Walking Heaven Street (12)

Rain fell on Eastern Capital City.

Inside the ward walls, battle cries shook the heavens, as though two armies were at war. Yet the support detachment from the Jing'an Directorate's Second Patrol Team, where Zhang Xing stood, remained solemn and silent on Heaven Street west of Zhengping Ward, just a wall away.

After days of rain, water now rushed noisily along Heaven Street.

"Why have we stopped here? Why can't we move?"

Someone who had fallen behind in the rain and did not know what was happening hurried up to ask.

"Lord Zhang Shizhao, the Secretariat's left deputy director, is here." Qian Tang, who had heard clearly from the front, turned to explain. Perhaps to distinguish him from the other Lord Zhang, the minister of justice who had just joined the Southern Office, he specifically supplied his name. "Lord Zhang has issued orders: once the supporting units arrive, they are to surround all four sides of the ward walls and await his coordinated deployment... the inspector has already gone to the northern ward gate to see him."

Hearing this, the men behind naturally said no more, dismounting and standing ready.

Zhang Xing, however, was curious as ever. "Brother Qian, why is Lord Zhang here? Even if this is a serious affair, surely the Secretariat's left deputy director doesn't need to handle it personally at the ward gate? If they wanted to show how seriously they took it, wouldn't it be more convenient for our intendant to come?"

"He happened upon it." Qian Tang glanced at Zhang Xing, seemingly reluctant to answer, but still offered a few casual words. "In the Southern Office, Lord Zhang oversees trade with the northwestern Wu Clan, foreign affairs, and transport. The city has been sealed lately, and it's been raining, so when he left the Southern Office at noon, he headed south along the main Heaven Street outside the main gate, intending to inspect the Western Market, where Wu Clan merchants gather... then this disturbance broke out just as he reached Yiren Ward, so he had to come take control."

"Then has this... Lord Zhang had any military experience?" Zhang Xing continued cautiously, exposing his real concern: he feared encountering an amateur, and an amateur of deputy national rank at that. If he died because of it, he would have died for nothing.

"Rest easy, Zhang Sanlang," Li Qingchen answered impatiently from beside him before Qian Tang could speak. "You're not the only capable man under heaven... in his early years, Lord Zhang crossed the great desert alone on camelback and rode single-handed into the Western Wasteland. He split the Wu Clan into three, brought one branch in the Western Regions to heel, and used an open stratagem to keep the other two fighting to this day, until both had no choice but to declare themselves subjects of Great Wei... what seems a major affair to us today probably looks like children playing in the mud to him!"

Zhang Xing nodded repeatedly. So long as he was dependable.

Qin Bao, however, looked puzzled. "Li Shierlang, don't you mock the lords of the Southern Office every day? Why are you praising one to the skies today?"

Li Qingchen started to speak, then stopped, left choking on his words as he waited quietly in the rain.

Whether because a leader of deputy national rank was personally directing matters with composure or not, after a while the battle cries inside the ward noticeably weakened, gradually concentrating toward the northeastern corner. This made the rushing water on Heaven Street sound even louder.

For some reason, perhaps because this was his "first" time participating in such a large-scale paramilitary operation, Zhang Xing, the Upper Five Armies' point man who had "crawled out of a pile of corpses," instead felt inexplicably nervous.

Of course, a good commander would never leave the Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry, almost all of whom were cultivators, idle, especially now that the battle had clearly changed.

"Lord Zhang's orders have arrived." Sure enough, Bai Yousi came riding through the rain. "Everyone abandon your horses and head north on foot to the wall on the eastern side of the northeastern corner. Join our colleagues from the other seven Jing'an Directorate teams and prepare to storm the wall with short weapons... disregard everything else. Anyone who resists with a weapon is to be killed without mercy. Cut through the streets and alleys and join the Jinwu Guard formation advancing toward us!"

With that, Bai Yousi dismounted first, drew her longsword, and tossed its sheath onto her horse. Holding her sword in one hand, she led the way north at a brisk pace.

