My Beloved Enemy

18. Fear and Desperation

Fear and desperation.

These were the only emotions Du YuShi felt as he entered the last village with full speed. Without giving any attention to the villagers who were panicked because of his action, the agitated general rushed to the wheat fields at the end of the village.

Once there, Du YuShi saw a lonely figure cutting the wheat with a reaping hook. Seeing the cutting skills of the farmer which was highly masterly and elegant, Du YuShi knew that he was the general he was looking for. He dismounted his horse and literally ran to the man.

"General, you have to help me!" the agitated man grabbed the shocked farmer's arms.

"You must have confused me with someone else, I am just a farmer," the man said as he tried to save his arms from the forceful grip.

"Whatever you say," Du YuShi started to drag him towards Yu Qiao Bai, "just help him, please. I won't tell anyone who you are."

The farmer didn't resist as he heard the desperation in Du YuShi's voice.

"What happened to him?" the farmer asked as he saw the half-dead man on the horse.

"It is Hei Si Du," Du YuShi explained, "there is only an inch left to his heart," he laid Yu Qiao Bai and opened his robe to show the ominous black lines.

The farmer gasped at the sight, then his eyes came across something else; the jade hairpin on the hair of the unconscious man. "YOU ARE FROM DU!" the farmer spat his words with anger and took a step back.

"No no," Du YuShi raised his hands, gesturing he meant no harm, "he is not from Du, he is from Yu! Just help him please!" he begged the farmer.

"LIAR!" the man shouted, "JADE HAIRPINS ONLY USED IN DU!"

"IT IS ME!" Du YuShi hit his chest a few times, "I am from Du, he is not! I gave him that hairpin!" he exclaimed frantically.

"YuShi..." a weak sound was heard which  was followed by a retching sound as Yu Qiao Bai spat blood again.

Immediately, Du YuShi rushed to the prince and gathered him in his arms gently as if he was afraid to break his fragile body. Wiping the blood from his mouth, he coaxed him by saying "we made it, Xiao Bai, we found the Yang general. He said he will save you, so don't worry."

Yu Qiao Bai smiled instinctively before his eyes closed again. The farmer saw tears in Du YuShi's eyes and felt his agony. As he was not a cruel man, he knelt in front of the unconscious man and tapped a few acupoints, stabilizing him. "Will you do whatever I say if I save him?" he asked, looking at Du YuShi intently.

"I will" was the resolute answer.

"Even if I say you have to die to save him?"

"Okay," he replied without hesitation and with that the farmer was convinced of his sincerity.

"Let's go then," the farmer said and Du YuShi beamed. He lifted Yu Qiao Bai and followed the farmer to his cottage which stood alone near the field.

Once there, the man gestured to Du YuShi to lay Yu Qiao Bai onto the tattered mattress, then he grabbed some bottles from the random drawers. He placed everything on the ground and sat cross-legged in front of the mattress. He poured the liquids into a large bowl with counted drops and mixed them before saying "cut your palm."

"Can I say goodbye to him first?" Du YuShi asked softly. Poor man really believed the farmer's words.

"Silly child, I was joking with you," the farmer let out a chuckle, "I just need a bit of blood for the mixture."

"Oh," the hopeless lover was abashed but happy nonetheless as he could see Yu Qiao Bai to recover. Without delay, he cut his palm with the silver hairpin and let the drops of blood fall to the mixture.

After feeding Yu Qiao Bai with the mixture and tapping a few acupoints, the farmer said "he needs to rest now, after three days, he will be okay." His words made Du YuShi the most happy man on the earth. Then the farmer rose to his feet and gestured to the beaming man to follow him out.

"Now tell me everything from the beginning," the farmer demanded as they sat on the wooden bench in front of the cottage.

As the farmer was the savior of Yu Qiao Bai's life, Du YuShi didn't want to lie to him. Therefore, he told him the happenings (without too much detail), including their identities. The farmer, whose name was revealed to be Wang Li, listened to him in awe and even patted his shoulder when he finished.

"He is so lucky to have you," Wang Li praised Du YuShi who shook his head vigorously.

"I am the lucky one, he is too precious."

The farmer nodded with a grin, "by the way, how did you find me?"

"I heard you talked non-stop about wheat fields when you were captured and rumours said you were reclusive, so I believed you would be a farmer in a wheat field and found the villages which harvest wheat."

"Smart," Wang Li was impressed as it was the first time someone managed to find him. "How about me? How did you know it was me whom you were looking for?"

"The way you used the reaping hook, it was too perfect for a normal farmer."

"You are quite extraordinary," Wang Li clapped his hands, "now help me to cook us dinner."

Like that, three days passed. During that time, Yu Qiao Bai was mostly unconscious, but his demeanour wasn't that sickly anymore. Wang Li kept feeding him with the miracle medicine which was laced with Du YuShi's blood. Who knew the secret ingredient was a few drops of blood? Anyway, Yu Qiao Bai was recovering, Du YuShi was relieved and Wang Li was happy to host the lovers. By that time, Dong Feng and Chun Hua had also arrived in the village and they were staying with a friend of Wang Li. Well, at least at nights because Chun Hua was adamant to sit by Yu Qiao Bai from morning to evening.

Not only lovers but also Fu Jian's messenger falcon managed to find them in the village. According to his message, the king believed their lie, thinking Du YuShi and Yu Qiao Bai were really running away from him from town to town. As expected he was extremely angry at his son, but he couldn't bring himself to disown him. With the help of his sister, Yue Jiao, he agreed to forgive Yu Qiao Bai's life on the condition that they would come to Du as soon as possible.

The message made Du YuShi relieved as one more trouble was eliminated. After all that suffering, Heaven gave the prince of Du another good news.

As Wang Li promised Yu Qiao Bai was awake after three days.