“You…”
Big Dog reached for Mr. Feng’s clothes, but the man behind twisted the knife handle sharply.
Full of reluctance, Big Dog slumped weakly and closed his eyes forever.
Behind him stood a one-eyed man, Mr. Feng’s constant guard.
Mr. Feng glanced back at Jinchuan county seat, sighed, and slipped into the hole.
Though the killing intent in County Lieutenant Zhao’s eyes had flashed briefly, Mr. Feng had seen it.
In that moment, he knew he could not stay in Jinchuan. If he did, Zhao and the others might use him as a scapegoat for Jin Feng.
Before acting, Mr. Feng had prepared many plans. When the three rejected rebellion, he dropped the follow-up and switched to the bandit suppression idea.
Fortunately, the trio were flustered and unsuspicious, letting him slip out of the Wei restaurant smoothly.
The suppression plan was one he had racked his brains for. It had a high chance of success. But he had a better way and no wish to risk more with them.
When disaster looms, each flies alone. Whether Zhao and the others succeeded was no longer his concern.
The one-eyed man wiped his knife clean on Big Dog’s body, then ordered his men to cover the blood with grass. As they left, they dragged the corpse into the hole.
Everything looked as if nothing had happened. Only a faint bloody smell drifted in the thin morning mist.
Meanwhile, unaware Mr. Feng had fled Jinchuan, County Lieutenant Zhao hurried home, gathered all his banknotes at top speed, and at dawn went straight to the money house. Claiming urgent need, he mortgaged his mansion for a loan.
With collateral and his rank, the manager handed over the notes without question.
Packing his belongings, Zhao notified no family. He went directly from the money house to the garrison camp.
He sent garrison uniforms to the two gentry.
Not out of sentiment, but fear that leaving them might cause complications.
Yet when Masters Zhu and Peng arrived, they told him Mr. Feng had vanished.
“Vanished? What do you mean? All gates are sealed. Could he fly?”
Zhao’s heart sank. He sensed trouble.
“I told you this so-called Mr. Feng was unreliable. See? The moment things looked bad, he ran!”
Master Zhu fumed. “Old Peng, last night I said hand Mr. Feng to Jin Feng and have the bandits surrender. Jin Feng might spare us. You refused. Look now!”
“Why not offer your own man as scapegoat?”
Master Peng glared. “Besides, do you think Jin Feng is so easily placated? Last night we hired bandits to kill him. You think giving him Mr. Feng and the bandits would make him let us go?”
“What’s the point of this now?”
Zhao’s forehead veins bulged with rage.
“My lord, what do we do?”
Master Zhu, ever spineless, was now utterly panicked, his mind mush.
Zhao rubbed his brow, sighed, and ignored him.
“My lord, I think Mr. Feng just realised we planned to make him the scapegoat, so he fled. But I reviewed his plan several times. It still works.”
Master Peng said.
“Works, my foot. Never mind the rest. I guarantee that Feng fellow left no boat at Yan’gui Mountain. What then? Run there and jump in the river together?”
Master Zhu objected at once.
“Too late for talk. I’ve already given the order.”
Zhao sighed skyward. “Old Peng is right. It’s our only option now, and it might succeed. Plenty of merchant ships ply the Jialing. Worst case, we seize one!”
He had ordered the garrison to assemble for bandit suppression. Withdrawing now was impossible.
The arrow was on the string and had to fly.
Once assembly ended, Zhao led the soldiers straight to the east gate.
Masters Peng and Zhu, with their servants, wore garrison uniforms and mingled in the ranks.
Before reaching the gate, quarreling erupted ahead.
“What are you lot doing surrounding the gate? Planning to storm it?”
From atop the gate, a garrison squad leader shouted down. “Get lost, or don’t blame me for shooting!”
“Sirs, we are honest Dakang citizens, just wanting to enter and make a living!”
Below, Liu Tie and over a dozen villagers held high their identity plaques to prove themselves.
“Honest citizens, all armed with war knives?”
The squad leader sneered.
Dakang loosely controlled weapons. Hunters, merchants, guards often carried blades. But a large group in uniform with matching knives was rare.
“Sirs, we are escorts from Zhenyuan Bureau. Here are our escort badges!”
Liu Tie and his men raised small iron badges.
When the bureau formed, to avoid trouble, Jin Feng had issued escort badges not only to veterans and women soldiers but also to the guard team.
Strictly speaking, Liu Tie and his men were escorts with legal right to bear arms.
“So you are Zhenyuan Bureau escorts.”
The bureau’s fame had spread through bandit suppression. The squad leader was well-informed, knowing it was under Jin Feng and that Jin Feng had close ties to Marquis Qing.
Learning they were from Xihe Bay, his tone softened. “Yesterday a flying thief stole County Lieutenant Zhao’s family heirloom. The gate stays shut for now. Leave. Don’t block it!”
“When will it open, sir?” Liu Tie shouted.
“No idea. When the thief is caught!”
The squad leader replied.
“Thank you, sir.”
Liu Tie agreed and led his men to report back to Jin Feng.
But they had gone only a short way when the gate behind rumbled open.
Turning, they saw County Lieutenant Zhao leading a large garrison force marching out grandly.
“Zhao Tingzhi?”
Liu Tie’s pupils contracted. With a clang, he drew his black knife.
The other Tiger Beat team men, unsure why, followed his lead and sprang into action.
Cloths were flung off several carts, revealing heavy crossbows glinting coldly!
