Chapter One: The Five Sworn Brothers

  The whip cracked loudly, and the horses' hooves clattered.

  It's just the season of autumn with high and refreshing air. The sky is especially bright and deep during this season. On the green grassland, there are small Mongolian yurts scattered here and there. Flocks of sheep like white clouds are flowing on the mountain slope. The whole scene between heaven and earth is like a landscape painting.

  On the official road from Kulun to Suiyuan, a large team of horses and carriages was walking. Each carriage was loaded with goods, tied up tightly, with a small black triangular flag inserted on top, with the character "Sheng" written on it. On each carriage, in addition to the driver, there was also a sturdy young man, with his queue wrapped around his neck, looking around proudly. The team of horses and carriages was surrounded by riders, who looked very robust, guarding the team. Some had long guns on their backs, while others had short guns slung over their shoulders. Whistling sounds echoed one after another.

  In the middle of the large fleet, there were over a dozen horse-drawn carriages and sedan chairs. The horses pulling the carts were fat and strong, with shiny coats. The coachmen sitting on the carriage shafts wore red tasselled hats and blue cloth-faced leather jackets, sitting up straight and proudly wielding their whips.

  There were more people and horses guarding the carriages. The most striking one was a sturdy little man with a big knife on his back, shining brightly in the sunlight. This man had a full beard, but upon closer inspection, he appeared to be only in his early thirties. His eyes sparkled, and even when riding a horse, he looked extraordinary.

  The guards of the cavalry were all in their proper places, but he was a bit restless and kept galloping from the front to the back, then from the back to the front again. His hands didn't even hold the reins. A Sanhe horse relied solely on leg strength to urge him forward at incredible speed. Everywhere, cheers erupted: "Fifth Master's great horsemanship! Fifth Master's excellent skills!"

  Suddenly, a shout came from within the team: "There's someone in the bushes on the left!"

  Innumerable eyes instantly turned over, some knights even reached out to grab the big gun on their back. Even this Fifth Master was looking over with a vigilant face.

  Suddenly, a figure emerged from the grass on the left, about 30 or 40 steps away from the official path. The person stumbled and fell back into the grass. Several horsemen were about to rush over to investigate when Fifth Master whistled and shouted: "Eradicate, bring him over here!"

  A horseman suddenly rushed out of the team, on the horse was a young man with a bare head and no hat. With long arms and legs, he looked extremely agile and swift. He urged his horse to rush to where the figure appeared. He leaned sideways, rolled over, and picked up the figure without dismounting. Then he put him on the horse's back. Everything was done while the horse was galloping fast, neat and tidy. He rushed towards Fifth Master and shouted loudly: "Fifth Master, got it! It's a little lama!"

  As he spoke, he urged the horse to hurry back to the carriage team. A group of people surrounded him, all thumbs up in praise of Er Dezi's skillful play. The person on the horse had already been thrown onto the big cart. Upon closer inspection, it was indeed a small lama with short hair, wearing strange clothes, with black and white stripes on his face, and his lips were dry and cracked. With his eyes closed, he moaned softly: "Water... water..."

  "Wu Ye rode over and took a look: 'Give him water!' Er Dezi quickly dismounted and picked up the canteen, just as he approached the little lama's mouth, he subconsciously hugged it. Gurgling sounds came from his throat as he drank half of it down."

  He took a sip of water, and the little monk let out a mouthful of air, opened his eyes, and focused. He looked around four times, then closed and opened them again. He muttered to himself in a low voice: "Is this a comedy? A time-traveler? How the hell did I end up so unlucky?"

  Er Dezi burst out laughing and said to Wu Ye: "I didn't expect it was still our Beijing city's guys!"

  The old man, however, was carefully examining this fellow with a Beijing accent and a lama hairstyle. Although his face was covered in dust, it was clear that he still had a refined appearance, with delicate skin and features. His clothes were divided into upper and lower parts like those of a foreigner, but they were dirty beyond recognition. The style of his leather boots was also very strange, somewhat resembling those worn by the foreign soldiers in Dongjiao Min Alley.

  The little guy closed his eyes for a moment, then suddenly jumped up like crazy. He looked around in all directions, especially staring at everyone's braids most carefully. He looked left and right. Everyone else was also staring at his strange behavior.

  It wasn't until then that he heard his stuttering question, and the expression on his face was as if he had encountered the most absurd thing.

  "Excuse me, may I ask... what year is it this year?"

  Everyone looked at each other and couldn't help but want to laugh, unexpectedly saving such a strange person. It's all unclear what year it is now! Fifth Master also couldn't help but chuckle and said warmly while shaking his whip: "Give him some more water to drink, he must be confused."

  Er Dezi smiled and handed him a water bottle, but he was pushed away by him: "Which year is it this year?" Er Dezi was somewhat annoyed, but was signaled by Wu Ye to step aside. Wu Ye smiled at the young man and said: "Which year? This year is Guangxu 18th year! How could you forget the day you married your wife?"

  That little lama-like person suddenly fell backwards onto the big cart. He seemed to have convulsed twice and almost foamed at the mouth.

  "Oh God, you're kidding me!"

  This little monk-like guy was naturally Xu Yifan.

