaped from their cells and were trying to get out of that place.
"Prepare your weapons! They may be dangerous but we are armed!" Other guard cried out to his comrades.
What was happening in that place was almost like a war; walls being broken, beams falling and bloody fights between the prisoners and guards. No matter how well trained the guards were, the prisoners of that place together and free were worse than a dragon awake from a thousand-year-old sleep. Just a few minutes after the first prisoner escaped from his cell, the most of the guards was unconscious and incapacitated to fight.
The remaining guards were easily defeated and killed; for the bandits took the swords, spears and axes from the guards they had already defeated.
They found three guards who tried to hide, but three of the prisoners captured the guards and said that if they didn't want to die like their comrades, they should get out of there.
"Did you get it?" One of the prisoners asked to the three guards with a sadistic expression on his face and pointing a spear toward them. The three guards nodded without say nothing.
"Great…" One of the prisoners said sadistically, yet calm. "Get out of here!" Other prisoner cried out to the guards as he and two others prisoners threw the three guards on the floor. The three guards got up and ran as fast as they could, and escaped alive from that maximum security prison; but they knew that now those SUPER dangerous prisoners escaped, the first thing they would do was commit atrocious crimes.
"What are we going to do now?! The main army is near the southern border!" The oldest guard said while he and his comrades ran as fast as they could through the night and ran away from that prison that was at the base of a hill.
"It would take a week to deploy enough soldiers to face and beat those thieves and assassins! And the nearest villages will not last two days with these monsters on the loose!" The middle guard said very worried, showing how problematic the situation was.
"So we must call apprentices soldiers! They may be young but they are receiving the best training possible and there are many! Furthermore, they would be able to get here before the fugitives spread out over a very large area." The youngest guard said visibly worried but a bit hopeful.
"Considering the circumstances; it's the best option!" The middle guard said.
"It's not the best, it's the only option!" The oldest guard replied. "Let's go!"
The next day at the afternoon…
The apprentices of the second year of training were in the training area, training with bamboo sticks (just like that scene at the end of the song I'll make a man out of you). Shang (he was shirtless, yes, he only trains in a shirt when the weather is cold, he is used to training without a shirt; although he was not the only one who was training shirtless) and Yin were side by side, performing the movements perfectly; the other students were also doing the movements in an exemplary way, but Shang and Yin were the best of their class.
"All right men! Class dismissed!" The master said to the soldier apprentices, Shang and Yin high-fived each other. They went together to the area where the students showered. The room where they showered was on the first floor; that room's ground was made of wood, unlike the ground of the first floor, and in the room there was a very large bathtub that was on the floor as if it were a small pool, they had benches to sit on and next to the benches were buckets full of water.
Shang and Yin where sat on two benches side by side. "Man, we're doing great!" Yin said while he rubbed his head and Shang he poured water on himself. "Yes, but don't stop training ok? If you do this you'll end regressing up your skills."
"Of course sir…" Yin said sarcastically. "Come on! We can be proud of our achievements, you know?" He replied angry of his best friend's comment.
"Yes; I know I'm good at what I do and you as well." Shang answered almost in a convinced way as he rubbed his head.
Yin slapped his best friend's shoulder. "That's it man! We are the best in our class!" Yin high-fived Shang and Shang high-fived his best friend as well.
A boy approached to them by behind. "He's just afraid of letting his father down…" He said arrogantly, but Shang frowned and slapped the guy's face with the towel that was on his lap without look at him.
"Ouch!" The guy groaned as he put his hands on his nose and walked away. Shang just arched an eyebrow and went back to wash his arms, but them he looked at Yin and noticed that he was trying to not laugh and was staring at him.
"What?"
"Two things: You can be harsh sometimes, but this is good because people think twice before messing with you." Yin said at the same time he laughed.
"That one didn't think twice." Shang replied and laughed at his own comment as well. "What's the second thing?" He asked still laughing a bit.
Yin leaned to the right and whispered something to his best friend's; at the first moment Shang seemed to not understand, but then he made a "now got it" expression and blushed. When he looked at Yin, he was almost crying with laughter.
Shang frowned and punched Yin on the top of his head. "Shut up you idiot! You only talks nonsense!" Shang went back to wash his hair.
"But I just said what I saw!" Yin said while he rubbed the top of his head, where probably would appear a concussion. "You are a great man in every way." He said archly, this comment made Shang stop washing his hair, his eyes widened and he blushed even more.
"Do you want to get punched again? Because if you want to, just tell me!" He said raising his left hand with his fist clenched.
"Just forget I said that!" Yin said really fast and went back to wash himself, pouring over his head the water that was on the bucket by his side; Yin could even fight on equal terms with his friend but Shang was much stronger and more skillful to fight.
Shang just sighed and didn't talk to Yin till they were at their room, dressed.
"Are you still mad at me?" Yin asked a bit nervous putting his shirt.
"No, but if you don't mind; don't mention that again." Shang answered tying up his hair in a bun.
Suddenly; they heard someone knocking loudly on the door, as if it was desperate. "You may come in!" Yin said to the person who was knocking the door.
The teacher who taught how to interpret maps quickly opened the door and entered the room. "Dai Yin! Li Shang! All students must meet in the training area as soon as possible! Urgent news!" The teacher said really fast and right after telling the message he got out of the room.
Yin just looked at Shang confused. "What are you waiting for? Let's go!" Shang grabbed Yin by his wrist and both quickly left the room; they went down the stairs with the other students, who had also received the message. In less than ten minutes all students were in the training area, they were not organized but they were silent.
