Cripple Slope

At four-thirty in the morning, Old Liang led his horse out of the West Mountain Second Stockade.

A lookout patrolling the mountain saw him and hurried to salute.

Lookouts were bandits of relatively high standing. Clever, alert, and handy in a fight, they were responsible for patrols and sentry duty. In Hunlong Stronghold, they ranked just below the Fire Knives.

Fangpai Mountain was vast. Hunlong Stronghold had Eight Stockade Posts and Six Water Strongholds, with two posts on each slope and three gangs under each post. Old Liang was the Gang Boss of the Third Gang at the West Mountain Second Stockade. He commanded more than thirty men and held some standing in the stronghold, so the Lookout naturally did not dare question him.

The Lookout was curious, though. Judging by Old Liang's direction, he was heading for Cripple Slope.

Hunlong Stronghold posted no sentries on Cripple Slope. It was dark, the slope was steep, and fresh snow had left the path slippery. What was he doing there at this hour?

The Lookout thought about it for a full ten seconds, then went back to work.

Wasn't standing watch in the bitter cold and patrolling the mountain in the dead of night hardship enough?

How many silver dollars did a lookout make in a month? Why poke his nose into a Gang Boss's business?

Cripple Slope was steep indeed. Snow had just fallen, and the ground was thick with mud. Old Liang stepped on a stone, lost his footing, and slid straight down the slope.

After sliding dozens of meters, he caught hold of a willow tree, took out a chisel, and cut a hole in it.

He had come to Cripple Slope to hide Song Yongchang's Bowl.

The bowl bought for a hundred thousand silver dollars was on him. Everyone who had gone to the outer province with Song Yongchang was one of Old Song's trusted men, and Liang Yixin was the most trusted of them all.

Yuan Kuilong had watched Song Yongchang all night, even searching him in front of everyone at the Hostage House. Song Yongchang's men had been checked too. Several bandits had searched Old Liang's room, and he himself had been frisked, but as long as Yuan Kuilong did not investigate him personally, he could bluff his way through for now.

So Old Liang had to hide the Bowl quickly. If the Head Boss came looking into him tomorrow, it would be too late.

He took out a small sickle made for trimming willows, cut a piece of bark from the trunk, hollowed out a cavity, and put the bundle containing the Top Hat inside. Then he fitted the bark back over the hole.

His knife work was superb. Once he replaced the bark and cleared away the scraps, the trunk looked intact, with scarcely a flaw to be seen.

Old Liang took out some glue and was about to fasten the bark in place when he suddenly heard footsteps nearby.

Who had come to Cripple Slope at this hour?

He looked at the bark covering the hollow and, for a moment, did not know what to do.

Old Liang's hands were deft, but the footsteps were drawing closer. There was no time to glue the bark down.

Yet if he left it loose, the slightest jostle could knock it off and expose the bundle inside.

Should he take the Bowl back out?

There was no time for that either. If he took the Bowl out now, he would have nowhere to put it, nowhere to hide it. He would only expose himself.

Old Liang kept his composure. He did nothing but look toward the footsteps and saw one person carrying another with difficulty along the slope.

"Laifu, is that you?"

After two days with Zhang Laifu, Old Liang knew his build well enough. Though it was dark, he recognized him.

Zhang Laifu set Lin Shaocong down and stood on the slope. "We're here to shoot a scene," he told Old Liang.

Old Liang scolded him. "Shoot what scene? There's no scene for you here. Your scene is at the Hostage House. Who told you to come?"

As earnestly as an employee explaining himself to his boss, Zhang Laifu said, "There's an actor here. He said he had a script and told me we were coming here to shoot an action scene."

That foolish boy!

If anyone dared say Zhang Laifu was not a fool now, Old Liang would argue with them.

"What actor?" Old Liang looked at Lin Shaocong on Zhang Laifu's back. After studying him for a while in the darkness, he finally recognized him. "Young Master Lin, you're here too? You dared run out of the Hostage House? Do you have a death wish?"

With Zhang Laifu supporting him, Lin Shaocong barely managed to stand. He cupped his fists to Old Liang.

