Chapter 7 – Wind of Dilema

Meanwhile in Wu, Gan Ning began to worried about Lu Xun's condition because he hadn't received any message from him for 2 days. Things became harder since he had to hide from Lu Meng, because Lu Meng believed that he was guarding Lu Xun as long as Lu Xun took his vacation. It felt like playing hide and seek in the castle.

" It must be hard for you to hide for a month, huh?" a guy with long ponytail passed Gan Ning from behind.

" Ling Tong, you are my savior!"

" What did make you said that?"

"Please make Lu Meng leave this room at once or I will be caught!"

"…." Ling Tong gave him a cold stare, " Just how long will you be like this? Why don't you tell Lu Meng about the truth?"

" Because Lu Xun asked me to. And I really regret that I have allowed that kid to go there now…"

" What do you mean?" Instead make a distraction for Lu Meng, Ling Tong prefer to sit beside Gan Ning who hided behind the jar.

" I haven't receive any message from him yet… and it made me worried…" Gan Ning put his hand on his head, " It has been 2 days, if tomorrow I haven't receive any message, that mean Lu Xun was in danger. I have to save him!"

" And you will ask the lord to lend you some troops then?"

" I don't know… I wonder what will happen to Lu Xun if the Lord knew where Lu Xun is now…"

" Then you want to go to Wei alone? Are you crazy? It would be very dangerous!"

" Well… I don't have any choice…" Gan Ning sighed.

" Then count me in! I will help you"

" No, no, just stay away from this case! It would only make the condition worse… you know, we joined the forces on the last war. It will be dangerous if any officer there recognize us…"

" Then what should we do…?" Ling Tong held his head.

" Ling Tong, is that you?" Lu Meng asked as he saw Ling Tong's ponytail.

" Oh, good day, Master Lu Meng!" Gan Ning pushed Ling Tong from behind.

" Good day, Ling Tong. What are you doing here?" Lu Meng asked, " I think I just heard Gan Ning voice…"

" Oh, it must be your imagination, sir!" Ling Tong put his hand on Lu Meng's shoulder and pulled him away from Gan Ning, " Perhaps you just missed him since he hasn't came back for a month…"

" You're right… I missed Lu Xun too. I hope he's alright…" Lu Meng laughed, " Well, Ling Tong, I want you to look for them as soon as possible. I have some business with them."

" What is it, sir?" Ling Tong asked.

" We just receive a letter from Shu. They wanted us to have an alliance to beat Wei. So, I want you to look for them and give my letter to them."

" Understood, sir!" Ling Tong nodded.

" Oh no… if we will have a war soon… Lu Xun would be in trouble!" Gan Ning thought," I have to find him as soon as possible!"

Meanwhile, Lu Xun and Cao Pi have arrived on the village. Lu Xun tied his horse on the tree near the inn and walked the physician's house. They decided to walk because it would be easier for them to reach the house since the paths to go there were pretty narrow and crowded.

" Swallow, about the things that you said to Xiao Hua before… are they related to the debts that you talked about before…?" Cao Pi asked.

" Such sharp mind of yours, as I expected…" Lu Xun passed Cao Pi with a smile. " When I came to Xiao Hua's house, I just found out that actually his father already left us so much debts… It seems that her father has borrowed a lot of money from the wrong person…"

" And who is that person that you mean…?"

" The debt collector of course! He collected the tax higher than standard, for his own pocket of course. He also can give the villagers loan, but the interest was really high. And what makes worse is he's hiring the bandits to take the money!"

" I never know about it…"

" You're a scholar from another country after all. I just knew those things from the physician. She was pretty and very kind. Everyone loves her."

" So… she's your girlfriend, huh?"

" Of course not. The villagers will kill me if I go out with her!" Lu Xun laughed.

" Oh, you're right… I just remember one thing that I want to ask you… Where do you come from? And about that dagger of yours… I never seen those symbols on the handle before… "

" … " Lu Xun quiet, " Let's discuss that later! We have arrived on her house, the house of the famous physician who made your medicine for your leg!" Lu Xun ran into a house in front of them. The house has blue roof with golden moon and stars symbols. The door handle has a crescent moon shape too. Lu Xun knocked the door and suddenly a brown haired beautiful lady with moon and star symbols on her hair, welcomed them.

" It's nice to see you again, Mr. Swallow…" the girl said.

" Oh, it's you! It's nice to see you too, Ms. Cai Wenji…" Cao Pi bowed to her.

" You…" the girl was surprised to see the young prince, " You are…"

Cao Pi put his fore finger on his lips, " Fear not, young lady. I'm just walking around to release some stress, that's all. Oh yeah, just call me Winter…"

" You knew each other…?" Lu Xun looked at them as he confused.

" Well, yeah!" Cai Wenji answered, " His father has helped my family a lot ever since I was young. His father was really kind. I was once kidnapped by the bandits, but then his father sent some generals to save me…"

" Save the story for later, Wenji!" Cao Pi said, " This friend of mine, Swallow, need some medicine for his little sister. Can you make it for me?"

" Actually it was rather expensive, but since you are the one who asked me to, I will do it for free. Could you mind waiting on the guest room while I am grinding the medicine?" Cai Wenji asked.

" Fine with me. How about you, Swallow?" Cao Pi asked.

" It's a pleasure! Thank you so much, Ms. Cai Wenji…"

" You're welcome!" Cai Wenji smiled, " Now I will start grinding the medicine. If you excuse me…" Cai Wenji bowed then left Cao Pi and Lu Xun on the guest room.

