Through the wards (10)

Zhang Xing had been coming and going every day lately and knew his banner chief's tavern inside out:

The tavern stood against the ward wall and rose three full stories. Just beyond the wall lay Water Street on the south bank of the Luo River. Ordinarily, all they had to do was lower a wooden staircase and hang out the tavern flag, and business was good.

"Good business" did not mean the wine sold well or quickly. Rather, Feng Yong-Feng Zongqi-had started out as a hoodlum around the Luo River. Only because his handsome looks had won him a beauty's financial backing had he gradually built himself up through the sugar trade. He understood the Eastern Capital's streets and alleys and had a natural grasp of commerce. Once he became a company commander, with legitimate authority over four wards, he inevitably went into business as the local tiger.

High and low, near and far, from north and south: one merchant had goods he could not sell, another urgently needed a particular commodity; a regular from the east was temporarily short of cash, while a major customer from the west had too much silver to dare take it all on the road at once. Everyone had something to ask for, something they needed... And when evening came, with boats passing endlessly along the Luo River and few safe places to put in along its banks, experienced merchants would feel somewhat reassured at the distant sight of a wooden staircase extending out beneath a lofty tavern flag. They knew it was a reliable place. Once a few exchanged words had helped them find a solution and settle a deal, they naturally had to give Banner Chief Feng his cut.

That was the truly big business... especially as the years passed, his reputation spread, and regular customers multiplied.

For that very reason, the side of the tavern facing into the ward had inevitably become the private residence. Still, it was a spacious compound, maintaining twenty or thirty male and female servants. Main hall, side courtyards, bedrooms, ancestral shrine—it had everything it ought to have. In every respect, it befitted a wealthy man of the Eastern Capital who was also a seventh-rank Chief Banner Officer.

Zhang Xing had wandered around here twice and roughly remembered the layout. He scaled the wall early, under cover of dusk, climbed to the upper pavilion to survey the situation, then hurriedly slipped onto the ancestral shrine while the servants went to eat in the kitchen. Paying no heed whatsoever to the seven supreme beings-the Three Radiances and Four Sovereigns-enshrined below, he lay down behind the upturned eaves and waited for his opportunity.

He chose this spot first because the shrine's roof offered convenient concealment, and second because the shrine stood in the rear courtyard, between the tavern and the residential compound inside the ward. He could move easily once he spotted his target, and before nightfall he could listen to people passing between the tavern and the compound, gathering as much information and conversation as possible.

Yet, whether because Feng Yong and his wife ruled their servants with extreme strictness or for some other reason, even with Feng Yong himself absent, the servants spoke only of ordinary matters as they came and went. Few wagged their tongues. Zhang Xing listened for ages, but apart from two servants complaining about the hard work of packing valuables lately, he heard not a single unnecessary complaint, let alone any secrets of the household.

As for packing valuables, that was probably unavoidable. Such a huge windfall as the Green Fish Gang, taken openly and legitimately, would certainly have to be distributed according to the rules, from top to bottom, through both public and private channels. To Feng Yong, the money was like chicken ribs, offering little meat but hard to throw away. What he truly cared about was probably whether he could secure the credit, and securing credit undoubtedly required working his connections... These days, Feng Yong only showed his face at the tavern in the morning before constantly running across the Luo River. He was clearly cultivating contacts.

As the thought flashed through his mind, Zhang Xing suddenly felt something was wrong. Why did Feng Yong want a promotion?

Wasn't he trying to escape disaster?

Or was he an officialdom addict at heart, with everything he had said before merely intended to mislead outsiders?

There was no time to think further... The Eastern Capital had a curfew, so Feng Yong could not stay out too long. Besides, these were times when people rose with the sun and rested at sunset. City folk might stay up a little later, but not much... Just as Zhang Xing lay atop the shrine, holding his saber and staring blankly at the two moons, one large and one small, a commotion arose on the Water Street side of the tavern. Sure enough, Feng Zongqi had ordered the staircase lowered and was coming up directly from Water Street.

Moreover, much to Zhang Xing's disappointment, Feng Yong had not gotten drunk outside as he had hoped. Even from far away, he could hear the man's even tone and crisp, brisk words.

