Kokuhi Village

Meng quickly ran in an attempt to catch up with Shin, luckily he knew where Shin was headed, shin would likely follow the river and he was already at least twenty minutes ahead of him. Shin would likely take four or five hours running to Kokuhi village.

There were a few well-maintained roads that were often used by the merchants traveling through the area, if I used them I could save some time and hopefully catch up with Shin as he got to Kokuhi Village.

(Kokuhi Village)

The Kokuki was once a prosperous village but thanks to being run by a corrupt village leader one after another, the village had become a breeding ground for the worst kinds of people in this era, the ones in charge of keeping the peace in the area were also the ones most likely to rob you, many being bandits or former bandits.

As long as they paid the village leader they pretty much had free to do as they pleased. Meng had often warned the other children to stay far away from this place, the ones that didn't would often end up in horrible conditions, there were people there that would take great pleasure in defiling you there regardless of whether you were a boy or girl.

It was a village of criminals and was full of gamblers, swindlers, prostitutes, and others hiding from the law.

Meng (POV)

Carrying a large quiver filled with twenty arrows on my back I quickly rushed to catch up with Shin.

Approaching Kokuhi Village I could hear the sound of fighting in front of me, it seems Shin had already started fighting causing me to rush ahead even faster.

Sure enough, I saw a swarm of men rushing at Shin, taking the quiver off my back and placing a few arrows into the ground I quickly started shooting as many as I could.

Shin clearly wasn't expecting any help and as soon as he saw me he made his way towards me.

No! don't come here, you idiot! stay over there and draw them to you! I thought as Shin came over to me.

Sure enough, the bandits and thugs that were once swarming in only Shins' direction were now getting close to me.

The next few minutes was a brutal fight of close-quarters combat, picking up an old worn-out sword off the ground, I was forced to fight up close with the bandits. I wasn't a lunatic like Shin was and having died once already, very brutally at that, I wasn't eager to endanger myself by fighting up close, I much preferred to fight far away, at a distance where I could shoot my enemies, but they couldn't hurt me.

I was glad that I had spent a part of each day training, I would swing an old heavy practice sword made of wood every day after work, my form wasn't anything masterful but I had at least built up some stamina and could swing a weapon for a long time without getting tired.

I also jogged every day, I told others it was to get in shape, but secretly I was still scared after being mauled to death by a small pack of dogs! If I ever encountered a situation that was too dangerous I wanted to at least feel like I had the option to quickly run away.

Young men in the village often talked about going to a battlefield and becoming powerful generals in the future. With the current state of Qin, the poor had an opportunity to increase their social rank and move up in the world, it was a way to motivate the poor into fighting more bravely on the battlefield.

Meng wasn't any better, he also dreamed of moving up in the world, he just wasn't as crazy as the rest of the people were. He knew how horrible dying could be and the thought of how brutal actual combat on a large battlefield would be frightened him.

I was fighting a bandit when I suddenly noticed a shadow behind me! quickly ducking, I felt a large ax go flying by the place where my neck would have been.

The large ax was heavy and now that he had missed it left the bandit wide open, I quickly slashed sideways across his belly. The man howled as his intestines poured out of his gut.

The first bandit was stunned seeing the state of his buddy, I didn't waste the opportunity to stab my blade deep into his chest! quickly pulling it out I lept away from the pair.

It wasn't like the movies where you stabbed an enemy and they would instantly die! no, these men were still well alive and kicking, the one with his guts spilling out desperately tried to hold them in, the man with the pierced chest had a stunned look on his face and despite struggling to breathe out of one of his lungs he still hadn't fallen to the ground and was cautiously watching me.

Wounded beasts were the most dangerous, the last flames of your life would often burn the brightest in your final moments, and I wasn't eager to test how ferocious these men would become if I moved to finish them off.

Taking the chance, I moved away from the bandits and quickly picked up my bow and quivers again, then moving farther away again I once again started shooting.

The two wounded bandits had apparently decided that they had enough, and were slowly moving away from the fight, I could have shot them as they fled but why waste the arrows.

