“Ahh… I’m dying…”
A groan of pain, barely held back, mixed with soft gasping breath. Qu Longjun, covered in sweat, sat on a stool beneath the eaves as Ning Ji pressed his palm along her arm, kneading over her body.
Her jaw was clenched tight, her hair damp and matted into strands.
The morning’s intensive training had just finished, and the pushing of qi and blood through the meridians that followed it was far from pleasant. Under the drive of his inner strength, Ning Ji’s palm burned hot, guiding the acceleration of Qu Longjun’s qi and blood, and what followed was an unparalleled sensation of soreness, numbness, and pain, which made Qu Longjun cry out involuntarily in soft, low sounds.
There was also a faint hint of intimacy woven through it all.
The young man and woman, having already confessed their feelings for each other, had shared many kisses and embraces since, and in their hearts each had already settled on the other—but the taste of love comes on gradually, and after all, they had not yet crossed that deeper threshold. Here, beneath the morning eaves, in the midst of this hard-to-bear pushing of qi and blood, as his palm kneaded over her, something even softer stirred and spread quietly between the two of them.
She clenched her teeth tightly, and the sounds she made were quite faint.
After this kind of morning session ended, the two of them sat holding hands on the stool for a while. Qu Longjun murmured “it hurts so much” a few times before finally going to bathe and change her clothes. Ning Ji then left the courtyard, went out and bought a large breakfast, and brought it back to eat together with her.
“…That little demoness Chen Shuangran wants to meet you—there’s probably nothing good in it. You spent your strength on me this morning… you really must be careful.”
“…Mm, that didn’t take any strength at all. I’m perfectly fine.” Ning Ji looked full of spirit.
This kind of internal-style pushing of qi and blood did genuinely take something out of a person, but the subtle, strange feeling that made both their hearts flutter—one neither of them could put into words—more than made up for the depletion, and even left him feeling more capable of fighting than usual. This wasn’t something easily explained in the present age; in a later era, it would probably be described as the effect of hormones—a matter of scientific principle.
“…As for you, though, I’m more worried. Today I’ll still send you off to a teahouse near the Zuo family to pass the time.”
“Mm.”
“As for Chen Shuangran… I’ve thought it through. As long as I’m worse than her, there’s not much she should be able to do to me.”
“They’re all bad people. You mustn’t go soft.”
“Mm.” Ning Ji ate as he nodded, then paused. “…Just from what happened to Yue Yun yesterday, whoever this bunch kills, none of it would be unjust.”
After finishing breakfast, they washed up, applied a disguise, and then set out with the identification papers proving who they were. This morning, the atmosphere in the streets had grown considerably more severe. The Imperial Guard was already stationed around the city’s periphery, and it was said they would check identities ward by ward. The wording used verbally wasn’t overly strict, but everyone knew this was no small matter.
Bringing Qu Longjun along, Ning Ji carried out several rounds of reconnaissance and evasive maneuvers. He already counted among the top scouts; anyone tailing him rarely escaped his notice. But for Qu Longjun’s safety, he doubled these precautions to feel at ease.
Chen Shuangran’s wish for a meeting had been conveyed the night before by the Fish King, but given that little wretch’s calculating mind, who could say she wouldn’t have people watching the two of them starting from Huaiyun Ward.
If that were truly the case, Ning Ji had no intention of letting any of those watchers live—he didn’t care if he had to act within the city itself.
Fortunately, no such watchers turned up.
On the way to the Zuo family, they could sense from far off that something was off in the atmosphere around Houguan County; along the road they could even hear people talking about it.
“That area’s probably about to have trouble, huh…”
Ning Ji and Qu Longjun glanced at each other.
The night before, as the two of them had pieced together their information, this possibility had already been confirmed—the next step after framing the young magistrate’s aide was, naturally, a riot.
Passing through the small alley near the teahouse run by the Zuo family, Qu Longjun tugged at Ning Ji’s sleeve.
“I think I’ve got a rough idea what plan that little demoness has in mind for meeting you…”
“What plan?”
Qu Longjun leaned close to his ear and spoke a few soft words.
