Chapter 36: Camel Bells (III)

He was a Tang man!
Li Kuo could hardly contain his astonishment, his chest heaving rapidly.
It was him—really him! From the first time he saw him, Li Kuo had sensed something strange about his identity. But out of courtesy, he hadn’t dared say anything then.
Although he was wearing a silk headscarf now, Li Kuo would never forget that sharp, resolute gaze!
How could he appear in Ashibulai City? Could it be that he had some special relationship with the people of the Great Tang?
“Get out of the way, you wretch! Can’t you see the governor’s sedan? I’m talking to you, you scoundrel!”
An evil servant beside the governor, seeing Li Kuo frozen in shock, swung his whip at him.
Only then did Li Kuo react, instinctively dodging to the right. Damn it! He had been too stunned—this meant a fierce fight was ahead!
The young man had come out with his friends to avoid trouble and hadn’t brought a sword, so now he found himself in trouble. With no better option, he could only rely on quick movements to dodge the whip like a wild serpent.
“Swish!”
The whip missed its target and struck the cobblestone road, producing a sharp sound. The evil servant, enraged that Li Kuo had dodged, swung the whip several times at him.
“Swish!” “Swish!”
The whips sliced through the air, and Li Kuo, unarmed, could only defend passively—his situation was extremely critical. Although Zhang Yanji, Zhou Wucui, and the others rushed over desperately, they were stopped by the governor’s personal guards.
“Swish!”
As the whip neared Li Kuo’s face, the silent Tang knight finally acted.
His curved sword traced a strange arc, cutting the whip into three pieces before it could reach the young man. No one understood what had happened. By the time the knight sheathed his sword, all they saw were the servant’s astonished face and the three severed pieces of whip.
“Run!”
He spoke in Tang dialect. Though annoyed, Li Kuo knew this wasn’t the time to be stubborn. He quickly turned and dashed toward the foot of the mountain. “Go!”
Zhang Yanji and Zhou Wucui finally realized what was happening and rushed after him.
His pure white linen robe fluttered in the wind, revealing the silk undergarments beneath.
Only then did the followers of the Tianfang religion realize that Li Kuo and his group were Tang people, and they were no longer surprised by their strange behavior.
The incident happened so suddenly that even the governor didn’t understand what was going on, so his guards didn’t pursue on horseback.

The Tang knight kicked off his saddle and lightly jumped down from his horse. He went up to the governor’s sedan and said something; the governor looked terrified and quickly waved his hand to order his guards not to pursue, urging them to return to the palace at once!
Li Kuo rushed to the foot of the mountain and, along with his friends, took another route toward the south of the city. Their identities had been exposed, and escaping via the original route was too risky. In Ashibulai City, there were Persian cavalry patrolling everywhere with curved swords and spears—he couldn’t expect everyone to treat him as kindly as that Tang knight!
As night fell, the young man had no mood to pay attention to the silver-gray grass, the quietly flowing stream at the foot of the mountain, or the long black shadows cast by the ancient trees along the stone path.
The snow-white walls covered in vines stood before them. Under the moonlight, the young man could see the river glinting silver at the foot of the mountain, and by following its course, he figured out the general location of the southern part of the city!
“Go down from here and run straight—that’s the southern city!”
“Climb over from here, Brother Kuo!”
Zhang Yanji, panting heavily, pointed at the wall and stepped forward toward its base.
Under the soft moonlight, a dark figure flashed by, and several young men skillfully climbed over the wall like monkeys。……
“We must leave Ashibulai City right away!”
Li Kuo gathered all his trusted men, including Ashina Luosi, to discuss their next move. Their encounter with the governor in the noble district atop the mountain had almost exposed his identity. Although they were hired “workers” by the Shule merchant firm and could have pretended to be Tang people, in such a sensitive time, he didn’t want it to trigger a city-wide search.
Though the documents from the Xie Misi firm had some validity in a practical sense, it didn’t mean the governor couldn’t doubt their identities. He had no idea whether that Tang man might turn against him, so the safest option was to leave the city that very night!
“My governor, by the Eternal Heaven, please listen to this old man’s advice.”
Ashina Luosi was annoyed by Li Kuo causing trouble but had to work hard to come up with a plan for him.
“We’re in large numbers. If we leave at night, it won’t be hard to bribe the guards, but it’s likely to alert the city patrols. By then, even with our documents, things will get complicated. Instead, let’s pack our things and set off early tomorrow morning. That way, even if Persian officials come to investigate, we’ll have sufficient reasons to deal with them!”
Ashina Luosi’s analysis was quite reasonable, but…

