Chapter 247 - 245: Assassination
They arrived at the Liyang County Magistrate’s Office.
The Prison Chief saw Qian Dalei and, his usual casual demeanor gone, pulled him aside. He lowered his voice, his expression grave. "Dalei, the higher-ups gave special instructions for this assignment. The prisoner, Zhou Qingyi... must be delivered to Yazhou. Be sharp on the road..."
His voice trailed off, the rest of his words unspoken.
But Qian Dalei understood the meaning behind the three words, "must be delivered."
It meant he wasn’t to sell her off the moment they were out of the Commandery City.
If he were on his own, with no ties, he might have actually done just that.
The other escorting government constable, Sun Yizhou, was already there.
His complexion was unnaturally pale. He was tall and gaunt, and spoke very little.
When Qian Dalei tried to make conversation, he merely lifted an eyelid, gave a noncommittal "hn," and ignored him, standing alone in a corner.
The sound of iron chains dragging across the floor came from the direction of the prison cells.
Three prisoners wearing heavy wooden cangues were escorted out by government constables.
The woman in the lead, despite her filthy prison clothes, disheveled hair, and smudged face, could not hide her naturally refined features.
It was none other than the Zhou Family’s Miss Zhou, Zhou Qingyi.
But at this moment, her eyes were vacant, as if she were a doll whose soul had been stolen away.
She numbly allowed the government constables to shove her forward.
Behind her followed a man and a woman.
The man appeared to be in his early thirties, but he had been tortured beyond recognition.
The woman was also a beautiful lady in her thirties or forties.
However, she had few visible signs of torture.
But just like the man, her clavicles had been pierced.
Qian Dalei sighed inwardly. ’Fate is so cruel.’
’I’d normally never even get a chance to meet such important people.’
Roll call, fingerprinting, and the exchange of official documents.
By the time the tedious procedures were finished, it was already noon.
"Let’s go!"
Qian Dalei took a deep breath and shouted.
He and Sun Yizhou flanked the three special prisoners, walking them out the main gates of the County Magistrate’s Office.
They left Liyang Commandery City.
It was the sixth month, and the sun grew venomous, mercilessly baking the loess-paved official road.
When carts and horses passed, they kicked up clouds of dust that were thick enough to choke on.
Qian Dalei and Sun Yizhou were drenched in sweat in their official uniforms.
Their clothes clung to their backs, soaking through, then drying, then soaking again, leaving behind white, circular salt stains.
The three prisoners, including Zhou Qingyi, wore heavy wooden cangues, making every single step an arduous struggle.
Her eyes remained vacant, as if the searing heat and hardship around her had nothing to do with her.
Qian Dalei couldn’t bear to watch. During a rest stop, he tossed Zhou Qingyi a waterskin, letting her have some water.
Sun Yizhou pretended not to notice.
Along the way, barely anyone spoke, aside from the necessary shouts and urgings.
At night, they stayed at a post station, where the conditions were even more primitive.
As exiled prisoners, they could only stay in a dilapidated shack right next to the stables.
The air was thick with the stench of livestock manure and rotting straw, while mosquitoes swarmed them, BUZZING relentlessly.
The roof was drafty, and the hay spread on the floor gave off a musty odor.
Qian Dalei leaned against an earthen wall, gnawing on a rock-hard piece of dry rations and washing it down with cold water.
Just then, a figure approached in silence.
It was Zhou Shuwei’s personal head maidservant, Bi He.
She had clearly been following them in secret.
She quickly stuffed a small piece of broken silver into the hands of both Qian Dalei and Sun Yizhou, who was leaning on the other side. She pleaded in a low voice, "Lord Officials, please, be merciful. Let my young miss have something hot to eat. I’m begging you."
Qian Dalei felt the silver—about five taels. A decent haul.
’But whether I’ll be able to bring this silver home safely is another question entirely.’
His heart filled with mixed feelings. He glanced at Zhou Qingyi, who was curled up in a corner, and then at the expressionless Sun Yizhou. Finally, he tucked the silver into his robes, giving his silent consent.