"Shang; can you let go of my arm?" Yin asked whispering.
Shang released Yin's arm. "Sorry, I was too distracted."
It was a dark night, all apprentices of soldiers were apprehensive, because if all the supervisors were dressed in their armors and were meeting with the students to tell urgent news, this news was something really serious.
"Soldiers, three guards from a maximum security prison came here today to deliver a message that is actually a request of help." One of the supervisors said imposing, yet worried.
"Twenty extremely dangerous prisoners have fled a maximum security prison and if they are not detained they will spread over a very large area and commit several crimes." Another supervisor said.
"After discussing the problem for hours we came to the conclusion that all of you, led by us, will face these fugitives. We were in doubt if you should fight those fugitives, since all of you are very young; but under the circumstances, you are the best option that the villages closest to that prison have." The oldest supervisor added.
"Which circumstances? Our skills and strength aren't even near those of the soldiers of the imperial army." One of the soldier apprentices asked.
"It would take a week to bring in enough imperial warriors to fight and arrest those fugitives; since most of them, including the generals, are on the southern border. We will leave for the maximum security prison, and there we will divide into groups that will search the surroundings in different directions." Another supervisor said to the students which were listening mindfully.
"Pack your things soldiers, we'll move out." The oldest supervisor ordered and he and the others supervisors walked back to the school probably to pick up the combat weapons and cannons.
All the soldier apprentices walked back to the school; they were whispering to each other, but between Yin and Shang there was a silence that emanated fear of the unknown and of the death. This sensation continued running through the bodies of the two friends.
Yin and Shang were at their room, they were putting on their armors; Yin was so nervous that his hands were shaking and he was looking at nothing with a frightened expression on his face but at the same time he felt an excitement within him; he tied a sash around his waist to support his armor with red accents. Shang seemed to be calm and didn't even show any signs of fear of this situation, he was also looking at nothing but he had no facial expression on his face, as if he were totally at peace; he also tied a sash around his waist to support his armor with blue accents.
"Shang, I know this is nonsense, but somehow I feel happy to go to this confrontation." Yin said putting his helmet on.
"What?! Are you crazy?!" Shang turned toward his best friend, looking at him with an expression of disbelief on his face; he was astonished at Yin's comment.
"N-No…but this is the first time that we will be put to the test; our first battle!" Yin answered in a tone of voice that mixed excitement and fear of his friend's reaction and gestured with his hands.
Shang walked toward Yin with that expression we already know. "And also our first chance to die in battle." This sentence made Yin speechless.
But he quickly reacted. "But we also have a chance to win, and victory is a great honor!" Yin said still trying to be optimistic.
Shang grabbed his best friend's shoulders and pulled him closer. "Every victory is a great honor, but you must keep in mind one thing: When someone goes to any battle, there is always a chance of not returning ... alive."
This sentence made Yin speechless again; Shang was very firm in his words, words that made his best friend realize how serious the situation was.
Shang took his hands away from him and backed away a bit. "Take it seriously Yin, victory and honor only come after the battle and if we win the battle." He said as he put his helmet on and turned around, leaving the room.
Yin followed Shang, and in minutes; all the soldier apprentices were marching to the maximum security prison, young men between fourteen and twenty years old.
The next day, by the morning…
The soldier apprentices were walking for hours; the masters were in front of the students, mounted on their white stallions and dressed in the armor of high-ranking warriors (the masters who held positions in the army, not the ones who were just wise.).
Shang, Yin and like other ten soldier apprentices were right behind the masters and ahead of the rest of the classmates. Yin was holding a banner tied to a very long bamboo pole; the apprentices of soldiers were divided into two groups, those who were afraid of the fight and those who, like Yin, were curious to know what a real battle was.
Shang didn't show it, but he was afraid of the battle; although his goal always was to become a great warrior like his father, he wasn't crazy to think that be at the battle field is a good thing.
After going up a hill; they could see from afar a village, which was the closest place to the maximum security prison, on the other side of the mountain that was just behind the village, was where the prison was. Even though they were almost a kilometer from the village, it was possible to see that it was much destroyed.
The soldier apprentices and the masters hurried to get to the village as quickly as possible. Nothing could have prepared all those teenagers and young adults for what they saw when they arrived in the village; none of them had seen a scene like that.
The village was completely destroyed; there were still many people on that place that was reduced to rubble but most of them had not where to live anymore and many people were injured.
Shang, Yin and all the soldier apprentices were shocked by that distressful scene; people started approaching them asking for help to care for the wounded people and asking for food; everyone was asking for help, men, women, children and the elderly.
"Honorable warriors! Help us! The fugitives kidnapped my grandson!" An old woman cried out asking for help and knelt before a master who was mounted on his horse.
A man who looked to be over forty approached to Yin putting his hands over Yin's shoulder "Please help! They kidnapped my daughter!" He said desperately.
"Calm down! What exactly happened here?" One of the masters asked out loud to everyone that was close to them.
"The fugitives attacked us in the middle of the night and destroyed most of the houses… the worse is, that they kidnapped like twenty people." A man answered speaking loudly but at the same time in a sad voice.
"How many people did they kill?" Shang asked to a woman that was near to him.
"Fortunately no one...yet." The woman answered with a sad voice.
"What do you mean 'yet'?" Another master asked confused with a worried voice.
"They said they would come back in some hours and would only return the kidnapped people to us safely if we gave all our money and valuables to them." An old man explained to the soldier apprentices and their masters.
"It won't be necessary; when they come here to take what's yours, we'll face them and save the people they've kidnapped." The oldest master proclaimed explaining basically what was going to happen.
