After the county office was overrun, the able-bodied men of the villages began to lose their nerve. They no longer dared go to the inn and take the nobles hostage.
Black Abacus needed them to keep the situation under control, so he dared not back out now. He simply brought more than twenty men with him, a mixture of pirates and raiders, and launched an attack on the inn.
Inns were usually built in convenient locations along major routes, making them easy to approach but difficult to defend.
Black Abacus ordered his men to fetch bows and arrows and set the inn ablaze. The guards refused to be intimidated. They struck first with poisoned arrows, forcing some of the attackers to retreat.
“My lords, please hear me out. We mean you no harm whatsoever.” Black Abacus lied through his teeth. “What happened earlier was nothing more than a misunderstanding. Please give us a chance to explain.”
He knew the people inside would not believe him. That was precisely what he wanted: for them to reject his offer to his face, so that he could use their refusal to win over the others.
Yet the people inside did not play along as expected.
“Hand over the two thieves who escaped yesterday,” Guard Zhao demanded. He had been injured by one of them, and whether for personal reasons or duty, he wanted nothing more than to cut the man into a thousand pieces. “Then we’ll let bygones be bygones.”
Black Abacus faltered, then changed tactics. “Those men are my brothers. I may be a worthless man, but I can’t betray my own brothers!”
“Then what the hell is there left to talk about?” one of the guards sneered.
Black Abacus sighed twice, as though terribly reluctant to do what came next, but he did not hesitate in his actions. He muttered a few words.
Several impatient raiders immediately perked up, gripping their swords as they prepared to charge.
Behind them, several pirates lay crouched on the roof of the building opposite the inn, loosing arrow after arrow and forcing the guards inside to duck for cover. At the same time, two short figures crept furtively along the base of the wall toward the back door. They actually intended to pick the lock and sneak inside.
But the people inside were already prepared. Zhang Wang, Nanny Zhang’s husband and the inn’s steward, worked together with Yan Hongzhi’s steward to pour a basin of boiling water over them, sending the two men shrieking in agony.
The inn was not cheap. Ten days cost five taels of silver, all because there was a well in the courtyard, meaning guests did not have to go outside to buy water and could enjoy considerable convenience.
Now, that same well was proving equally useful for defending the inn.
But before long, the advantage gradually began to shift toward Black Abacus.
There were only four guards stationed at the inn, and all of them were injured. Their supply of arrows was also running low. Black Abacus, on the other hand, had brought seasoned fighters, men who had no idea how many people they had killed or how many ships they had plundered. Each was ruthless, and they had one vicious trick after another.
What was more, they had just raided the county office’s weapons storehouse.
They were outnumbered. They had inferior weapons and fewer supplies. And when it came to terrain, they were at a complete disadvantage.
In less than half an hour, there were hardly any arrows left. The main gate was riddled with holes, and no matter how many planks they nailed across it or how many water jars they piled up, they could no longer withstand the attackers’ repeated charges.
“Master Zizhen.” Guard Zhao came running into the main hall, breathing heavily, his expression grave. “We can’t hold them off any longer. We should leave through the back door.”
He glanced at Cheng Danruo, and an idea suddenly occurred to him. “I’ll disguise myself as Master and draw the pursuers away.”
“There’s no need.” Yan Hongzhi slowly let out a breath. “I’ll go as far as I can and leave the rest to fate.”
Mo Dian was sweating profusely. He urged, “Master, let me do it instead. I’m quick on my feet. I’ll run farther and draw them away while you take Master to safety.”
Yan Hongzhi still shook his head. If he took the guards with him, there was no way Mo Dian and Cheng Danruo would be able to escape.
“There are horses and a carriage at the inn,” Cheng Danruo suggested. “I’ll ride a horse, while Master hides inside the carriage. Steward Zhang, you can disguise yourself as him. Once the pursuers catch up, Guard Zhao can take the steward, while another person follows me. We’ll split into two groups and draw the enemy away. The others can pretend to stay behind and hold them off. The bandits may be so eager to pursue us that they might even leave the carriage alone.”
After a brief pause, she added, “If they see through the deception, we can simply turn back.”
Yan Hongzhi drew a deep breath. “Miss Cheng, that’s too dangerous.”
Cheng Danruo asked, “Do you think that if the bandits capture us, they would use us as leverage to force Young Master Xie to comply?”
He gave a bitter smile. The answer was obvious.
“If they intend to take us alive, they won’t pursue us with the intention of killing us. If they don’t, then surrendering will mean death anyway. We might as well take a gamble,” Cheng Danruo said. “Their numbers are limited. They may not dare split their forces into three groups.”
At a critical moment like this, there was little room for hesitation. After thinking it over, Yan Hongzhi realized that the plan did indeed spread out the risk, making it less difficult to accept. He had no choice but to agree.
The moment he did, everyone sprang into action.
