Iron armor stained with blood, the spear-tip still cold.
In this moment, Jiang Ran finally felt like General Jiang Ran — not Jizhou Prefecture’s Chief Constable Jiang Ran, and certainly not Prince Yu’s lapdog Jiang Ran.
Seven or eight personal guards followed close behind him, he the spearhead, they the arrow shaft. When these soldiers of Dachu began fighting in earnest, they were still formidable — still possessed of a momentum that could shatter heaven and earth.
The men Jing Yanli had brought far outnumbered Jiang Ran’s. No fewer than a hundred assassins had poured into the courtyard; he had come to make a show of force, a show of killing and silencing. But before this small spear-tip formation, the remaining seventy or eighty assassins could not hold their ground. When soldiers formed an assault array, they no longer weighed life and death — they weighed only victory and defeat.
The jianghu men from the Western Regions, however, weighed life and death, not victory or defeat.
One side was few in number but unmatched in fighting spirit; the other side was numerous but already deflated. In that courtyard, the spectacle unfolded: fewer than ten men charging toward seventy or eighty.
“A pack of useless trash.”
Jing Yanli came at them head-on, kicking away a subordinate who stood in his path. The opposing spear-tip came straight for his heart; Jing Yanli tilted sideways — his feet never moved, only his upper body leaned aside — and the spear-tip grazed past him.
Jing Yanli seized the spear shaft with one hand and wrenched it hard toward his own chest.
Already wounded, Jiang Ran was running low on strength. He had been fighting for some time and his energy was nearly spent — added to which he had not properly practiced his martial arts in years, so in truth he was already spent, an arrow that had reached the end of its flight.
Yanked by Jing Yanli, Jiang Ran stumbled helplessly forward. Jing Yanli, gripping the spear shaft in his left hand, let out a cold snort, and raised his right fist, driving it savagely toward Jiang Ran’s face.
At that very moment, a hand reached out from behind Jiang Ran. One palm swept Jiang Ran’s head to the side; the other hand, clenched into a fist, launched forward from behind Jiang Ran.
*Boom!*
Two fists collided with tremendous force, and Jing Yanli’s arm was driven backward. Under the sheer power of the impact, his right arm seemed to go numb in an instant.
Yet Jing Yanli’s combat experience was extraordinarily deep, and his martial arts and reflexes were superb. Sensing that his opponent had a follow-up strike ready, he did not hesitate — he drove a kick into Jiang Ran’s chest, used the rebound force to launch himself backward.
Then he saw a terrifying face.
The last sliver of sunlight that day fell upon that terrifying visage. Jing Yanli’s heart lurched — then he realized it was merely a mask.
“You again!”
Jing Yanli’s eyes snapped wide open.
This was one of Yue Huanian’s subordinates. Back when they were examining the bodies in Pingchang County, Jing Yanli had sensed one man whose fist technique was extraordinarily ferocious — each strike vicious and domineering, killing with a single blow. He had encountered this same person in the Jizhou Prefecture prison, where every punch seemed to carry the force to crack open stones.
“Move.”
Li Chi grabbed Jiang Ran by the collar, flung the man to one side. Jiang Ran was no small figure — a man of well over a hundred and fifty jin — yet Li Chi lifted him like a baby chick and with a whoosh sent him flying over the top of the wall.
In his brief moment of flight, Jiang Ran actually managed to contemplate a question.
*This bastard… who is this hero?*
But he had no time to think further — he was already beyond the wall. Yu Jiuling was waiting outside; seeing someone come flying over, and noticing the man looked a bit on the stout side, he worried he might not be able to catch him.
So he recalled a method Li Chi had once mentioned — absorb and redirect force.
When a person drops from height, catching them directly might snap both your arms. But if you could bleed off the downward momentum, you could catch them with ease.
With that thought in mind, Yu Jiuling looked up squarely — and Jiang Ran had already hit the ground.
That looked rather rough.
Yu Jiuling was just about to go help him up when a dark shadow flashed overhead and another person came sailing out, thrown by Li Chi. This time Yu Jiuling at least remembered himself; he grabbed Jiang Ran and stepped back a few paces, and the flying figure landed exactly where Jiang Ran had just fallen.
Jiang Ran was groaning in pain. As Yu Jiuling dragged him backward, Jiang Ran was sitting on the ground being pulled along, his backside sliding across the surface — which ordinarily wouldn’t have been a problem; with his build, what could half a brick do to him? He’d just drag it along with him.
Half a brick would have been fine. But it wasn’t half a brick.
Because while half a brick was above ground, the other half was beneath it. This was a whole brick.
“Mother of—!”
Jiang Ran cried out in pain. The kind of pain… that defied description.
His cry of “Mother!” made Yu Jiuling feel a touch of awkwardness. Hateful as he was of officials, the man had invoked his mother — so Yu Jiuling decided not to steer him toward the next bump in the road. Otherwise he’d have kept dragging, and Jiang Ran’s backside would have gone across the ground like a washboard: *clunk, clunk, clunk…*
From inside the courtyard, people came flying out one by one. By the fourth, the remaining soldiers of the military garrison were climbing out themselves. The cries of pain from those who’d landed outside were rather hair-raising.
Seeing them so cooperative, Li Chi saved himself considerable effort.
The Western Region assassins made to give chase, but Li Chi reached into his deerskin pouch and flung something — it exploded in a cloud of white mist, and those caught in the cloud immediately began coughing.
“Quicklime powder!”
Jing Yanli instantly raised his hand to shield his eyes and swiftly retreated, swinging his arms back and forth as he backed away, trying to block the masked man from closing in.