"When we give the order, you'll hide in the houses that have not been completely destroyed." Another master said to the villagers.
"You all better hide now in the houses that have not been completely destroyed; they can come back anytime." The oldest master said and the villagers obeyed the order, they started walking in different directions, going to hide in the houses that weren't completely destroyed.
Then Shang saw a little girl who seemed to be four years old, she wasn't with an adult or other person to take care to her; she had scratches on her face and arms, her hair was very long and was messy, she was barefoot and the dress she was wearing looked more like a sleeveless shirt that was dirty.
The little girl had tears streaming down and she was walking toward the soldier apprentices, she grabbed at one of the soldiers by his hand and asked for help, but the soldier acted with disdain.
"Sir, they took my mommy! Help me! I want my mommy…" The little girl begged for help,
"Go hide little girl! It's too dangerous be here." A soldier said coldly to the little girl, this just made she cry even harder.
"But…" She said with a shaking voice.
"No buts!" Shang's comrade said ruthlessly to the little girl taking hand away from his. "Just go!" He said pointing to one of the houses that people were going; Shang's comrade turned around and walked toward one of the masters.
Shang frowned; he got angry at the rude and even cruel way that his comrade treated the little girl who asked for help. He walked toward the little girl; she didn't obey his comrade's advice and stood where she was, crying loudly and rubbing her eyes with her hands.
Shang approached to the little girl, crouched and put his hand on her shoulder. "Little girl, calm down; I'm here." He said empathetically for the little girl.
The little girl slowly turned around and took her hands off her face, showing her eyes that were streaming tears and she looked confused.
The little girl sniffed and wiped the tears from her eyes with her hands. "Who are you?" She asked with a sad and cute voice.
"I'm a soldier little one, all these men that are here are. I'll help you." Shang answered kindly to the little girl.
"What is a soldier?" She asked confused. Shang got slightly embarrassed, he tried to explain but the girl was too young to understand.
"Never mind; what's your name?"
"C-Chun…What's yours?" The little girl said stuttering a bit.
"My name is Shang; what happened to your mommy?" Shang said tenderly and gently put his hand on the little girl's cheek.
"In the middle of the night a bad man came to my house and took my mom, he hit us and broke everything in my house." The little girl said with a sad voice and begun crying again.
Shang felt even sorrier for that little child; he took of his blue scarf and put it around Chun's shoulders, but because of her height the scarf looked more like a blue cape on her.
"We'll bring your mom back, don't worry." He said tenderly as he got up. "You better go hide in one of those houses that also has people hiding, in a little while it will be very dangerous to stay out here."
Chun smiled a bit and nodded, and then she turned around and ran toward one of the houses that were not completely destroyed. Shang grinned slightly, it was gratifying for him to help the child, knowing that his comrades did nothing and one of them was even rude to her.
"Shang! Are you coming or not? We need you to the battle!" Yin cried out.
"I'm going!" Shang answered as he turned around and run toward the troop of just over thirty apprentices of soldiers who were preparing to fight under the command of about six of their masters.
Less than ten minutes passed and now both village entrances were blocked by apprentices of soldiers who were just waiting for the fugitives to come and attack.
Shang was attentive of everything around him, one of the basic rules to follow on the battlefield: never be inattentive as it could cost you your life. He sighed and his facial expression changed to that serious expression we already know.
"We may be getting the best training possible but we are inexperienced and we are not as strong and skilled as my father's troops; our masters trust us but I don't think it was a good decision. It is irrefutable: We are only here because we are the only option of salvation at the moment for these villagers." Shang said in his thoughts; he is proud of every achievement he successfully accomplishes, but for him it is never enough.
Yin looked at Shang with a confused look in his eyes. "Shang, what's wrong?"
Shang didn't look at Yin but answered his question with an emotionless voice. "Nothing, I'm fine Yin."
Shang just said it and then, everyone started to hear sounds which seemed to be heavy steps and voices coming toward the village. These sounds were quickly getting closer and louder; all apprentices of soldiers were silent and their eyes widened, the battle would begin as soon as those fugitives set foot in the village.
Yin and Shang drew their swords; all teenage soldiers drew their swords and the masters did the same. Shang frowned and gritted his teeth "It's time to fight these wretches and send them to the place they should have been from the beginning ..." He thought as his eyes and his comrade's eyes started seeing the twenty fugitives approaching slowly; even though there was more teenage soldiers than fugitives, the fugitives didn't see them as a threat. "To the hell…" Shang felt this sentence escape from his mouth; no one heard that but him.
The twenty fugitives stopped when they were dangerously close to the soldier apprentices, they were on foot, but they didn't need to be on horseback to look scary; they were wearing the armors and wielding the weapons they stole from the prison guards.
The fugitives were very dangerous, they just didn't kill the people of the village because they didn't want to; if they wanted, they would easily have done it. All the soldier apprentices knew their duty: struggle those dangerous fugitives, send them back to jail and make them tell where the people they had kidnapped were.
"Men; in the past you have committed many crimes and atrocities, you know very well that this is the reason why you have been arrested and considering everything you have done you were lucky to escape the death penalty." The oldest master proclaimed to the fugitives, they seemed to listen carefully but looked at the masters with an expression of mockery.
"If you don't want to have your heads cut of; surrender now or prepare to fight. But if you lose this fight, you all will die." Another master said with an imposing tone of voice, giving the chance of the fugitives to surrender and prevent their death.
The fugitives started laughing, were faint laughs but were accompanied by arrogant smiles; this showed that they were not at all intimidated by the officers and soldiers.
