Chinese Generals Summoning System

Chapter 17: The Two Sisters’ Decision

While Yue Yi and Xu Yunba fought fiercely, Gong Du swung his double-edged broadsword and charged directly at the rest of the bandit cavalry. The martial skills of these bandit cavalrymen paled in comparison to their leader, Xu Yunba. In the blink of an eye, Gong Du had cut down seven or eight of them. Although the bandits numbered in the dozens, they were completely held at bay by Yue Yi and Gong Du alone. After a few exchanges, Xu Yunba suddenly feinted a swing at Le Yi, then turned his horse and fled toward the rear. Don’t be fooled by Xu Yunba’s outwardly vicious demeanor—deep down, he was a coward. As soon as he realized his martial arts were no match for Le Yi’s, the thought of fleeing immediately crossed his mind. After exchanging just a few blows with Le Yi, he stopped caring about the stunning twin courtesans; nothing was more important to him than his own life. Le Yi was just about to unleash a killing move when, to his surprise, this bandit leader turned and fled—leaving Le Yi with his powerful attack still held back! Seeing their leader flee, the other bandit cavalrymen had no intention of continuing to fight head-on against two “gods of war.” They all turned their horses around and fled toward the village alongside Xu Yunba, the “Mountain Eagle.” “Don’t pursue a desperate enemy—hurry and chase after the carriage to protect our lord!” Le Yi shouted to Gong Du, who was about to give chase. Gong Du, who had been caught up in the heat of battle, immediately abandoned the idea of pursuing the bandits upon hearing Le Yi’s shout. He turned his horse and joined Le Yi in chasing after the carriage carrying Liu Ji. Seeing that the enemy had not caught up, Xu Yunba instantly relaxed and pulled on his warhorse’s reins. Just then, the first squadron of his cavalry arrived, and upon seeing their leader come to a halt, they all stopped as well. “Second-in-Command, that wagon got away. What should we do? Should we… should we keep chasing it?” asked the squad leader of Xu Yunba’s first squad of cavalry. “Chase my ass! Where did the Zheng family’s merchant caravan suddenly pull two such fierce warriors from? If I hadn’t dodged fast just now, I’d be dead!” Xu Yunba said, still shaken by the close call. Then Xu Yunba glanced at the guards, drivers, and laborers from the Zheng family’s caravan who were still putting up a fight, and said viciously, “First, slaughter all these Zheng family lackeys, then load up the caravan’s goods and rendezvous with the First-in-Command! With those few men on the run, the Zheng family in Yongzhou will surely realize it was us—Yi Pian Yun—who wiped out their merchant caravan. We’ll have to discuss this with the Boss; we’d better get as far away from Yongzhou as possible!” After Yue Yi and Gong Du had repelled the bandits’ pursuit, they quickly caught up to the wagon driven by Liu Pi. Inside the wagon, Liu Ji peered through the cracks in the wooden planks sealing the windows and saw Yue Yi and Gong Du riding their warhorses in hot pursuit. He immediately let out a sigh of relief and gently patted his younger sister Liu Niuniu on the back, saying, ““Niuniu, don’t be afraid. We’ve escaped!” At that moment, one of the twin sisters asked in a trembling voice, “Young Master Liu, have we broken through? Are the bandits no longer chasing us?” Liu Ji smiled and said, “My two personal guards have already fought off the bandits’ pursuit. We should be safe now, hehe!” Hearing this, the twin sisters breathed a sigh of relief. The girl who had spoken earlier quickly said, “We were only able to escape thanks to you, Young Master Liu. That was truly a life-threatening situation!” “I was absolutely terrified just now. If it weren’t for you, Young Master Liu, we would have fallen into the hands of those bandits. That would have been worse than death!” the other twin added. Being flattered by two beautiful women made Liu Ji feel a bit giddy. “Rest assured, young ladies—as long as Liu Ji is here, those bandits are nothing to worry about!” Yue Yi, Liu Pi, and Gong the Protector escorted the carriage more than ten li away from the village where they’d encountered the bandits before slowing down. At that moment, Liu Ji issued an order from inside the carriage to find a nearby spot to rest for a while. So Yue Yi, Liu Pi, and Gong the Protector escorted the carriage to a clearing by the roadside and stopped. The warhorse Liu Pi had originally been riding had already bolted out of sight since he’d jumped onto the carriage to act as the driver; however, another warhorse—laden with grain, salt, and two bundles of arrows—had remained tied to the carriage and hadn’t run off. Liu Ji opened the wagon and, seeing that the warhorse carrying the provisions was still there, couldn’t help but feel relieved. At least for