A silver moon hung overhead, and a faint commotion still drifted from the front of the yamen.
With his back to the alley, Ye Xingge made sure no one was around. Then he lightly hooked his toes over the wall, quietly pulled himself up, and followed it to the roof. Judging by the layout of the residence, he circled toward the master's quarters.
The main house was still lit. Inside, a dignified woman paced back and forth, looking nervous.
One look at her expression told Ye Xingge something was wrong. After making sure no one else was around the room, he silently dropped into the courtyard and, saber in hand, crept toward the door beneath the eaves.
Tap, tap...
The woman paced in the sitting room, clearly listening to the argument in the front part of the residence. She had no idea a swordsman had already crept up outside the wall.
Ye Xingge had no intention of using his saber. He only wanted to threaten her with something like, "Madam, you wouldn't want the county commandant to find out about your affair with Jiang Baichuan, would you?" and get her to reveal where Jiang Baichuan's private residence was.
But just as he neared the door, the footsteps inside suddenly stopped, and the woman's voice rang out:
"Why did you come out..."
The sounds inside the room abruptly ceased again.
?!
Ye Xingge frowned. Then a chill ran down his spine, and he lunged forward!
Almost at the same instant, Great Beauty's voice rang out beside his ear:
"Move!"
Pfft-
A gleaming steel saber pierced through the wall of the main house.
Amid the bursting of brick and stone, the blade came close on Ye Xingge's back!
Even though Ye Xingge had reacted quickly enough to dive forward and flatten himself in advance, a slit was still cut in the hem of his robe.
Crash-
The next instant, a window of the main house shattered, and a figure leaped out!
Ye Xingge rolled across the courtyard and sprang up. At the sudden attack, his eyes showed not terror, but disbelief. He thought:
You damned woman, your guts are bigger than the heavens! With the whole city searching for him, you dared hide your lover at home?!
No wonder the yamen couldn't find him even after digging three feet into the ground...
But he had no time to mourn for County Commandant Wang. The moment he rose, a four-foot oxtail saber came chopping down at him!
In a fleeting glimpse, he could see that the man who had rushed out was in his forties, broad-shouldered and wide-backed, with fairly upright features. He held his saber in both hands, his muscles bulging, and his tiger-like eyes gave him an imposing presence.
As a local of Hexi, Ye Xingge had never dealt with the Hundred Rivers Shipping Company, but after spending years following the county yamen on its business, he certainly knew who the man was.
Seeing that the man who had rushed out was indeed Jiang Baichuan, Ye Xingge did not dodge. Instead, he drove forward with both feet and gripped his saber's hilt with his right hand!
Clang-
The blade left its sheath, drawing a crescent of cold light through the night.
Jiang Baichuan had charged out of the house and attacked without holding anything back. As the owner of a shipping company, he was confident that his martial skills were considerable.
But as soon as he made his strike, he realized something was wrong!
Clang-
The two blades met, and sparks burst across the courtyard!
Ye Xingge opened with a draw cut, sweeping it with perfect accuracy against the heavy saber chopping toward him. He knocked the blade off course in an instant, sending Jiang Baichuan tilting to the left. Then:
Tap, tap-
Thud!
Before Jiang Baichuan could regain his footing, Ye Xingge had already taken a great stride forward. In one fluid motion, he slammed a heavy elbow into Jiang Baichuan's chest and abdomen.
Jiang Baichuan was knocked sideways. Before he could react, both feet left the ground, and he flew backward more than a zhang, his saber trailing behind him, before crashing into a pillar of the main house's veranda.
Bang-
Crash~
Ye Xingge had held back from a killing blow because he wanted to take him alive.
Jiang Baichuan fell to the ground, coughing up blood. He quickly pushed himself up with his saber, but staggered and fell back into a sitting position. Clutching his chest with his left hand, he stared in disbelief at the black-clad swordsman before him.
"Cough... the Black Banner Saber?!"