Zhang Xing did not dare move rashly. He could only continue waiting atop the shrine and gazing at the moons.

After another long wait, Feng Yong and his wife finished their meal and actually settled down for the night on the tavern side... This was another unanticipated development. Helpless, Zhang Xing kept watching the moons until the servants had all retired. Only then did he carefully climb down, circulate his Longevity True Qi, and climb up the tavern, cautiously making his way toward the bedroom from memory.

Of course, he was not stupid enough to step on loose roof tiles. Instead, he used his True Qi to cling and brace himself against a shadowed side wall beneath the eaves.

At last, as a startled crow took flight from the roof, Zhang Xing heard conversation through the skylight. The couple below were actually talking about him.

"That's why I said you rushed this! You botched it!" Madam Feng was plainly angry.

"What could I do?" Feng Yong sounded somewhat exasperated himself. "I hesitated at the time. I thought that Zhang Xing was a vicious fellow, and with his background unknown, I didn't want to drag him into this. But weren't you the one who decided beforehand? You said Xiao Zhao was stupid and this Zhang fellow had no backing, so they might as well be sent in together. When the moment came, it wasn't easy to change things!"

"So this is my fault?"

"I'm not blaming you... Aren't I trying to work something out?" Feng Yong seemed to sigh.

A long silence followed, so long that Zhang Xing, clinging outside, almost thought they had fallen asleep. Even so, he remained motionless, without so much as an expression on his face.

"The problem now is, leaving aside how that Zhang Xing fellow managed to escape so strangely, his request for Xiao Yu was quite reasonable," Feng Yong suddenly broke the silence. "Refusing would look odd and might even make him suspicious. But if we give her to him, we risk Xiao Yu harboring resentment, or having guessed something, and then telling him a few things once she's with him... Is that what you mean?"

"Yes!" Madam Feng was clearly still angry.

"Do you have any ideas?"

"What about killing Xiao Yu?" Madam Feng sounded as though she were discussing killing a chicken.

"Why kill someone for no reason?" Feng Yong sounded bewildered. "And Xiao Yu, at that?"

"I have a suspicion... Xiao Yu may be carrying Xiao Zhao's seed." Madam Feng suddenly lowered her voice.

Zhang Xing abruptly stiffened, but fortunately the reaction below was even greater than his, so he was not exposed.

"Are you certain?!" Feng Yong's voice suddenly sharpened.

"What are you shouting for?" Madam Feng rebuked him quietly. "It's only a guess... Think about it. Even if she and Xiao Zhao were merely playing along at first, he later genuinely wanted to buy her freedom. She's a young girl of flesh and blood. How could she not be moved? Didn't you seduce me into falling for you back then? Yet after Xiao Zhao died, she cried herself into a tear-soaked wreck for the first few days, then spent these last few days scurrying around the tavern as if nothing had happened... I didn't think much of it initially. Only today, when that Zhang fellow pitied her and wanted to take her in, did I realize she might have some pressing reason to find someone to take over."

"True." Feng Yong gave a long sigh. "If it were only her, why be in such a hurry... Though, in all conscience, if the situation hadn't been so urgent, there would have been nothing wrong with actually giving Xiao Yu to Xiao Zhao."

"Now you're playing the good man... I'm only reminding you that if Xiao Yu really is pregnant, that's Xiao Zhao's seed in her belly. And if Xiao Yu has caught a glimpse of the truth, that child could grow up with a father's murder to avenge, unable to share the same sky with you."

"Then let it refuse to share the same sky with me." Feng Yong sounded impatient. "In times like these, who can worry about something decades away? One more hardly makes a difference... The problem now is that killing Xiao Yu is easy, but she's already caught that Zhang fellow's eye. So if we kill her, we'll have to kill him too."

"Then kill him too." Madam Feng remained decisive.

Outside, Zhang Xing listened without a trace of expression, as though that Zhang fellow had nothing to do with him.

"No. I could tell last time at the Green Fish Gang that he's crawled out of heaps of corpses. The hired thugs and guards here in the Eastern Capital are no match for him," Feng Yong replied seriously. "Unless we can hire an expert who's opened the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, with several meticulous, trusted men to assist..."