……
Having settled Qu Longjun in safely, Ning Ji headed toward the place agreed upon the night before. In the distance, the atmosphere around Houguan County already seemed to be growing loud with commotion. He climbed to a few high vantage points to look out and found some Imperial Guard troops and yamen runners moving toward the north of the city. Many of the watchtowers already had observers stationed, flag signals waving, and toward the imperial city, a warning hot-air balloon had even been raised.
Fuzhou’s flag signals differed from those of the southwest, and Ning Ji couldn’t quite make sense of them, but from a rough look at the deployment of troops within the city, he could tell that several locations showed a clear distinction of priority and coordination with one another—which told him the court had prepared well in advance for this.
Nor was that surprising—for a matter of this scale, if they hadn’t prepared, that would have been unforgivable.
He gave it no further thought and continued on toward the agreed meeting place.
Not long after, the sound of disturbance rose from the distance, as the court launched a roundup against the crowd of rioters.
……
On the roads leading north from Houguan County toward the Ministry of Justice within the city, as the Imperial Guard closed in, the crowd that had gathered for the “excitement” grew, for a moment, quite bewildered.
The victims’ families, being surrounded at the front, weeping and wailing, were also stunned. According to their fellow neighbors, this time they had only meant to go to the Ministry of Justice to seek justice for their injured family members, to have a good cry—the same sort of thing had happened two months earlier in Houguan County, and the court, aside from sending people to placate them, hadn’t shown much temper at all, to the point that a soldier had even taken his own life on the spot and the army could only apologize. So how was it that this time, when they were clearly the ones in the right, the court had sent out the army instead?
“…Officials protecting their own!” Someone hesitated a moment, then cried out loudly. “Just as we all suspected—they’ve already secretly let the young magistrate’s aide go free—”
“The Beiwei Army is just the same sort of trash…”
“The young aide rode his horse and committed violence—!”
“How can the authorities act like this…”
“Is there no law left at all?”
Bit by bit, indignation spread through the crowd.
Among the people, government informants pointed out and marked targets, while soldiers stationed at higher points had already fixed their eyes on the important figures within the crowd.
At the first quarter of the hour of the Snake, the front line carrying water-and-fire clubs pushed into the crowd, beginning the arrests.
There came a ringing clang—someone in the crowd had drawn a blade—and the next instant, he was struck down by an arrow fired from above.
The moment blood sprayed, the rest of the underworld figures mixed in among the crowd suddenly erupted. Some were core members acting on orders from above, already understanding that this affair was different from the ordinary; still more were people who, having heard of Chen Shuangran’s glorious feats, had come along to join the excitement and build up some credentials of their own. Now, wanting to find somewhere to flee, they discovered that the streets and alleys before and behind them had already been sealed off by the authorities.
“Kill them—!”
Water-and-fire clubs, fishing nets, and shackle-chains plunged into the crowd, and chaos exploded outward…
To the west, on a taller building further off, Chen Shuangran lowered her telescope and grinned, eyes wide. “So it really… did break out…” Her gaze turned toward Mr. Jin beside her.
Mr. Jin was smiling too. “I told you—the court wasn’t going to just keep swallowing its anger forever. With a second disturbance, they’d have to fight back.”
“Fortunate that we had your guidance, sir.”
“It relies on the men in the thick of it fighting hard.”
“…Qiu Laohu has a hot temper and no cunning to speak of; that Liang Run bunch is much the same… they had no choice but to fight.”
The two of them raised their spyglasses again for a while longer.
In the distant streets and markets, the gathered underworld figures did not simply submit to arrest. Spurred on by certain ringleaders, they drew their weapons and fought fiercely, while some searched for a way out. The encircling government troops nearby stretched across several city blocks—across such a wide area, they figured there had to be a way to escape—while the common people who happened to be caught in the middle were, for the most part, ordered at gunpoint to crouch on the ground, though a smaller portion were swept forward, caught up in the surge, amid a chorus of cries and wails.
