Through the Wards (6)

Whether Zhang Xing's single-minded ruthlessness and Junior Officer Zhao's urgency had really worked, or Feng Zongqi had already cowed all three wards, things went astonishingly smoothly in Xiuwen Ward and Jingshan Ward over the next two days.

On the second day, a few households in Xiuwen Ward still offered some self-important resistance. By the third day, when they reached Jingshan Ward, every household had swept its mats and prepared to welcome them well in advance.

In short, there was no more smashing, looting, or shopping for zero copper coins, nor any more excessive enforcement by Jing'an Directorate soldiers. The anticipated interference from the two squad leaders and the other "officers" never materialized either. What followed instead was cooperation and submission from a great many gray-market businesses.

In fact, on the afternoon of the third day, after arranging that day's communal meal, Zhang Xing went straight to the Water Street tavern with Junior Officer Zhao and received Feng Zongqi's wholehearted approval and praise.

"You two handled that decisively, beautifully!"

In the small upstairs room, Company Commander Feng Yong positively beamed. "The two squad leaders and the other officers didn't even have time to band together before you swallowed up Xiūyè Ward and cowed them into the bargain... By the time they reacted, the tide had already turned. They lost interest instead. They only came to sit here at noon and ask roughly what had happened, then left once they knew it was my idea... Even Sun Wogua of the Green Fish Gang just sent someone specifically to ask me about it. You've clearly given them a shock."

"There was still bloodshed. It wasn't clean enough." Zhang Xing casually cupped his hands. "I've made a poor showing before you, Commander."

"That murderous edge of yours was exactly what I needed!" Feng Yong threw his head back and laughed in his seat. "Without that hand, how could things have gone so smoothly? As for Wei Liouzi, to put it bluntly, if he'd had any prospects or backing worth mentioning, how would he have ended up in such filthy business? Managing to hold out with only a severed hand already took every scrap of strength that lout had. There's no need to worry."

Zhang Xing gave a slight nod and remained seated upright without saying anything more.

Junior Officer Zhao, meanwhile, was visibly on tenterhooks. Several times he wanted to speak, then stopped, plainly afraid that being too hasty might cause an unnecessary mistake and spoil things.

Feng Yong's expression grew a little more restrained. He lowered his head to take a few sips of tea, then suddenly asked Zhang Xing, "I remember you said a Black Sash officer from the Central Pacification Office looked after you, which was how you found a place in our Eastern Pacification Office?"

"Yes."

"Has that Black Sash friend of yours returned to the Divine Capital yet?"

"I don't know." Zhang Xing's face was expressionless as he tilted his head back thoughtfully. "He's a proper sixth-rank Black Sash officer of the Jing'an Directorate. We met by chance, and he took pity on me. His willingness to do me one kindness was already an extraordinary favor. How could I call him a friend? I might be willing to claim him, but he wouldn't be willing to claim me."

"That's true enough." Feng Yong smiled and nodded.

"But I suspect he's back, because one of his men, an embroidered-robed mounted patrolman who helped me quite a bit on the road that day, returned recently and came to see me. He didn't say anything important, though. He only wanted to see whether I'd settled in... As for me, I can't very well receive kindness without repaying it. I was thinking of taking the money you gave me and paying my respects with a gift in a few days, but I don't even know where he lives." Zhang Xing continued, then could not help asking, "I don't quite understand. Why are you asking about this, Commander? Does it have some bearing on things?"

"What bearing could it have?" Feng Yong shook his head repeatedly. "At a time like this, the more connections you can draw on from different quarters, the safer things are... But if you don't know him well, never mind."

Zhang Xing nodded, then glanced at the increasingly restless Xiao Zhao and kept his mouth shut.

At last, Feng Yong returned to the main subject. "You two did extremely well, but I hadn't expected you to be so quick. I thought you wouldn't come until tomorrow, so I haven't prepared the money, and finding Xiao Yu's indenture will take some digging..."

Xiao Zhao hurriedly made to speak.

