Murder and Flight

The commotion tonight was huge.

Twenty or thirty people died, even Lu Shan, the leader of the Mighty Gang, was among the dead.

Keep in mind, some of these boat trackers had families, wives, and children.

With these able-bodied men dead now, their families would surely report it to the authorities.

So, he still had to deal with the aftermath of this mess.

He hurried back, not stopping to rest, gave a few instructions to Uncle Liu, coordinated some alibis, and then buried himself in writing.

As a modern person, Li Qi deeply understood the importance of learning culture and knowledge.

Although the characters in this world were different from his original world, they all seemed to be a type of Chinese character, similar for the most part. In the three-plus years he'd been here, he'd already learned most of them.

Writing an essay was probably out of the question, but plagiarizing a couple of poems was no problem. Too bad it was useless—no one listened to a boat tracker ramble on.

But now, it could finally come in handy.

He picked up a rough piece of parchment. This was the material the boatmen friendly with the Wave-Pushing Gang used to make oilpaper, which was usually laid on boats for waterproofing.

This kind of parchment was very sturdy, hard to tear, and when made into oilpaper, it was even waterproof and fireproof—a very useful material.

It was precisely because of these properties that Li Qi chose parchment.

Holding a piece of charcoal, he rapidly wrote something on the paper.

If you looked closely, you'd see he was writing the key points of the Ox-Strength Technique!

How to circulate energy, how to activate it, its nature, characteristics, how to get started as quickly as possible, how to learn it—every detail, big or small, was written down.

After learning the Ox-Strength Technique through the progress bar, although he didn't know why, he had become completely familiar with the technique, every detail clearly imprinted in his mind.

Was that a good thing?

Maybe it was.

At least it was a good thing right now.

The night passed without incident.

He stayed up the entire night, writing down how to learn the Ox-Strength Technique, filling four whole sheets of parchment to the brim.

He knew the principles of this technique, but he had no idea what these "principles" actually were.

For example, the principle of black powder is 2KNO₃ + 3C + S ignited → K₂S + N₂ + 3CO₂.

He clearly knew this string of characters.

But what is 2KNO₃? And what is 3CO₂?

He didn't understand.

Anyway, he just wrote it down as is. All in all, it probably wasn't wrong.

If it were wrong, his Ox-Strength Technique shouldn't have worked.

After finishing, he called for Uncle Liu.

"Uncle Liu, this is that technique. It doesn't matter if you don't understand the principles; the training method is in the back." Li Qi tossed the folded parchment to Uncle Liu.

Even if you didn't understand the principles, it didn't hinder cultivation. Not understanding the principles of black powder didn't stop people from following the formula of one part sulfur, two parts saltpeter, three parts charcoal to make firecrackers step by step.

"Xiao Li, are you really leaving?" Uncle Liu put away the parchment, carefully tucking it close to his body, and looked at Li Qi with concern.

When he had picked up Li Qi three years ago, he never imagined this young man would be so useful.

For so long, he'd gotten used to asking for Li Qi's opinion when things came up. Now that he said he was leaving, it truly left Uncle Liu at a loss.

"Don't worry, Uncle Liu. I'm just going to lie low for a while. With so many people dead, the authorities won't have an easy time of it. They'll definitely investigate, but this place is a mixed bag, hard to catch anyone." Li Qi said.

There was one thing he didn't mention—that even if the authorities used divination methods, they probably wouldn't be able to catch him.

He remembered very clearly what that Young Scholar who taught him the technique had said...

"Outer Path Artifacts are bizarre and unpredictable; divination methods struggle to trace their whereabouts."

If Outer Path Artifacts were hard to trace, then what about him, an Outer Path person?

Divination couldn't pinpoint his location, so relying solely on deduction, he figured it would be very difficult to find him.

Yes, not being discovered, but being found.

He planned to take all the blame, then decisively run away and leave this place.

He didn't know where to go; he'd just flee with the charges first.

Because if they couldn't find the person in a short time, the authorities probably wouldn't file a case. Unsolved homicides affected their year-end evaluations, and the constables wouldn't want that either.

As long as no case was filed, it would become a cold case, forgotten in at most a year or two.

This was dangerous, because if he was caught, he was done for.

But there was no other way. Killing people couldn't come without any risk, right? He'd already risked his life once last night; risking it again didn't matter.

"Next up, I'm fleeing as a guilty fugitive. But I'll definitely come back, don't worry." Li Qi said to Uncle Liu.

"Remember, stick to the story that you had nothing to do with it. It was all me." Li Qi emphasized.

"I understand... but you must take care. Oh, and this is the money from the River Opening reward earlier, plus some savings from the gang. You can use it out there. And remember, buy yourself some decent clothes—people outside judge by appearances. Don't let them look down on you."

"A man away from home is as low as a dog. Once you leave the gang, life won't be easy. When you run into trouble out there, just bear it. Wait until the heat dies down, then come back." Uncle Liu muttered, then pulled out a pouch of copper coins and pressed it into Li Qi's hands.

Li Qi watched Uncle Liu ramble on, then produce a heavy bundle stuffed full of copper coins—some new, some old. There were no clothes, no dry rations.

He knew why there were no clothes. The gang simply couldn't scrape together a single new outfit. As for the rations, his escape route wouldn't allow him to carry them out.

"Don't worry, Uncle Liu. I'll be back as soon as I can." Li Qi took a breath, accepted the bundle, and tied it to his back.

Killing a man and leaving one's hometown—it really had the flavor of a Chu knight-errant from the Spring and Autumn period. Though he was no knight-errant, just a ragged boat tracker.

But there was no choice. If he hadn't struck first, he would have been the one dead tonight.

Li Qi had always been a decisive man. Without lingering on hesitation, he only promised Uncle Liu he would return, then set off at once. He didn't take the city gate. Instead, he clung to the underside of a cargo ship, ready to ride the current out.

Even though the Li River hadn't fully thawed yet, as long as there were trackers willing to pull, boats could still move.

As for the cargo ship, that intel came from the boatmen.

Li Qi carried two clay jars on him, their mouths sealed with oilcloth. They were empty, but if he turned them upside down underwater and opened the oilcloth, he could breathe the air inside.

Combined with the Wave-Pushing Strength, the air in those two jars would let him stay submerged for an extra Chen.

Meanwhile, the other trackers of the Wave-Pushing Gang had bid the lowest price to take the hauling contract for that very cargo ship—almost working for free, just to make sure they got the job.

They would drag the boat Li Qi was hiding under, all the way out of the city.

Everything was set. Li Qi took a deep breath until his lungs were full, then dove into the water and grabbed hold of the cargo ship's hull.

Hidden beneath the ship, he heard the tracker brothers of the Wave-Pushing Gang start to chant their work song outside.

"Nine zhang and three on the rope, heave-ho!"

"A life of toil tied to the shoulder, heave-ho!"

"Feet kick stone, hands claw sand, heave-ho!"

"Don't say a boat can't sail upstream, heave-ho!"

The cargo ship passed through the city gates and left Li Prefecture behind.