Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Inside a guest room in the front courtyard of the relay station.
Zhu Laosan walked in with a dark expression.
Zou Yong, the official who had delivered the roast chicken, saw at once that something was wrong. His heart went weak, but he put on a smile and went up to greet him.
“Brother San, are you tired? I had someone prepare a little wine. Why don’t you have a drink and take the edge off?”
Zhu Laosan’s cold gaze swept across Zou Yong’s face. He gave a chilly snort. “I wouldn’t dare drink your wine. I’m afraid I’d be poisoned to death.”
The smile on Zou Yong’s face froze.
“Brother San, this is all a misunderstanding…”
“Zou Yong, I don’t care whose man you are. I only have one warning for you. We still haven’t left the capital territory. Keep your people in line. If there is a next time, I will not let you off lightly.”
Zhu Laosan had no interest in listening to Zou Yong make excuses. He cut him off in a harsh voice, then turned and strode away.
Zou Yong watched Zhu Laosan’s back, his eyes turning unfriendly, then turned and shut the door.
He had not expected Zhu Laosan to inspect the rooms, nor had he expected that madwoman to make such a scene.
In any case, the one who had been poisoned to death was someone who did not matter. Zhu Laosan had not truly made an issue of it, either. From now on, he simply had to be more careful.
Once he finished this assignment, he would receive a large sum of silver. After he returned, he would no longer have to do this miserable work.
The only problem was that Zhu Laosan had discovered his intentions ahead of time. Trouble on the road was now inevitable.
Killing intent flashed in his eyes.
Knock, knock-
“Who is it?”
“Officer, it’s me.”
When Zou Yong heard Ye Xiaotu’s voice outside, he quickly opened the door.
“Why are you here? We’re still within the capital territory. Don’t go wandering around. Hurry back.”
Zou Yong glanced around warily. Seeing no one nearby, he let out a breath of relief.
To his surprise, Ye Xiaotu shoved past him and walked straight into the room.
“Officer, we’re grasshoppers tied to the same rope. We’re working for an important person, and you’ll benefit from it too. The sooner we deal with those people, the sooner you can reunite with your family, isn’t that right?”
As Ye Xiaotu spoke, he casually sat down beside the table, poured himself a cup of water, and drained it in one gulp.
Zou Yong’s expression was ugly. If he had a choice, he would never deal with people like this.
This was no different from hanging his own head from someone else’s belt.
“I’ll say it again. Whatever you do has nothing to do with me. I already advised you today not to act in such a hurry. You refused to listen, and now Zhu Laosan has chewed me out. Not only did I fail to shift the blame, it came right back and hit me in the face.”
The more Zou Yong thought about it, the more stifled he felt.
Ye Xiaotu chuckled. “Officer, you’re far too foolish. You could have just put the food down and left, couldn’t you? Why did you have to give someone else’s name? Weren’t you just lifting a rock to smash your own foot?”
Zou Yong flew into embarrassed rage.
He was actually being mocked by a few death-row criminals. Hadn’t he only done that to make the Xiao Family lower their guard?
Hadn’t he been trying to help these three complete their task? In the end, he had pleased neither side.
Furious, Zou Yong picked up the teapot and splashed its contents into Ye Xiaotu’s face, shouting sternly, “Get out! Without my permission, the three of you are not to act on your own again. Zhu Laosan already gave me a warning just now. If anything goes wrong, I will not help you again.”
Ye Xiaotu’s eyes shifted slightly, and his tone turned cold as well.
“Officer, no matter what, you’ve already exposed yourself to Zhu Laosan. Tonight, we still need you to help cover for us. We will succeed tonight.”
With that, Ye Xiaotu rose and left.
Zou Yong was so angry that he smashed the kettle outright. These people had come purely to make trouble for him. If not for orders from above telling him to assist them in secret, he would never have had anything to do with them.
Night lay hazy over the relay station, filled only with summer wind and the chirping of insects.
Three figures slipped quietly out of the station.
Zhu Laosan saw the three shadows. He stood silently before the bed for a while, but the thick stack of banknotes in his sleeve made him turn around and lie down instead. He did not raise the alarm.
At that moment, another shadow followed the three figures into the woods.
When the slanting moon was sinking westward, a thunderous crash suddenly rang out from the quiet front courtyard of the relay station.
The door to Zhu Laosan’s room was kicked open from the inside and crashed to the floor.
Zhu Laosan lunged forward to seize the intruder, but only managed to tear off a piece of fabric. At the same time, his other hand was gripping a viper whose head had been cut off.
The masked man turned back and struck him with a palm, sending him flying. Without stopping, the masked man turned and sprinted outside.
His figure flashed into the room next door.
By the time Zhu Laosan chased out, he saw the door next door open and close. He rushed after him, only to find the door bolted from within.
“Open the door! Zou Yong, don’t you dare play dead with me!”
Zou Yong’s door was pounded so hard it shook the rafters, but there was not the slightest movement from inside.
Bang-
The door was violently broken open from the outside.
At the same time, the other two bailiffs also arrived after hearing the noise.
Zhu Laosan’s gaze immediately landed on the official uniform hanging inside the room.
He strode forward and compared the scrap of cloth he had torn off with the missing corner of the uniform. It matched perfectly.
“Brother San, what are you doing in my room?”