"No need to rush." Feng Yong waved him down. "Let's do this. There's one loose end left to tie up anyway. Go together and deliver an invitation to Sun Wogua for me. It's already written. I'm simply inviting him to sit down here tomorrow and discuss matters face-to-face... Remember, be neither servile nor overbearing. Don't neglect courtesy, but don't be too timid either... I'll wait right here for you to return. Then young Zhang can take his money home, and young Zhao can take his girl."

Zhang Xing's expression did not change, but he could not help muttering inwardly.

To put it plainly, leading a hundred-odd men on a crackdown in broad daylight under an official banner was one thing. Two men paying a visit to some gang boss was quite another.

With the former, however he slashed and rampaged, the risks were under his own control. Municipal enforcement, vice raids, gang crackdowns-even if he had never eaten pork, he had seen pigs run. Coming across an illicit brothel, feeling displeased, and bringing his blade down was still a case of the strong bullying the weak.

But the latter... How many enforcers did the Green Fish Gang have? How many of them were cultivators? What gang rules did they have? Was discipline strict? How much authority did Boss Sun Wogua command? Would this play out like the Hong Kong film Election, or the mainland television drama Conquest?

He was going in blind. It wasn't safe.

Of course, in the end, they were merely delivering an invitation to the next ward in broad daylight. Perhaps there was no need to worry like a man afraid the sky would fall.

In fact, it needed no thought at all. While those somewhat tangled notions were passing through Zhang Xing's mind, Junior Officer Zhao had already risen to his feet and thumped his chest in acceptance.

And so the two took the invitation, went downstairs, and crossed Water Street together. Just as Xiao Zhao was preparing to march boldly westward, Zhang Xing suddenly stopped.

"What is it now, Brother Zhang?"

With good things ahead, Xiao Zhao had long since forgotten the trouble of two days before. He was simply impatient.

"There's something I need to ask." Zhang Xing looked at him seriously. "Is Boss Sun's gang headquarters in the southern or northern part of Shangshan Ward? East or west?"

"In the middle from north to south, toward the east from east to west." Xiao Zhao forcibly suppressed his agitation. "Why do you ask, Brother Zhang?"

"No particular reason." Zhang Xing pointed at the sun still hanging high overhead. "How about we take a slight detour and enter Shangshan Ward through the south gate? I want to stop by my lodgings and pick something up."

Junior Officer Zhao was immediately displeased. "The commander ordered us to deliver the invitation..."

"Did I say we weren't delivering it?!" Zhang Xing turned hostile at once. "I only said I wanted to go back and pick something up. Would that really delay anything? You can't hold your temper time and again, and you keep trying to tell me what to do, as though I owe you something! If you get on my nerves and this falls through, what good will that do you?"

Xiao Zhao was helpless for a moment. "That's not what I meant... You don't know, Brother Zhang, but before we left, sister-in-law privately reminded us on the commander's behalf not to delay."

"I don't believe you."

Zhang Xing grew even more displeased. "If the commander had something to say, why didn't he say it to our faces? Why insist on having sister-in-law remind us in secret? Why does it sound to me as though your Xiao Yu whispered something to you, and your heart started fluttering so badly you couldn't help making up lies to fool me?"

"What do you want to do, Brother Zhang?" Xiao Zhao stamped his feet in agitation. "Why would I lie?"

"Either we go half a ward out of our way and take the north gate, so I can stop at home to pick something up and put something away, or we turn back and get this straight with the commander and sister-in-law! If the commander really gave that order, we can turn around and come back again!" Zhang Xing could not be bothered to indulge this pair of love-addled fools. "I'm not going to stand here arguing with you."

Xiao Zhao was beside himself, but after turning in two circles with the invitation clenched in his hand, he could only stamp his foot. "Fine, we'll do it your way!"

With the suggestion of a smile, Zhang Xing turned south and headed straight for Xiūyè Ward, where he lived. A mere quarter of an hour later, they arrived at its gate.

Once there, Xiao Zhao stopped and refused to go farther. He insisted on waiting outside and urged Zhang Xing to fetch his things quickly and return. Zhang Xing could not be bothered with him either. After greeting Brother Liu, he entered the side courtyard where he lived, opened his door, and picked up the Compass, which had long since gathered dust.