Focusing on the fight once again I had to quickly shoot a couple more bandits and thugs as they rushed towards me. It seems, the thought of having an archer firing at them during the fight wasn't too appealing, and had moved to take care of me.

Besides Shins' new sword we didn't appear to have anything of worth, and soon the bandits and thugs thought we weren't worth the trouble, and stopped coming.

With the fight over I took the chance to gather up my arrows, as long as they weren't damaged I could reuse them.

Shin despite having a few cuts and bruises was still full of energy and quickly rushed off. With me right behind him. We soon arrived at the shack that Zheng was staying in and the story played out pretty much as it did in the manga.

Shin learned about the Ying Zheng (Sei) and shortly after a member of the Vicious Scarlet attacked. The assassin toyed with Shin many times throughout the fight and attempted to turn him against Zheng, luckily the blockhead wasn't tricked and the fight got serious.

The assassin had stopped playing around and now Shins' body was covered with wounds.

It was here that Sei asked why I wasn't helping, and it was the moment I had been waiting for. With the fight looking like it had turned against Shin, and him looking like he might lose, I used to this moment to try to get a favor out of the young king.

"I grew up in the same village as Shin, but I have a wife and family back home that depend on me", I said to Sei.

"You see that man there? he's wearing Red and Black from the head down, he's clearly a member of the assassin group Vicious Scarlet!", I continued.

"Look at Shin, any moment now he'll die, and then the assassin will come here, let me ask you, why shouldn't I just flee now and save myself?", I asked Sei.

As for me and Sei talk Shin is fighting a desperate battle for revenge and is currently getting tossed around.

Sei seeing the state of the fight calmly asked me what I wanted?

"I want to become a farmer!", I quickly said.

"I'll help Shin defeat this assassin that's trying to kill you, but in exchange I want a small piece of land to farm with back in my home village, and the social status that goes with it", I said stating my terms to the young king.

For Sei (Zheng) this amount was nothing and he quickly agreed.

Not wanting Shin to start making a come back on his own and end up ruining my deal I quickly drew my bow and started harassing the assassin. My first shot managed to hit his leg but he quickly dodged my other shots, he then positioned himself so that Shin was standing between us, if I wanted to fire I had to risk hitting Shin.

With no choice left I had to pretend to be brave and joined the fight up close. As Shin and the assassin fought I would only move in once I got behind the assassin, then I would move in to attack while Shin kept his attention.

Between the two of us, Shin was able to end the fight a little sooner, with him still cutting through the assassin's sword but with me just a moment after piercing my blade through the assassin back! to make it appear as if I had contributed more than I actually did. Shin still had suffered some cuts and gashes on his body but not as many as in the manga.

I of course was completely fine and wasn't even winded, if the fight for even a second looked like we were going to lose, I was planning on high-tailing it out of there as quick as I could.

With the battle won we all started to relax, then we noticed that the village not too far away from us was on fire! we could hear screaming in the distance as well, it seems Sei half brother had dispatched an army that was loyal to him, they were here to make sure that Sei didn't escape.

It was at this moment that I called out the young mountain child that was hiding nearby. Seeing how she was discovered she had no choice but to come out and introduce herself as He-Liao Diao but told us to call her Ten. ( she's pretending to be a boy) ( also called Ka Ryo Ten)

Next, she then offered us her help in escaping this place, as long as the king provided her with a large amount of money. As I stood behind Shin and Sei I couldn't help giving the little mountain child a thumbs-up sign, she knew how to take advantage of a situation, I knew right away that we were going to get along just fine.

Sei agreed to her terms of course and after we followed her for a bit we soon found ourselves using hidden tunnels underground. Once we were far enough away we exited outside and then proceeded to follow Sei.

Shin followed to use Sei in becoming a famous General that will be remembered in history, and I and Ten followed for money and rewards. As we followed Sei through a thick forest we didn't need to stop because of Shin, thanks to me Shin had ended up fighting fewer enemies and wasn't as badly injured.

He still had many small wounds on his body but they had all stopped bleeding and he was only lightly exhausted from the constant fighting and blood loss.