The steward showed considerable presence of mind. He stuffed some loose silver and copper coins into his clothes, then reminded Cheng Danruo, “Miss, take some jewelry and hair ornaments with you. If things go badly, you can throw them out to slow them down.”
Cheng Danruo appreciated his thoughtfulness and took her own money pouch.
The group hurried to the stables. Yan Hongzhi changed into plain homespun clothes, while the steward put on Yan Hongzhi’s silk robes. Nanny Zhang helped Cheng Danruo onto a horse.
“Miss Cheng, can you ride?” the guard assigned to her asked.
“No.” She looked at the guard. He was in his twenties, young, strong, and full of vitality. She could not help asking, “What’s your name?”
The guard clasped his hands. “Qian Ming.”
An utterly ordinary name, belonging to an utterly ordinary man. Cheng Danruo smiled. “Are your parents still alive? Are you married?”
Qian Ming did not understand why she was asking, but answered anyway. “My mother is still alive. My daughter is a year and a half old.” He sounded a little proud and could not resist adding, “She already knows how to call me ‘Daddy.’”
“In that case, if we reach a life-or-death situation, don’t worry about me,” she instructed him. “Both my parents are dead, and I have no surviving relatives. If anything happens to me, just make sure my body is buried.”
Qian Ming froze.
Even Yan Hongzhi, sitting inside the carriage, was taken aback.
Cheng Danruo paid him no further attention. She struggled to settle herself securely in the saddle, then called Zi Su over. “I noticed you’re looking weak. Are you too tired to walk?”
With tears in her eyes, Zi Su said, “Miss, don’t leave me behind.”
“Silly girl.” She smiled. “You wouldn’t get very far on foot anyway. You might as well stay here. There’s a woodshed behind the inn. Find somewhere to hide. If none of us make it back, someone will need to tell Young Master Xie what happened.”
Guard Zhao thought about it and agreed. “With two women staying behind, there’s no telling where the swords and arrows will fall. You’ll actually be safer hiding here.”
Nanny Zhang was secretly willing to stay. She was getting on in years and was not particularly strong. Without a carriage, how far could she possibly run? Staying at the inn was probably the safest option.
Zi Su, however, was reluctant to abandon her mistress. “I’m going with you.”
“Don’t be foolish. If you want to show your loyalty, show it to Madam,” Cheng Danruo said. She knew that a servant who abandoned her mistress would be condemned by everyone, so she gave Zi Su a compelling reason to stay. “If I don’t make it back, I need you to go and kneel before Old Madam and tell her this: ‘The Chen family’s kindness in raising me is something I cannot repay in this lifetime. I will repay it in the next.’”
She gave Zi Su a push. “Go. Do as I say.”
Then she ordered the guards, “Lead the horses.”
The guards surrounded her protectively as they rushed out through the back door and onto the street.
By then, all the well-informed households already knew that the raiders had broken into the town. The streets were eerily quiet. Every household had its doors firmly shut, everyone on edge and terrified that the bandits might burst in.
No one dared come outside to see what was happening. The road ahead lay completely open.
The front courtyard was in chaos as Black Abacus and his men stormed into the inn.
“They escaped through the back door!” one sharp-eyed man shouted, bringing the search to an abrupt halt.
“After them,” Black Abacus ordered.
The pirates’ discipline was, needless to say, rather poor. Although their leader had ordered them to give chase, several of the raiders paid him no heed and barged into the guest rooms to search them instead.
Some of Xie Xuanying and Yan Hongzhi’s belongings had been left behind. The moment the raiders spotted them, they grabbed whatever they could, happily clutching the expensive clothes to their chests.
Black Abacus was furious, but there was nothing he could do. The ronin were exceptionally skilled in martial arts, but they did not answer to him. He could only keep them on his side with gold and silver treasures. If he tried to stop them from looting now, they would probably draw their swords and cut him down instead.
He could only call out to his own trusted men. “Go after them! Twenty taels of silver for each person we capture, and the two women are yours!”
The pirates swarmed out, chasing after the fleeing carriage.
Zi Su and Nanny Zhang were hiding behind a stack of firewood in the woodshed, their ears pressed against the wall as they listened to the sounds outside with pounding hearts.
After roughly fifteen minutes, the sound of footsteps, mixed with the local dialect and their language, gradually faded into the distance.
The two women secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but neither dared come out. Instead, they curled themselves up as tightly as possible, wishing they could fold themselves into a ball and disappear completely. They held their breaths as much as they could, terrified that the slightest sound might give them away.
Zi Su covered her mouth with both hands, her heart pounding painfully in her chest. Every second felt like an eternity.
But she did not know that hiding here already counted as remarkably good fortune.
Meanwhile, the carriage burst onto the street. They had not yet reached the end of the street when pursuers appeared close behind them.
According to the plan, Guard Zhao pulled on the reins and stopped the carriage, then helped the steward, who was wearing Yan Hongzhi’s clothes, out of the carriage and onto a horse.
