Chapter Ninety-Two: Infiltration

After arranging matters in the village, Qi Jun and Liu Biao set out for the county town to reconnoiter the situation. The horse Qi Jun had ridden back from the prefectural city had broken a leg in its fall, so now they could only travel on foot along the mountain path.

“Sir, what a waste that was. We lost a fine horse for nothing. And because you had your face covered, we didn’t even recognize you...” Seeing that Qi Jun was tiring on the road, Liu Biao said with some embarrassment.

Panting for breath, Qi Jun shot him a glare, though he could hardly bring himself to scold him. He could only curse inwardly. If only he had known, he would never have put on that shabby gauze hat. Now he truly was a fool.

“Sir, what happened to your face, exactly?” Liu Biao looked at Qi Jun’s face, wrapped up like a rice dumpling, and, worried as he was, could not help reaching out to poke it curiously.

“Hiss... Don’t touch it! Just a minor wound...” Qi Jun slapped Liu Biao’s hand away and carefully retied the bandages that had come loose.

“I think that girl Yun Fei takes quite a shine to you. Even if your face were ruined, she wouldn’t mind...” Before Qi Jun arrived, Liu Biao had kept himself taut with tension; now that he had relaxed, he could not help teasing him.

“Biao, how did even you end up like this? Ever since that shameless Sun Jiu showed up, one after another you all have gone and turned improper!” Qi Jun frowned at him, shook his head, and thought to himself that from Deng Fang to Liu Biao, everyone who teased him had started sounding exactly like Sun Jiu.

The two of them joked all along the way, and before they knew it, dusk had fallen as they reached the outskirts of Anqiang City.

Anqiang was a small town. In normal times, the county garrison numbered only about three hundred men.

After subtracting the men who patrolled the streets and drilled in camp each day, there were fewer than a hundred left to guard the gates.

Sun Jiu’s first squad, Xiao Ming’s second, and Zhao Gui’s third had never been on good terms. But Sun Jiu was Feng Qinian’s trusted man and was close to Qi Jun, so the chief captain, He Wenxing, could directly command only the second and third squads.

With the gate defenses so short-handed, Qi Jun and Liu Biao did not need to take any great pains to hide their tracks before reaching the city wall.

The men on gate duty had all been replaced by soldiers from the second and third squads, so Qi Jun and Liu Biao could not simply stride in openly.

Qi Jun thought it over carefully, and suddenly remembered a detail mentioned in Meng Wanhe’s confession.

That afternoon, Sun Jiu had interrogated Meng at the estate with great thoroughness, prying out every channel through which Meng Wanhe had colluded with the bandits of Coiling Dragon Ridge, including several hidden drains beneath the city wall.

It was through those secret passages that the Mountain-Splitting Leopard had slipped into the city and found the place where Meng Wanhe and Master Scribe Zhao had plotted together.

Relying on the location Meng Wanhe had described from memory, Qi Jun crept along the wall, and before long he truly did find a narrow dog hole. He lay down to test it, and his lean scholar’s frame could just barely squeeze through.

Liu Biao, though wiry, was still sturdier than Qi Jun, and while crawling through he nearly got stuck fast in the hole and could not get himself out.

“Only a dog could crawl through this thing!” Liu Biao said as he got to his feet and brushed the dirt from his body, cursing while imagining the bandits’ awkward passage through the tunnel.

Qi Jun, hearing this, wore a dark expression. He looked down at himself, then glared at Liu Biao.

Realizing he had misspoken, Liu Biao gave an awkward chuckle.

Once inside the city, the two did not linger and decided to go first to the County Commandant’s Office to find Feng Qinian.

By now, curfew had already been imposed inside Anqiang City, and not a soul could be seen in the streets. Qi Jun and Liu Biao moved nimbly through the dark lanes like two sleek cats.

At the end of one narrow alley lay the broad street in front of the County Commandant’s Office.

Qi Jun leaned out to take a look, and his expression changed at once. He hurriedly stopped Liu Biao behind him and pulled him into the darkness.

“What is it, sir?” Liu Biao immediately tensed up and whispered in his ear.