The others had no time to answer and followed her example, drawing their Embroidered-Mouth Curved Sabers, discarding their sheaths, and hurrying after her with their blades in one hand. Before long, they joined several other teams of Brocade-Clad warriors, over a hundred in all, forming a line some three or four hundred paces wide and crouching beneath the covered walkway on the western side of Heaven Street.

"All of you, be careful. Don't charge too far ahead."

Beneath the distinct rush of water, Bai Yousi took the opportunity to warn her subordinates in a lowered voice. This was probably the first time Zhang Xing had seen her so poised to face a formidable enemy. She had not even wasted true qi keeping off the rain, leaving the small coronet on her head soaked. They soon understood the reason for her manner.

"Remember that prisoner from last time? The one on the fifth level, whose cultivation before imprisonment was no lower than mine? He is Heluo Huaibao, adopted son of Heluo Fu, the Duke of Wei, and he has already shown himself... in the present situation, it would be stranger if he didn't shatter his Inner Core and burn his sea of qi to fight for his life."

Everyone grew grim, and Zhang Xing felt apprehensive too-the "Demon Hunter" had left far too deep an impression on him. With an expert on Bai Yousi's level just beyond the wall, liable to unleash a desperate ultimate attack at any moment, it would have been strange if sweat had not broken out from his scalp to his soles.

"Inspector, don't charge too far ahead yourself."

After a moment's hesitation, Qian Tang suddenly spoke.

"I know." Bai Yousi glanced at him, taking it for an ordinary expression of concern. "If he really shatters his Inner Core and burns his sea of qi to run rampant, there's no need to contend with him over a moment's advantage. Drag it out, and before long he'll die on his own."

"That isn't what I mean." Cold sweat kept forming on Qian Tang's forehead. "Or rather, it isn't all I mean... I mean, if experts of your level fight and leave Eastern Capital City beyond anyone's control, Ziwei Palace might use that Crouching Dragon Seal or whatever it is Lord White Emperor left behind... then, then everyone's cultivation within a hundred li will be suppressed below Meridian Opening... even a crossbow bolt would be something you must beware of, Inspector."

That was possible too?

Zhang Xing's first reaction truly was not concern for Bai Yousi, but excitement that this world really did have magical treasures. Then, as everyone around him turned toward her in unison with concern on their faces, he remembered to follow the crowd and cast a concerned look at his inspector.

Unexpectedly, seeing all her subordinates look toward her, Bai Yousi, holding her sword in both hands beneath the walkway, raised an eyebrow and looked back with a cold laugh.

"If I, Bai Yousi, feared death, why didn't I become a clerk in the Secretariat of Chancellery back then? By now I should at least be a Remonstrance Official in the Ministry of Revenue, shouldn't I?"

Amid the rushing water, everyone was first struck speechless, then heartened.

There was no time for more talk. Once the hundred-odd Brocade-Clad elites finished forming up, a horn suddenly sounded from Heaven Street to the north: three long blasts and one short.

At the end of the first blast, Jinwu Guard soldiers and Street-Cleaning Tigers with trembling hands hurried forward to prop ladders against the ward wall. At the same time, a distinctly unified battle cry rose inside, presumably the Jinwu Guard moving simultaneously to provide cover.

At the end of the second blast, several Vermilion Sashes and Black Sashes, led by Bai Yousi, sprang directly into the air from beneath the walkway. Without even touching the ward wall, they flew over with weapons in hand, their manifested true qi making them look like streaks of drifting light.

As the third horn blast sounded, the hundred-odd Brocade-Clad elites, Zhang Xing included, who had already channeled their full true qi into their blades, leaped out after their team leaders and used the ladders to vault over the wall.

By the time the fourth, short blast rang out, not a single Brocade-Clad elite remained beneath the walkway. In their place came battle cries suddenly erupting inside the wall, drowning out everything, and a few screams smothered beneath them.

Zhang Xing crossed the ward wall with the main force and swept through its streets, alleys, and courtyard walls in formation with the other Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry. In all honesty... despite the tense atmosphere and the dense close-quarters fighting from the outset, it was not as dangerous as he had imagined, because Bai Yousi and those Vermilion Sashes and Black Sashes were simply too dependable.