Bi He thanked him profusely and hurried over to Zhou Qingyi’s side.
From a small bundle she carried, she took out a soft, white-flour steamed bun and a cold chicken leg wrapped in oil paper.
Kneeling beside Zhou Qingyi, she whispered in a tearful voice, "Miss, please eat something. It’s a sweet-pastry bun, your favorite."
Zhou Qingyi mechanically took the food and began to eat numbly, not saying a word.
Watching her, Bi He couldn’t help but begin to sob quietly.
She then took a few more buns from her bundle and handed them to the man who was formerly an Honored Guest of the Zhou Family.
...
On the afternoon of the sixth day, they crossed the border of Liyang County.
Suddenly, five men carrying gleaming steel sabers appeared on the official road, walking toward them.
The leader, a man with a scarred face, let his eyes roam all over Zhou Qingyi and grinned. "Well, well! Looky here, Lord Officials. The goods you’re escorting this time are quite fine. Me and the boys have been holding it in for a while. We’d like you to do us a favor and sell us this little lady for some fun. The price is negotiable, how about it?"
His cronies behind him burst into lewd laughter.
Qian Dalei’s heart skipped a beat. He cursed inwardly, ’These thugs! They even dare to mess with Officials!’
Steeling himself, he stepped forward, hand on his saber, and shouted, "Insolence! We are Officials escorting a serious criminal! How dare you block our path? Step aside at once!"
The scar-faced man spat. "Pah! Don’t fucking try to scare us with your official papers. Out here in the middle of nowhere, nobody would even know if you died and got fed to the wolves. Brothers, get ’em!"
The conflict erupted in an instant.
Qian Dalei and Sun Yizhou drew their sabers to meet the enemy, but they were just ordinary government constables who had only practiced some basic martial arts and weapon skills. Their abilities were rudimentary.
Within two or three moves, Qian Dalei’s arm was slashed open, and blood began to pour out.
Sun Yizhou also took a kick and fell to the ground.
The thugs were grinning maliciously, about to pounce on the trembling Zhou Qingyi.
Just in the nick of time,
a blue shadow shot forth like a bolt of lightning.
Everyone saw a blur, and a young man in a blue robe had arrived as if he were a phantom.
His movements were ethereal, but his strikes were merciless, his palms and fingers whipping up a sharp wind.
"CRACK!"
"PFFT!"
A series of bone-cracking and dull thuds rang out.
The five thugs were struck down by the blue-robed young man as easily as chopping melons and vegetables, barely even seeing his moves.
"Spare us, great hero! We were blind and didn’t recognize your greatness! We beg you to be merciful and spare our worthless lives!"
The men kowtowed like they were pounding garlic.
Qian Dalei clutched his wound, gritting his teeth against the pain as he stepped forward. "Brave warrior, thank you for saving us. They were just overcome by lust. Since they’ve been punished, why not let them go?"
A cold smirk touched the corner of the blue-robed young man’s mouth. "Let them go? Have you ever seen Martial Artists at Qi Realm Perfection resort to such low-life schemes as robbing women on an official road?"
Qian Dalei froze.
Before he could react, the blue-robed young man moved again. With a few flicks of his fingers, the five thugs collapsed limply to the ground, dead before they could even make a sound.
Qian Dalei looked at the corpses on the ground and hurriedly bowed to the young man. "Thank you for saving my life, brave warrior! May I ask your esteemed name? In the future..."
But the young man didn’t even glance at him. In a flash, he vanished back down the forest path from which he came, leaving only a distant, indifferent back.
Qian Dalei stood there, embarrassed.
He and Sun Yizhou exchanged a look.
’This blue-robed man’s skills are far beyond our imagination. He must be a former subordinate of the Zhou Family.’
A chill went down their spines, and they were secretly glad they had been relatively courteous to Zhou Qingyi along the way.
After hastily dressing their wounds, the two of them continued on their way, escorting the prisoners.
...
After traveling for over a month, Qian Dalei’s group, weary and dust-covered, finally arrived at Guazhou Ferry.
