It was April, the weather was humid, and the prison cell was stuffy and airless. The floor and walls were so damp that water could drip from them, with countless insects moving about without any fear of people. The bedding on the wooden bed had only endured a few days in this cell, yet it already reeked of mold and decay.
Li Keji tossed and turned, unable to sleep, so he simply sat up.
The two jailers guarding outside the iron bars immediately stood up and asked: “What are your orders, sir?”
Due to Shen Guangli’s instructions and Li Keji’s status, the jailers treated him quite courteously.
Li Keji shook his head and said, “Nothing, just rest as you please.”
He sat cross-legged, staring at the dancing shadows cast by the pine torch flames on the wall.
The news of his imprisonment must have reached his mother’s ears by now, right?
How could his mother bear such a blow?
She had never imagined that Li Keji had secretly practiced martial arts for ten years behind her back, let alone that this would lead to such trouble.
But if he had been merely a scholar without the strength to truss a chicken, how could he have survived at Dongting Lake?
Could his mother think of this point and thus forgive both him and Master Tie?
Li Keji’s heart was restless and uneasy, so much so that he only awakened with a start when he heard the sound of the jailers falling to the ground.
A black-clothed masked man had knocked down those two jailers and was already approaching the iron bars, holding a short sword gleaming with cold light.
Li Keji was startled and was about to shout a challenge when the black-clothed masked man said in a low voice: “Master Li, please don’t make a sound. I’ve come to rescue you.”
It was an unfamiliar man’s voice.
As he spoke, the masked man had already swung his sword to cut through two iron bars.
This was the first time Li Keji had seen such a precious sword that could cut iron like mud, and he was startled again.
The masked man squeezed into the cell, his bright eyes scanning Li Keji once, then approached him.
Li Keji suddenly felt a strong sense of unease.
The masked man said in a low voice: “Let me first break Master Li’s chains.”
Li Keji shook his head: “Thank you for your kind intention, but I won’t leave.”
The masked man suddenly smiled: “I’m afraid whether to leave or not is not up to Master Li.”
As he spoke, his left hand was already raised, scattering a handful of azure powder toward Li Keji’s face.
Li Keji had already lifted the blanket from the bed at the moment he raised his hand, covering the masked man, and the powder was blown back.
The masked man exclaimed, “Eh!” clearly not expecting Li Keji to react so quickly, as if he could see through his intentions and act first to block the powder. But he immediately swept aside several steps, leaped forward with his sword, his momentum like lightning. Li Keji’s heart couldn’t help but tighten—not daring to take this sword strike head-on, he retreated rapidly, lifted the wooden bed and hurled it over. In that throwing motion, he had already retreated to the wall, pushed off the wall with his hand, borrowed the force to slide to the iron bars, thus avoiding the attack of the wooden planks shattered into pieces by the short sword.
Just as Li Keji was about to shout aloud, the masked man said: “Please don’t make a sound, Master Li, or I’ll kill those two jailers.”
During Li Keji’s moment of hesitation, the masked man’s left hand was raised again.
Li Keji could only tumble backward through the hole the masked man had entered from, avoiding the powder scattered toward his face.
The masked man immediately pursued, kicking up one of the fallen jailers. Li Keji instinctively reached out to catch the jailer’s body before it could hit the wall. Just as he set the jailer down, the masked man’s sword was already stabbing from behind his head. Li Keji quickly twisted his body and swept both feet toward the masked man’s abdomen, but fell just short due to the iron chains’ restraint. The masked man’s sword was already reaching his head. Li Keji suddenly straightened up, reached out to support the masked man’s right wrist, and, following his charging momentum, pushed forward. The man involuntarily flew forward, his short sword piercing straight into the stone wall.
Li Keji performed a fish leap, and as he stood up from the ground, his right hand had already grasped the man’s left ankle, applying pressure to lock the tendons in his foot.
The masked man’s body went limp, and he was dragged over by Li Keji. The short sword also fell into Li Keji’s hands. He reversed the handle and struck the man’s seven major acupoints, then lifted his face covering.
It was an unfamiliar face, neither young nor old, a very ordinary face with nothing special about it.
Li Keji stared at this person and asked in a low voice: “Who exactly are you, to dare infiltrate the imperial prison to assassinate me?”
The man smiled bitterly and said, “Master Li, I had no intention of assassination—I only wanted to rescue you. My master ordered that if Young Master Li was unwilling to leave, I should find a way to take you away. Please understand our good intentions.”
Li Keji pondered for a moment and asked: “Who is your master?”
The man replied: “I’m sorry, but I cannot say.”
Li Keji stared at the person before him. What should he do? If he handed this person over, it would be too cruel, since this person had come to rescue him from prison. But if he didn’t hand him over, the consequences would be more than he could bear.
The man seemed to understand Li Keji’s dilemma and said, “Master Li, I have unfortunately failed and disgraced my master’s orders. I only ask for death to avoid falling into the Imperial Guard’s hands and implicating my master. But please understand my master’s good intentions.”
