Hand Crossbow

Two World-Aiding Hall laborers had taken on the task of searching for Wang Guanyong in the refugee settlement.

Few were willing to come to this place, but the Li Family was wealthy and powerful. Among the people working in its various businesses, there would always be some swayed by a hefty reward.

A few laborers had been scattered throughout the settlement. This was merely one move in the Li Family's game, made casually, with no expectation of results.

Yet at this moment, the two laborers were somewhat excited.

The skinny one was Liu San, and the tall one was Ma Liu. Both were old hands at World-Aiding Hall. They had spent seven or eight years slicing herbs, grinding herbs, and drying herbs, their hands rough but their hearts meticulous. The two felt they were practically lucky stars.

Over the past two days, they had truly discovered someone unusual. Unlike the other refugees, he did not go out looking for food, rarely left his home, yet spent money with a lavish hand.

When he bought flatbread, he bought the most expensive meat pies. When he bought water, he bought clean well water. He had even tossed a few copper coins to the children nearby.

Who in the refugee district did not pinch every copper coin to make a living? Yet this man seemed to have come solely to scatter his wealth.

Quite a few people had set their sights on him. But none of those who entered his house had ever come back out.

Liu San and Ma Liu squatted behind a crumbling wall at the mouth of an alley, watching that house from afar.

Its doors and windows were shut tight, and its curtains were drawn so tightly they might as well have been nailed down.

Every so often, someone would approach and knock. The door would open a crack, a hand would reach out and drag the person inside, and then all would fall silent. After a long time, the door would not open again.

"Should we... report it?" Ma Liu swallowed.

"Report what? We'll talk after we're sure. What if it isn't him? We won't get the reward, and we'll only startle the snake in the grass." Though Liu San said that, his legs were trembling.

Just as they were growing excited, a voice suddenly came from behind them.

"Little rats."

The two men spun around.

At some point, a man had appeared behind them. He was in his thirties, tall and broad-boned, dressed in filthy coarse cloth. Yet his eyes shone with a terrifying brightness.

His cheeks were gaunt, his cheekbones high, and a faint, half-smiling curve hung at the corner of his mouth. He stood there with his hands behind his back, as though watching two rats crawl from their hole.

"Are you two looking for me?"

Liu San and Ma Liu's pupils abruptly contracted.

Just as they were about to shout, the man's hands had already come out from behind his back. One hand for each, he seized their throats. His knuckles tightened, and the sound of their throat bones breaking was like crushing two walnuts. Before either could even groan, their bodies went limp.

Wang Guanyong dragged the two corpses back into the house. The door closed.

Then, crunch, crunch. The sound of chewing began.

Inside World-Aiding Hall.

Chen Chong saw an old woman with a complicated expression collect ten taels of silver.

Li Zhiyi stood in the courtyard, his voice ringing out as he announced that a laborer had rendered meritorious service by finding Wang Guanyong and had been rewarded ten taels of silver. The eyes of many nearby laborers gleamed.

Ten taels. Times were hard now, and World-Aiding Hall no longer provided meals.

News of the rebel army had kept grain prices high. Wages that had once supported an entire family were no longer enough, leaving people hungry one meal and full the next.

Those with elderly parents above and young children below went blank-eyed at the mention of ten taels of silver.

The old woman took the silver and shuffled out, her back bent. She was Liu San's mother.

Liu San also had a younger brother working as a laborer at World-Aiding Hall, but Liu San himself—Liu San was already dead.

Liu San's younger brother stood amid the crowd, his eyes rimmed red and his lips pressed white, but he did not cry. He took the reward silver and split it into two portions, giving one to his mother and tucking the other into his own chest.

As if by unspoken agreement, everyone ignored the fact that the laborer was already dead.

More than ten days later, the laborers were being replaced at an even faster rate. Liu San had died. Ma Liu had died. Three more groups were sent afterward, and in the end, only half returned.

Some quit and fled, while others entered the refugee district and never emerged again.

World-Aiding Hall's normal operations were affected. There were twenty percent fewer herb cutters, thirty percent fewer herb grinders, and the bamboo trays in the drying yard could no longer be filled.

Su Hongyu was so busy his feet barely touched the ground. The food box before him held only a dish of pickled vegetables and half a bowl of rice. After shoveling down a few bites, he went off to arrange manpower.

Wang Guanyong was ultimately pinned down. This cost-ignoring tactic of drowning him in manpower had still produced results.

The news came back through the Li Family's covert agents. Wang Guanyong was hiding in a half-collapsed mud house in the deepest part of the refugee district. He did not leave during the day and only occasionally came out at night to find water. He had no accomplices. He was alone.

The Li Family judged that his injuries had not yet healed. During the last encirclement, a Bone-Forging Stage expert had cut him once. Though he had escaped, that slash had wounded him badly.

Inside World-Aiding Hall, Li Zhiyi wore a grave expression as he led a group of guards toward Li Zhaoning's residence.

Chen Chong happened to run into him while returning to his own courtyard.

Li Zhiyi walked at the front of the group. His steps were quicker than before, but his shoulders and back were no longer as straight. They were slightly hunched, as though bearing something invisible.

That handsome face had grown thinner by a full circle. His cheekbones protruded, his eye sockets had sunk in, and the dark circles beneath his eyes were thick as bruises. His moon-white robe had been replaced with a dark gray short coat, its sleeves rolled up to reveal his thin wrists.

