“But, boss, that girl—”
He was cut off as the leader slashed at the man with his spear, drawing blood as he cut a shallow line into the side of that man’s face. Despite his shaky hands, he was quite skilled in wielding the weapon. “What did I tell you about capturing people? Shut the hell up and let me do the talking.” He then moved his spear back to Cha Ming. Despite his previous display, his hands still shook.
“You’re not a proper robber,” Cha Ming said, pressing up against the spear. He raised the spear tip with a single finger and held it up to his own neck. “You can barely hold your spear in the right position. If you want to kill me and take my things, you ought to slash my throat, where I’m vulnerable.”
The man hesitated. He looked toward his comrades and back to Cha Ming. Through his thick beard, Cha Ming could see a gaunt face and sleep-deprived eyes. “Don’t think I won’t kill you,” the man said, forcing the tip of the spear against Cha Ming’s neck. A droplet of blood dripped down from where the spear pierced his skin.
“You can take my things if you kill me,” Cha Ming said. “Otherwise, it would be best if you left.”
The leader’s eyes widened at these words. He moved to pull back his spear, but Cha Ming held it firmly in place against his own neck. The man tried pulling it back several times before finally giving up. He dropped his spear and grabbed another man’s spear.
“Let’s go,” the leader said. “We’re leaving.” He waved his hand for the others to follow him back into the woods. Most of the men followed, but some men stayed behind, not believing what they’d just seen.
“Boss, are we just going to leave your spear and leave them here?” the man said. “What will the other bandit groups think when they hear about this?”
“Am I your leader or not?” the bandit leader snapped. “You’ll do as I say, when I say it. Now move, or you’re no longer part of the group. If you think those other groups are so great, you can go join one of them. You might even get something to eat, if you manage to survive.” Hearing these words, the man reluctantly followed the others. Before long, they’d all returned to the woods.
“Master Pai, is it wise to let bandits off like this?” Mo Ling asked. “What if they try to rob someone else?”
Cha Ming, who’d returned to his plate and was now nibbling on half a bamboo shoot, nodded. “You’re right, they probably will. But who am I to stop desperate men trying to feed their families?”
“Desperate men?” Mo Ling asked.
“You might not know this, but not long ago, a group of men fought back when the reapers came,” Cha Ming said. He knew this because he’d skimmed the men’s recent memories. “The reapers didn’t punish them, but to prevent future insubordination, any guards involved were dishonorably discharged. The leader of that group was one of them. Due to the mark on his record, no one would hire him or his fellows. As for the serfs, they were punished with unusually hard labor to be made an example of. Not only were they worked harder than most, they were also underfed. Rather than face certain death from starvation and exhaustion, they ran away from their masters.
“What was originally a single tightly knit bandit group of ex-soldiers took pity on these serfs. They split up to lead several groups to cover more ground. As we speak, they’re out hunting spirit beasts that might easily kill one or two of them. They do this to bring food back to their camp, where their wives, children, and the widows of the men who’ve already died need caring for.
“Now that you know all this, what would you do to those men? Those men, whose guilty conscience made it so they could barely hold up spears while trying to rob someone?”
Mo Ling remained silent. They ate, and when they were done, they smothered the embers and prepared to move again throughout the night.
“I don’t know,” she finally as they flew away on flying swords. “I don’t know what I should do to those men. They might be bandits, but when one of the weaker men had thoughts to do anything to me, their leader cut up his face.”
“They haven’t done anything too wrong,” Cha Ming said. “No yet. I’m not one to kill men for things they might do in the future. Still, if I knew for certain they’d done something that deserved death, I would have killed them myself.”
The situation reminded Cha Ming of his own dilemma in a sense. Helping Mo Ling, though generous on his part, also greatly endangered his plan to infiltrate the Wang family. It was a flaw in his façade that could make his task impossible. It also put Mo Ling at risk—she would suffer greatly if they discovered him and investigated further.
Yet he still took the chance. Mo Ling needed help and companionship. She’d lost everything to the reapers, and Pai Xiao was the only friendly face she knew. Abandoning her at this point would be cold and heartless on Cha Ming’s part.
They traveled all night, passing village after village. Soon, roaming guards and merchant caravans became commonplace. The sun rose, and as it did, many more wagons set out from the various villages and inns. Guard patrols grew more frequent, and the number of cultivators they saw flying around increased as well.
Before long, a city appeared in the distance. It was an impressive city with blackened gray walls. Unlike most population centers in the North, but like most in the South, it didn’t occupy fertile lands but the most barren ones in the area, completely covering the layer of rock that protruded from the wooded plains
