Tsʻao and his escort returned, the Minister very sad when he thought of the man who had gone.
But here we need say nothing more of Ts‘ao’s return. Kuan Yü went down from the bridge and started in the wake of the carriage carrying the two ladies, which should have gone about thirty li while this interview had been going on. He could see no signs of it and rode hither and thither looking on all sides.
Presently he heard some one shouting from a hill, calling him by name to halt. He saw a youth wearing a yellow turban and dressed in a silk robe. He held a spear in his hand and was mounted on a horse from the neck of which dangled a bloody head. Behind him were a hundred or so men on foot and they advanced quickly.
“Who are you?” asked Kuan Yü.
The young man dropped his spear, dismounted and made a low bow. Kuan feared this was some ruse so he only checked his horse and gripped his sword the more firmly, saying, “Sir Swashbuckler, I desire you to tell me your name.”
“My family name is Liao and I am known as Liao Hua or Liao Yüan-chien. I belong to a Hsiangyang family. Since these troubled times began I have been an outlaw among the rivers and lakes and I and my comrades have lived by plunder. We are about five hundred in all. By chance my friend Tu Yüan came across two ladies in a carriage just now and, quite wrongly, he took them prisoners and brought them to the hold in the hills. I questioned the servants and so found out who they were and who was escorting them. So I wished them to be set free to pursue their journey. My friend opposed this and spoke so ill-mannerly that I killed him. And here is his head. I pray you to pardon me.”
“Where are the two ladies?”
“They are among the hills,” replied Liao.
“Bring them down here, at once,” said Kuan.
In a short time a party of the brigands pushed the carriage down the hill and the ladies sat there before him.
Then Kuan Yü dismounted, laid aside his sword and stood respectfully before them with his arms crossed.
“Sisters, have you been alarmed?” asked he.
They replied, “We should have suffered at the hands of Tu Yüan had it not been for Liao Hua.”
“How did Liao Hua come to save the ladies?” asked Kuan of those who stood by.
They said, “Tu carried off the ladies and proposed that he and Liao Hua should have one each as wife. But Liao Hua had found out they were of gentle birth and worthy, and was for treating them with respect. When Tu disagreed Liao slew him.”
Hearing this Kuan Yü bowed to Liao Hua and thanked him. Liao then wanted to join himself and his troop to Kuan Yü,
