Continued from post #76
Ai Lang hesitated; he knew Huo Yuan disrespected his father while Ai Lang thought highly of him. Telling him why or who he learned this escape technique from would cause the drift between father and son to widen. “Er….”
Huo Yuan glowered at him.
“What the heck. He already hates his father so much, and I need them to be on my side to successfully get rid of that stupid king of Pan,” thought Wang Ai Lang. “As you can tell, my injuries were not light when the soldiers went after me. The distraction technique was something I picked up from your father during my days with him. He always taught us that survival is crucial for anyone to complete his task even if it means making certain sacrifices.”
Huo Yuan gave a “Hmph!” but he dared not to doubt what Wang Ai Lang said because these actions were typical of his father.
Wang Ai Lang continued, “Even if those soldiers were stupid enough to be fooled, I didn’t think their chief would fall for such child’s play. Who in his right mind would target his own party?”
Despite hearing the explanation, Huo Yuan’s prejudices against Wang Ai Lang prevented him from forgiving him. And hearing how Wang Ai Lang picked up on some of his father’s despicable behavior caused him to dislike Wang Ai Lang further. But now that they were stuck in this situation, wanted by Xiwu’s people, what could they do. Huo Yuan turned to Wu Haocun and asked, “Hero Wu, what do you plan to do next? It looks like we will not be able to live in Luoyang in peace now that we are targeted by Xiwu,” he quickly darted his eyes at Wang Ai Lang and finished off with, “and Pan now.”
Suddenly, Wang Ai Lang asked, “Hero Wu, are you the infamous Wu Haocun?” He was so distracted by his injuries and animosity with Huo Yuan that it only occurred to him that he was standing in the presence of a reclusive hero. Seeing Haocun nod, Wang Ai Lang further asked, “I heard that once you aim for someone, the person’s death is certain, but…” Wang Ai Lang also failed to recognize Wu Haocun because he saw that the daggers released did not kill all of its targets.
Haocun answered, “I’ve returned to the martial realm because of a very important reason which I can’t share yet. Because I want to prevent too many people from learning about my return, I purposely chose not to kill all those masked men.” He paced a bit more and finally sighed, “I hope you two can put aside your differences since we have a bigger task at hand. We all need to leave Luoyang for various reasons, and since the city has been closed off, this is exceedingly difficult to do. Yet, there is one person who can help us leave Luoyang.” He looked at Feng and asked, “Little friend, I originally did not want to take this dangerous option and risk your life, but now that I’ve rescued your friends, I hope you do not mind reciprocating this favor and help me find those two people.”
Feng looked down and answered, “I am not afraid of death and you did help me, so…so I will go along with you and help guide you to this person.”
Huo Yuan joined in, “Hero Wu, if you do not mind us going along with you in the meantime.”
Haocun pleasantly declined, “There is no need for such a large party…”
Huo Yuan interrupted him, “There is strength in numbers and we can all help protect Feng for you too.”
Xue Qian gave a “Hmph!”
Huo Yuan asked him, “Unless you want to stay and deal with the Xiwu envoy yourself?”
Xue Qian exasperatedly replied, “Alright, I will go with you, but do not expect me to protect that dirty waiter.” He was afraid for his life. If the true mastermind behind that ambush was who he suspected it to be, he might as well be dead if he stayed in Luoyang.
Wang Ai Lang also volunteered, “If you do not mind me joining the escape, I promise to also protect Feng until you find your friends.” The truth was, he wanted to be surrounded by people while he recuperated from his injuries and hopefully he could recruit their help in completing his task.
Wu Haocun finally consented, “Fine. Asking this person can be a bit tricky. But whatever you do and however you seek her help, do not mention my name.”
Feng was curious. Wu Haocun was such a well respected hero that he was surprise someone would deny his request, “Who is this person?”
Haocun’s eyes slightly softened as he responded, “One Hundred Flowers Brothel’s musician Chen Biyu.”