Qi Jun used tactical hand signals to tell him that there was trouble ahead, that they must not act rashly, and that they needed to circle around the back to take a look.

But in Liu Biao’s eyes, Qi Jun was just flailing both hands around in a complete mess. He frowned in bafflement and said, “Sir, why don’t you just say it plainly? I don’t understand this. The way you’re doing it now... seems a bit stupid...”

Qi Jun suddenly remembered that he had never taught Liu Biao and the others what these gestures meant. Helplessly, he shot Liu Biao a glance, then peeked once more toward the gate of the County Commandant’s Office before lowering his voice.

“Something is off. The men guarding the gate are all unfamiliar faces, and they’ve even added another patrol.”

Liu Biao stared. “Sir, just moving your hands like that told you all that? That’s incredible! Did you invent it yourself, or...”

“Who goes there?!”

In his excitement, Liu Biao’s voice had risen without his meaning to, and it immediately drew the attention of the county soldiers in front of the office.

Qi Jun was startled inwardly. He glanced at Liu Biao with some reproach and quickly dragged him deeper into the alley.

“Sir, I’m sorry, I...” Liu Biao knew he had nearly given away their position and spoke in a self-reproachful whisper.

“Shh!” Qi Jun quickly raised a finger to his lips, signaling for silence. He knew Liu Biao had never been trained for this and had no intention of blaming him.

Footsteps from the alley mouth drew closer. Judging by the sound, there was more than one person.

Fortunately, the dimness inside the alley concealed Qi Jun and Liu Biao completely; even standing flat against the wall, they were hard to notice.

“You heard wrong. It must have been some stray dog from somewhere,” said one of the county soldiers. Finding nothing amiss, and frightened by the black, gaping alley, he turned and went back.

Qi Jun frowned helplessly. That was the second time since entering the city that he had been associated with dogs. He could not help wondering: had I always been this much like a dog when I was on missions before?

“Bear with it a little longer. Once Chief Captain He has finished talking things through with them the day after tomorrow, we’ll be set for life. I hear their side has more than enough beef and mutton, and plenty of women too...” another county soldier said, swallowing hard when he mentioned the meat.

Qi Jun listened and could not help growing suspicious.

So He Wenxing really did have a problem. But who exactly was “their side”? He looked back at Liu Biao, who was equally confused.

“Come on. Let’s go around to the back door and take a look.” Qi Jun waved a hand and led Liu Biao quietly out of the alley.

After avoiding the county soldiers making their rounds at night, the two of them crossed several side lanes and made a loop before reaching the back door of the County Commandant’s Office.

This area was relatively secluded. Normally only the household servants and the inner family used this entrance and exit, and at the moment there was only one county soldier crouched against the wall by the gate, dozing off.

Just to be safe, Qi Jun went up to him as quietly as possible and struck the back of his neck with the edge of his palm, sending the soldier from sleep straight into unconsciousness.

Qi Jun had held back when he struck and could not bring himself to take their lives. After all, he had once fought bandits alongside most of these county soldiers, and perhaps they were only obeying orders from He Wenxing now against their own wishes.

He looked back at Liu Biao and nodded. Liu Biao understood at once, went to the wall, crouched down, and crossed his hands together, palms facing upward.

Qi Jun stepped onto Liu Biao’s hands. With the upward push from below, he gripped the wall and vaulted over in one motion into the courtyard. Seeing that Qi Jun had made it over, Liu Biao stepped back, ran forward, kicked off the wall, and, catching the top with his hands, flipped over as well.

Keeping close to the wall of the house, Qi Jun advanced cautiously for a while and soon arrived before Feng Qinian’s study.

Seeing that candlelight was still shining inside, Qi Jun slowed his steps, came beneath the window, and carefully opened a tiny hole in the paper pane with his breath, peering in.

What met his eyes was the same small round table where Feng Qinian had once hosted him for a meal and drinks. Some wine and dishes were laid out upon it, and at either end sat two men facing one another.

What surprised Qi Jun was that the man on the right was Feng Qinian, while the one seated opposite him was none other than He Wenxing.