"For meticulous, trusted men, just go to Old Wang. But an expert with the Eight Extraordinary Meridians is too expensive..."

"What do you know? It's not just the expense... And Old Wang again. All day long, it's Old Wang."

"Old Wang... Hmph, what's wrong with Old Wang? If you're going to pick at that, Feng Yong, couldn't I say you have other thoughts behind your reluctance to kill Xiao Yu?" Madam Feng flew into a rage.

"That's not what I meant." Feng Yong hurried to explain, evidently the lesser partner in bed.

"Forget it. I won't quarrel with you today. Tell me yourself: this won't work, that won't work, so what exactly are we going to do?" Madam Feng sneered. "You owe Commandant Zhang an answer first thing tomorrow... A maidservant, fifty strings of cash. Will you give her to him or not? Do you still want to be his respectable Chief Banner Officer and good big brother?"

"Just stall." Feng Yong answered sullenly. "Have a word with Old Wang. Say he wants Xiao Yu too, and I'm in a difficult position. In any case, we don't hand her over for now..."

"What good will stalling..." Madam Feng seemed about to mock him, but barely had she begun before she apparently realized something. In a rare change, she lowered her voice. "Has the promotion to a local Black Sash post been settled?"

"I have enough merit, and Black-Faced Official Cui's end is settled. But Official Li has always known we have savings. Even with this latest merit, he's opening his lion's jaws wide and holding fast without yielding. I originally wanted to talk him around some more... But now it seems better to give the money straight to Old Li rather than spend it hiring someone to kill that Zhang fellow, and get this settled quickly... Then we keep this concealed, send Zhang away before we leave, slaughter Xiao Yu, and set off. By the time he gets back, everything will be settled."

"Are you that afraid of him?"

"It's not him I'm afraid of. He's a rank-and-file soldier. However vicious he is, he's only a blade. At worst, we pay for a sharper blade... What matters is how frightening the situation is, and time is what we need. I don't dare stay in the Eastern Capital even one more day now." A distinct trace of exhaustion entered Feng Yong's voice. "I made inquiries. The palace has quietly thrown the Yang Shen case back out again. The Censorate Intendant in charge is certain to be impeached, and the case will probably be handed over to the Ministry of Justice. There may immediately be a huge wave of arrests... Even if there isn't, once full news of the crushing defeat in Dongyi arrives in another fortnight, the Eastern Capital will certainly be turned upside down... Every day earlier we leave counts. Whatever you do, don't stir up more trouble."

"What do you mean, I stir up trouble?" Madam Feng sounded indignant.

"I am not joking with you!" Feng Yong's tone abruptly grew stern. "If you weren't always clinging to the Eastern Capital's splendor, we would have left for our old home in Jingxiang before Yang Shen rebelled, as I wanted. Why wait until we learned of the defeat at the front and had to plan in a rush? If we hadn't been rushing, and you weren't so careless with people's lives, why would we have had to throw away Xiao Zhao's life and get tangled up with this Zhang fellow? And now Xiao Yu absolutely has to die too? What do you think a human life is? We're no longer the penniless wretches we were a dozen-odd years ago. We can't keep stopping at nothing."

Seeing her husband angry, Madam Feng muttered something. Feng Yong then seemed about to speak again, only to have his mouth blocked by something. After that came sounds of lovemaking, hurried breathing, slaps, and soft words.

Zhang Xing neither seized the chance to strike nor left. He merely took the opportunity to release the True Qi in his hands and carefully gain a firm foothold. And when the two inside finished their exertions and audible snoring began, he still did not strike. Using both hands and feet, he carefully climbed down, then returned to the shrine roof and stared blankly at the twin moons.

By now, his daytime beating of the mountain to startle the tiger had produced remarkable results. Zhang Xing had fully confirmed his suspicions and even learned truths he had not known.

For example, the Green Fish Gang and Sun Wogua had always been pigs raised in Feng Zongqi's pen. Only this pig was not meant to enrich him directly, but to be offered up for money and merit, to help him pack up and run.

