Slaying

Slaying

Li Yuan knocked on the door a few times, then stopped and waited patiently.

He stepped back slightly, taking the chance to look over the houses in White Cloud Alley, Silver Stream Village.

There was nothing particularly upscale about them—just ordinary homes with black tiles and white walls, somewhat plain and simple.

The ground was uneven dirt, with no flooring laid down.

The alley was not wide either, even a little cramped.

The houses stood rather densely packed together. Step out the door and take two steps to the side, and you would reach a neighbor's home.

Yet such an ordinary residential area already counted as a middle-class district in Silver Stream Village.

Like that steward from yesterday—he still lived under a wooden shack, more rundown than Little Ink Village. Its only advantage was that the main road of Silver Stream Village was not far from his door, making it convenient to buy things.

As Li Yuan was thinking, he suddenly heard a soft creak.

The side door had opened.

He turned his head slightly and saw a gaudily dressed young woman, her face thick with rouge and powder, yawning as she emerged from next door.

"0~1" floated beside the young woman. She gave him a haughty glance, then ignored him and headed away.

Li Yuan was somewhat dumbfounded.

Could she tell at a glance that he was a country bumpkin who didn't belong here?

Still, seeing the young woman heading out, and recalling what he had seen from the railing of Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion last night, Li Yuan became certain that the security here was indeed much better than in Little Ink Village.

A woman dressed so beautifully could walk around outside, and even late at night, ordinary people still wandered the streets. The security was countless times better than Little Ink Village's.

After a while, someone finally opened the door Li Yuan had been waiting at.

The person who opened it was an unfamiliar woman dressed like a maid, fairly pretty in appearance.

The maid looked at Li Yuan and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

Li Yuan handed over the breakfast box from One Cicada Pavilion and smiled. "My name is Li Yuan. I came to see Brother Cai Ze. Please inform him for me."

The maid glanced at the breakfast box, stepped forward to take it, and politely said, "Wait a moment. Master hasn't gotten up yet."

Li Yuan smiled. "No rush."

After quite some time, a young man changed into a constable's uniform finally came out. Seeing Li Yuan standing at the door, he smiled. "Brother Li, you're here. Come in and sit."

Li Yuan said, "I know Brother Cai is busy with official duties during the day, so I dared not disturb you for long. I've gathered the silver, so I came to submit it."

As he spoke, he took out two prepared pouches. One contained ten taels' worth of small silver ingots, while the other held five silver beans.

Cai Ze accepted the two pouches, inspected them, and said with satisfaction, "You gathered it all so quickly?"

Li Yuan said, "I went into the mountains yesterday and fought for my life. Luckily, I caught a wild boar and just sold it for some money."

Cai Ze nodded. "Brother Li is a capable man who knows the way things work. I'll settle this for you within five days. Come find me in five days to collect your Residence Permit."

"Thank you, Brother Cai!" Li Yuan bowed sincerely, then said, "If Brother Cai has no further instructions, I won't disturb you any longer."

After all that, Li Yuan's thirty taels of silver had become seven.

It pained him, but this was money that had to be spent.

If he tried to save it and the matter failed as a result, regret would come too late.

When he returned to Little Ink Village, Yan Yu saw her man's reddened eyes, along with the scent of alcohol and rouge on him. She said nothing, silently heated water, helped him bathe, then had him go to bed for a while.

Just as Yan Yu was about to wash the clothes, her wrist was suddenly grabbed.

Yan Niangzi turned back.

Li Yuan was holding her hand.

Their eyes met. Li Yuan said, "Sister Yan, I didn't sleep with another woman."

"Mm." Yan Niangzi revealed a delighted smile. Though winter had yet to pass, spring seemed already to have bloomed in those bright, gleaming almond-shaped eyes.

After a brief silence, Yan Niangzi coquettishly scolded, "You spent the money but didn't sleep with her? What kind of fool of a man are you?"

Having said that, the young woman seemed genuinely happy. She gathered the clothes they had changed out of, half-hugged the wooden basin, and pulled Aunt Wang along to wash clothes by the river.

Li Yuan slept until evening. After getting up and eating dinner, he prepared to go out for a walk.

He stepped into the courtyard and looked toward Little Ink Mountain in the distance, his heart feeling heavy.

When he had gone hunting in the mountains two days ago, he had not seen Little Yellow.

In the past, Little Yellow would always follow his scent to find him.

Even when he was in Little Ink Village, Little Yellow would quietly come down along the mountain path.

But so much time had passed, and Little Yellow still had not appeared.

Remembering how Little Yellow had desperately stopped him from going forward, then given him a timely warning and turned to flee, Li Yuan let out a deep sigh.

He owed an animal a debt of gratitude.

As for returning to the mountains to find Little Yellow, he decided against it.

He would never enter those remote, ancient mountains again.

That was a lesson bought with half his life.

He had walked for a while when a middle-aged man suddenly emerged ahead, trembling as he came toward him.

When the middle-aged man saw Li Yuan, he hurried forward cautiously and called, "Brother Yuan."

