LITMIR.BIZ

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figure of the stranger wandering towards their fires. Livay was the first to come to his senses as a true leader would. He put his bowl of rice on the flat stone that they had for the table, slowly got up to meet the old man and, stretching out his hand, and said:

      "Stay where you are, old Man. I have no idea how you got into the camp, but the next step will be your last step," The old man froze. It seemed that he was frightened to the point of trembling in his knees, but the experienced eye of the leader caught a slight spark of mockery in the stranger's dim eyes.

      "I am sorry if I bothered your morning feast" – an old man has spitted back at Livay He. His voice temper made the leader realise he might not be speaking just a too ordinary traveller. "I was not aware you have set up the camp here; perhaps if I knew, I would have taken another path." On the contrary, Livay put his hands on his hips and took a step towards the old man.

      "Livay He does not fight with children or old people", the robber dropped casually, slightly bowing his head in front of the uninvited guest. "We only here to take what ours, right boys?" The "gang", who had previously listened cautiously to the dialogue between the leader and the strange guest, began to gurgle in relief, and the old man took this gurgle as a dull approval. He could sense the leadership of Livay He in the crowd. "As for this cunning rascal Shitou, who managed to sleep on you," he raised his voice in a dramatic manner, "he will get what he deserves as soon as he returns to the camp from his shift." "You are a cruel leader", the old man bowed. "…cruel but fair," the strange traveller finished his sentence, raising his eyes and looking straight at the bridge of He's nose. He recoiled involuntarily.

      "Otherwise, how could you explain that you have massacred a family from Mozun village? Have they eaten from gold plates and wore silks?" A leader has frozen, same as his gang. They were uncertain what could have to lead a strange traveller to say those words. They have all glanced upon the path a man has taken to see whether he brought with him Emperor troops. Without any hesitation or shyness, an old man grabbed a lump of rice from Liveys bowl and squashed it a ball. He pushed a lump down his thought without any hesitation and started at the gang. "And you undoubtedly grew this rice yourself and did not take it in Gymea, burning down a dozen houses and leaving residents homeless on the eve of the spring rains?" An old man has leaned on his walking stick and glazed straight into the eyes of the most wanted robber of the Shaanxi province. Livay carefully tore his gaze from the old man's watery eyes and looked over his shoulder. The two of his stealth Warriors have jumped out of the bushes. "He killed A Stone head!" shouted one of the robbers, lifting Chao Lin's bloody robe above him. At the same moment, when he spoke those words, an arrow has pierced his throat.

      He collapsed to his knees, clutching his neck and moments later, another arrow has struck another robber. Livay has pulled out his sword and shouted down at the man, 'Who are you and What do you want from us?'. An old man has glanced the surrounding and enjoyed the panic which runs through the crowd of robbers. One after another, a soldier we're dropping dead from flying arrows. They have run out like ants in a different direction, the smartest of them dashing to bushes to hide. "You haven't realised it yet? Didn't you?" The old man sighed while He shook his head in shock. "I am your punishment…"

      The old man said it in a most convening and calming voice that Livay hasn't doubted his intentions. He dropped everything he had in his hands and dashed down towards the forest. But the arrows were faster. The same arrow that brought down his soldier has struck him right into the shoulder. Livay was shocked but couldn't feel the pain struggling through his body, and he took a few more steps before his legs lost all the power, and he has collapsed on the ground. A man full of indifference have grabbed Levay's bowl and sat on the grass next to this mascara, and ate the rice. One of the old man's soldiers has appeared from the bushes. He was a young man, in leather armour, walking slowly towards an old man. He hanged his bow on his back and stuck the arrows in the leather purse strapped to his belt. 'Master, you have started to dine without me', a young soldier spitted with humour at the old man. And in exchange, an old man has waved his hand and gestured for him to sit next to him. Once the young soldier stepped into the sun, we could clearly see he was just a youngster with a short, trimmed moustache. He had a sharp eye, and his glance was full of focus, which indicated him being an experienced warrior… He was an adult, not a youngster. He was wearing solid leather armour without metal linings, characteristic of wealthy warriors and soft boots. A lone archer's glove adorned his left hand, while the second glove was carelessly tucked into a typesetting belt, consisting of metal plaques with ornaments. His name was Li Zicheng, an excellent warrior and trusted Man of Luo Yang.