For another, the couple's assessments of him had clearly differed. The more meticulous Feng Yong had even intended to spare him that day, but because the sweep through the three wards had gone too smoothly, he could only go with the current when the moment came and follow the original plan.

And another: of the Feng couple, the true driving force was actually Madam Feng.

Of course, these were all minor details, because whatever the case, there had been no major error in Zhang Xing's suspicions:

The wretched pair now sleeping on the tavern's third floor had, intentionally or not, in fact acted to bring about his death that day. Merely because he was a newcomer without backing, they had intended to use him as a sacrificial offering, activating their arrangements with the Green Fish Gang to complete their own escape plan.

Then again, these two could casually call for the deaths of their own trusted maidservant and subordinate and cast them aside. It would have been laughable if they had shown concern for his life instead.

And judging by their own words, who knew how many such things they had done over nearly twenty years?

So the question returned: now that he knew, what next?

Did they deserve to die?

Yes. The wretched pair deserved death.

Could he kill them?

Yes. Feng Yong clearly had not reached the level of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians. He could sneak in while the man slept, chop him down with one stroke, then chop down his wife.

Should he kill them?

In all conscience, Zhang Xing hesitated.

The reason could not have been simpler. Killing a Principal Seventh Rank Chief Banner Officer about to rise to sixth-rank Black Sash, along with his wife, would very likely bring consequences that a defeated soldier turned Street-Cleaning Tiger like him could not bear... A hundred-odd paces north of the tavern lay the Luo River. Across it, Chengfu Gate, where Zhang Xing had told Qin Erlang to wait, was actually one of the gates to Ziwei Palace. Inside the palace, even a department like the Northern Office had eunuchs who had cultivated to the Grandmaster level and restored their yang, let alone the other experts.

Then there was the Jing'an Directorate itself. Feng Yong was a seventh-rank Chief Banner Officer in its Eastern Pacification Office, already preparing to transfer to a sixth-rank Black Sash post. The Directorate had twenty-eight Vermilion Sashes like Bai Yousi, with at least a dozen currently in Eastern Capital City.

If one of their own died, especially someone of this rank, they would certainly investigate. And once they did, even if Qin Bao did not betray him, could he survive with his meager tricks and concealment?

And that little wench Bai Yousi-although she appreciated his talent, couldn't she also be iron-faced and impartial, enforcing the law with the weight of a mountain?

Viewed that way, Qin Bao's earlier advice had indeed been right, utterly right. This was not the same as chopping off Wei Liouzi's hand. That had been someone above bullying someone below. This was someone below defying someone above.

And that Compass... how should he put it? It truly was a treasure. Whatever his heart desired, it pointed the way. Yet almost every successful guidance brought him trouble of a corresponding scale.

If only I didn't have the Compass!

For an instant, the thought surged through Zhang Xing's mind again as he lay silently watching the moons atop the shrine... Without the Compass, he might have had doubts, but he probably would not have learned the truth before the couple left the Eastern Capital. Then he would not have faced this dilemma.

Why not let it go?

A gentleman can wait ten years for revenge... Besides, if we're really talking about revenge and injustice, shouldn't it be Xiao Zhao? Is it worth staking everything out of anger over a plot that never even succeeded?

Wasn't thinking that way a little self-deceptive?

So what if it was? Once you're dead, you can't even deceive anyone.

At that thought, Zhang Xing truly lost some of his resolve. In fact, he carefully climbed down from the shrine, then continued cautiously along the side courtyard's rooms toward the ward.

Yet deep in the night, beneath the twin moons, along the boundary wall of the silent Feng compound, a gust of wind blew past, and Zhang Xing, whose resolve had faltered, suddenly stopped.

Because on that summer breeze, he faintly heard a woman sobbing.

A young woman was indeed crying, though whether she was Xiao Yu was hard to say. It merely sounded a little like her, and Zhang Xing neither wanted nor dared to check:

What if it was her?

And what if it wasn't?

After listening for a long while, Zhang Xing gradually found he could no longer bear it-he could wait ten years for a gentleman's revenge, but if it was Xiao Yu, if Xiao Yu truly still thought of Xiao Zhao, if there was a child in her belly, what would happen to them once he walked away today?

