43 Killing Fan
Night fell, and a bright moon hung high overhead.
The prison was brightly lit, and a foul smell filled the air.
Wu Dongrong walked in front, followed by Wu Shuangren and Liao Yu. With them were Mo Zhenglin and Mo Zhengxing, the two men in charge of the Mo Family.
After discussing the matter, the two had come after all.
Soon, the group arrived outside the cell where Hong Fan was being held.
Hong Fan was confined alone, slumped listlessly on the floor.
Hearing a noise outside, he turned to look. When he saw who had come, he hurried to his feet, his face tense.
Wu Dongrong had already arranged for the jailers to wait outside and had moved all the prisoners out of the surrounding cells.
He stepped forward and opened the cell door himself.
"Gentlemen, please."
Wu Dongrong stepped aside and gestured for them to enter.
"What are you going to do?!"
Hong Fan stumbled backward in panic.
Mo Zhenglin was the first to enter the cell. He looked at Hong Fan with icy eyes. "Hong Fan, when you had my Mo Family Village slaughtered, did you ever think this day would come for you?!"
Hong Fan shook his head as he backed into a corner. "You're going to kill me? We can talk! You can make demands of Chief Steward Hong. He'll absolutely pay a huge sum to ransom me!"
Mo Zhengxing followed him into the cell with a cold laugh. "And how much can buy your life?"
Hong Fan dropped straight to his knees with a thud, tears and snot streaming down his face. "We can talk, we can talk! As long as you don't kill me, any price is negotiable, really!"
Contempt showed on everyone's faces, while Mo Zhenglin's heart was filled with grief and indignation.
Mo Family Village had fallen at the hands of someone like this!
Wu Shuangren entered as well. "Then first tell us what those two hundred cavalrymen outside the city were about."
Hong Fan had to die, but before killing him, they had to get enough valuable information out of him.
"Half of the two hundred cavalrymen were secretly trained by Mist Hidden Temple. The other half were a dozen or so bands of horse bandits from Yi Province, joined together."
Hong Fan gave the answer readily.
He wasn't afraid of being questioned. He was only afraid they would think him worthless and kill him with a single stroke.
"How did you bring those dozen or so bands of horse bandits together?"
Wu Shuangren asked.
Hong Fan said, "My uncle started secretly contacting horse bandits in Yi Province five years ago. Some of them were practically being supported by him. He's been looking for the right opportunity to unite them into a single force."
The people in the cell exchanged grave looks.
Mist Hidden Temple had begun laying its plans five years ago. Such ambition sent a chill down their spines!
Mo Zhengxing gritted his teeth. "So even if my Mo Family hadn't offended you over the illicit salt, you would have found another excuse to come and kill us?!"
Hong Fan hesitated, then nodded. "My uncle said keeping two hundred cavalrymen near the provincial capital was too conspicuous and liable to bring trouble, so he had to find somewhere else to maintain them. At the same time, he could bring those horse bandits' identities out of the shadows and into the open."
"Ha, hahahaha-"
Mo Zhengxing suddenly burst out laughing, a somewhat crazed look on his face.
Wu Shuangren and the others gave him puzzled looks, while Mo Zhenglin sighed and patted him on the shoulder.
Mo Zhengxing had led the expansion of the Mo Family's illicit salt business, so he believed he was the one who had brought Mist Hidden Temple down on them and caused the Mo Family to end up like this. He had been tormented by guilt ever since.
Later, when they chose to bow their heads to Mist Hidden Temple, Mo Zhengxing had also been the first to voice his support, and he had done his utmost to persuade Mo Zhenglin.
He had been afraid that his own mistake would destroy the entire Mo Family!
Only now did he learn that, with or without him, Mist Hidden Temple would have sent people to kill them...
"Why did you choose Bo County?"
Mo Zhenglin asked in a low voice.
Hong Fan said, "Because Bo County is closest to West River Market in neighboring Xi Province. Mist Hidden Temple uses the canal for some of its business and has dealings with West River Market. Taking Bo County would make business easier in the future. Also... of the five county seats in Yi Province, Bo County is the weakest. Your Mo Family is the only dominant power, so we only needed to bring you to heel."
"..."
Mo Zhenglin clenched his fists.
Listening to the conversation, Wu Shuangren gained a deeper understanding of the world they lived in-
Weakness was the original sin!
"Who calls the shots at Mist Hidden Temple now?"
Wu Dongrong, who had remained silent until now, suddenly asked.
Hong Fan answered without hesitation, "Naturally, it's Mist Hidden Temple's abbot, Master Ciwen."
Wu Dongrong continued, "Ciwen trusts your uncle that much? He left such an important force as two hundred cavalrymen entirely in his hands?"
Hong Fan froze and pursed his lips. "Of course. In all of Mist Hidden Temple, my uncle is the one the abbot trusts most!"
Wu Dongrong didn't dwell on the question. "How many first-rate experts does Mist Hidden Temple have? Who are they?"
This time, Hong Fan didn't answer directly. Instead, he asked, "I've told you enough already. I need to see some sincerity from you. What will it take for you to let me go?"