Li Chi was no fool. Having rescued the men, why keep fighting? With things as they stood, continuing the fight was unpredictable — the enemy was numerous and well-armed, and Li Chi alone against so many was simply not something he was willing to attempt, not unless he’d lost his mind.
After scattering the quicklime, Li Chi turned and sprinted away, then in one leap vaulted over the top of the wall and out.
“Run!”
Li Chi shouted.
The guards hoisted Jiang Ran and broke into a full run. In the rush, the two men couldn’t keep their grip, and Jiang Ran tumbled loose — Li Chi’s hand shot out and seized him by the hair, so at least Jiang Ran didn’t hit the ground entirely, just landed on his backside.
Li Chi gave a pull and a swing, and Jiang Ran’s backside skimmed across the uneven road at speed: *clunk, clunk, clunk…*
There were surely people giving chase behind them. They dared not delay. Fortunately, darkness had by now fallen, and Li Chi picked his way through the narrow alleys — seven turns and eight twists — until he led them to the bank of a small river inside Jizhou City.
“Get in!”
Li Chi shouted, and jumped first into the water. Jiang Ran and the others clearly hadn’t had time to process this, but they all followed him in.
After crossing the river, they entered a small grove of trees. After waiting a while, Li Chi spotted vague shapes moving on the far bank. He pressed his hand downward, signaling everyone to keep quiet.
The figures on the opposite side searched for a while, then left — evidently they had no desire to continue the search openly. Once they were gone, Li Chi looked toward Jiang Ran — and immediately recoiled, pulling his neck back.
“Truly ugly…”
Li Chi remarked with feeling.
Jiang Ran’s face had taken several punches; it was more swollen than a shar pei, his mouth puffed up, his lips so thick they were… beyond description.
“Thank you for saving us, hero.”
Jiang Ran tried to cup his fists, but there was not a single part of his body that did not ache. The tension that had been sustaining him had now broken, and the pain was becoming difficult to bear.
Li Chi said, “Find yourselves somewhere to hide, then look for a chance to get out of the city and save your lives.”
Jiang Ran suddenly steeled himself, dropped to his knees, and said: “Hero, we have nowhere to go. The one who wants to kill us is… is the most powerful man in this city. We cannot leave. Sooner or later it will be death anyway. The hero has saved our lives — these lives belong to you. Please, hero, take us in.”
Yu Jiuling said, “What’s this — you expect us to save you and then support you as well?”
Jiang Ran was taken aback. He thought: the legendary hero is not supposed to be like this. Surely a hero ought to say magnanimously, *No need for such ceremony — from now on we are brothers!*
Yu Jiuling looked toward Li Chi and said, “We saved them, fine — but we can’t then drag ourselves into trouble along with them. What if it brings harm down on everyone? I don’t trust them.”
Li Chi nodded.
Jiang Ran hurried to say, “I may not be much of a man, but I keep my word. You’ve saved our lives — why would we bring harm to you?”
Li Chi looked at Yu Jiuling. Yu Jiuling shook his head. “I still don’t trust them.”
Jiang Ran asked urgently, “What would it take to earn your trust?”
Yu Jiuling said quite naturally, “Put up some money.”
Li Chi: “…”
Yu Jiuling: “Ahem, ahem. I was joking.”
Jiang Ran seemed to recall something. He turned to Yu Jiuling and said: “If it’s money you want, that’s easy enough. I’ve served in the military garrison for over a year, and in the Jizhou prefectural yamen for over a year as well. I know quite a few of their secrets. If you two heroes are willing to take us in, I’ll help you get their silver.”
Yu Jiuling looked at Li Chi. Li Chi said, “No. I cannot endanger my other brothers just because I saved you.”
Yu Jiuling said, “You — not a shred of jianghu principle. Whoever heard of saving someone only halfway? This Magistrate Jiang strikes me as a man of his word, a man who understands principle. We can’t just abandon them like this.”
Li Chi’s eyes went wide.
Yu Jiuling said, “This has nothing to do with the silver. I simply want to be a true man of righteousness.”
Li Chi thought for a moment, then said: “Very well. Stay in this grove tonight. Tomorrow morning, two carts will pass along the riverbank — they’ll have apricot-yellow banners on them. The moment you see them, get on board. Try not to be seen; move quickly. I’ll find somewhere to place you.”
Jiang Ran cupped his fists: “Hero, set your mind at ease. From now on our lives are yours — a single word from you, and we will walk through fire and water without hesitation.”
Li Chi pulled Yu Jiuling away. Yu Jiuling called back to Jiang Ran: “Don’t just rest — give some good thought to how to get the money.”
On the way back, Li Chi looked at Yu Jiuling and said, “Could you have a little more dignity?”
Yu Jiuling said, “He might genuinely be able to help us get silver out from under those corrupt officials. You’ve said it yourself — two hundred taels can arm one light cavalryman. If we can get tens of thousands of taels, that’s the makings of several hundred horsemen.”
Li Chi shook his head. “That’s true, but we still can’t bring them back to the carriage house. You go back first, let everyone know we’re safe. I need to take care of something.”
Yu Jiuling asked, “What?”
Li Chi said, “Liu Yingyuan mentioned her family has two properties in Jizhou City, one of which very few people know about. It should still be empty. I’ll go see whether it’s been searched and sealed — if it’s usable, we can move Jiang Ran and his men there tomorrow.”
Yu Jiuling said, “Isn’t that a bit off? Shouldn’t you ask the owner’s permission first?”
Li Chi said, “Things happened fast. I’ll go back and explain it properly to her — and to her family.”
Yu Jiuling said, “What I mean is, you should ask my sister-in-law Gao Xining. If sister-in-law doesn’t agree to using it, you’d best hold yourself back.”
Li Chi: “…”
—