Resolution

Xiang Yang's voice was calm and even, yet it carried a youth's gentle freshness, like a breeze brushing against one's face, leaving it faintly ticklish.

But the meaning behind his words sent a chill through the burly men's hearts. There was no room for compromise now. Either they hacked Xiang Yang to death in this little courtyard—or, failing that, subdued him—or Xiang Yang would deal with them and send every last one of them to the prefectural yamen's dungeon.

"Cough, cough. Don't kill him—just capture him."

The leading young man struggled to his feet. Looking at Xiang Yang, he wished he could slaughter him on the spot, but reason told him that he absolutely could not do so. If they really killed Xiang Yang, then even if they escaped Anyuan in the future, they could only spend the rest of their lives deep in the mountains and old forests. Even if the imperial court declared a general amnesty, it would have nothing to do with them.

Though these burly men were strong-limbed, their minds were by no means simple. They all knew that their only way out now was to first get Xiang Yang under control, then quickly prepare to flee. That way, the authorities would not pursue them too relentlessly.

"Get him!" one of the burly men shouted, as though giving a signal. Five men with blades and axes rushed Xiang Yang, aiming for places like his chest and abdomen, keeping well away from his head and neck.

Xiang Yang appeared calm, but inwardly he was fully on guard. With his right hand, he drew the Wild Goose Feather Saber. Its blade glittered beneath the sunlight as he instantly knocked aside the weapons of the two men before him. The force behind the strike, coupled with the Wild Goose Feather Saber's sharpness, sent both weapons flying. Their tiger's mouths split open from the shock, blood seeping out.

At the same time, Xiang Yang curled up and rolled out of the encirclement like a furry ball. His hands did not slow in the slightest. The Wild Goose Feather Saber struck left and right, blade light flashing repeatedly as it carved a bloody line across each of the five men's ankles. The five instantly lost the ability to move, collapsing to the ground one after another while clutching their ankles and howling.

When he rose again, he did not turn around. Yet at an unbelievable angle, his right hand slanted the Wild Goose Feather Saber against his back. With a clang, it blocked a burly man's sneak attack. At the same time, Xiang Yang turned and swept his long saber sideways, slashing the attacker across the chest. He did not use much force, controlling it perfectly; he only just cut through the skin and flesh on the man's chest. It looked as though blood had spilled everywhere, but there was no danger to his life.

In a mere moment, Xiang Yang had dealt with six burly men. The remaining two, each holding a machete, were filled with terror. They were nothing more than bottom-rung street thugs. When they fought people normally, it was all turtle fists—you punch me, I kick you—and when machetes came out, everyone simply hacked at one another amid clanging steel. How could it compare to Xiang Yang's fighting, which was so full of beauty?

Yes, the two men felt that Xiang Yang fought as though he had rehearsed it beforehand—clean and decisive, as if he had completely calculated everyone's movements and broken them one by one, all while remaining entirely unscathed. This was true martial arts.

Seeing the two men holding their sabers, wanting to attack but too cowardly to dare, Xiang Yang shook his head. He stepped forward with a sidestep, knocked the weapons from their hands, then with two crisp cracks dislocated both their arms with his left hand. In the blink of an eye, not a single person in the courtyard remained intact.

The leading young man stared blankly. He had thought Xiang Yang was merely somewhat stronger than most, but now it was clear that he was a martial arts expert proficient in combat. Such people were rare in a small county town. He even suspected that County Yamen Constable Wang Ying might not be Xiang Yang's match. No wonder the boy had been so confident and utterly unafraid of the threat they might pose.

And if one wanted to see the role martial arts experts played, one only needed to look at the difference between the Little Knife Society and the Giant Bear Gang.

Most of those recruited by the Little Knife Society were sturdy young men with some strength. Even Boss An, the gang's leader, was just an ordinary person. To ordinary people, he was naturally formidable and imposing, but before the Giant Bear Gang, he seemed far weaker.