Li Keji heard the ominous tone in these words and was about to speak in persuasion when the man’s head had already tilted to one side, black blood flowing from the corner of his mouth, and his body grew heavy.
Li Keji reached out to check the man’s breathing—he was beyond saving.
Though he had read about loyal retainers who died for their cause in history books, such as Zhuan Zhu, seeing such a death warrior with his own eyes today still greatly shocked him. What kind of person could command such loyal retainers?
He couldn’t help but look down at the short sword in his hand.
On the handle, the characters “Duan Yu” were carved in plum blossom seal script.
He had heard Iron Flute Autumn mention that Duan Yu and Xiao Jin were originally a pair of short swords. It seemed that whoever held the Xiao Jin sword must be the master of this suicidal masked man. But this might also just be a scheme to divert blame to Jiangdong.
Because of this man’s resolute suicide, refusing to implicate his master while also not wanting to put Li Keji in a difficult position, Li Keji felt an invisible weight in his heart, as if he had unknowingly incurred some inexplicable debt to someone.
When Meng Jianqing hurried over and saw Li Keji standing there unharmed, he breathed a sigh of relief and cupped his hands: “I apologize for the fright you suffered.”
Li Keji silently handed over the short sword.
Meng Jianqing took it and said, “I’ll immediately report to Commander Shen and arrange a safer cell for you to prevent any more desperate criminals from taking risks.”
Li Keji noticed that when he took the sword, his gaze unconsciously swept over the characters on the handle, his face trembling almost imperceptibly before returning to a composed expression.
Did Meng Jianqing know the origin of this sword?
This young captain was probably much deeper and complex than his surface impression suggested.
Li Keji then smiled bitterly at himself. What time was this? He was still in the mood to probe others’ secrets.
After hearing Meng Jianqing’s report, Shen Guangli pondered in silence.
After a moment, he said: “Such a sharp, precious sword must be recorded in the weapons registry. Do you remember this sword’s origin and history?”
Meng Jianqing replied: “This sword came from the hand of the famous swordsmith Master Huang of the late Song Dynasty. They were forged as a pair, one male and one female—the male named ‘Xiao Jin’ and the female named ‘Duan Yu.’ After being forged, they were presented to the inner court. After the Song fell, both swords were sent to Dadu along with the Song imperial books and treasures. Kublai Khan later bestowed the twin swords upon the surrendered general Zhang Hongfan. After Zhang Hongfan died, the swords were buried with him, but Song loyalists, resentful of how he had forced the young emperor to his death, couldn’t do anything to him while he lived, so after his death, they still destroyed his tomb. The twin swords then changed hands repeatedly. The last record shows they were collected by Zhang Shicheng, but their whereabouts were unknown when Suzhou fell.”
Using such a sword whose origin could be easily traced to abduct Li Keji—was the person behind this too clever or too stupid? Did he want the Imperial Guard to pursue Zhang Shicheng’s remnants, or did he want the Imperial Guard to become suspicious and change their investigation direction?
Shen Guangli pondered for a long time, then smiled slightly: “In war, deception is natural, with truth and falsehood intertwined—this person was most likely someone’s general. Seal this sword well and send it to the Stone Monk, and tell him about this matter.”
Meng Jianqing was startled. When had the Imperial Guard needed others to interfere in their cases?
But he immediately understood.
Let the Immortal Mountains of the Sea investigate the owner of this sword.
Before going to Stone Temple, Meng Jianqing first went to inspect Li Keji’s new cell.
Liu Qianhu, who managed the prison, had arranged for Li Keji to be placed in Tianzi Cell Number Nine, which was the deepest cell in the Tianzi section. After Meng Jianqing’s inspection, he rearranged the guard posts and added archers to guard the high positions.
Liu Qianhu said somewhat dismissively: “Captain Meng can rest assured. No prisoner has ever escaped from Liu’s custody.”
Meng Jianqing glanced at him and said coolly, “Does Thousand-Household Liu think I arranged to prevent Li Keji from escaping?”
Liu Qianhu remained silent.
Meng Jianqing’s thoughts turned several times before he lowered his voice and said: “Thousand-Household Liu, I think I should clarify this matter with you so you can be prepared. I believe what we need to guard against is not Li Keji—he would never want to escape. What we need to guard against are outside assassins.”
Liu Qianhu was stunned. He naturally knew about last night’s attempt to rescue Li Keji, though he didn’t know the specific details—only that the prison breaker had failed and committed suicide. Now it seemed clear that Meng Jianqing believed the rescue had failed because Li Keji simply didn’t want to leave. Then the next person to come might not be to rescue him, but to kill him—if he couldn’t be used by us, he must be destroyed to prevent the enemy from using him.
If Li Keji died in the imperial prison…
Thinking of Iron Flute Autumn’s legendary exploits and fearsome reputation, Liu Qianhu couldn’t help but shudder. Heaven knew he didn’t want to provoke that demon king even a little…
Thinking of this, when he looked at Meng Jianqing’s arrangements again, his perspective completely changed. While grateful that Meng Jianqing had told him the truth, he couldn’t help feeling somewhat bitter.