They led the charge, scaling walls and rooftops with an effortless leap. Each sweep of their longswords and short weapons brought flashes of different lights. Whether cultivators or ordinary men, in groups or alone, those who dared resist with weapons rarely lasted a single exchange. Zhang Xing and the others followed them over walls and through alleys, advancing like a sweeping net, mostly cleaning up and finishing enemies off.

Occasionally, when they met someone who had slipped through the net, they rushed him together with their true qi fully channeled, and a stroke of an Embroidered-Mouth Curved Saber swiftly ended the fight.

In this manner, after barely half a quarter-hour, the Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry could already see the dense mass of Jinwu Guard troops in the distance from atop the courtyard walls. There, under their officers' commands, the Jinwu Guard advanced in force toward them from Crossroads Street, bearing shields, crossbows, long spears, and great sabers.

At the sight of the concentrated Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry elites attacking from the rear with short weapons, the Jinwu Guard's morale surged further, and they pressed forward repeatedly in concert with them.

In stark contrast to the government troops were the bandits caught between them, whose numbers had only just become apparent. Though these bandits and escaped prisoners were numerous, fearless of death, and seemingly included no shortage of experts, the dense military formations and elite assault threw them into confusion on both fronts. Soon some began fleeing, while others occupied residents' courtyards in small groups to fight with their backs to the wall, drawing concentrated attacks from the Patrol Cavalry and Jinwu Guard.

Thus far, one could only say that Lord Zhang's tactic of feinting west and striking east, attacking from both sides, was simple but practical in the extreme.

Today's scene also demonstrated the Jing'an Directorate's value from another angle... Zhang Xing keenly realized that establishing such a thing was about far more than secret-police politics. In a world with primordial qi between heaven and earth, gathering such a force was itself the creation of an indispensable, powerful organization of violence.

No regime could ignore such a force. They were a natural machine of violence and ruling class, like the scholars in the early history of Zhang Xing's own world, only with an even stronger claim to that position.

The situation was excellent, yet as the battle swept through the enemy like rotten wood, the Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry-at least Zhang Xing's team-grew increasingly tense. Unconsciously, they began gathering around their strongest fighter, Bai Yousi.

Even Bai Yousi was visibly tense to the extreme.

The reason could not have been simpler. The expert previously imprisoned on the fifth level beneath the Black Tower, Heluo Fu's adopted son Heluo Huaibao, who was probably filled with resentment toward the court, society, and everyone else, had made no move whatsoever.

Where was he?

Was he hiding among some group of enemies, preparing to erupt?

Or had he escaped through some other route?

Or had his attempt to shatter his core and burn his qi failed, leaving him dead in some filthy ditch?

Or was the intelligence simply wrong?

From Bai Yousi down, the entire patrol team-and probably every Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry elite participating in this assault-was likely nervous.

With the saber hilt beneath his sleeve already coated in ice, Zhang Xing vaguely seemed to grasp something, but it remained indistinct.

Amid his wandering thoughts, a crash rang out. Beside a residence seventy or eighty paces away, a Jinwu Guard soldier standing against a courtyard wall suddenly flew more than ten paces through the air and slammed into the formation beside him. A great iron spear pierced straight through him on the spot; plainly, he would not survive.

As for those beneath him, there was no telling how many would live.

Nor was that all. Immediately afterward, over a dozen vicious bandits surged through the broken courtyard wall behind a sturdy man of about forty, dressed for combat, with a cloth wrapped around his head and a long saber in hand. They launched a surprise attack on the Jinwu Guard's shattered formation.

Caught completely unprepared, the Jinwu Guard broke apart in an instant.

At this sight, Bai Yousi acted without hesitation, pushing off empty air and leaping high. Once she gained a clear view of the situation, she flew sideways toward it along a trajectory that defied ordinary mechanics. Faster still were several successive streaks of golden sword light, each following a different path.

The sword light drifted past, and screams rose one after another.

Qian Tang and the others, Zhang Xing included, had already followed close behind-it was only seventy or eighty paces.