"Many of the witnesses who caused some of us to be arrested live in this village, so we decided to start our revenge here; if they want the villagers back they will have to hand over all the valuables they have. More than a troop of recruits is needed to stop us." One of the fugitives who was ahead of the others said with a calm voice and a sadistic facial expression.
Then, at this moment, all fugitives aimed their weapons forward and stayed into an attack position. All the soldier apprentices did the same, most of them had fear in their faces; but Shang had anger, courage and determination in his eyes, he was almost smiling as if he were eager to smear his sword with blood.
"Attack!" All the masters ordered at the same time to the soldier apprentices, who ran screaming and at full speed toward the fugitives. The opponents did the same; the teenage soldiers and dangerous fugitives started the fight right next to the village.
The teenage soldiers' swords shocked against the fugitives' weapons; both sides of the confrontation were fighting fiercely, the soldier apprentices were in greater number but being in greater numbers was no guarantee of victory (since the fugitives were all thieves, murderers, kidnappers, rapists and other terms that I prefer not to quote).
However, the soldier apprentices had the best training in the middle kingdom and needed to send that bunch of wretches back to jail or probably give them the punishment they really deserved: the death, what they were probably going to receive.
The sound of comrades and masters fighting and screaming only made the situation tenser for everyone. Yin was fighting with all his might, his opponent was wielding an ax with a wood handle more than a meter long; Yin was attentive to every blow that the fugitive delivered, as the length of the ax handle allowed him to attack without being too close.
At some moment Yin tried to drive his sword blade into the opponent's shoulder, which prevented the blow using the ax blade. For the first time it was possible to see a serious and furious expression on Yin's face; they were both using all their strength, the blades of their weapons were rubbing fiercely against each other.
"You are very fearless boy, but too naive..." The fugitive said in a very sadistic tone. "…Nowhere in the world you would be able to overcome my strength!" He added almost screaming, trying to advance on Yin but he run to the left, which made the opponent take few steps to the right; for a moment was possible to hear a sound of pieces of metal that came loose from the blades.
Yin turned his head back, looking at the fugitive with an angry expression on his face, panting heavily. "Strength is not what matters most!" Yin cried out to the fugitive, at that moment Yin didn't seem to be him; maybe it was the adrenaline of the moment.
The fugitive turned toward Yin and started approaching to the boy. "You're just crazy, little soldier; this's what you are."
Yin frowned but smiled confidently. "Beware of crazy people, they always keep surprises." Then in a moment the smile in his face gave way to an expression of determination.
"HAAAA!" Yin shouted as he ran toward the opponent, who did the same; they struggled fiercely, a sword against an ax. "I've cut off the heads of many people…" The man said as he raised his ax in the air. "…I don't mind to cut yours!" He added as he dealt a quick blow but Yin dodged the ax blade, which got stuck in the ground; Yin he took advantage of that and used the blade of the sword to cut the ax handle, apparently rendering the weapon useless.
But then Yin got surprised when he saw the fugitive snatch the ax blade that was stuck in the ground and lift it up in the air, without the handle. Yin ran and at the same time looking back; the man threw the ax blade toward him, Yin threw himself on the floor, but that blade went very close to killing him, the blade hit his helmet and ripped it off his head.
"Damn! I missed!" The fugitive said angry.
Yin got up, quickly put his helmet on and ran at full speed toward the man. The fugitive tried to punch him, but Yin bent down and slid under the man's legs and attacked him from behind, more precisely: beheaded him.
"That was the best thing I ever did!" Yin said very excited. It seemed that even in the tensest situations he had time to be clueless.
Shang got surprised when he saw his best friend prowess, mainly due to his very unusual reaction. Shang's situation was quite different; he had already killed three men and his sword blade was bloodstained.
"These monsters just got what they deserved…" Shang said as he looked toward the three corpses lying on the ground, in three different directions. "…I don't know if this is how a soldier feels when killing an enemy, but I'm proud to have done it." He said as he looked at his reflection on his own sword blade, the red blood contrasted with his reflection, who smiled, finding it quite gratifying.
"Hey you!" Someone's voice said in an angry tone; Shang turned around and saw a man that was wielding a spear with a metal handle, that didn't allow him to do the same as his friend, but at the first opportunity he would have any idea.
Shang run at full speed toward the fugitive with his sword and then the man tried to hit him with the spear, but Shang quickly deflected and grabbed the fugitive's spear by the handle and kicked him in the private parts; this stunned the fugitive, who fell to the ground groaning and lying in his stomach with his hands on his groin.
Shang kicked the man in the face, as if it were a kind of final humiliation. "Die!" Shang screamed as he stuck the spear into the man's back, the blade went through the man's chest and was stuck in the ground.
He looked at the fugitive's face; his eyes his eyes were turned upwards, making it look like his eyes were totally white and there was a lot of blood coming out of his mouth. Shang looked at the corpse with disdain. "That's pathetic; dying by your own weapon." Shang said as he turned around and walked away from that corpse.
Then suddenly; a moment seemed to pass very slowly but it didn't last even ten seconds. Shang heard steps coming from behind, running really fast toward him; he quickly bent down and made a really swift swipe with his left leg, the same blow that Mulan used to beat the villain at the end of the movie; (his legs are as strong as his upper body) making the opponent fall on his back and drop his sword.
The man kicked Shang's hand, making his sword fall about three meters away; then, the fugitive grabbed Shang by his ankle and pulled him with much might, this time, he was the one who fell on his back.
The fugitive threw himself at Shang and tried to punch him in the face, but he turned his head away and used his hands to defend himself; they both had an expression of fury and effort on their faces, groaning as if both were angry dogs.