The two ringleaders of the underworld factions who had earlier been in charge of stirring up and coordinating the crowd—one named Qiu Laohu, the other Liang Run—did not, as it turned out, surrender at the first opportunity, but instead chose to escalate the situation.
Mr. Jin lowered his spyglass. “I should be going now.”
“Take care, sir.” Chen Shuangran said. “If it doesn’t succeed, no matter—I only hope you return safely.”
He gave a cold smile, turned, and vanished out the door.
……
Not long after the sounds of fighting and killing began to rise from the distance, Ning Ji arrived at the agreed spot.
A long, tree-lined street in the western part of the city, one that could avoid some of the higher vantage points of surveillance, though it wasn’t exactly sparse of foot traffic—at least, not the kind of place suited for open bloodshed.
He walked slowly forward, and someone bumped into him from ahead.
It was a young man with loosened hair, evidently one who had trained in martial arts to some degree. Feigning inattention, he pressed a slip of paper into Ning Ji’s chest as he drew close, saying, “My master says—meet at Heyun Pool, below Jiuxian Mountain.”
Ning Ji had already caught the paper, and unfolded it to find a crude little map scrawled crookedly upon it, the artist perhaps Chen Shuangran herself, perhaps not.
It was, in its own way, rather amusing.
The messenger had already dashed several zhang away to the rear; his task complete, he had no further business here. But just as his mind began to relax, someone suddenly seized his arm.
The young man who had delivered the message appeared beside him now, ghostlike, and gripped his arm.
“Uh…”
He turned his head to meet Ning Ji’s eyes, not quite understanding.
“Who’s your master?”
“You… you’ll know once you go and see…”
“You tell me to go see someone and I just go?”
“You…” He froze for a moment. “Aren’t you here… to see that person?”
Though the young man in front of him was somewhat shorter in stature, the air about him was clearly no ordinary thing. No sooner had he spoken than a sharp pain shot through his arm—the other’s grip had tightened, and he felt as though his very bones would be crushed.
“Ahh, wait, wait, wait, wait—young hero, I’m just a messenger, just a messenger. My boss isn’t the one you’re looking for, he got the order from someone else too, I just deliver notes and pass on words, that’s all, young hero—I don’t even know what you people are doing—”
“You’re coming with me.”
“Wh-what… look…”
The man turned his head to the side, then began struggling to break free while trying to shout for help. The next instant, another hand clamped directly onto his throat, forcing him down onto his knees, his body bent backward.
He couldn’t make a sound at all; only his breath grew weaker through his nose and mouth as his face flushed deep red.
The young man looked down at him coldly. By the time his face had turned nearly the color of pig’s liver, he finally released his grip on the man’s throat, gently.
The young man, just returned from the gates of hell, knelt on the ground, coughing and gasping for breath with great difficulty.
“You dare to shout.” He heard the youth say into his ear. “I’ll strangle you in front of everyone.”
The street was not without other people; not far off, a middle-aged woman returning from buying vegetables stared, dumbstruck, at the scene, then clutched her basket tightly and hurried past.
“Young hero… I really only took five qian of silver to pass on a message… why do you want me to go there with you…”
The young man no longer dared to resist, and led the way toward the agreed location.
He heard the youth answer from behind him.
“That person I’ve agreed to meet is no good thing. If she tries any tricks, I’ll make you die right in front of her face…”
They were, in fact, not far from Jiuxian Mountain now, and the two of them walked on, one ahead of the other, toward it. As they went, the youth chatted idly with the messenger about all sorts of things—who his boss was, where he made his living, how many people were in his family, and so on—the young man answering, nearly in tears the whole time.
They arrived near the pool known as Heyun Pool. The pool was fairly large, with several dirt paths branching off around it and trees lining the way; here and there in the distance, one could even make out a few tea stalls, though there didn’t seem to be anyone especially notable waiting anywhere. Ning Ji frowned slightly, and waited with his companion at the fork in the road.
“Where’s this person, then?”
He asked the young man ahead of him.
The young man trembled all over. “I’m just the messenger…”
Amid this exchange, a middle-aged underworld figure walked over from the side, and upon reaching them, said, “The middle path—straight ahead, then turn right.”