Li Yuan looked closely. Wasn't this Uncle Youcai?

Uncle Youcai was Tian Bao's father. What had he come to see him for?

Uncle Youcai stepped forward. A grown man, yet his eyes were actually reddening. "Brother Yuan, A'Bao wouldn't let me tell you, but I..."

"What happened, Uncle Youcai?"

"A'Bao... He was beaten up yesterday on his way back. One of his eyes was even gouged blind. He's lying at home now."

"What?!"

A moment later.

Li Yuan arrived at Uncle Youcai's home.

On the bed, the tall, thin youth had his right eye wrapped in bandages, bloodstains seeping through them. When he saw Li Yuan arrive, he anxiously glared at Uncle Youcai and roared, "Who told you to tell Brother Yuan?! Who—"

Li Yuan waved a hand. "What happened?"

Tian Bao immediately behaved himself and said, "Brother, it's nothing."

"Didn't I tell you to tell me?"

"No... Brother, three men robbed me on my way back.

"They asked where the money from selling the wild boar was. I said I'd deposited it at the bank. They looked for the receipt, but couldn't find it, so they beat me up. My eye was blinded then.

"But, heh, I scratched one of their faces, so he didn't get off easy either.

"They also asked where you were and what your name was. I didn't tell them. I didn't say anything. I would never betray Brother Yuan."

Li Yuan's expression shifted slightly.

Sure enough, once there was profit to be had, people would set their sights on you.

An entire wild boar could sell for quite a bit. No one in Little Ink Village had targeted them, but someone from who knew where had.

"Rest and recover properly."

Li Yuan gave the instruction, then went back home, took five jin of meat, and brought it over to Uncle Youcai.

As he left, Tian Bao's voice came from behind him.

"Brother Yuan, once I'm better, I still want to follow you."

Li Yuan paused, then said, "Recover first."

Two days later.

Li Yuan hunted a wild boar and, after great effort, pushed it out of the mountains on a cart.

He went to HengWu Tavern as usual. After collecting thirty taels of silver, resting briefly, and eating a bowl of noodles, he pushed the cart back the way he had come.

The road he took back was not the official road, but a small path chosen as a shortcut.

On one side of the path lay the yellowish Reed Marshes, while on the other stood a dark, dense grove. There were scarcely any households before or behind it.

Li Yuan had asked around. This was also the road Tian Bao had taken a few days ago.

At this time, the sky was dim and a sliver of moon had just risen.

Pale moonlight shone over the road.

Li Yuan quickened his pace.

Suddenly, he stopped, for he caught sight of a figure emerging from the grove beside the road.

Then another figure emerged from the side, and one more from behind.

The figure approaching from the side had a red face marked with bloodstains, as though it had been scratched.

The man in front laughed. "See? I told you they'd come again. We won't miss them this time, will we?"

The other two gave dark chuckles without speaking.

Li Yuan looked at the two "2~3"s and one "3~4," visibly startled. He said nervously, "You three... you..."

The man in front said, "Spend some money and buy yourself peace. This time, we brought knives."

The man behind him said, "Money can be earned again once it's gone, but you only have one life."

The man at the side said nothing. With a resentful look on his face, he held his knife and closed in.

The three men drew nearer and nearer.

Li Yuan trembled.

The man in front reached Li Yuan and was just about to threaten him.

Suddenly, Li Yuan drew the firewood chopping knife tucked at his waist with his right hand and delivered a savage chop.

The man froze for a moment, then hurriedly raised his knife to block.

Bang!!

The raised knife was knocked aside by overwhelming force.

With a wet slash, the firewood chopping knife cleaved diagonally through his head.

The two men at the side and behind him both froze. The man behind had not seen clearly and thought the fight had begun, so he charged forward with his knife. But the man at the side was terrified and turned to run.

After cutting off one head, Li Yuan lunged forward another step. He turned, saw the man behind him clearly, spun on his foot, and shot forward like an arrow. One slash sent the man's knife flying, then he swung again.

Another bloody head flew into the air.

Seeing the last man already fleeing into the distance, Li Yuan casually drove the firewood chopping knife into the mud. With his left hand, he grabbed the great bow on his back, and with his right, he drew an arrow and nocked it.

The bowstring pulled taut like a full moon.

Bang!

The sound had barely rang out when the fleeing man in the distance fell face-first to the ground. An arrow had pierced through the back of his neck and emerged from his throat.

Li Yuan put away his bow, pulled out the firewood chopping knife, rushed forward, and gave him another slash, cutting his head from his neck so the arrow wound would not be visible.

Then he quickly dragged the three corpses one by one into the prepared burlap sacks, stuffed them with stones, tied the openings tight, and ran to the riverbank. From deep within the Reed Marshes, he threw them far into the river.

Afterward, he also threw the three knives far into the river.

The river was not shallow. Once they sank into the water, no one would find them anytime soon.

After doing all this, Li Yuan left the cart on the road and quickly hid in the small grove nearby. He waited for half an hour, and only after seeing no one did he emerge again and push the cart home.