  When he slowly came to from that nightmarish thunderstorm, his gaze fell upon a desolate grassland. His horse and luggage were nowhere to be found, and Zhou was also gone without a trace. The phone in his pocket had become a useless metal block.

  On the one hand, he was grateful for his good luck in not being struck by lightning, and on the other hand, he turned back to look for people. As a result, all the way along, there was nothing but grass, not even a Mongolian yurt in sight. On the original Inner Mongolian grassland, even though people were scarce, with a clear view, you could still see power poles and transmission towers lining up on the horizon. But now, looking around, it was desolate and empty! He climbed up small hills countless times to look for roads, but there were no signs of them anywhere. It seemed as if he was the only person in the world. With nothing to guide him but the direction of the sun, he stumbled southward, remembering that he wasn't far from Tuo Kete. But by the time night fell, he still hadn't seen anything.

  Up until today, he had been in the wilderness for two days! He was so hungry and tired and thirsty that he finally couldn't help but faint. When he came to, what he saw was a group of people with braids, wearing leather robes surrounding him. These people were carrying ancient-style weapons, surrounding a team of horses and carriages. It made him think of the one thing that was least possible at first glance.

  Time travel!

  Guangxu 18 years... that is, AD 1892, three years away from the First Sino-Japanese War, eight years away from the Boxer Rebellion, and nineteen years away from the collapse of the Qing Dynasty. One hundred and fifteen years away from my own time.

  This is really going back in time for a hundred years.

  This group of people was not bad to themselves, especially the rough-looking Fifth Master, who settled himself on a large cart and covered himself with a fur cloak. The whole team started moving forward again. Xuyi Fan lay in the horse-drawn carriage, drowsily looking at the vast sky above his head.

  What is it that you are most looking forward to now? Is it the fifth master suddenly coming over, tearing off the human skin mask on his face, and it turns out that Zhou Dang is smiling at himself: "Are you scared? Is this arrangement stimulating enough? Don't be stupid, it's still 2007!"

  But looking at the lithe and agile riders around the fleet, those swinging braids. Xuyi Fan also knew that Zhou couldn't arrange this surprise for himself to see.

  He doesn't even have the heart to think about what he should do, how to survive in this era. The grand ambitions and heroic dreams he had imagined after crossing over are all gone. All that's left is a sense of confusion and fear.

  The tickets for next year's Olympic opening ceremony that I finally managed to buy were also wasted...

  The car swayed as it moved, and suddenly a clear and crisp laughter was heard. Then, a face more delicate than a flower appeared before me.

  Hmm... maybe this face is a bit dirty. But the high nose, big eyes, and slender eyebrows form a pretty face that resembles a Hong Kong actress named Leung Lok-sze, whom Xu Yifan likes very much.

  Xu Yifan suddenly felt invigorated and sat up with a start, looking from top to bottom.

  He saw a girl, almost as tall as him, riding on horseback. She was wearing a padded jacket. Even in such loose and shapeless clothing, it could be seen that her figure was full where it should be, and slender where it should be. Her long legs were dazzling to the extreme. Apart from that very rustic-looking braid, she was also an outstanding beauty in his time!

  Just then, a beautiful woman looked at him and laughed: "Are you a lama? I heard that you even forgot what year it is this year. Did you encounter a horse bandit and get scared like this?"

  Xu Yifan sat in the carriage, even the driver turned his head to smile at him. He muttered an explanation: "I... I am not a lama."

  "What's with your hair? It looks terrible! Who else besides a monk would cut their hair like that?"

  Watching the beauty smile, he followed him on horseback. Xu Yifan frowned and could only make up a story at this time: "I was robbed by bandits and my braid was cut off... Is this reason okay?"

  The little beauty wanted to say something, but just heard a loud shout from an angry voice: "Second Ya! How did I tell you the rules of the female escort? Can you talk to men on the road? Be careful of Yin people's offense! Don't go to one side for me!" It was the voice of Er Dezi who had saved Xu Yifan.

  Turning back, Er Dezi was closely following Wu Ye, riding over. Wu Ye also seemed to be displeased with the beauty's behavior, his face sinking. The beauty's eyes reddened from being scolded, she turned her horse and left.

  The fifth master came over and bowed his hands on horseback to Xu Yifan: "Brother, so you're saying that you've encountered a group of bandits?"

  Perhaps seeing the beauty, Xu Yifan's mind became exceptionally clear. He hastily got down from the donkey: "Yes... yes! I'm just a small merchant, but I encountered horse bandits on the grasslands and lost everything. After escaping, I met all of you, and I haven't even thanked you for saving my life yet. May I ask, what is this place?"

  Old Fifth chuckled and said with a heroic air: "Don't mention anything about saving your life, brother. Since you've met Wang Wu of the Escort Agency, I'll take care of your affairs from start to finish. This is our escorted cargo, which is being transported from Kouwai back to Suiyuan. Judging by your accent, you're also a fellow from Beijing, under the emperor's feet. It's perfect that we can head back to Beijing together. Your family must be worried sick about what happened to you?"

  Xu Yifan was taken aback, looking at this Fifth Master. A name was turning in his mind. Finally, he tentatively asked: "May I ask, are you... the great Big Knife Wang Wu?"

  Er Dezi laughed behind his back: "You also know the prestige of Wang Wu Ye!"