Yet by the time they reached the fighting, half the dozen-odd bandits had fallen. The sturdy, head-wrapped man had been cut in half at the waist, with only half his body left crawling over the Jinwu Guard corpses. Bai Yousi, too, had been splashed with blood over half her body, like a ghost or god.

Meanwhile, behind the broken courtyard wall, a young child's loud wailing could actually be heard.

The scene was so oppressive that it left them struggling to breathe.

Even so, none dared think further or concern themselves with anything else. They simply advanced, fought with all their strength, and carefully finished off the fallen.

Channeling his Ice True Qi to the full, Zhang Xing cut down a vicious bandit before him. As a hot stream struck his face, his body instinctively swayed in the drizzle.

The next moment, he abruptly realized what had been puzzling him all along.

"Inspector... why is the water on Heaven Street here so loud? So much louder than over by Jiaqing Ward? Even after entering the ward, it's quieter, but we can still hear it?"

Bai Yousi froze for a moment and gave no immediate reply.

Even Qian Tang and the others, their faces smeared with blood, looked blank.

"It's... it's the old canal!" At that moment, a middle-aged Jinwu Guard officer who had just recovered from his fright answered from amid the bloody water on the ground. "When they built Eastern Capital City, they used four million Corvée Laborers every month... the project, the project was too large, so there were artificial canals in the east, west, north, and south for transporting materials, all connecting to the Luo River... most were later laid over to become Heaven Street, following their routes, but quite a few remained beneath it as underground drainage canals... and this canal underneath is the largest in the Southern City. It passes north of Zhengping Ward, turns on the eastern side, then follows Heaven Street all the way to the Luo River. Once the summer rains come, the water sounds day and night."

Before he had finished, Bai Yousi and Zhang Xing exchanged a look, plainly realizing something. Yet for some reason, even she now grew nervous and frightened.

"Qian, Qian Tang! Go report to... never mind, I'll go myself!"

Bai Yousi turned, about to leap into the air.

But just as she jumped, before she had taken flight, a thunderous crash suddenly came from north of Zhengping Ward, where Lord Zhang had been sitting as securely as a fisherman on his platform. The crash was like an explosion, leaving Zhang Xing and the others' ears ringing.

Bai Yousi froze in midair, landed, then sprang north again without looking behind her. The other Vermilion Sashes and Black Sashes also realized what had happened and immediately rose to follow.

A moment later, the ringing faded. Hearing battle cries and wails from the north, mingled with furious roars and loud laughter, the Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry dared not delay either. After only a few exchanged glances, the elites silently drew together and swept north.

As Zhang Xing and the others crossed the visibly damaged ward wall, the first thing they saw was three distinct figures, wrapped in flowing light, colliding and fighting in the air and on the ground. The next was a hole on Heaven Street fully ten zhang across, with water murmuring beneath it.

Now Zhang Xing and the other Patrol Cavalry truly had no idea what to do. There was nothing for it, truly nothing. Even if they wanted to help first, they could not reach them. Even the Black Sashes and the other Vermilion Sashes had not joined the fight, instead searching the surroundings for something.

Soon, they found their target. Two Vermilion Sashes swiftly leaped over, while the remaining Vermilion Sashes and Black Sashes hurriedly cleared a space beneath the covered walkway on their side of Heaven Street. Someone even fetched a chair from inside the ward wall behind them without hesitation.

"It was an oversight on my part. To think I forgot this old canal."

The chair had barely been set down when a plainly dressed older man of about fifty, slightly damp, calmly walked over under the escort of seven or eight guards in strange armor and the guidance of two Vermilion Sashes. His face was clean and his features handsome; he could be considered a handsome older gentleman. As the Vermilion Sashes and Black Sashes saluted him, he waved a hand, stroked his beard, and sighed. "Fortunately, His Majesty assigned me Crouching Dragon Guards."

With that, he calmly sat down.

Without question, this had to be that leader of deputy national rank, one of the current lords of the Southern Office: Lord Zhang Shizhao, the Secretariat's left deputy director.