Smack!
Without another word, Liao Yu stepped forward and kicked him down. "You still dare bargain with us? If you won't talk, we have plenty of ways to make you! There are plenty of torture instruments in this cell. Which one do you want to try first?"
Hong Fan's face turned deathly pale.
How could a pampered young master like him endure torture?
Just hearing Liao Yu's threat was enough to break him, and he obediently answered:
"...I know of three first-rate experts. One is Master Ciwen himself, another is Master Kongzheng, head of the Warrior Monk Hall, and the last is an elder from the previous generation. He's very old, and I've never met him."
"So few?"
Wu Shuangren was somewhat surprised.
He had thought Mist Hidden Temple would have at least seven or eight first-rate experts who could be graded at Third Rank or above.
"Do you think first-rate experts are cabbages?"
Liao Yu laughed. "The vast majority of those who become first-rate take the military examinations and risk their lives for the imperial court. Very few remain in the jianghu."
Mo Zhenglin and Mo Zhengxing glanced at Wu Shuangren.
Since Wu Shuangren had dared make such a bold declaration, they believed he must be a first-rate expert too.
How could a seventeen-year-old first-rate expert not have a master guiding him from behind the scenes?
That was another important reason the Mo Family had ultimately chosen to join forces with Wu Shuangren.
Next, the group took turns asking Hong Fan many more questions, all concerning information about Mist Hidden Temple.
Hong Fan didn't dare refuse to answer. He deliberately gave vague answers to some questions, but Wu Dongrong saw through him at a glance. After being dealt with a few times, he no longer dared lie.
More than two hours passed, and they had asked everything they needed to ask.
Given Hong Fan's position, he couldn't have access to all of Mist Hidden Temple's secrets. He had told them everything he knew.
"Do it."
Liao Yu spoke.
Mo Zhenglin and Mo Zhengxing stepped forward at the same time.
Hong Fan's eyes widened. Realizing they still intended to kill him, he couldn't help wailing, "You can't kill me! Hong Zhanming isn't my uncle, he's my father! I'm his son!"
The words stunned them.
"Is that true?"
"I'm his son, but he's always refused to acknowledge it. He only tells people I'm his nephew!"
Hong Fan spoke with a face full of bitterness.
The others exchanged glances, already largely convinced.
It seemed rather reckless to put a nephew in charge of such an important military force as two hundred cavalrymen.
An illegitimate son made much more sense.
"Big brother?"
Mo Zhengxing hesitated again.
A flash of killing intent passed through Mo Zhenglin's eyes, and he strode toward Hong Fan.
Bang!
He struck the crown of Hong Fan's head with a heavy palm.
Hong Fan felt his head buzz, and blood poured from his nose and mouth.
"Father..."
Hong Fan murmured one last word and fell headfirst to the floor.
In the final moment of his life, the person this illegitimate son hated most was not Mo Zhenglin, who had killed him, nor Wu Shuangren, who had driven him to this point.
It was Chief Steward Hong, far away at Mist Hidden Temple!
44 Ninth Rank
Hong Fan had died in prison.
These days, someone dying in prison was perfectly ordinary.
Illness, accidents, suicide out of fear of punishment, and so on.
Once a person entered a cell, no matter what crime they had committed, they could die at any moment!
That was why Wu Dongrong, as the prison warden, inspired such awe. In the prison, the power over life and death rested in his hands.
Wu Dongrong stepped forward and examined Hong Fan carefully. After confirming he was dead, he turned and said, "I'll tell people he confessed to colluding with horse bandits to slaughter Mo Family Village, then killed himself in his cell out of fear of punishment. Don't worry, I'll tie up every loose end."
Mo Zhenglin nodded. "Sorry for the trouble, Warden Wu."
Wu Dongrong said in a low voice, "We're all in the same boat from now on. There's no need for courtesy."
With that, he took a stack of papers from inside his robes.
"These were found on Hong Fan. Let's divide them up."
Wu Shuangren froze when he saw what was in his hand-
Silver notes!
He looked at Wu Dongrong in surprise and delight.
He had instinctively assumed the bulk of their spoils would be at Hong Fan's residence.
He had forgotten that they might also be on Hong Fan himself.
"These are exchange notes from the Changlong Trading House."
Mo Zhengxing was the person present most familiar with exchange notes, and he recognized them at a glance. "They charge a fee of thirty wen per string. These are the most commonly used exchange notes in Jiannan Circuit."
Wu Dongrong counted the notes in his hand one by one. "Each is worth ten strings of cash. There are fifteen in all."
That added up to a hundred and fifty strings of cash!
Even with the fee deducted to redeem them for cash, it was still a fortune.
"Captain Wu, how do you want to divide this money?"
Mo Zhenglin looked at Wu Shuangren.
Wu Shuangren answered decisively, "We found over fifty strings of cash at Hong Fan's residence. Together with these notes, that makes over two hundred strings. We'll split it three ways: one share goes to the four officials, one to the Mo Family, and one to me."