The Black Banner Saber was the sidearm of the Heaven-Observing Pavilion's senior military officers. Its blade was polished like a mirror. Though it had no special effects, its deterrent power was astonishing.
After bringing his target down with one blow, Ye Xingge did not step forward to seize him. Instead, he gave his wrist a slight turn and sheathed his saber, then looked toward the front of the residence.
"What was that noise?"
"Quick, go have a look..."
The sounds of fighting had reached the county commandant's yamen in front, and a large number of footsteps came running toward the rear residence.
When Jiang Baichuan realized his attacker was a senior military officer of the Heaven-Observing Pavilion, he knew he was as good as dead and had already given up resisting.
But when he saw the man sheathe his saber, a spark of hope flared in his heart. Gritting his teeth, he sprang up, sprinted forward in great strides, and leaped over the courtyard wall.
Whoosh~
Ye Xingge had stopped because, once this man was captured, he had to take him back to Qingxi to claim credit.
If the man were captured in the rear quarters of the Muyang County commandant's yamen, the achievement would belong to Muyang County!
As a mere commoner, he could hardly take the man away right in front of the yamen.
Seeing Jiang Baichuan flee, Ye Xingge did not linger. He dashed up onto the courtyard wall and pursued him. Shouts rang out behind him:
"Who goes there?"
"There's a thief on the rooftops..."
"Goddamn it, is there no law left? Get after him..."
Shouts tore through the long night, and the entire county town suddenly stirred.
A great blaze of torchlight poured out from the yamen at its center, spreading through the streets and alleys in all directions like lava.
Through the tangled alleys, two sets of footsteps raced one after the other, stirring up a flurry of footsteps along the way:
Tap, tap, tap...
Saber in hand, Ye Xingge sped along the roof ridges. In only a short while, he had shaken off the searching runners, his gaze fixed on the figure fleeing through the alleys.
In the narrow lanes, Jiang Baichuan ran at full speed with a gleaming oxtail saber in hand. His breathing rumbled like thunder, and he coughed up blood all the way as he tried to use the tangled terrain to shake off his pursuer.
But Ye Xingge had spent years running all over the place with Uncle Wang and knew Hexi's four counties all too well. He stayed right on Jiang Baichuan's tail, chasing him from the yamen at the center of town to its outskirts in the blink of an eye.
Seeing that his pursuer would not let up, Jiang Baichuan knew he could not escape. He gritted his teeth and crashed through the rear window of a closed tavern.
Crash-
Seeing this, Ye Xingge leaped from the roof ridge and landed outside the tavern.
"You can't escape. I won't kill you. Surrender and spare yourself a beating."
Inside the tavern.
Jiang Baichuan leaned against the window, his breathing rumbling like thunder and blood covering the corners of his mouth. He listened for his opponent's position, his eyes full of terror.
"Let me go, and I'll give you silver..."
Crash-
The words had barely left his mouth when another commotion erupted!
A tavern window two zhang away was smashed open. Pale moonlight spilled inside, only to be obscured by a dark figure, with a gleaming saber hidden within it.
Swish-
?!
Seeing that his attacker would give him no chance, Jiang Baichuan could only grit his teeth, slide his right foot forward, and slam his hip against a square table in the hall.
Crash...
The table slid across the hall toward the figure charging in, a gleaming steel saber following close behind!
Ye Xingge did not dodge. Instead, he advanced rather than retreating, drawing his saber in a rising slash.
Swish-
Three feet of silver blade slashed diagonally upward with precisely measured force, flipping the oncoming table over at once.
Jiang Baichuan thrust forward with his saber behind the table. Seeing the tabletop flip up and block his view, he moved aside without hesitation. But in the next instant:
Pfft-
The three-foot saber pierced the tabletop and swept past Jiang Baichuan's face by a hair's breadth. Moonlight reflected off its cold edge, even illuminating his eyes!
When his thrust missed, Ye Xingge immediately twisted the blade and slashed sideways. A gash tore through the airborne table, sending wood chips flying to the side!
