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Xiao Heng opened the curtain and said to Liu Quan, "Uncle Liu, let"s cut through the forest to the north, it"s a shortcut to near Xishui Village."
Liu Quan was surprised, "Through the forest? We can"t, the carriage can’t go!"
Xiao Heng responded, "Let’s leave the carriage and ride the horse."
Liu Quan disagreed, "Can you ride a horse with your injuries?"
Xiao Heng took a straw raincoat from under the seat and put on a bamboo hat, "It’s just superficial injuries, no muscles or bones are affected; it"s not a big deal.”
Superficial injuries shouldn"t get rained on either!
Forget it. Even if he had deeper injuries, would he stop?
Unable to persuade him otherwise, Liu Quan could only abandon the carriage by the side of the road. Luckily, there were two horses. .h.i.tched to the carriage; they each mounted one and headed into the forest.
Marquis Xuanping"s journey wasn"t smooth. Even though he chose a shorter route from the map, he faced various obstacles.
Marquis Xuanping looked at a collapsed wooden bridge, feeling distressed.
Below wasn"t a shallow stream but a raging river.
Marquis Xuanping patted the horse"s head, firmly looked at the broken bridge, and then urged his horse back. When he was about fifty steps away, he stopped and turned around again, his eyes becoming sharp, "Go!"
The horse lifted its hooves and galloped. Approaching the broken bridge, Marquis Xuanping tightened his legs around the horse’s belly and pulled the reins decisively!
Facing the surging river, the horse didn"t retreat but followed its master"s command, leaping across the broken bridge!
"Well done." After landing, Marquis Xuanping patted his horse and said, "Let"s go!"
After pa.s.sing the village ahead, it would be the official road to the Liang w.a.n.g Mansion.
Old Liang w.a.n.g, your time has come!
……
"Liulang! Slow down!"
After countless falls, Liu Quan was nearly out of strength. Even the horses refused to move, and they could only proceed by leading them.
"Look! We"re here!"
Pointing through the pouring rain, Xiao Heng said, "That"s Xishui Village!"
"Really?"
The sky was too dark, and the rain too heavy. Liu Quan"s lantern barely illuminated the surroundings.
From morning till now, he had lost track of the time. All he knew was that he could not walk any more.
"It should be close to midnight now." Xiao Heng panted, "Don"t come any further; wait for me here."
"I can"t... can"t..." Liu Quan sat down.
Taking the lantern from him, Xiao Heng left the horse and walked towards the village.
"Liu… Liulang..." Liu Quan"s voice faded.
The villagers had already evacuated, taking whatever livestock they could. Now the village was empty except for his solitary figure.
As Xiao Heng pa.s.sed through the village and reached its entrance, he heard the distant sound of horse hooves on the official road ahead.
It was him!
It was Marquis Xuanping!
Xiao Heng was still too far from the official road; by the time he reached it, Marquis Xuanping would have already been far ahead.
He shouted from a distance, "Stop! Stop!"
The torrential rain drowned out most sounds, even the horse"s hooves beneath Marquis Xuanping sounded faint.
But Marquis Xuanping faintly heard something.
Was someone speaking?
Calling him?
It sounded like... his son"s voice.
Marquis Xuanping smiled wryly. His son was in the capital, how could he be here?
He must have misheard.
"Go!"
He shouted.
Xiao Heng watched as Marquis Xuanping rode past him on the official road.
He felt breathless.
Marquis Xuanping noticed the lantern in his hand but didn"t stop. He wouldn"t stop for a stranger by the roadside.
Xiao Heng looked at the unstable mountain, where rocks were already falling intermittently. He could almost hear the sounds of internal collapses and fractures within the mountain.
He looked at the tall figure charging towards the mountain and a voice in his heart broke through the heavy restraints.
"Father——"
His voice was drowned out by the pouring rain.
No matter how he called out, Marquis Xuanping"s figure disappeared behind the curtains of rain.
At this moment, Xiao Heng"s strength was finally depleted. He collapsed by the puddle on the official road, the torrential rain mercilessly lashing his back.
He tightly clung to a rock by the roadside.
The rain was icy cold, but as it fell into his eyes and then rolled out, it felt scorching hot.
In the end, he couldn"t stop him.
He still left.
Some people and things, once missed, never come back.
It wasn"t that he didn"t cherish his son; it was that the son didn"t cherish his father.
He would never have the chance... to call him "father" again.
"What did you just call me?"
A familiar voice suddenly sounded from above. Xiao Heng was startled and thought he must have misheard, but still raised his head.
He saw Marquis Xuanping in a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat, riding on the tall horse that had accompanied him in battles.
Marquis Xuanping looked down at him from his horse and asked again, "What did you just call me?"
Xiao Heng picked up the hand tightly pressed into the puddle, his heart suddenly cold. The emotions of grief, remorse, and regret came to an abrupt halt. He turned his face away and snorted, "Nothing... It’s nothing."
"If it"s nothing, then I"ll leave." After saying this, Marquis Xuanping tightened the reins and turned his horse.
"Fa... Father!"
Xiao Heng gritted his teeth.
Marquis Xuanping smirked and turned his horse back around, teasingly looking at his son, "You chased hundreds of miles just to call me father?"
"It was one hundred and thirteen miles."
Not hundreds.
Xiao Heng corrected him with rigor and chagrin.
Marquis Xuanping flashed a smile that simply made people want to teach him a lesson. He leaned down and extended his hand to Xiao Heng.
Xiao Heng was so exhausted that he couldn"t stand up at the moment.
But he still had some strength to raise his hand, it was just that Xiao Heng didn"t want to respond to him.
Marquis Xuanping was thick-skinned. Even if his son refused to respond to him, he would still dote on his son, especially since his son had just called him "father," which was so endearing.
Marquis Xuanping directly grabbed Xiao Heng"s arm and pulled him onto the horse. With his martial arts skills, even if he was injured, lifting a grown man was still easy for him.
Father and son rode together on one horse, with Xiao Heng sitting behind.Raz P."s Thoughts
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