Soldiers, holding torches, surged out of the military camp, searching in all directions.
In the night, they looked like twisted, stretching fire snakes, quickly alarming the guards on the walls of Run County.
Upon receiving the news, the county captain was even more furious.
Being awakened in the middle of the night by his servants from a deep sleep, he was initially annoyed at the magistrate’s overreaction after learning about the fire in the city. The county captain was in charge of suppressing bandits in the county, nominally under the magistrate, but given the long-standing turmoil, this was no longer the civil-over-military Chen Dynasty. In many places, the county captain’s word carried more weight than the magistrate’s.
In the eyes of this old county captain, it was just two groups of bandits causing trouble at the Sweet Spring Bathhouse.
Although these rogue elements were as annoying as rats, they usually wouldn’t easily provoke the authorities. They fought and caused disturbances every few days, often resulting in mutual destruction, so the court didn’t need to bother with them. As for innocent civilians caught up in the fights and killed? They were just unlucky.
If it hadn’t been reported that the bandits used crossbows, the county captain wouldn’t have cared at all.
When no trace of the bandits could be found in the city, the county captain, who was already reluctant to get involved in the quarrels of the underworld, scoffed at the magistrate’s claim that bandits had raided the county. While the two were at a stalemate, someone suddenly reported that there was trouble at the military camp outside the city. This was like pouring oil on the fire!
The county captain’s face turned blue, then white.
How could an ordinary underworld dispute escalate to attacking a military camp and kidnapping Chief Clerk Li?
Just moments ago, he had dismissed the magistrate’s claims, and now he was publicly proven wrong, losing face in the process.
Seeing the county captain’s dark expression, the magistrate felt secretly pleased, but he knew that with a “great enemy” before them, it was best to keep his schadenfreude to himself. With bandits appearing both inside and outside the city, the situation was extremely dire.
“Sigh, Lord Shaofu, don’t take it to heart, it’s really hard to prevent bandits…”
The magistrate hadn’t finished speaking when he noticed the teacups on the table trembling slightly.
Clack, clack, clink, clink.
The vibrations grew stronger and stronger until with a loud crash, a porcelain vase from a famous kiln fell off the antique shelf.
The magistrate, too concerned about the object to care, jumped up suddenly but was tripped by the table leg and fell to the ground.
“It’s an earthquake.”
Outside, some servants were shouting while others stood dumbfounded, not knowing what was happening.
“Shut up, it’s cannon fire!” The county captain’s face was as dark as the bottom of a pot; he had already smelled the scent of gunpowder drifting over.
“Wha-what?”
The magistrate was scared out of his wits; the cannon was his last line of defense.
Could the government intimidate the underworld with nothing but the lofty imperial power? Of course not. The reason bandits remained bandits and never became officials was that they lacked manpower. Even if they put on a grand display, their flesh and blood couldn’t withstand the power of cannon fire.
Although there weren’t many cannons in Run County, they were sufficient to intimidate. After all, most of the common people in the world believed that the deafening sound was the wrath of the gods.
Lying on the ground, the magistrate realized he had made a fool of himself. Embarrassed, he was about to say something to cover it up when the ground trembled again.
This time, he clearly felt that the tremor came from beneath the earth. It wasn’t intense, just enough to make cups rattle and vases fall.
“It’s an earthquake! Run!”
The shouting outside grew louder, and the magistrate scrambled out the door, only to find that the water level in the small lotus pond in the courtyard was rapidly dropping.
There was no doubt, it was indeed an earthquake.
As for the cannon fire, it might have been caused by cannonballs rolling off during the tremor and accidentally striking the ground.
Everyone fled, fearing the falling roof tiles might crack their skulls.
Fortunately, because the soldiers had previously conducted a large-scale search in the city, most of the townspeople were already awake. Additionally, the tremors were not strong, so there were no casualties. Only the city wall suffered some damage, with a small section being destroyed by the explosion of a cannonball.
When the magistrate heard the report, he nearly fainted.
Bandits were eyeing them hungrily, the city wall was damaged—was heaven determined to destroy Run County?
The same thought occurred to the county captain and a group of wealthy families in the east of the city.
They, risking the danger of aftershocks, hurriedly packed their valuables and gathered their household guards and servants to hitch up wagons, preparing to flee the county in the chaos. Given the urgency of the situation, they could only look after themselves, with no time to help others or even to find out what was going on.