Zou Yong rubbed the aching back of his neck and sat up in bed, his face full of confusion.
“Zou Yong, we still haven’t left the capital territory. Are you going back on your own, or should I submit a memorial to the court listing out every one of your crimes and wait for them to summon you back? Choose for yourself.”
As Zhu Laosan spoke, he threw the viper in his hand straight onto Zou Yong’s bed.
Zou Yong’s entire body went rigid with fright. He had no idea what had happened and had just opened his mouth to ask when the other two bailiffs cried out in alarm.
“Snakes! Why are there so many venomous snakes?”
The room instantly descended into chaos. Each of them had a broadsword in hand, but the snakes slithered nimbly, and there were about a dozen of them.
Zhu Laosan and the two bailiffs covered one another and only then managed to retreat safely from the room.
When Ye Xiaotu and his two companions woke in the woods, they discovered that one of the sacks they had brought to catch snakes was missing. They knew they had been set up.
The three of them hurried back in a panic.
The moment they reached the doorway, they saw the commotion on the bailiffs’ side. Wanting to watch the excitement, the three quietly crept over.
Zhu Laosan spotted the three of them at once. Then he saw the sacks in their hands, thought of what he had just gone through, and what else was there not to understand?
Zou Yong must have resented him for scolding him last night. In the middle of the night, he had sneaked into Zhu Laosan’s room to release snakes, only to be discovered and narrowly escape before he could succeed.
And these three backups wanted to wipe them all out in one go, releasing a dozen-plus venomous snakes to poison the bailiffs.
Zhu Laosan had originally planned to turn a blind eye, but now it seemed his mercy had only fattened these people’s dog-like gall.
“Li Si, Cui Jin, go arrest those three for me.”
At his words, the other two bailiffs looked toward Ye Xiaotu and the others.
A dark glint flashed through Cui Jin’s eyes. Then, without betraying a thing, he stepped forward and tied up all three of them, even shooting Ye Xiaotu a fierce glare.
Ye Xiaotu did not dare meet Cui Jin’s eyes and lowered his head.
“Sir, we didn’t do anything! We only came out to relieve ourselves…”
Zhu Laosan could not be bothered to listen to their excuses. He personally tied the three of them to the pillars in the main hall, then drew the whip from his waist.
Crack after crack of the whip, accompanied by scream after scream, directly woke the exiled prisoners in the rear courtyard.
Xiao Jingxing looked at Xiao Che, who had returned safe and sound, and the heart that had been hanging in suspense for half the night finally settled back into his chest.
To avoid drawing attention, Xiao Che had carried out this operation himself.
Among the Xiao Family Main Branch, his martial skills were the best. Xiao Jingxing was injured, Xiao Jingmo only knew some basic fist and foot techniques, and Xiao Jinghao was still young and not yet reliable enough.
Even if something went wrong, no one would suspect Xiao Che. After all, how could a man with crippled legs, a man who needed help even to eat, drink, and relieve himself, freely enter and leave the relay station?
At that moment, all the bailiffs had gathered in the front courtyard. With no one watching the rear courtyard, Xiao Che had ample time to erase any traces.
“Stop! Brother San, is there some kind of misunderstanding between us?”
Zou Yong, who had hurried down from upstairs, shouted loudly.
By now, he seemed to have thought some things through as well. He just could not be certain whether Ye Xiaotu and the other two had done it. After all, these three were maniacs who killed without blinking, and they never acted according to common sense.
He had also spoken coldly to them last night. If the three of them had taken offense, stirred up conflict between him and Zhu Laosan, then killed all four of them before slaughtering all the exiled prisoners, it would not be impossible.
In their previous records, these three were ruthless men who had massacred an entire village.
Zhu Laosan had also worn himself out from beating them. He stopped now and turned to look at Zou Yong, who was striding over quickly.
“Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding could there be? Are you saying you didn’t come into my room and release snakes? Zou Yong, I really underestimated you. To think your skills are this good. You’ve hidden yourself well.”
Of the four bailiffs, two had been assigned from elsewhere. Only he and Li Si were old partners.
Zhu Laosan truly did not know much about Zou Yong’s strength.
If not for the exchange just now, he would never have known Zou Yong was so skilled. Under Zou Yong’s hands, he had been completely unable to fight back.
Zou Yong looked even more bewildered.
“Brother San, I never went into your room. Someone knocked me out. The back of my neck still hurts even now.”
Zhu Laosan frowned slightly. It was not Zou Yong?
At that moment, Ye Xiaotu also weakly defended himself. “Sir, the three of us brothers originally went to the woods to relieve ourselves. We don’t know who knocked us unconscious. We only woke up just now, and when we came back, we ran into you, sir.”
Zhu Laosan’s gaze sharpened. If none of these people were lying, then someone was causing trouble from the shadows.
Zhu Laosan did not believe the three of them had gone to the woods to relieve themselves, but he also felt tonight’s events were rather fishy.
If it was not them, then it had to be that group of exiled prisoners.
Among the exiled prisoners, the only ones with decent martial skills were those from the Xiao Family Main Branch.
After giving the three of them a cold look, Zhu Laosan lifted his foot and headed toward the rear courtyard.
Thinking back carefully now, the masked man who had injured him earlier did not seem all that similar to Zou Yong in build, either.