The Giant Bear Gang's two leaders, Xiong Da and Xiong Er, possessed exceptional strength on one hand, but the most important reason they had built such a vast enterprise was their mastery of the Ape Demon Staff Technique. Whenever the Little Knife Society had clashed with the Giant Bear Gang in the past, the moment Xiong Er held a Binate Iron Staff, they had to retreat three paces. They had truly been beaten into fear.

"So you were hiding your true abilities. This time, we admit defeat."

At this point, there was nothing more to say. The victor became king, the loser bandit. Their best possible outcome was spending several years in the County Yamen's dungeon. It would be bitter, but at least they would keep their lives.

Xiang Yang, however, was somewhat troubled. Including the leading young man, there were nine of them. Escorting them to the yamen by himself would certainly be impressive, but it would also cause quite a commotion. If it startled the snake in the grass and Boss An received word beforehand, moving the kidnapped people elsewhere, that would be bad.

There was another issue as well. He was not sure what arrangements Wang Ying and the others at the yamen had made regarding the Little Knife Society and Boss An. If he acted rashly now, would he disrupt their plans?

After thinking for a moment, Xiang Yang turned and left the Blacksmith Shop. He walked over to a vegetable vendor nearby and whispered something into his ear as the vendor looked on ingratiatingly. Finally, he took out one qian of silver and handed it to the vendor.

Watching the vendor temporarily leave his stall in the care of someone he knew well and jog toward the yamen, Xiang Yang returned to the small courtyard behind the Blacksmith Shop. He sat quietly to one side with his eyes closed, resting his mind. As for the occasional curses hurled at him by some of the burly men, he ignored them all.

After quite some time, a hurried set of footsteps approached and knocked on the Blacksmith Shop's front door. At the same time came a deep, vigorous voice—it was Constable Wang Ying.

The faces of many of the groaning men on the ground turned ashen. Constable Wang Ying was one of the people most familiar to gang members like them. Just hearing his voice was enough to scare them into wetting themselves. Now that Wang Ying had arrived, their last shred of hope had been shattered.

Xiang Yang merely smiled and welcomed Wang Ying, along with the other two constables who had come with him, inside.

"Good lad. I never expected you to accomplish something this big without a word. Even Old Xiang might not have been able to do it, eh?"

To Wang Ying's right stood Yu Fei, an old constable from the yamen. Seeing the nine strong, sturdy men sprawled across the courtyard, groaning weakly and helplessly, he revealed a trace of surprise and praised Xiang Yang. Setting aside the specifics of the case, in terms of Martial Prowess, Constable Xiang—on his very first day in office—was absolutely beyond his own equal.

Wang Ying also nodded, a hint of approval appearing on his dark, heavyset face. Constables were not scholars who merely needed to lift a brush and write a few words. They carried sabers and had to fight on the front lines. Earlier, he had worried that Xiang Yang was too young and physically frail. It seemed he had misjudged him.

Unlike those two, Liu Feng, the other yamen constable, was concerned with whether Xiang Yang had truly learned the specific location where the people were being hidden, as the messenger had claimed.

"Little Xiang, you had someone tell us just now that you learned from these people where An Qinglong is hiding the captives. Is that really true?"

Xiang Yang nodded and slowly recounted what had happened after he encountered the Giant Bear Gang provoking the Little Knife Society while patrolling the streets. He concealed nothing, except matters related to the Wordless Book issuing missions.

The more Wang Ying and the other two listened, the more astonished they became. In the end, the three exchanged glances and shook their heads with bitter smiles. It truly was like tending flowers with care only for them not to bloom, while an unintentional willow branch took root in the shade. They did not know whether these people had been kicked in the head by a donkey, to believe that a mere junior constable could help them suppress the case they had committed.

"It cannot exactly be called stupidity. It can only be said that Little Xiang's spur-of-the-moment kind warning led them to make the wrong judgment. But we cannot let down our guard either. This Blacksmith Shop is one of the Little Knife Society's strongholds. With something like this happening, An Qinglong may not necessarily fail to receive word.

"Little Xiang, whether we can crack this Kidnapping Case now depends on whether the information you tricked out of these people is accurate."