Now, after following Bai Yousi here from Red Mountain, Zhang Xing had neither buried nor thrown the thing away-that would have been making things too hard on himself. But neither had he used it again, much less enshrined it like some treasure. He had simply tossed it into his room.

Brother Liu had even picked it up once while helping him tidy up and asked about it. Zhang Xing had only said it was a friend's keepsake, and nothing more had been said.

Now, worried that there might be uncertain factors at the Green Fish Gang, Zhang Xing had finally decided to pick it up and give it a try... But that one try brought trouble.

What happened could not have been simpler: Zhang Xing picked up the Compass and spoke the True Words. The Compass did not disappoint, its needle springing up at once. Yet the needle would not hold steady. Instead, it swung in every direction, wobbling without cease.

Zhang Xing stared for a long while before realizing what was happening. The thing was not broken; he was using it incorrectly. In fact, when he bought it, the old Daoist had explained its function clearly: it could point toward whatever his heart desired. So what, exactly, did his heart desire at this moment?

It seemed to be avoiding danger and seeking safety, exactly as it had been outside the Old Lord Temple that day, but in truth the two situations were entirely different.

First came the strength of that desire. What counted as danger?

Danger to his life, or the danger of being locked up for two days and missing a couple of meals? Or did getting beaten up by a gang boss count as danger? To put it bluntly, after facing life and death several times and enduring so much hardship, anything that did not threaten his life really did not amount to much in his eyes now.

Thus, this heartfelt desire to seek safety and avoid danger was terribly faint from the outset.

Second, leaving aside how strong or weak his intentions were, the direction of this avoidance was wrong too... Outside the Old Lord Temple, the Mountain-Splitting Lord had emerged, and the Sea-Averting Lord had been waiting above the clouds. Going out meant mortal danger. Danger lay everywhere, and only the Old Lord Temple offered a thread of hope for survival. Naturally, it could point clearly... But now?

Even if there was some danger at the Green Fish Gang, where was the safe place his heart desired? Wasn't it everywhere?

Would he be safe if he ran out and stood on Heaven Street?

Would he be safe if he went to dance outside the home of Minister Zhang of the Ministry of Justice?

Would he be safe if he stayed home and lay down?

Even if he went to Shangshan Ward, where the Green Fish Gang was based, and squatted right in the middle of its crossroads in broad daylight, would he be safe?

So, on careful consideration, he would probably have to carry this thing right up to the Green Fish Gang's door and call out, "Taishang Laojun, with all haste, by your command," before he could determine whether there was danger inside... But even that did not seem entirely right. Who knew whether they might remain perfectly civil on the surface, hiding knives behind their smiles, only to have seven or eight experts follow him on his way home at dusk, suddenly kill him, then hang him outside Feng Yong's tavern as a show of force?

Of course, in the final reckoning, he was only delivering an invitation to a gang. Why imagine so many elaborate tricks?

And so, after all this fussing back and forth and prolonged thought, even the sunlight had noticeably faded. Zhang Xing felt he was wasting his life... He simply tossed down the Compass, turned, and went out with a hand on his saber.

Then he discovered that Xiao Zhao was gone.

"Officer Zhao said it was only an invitation, and he couldn't wait, so he went to deliver it himself. He said you should wait for him at the Water Street junction, then go report back together!" Ward Chief Liu spoke casually enough. "Saves you fretting over every little thing."

Zhang Xing felt helpless. At first, he too thought he had wasted too much time and felt somewhat guilty, so he intended to catch up. But then he remembered that he did not know the way and would most likely have to go back for the Compass. He decided it did not matter after all. He simply nodded and, following Xiao Zhao's instructions, retraced his steps toward the Water Street junction.

But even when the Street-Clearing Drum sounded, there was still no sign of him.