The city descended into complete chaos.
People fleeing the tremors, wealthy families and gentry rushing to escape, soldiers unsure of what was happening…
This turmoil lasted for a full half-hour. As dawn broke, people realized there were no bandits in or outside the city, and the earthquake had ceased.
They looked around in confusion, then slowly, hesitantly returned to their homes.
By midday, seeing that everything was calm, people finally dared to venture out and gather information.
The marketplace by the well was crowded with people. Some said there had been a bandit attack on the city last night, others said it was a mutiny due to the government not paying the soldiers, and still others claimed it was a dispute among the underworld—an infamous thief with a treasure map had hidden in Sweet Spring Bathhouse but was pursued by enemies who set the place on fire.
One rumor even suggested that the innkeeper of Sweet Spring Bathhouse was actually the notorious thief, who had skinned the original innkeeper’s face and disguised himself. The treasure was hidden in Sweet Spring Bathhouse, and that was why the inn was cleared of guests the previous night. But the news of the treasure leaked, attracting bandits, and in the end, the government was forced to use cannons to repel them.
This last version of events seemed reasonable and well-constructed, so most people believed it.
A group of ruffians picked up shovels and headed to the ruins of Sweet Spring Bathhouse, hoping to dig up gold and silver treasures.
Before long, they were driven away by government forces.
The ruffians were reluctant to give up, wandering nearby and cursing under their breath.
The government’s intervention only made them more convinced that there was treasure beneath the ruins, but they dared not challenge the soldiers’ sabers.
Despite their hasty digging, they did not come away empty-handed. Sweet Spring Bathhouse was modeled after the brothels of Yangzhou, and its furnishings were quite valuable. Although the fire had damaged much, some still managed to dig out gold and bronze ornaments. As long as these items weren’t too badly damaged, they could be pawned for some money.
Some of the ruffians, seeing no further opportunity, quietly slipped away with their loot to the pawnshops.
In the crowd, a swordsman pressed down on his bamboo hat, covering a long, thin object with his cloak.
The crowd was large and chaotic. A ruffian, noticing that this fellow seemed to have found something valuable, immediately followed, planning to rob him.
As expected, in the winding alleys, they were quickly left behind by the swordsman.
The swordsman, holding onto his lost-and-found sword, let out a long breath of relief.
The scabbard was charred beyond recognition, and the hilt was missing a small part, but fortunately, the blade was unharmed. For a man of the martial world, losing one’s weapon was akin to losing half their life; for a master swordsman, they would rather die than be without their weapon.
Last night was incredibly dangerous.
Even the swordsman, recalling it now, couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat.
Not to mention the peril of the fire at Sweet Spring Bathhouse and being hunted across the entire city, but just the moment when Mo Li discovered the smoking vent and slashed it with his sword.
***
That strike was immensely powerful, almost as if it could shake the heavens and earth.
The immense internal energy caused the dust and stones to whirl up like raging waves. Combined with Meng Qi’s palm strike, the forest was instantly destroyed, with trees uprooted.
The swordsman was about to assess the lethality of this sword technique, but then he noticed that as Mo Li’s sword descended, his internal energy had already turned soft.
Everything was suspended in mid-air, from trees and stones to bewildered rabbits and weasels.
A hedgehog struggled to curl into a ball, its limbs flailing, trying to keep its spines pointed outward even as it hung in the air. It collided with a sparrow desperately flapping its wings. The sparrow screeched, its feathers puffing up, making the two look like two spheres colliding from a distance.
The swordsman: “…”
How strange, why did his eyesight suddenly improve? Just a moment ago, the forest was pitch black.
The swordsman, slowly realizing what was happening, turned his head and saw a streak of white on the horizon. The night was slowly retreating.
The first light of dawn reflected off the blade, revealing a faint golden sheen amidst the pale light.
There was no killing intent.
The swordsman felt particularly uncomfortable, like someone who eats tofu pudding with soy sauce and vinegar, suddenly discovering that there are people who put sugar in it. Is this some kind of joke? Is he mocking me? Tofu pudding… oh no, can swordsmanship be like this too?
Why use a sword if you’re not going to harm anyone?
Wouldn’t practicing Tai Chi be better?
