Ten Thousand Books, But Only One You

18 Slough Off The Cicada's Golden Shell (Part 1)

Note: After completing the book, I re-ordered the chapters so that they make more sense. As such, there is a part of this chapter that used to be the prologue (which was used previously to generate anticipation). 

Chapter 18: Slough Off The Cicada's Golden Shell[1] 

After travelling for two days and two nights, with stopovers at remote teahouses and inns in between, we were finally nearing Fanzhou City. Fanzhou City was located near the border of Beiyue and so the roads that we were travelling on were quite close to the border as well. The main road that we took passed through forests, farmlands, villages and valleys. According to the guards in Liu Mengjie's entourage, the forests and valleys were the most dangerous places to travel through as these were perfect locations for mountain bandits and rebels to launch an attack on us. As such, Liu Mengjie had opted to travel in a more humble looking horse-drawn carriage and brought along imperial guards dressed in plainclothes.

We took a brief break as we finished our early dinner by the roadside and quickly returned to our respective carriages to continue on our trip. This time, our carriage went ahead of Liu Mengjie's as we attempted to pass through the valley before nightfall. However, we had met with obstacles on the road and removing them meant that our passage through the valley was delayed. Sensing that something was amiss, we proceeded on with our journey with more haste and heightened alertness.

As the seconds passed, my heart hammered harder and harder in my chest. The air around us stilled and my legs trembled involuntarily.

A sharp whistle resounded outside which was quickly followed by the unsheathing of swords, shouts of panic and neighing of horses.

"We've been attacked! Protect the carriage! There's an ambush—!" Someone cried out gutturally but his warning was cut short. High pitched screams rang out in the night.

Several objects hit against our carriage as thudding noises enveloped us. Anyone could guess that arrows were being fired at us. But our attackers were unaware that their weak arrows would not be able to penetrate our bulletproof carriage.

Fu Wanxi gasped and looked around in horror. "What do we do?"

I squeezed my eyes shut, covered my ears, and said breathlessly. "We escape."

"Huh?"

Our horse suddenly reared, causing our carriage to jerk backwards violently. Thanks to our seatbelts, we were not flung out of our seats. With a loud high-pitched squeal, the horse started galloping forward.

"This is how we escape!" I screamed as our carriage rolled faster and faster away from the attack. But we were about to move into a crazier phase of our journey. "Hang on tight! This is going to be a wild ride!"

***

The wooden carriage shook violently as the horse galloped mindlessly down a rocky and narrow road which ran through the woods. The silk curtains that decorated the opened window flapped in the wind. The loud whooshing sound of the wind, the rattling of the spinning wheels against the uneven ground, the frantic sound of hoofbeats and the animal's harsh breathing could not cover the sound of my thumping heart.

A spike of adrenaline rushed through my throbbing head as the wheels hit a bump on the ground before sinking down and rolling over a shallow pothole. The lamp that swung dangerously over our heads had long extinguished and left us enveloped in heavy darkness. Swaying along with the carriage, I held onto my vest harness—a piece of modern technology typically installed on roller coasters. Opposite me, Fu Wanxi was also gripping tightly onto her lifeline. The side of the carriage scraped past what seemed to be a tree and she let out a yelp. Biting down on my lip, I squeezed my eyes shut and hoped that the whole ordeal would be over soon.