The Runaway's Wife (4): The Bond She Forged
Meanwhile, at that time in Mangdang Mountain. The winter morning sunlight slanted through the bare branches. Snow had piled up to their knees, completely erasing the path along the rugged mountain trail. Two men panted as they climbed the stark white ridge.
“Is this story… really believable?” asked the older man, a gaunt fellow who looked to be in his forties, gasping for breath.
“I don’t know either. But…” replied the younger one, a sturdy man in his mid-twenties, as he grabbed a tree root for support.
“The rumor says that if you’re truly desperate, they’ll take you in without asking questions. They give you drink, meat… and if things are really bad, they’ll even press some travel money into your hand.”
“Hah, that’s something even a passing dog would laugh at.” The older man shook his head, clearly skeptical. “You’re seriously telling me you believe that nonsense enough to drag us up this mountain in weather like this? In these brutal times, you think there are lunatics deep in the mountains handing out free food and shelter to complete strangers?”
“But… we really don’t have anywhere else to go.” The younger man’s voice sank low. “If we get caught and dragged off for corvée labor, we’ll never come back. Whether it’s Mount Li or the Great Wall, going there means death. And it’s not like we have the money to buy our way out. We’ve already sold every scrap of our fields.”
“……”
“If we’re going to starve or freeze to death either way… isn’t it worth the gamble?”
“……Well, that’s true.” The older man let out a sigh that seemed to empty his lungs. “You’re right. At this point, we…”
That was the moment.
Crack!
“Whoa—aaargh?!”
The ground suddenly gave way beneath their feet. A pit cleverly disguised with snow, rotten branches, and fallen leaves. Before they could even scream properly, both men tumbled straight to the bottom.
Thud!
“Ugh!”
“Ah… damn it, my back…”
Dust rose in a cloud. The pit was roughly one zhang deep—about three meters. The walls were sheer and smooth, making it impossible to climb out with bare hands. This was no hunting trap; it was clearly designed to capture men alive.
“Damn it, what the hell is this…” The younger man groaned as he stared up at the pit walls. He jumped a few times experimentally, then shuffled over to the older man, who was still sitting on the ground and moaning.
“Brother Jeong, are you all right?”
“Y-yeah… I’m not dead yet…”
But the older man seemed to have twisted his ankle; he couldn’t get up no matter how hard he tried. And then—
Crunch. Crunch.
The sound of footsteps on snow came from above. More than one person. Several dark shadows fell across the circular patch of sky overhead.
“Well, well. Caught some more people.” A young voice chuckled. Because of the backlighting, his face was hidden, but the object glinting in his hand was unmistakably a spearhead.
“That’s the fourth time this month, isn’t it?”
“Yes. I’ll report to Big Brother right away.”
The voices sounded like they were appraising trapped game. The two farmers huddled at the bottom of the pit, trembling like leaves in the wind.
It’s over… The younger farmer squeezed his eyes shut. They’re bandits… So this is how I die…
Mangdang Mountain was famous for its treacherous terrain and complete lack of government presence. For generations it had been a notorious den for vicious outlaws. The fate of any strong man captured alive by such bandits was obvious: worked to death as a slave, used as bait to lure in government troops, or… turned into special “provisions.”
“……Haa.” The younger man gave up completely and collapsed where he stood.
Before long, a new voice rang out.
“So, more guests have arrived?”
It was a low, thick voice with a strangely carefree ring to it.
“Yes, Big Brother. They fell into the trap we set for wild boar. Two strong-looking fellows.”
“Oh? Let me see.”
Footsteps approached, and a man’s face suddenly appeared over the edge of the pit. He looked to be in his late thirties. His skin was tanned a deep bronze by the sun. A thick, unkempt beard. Hair tied back carelessly. His clothes were ragged, but his eyes sparkled with unmistakable clarity.
It wasn’t the oppressive aura of a tiger, nor the sly cunning of a snake. Rather… it was the friendly, disarming light of a stray dog wandering the village outskirts—the kind that quietly dismantled people’s wariness.