the time being, they wouldn’t have to worry about going hungry. Having experienced starvation before, Liu Ji was truly unwilling to go through that ordeal again. The grain carried by this warhorse included two bags of rice totaling 100 jin, 30 jin of dried meat, and 40 jin of soybeans for the warhorse’s feed. Liu Ji stepped out of the wagon, jumped down from the cart, and said to Yue Yi, “Yue Yi, take me back to that village on horseback. I need to go see if there are any survivors from the caravan.” In truth, Liu Ji intended to collect soul points. The caravan’s breakout attempt had been a complete failure; aside from Liu Ji and his group, not a single other member of the caravan had managed to escape—including the caravan’s steward, Zhang Baohong. This meant there were at least 280 soul points waiting for Liu Ji to claim, not counting the bandits who had been killed in battle. Just then, one of the twin sisters leaned out of the carriage and said to Liu Ji in a sweet voice, “Young Master Liu, those bandits are so brutal—you really shouldn’t go back!” Liu Ji smiled and replied, “With Le Yi protecting me, I’ll be safe. Besides, if the main force of the bandits hadn’t left, I wouldn’t have gone near them in the first place.” “But…” The girl was about to say something else when the other twin sister pulled her back into the carriage. The second girl then poked her head out and said in a sweet voice to Liu Ji, “Young Master Liu, the bandits are brutal—you must be very careful!” Liu Ji instructed Liu Pi and Gong Du to stay behind and look after his younger sister Liu Niuniu, as well as the twin sisters and their two maidservants. Meanwhile, Yue Yi mounted his warhorse and led Liu Ji straight toward the village they had just passed. Liu Niuniu was still a little afraid of strangers, so after Liu Ji left, she climbed down from the carriage on her own and ran over to Liu Pi, who had earned her trust over the past few days. After Liu Niuniu got off the carriage, the twin sisters began whispering to each other, “Sister, why didn’t you let me stop Young Master Liu? Everyone in that Zheng family caravan is dead—there’s no need to go to the Zheng family in Yongzhou anymore. Wouldn’t we sisters be free then?” “Oh, little sister, we don’t know what kind of relationship Young Master Liu has with the Zheng family in Yongzhou. He’s just going to check if anyone from the caravan is still alive—what reason do we have to stop him?” “Sister, I don’t want to go to the Zheng family in Yongzhou. The one who paid to buy our freedom is just a decrepit old man—I don’t want to ruin my reputation with that old man!” “Little sister, we grew up in a brothel from childhood—how could we ever control our own destinies? Being ransomed is already a stroke of good fortune, especially since it happened before we’d even served any clients. We’re already much luckier than many of our sisters.” “But Sister, we have a chance to regain our freedom right now. As long as we can stop that Young Master Liu from sending us to the Zheng family in Yongzhou, we won’t have to give ourselves to that old geezer!” “Even if that Young Master Liu doesn’t have much of a connection to the Zheng family of Yongzhou, the Zheng family is one of the most prestigious clans in the entire Great Jin Dynasty. Would that Young Master Liu really risk offending the entire Zheng family of Yongzhou just for us two defenseless women? You must remember that our indentures are still in the hands of that old master of the Zheng family.” A gleam flashed in the younger twin’s eyes as she said, “Sister, I believe that given our beauty, even if that Young Master Liu fears the Zheng family of Yongzhou, he won’t send us there!” “You—could it be that you’re planning to…?” “Sister, although this young Master Liu clearly comes from some down-and-out minor clan or the family of a fallen powerful figure, he’s still quite handsome, and his age is a good match for us. If we give ourselves to him—even as concubines—it would be a hundred times better than serving that old geezer from the Zheng family!” “Well… this is all so sudden. I’m a bit flustered, Sister!” “Sister, I know you’ve always had a soft spot for that Zhao Mingteng from Qinhuai City. But we’re far away in Wan Zhou now. Aside from going to serve that old geezer at the Zheng family’s in Yong Zhou, our only option is to rely on Young Master Liu. Otherwise, in the chaos of Wan Zhou, the two of us—weak women that we are—won’t be able to get anywhere! And as for that Zhao Mingteng… Never mind, let’s not even talk about him!” “Sigh—Sister, I know it’s impossible between me and Young Master Zhao. His heart belongs only to Liu Yue Niang of Cui Xian Lou! Given our circumstances now, it seems we have no choice but to do as you suggest, little sister. I just hope that Young Master Liu isn’t a heartless, ungrateful man.”