“How can you be sure that the Persians won’t search the city overnight? If they discover our true identities, no matter how many arms our brothers have, they won’t be able to get out of Ashibulai City intact! Oh, are you a Persian spy trying to buy time to claim credit for your master?”
In times of crisis, Ashina Luosi’s sensitive identity once again became the focus of everyone’s discussion. Many Turks had already defected to the Persians; if he were passing messages to them behind their backs…
Zhang Yanji was struggling with this issue, and seeing Ashina Luosi so “calm and composed” only made him angrier. He grabbed him by the clothes and demanded an explanation.
“General, please let go of me! Listen to me, please!”
Ashina Luosi was terrified and quickly waved his hands to show he had no ill intentions.
“Hmph! If you can’t explain yourself, I’ll treat you as a Persian spy and behead you to see if you’ll still try to deceive others here!”
Zhang Yanji wasn’t polite at all and issued his ultimatum without hesitation.
“As you say, as you say!”
Ashina Luosi replied with a smile, “Since the generals didn’t draw the Persians’ attention when they returned, they probably won’t come here for now. Even if they search the entire city, they’ll start from the noble district at the top of the mountain, and from the north to the south at the foot of the mountain!”
“Besides, it’s not just us alone—we brought hundreds of large chests on camels from Shule City. I don’t know what’s inside, but it must be very important. With all this baggage, we can’t move fast. Even if we leave the city, the Persian cavalry will catch up to us soon!”
He was right. Ashibulai City had a very unique structure. Built along the mountain, the best way to conduct a thorough search was naturally from top to bottom. Below the mountain was a square slum area similar to the outer walls of cities in the Central Plains. According to Persian habits, they would definitely start searching from the north. Since they weren’t light cavalry, it was indeed not advisable to leave the city overnight.
After careful consideration, Li Kuo felt relieved.
“He’s right. Even if the Persians really search the entire city, we’ll have enough time to evacuate once we get the news!”
Li Kuo nodded. “If you’re still worried, you can ask Yu Cheng to send a few men to guard outside the tents.”
“The governor is truly sensible!”
Although he cursed those troublesome Tang people in his heart, Ashina Luosi had no choice but to put on a smile.

“Hmph, for the sake of Brother Kuo, I admit I wronged you!”
Zhang Yanji waved his hand, unwilling to argue further with Ashina Luosi. “It would be great if Big Pancake Face were here too. Though her temper is a bit bad, she’s surprisingly good at finding paths. With her around, we can take the small trails and definitely won’t be detected by the Arabs!”
“Go to hell!”
Pu Dachui snapped in laughter, “Miss Ni has never been to Ashibailai City before—how could she know the roads here? Stop complaining, kid!”
“Hehe, hehe. Well then, everyone, get some rest early today. We’ll set off at dawn tomorrow!”
Having overcome the trust crisis, Ashina Luosi finally breathed a sigh of relief and suggested it with a bitter smile.
How had he been so foolish as to take on this difficult task? These Tang people were heading to Samarkand! They had only arrived in Ashibailai City, and already so much trouble had arisen. What else might happen along the way?
“It’s him… it’s him!”
Was that person really him?
Li Kuo frowned, his expression grave…
There was no conversation throughout the night.
When the sun rose again, Xie Misi’s “caravan” was already ready to set off. The large chests were tied back onto the camels, and all the personal belongings were neatly packed.
The city-wide search that Li Kuo and the others had feared did not occur; everything remained as calm as the waters of the Yibohai Sea.
“Hehe, I told you—the Arabs won’t even discover our identities. As for me, Ashina Luosi, I may not have much else, but I do have some influence. Taking this route, I definitely won’t let you…”
Successfully leaving Ashibailai City, the “caravan” headed toward Kulan City along the planned route.
Ashina Luosi’s voice grew weaker as exhaustion set in during the journey. No one could guarantee absolute safety on the road—neither merchants nor soldiers.
Silver-armored knights, wooden shields, Arab scimitars, and determined gazes…
Had the Arabs really not noticed anything?
Or was it because of him that the governor of Ashibailai City dismissed his suspicions? What was his true identity? Why was he in Ashibailai City, and why could he single-handedly change the governor’s mind?
With heavy footsteps, the sound of camel bells rang out again, raising clouds of yellow sand.