Why had Yuan Da had to die that day?

Why had he insisted on chopping off one of Wei Liouzi's hands?

Another summer gust rose. Zhang Xing suddenly turned and, holding Xiao Zhao's saber against his chest, walked toward the tavern one step at a time.

It took him a quarter of an hour to climb back to the tavern's third floor, then another half-quarter to slip carefully through the skylight into the room... The Feng couple were still fast asleep. Zhang Xing did not rush to strike. First, he carefully removed the door bar. Only then did he turn back, draw Xiao Zhao's saber, channel Longevity True Qi into his arm, and drive the blade viciously through the quilt into Feng Yong's heart.

Feng Yong opened his eyes in pain. Before he could cry out, the second thrust came, striking him squarely in the throat.

Those two wounds doomed the Chief Banner Officer, yet his response exceeded Zhang Xing's expectations. His eyes widened as he saw Zhang Xing. Knowing he would die, he struggled to raise a hand, but neither covered his wounds nor fought back. Instead, he forced his True Qi to move his arm and point at the person beside him, then barely managed to cover his own mouth and nose, fixing his eyes on Zhang Xing without moving.

Zhang Xing understood. Naturally, he knew Feng Yong wanted him to spare his wife... Though the two were vicious-hearted, they were, after all, a pair of mandarin ducks bound by genuine love.

Yet despite that inward reflection, the night assailant's expression did not change. He simply made certain of the kill, stabbing through the quilt a dozen times. When a hot current surged into him, almost breaking straight through his fifth primary meridian, he knew Feng Yong was dead. Only then did he turn his blade and plunge it directly into Madam Feng's throat beside him.

Like Feng Yong, Madam Feng did not die at once. Instead, as Zhang Xing pulled out the blade, she began choking.

Seeing this, Zhang Xing merely pulled the quilt over her head and began stabbing wildly into her abdomen... Unexpectedly, as Madam Feng's body stopped trembling, he distinctly felt another hot current. Compared with those from the three cultivators he had killed before, it was exceedingly, exceedingly faint, but it undeniably existed.

More interestingly, after entering him, this hot current merely circled across the surface of his skin before dispersing into the night air, as though saying that he was not where it belonged.

But this was no time to consider such things. Having killed the two, Zhang Xing carefully wiped the saber with the bloodstained quilt, then thrust it into Feng Yong's body and prepared to leave.

Yet when he turned and reached the bedroom door, he stopped again, as though abruptly remembering something he had forgotten but ought to do.

After a moment's thought, Zhang Xing took a clean face towel from a nearby cabinet, soaked it in blood on the bed, and circulated his Longevity True Qi. Clinging halfway up the wall with one hand, he used the other to laboriously write three lines in simplified characters on the wall beside him:

One man slain every ten steps; a thousand miles without a trace.

The deed done, I brush my robes and leave, hiding both my person and my name.

The killer was none other than Li Taibai, great hero of the Central Lands!

After writing, Zhang Xing opened the door and took another look at the bloody words by moonlight. Then, without further hesitation, he circulated his True Qi and headed straight north of the tavern. At the ward wall, he leaped across. Upon reaching the Luo River, he stripped off his outer garment and threw it into the water, then broke into a run. He made a wide circuit toward Xiao Zhao's home in Cultivation Ward before finally returning to Xiūyè Ward from the south.

Back in the side courtyard, everything was silent. Only the twin moons shone together, spreading over it like flowing light.

Strange to say, although avenging himself had left him torn earlier, now that he had avenged Xiao Zhao because of an elusive sound of crying, Zhang Xing instead felt thoroughly invigorated, as though it had all been worth it. After a quick wash, he even felt his mind become utterly clear, so he simply sat down in the courtyard to break through his meridian.

And within only a short while, he felt the fifth primary meridian between his lungs and right foot flowing smoothly. He had actually broken through it outright.

It was only a little past the third watch.

PS: Thanks to the new alliance leaders Lingshui Xiaohei and Rain's Umbrella... They're this book's thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh alliance leaders... My endless gratitude.