“Hmm.” The man scanned the inside of the pit, then broke into a grin. “Either of you hurt?”
“……Pardon?”
The farmers were stunned. They had expected spears to come thrusting down at any moment, or ropes to bind them. They had assumed they would become slaves. At the very least, they thought everything they owned—including their underclothes—would be stripped away.
Yet the man who appeared to be their leader was casually asking after their well-being.
“H-hey…” The younger farmer asked in a trembling voice. “Who… who are you?”
“Me?” The man scratched the bridge of his nose. Even that gesture felt less like a bandit and more like the neighborhood loafer you’d see at the local tavern. “I’m Liu Ji. Around here, folks call me Big Brother Liu.”
“Big Brother Liu…” Something flickered across the younger farmer’s face. “Ah, so you’re the one!”
“Hm? You’ve heard of me?”
“I heard the rumors! They say there’s a righteous outlaw on Mangdang Mountain who helps people in trouble!”
“Righteous outlaw.” Liu Ji—Liu Bang—let out a wry chuckle and snorted. “Righteous outlaw, my ass. We’re just a bunch of people with nowhere else to go, huddling together. I used to be the village headman at Sishui Pavilion, but one thing led to another and I ended up here.”
“You were a village headman…?”
“That’s right. But the prisoners I was escorting all ran off halfway through. According to Qin law, an official who loses his prisoners loses his head too, right? So I said ‘to hell with it’ and ran.”
Liu Bang plopped down casually on the edge of the pit. There wasn’t a trace of tension in him; he looked as relaxed as if he were chatting by a well.
He rested his chin on his hand and stared intently at the younger farmer’s face.
“So why did you two crawl all the way up this dangerous mountain? You don’t look like hunters.”
“We…” The older farmer spoke from where he sat. “We ran away from corvée labor.”
“Corvée labor, huh.” Liu Bang nodded. His gaze deepened slightly. “Mount Li? Or the Great Wall?”
“Mount Li.”
“I see. That’s where I was headed too. That damned tomb.” Liu Bang clicked his tongue.
The older farmer continued in a tearful voice. “Ten men have already been taken from our village alone, and not one has come back alive. We all know going there means death. How could I walk there on my own two feet?”
“……Yeah. I know how you feel.” Liu Bang’s eyes narrowed. “Hey, Guan.” He slapped his thigh and stood up, calling to the thin man standing behind him. “Bring the rope. Let’s pull these boys up.”
“Yes, Big Brother!”
It was the same voice from earlier. At the same time, a thick rope made of twisted vines descended into the pit.
“Here, grab on and climb up.” Liu Bang extended his hand. It was rough and calloused, but it looked more reliable than anything else in the world.
“Th-thank you.”
The two farmers were pulled up to the surface one by one.
……
“Just hold on a little longer, Brother Jeong.”
The younger farmer supported the older one, whose ankle was injured, as they went deeper into the mountains. After walking about a daqing—roughly fifteen minutes—through the snow-covered fir forest on the slope, Liu Bang, who had been leading, stopped and pointed ahead.
“We’re here.”
The farmers lifted their heads, breathing hard. And at that moment—
“……Wow.”
Both men’s mouths fell open.
A cozy basin sheltered by a sheer cliff that blocked the wind like a folding screen. In the middle of the white snow-covered mountains, a place where warm smoke rose as if from another world. In that clearing, about thirty people were huddled together. Woodcutters, farmers, men who looked like deserters… Men of all descriptions sat around a large bonfire, warming themselves.
That wasn’t all. In front of the huts, snot-nosed children were drawing pictures on the ground with twigs, and women were stirring porridge in a huge pot. White steam rose, and the savory smell of porridge filled the air. To the two men, it was the scent of human life—the first they had smelled in a very long time.
“This place…”
“Yeah. This is our home.” Liu Bang clapped the dazed men on the shoulders. “It’s nothing fancy, but it keeps out the wind and rain. There’s warm food and drink too.”
At the same time, one of the women cooking spotted them and came over.
