Simply Trading

Of course, the first thing that Qin Feng did was blink, rub at his eyes, and look again.

But the sight that greeted his eyes did not change. Which was enough to make his jaw go slack. All of that had been caused by one man? How was that possible?

Yet, there was no other explanation for it. There was no one outside the broken wall except for a tall, slim-looking man with a long moustache that dangled over his chin, dressed in a green robe that was only slightly different compared to what the locals wore. And in his hands was a long staff, crafted of some gold-colored metal rather than wood.

And he was obviously preening as he peered at the camp through the hole that had been smashed in, breaking the long defensive wall of the camp. A mocking smile was evident on his lips, as his eyes took in all of the soldiers that had been cast down by the unexpected blast.

Qin Feng could also see that he disdained to watch the handful of casualties trying to clamber back onto their feet. As if they were an insult to his devastating attack.

"Who dares!"

Qin Feng's head turned away from the man when he heard the cry, and followed the sound to a woman in dark blue robes, that had just landed on one of the tents. Or, to be more accurate, one of the tent poles. Suddenly he felt a sense of relief. Here was an expert at last!

The one wearing the green robes and wielding the golden staff chuckled as soon as he saw Lady Xie Nianxue's arrival at the scene. The hole in the camp's outer defensive wall seemed to frame him perfectly as his eyes continued to rake over the bodies that were strewn around the same. There was even an obvious sense of satisfaction in his gaze as if he was proud of the destruction that he had just caused.

Which was enough to make Qin Feng very annoyed with the fellow. It was bad enough that he had to be dragged into battle against these Barbarians. Why did such an expert have to get himself involved? And on the opposite side at that?

Besides, from his dress and the way that he wore his hair, he looked more like someone from the Kingdom rather than a Barbarian. Could it be that he was a sympathizer? Or someone that had been bought over?

"Ye Hongge! You dare to attack the Third Army? You son of dog!"

Lady Xie's voice echoed over the field from far overhead. Making Qin Feng look up at once. He caught sight of the Old Marquis' wife standing on top of the nearby Healers' Tent, and glaring at the long-moustached man in green. And all at once, he felt a wave of relief wash over him. She was the most powerful person on their side at the moment, wasn't she? She should be able to deal with this arrogant, annoying fellow!

"Why, it is Lady Xie Nianxue! What an honor to finally meet! I had missed you at the Yuan Kingdom's Harvest Festival three years ago. I had hoped to have a bit of a friendly exchange with you back then. A pity that you had not deigned to attend."

"Hmmmph! Such matters are for youngsters, and unsuitable for a grandmother like me. Unlike someone else! You are already a hundred and four years old, Ye Hongge. Are you going to keep bullying the young at such nonsensical celebrations?"

The man in green laughed as he gestured with his golden staff. "Bullying the young? How can you accuse me of something as disgraceful as that? There is no restriction to showing off one's skill during such festivities. Even Honorable Bei Liuyun was there, to show off his latest Bamboo Flute Sword Dance! And he's almost twice my age!"

The Old Marquis' wife snorted at that in a most unladylike manner, which did not surprise Qin Feng too much. He had already been warned that she preferred a more open style, and had manners more suited to jianghu rather than the nobility.

"Bei Liuyun? You dare to compare me to that idiot who only plays with women and spends his days in song and wine? Are you asking for a beating?"

"This humble one doesn't dare! But I would appreciate it if esteemed Lady Xie is willing to demonstrate her famous Tiger Killing Fist. Tales of that particular martial art have been making the rounds at almost every festive occasion in the Five Kingdoms and Three Empires, and I am curious to see how it matches up against my White Eagle Claw technique.

"Perhaps this is good opportunity for us to find out? If Lady Xie is willing?"

He laughed then, and kicked off with both feet, hurtling off to the South, before the woman could manage a reply. And his voice came echoing back over his shoulder, and he fled towards the woods:

"Let us take this away from the camp, Lady Xie! We do not wish to hurt any of your son's precious soldiers, do we? Our skills are far too dangerous if we demonstrate them before such untrained and unwashed idiots!"

Li Changhai's grandmother didn't bother to answer, but charged off in pursuit of the green-clad Ye Hongge at once. Leaving Qin Feng to curse as soon as she vanished across the wall.

Couldn't she tell that this was nothing more than a simple trick? He was luring the tiger away from her mountain! Even he could see that! Didn't Lady Xie Nianxue have any inkling that this was nothing more than a ploy? To deprive the camp of its strongest fighters?

After all, wasn't the camp going to be in danger if the Barbarians had another expert? Someone of this Ye Hongge's caliber?

Or was she so confident that her son, the Marquis, would be able to deal with the attack that was surely on its way? Qin Feng watched the pair vanish into the woods, and felt his brows knitting together as he did so.

The army sergeants, however, did not seem too bothered by the antics of the pair of experts, and started to shout at their men the moment the two had disappeared from their sight. Even Li Changhai seemed more concerned with the dealing with the opening in the defensive wall, rather than at his grandmother's duel.

His puzzlement must have shown on his face at once, when the Second Ducal Prince drew close, and clapped him on his shoulder. And he turned just in time to catch the sigh that issued from Li Changhai:

"This looks like a ploy, by the Barbarians and their allies, to draw away our experts. Well, Grandmother should be able to deal with him on her own. But the hole that was left in our outer wall has already left us with a problem: the Barbarians will have a much easier time attacking here rather than at our Gates. We need to patch it up before they ..."

A horn blared just then, interrupting the Second Ducal Prince in mid-sentence.

And Qin Feng could see the blood draining out of the man's face right before his eyes. Li Changhai seemed to drop what he was saying, and turned at once to peer through the gap in the wall. A line of Barbarians had already peeled out of another section of the Forest to the West, and were charging up to front of the breach!

Had that been that Ye Hongge's plan all along? Was he merely there to draw Lady Xie away as Qin Feng had thought?

But Barbarians? He would have thought that they would send another expert!

Still, the soldiers looked as though they were still in a daze. And there were no sentries to sound the alarm now that the wall, and those manning it, had fallen. Qin Feng realized that and was just about to shout out to the Second Ducal Prince when the Barbarians gave out a loud roar that was impossible to miss.

And charged straight for the gap in the wall at once!

* * *