By then, Zhang Xing was already growing uneasy. He waited a little longer, but as the crowds gradually thinned and Xiao Zhao still failed to appear, he could stand it no longer and went along Water Street to speak to Feng Yong at his tavern... Even then, however, Zhang Xing still mostly thought that being scolded twice earlier, then kept waiting at the ward gate, had made Xiao Zhao resentful, so the fellow had taken another route back to report in order to embarrass him.

Yet when he arrived beneath the tavern, called for the wooden ladder, entered, and went upstairs, Feng Yong instead bombarded him with anxious questions. "Why have you come back alone? And so late? Where's Xiao Zhao?"

Zhang Xing froze for a moment, then grew serious. Cupping his hands on the spot, he recounted everything exactly as it had happened: their bickering, the detour, and Xiao Zhao's departure when he could wait no longer.

After hearing him out, Feng Yong also grew serious. "A grown man, and a proper soldier of the Jing'an Directorate's Eastern Pacification Office at that, cannot simply disappear in broad daylight... It's late now. Go home first. Tomorrow, we'll gather everyone, muster our men, and carefully retrace his route. Whether someone has confined him or something else has happened, whoever did it owes us an explanation!"

Zhang Xing was uneasy, but the other man's proposal was sound, so for the moment he could only cup his hands and leave. Once downstairs, however, he came face-to-face with Xiao Yu, now dressed differently, distraught and streaming with tears. This only deepened his unease. He left all the faster and hurried home.

Once inside, Zhang Xing merely fetched the Compass and hurried out again, ignoring Brother Liu's reminder behind him that the ward gates were about to close.

He reached the main street junction and found that the streets had long since emptied. After dodging a few passing Jinwu Guard patrolmen, Zhang Xing took a deep breath, hastily brought out the Compass, and softly recited those words right there at the junction.

The golden Compass did not disappoint. Its needle sprang straight up.

Nor did its direction fall outside his expectations. It pointed straight toward the eastern part of Shangshan Ward. It seemed... Xiao Zhao really was still at the Green Fish Gang.

This entirely predictable result allowed Zhang Xing to breathe a little easier.

After all, no matter how he considered it, he could think of no reason the Green Fish Gang absolutely had to kill a messenger. And this messenger was Feng Zongqi's trusted subordinate, a proper soldier on the Jing'an Directorate's rolls, not some hanger-on from out of town.

If they killed him, would the Jing'an Directorate do nothing? Would Feng Yong not retaliate?

If he did not retaliate, how would he answer to his other subordinates afterward? Who would still trust him?

Even if Sun Wogua had connections with the Northern Office eunuchs and could ultimately hold his ground, what about his business? What about his underlings?

Putting himself in Feng Yong's shoes, if Zhang Xing really discovered that the Green Fish Gang had killed Xiao Zhao, he would gather men and flatten the gang tomorrow itself, just as he had swept through the illicit brothel businesses in the three wards over the past few days. Officials arresting criminals was as natural as heaven and earth. Quite possibly, the Jing'an Directorate would not only provide unconditional support, but also grant promotion and protection afterward. The matter could be settled before the Northern Office eunuchs even had time to speak.

More likely, Xiao Zhao had run his mouth, or his strict enforcement in the other three wards over the past two days had affected some business connected to the Green Fish Gang and provoked Sun Wogua. Or perhaps whether he had provoked anyone did not matter. Since Feng was coming to make trouble anyway, they might as well find a pretext to detain his man and make a show of force, reversing the positions of host and guest tomorrow and forcing Feng Yong to come to them for talks, thereby gaining an edge.

That was the most reasonable explanation, and the one that best fit human nature.

Of course, all this thinking was itself a helpless expedient. If he had Bai Yousi's cultivation, Zhang Xing would simply have soared in and hauled Xiao Zhao out. Alive, he would see the man; dead, he would see the body. Why would he need to stand at a crossroads late at night playing detective?

Still, this reasoning did let Zhang Xing release half a breath of relief. Forcing down his remaining unease, he turned back, climbed the ladder into the ward once more, and settled down for a cursory rest.

PS: I'm stunned. How did Lord lwfcy get so many votes?! Or is this some big shot's alternate account?