Chen Chong looked at him and could not help but sigh. When they had first met, Li Zhiyi had still counted as a refined young gentleman.

Even the way he clasped his hands in greeting had been calm and proper, his brows carrying the confidence and restraint of a scion from a great clan.

Now, in only two or three months, he seemed to have aged ten years.

"Alchemist Chen." Li Zhiyi stopped and clasped his hands, his voice somewhat hoarse.

"Steward Li." Chen Chong returned the salute. "Is this... an operation?"

Li Zhiyi nodded but did not elaborate. Chen Chong did not press him, merely saying, "I wish Steward Li a safe return."

Li Zhiyi froze for a moment, then gave a bitter laugh. He clasped his hands again and led his people away.

At Li Zhaoning's residence.

In the study, Li Zhaoning sat behind her desk. Before her lay a map of Dingshan County.

On the map, the refugee district north of the city had been circled in red, with an X drawn inside the circle.

Li Zhiyi stood before the desk. Behind him were several heads of World-Aiding Hall's guards, every one of them tense-faced.

"The matter of Wang Guanyong has dragged on far too long." Li Zhaoning spoke steadily, but something lay suppressed beneath her voice. "The thoughts of some people under the Li Family have already begun to drift. The resignation rate among World-Aiding Hall's laborers has doubled from last month. Even the managers of the cloth shop and grain store have been asking about routes south."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over Li Zhiyi.

"This time, the Li Family has brought out some things."

She raised a hand. A maid beside her carried several wooden chests out from the inner room, set them on the floor, and opened them one by one.

The first chest contained armor.

It was forged from black iron, with layered scales: breastplate, shoulder guards, bracers, greaves—a complete set.

The armor plates had been polished smooth and gave off a dark gleam, as though tempered in some kind of oil. They were both hard and resilient. The lining was thick cowhide, stitched with dense hemp thread. Every scale was linked by leather cords, allowing it to bend and flex, so one could move freely while wearing it.

The second chest contained hand crossbows.

The bodies were made of hardwood sheathed in copper, the bows of laminated ox horn, and the strings of twisted hemp sinew soaked in tung oil. A short bolt sat in each groove, tipped with a three-edged iron arrowhead steeped in poison.

The trigger rings were polished bright, clearly maintained often. Within twenty paces, a single hand crossbow could pierce two layers of leather armor. If it struck a vital spot, even someone in the Nourishing Flesh Realm would have to answer for it.

But the hand crossbow's weakness was equally obvious: it was slow to reload. After firing one bolt, it took at least three breaths to draw the string and set another bolt. Three breaths were enough for a Bone-Forging Stage expert to rush right in front of you.

But what if there was a group of hand crossbows?

Ten people firing together meant ten bolts in the first volley, then another ten in the second. No matter how fast Wang Guanyong was, he could not dodge every bolt at once.

So long as one bolt struck him, the wound from that three-edged arrowhead would keep bleeding, and the poison would slow his movements.

Then came the third volley, the fourth volley. They could wear him down until he died.

Li Zhiyi looked at the armor and hand crossbows, his pupils narrowing slightly.

Having served the Li Family for so many years, he knew the weight of these things. These were pieces of equipment treasured by the Li Family, things ordinary people never had the chance to touch.

The armor was one thing, but the hand crossbows... This was truly a blood-soaked investment.

"World-Aiding Hall will provide ten men," Li Zhaoning said. "They will wear armor and carry hand crossbows. They will cooperate with the Li Family's Bone-Forging Stage experts and enter the refugee district to encircle and capture Wang Guanyong."

Li Zhiyi fell silent for a moment.

Ten men. World-Aiding Hall had only around twenty guards in total. Sending out ten meant drawing away half its entire foundation.

And entering the refugee district to capture a Bone-Forging Stage martial artist—even with armor and hand crossbows—meant tying one's head to one's belt.

He had witnessed Wang Guanyong's Tyrant Blade before. Last time, even two Bone-Forging Stage experts had failed to keep him. An ordinary guard would be split in half with a single slash.

Li Zhaoning looked at Li Zhiyi, her gaze calm.

"You are World-Aiding Hall's steward. This time, you will lead the team."

Li Zhiyi's lips moved. He wanted to say something.

He wanted to say that World-Aiding Hall's guards had no obligation to do this, that once they entered the refugee district they might never get out, that he was merely a collateral branch clansman with no reason to stake his life on this.

But those words rolled around in his throat before finally going unspoken.

His family had also spent considerable resources to elevate him to the position of steward. If he died for the Li Family, there would at least be some recompense.

He lowered his head and clasped his hands.

"Yes."

After leaving the Li Residence, Li Zhiyi stood on the steps and gazed at Dingshan County beneath the twilight.

He turned back to look at the ten chests behind him. The armor and hand crossbows were all packed inside.

Tomorrow, those things would be worn and carried by ten guards as they walked into that lawless land. Of those ten, how many would return?

Li Zhiyi recalled what he had looked like on his first day at World-Aiding Hall.

That day, he had worn a newly tailored moon-white robe, his hair combed without a strand out of place. Standing at World-Aiding Hall's entrance and looking at the golden characters on its plaque, he had thought of how to achieve something worthy, to show the Li Family's main branch that those from collateral branches were no worse.