Guard Qian rode up alongside Cheng Danruo’s horse, assuming the appearance of her personal guard. The two groups then simultaneously picked up speed, racing toward the end of the street along two separate roads, one heading east and the other west.
At that moment, the inn’s convenient location worked in their favor once again, this time aiding their escape.
The bandits were momentarily thrown into confusion, unsure whether they should turn back to loot what had been left behind or pursue those who had escaped.
“After them.”
Black Abacus had a keen eye. He noticed that the two who had fled were dressed in fine clothes, and their guards appeared uninjured, whereas those who had remained behind were wrapped in bandages and headcloths, looking as though they had deliberately stayed behind to hold off the enemy. He judged that the fugitives were more important and immediately spurred his horse after them.
He was not lacking in cunning. He remembered that the two men who had been lying in ambush in the woods earlier had unfortunately both been shot dead. But they had mentioned that the people in the carriage were heavily protected, and that there was a young man carrying a sword whose martial skills were extraordinary and whose bearing was unlike that of an ordinary person. They had never seen him before.
Whoever that young man was protecting must have an even more distinguished background.
Besides, between a young man and an old man, the old man would naturally be easier to capture. Once they had him in their hands, they would have no trouble forcing the young man to surrender.
“You three, go after those ones.” Black Abacus gave the order casually. “You only need to hold them up. The rest, follow me.”
He chose to pursue Guard Zhao.
The three men he had assigned turned around and headed west after Cheng Danruo and Guard Qian.
By this point, Cheng Danruo had already experienced firsthand the misery of galloping on horseback.
The main road through the county town was relatively smooth, but ultimately it was nothing more than a packed dirt road. Every hoofbeat sent clouds of dust flying, and so much grit blew into her eyes that she could barely see the road ahead.
Once Guard Qian had an arrow nocked and his bow drawn, he had no free hand to hold her reins for her.
She had no way of controlling the horse beneath her, yet she was afraid they would notice something was wrong. She forced herself to keep her back straight and gripped the horse tightly with her legs, terrified that one careless moment would send her flying off. She had no attention to spare for what was happening behind her.
Zi Su and Nanny Zhang had been hiding in terror for some time. Just as they finally began to relax a little, they suddenly heard the rapid pounding of hooves.
A moment later, chaotic footsteps and the neighing of horses rang out together.
The two women instinctively shrank into the corner. Several rats had been startled and scurried across their feet with a rustling sound. Zi Su almost cried out, only just managing to cover her mouth in time. Tears shimmered in her eyes, her heart seemed to seize in her chest, and she could barely breathe.
“Young Master, there’s no one in the room.”
When they heard Bai Mu’s voice, it sounded like music from heaven.
With an agility entirely unsuited to her age, Nanny Zhang scrambled to her feet and crawled out of the woodpile on all fours. She was terrified that if they failed to find anyone, they would simply turn around and leave, abandoning the two women behind.
“Young Master!”
She stumbled out through the door and called after Xie Xuanying, who was just about to leave.
“Master Yan and the others went through the back door.”
Zi Su also emerged in a miserable state, straw stalks clinging all over her clothes. She hurriedly added, “And my mistress!”
Xie Xuanying nodded. Then he spurred his horse forward, charging straight through the narrow back door.
Not far ahead, they spotted the carriage lying crookedly on its side.
As was his usual practice, Black Abacus had left three men behind to hold off their pursuers. The two remaining guards were barely managing to hold their ground, but somehow they had not yet been defeated. When they saw Xie Xuanying returning, they were overjoyed.
“Young Master!”
Xie Xuanying drew an arrow, nocked it, and took aim at one of the raiders.
He released the string.
Whoosh – the arrow struck the man squarely in the chest. The guard beside him immediately moved in and finished him off, driving his blade through the man’s body.
The two attackers were bandits, not soldiers. Once they saw reinforcements arrive, there was no way they would continue fighting to the death. They turned and fled.
Li Bowu fired the second arrow, piercing one of them through the back.
Xie Xuanying loosed a third arrow, swiftly finishing off the last man.
“Where’s my teacher?”
“I’m here.”
Yan Hongzhi let out a long breath of relief. He lifted the curtain and struggled out of the overturned carriage.
Xie Xuanying looked him over from head to toe. Only after confirming that he was unharmed did the knot in his chest finally loosen.
“Sir, return to the inn first. I’ll leave ten men with you. The rest will come with me to the county office.”
Yan Hongzhi hurriedly said, “Miss Cheng isn’t here.”
Xie Xuanying frowned.
“She disguised herself as you and drew the pursuers away,” Yan Hongzhi said bitterly.
To have a frail woman risk her life to save him was deeply humiliating for a grown man.
“I understand.” Xie Xuanying turned to Li Bowu. “I’m entrusting my teacher to you.”
Contrary to his usual manner, Li Bowu readily agreed. “Yes, sir.”