So the fugitive changed his strategy and started trying to strangle the young soldier, Shang was holding the fugitive's arms with all his strength but the fugitive was much bigger than him, and he was running out of strength.
In less than a minute, Shang felt his vision and hearing fading, his hands losing the strength and falling into the floor; he felt his breathing fading as well.
"Shang!" It was everything he heard before the salvation arrived just in time.
"AH!" Shang took a really deep breath, as if he had almost drowned; he turned on his side, putting his hand on his neck, it took a few moments and deep breaths before he remembered what happened.
When Shang looked up, his best friend, Yin, was looking to the left with an angry expression on his face, holding a bow in his left hand.
Then Shang looked to the left and saw the fugitive that almost killed him, lying in the ground, dead, with an arrow stuck in his back.
Yin reached out to his best friend, helping him to get up.
"Are you okay dude?"
"Yes, I almost died but now I'm fine; thanks to you." He said putting his hand on Yin's shoulder.
Yin raised his arms up. "The best part is that we won!" He said very excited.
"Really?!" Shang looked around and saw that almost all the fugitives were already "on the other side of the life", just three of them were alive and were tied and the masters were keeping their eyes on them.
Shang, Yin and the other soldier apprentices approached to their masters, luckily none of the soldier apprentices got seriously injured; the oldest master grabbed one of the fugitives by the hair.
"You three can choose how you want to die while some of our soldiers bring back the people you kidnapped..." He said sarcastically. "Where are they?" This time he asked in a really serious tone of voice.
"They are all tied up and hidden in a cave on the other side of the mountain behind this village; they are all alive, with some minor injuries." One of the fugitives explained in an angry tone.
"Thanks." The oldest master said and released the fugitive he was holding by the hair. "Li Shang, Dai Yin…" Another master began to call about fifteen soldiers by their names; one by one they stepped forward.
"…You must go to that cave and bring the kidnapped people back to this village as soon as possible. Understood?" He added.
"Yes Sir!" All the soldier apprentices assigned to rescue the kidnapped people cried out answering their masters and started running toward the mountain.
"As for the rest, you will stay here and help care for the injured people in the village while we get this village rid of the corpses." One of the masters said to the soldier apprentices that remained in front of the masters. "Understood?" He added.
"Yes sir!" The others soldier apprentices cried out answering their masters and they spread around the village (what was left of the village) and started calling out to people, who slowly left the houses. In a few minutes everyone was helping each other and caring for the injured people.
In just over half an hour Shang, Yin and their comrades were on the other side of the mountain. They stopped to search for a cave or any hole in the mountain that looked like an entrance of a cave.
"The problem now is to find the cave that fugitive said the kidnapped people are in." The oldest boy of that group of seventeen soldier apprentices said with his hands on his waist.
"I don't think this will be a problem, look." Shang said to his comrades and pointed to a large hole at the base of the mountain.
"Great! What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Yin said excited and tried to run to the cave. He took a few steps before he passed by Shang, who grabbed his best friend by the scarf and pulled him back.
"What was that for?!" Yin asked confused and annoyed.
"Not so fast," Shang replied and then turned his voice to his others comrades. "You all wait; we cannot simply go entering this cave without expecting any danger." The others comrades nodded at that advice.
Shang drew his sword. "Draw your swords; if the kidnapped people are there, there will probably also have some fugitives." Shang said in a leadership tone of voice, what he said was an advice, but his comrades took it as an order and drew their swords as well; since he was one of the best students in the military training academy his comrades did what he said.
They slowly entered the cave and all of them were with their swords raised and pointed forward, they were all aware of the danger, because that cave was deeper than it looked and any unpleasant surprise could spring from the darkness.
Yin picked up a branch and lit fire on it, thus illuminating the darkness. Yin and Shang walked in front of the other apprentice soldiers; those two best friends were the bravest of that group, because of this they were walking ahead.
The cave was really deep but then; they entered a large, open chamber and could not believe what they saw: about twenty people; men and women, old men and children, were bound and gagged.
The seventeen soldier apprentices quickly went to help people; some were slightly injured, just as one of the fugitives said, but nothing to worry about.
One of the soldier apprentices took the gag out of the mouth of a boy of about seven, Yin untied a girl of about thirteen, and the other apprentice soldiers released other the rest of people.
Shang took a gag out of the mouth of a woman in her twenties and untied her hands. "Thank you very much honorable soldier."
"You're welcome miss; my comrades and I are only doing our duty." Shang said and tried to untie the ropes that were tying the woman's feet.
"Ouch! I hurt my ankle." She said holding her ankle with her hands.
"Okay." Shang turned his back on her and crouched. "Climb on my back; if you can't walk I can carry you." The woman nodded and climbed on Shang's back, in a few minutes all the apprentices of soldiers and the villagers who had been kidnapped were walking back to the village; the villagers were smiling at being saved and the soldiers were smiling because they were proud of themselves.
When the village was already in sight, all apprentices of soldiers and villagers were very surprised by what they saw; for several soldiers from the imperial army were there, smiling at the teenage soldiers, proud of their achievement. The people of the village was waiting for their friends and relatives.
The villagers, both those who were close to the young soldiers and those who were at the beginning of the village, ran to hug their loved ones.
Shang was still carrying the woman on his back when he heard a very cute voice cry out: "Mommy!" Then he saw the little girl running toward him with a huge smile on her face. He grinned a bit and the woman he was carrying on his back smiled broadly when she saw the little girl running toward them with her clumsy steps.