      Once Li has taken sit next to the old man, he fearless grabbed the rice and started to devote it with no emotions towards the massacre he has created. They have been starving for the past few days, and the resources have finished. In addition, they had not eaten anything for a couple of days: the supplies have come to an end, and all the game in the vicinity was scared away by this robber gang, which, in a picturesque disorder, completely exterminated it across several dozen lis. The old man put down the empty bowl, took a handkerchief from his belt, and carefully wiped his lips and hands. Then he got up, walked slowly to the spring and, filling the empty bowl with water, thoroughly rinsed his mouth. He returned and sat down opposite Li Zicheng, affectionately looking at the young man devouring the dried roe deer meat found in the bag of the gang leader.

      "Was I right?" The old man asked the warrior as if continuing the agreement begun earlier. He looked up for a second, distracting from his pleasant occupation for a moment, and shook his head. "No and no," he said. Luo Yang looked at the young man with interest. "But everything happened exactly as I predicted: they were stunned and puzzled by my sudden appearance. If we followed your tactics and simply attacked from an ambush, then most of them, accustomed to living in a state of constant danger, would quickly sort out the situation and strike back. It wouldn't be good for us…

      "You see, Master Luo, all of them," Zicheng shook his head towards the bodies stretched out in the clearing, "we're ready to tear you apart at any moment. The only weak point in their gang was the leader himself. He shouldn't have been chatting with you about life, but just kill you right away, or at least cripple you, and then do the idle talks with you. The only thing that held them was his authority. And they repeated his mistake: they were distracted by you. Although… Three or four managed to escape," the young man laughed. Old Luo smiled as well.

      The young warrior returned to his meal while Luo, looking at him, recalled their first meeting… It happened a moon and a half ago, almost on New Year's Eve. Old Tang's roadside tavern was full of customers. There were so many of them that his wife, Mrs Ki, had a hard time putting all the dishes on the tables. It seemed that the stomachs of the guests were bottomless like drunkard's wineskins! And the rain, mixed with snow, which had fallen for the second day in a row, did not allow travelling along the Northern Route, so all travellers, willing or not, ended up in this respected institution. All the king's men were there! Henchmen who went about their business; statesmen executing the orders of their prince or the Emperor himself; peasants going to the North or to the South, but always in search of a better life – all of them were held by the endless rain in the tavern that smelled of smoke from pipes and the aroma of hot stew. Companies formed at different tables according to interests, which was typical for bad days like this one. Someone gossiped about the lackeys of the young Emperor, who robbed the poor blind with their taxes. Others played mahjong, recklessly losing their last money and not really caring about how they would travel further, having lost their money and clothes here, at this table, and relying only on Luck, which they thought would certainly accompany them in the next game. Others sipped last year's sour wine and buzzing quietly about the last year's famine, which struck the southern provinces of the Celestial Empire and was about to strike the villages of the North. In the past year, there was no yield of wheat and rice, and the Jurchen raids have become increasingly impudent. This was facilitated by the great victory of their Khan Abahai, who invaded Korea with a huge army and forced it into a treaty beneficial to the Jurchens. Korea, however, generally remained loyal to the Celestial Empire and did not break its ancient ties, though it has become more alarming than ever on the northern borders. Hunger raged in the South. There were terrible rumours of mass infanticide and even acts of cannibalism. However, little trust was put into these. After all, South is South. It doesn't matter what they say about it. But the majority believed that it was the fault of the young emperor Chun Zhen, who ascended the throne a

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