The setting sun was the color of blood, dyeing the vast surface of the river a brilliant crimson-gold.
Once they crossed the Li River, they would be out of Jiangzhou.
Next to the ferry crossing, an inn named "Guazhou Inn" was brightly lit.
The inn was quite large, with two stories and several separate courtyards.
It was a place where merchants from all corners of the land often stayed.
The clientele was a motley crew of traveling merchants, Darts Masters, and Jianghu Travelers. One could even occasionally spot well-dressed individuals with shifty eyes.
Several attendants stood at the entrance, enthusiastically greeting guests from all directions with wide smiles and brisk movements.
Their eyes showed little surprise as they scanned Qian Dalei’s party of Officials escorting prisoners.
"We need a quiet, small courtyard."
Qian Dalei said to an attendant, his voice hoarse.
The attendant replied, "Sir, a private courtyard is two taels of silver for one night. Payment first."
Qian Dalei hesitated immediately. The price was equal to half a month of his salary.
’I might as well just find a woodshed to spend the night in.’
As he was hesitating, two figures silently followed them inside.
Bi He stepped forward and said, "We’ll pay the Lord Official’s expenses."
As she spoke, she handed over some scattered silver coins.
"Right away."
The attendant’s smile grew even wider upon receiving the silver.
He led the group toward the rear courtyard.
The so-called private courtyard was just an open space enclosed by a simple bamboo fence, with a few crude, tile-roofed huts inside.
Though somewhat dilapidated, it was indeed shielded from the noise of the main inn.
He chained Zhou Qingyi and the other two prisoners to the thick trunk of an old locust tree in the courtyard.
Qian Dalei instructed Sun Yizhou to stand guard while he himself hurried off to find the Shopkeeper and ask about the next day’s river crossing schedule.
Sun Yizhou leaned against the courtyard gate, cradling his saber.
「The night deepened.」
The clamor of the ferry crossing gradually subsided.
Inside the small courtyard, the oil lamp flame was the size of a bean, casting a dim, yellow light that made shadows stretch and shrink.
Just after midnight, all was silent.
Suddenly, a black shadow vaulted over the courtyard wall like a cat, landing without a sound.
It was a man dressed in the short jacket of an inn attendant. His eyes were fierce, and he clutched a poisoned dagger.
His gaze swept the area and immediately locked onto Zhou Qingyi, who was feigning sleep while leaning against a courtyard pillar. Murderous intent flared in his eyes. He crouched down, about to lunge.
"Hmph!"
Suddenly, a figure flashed into view.
On the wall, the blue-robed young man suddenly sprang into action. A Soft Sword had appeared in his hand, its gleam striking like a viper from its den. Though he moved second, his blade arrived first, aimed precisely at the assassin’s throat.
The attendant-assassin clearly hadn’t expected such an expert to be in the courtyard. His face fell in shock as he hurriedly brought his blade up to block.
"CLANG!"
Sparks flew.
The young man’s Swordsmanship was fluid and unpredictable, his attacks relentless. The Soft Sword clung to the assassin like a maggot in the bone, wrapping, coiling, pointing, and stabbing, forcing the killer into a panicked defense.
Within three to five moves, the Soft Sword had wrapped around the opponent’s neck like a venomous snake and tightened gently.
"Urk..."
The assassin’s eyes went wide. Blood spurted from his throat as he collapsed limply to the ground, dead.
Before the blue-robed young man could even catch his breath, a man and a woman emerged silently from the shadows of the courtyard.
They were a middle-aged pair. The man had a cold, hard face and wielded a Broadsword.
The woman was beautiful and alluring, but she wielded a pair of slender Mandarin Duck Short Swords.
"Kill!"
The middle-aged man let out a low roar. His Broadsword descended upon the young man’s head with the ferocious power to split mountains and shatter rock.
The surging Sword Qi kicked up dust from the ground.
At the same time, the woman’s figure moved like smoke, silently flanking him.
Her twin Sword Techniques were vicious and cunning, aimed directly at the vital points on the blue-robed young man’s body.