"Chun!" The woman cried out very happy, she patted Shang's shoulder, as if she was telling tell him to put her on the floor. Shang nodded and put the woman sat on the floor, the little girl threw herself on her mother, and they hugged each other tightly.
"Chun, thank the boy, he carried me on his back until here." The woman said to her daughter.
"Thank you sir!" The little girl said excited and smiled; she got up and tightly hugged Shang's leg, since he is very tall and she was a child of about four years; so her height didn't even reach his waist.
"You're welcome little one, I just did my duty." Shang said rubbing the little girl's messy hair.
"Sweetie, release his leg; he need to help his friends." The woman said tenderly putting her hand on the little girl's shoulder. Chun obeyed and released Shang's leg. "Sorry sir…" She added with her cute voice.
"No problem little one; now I've got to help my comrades, later I'll be back to see if you two are okay." Shang turned around and ran toward Yin.
"Mommy, what are comrades?" Chun asked her mother.
The woman just laughed and hugged her child, who returned the hug.
When Shang was helping Yin and three soldiers of high rank to lift the rubble of a house trying to recover objects that could be recovered; Yin was just by his side and made a gesture with his hand.
"What?" Shang asked.
"I saw that…"Yin said sarcastically.
"You saw what?" Shang asked confused.
"The toughest guy I ever met just got kind to a little girl and is smiling till now." Yin added sarcastically.
Shang flushed and his facial expression turned serious like always; he released the roof tile he was holding over Yin's hands, Yin got surprised but held the piece of rubble.
"I'm going to talk with the imperial soldiers; I need to ask a few questions." Shang said in an annoyed tone of voice.
Yin arched an eyebrow and smiled. "Fine then; look back." Yin said pointing to Shang, who arched an eyebrow confused.
Suddenly, Shang felt someone's hand in his shoulder and he quickly looked back.
"Good job soldier." General Li was right behind Shang, putting his hand over Shang's shoulder and grinning slightly.
"Father! I didn't know you were here!" Shang said surprised to see his father, but he was happy as well.
"Go talk to your father, we can do this on our own." Yin said making a positive sign with his left hand and grinning.
Shang and General Li walked through the village; seeing people who were happy to be together with those they loved, even though many had lost their homes.
"Father, why are you here? I thought you and your troops were at the southern border."
"And we were. But when we received the news that a troop of soldier apprentices were going to fight against very dangerous prisoners; me and other military officers who were relatives and friends of the soldier apprentices came here as soon as possible."
"What matters now is that those miscreants are no longer a threat and luckily no one in the village died."
"And all thanks to our new generation of soldiers, the masters taught you all very well; I can imagine the warriors that you and your comrades will be when you finish training."
Shang put his hand on the back of his neck and smiled, there's nothing he likes more than being praised by his father.
"I wanted to make a surprise; I bet you didn't expect me to show up here." General Li said sarcastically and slightly slapped his back.
"Sure 'General Li'; I wasn't expecting." Shang said giving a challenging look to his father. (You've probably noticed that when they have a father-to-son conversation they act like friends, without the formalities of the army.)
"But you know what ... I saw you helping a woman and how happy her daughter was with you. What happened to you? You're kind but you're not the type of man who would stop to talk to a child." General Li said tenderly but a bit confused.
"See that little child happy to see her mother was very rewarding; it reminded me of my mother..." Shang said without look at his father.
General Li felt his facial expression turn into a sad one.
Shang noticed it and turned to his father. "…N-Not in a sad way!" Shang said really fast and making a gesture with his hands; he didn't want to see his father sad. "It made me remember the good moments of that time."
"Sometimes I think you're more mature than me. Look like we raised you very well."
Shang looked at the sky, admiring the sunset brought a happy memory to his mind.
Flashback.
It was a stormy night; Wang was weaving a light blue silk fabric with dark blue details like a moonless night sky. She was sitting on a wooden bench that had a space of about twenty inches between the seat and the floor; while weaving, she was singing undisturbedly, as if she wasn't even aware of the storm outside the window.
Suddenly, she felt that someone hugged her tightly from behind, this startled her for a second but when she noticed who was hugging her she smiled and looked back.
"Shang! What are you doing my little sunshine?" Wang asked looking at her ten-years-old son; he was smiling broadly with hair down, his bangs were over his face and his arms didn't stop hugging her.
Shang stopped hugging his mother and pointed to the loom. "I just wanted to know why you are making this fabric. My father can pay as many fabrics as you want."
Wang stroked his head with her hand. "Because something is even more valuable to you when you do it with your own hands."
"Ok; what are you going to use this silk for? For the way it already look beautiful, when this is ready it will look amazing." Shang said running his hand over the soft fabric.
Wang grinned a bit. "You'll know when this is ready." Then, she grabbed his arm making him turn his back on her. "Let me tie your hair up, is a mess! Hadn't I tied up an hour ago?"
"As far as I know I'm not a little boy anymore and I can fix my hair on my own." Shang said impatient crossing his arms.
Wang just rolled her eyes and grinned. "But for me you'll always be my little boy." She tied his hair with a brown ribbon and handed him a mirror to look at his reflex. "What do you think? It makes you look like you're already a man."
Shang turned around and gave the mirror back to his mother. "I'd rather to use my hair down, but when you tie my hair up it looks nice."
Wang brushed a small strand of hair from his forehead. "Use your hair tied up so everyone can see your face." Shang grinned but arched an eyebrow. Wang hugged her son and Shang returned the hug.
"Mother, can you sing for me? I love to hear your voice." Shang said as they came out from their hug.
