Chapter Ninety: Return

“Sir, please... our establishment is closing.” The serving boy took the wine cup from in front of Qi Jun and wore an air of helpless resignation.

Qi Jun had been staring at the landlady’s back until it vanished around the turn of the staircase. Only then did he nod and rise somewhat unsteadily to his feet, making his way toward the door.

By then night had only just fallen, and there were still many pedestrians on the street. Seeing Qi Jun, reeking of drink, approach them, they all instinctively edged aside with undisguised distaste.

After a blast of cold wind, Qi Jun felt much of the liquor in his head begin to clear.

He replayed his conversation with the landlady, tapping his forehead as he sorted through the clues, trying hard to make sense of the tangled thread.

At last he arrived at a conclusion.

The Earl of Ding'an's son had not merely ruined the Chen sisters' family and left them homeless. There was some hidden connection between that landlady and the Earl of Ding'an, and she had plainly pushed the Chen sisters into her own fire pit so she could watch them humiliated day and night by men on her own turf.

Setting aside whether this guess was true, if there really was such a cause behind it, then that woman could only be called a venomous vixen.

Thinking of the parting words the landlady had left him, his heart tightened. He glanced back at the inn and grew deeply worried for the sisters' fate.

Further speculation was useless. The waters of the prefectural capital ran far too deep. Right now, he had more urgent matters to attend to.

Compared with the Chen sisters, whom he had met by chance, he was far more concerned about Anqiang.

By counting today, he had been away from Anqiang and in the prefectural capital for three days already, and he had no idea how things stood there. As for those two sisters, he could only return after dealing with matters in Anqiang and look for a chance to help them then.

Although Feng Qinian had already rushed back, the worry in his heart had not lessened in the slightest.

If He Wenxing and Meng Wanhe were determined to gamble everything, then these two empty days would have been enough for them to unite and stir up a great wave of counterattack.

Qi Jun no longer had the heart to admire the city’s glittering night scene and all its bustling variety. He glanced back once more at Drunken Spring Residence, which was closing its doors to guests, then turned and headed for the prefectural commandant’s office.

Early the next morning, after paying his respects to the prefectural commandant, he borrowed a horse from the office and hurried out through the south gate, racing at full speed toward Anqiang.

Since returning, he had not seen Ma San once; presumably the man had waited in vain and driven the carriage back to the Second County Constable Squad. At this point, he had no choice but to ride back on horseback. Though less steady and comfortable than a carriage, it was much faster.

The wind rushed straight into his veil, making the scabbed burns on his face sting and itch unbearably. Qi Jun endured the discomfort and kept lashing his mount, urging it ever faster.

After a full hour of relentless galloping, he finally caught sight of the outline of Anqiang’s city wall in the distance at the end of the road.

Yet as he drew closer to the wall, he felt more and more that something was wrong. What exactly was off, though, he could not say at once.

When Qi Jun reached the city gate, he found it firmly shut. Not a single county constable could be seen on the wall.

Only then did he realize what was wrong. By the hour, the gate should already have been open long ago, with people entering and leaving in an endless stream.

But now, under the bright sun, not only was the gate sealed tight, there was not even a single county constable to be seen, not one of the usual men extorting money from the people at the gate.

“Is anyone there? Open the gate at once!” Qi Jun reined in his horse and shouted up at the watchtower on the wall, but no reply came for a long time.

Anqiang County seemed to have become an empty city. All the signs before his eyes were confirming the unease and foreboding that had plagued him these past several days.

At last, a county constable appeared atop the wall. One of them, as though hearing Qi Jun’s shout, lazily poked his head out and looked down.

“I’m Qi Jun from the county constable camp. This is my token! Open the gate and let me in!” Qi Jun hurriedly raised his token high to prove his identity.

“You’re Qi Jun?” The constable froze for a moment, then rubbed his eyes and looked again to make sure.

What happened next, however, filled Qi Jun with sudden astonishment and suspicion.

The constable turned around and, without another word, took up a bow and aimed an arrow at Qi Jun.

As the arrow came flying toward him, Qi Jun instinctively jerked his head aside. Whether because his reaction had been swift or because the constable was poor at archery, the arrow skimmed past his neck and buried itself in the ground behind him.

Watching the arrow tail tremble with a low buzz, Qi Jun felt a chill of fear run through him.

“All of you get up, damn it—Qi Jun’s here! Don’t let him get away!” The constable missed with his shot and immediately turned to shout for the others.

“Run!”

Qi Jun came to himself, yanked the reins, and turned his horse around. A voice deep in his chest barked the order at him.

The moment he left that spot, a rain of arrows hissed past behind him. More than a dozen feathered shafts scattered across the very ground he had just occupied. Had he been a moment slower, he would have been riddled through by now.

He did not even dare turn his head. Spurring his horse frantically, he raced toward East Ridge Village.

He understood then that some tremendous upheaval must have taken place in the city. Judging by the situation, it was all too likely that He Wenxing, Meng Wanhe, and the others, unwilling to sit and wait for death, had joined forces and risen in rebellion.

If Anqiang County had fallen to the rebels, then Master Feng and Sun Jiu, Deng Fang, and the others would surely be in grave danger as well. After running some distance, he looked back and saw that the rebels in the city seemed not to have pursued him.

He let out a small breath of relief, silently praying that He Wenxing’s rebels had not yet moved against East Ridge Village.

Racing along the winding Dragon Whisker Path, Qi Jun’s mood followed the jagged rise and fall of the mountain road, full of unease and foreboding.

He had been speeding along when, just as he turned a bend and was about to head downhill, a hemp rope suddenly appeared stretched across the road, half-buried in dirt.

“An ambush!”

Qi Jun was shocked. He immediately threw himself backward, rolling off the horse. The instant he hit the ground, he tumbled to the side of the road and into the cover of the trees.

The horse he had been riding was not so fortunate. While galloping at full speed, it had its neck caught by a rope and was instantly tripped, crashing to the ground and flailing helplessly with its legs.

Qi Jun had not brought a single weapon with him. If he were surrounded by enemies, there was an eighty or ninety percent chance he would leave his life here.

“Sir, is that you?” Liu Biao’s voice suddenly came from ahead.

“It’s me!” Qi Jun was startled, then quickly answered and scrambled to his feet, stepping back onto the mountain road.

Liu Biao emerged from the tree line where he and several villagers from the scouting team had been hiding. Seeing Qi Jun, every one of them broke into delighted smiles.

“I just came back from the prefectural capital. What happened? Is the village all right?” Qi Jun panted hard and asked anxiously.

“Don’t worry, sir. The village is fine. But you should know this—yesterday the county constables actually came together with bandits to attack us! Fortunately, we had followed your instructions and set up rotating and hidden sentries all around the village. The moment they came, our brothers spotted them in time and warned the villagers to move out, so they rushed in only to find nothing. I was worried they might come again, so I set an ambush here. I never expected to run into you instead.” Recalling the events, Liu Biao still spoke with lingering fear.

“Good. You did well. As long as the village is safe, that’s what matters... that’s what matters...” Hearing that the village was unharmed, Qi Jun finally relaxed. After the long ride, his legs had gone weak, and he sat down heavily on the ground.

“Sir, are you all right? Dunzi, help the gentleman back to rest.”

“I’m fine. Hurry and gather the villagers. I have something important to tell everyone!” Qi Jun waved Liu Kui aside and urged him anxiously.