Jiang Baichuan's skills were also fairly good. He held his saber upright before him to block Ye Xingge's blade, while his body coiled like a taut spring. Then he drove a hard shoulder strike into the tabletop between them!
Clang!
Crash-
Amid the clash of metal, the table shattered into pieces!
Unfortunately for Jiang Baichuan, though he smashed the tabletop, he had yet to reach Ye Xingge before the latter gripped his saber in both hands and pressed down. Tremendous force traveled through the blade, and Jiang Baichuan lost his balance and fell to the floor.
Ye Xingge stepped forward, spinning the saber in his right hand into a reverse grip and stabbing downward!
Pfft-
The three-foot saber pierced Jiang Baichuan's right arm in an instant, pinning it straight to the tavern's floor tiles!
"Aah-!!"
Before Jiang Baichuan could get up, he let out a miserable scream. His upper body was pinned to the floor by the saber, and then an elbow blow slammed into the back of his head.
Thud-
The heavy blow drove Jiang Baichuan's cheek into the floor tiles. Splinters lodged in his face, and his head swam, leaving him dazed where he lay.
After the muffled impact, the tavern hall, its floor covered in debris, fell quiet.
Clatter~
Ye Xingge rose and kicked the oxtail saber away. To make sure Jiang Baichuan knew the information he sought, he looked down at the bloodied figure.
"Speak. Who's your contact? Don't waste everyone's time."
"Cough... huff..."
Jiang Baichuan's face was covered in blood, and his right shoulder was pinned to the ground. He could barely even raise his head. After a moment to recover, his vision finally refocused. He breathed rapidly, his eyes full of terror.
"If I tell you, will you let me go?"
Ye Xingge frowned.
"What kind of joke is that? Yang Tuyan killed hundreds of soldiers and civilians, and even wants to enter the capital to assassinate the emperor. You brought someone like that into the capital, and you think I dare let you go? Confess without a fuss and you'll have an easier time of it. Otherwise, you know Commander Ruan's methods better than I do."
Ruan Jinyu, the Snake Eunuch, was in charge of intelligence and naturally also of extracting confessions through torture. His reputation in the martial world was enough to frighten people into taking their own lives.
Jiang Baichuan understood what would happen if Ruan Jinyu caught him. He gritted his teeth and said:
"Shunyuan Pawnshop! All I know is that my next contact is the Shunyuan Pawnshop. I don't know anything else. Spare my life..."
Bang-
Before he finished speaking, a muffled impact sounded.
Once Ye Xingge was sure there was nothing wrong with Jiang Baichuan's information, he wasted no more words. He slammed a heavy elbow into the back of Jiang Baichuan's head, knocking him unconscious at once.
Hongyu had been supervising from behind the scenes all along. Seeing how cleanly and efficiently Ye Xingge had handled things, she was quite pleased and praised him beside his ear.
"Not bad, not bad. You're like a little lackey who can get things done."
Ye Xingge shook his head and paid no attention to Great Beauty's belittling remark. He pulled out his saber and prepared to bundle Jiang Baichuan up and carry him back to Qingxi County to claim credit!
And according to his plan, Luo Xuanqing would surely be astounded when she saw him. Following the confession to the pawnshop, she would discover the unsolvable puzzle he had set up.
When she couldn't unravel the clues, he would naturally get another chance to show his abilities. Then he would head to Linyang and wait for an opportunity to capture Yang Tuyan.
After that, he would have a bracer on his left hand and a divine weapon in his right. With a beauty at his side, he would soar into the sky and stride toward the pinnacle of life...
Is this the behind-the-scenes mastermind style, with every move linked to the next...
Come to think of it, it's not that hard...
As Ye Xingge quietly considered all this, he hoisted Jiang Baichuan onto his shoulder and prepared to hurry back.
But Great Yan's officials were no good-for-nothings either. Their response was astonishingly swift.
Before Ye Xingge had even left, his ears twitched slightly, and he sensed something was wrong...