"Sure my little sunshine." Wang answered and Shang sat on the floor by her right side. His father wasn't home that night because of an appointment (the life of a general is not easy).
Shang listened to his mother's melodious and peaceful voice, she sang while again weaving the beautiful blue fabric.
End flashback.
"Those were good times…" Shang said smiling and turned his head to look at his father.
"As sad as death is, we must not forget who we love; for it is through memories that we keep alive those who are gone." General Li said putting his hand over his son's shoulder. Then, he moved away a bit from Shang and walked towards the other high-ranking military officers.
"Hey! Where are you going father?" Shang asked a bit annoyed to his father.
General Li looked back but didn't stop walking. "Me and the others Imperial soldiers need to return to the southern border; but I'm very proud of you, son! See you next week."
Shang turned around and walked back to where Yin was. He was trying to hide the smile on his face while he, Yin and the others soldier apprentices helped that village people.
Hours later, the soldier apprentices and their masters were preparing to leave that village and return to the military-training-academy. The night sky was already dark but the stars illuminated the sky, along with the full moon; as much as the village was badly destroyed, the villagers were not sad because everyone was safe and they were very grateful to the young soldiers.
When they were getting ready to march back to school, Shang heard a voice call out to him.
"Sir!" The little girl Shang helped that morning was running toward him; she was still barefoot and with a sleeveless short dress, but now the scratches on her face were cleaned and her black hair was tied in a low ponytail.
Shang crouched to be at the same height the little girl. "Look at this, you look much better now." Shang said grinning and running his hand over the little girl's head. "Do you need help or something?"
Chun took off the blue scarf Shang had given to her earlier. "My mommy told me to give back your scarf." The little girl said and handed the blue scarf to Shang.
"I can get another one easily; now this is yours." Shang said putting the blue scarf around the little girl's shoulders.
The little girl threw herself over Shang, hugging him with the innocence of a child; this made Shang fall on his back on the floor.
"If I had a father I wanted him to be like you." The little girl said smiling and still hugging the soldier apprentice that helped her.
Shang's eyes widened, he did not believed what he heard. "Me? A father?" was what he thought. But after a few seconds he smiled and hugged the little girl tightly in his strong arms.
Then, she got off him and walked away, probably returned to her mother. Shang ran toward his comrades and in less than five minutes the troop of soldier apprentices and their masters were marching to return to the military training academy.
The masters were ahead, mounted on their white stallions, the soldier apprentices were talking to each other; all of them were happy to have been victorious in their first battle, but that little girl's phrase was resonating inside Shang's head.
"Me… father? A little kid said she wanted me to be her father…" Shang said to himself looking at the floor with his hand on his nape. A few seconds later he raised his head and looked ahead, smiling confidently.
Yin was again holding the flag, he notice his friend smiling broadly and touched Shang's shoulder to get his attention.
Yin was smiling and looking at Shang with a challenging look. "Why are you so happy?" Yin asked with a sarcastic voice.
Shang looked at Yin with a serious expression on his face. "I'm just happy because we got out of this battle alive and our first battle was a success."
Yin seemed to buy it; he didn't heard what the little girl said. Yin said very excited and raised his arms up, he almost hit Shang's head with the flag's handle. "I bet we're both going to wear a general's armor when we get older! I feel that we'll be the greatest warriors China has ever seen and…" Yin had his sentence interrupted because Shang covered his mouth with his right hand.
"…And till that day arrives you better calm down before you hit someone's head with this bamboo pole!" Shang grabbed Yin's shoulders and shook him ferociously, looking at him with his typical angry facial expression.
Shang released Yin and returned to march and look ahead. "Sorry dude…" Yin said with a very embarrassed expression on his face.
Shang put his right arm over Yin's shoulder and Yin corresponded his best friend's action putting his left arm over Shang's shoulder. Both were smiling and laughing, both of them would remember that day for the rest of their lives, they were so close as friends that were almost brothers.
Weeks later…
Shang and Yin were at the city and they were having lots of fun until Yin had the idea of going to a pub.
"You know very well I don't drink rice wine." Shang said as if he wanted to get out of that situation and tried to turn around but Yin grabbed him by the shirt.
"It's not because of the drinks; is a much more interesting thing." Yin said really excited. "Come on!" Yin added as he grabbed Shang by the wrist and pulled him toward the pub.
They sat at table and then Shang saw an empty space, which appeared to be a stage. "So that was the reason? There will be a presentation here; I hope it's not boring." Shang said with disdain.
"I bet you'll like what you are going to see." Yin said smiling broadly.
Then, a man with a flute and a woman wearing a black cape that covered her whole body below her neck, appeared at the stage. She was wearing her hair tied into a bun adorned by a golden comb with red jewels and she was wearing a white make up.
"Oh… the show starts now." Yin said to Shang without look at him, instead he was looking at the woman. Shang new very well what that woman was going to do, and he got really uncomfortable with that situation.
As soon as the man started playing the flute, the woman took of the cape and revealed that she was wearing a low cut dress; the dress also had a skirt with slits on the sides that showed her legs every time she walked.
She started dancing with a smile and a malicious look on her face; her movements followed the rhythm of the music, she took a long scarf made of pink tulle and started to approach the men at the tables.
All the men started whistling and cheering at the dancer; she approached to the table where Yin and Shang were sat.
The woman wrapped her tulle scarf around Yin's neck and pulled him closer. Right after doing this, she released Yin and approached to Shang. She did the same with Shang; and then she walked back to the stage and when the music stopped she finished the presentation blinking at the men that were watching her.