The message delivered, he turned to leave, but before he’d taken two steps, his shoulder was seized.
The underworld man turned his head back, his expression unfriendly. “Friend, I’m just passing on a message. Isn’t this a bit rude of you?”
He had considerable confidence in his own skill, and at once tried to seize the hand on his shoulder with a hawk-claw counter-grip.
The next instant, a pressure like a mountain came crashing down; his body twisted, and with a heavy thud, he was forced hard onto his knees on the dirt path.
Turning his head back further, he saw the cold-faced young man looking down at him.
“Friend.” He cupped his hands. “I’m just passing on a message, why are you—”
“Passing on a message…”
The young man raised his hand and slapped him hard across the face.
Then again.
“I told you to pass on the message! I told you to pass on the message! Now let’s go…”
Amid the stream of cursing, five or six more blows landed in a row, until his face was swollen, blood mixing with the mucus from his nose.
Sunlight filtered through the trees by the pool, casting shade. Before long, along the dirt path, a young man with a face full of misfortune and misery walked side by side with an underworld figure whose face had been beaten to a pulp, the two of them heading forward together, both somewhat teary-eyed. Behind them, the youth walked on, cold and indifferent.
No matter how vile Chen Shuangran might be, as long as he himself was worse, he would never lose to her!
Scare this bastard half to death—
……
North of Houguan County, the killing and chaos continued for some time.
The authorities had prepared for the roundup, and on Chen Shuangran’s side, it seemed they too understood something of this sort would happen—the underworld figures arranged within took the opportunity to strike, stirring up the chaos further, causing a moderate number of casualties.
The underworld figures trapped within perhaps did not understand that they had become discarded pawns. At first, some even fought with especial vigor, believing this too was merely part of a scheme Chen Shuangran had already laid, certain there had to be some means arranged to let them escape.
Because of this fierce resistance, the situation proved harder to control than expected, and some officers threw themselves personally into the fray to capture those causing trouble amid the chaos. Tie Tianying, after conferring with Zuo Wenxuan, also entered the fray in person, first bringing down a group of highly skilled underworld fighters.
Having subdued one bandit leader, Tie Tianying understood that this riot could no longer pose a serious problem. The court had come prepared, and Chen Shuangran, it seemed, had also made her own arrangements. The two sides had traded a move openly, and the advantage the court gained didn’t seem especially great—but the real thing worth rooting out today was still that thread being followed by Zuo Wenrui.
That should already be underway…
He calculated in his mind the progress of the arrangements, but there was also something faintly, indefinably watching him, which kept him alert.
Tie Tianying’s gaze swept once around the outer edge of the encirclement, then, taking several constables with him, he moved toward a certain direction.
At the far edge of the market beyond the encirclement, a figure suddenly fell into his line of sight.
His eyes narrowed, and he quickened his pace, rushing toward it.
The distant figure also turned and vanished around a street corner.
Tie Tianying seized a military horse and charged that way; nearby constables likewise found mounts and followed.
The figure seemed to appear and vanish like a phantom. Tie Tianying rounded several long streets; behind him rose the sound of alarm—likely some vegetable vendor blocking the path of those following him, a minor commotion. But he didn’t stop to wait, continuing his pursuit ahead.
At a certain lane, he even dismounted and continued on foot; despite his advanced years, his breathing remained even, his stride still as swift as a galloping horse.
Near the fork in the road by Jiuxian Mountain, he seemed to lose the trail, but after a moment’s consideration, Tie Tianying walked calmly in a certain direction.
Sunlight fell through the leaves, dappling the dirt road in patches of light and shadow. Tie Tianying walked through the alternating brightness and shade, and rounding a bend, he saw the gray-robed man sitting under a teahouse canopy not far off. The man wore an odd mask over his face, but Tie Tianying recognized him at first glance all the same.
“Fan Zhong—Brother Fan… so it really is you.”
The old man laughed.
“‘Golden-Eyed Thousand Feathers.’ Worthy of the name. It’s been so many years…”
……
“…Still as fast on your feet as ever.”