“Oh my, you’re hurt. Come this way. I’ll bandage that for you.”
With practiced skill, she helped the older farmer over to the warm bonfire. The younger farmer wiped his face, feeling as if he were dreaming.
“It really… exists.”
“The rumor about the righteous outlaw who helps people?”
“Yes. The rumors definitely mentioned a small village like this.”
“Ha, those rumors travel fast.” Liu Bang chuckled and pulled a wine bottle from his waist. He bit off the stopper and took several deep gulps.
“If we’re being precise, I wouldn’t call it helping. I’m just accepting them as comrades.”
“Even the children and women?”
“That’s right. We’re all in the same boat, aren’t we?” Liu Bang jerked his chin toward the people around the bonfire. “They ran because they feared Qin law, they were driven out because they couldn’t pay taxes, they drifted here after losing their homes. There isn’t a single person without a story, not one without scars. That’s why they’re comrades. At the edge of a cliff, you have to hold each other’s hands so no one falls.”
Liu Bang thrust the wine bottle he’d been drinking from toward the farmer.
“First, let’s eat. You must be starving.”
“……”
The farmer accepted the bottle with trembling hands. One swallow sent a hot flame racing down his throat. It was the taste of fine clear wine he had only encountered once before, at an ancestral rite. A clean, fragrant aroma he had never even dared to dream of.
Such precious liquor, given to complete strangers…
A short while later, sitting around the bonfire with a steaming bowl of porridge in his hands, the farmer spoke again.
“Um… Liu Ji. I mean, Big Brother Liu.”
“Yeah?”
“Why do you do this kind of thing?”
“What kind of thing?”
“Taking in fugitives, feeding them, giving them shelter… What do you gain from it, Big Brother?”
Liu Bang was silent for a moment. He took another swig of wine and stared blankly up at the winter-blue sky. The sun hanging at its zenith shone with blinding brightness.
“Gain, huh…”
At last he spoke. “It’s true there’s no real gain. Like you said, when this many people gather, we’re easy to spot and feeding everyone is a constant struggle.”
“Then why…”
“Well, it’s simple logic.” Liu Bang shrugged. “Because I’ve been in trouble before.”
“You’ve been in trouble?”
“That’s right. I was in trouble because I had no money, in trouble because I had no connections, in trouble because I couldn’t see any future. I’ve been through every kind of hardship. Past thirty and still unmarried, just loafing around and getting pointed at by everyone.”
Liu Bang smiled bitterly. Yet there was no shadow on his face.
“But every time that happened, there were people who helped me in the most incredible ways. Friends who bought me drinks, older brothers who lent me money, younger brothers who found me work. And…”
Liu Bang’s gaze lingered for a moment on a point in the empty air.
“There was also a foolish person who always believed in a worthless man like me.”
Soon a warm, tender smile curved his lips.
“So now it’s my turn to help. There’s no need to overthink it. Isn’t it a man’s duty to return what he’s received?”
“……Wow.”
The farmer was speechless. What kind of man was this? A man who took complete strangers into his family without expecting any reward, simply because he had been helped and now wanted to help others in turn. A man who, even when his own life was at risk, could not turn away from those who suffered.
Is this what they call a true hero in the stories?
Something hot surged up in the young farmer’s chest. Hotter than tears, stronger than liquor. If he had to give it a name, it would be hope.
“Big Brother.” The farmer set down his porridge bowl and sprang to his feet. He bowed so deeply his waist seemed about to snap.
“Please accept me as your comrade. I will devote this life to you!”
“Good.” Liu Bang laughed heartily. “But if you’re going to be a comrade, shouldn’t we at least introduce ourselves properly? I still don’t know your name.”
“Ah… I-I’m sorry.” The farmer quickly bowed his head again and declared his name in a loud voice. “My name is Yan Haiyan! Please take good care of me from now on, Big Brother!”
“That’s a fine name! All right, I’ll be counting on you too, Haiyan!”
Liu Bang’s bold laughter rang out, echoing deep into the mountains.