Unlike everyone else, who immediately fixed their eyes on Lord Zhang, the physically and mentally bedraggled riders of the Second Patrol Team, Zhang Xing among them, could not help exchanging looks, then looking only at those guards in strange armor. The guards happened to look back.

At last, they knew who the third person flying through the sky was-Sima Second Dragon, of course.

"Everyone hold steady." Seated in his new chair, the handsome, plainly dressed older gentleman-Lord Zhang Shizhao-looked around and gave calm instructions. "That villain Heluo Huaibao forcibly shattered his core and burned his own sea of qi. Even an immortal could not save him... let Sima Erlang and Bai Sanniang hold him off. Before long, we need only collect his corpse. The main thing now is to stabilize the situation and let matters inside the ward proceed as they should."

The Vermilion Sashes and Black Sashes nodded. A general plainly belonging to the Jinwu Guard arrived belatedly, immediately bowed outside the walkway, and lowered his head in assent.

The next instant, a figure wrapped in white light suddenly knocked aside another figure trailing golden light and plunged toward them from the air. Light rose from almost every Vermilion Sash, Black Sash, and Crouching Dragon Guard as they tried to protect Zhang Shizhao.

But the white light merely flashed outside the walkway before soaring up again.

Immediately afterward, the senior Jinwu Guard officer was hoisted bodily into the sky, eventually falling into the great hole and hitting the water with a splash.

"Zhang Shizhao!"

The man in the air knocked another figure aside, then suddenly stopped atop a corner tower of the covered walkway across Heaven Street. Zhang Xing saw him clearly: it was indeed the prisoner from that day, only without his blindfold now. Gripping the edge of the tower and carrying a standard-issue Jinwu Guard spear, he threw back his head and laughed in the drizzle. "I can't kill these two youngsters of the Sima and Bai families, and I can't kill you, but can't I kill everyone else? How many do you think I can kill in that little while?!"

The handsome older gentleman looked somewhat embarrassed and could not help biting the knuckle of his index finger.

Everyone else present, whether Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry or Jinwu Guard-especially the Jinwu Guard-almost universally paled.

Perhaps because Zhang Shizhao gave no response, the man let out a long breath. Holding the corner tower's eave with one hand and pointing the Jinwu Guard spear around with the other, he shouted with all his might, his voice shaking Heaven Street.

"I was imprisoned for sixteen years! My brothers, my benefactor, my adopted father-all dead! This little while is exactly what I wanted! This little while is exactly what I sought! Yet you fighting men come charging before me now for a paltry wage? Aren't you throwing your lives away for nothing? But then, this court never cared about you anyway. You'd die for nothing! As for you, Zhang Shizhao, let me tell you plainly: if you want to kill me, Heluo Huaibao, either make these two youngsters trade their lives for mine, or get those two old dogs Cao Lin and Niu He over here! At the very least, you ought to use the Crouching Dragon Seal! Otherwise, are you looking down on me, or on this River-Cutting True Qi I've kept hidden for sixteen years and unleashed today?!"

With that, he threw back his head and gave a long howl, like a tiger roaring through mountain forests, shaking the land in all directions-literally shaking it, for his roar visibly drove the rain askew.

Then he swung his spear and leaped into the air. After thrusting Bai Yousi aside with a spear strike in midair, he stabbed downward with all his strength. A Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry rider barely had time to raise his hand before he was pinned alive to the ward wall behind him.

Having struck again, Heluo Huaibao did not retrieve the spear. Instead, he took the Embroidered-Mouth Curved Saber from his victim's hand, turned it back to block Sima Zheng's long halberd, and soared into the air once more.

Everyone was thoroughly chilled with fear. The military formation nearly wavered.

"Go summon Lord Cao of the Jing'an Directorate and Duke Niu of the Northern Office at once!" Surrounded by Crouching Dragon Guards, Vermilion Sashes, and Black Sashes, Zhang Shizhao, the Secretariat's left deputy director, finally began sweating too, and even stamped his foot. "Tell those two old dogs to get over here at once, or Great Wei will lose every scrap of face on Heaven Street!"

PS: Happy New Year, everyone!