The swordsman wasn’t very bright, but his intuition was sharp.
His intuition told him that this might be a stroke of luck.
——Only by understanding a martial path opposite to your own can you truly break through the bottleneck and not be trapped by yourself.
The swordsman stared intently at Mo Li, initially amazed at how such a powerful strike could turn into a soft force that didn’t harm anyone. Trees were uprooted, but could Mo Li’s internal energy possess dual attributes? Could it be that the internal energy could see and selectively destroy stones and trees while sparing hedgehogs and rabbits?
The swordsman couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard he tried. At that moment, Meng Qi struck the ground again, sending more stones and dirt flying, and Mo Li slashed with his sword again.
The ground caved in, revealing a long, narrow secret passage.
The swordsman suddenly understood that it was Meng Qi who had been doing the heavy lifting, while Mo Li used his sword technique and soft force to catch the flying debris.
Their actions weren’t specifically to save the innocent creatures from harm; if they had released killing intent to scare them, those creatures would have run away without a second thought. The main purpose was to prevent the secret passage from collapsing entirely, as it was likely already in shambles from the fire. Further external force could easily destroy it.
If it were anyone else, even if they discovered the smoking vent, it would have been difficult to dig it out, let alone find the entrance to the passage in such a short time.
“To the east!”
The density of the smoke indicated the direction.
Mo Li slowly withdrew his internal energy, first the sand and then the trees, slowly restoring the landscape to its original appearance, though the trees were all leaning and the ground was pockmarked.
The birds and owls were thrown to the ground in confusion, the hedgehog rolled far away, and the rabbits and weasels were dropped straight into the pits.
In the next moment, those with long legs ran for their lives, and those with wings flew away.
The swordsman, covered in dust and dirt, “…”
A rabbit even stepped on his foot as it fled.
These quick-reacting creatures were fortunate, while those who were a bit slower were hit by the smoke spewing from the cracks. After running a few steps, they staggered and fell, their bodies still twitching.
The swordsman was startled, knowing that this concentrated smoke, which hadn’t yet dispersed into the air, was even more potent. He quickly carried the unconscious Chief Clerk Li and followed Meng Qi and Mo Li as they retreated.
The group hurriedly covered half a mile and arrived at a spot where the side was a main road and the other side was a dirt slope covered in weeds.
Beneath that slope might be the secret workshop.
Meng Qi was about to act again when the soldiers with torches, who were here to capture the “bandits,” arrived.
Mo Li had no intention of killing them. While Meng Qi was assessing how many of these people had questionable identities, the ground suddenly shook.
It wasn’t an earthquake, but the underground tunnel beginning to explode.
The secret workshop for making opium pills didn’t just have Western fire oil buried in it, causing the fire to spread rapidly, but also Lei Zhenzi thunder bombs and other explosives.
The underground area was dug very deep, so the explosion was muffled, unheard in the city. Only the water level in the pond and well dropped rapidly. However, the soldiers near the slope weren’t so lucky; the flying dirt hit them like hidden weapons, leaving them bloodied, and the entire slope collapsed. If it weren’t for Mo Li and Meng Qi’s keen awareness of the underground activity and their timely escape using lightness skill, they might have suffered.
The explosion continued twice.
Meng Qi’s face was as frightening as his clothes, covered in mud.
“This feeling of being trapped in a game, constrained at every turn, is really unbearable,” Meng Qi said in a cold tone.
Although Shopkeeper Sun’s traps couldn’t threaten him or Mo Li’s safety, on the contrary, it forced those people to destroy the foundation of an important nest. But the constant interruptions and the feeling of chasing after an elusive enemy greatly displeased Meng Qi.
“They have the advantage of timing, terrain, and human support,” Mo Li glanced at his robe. Just now, Meng Qi had shielded him from all the aftermath.
Though the aftermath wouldn’t have hurt him, it would have certainly dirtied his clothes.
Mo Li didn’t know what to say; it seemed that ever since encountering these people, Meng Qi hadn’t managed to keep his clothes intact for long.
Meng Qi didn’t know the doctor was sympathizing with him. He said angrily, “Doctor, you’re right. It seems we must find another way to disrupt their carefully laid plans.”
Author’s note:
Jumping fat mouse.jpg My clothes, this is infuriating.