" Now since we just alone here… Please answer my previous question. Where do you get your blades?"

" Well… It's a memento… from my previous master…" Lu Xun paused for a while. " He is already dead… because a disease… the same disease as Xiao Hua… "

" Oh, I see…" Cao Pi nodded. " And your previous master was not from Wei…?"

Lu Xun kept silent for a while. " Is that matter to you…?"

" Well… I just curious… Because I feel like I have seen those symbols before…"

Lu Xun walked to window, " Just like a Pandora box, sometimes things are better hidden than emerges…"

Suddenly they heard knocks and someone's voice yelled for Cai Wenji from the door. Cai Wenji stopped her work and approached the door. She was surprised when she found two big ugly men with a dagger on their hand, stood in front of her house.

" What do you want? Do you need some medicine?" Cai Wenji asked them.

" We want you to pay the taxes!" the big man spoke so loudly as if he was screaming.

" Well, gentlemen, I have paid the taxes a week ago. I think you get a wrong person…" Cai Wenji said.

" Then you have to paid us more! We need the money!" the big man said as he pointed the dagger to Cai Wenji.

" Hand off the lady, pal!" Cao Pi walked toward the bandits, "A gentle man would never point a weapon to a lady…"

" The beautiful boy wants to fight to protect this young lady? Oh, I'm touched…" the big men laughed at Cao Pi.

Cao Pi was upset, but he hided his emotion with his smile, " Well, if you ask for, I wouldn't mind… "

Before Cao Pi finished his word, the big men already wielded his dagger to him. Lu Xun took the damage with his dagger " Winter, stay away from them! They're dangerous!"

" Well, they are the bandits that you're talking about before? Interesting… And their faces are as ugly as their heart…" Cao Pi mocked.

" HOW DARE YOU!" The other big bandit wanted attacked Cao Pi, but Cao Pi evaded it. Lu Xun moved to the bandit in front of Cao Pi. He gave the bandit a counterattack to his face. The attack caused a big scar on his face.

" HOW DARE YOU!" the bandit shouted as he held his face.

" Winter, RUN!" Lu Xun yelled," We have to distract them or else Ms. Cai Wenji would be hurt!"

Cao Pi held Lu Xun's hand. They ran as fast as they can to the market, so that they can hide among the people. They found a cart and they hided behind it. But instead of giving up, the bandits decided to destroy the market. They punched and kicked everything that blocked their way.

" Oh my, it become worse now…" Cao Pi said as he saw the bandit's attitude.

" Winter, please run. I will fight them…"

" No, I won't!" Cao Pi answered.

" Come on, Winter… We don't have enough time!"

Cao Pi took one of Lu Xun's blades, " We will fight them together!"

" You…can fight? But you are a scholar, right…?"

" Let's explain that later! Now, here we go!" Cao Pi ran toward the bandit.

" Hey, wait!" Lu Xun said as he ran toward Cao Pi.

The bandits were really happy when they saw their prey emerged. " So the beautiful boy wants to fight us again, huh?"

" Watch your mouth, pal!" Cao Pi threw an apple to the bandit's mouth. The apple stuck on the bandit's mouth.

Lu Xun laughed as he saw what happened, " Nice throw, Winter! You get a perfect point!"

" HOW DARE OF YOU MAKING FUN OF MY FRIEND!" The other bandit wielded the dagger on them. But both of them jumped and gave him a combination attack from the left and from the right. The combination attack made the bandit knock out.

" Nice move, Winter!" Lu Xun smiled at Cao Pi.

" Then, let's give a name for that combination attack…hm…. How about the Winter Swallow?"

" You are really poor at giving name…" Lu Xun said.

" STOP THE FIGHT AT ONCE!" Suddenly a man came with a horse. He has a very big sword and an eye-patch on his left eye. Behind him is Cai Wenji.

" Xiahou Dun!" Cao Pi shouted happily.

The bandits were panic when they saw a general from the palace. They ran as fast as they could.

" I have heard the story from this young lady!" Dun said as he stepped down from the horse. " Are everything okay?"

" I'm okay…" Cao Pi answered, " How about you, Swallow?" He just realized that Lu Xun was not near him.

" Swallow? You mean that dancer that Yuan talked about before?" Dun asked.

Cao Pi nodded. " Maybe he has gone home. Oh my, his blade is still in my hand. I have to return it to his house now!"

Dun blocked Cao Pi, " Unfortunately, I can't let you go there… Sima Yi knew that you ran away, and he was really angry…"

" He knew? Oh no…"

" I told you to go home before the meeting finished! The sun was already set, but you haven't arrived yet. I was really worried, so I looked at you at this village. Lucky for me, I found this young lady."

" It's a pleasure of mine to meet you again, my hero…" Cai Wenji smiled at Dun.

" Do we know each other?" Dun looked at Cai Wenji.

" So you forgot…? I was once being kidnapped, and you saved me. Remember…?" Cai Wenji asked.

Dun nodded," I remembered being given an assignment to save the kidnapped girl… But I didn't remember it well… Sorry for not being able to remember your name."

" It's okay…" Cai Wenji smiled, " Meeting you again has made me happy…"

Dun blushed when he heard what Cai Wenji have said, " Well then, I have to escort the young prince to the castle now. Please excuse us…"

" It's Cai Wenji, please remember it… Take care of yourself, both of you…" Cai Wenji bowed at them. She looked at them as they left her. " Finally, I found him… the hero of my childhood…"