All men in that place cheered and whistled at her and put some coins over the tables, Yin and even Shang did the same; Shang would be lying if he said he didn't like to see that presentation.
As soon as they came out from that place, Yin nudged Shang with his elbow and Shang looked at Yin; he was smiling broadly.
"I was right! You liked what you saw!" Yin said almost mocking his best friend.
"Fine! I'm not proud to say this, but that was impressive." Shang said in an annoyed tone and crossed his arms. But seconds later he arched an eyebrow and smiled a bit, giving Yin an ironic look.
Shang and Yin burst out of laughing and walked away from where they were, hugged in each other.
Two years later…
It was a spring afternoon, the family Li's house was being lit by the sun of that season. It was possible to hear steps walking and sounds of metal pieces moving in the room of an eighteen year old lieutenant; now he was a man, he had finished his training at the military training academy at the previous day and he was very proud of himself.
Shang looked at his reflex on the mirror; he waited a long time to wear this armor and now he was wearing it! Shang was grinning slightly, but actually he was thrilled. Now he was a high-ranking military officer.
He walked toward a chest in a corner of his room, knelt down and opened the chest; looked at his first armor, which he used till the previous day.
The room's door was open, so General Li entered the room and saw Shang knelt down and holding his helmet.
"Hello 'Lieutenant Li Shang'; will you miss wearing this armor?" General Li asked to his son.
"No, because I am now much closer to achieving my goals; but I will not throw this armor away." Shang answered as he put the helmet back inside the chest and closed the chest.
"If you're not going to use this armor again what are you going to do with it?" General Li asked in a friendly way.
Shang got up and put his hands on his waist. "If I have a son he will wear this armor." He said without look at his father, this sentence surprised General Li but Shang didn't notice any reaction.
General Li reacted and walked toward Shang, putting his hand over his son's shoulder. "Father?" Shang asked.
"Follow me; I need to show you something." General Li said and he and Shang walked out of the room. Shang was curious; his father seemed to be a bit enthusiastic, so there was something really interesting to see.
They went down the stairs, got out of the house and walked to the huge and beautiful garden of the house. Suddenly, General Li covered Shang's eyes with his hands.
"Father, what are you doing?" Shang asked while laughing at what his father did. "I'm just making sure you don't see it before it's time." General Li said and he guided Shang to the stable holding him by the wrist, he kept his eyes closed.
"Stay here; I'll bring what I said I have to show you." General Li said as he released Shang's wrist and quickly walked toward the stable; he came out from there smiling broadly and bringing a white horse with a black mane and some gray spots.
He came taking slow steps and the horse was also walking slowly; General Li did not want his son to hear the sound of the horse's feet and find out the gift he had received.
General Li grabbed Shang's hand and gave him the horse's reins. "What's this?" Shang asked to his father, because his eyes were still closed.
General Li was enjoying doing that mystery with his son; He signaled to the horse, who understood that Shang was its owner. The animal approached and licked Shang's cheek. He opened his eyes and didn't believe what he was seeing.
"He's all yours…" General Li said with his arms crossed.
"Mine?! This stallion is mine?!" Shang asked in disbelief and at the same time smiling cheerful.
"The newest lieutenant in the imperial army deserves nothing less than the best mount in the middle kingdom." General Li said pointing to the animal.
"He must have been very expensive; I don't know what say… Thank you very much father…" Shang said thanking to his father, he tried to remain serious but he was thrilled again.
The horse licked Shang's cheek again and rubbed his face against his owner's face; Shang stroked his horse face. "It looks like he liked you." General Li said sarcastically. "Now you only have to choose a name for him." He added.
"I already have a name for him; his name will be Xúe, which means snow." Shang said while looking at the horse's eyes.
"Well," General Li said and took a few steps to the left "What are you waiting for Lieutenant? Get on the horse and go take your first ride with him!" General Li added practically giving an order to his son and pointing to the red gate which was opened.
Shang got on his horse and held the horse's reins. "Hya!" He cried out to the white stallion and hit the reins on the horse's neck giving the command for him to run.
General Li smiled while he saw his son getting out of the house on horseback. "I can't believe that little boy became this man; he is very close to being the warrior who promised he would be." General Li said to himself.
"How did he react Sir?" Jia asked to General Li; she was looking at him from a window of the ground floor.
General Li turned around and saw Jia looking at him from a window. "He loved the gift. The horse was very expensive, but he deserves it." General Li answered.
"I heard the sound of a horse leaving the house; I bet Shang will take a 'little' while to return." She said making a gesture with her hand, showing that she was being sarcastic.
"He can take as long as he wants; because he didn't show it but I know he is very happy and right now he is going to Yin's house to tell him about it." General Li said to his maid while pointing to the opened gate without stop looking at her.
Jia shrugged and turned around; she walked away from the window and returned to do her chores. General Li closed the gate but didn't lock it; he walked back to the house while hearing the sound of the trees' leafs waving in the spring breeze.
Shang was riding his stallion till Yin's house and feeling how the speed of the horse was making his bright red cape swing like a wave of the sea. He was smiling broadly, as if the joy he was feeling didn't fit inside his chest; he had even forgotten to take off his helmet and he didn't like at all wearing a helmet.
Shang approached his head to his stallion's ear. "I can't wait to show you to Yin; words are missing to thank my father." He said to Xúe, who started to run even faster.
Shang didn't know that one year later he would have the craziest, yet best experiences of his whole life.
End of chapter.
Sorry for the delay, I wanted this chapter to be perfect.
A little spoiler: The next chapter is unlike anything you might be thinking.
Stay tuned! The next chapter will come sooner than you think, I promise!