"Master Liang, you've made us the soil for Chief Yuan to open his bowl. If we stay in the Hostage House, how can either of us hope to live?"

Startled, Old Liang looked Lin Shaocong over from forehead to toe.

Lin Shaocong's legs were weak. He really was a cripple.

But judging by what he had just said, he was no fool.

"You've hidden it well, Young Master Lin! All of Heishakou says you're a fool. Even your own father and brothers say it. Did you deceive them, or did they help you keep it secret?"

Lin Shaocong did not answer. It would do no good. "Master Liang, you've traveled through Heishakou for years. My father and brother have both helped you plenty.

"The great flood shouldn't wash away the Dragon King's temple, and blades shouldn't wound their own. For old times' sake, could you give us a way to live?"

Old Liang put his hands behind his back, letting the sickle in his sleeve slide into his palm. "The Lin Family has helped me. I owe them for that.

"But this isn't the time for personal ties. This is stronghold business. If I let you go, how will I answer to the Head Boss?"

"You won't have to answer for anything, Master Liang, because this has nothing to do with you." Lin Shaocong glanced around. "This is Cripple Slope. Hunlong Stronghold keeps no checkpoints or patrols here.

"There are only three of us. You can say you never saw me, and we never saw you. Let me live, and I'll never forget your kindness."

He had chosen his words carefully. Old Liang hesitated for a long while, then nodded. "You can go, but Zhang Laifu stays. I don't want to put Second Master Song in a difficult position."

Lin Shaocong looked at Zhang Laifu, who stood there expressionless.

"Uncle Liang, my legs don't work. If you keep him here, who'll carry me down the mountain?

"Besides, keeping him won't do you any good. If he goes back and talks nonsense, he could get you in trouble instead."

Old Liang sighed and gave a slight nod. "All right. Both of you go."

Zhang Laifu hoisted Lin Shaocong onto his back again and stumbled downhill.

Old Liang watched them go and shook his head slightly.

The Lin Family's third son hadn't had it easy. His father had become a demon when he was only a few years old, and his older brothers had never liked him.

The Lin Family brothers were ruthless. They had struck at one another from the shadows for years, and of the original eight, only three remained. Lin Shaocong had probably survived this long by playing the fool.

The poor boy did deserve to be let go.

But whether Old Liang should let him go and whether he could were two different things.

The two of them had run from the Hostage House to Cripple Slope. They must have left tracks, and the chief would soon follow them here.

A lookout had seen Old Liang come to Cripple Slope. Once the chief put the two accounts together, not only would Old Liang struggle to explain Zhang Laifu and Lin Shaocong, but Song Yongchang's bowl might be exposed as well.

If the bowl was exposed, Yuan Kuilong would certainly seize it. Losing a bowl would be the least of their troubles. If Yuan Kuilong followed that thread and uncovered the matter of Wang Biaotong, Song Yongchang and his people would likely lose their lives.

Even killing Lin Shaocong and Zhang Laifu now might bring a tangle of trouble down on him. Only by taking them back to the Hostage House could he explain this cleanly.

He would tell Yuan Kuilong that Old Song had left cotton on Zhang Laifu. When the cotton reacted and alerted them that Zhang Laifu was escaping, Old Liang had come specifically to Cripple Slope to intercept him. It would all make sense.

Without a sound, Old Liang cut a branch from the willow. He stripped off its bark with one pull, snapped away the twigs, then shaved it with his fingernail. In an instant, he had a short spear.

Zhang Laifu was focused entirely on carrying Lin Shaocong downhill. This was the perfect chance for an ambush. Old Liang watched the two of them and considered whom to strike first.

Zhang Laifu was a foolish boy from the Outer Province. He certainly was no Craftsman.

Lin Shaocong had merely used him. Their escape from the Hostage House must have been Lin Shaocong's doing.

Lin Shaocong could not only play the fool but hide his craft as well. Old Liang had to take him down first.

With a flick of his wrist, Old Liang sent the willow spear flying. It pierced Lin Shaocong's back.

P.S. This chapter's so short? Shala, have you gone mad?

I haven't. The doctor said I haven't. There's another chapter coming.