Chapter 253

Let's do it!

More than ten people gulped down the milk.

Drinking milk, they displayed a heroic vigor that soared to the sky.

Afterward, the crowd left the ruined temple, braving the wind and snow toward the county town.

Goose‑down‑like snowflakes fluttered across the sky, mixed with icy winds as fine as silk, making the land appear all the more desolate.

In the county town, everywhere was deathly quiet.

Almost every house along the street had its main door wide open; the old door panels creaked with each gust of wind.

The street was a muddy mess, full of potholes where melted ice and standing water mixed, then slowly covered by snow.

Under the overcast sky, young or old beggars huddled in corners of houses or deep in alleys.

Some beggars occasionally exhaled visible breath from their mouths and noses.

Others had practically become one with the ice and snow; mice burrowed into their ragged clothes, making gnawing sounds…

Only the scattered areas near the county office still showed a hint of human activity.

Most of the wealthy residents' mansions in the town were concentrated here.

Because they usually maintained good relations with the county office and often gave the magistrate favors, this round of levying bandit‑suppression taxes and conscripting able‑bodied men did not affect them.

Elsewhere lay desolate and bitter cold, but here the rich mansions blazed with lights, warm steam rose from the eaves, food aromas drifted about, and occasionally laughter and merriment could be heard from within.

The county office's main gate was shut tight; county officers gathered in small groups, each in different rooms, warming themselves by charcoal fires.

They either chatted and bullshitted, warmed some wine with snacks, or dozed off.

The whole county office exuded a leisurely atmosphere.

Only a few county officers patrolled as usual, but they merely glanced around hastily before returning indoors.

Compared with the higher‑ranking officials and constables, the jailers tasked with guarding the prison were far less comfortable.

Although the prison was empty, they still had to stay inside, burning wood taken from the prison for heat, nibbling on dry rations and drinking water to fill their stomachs; if lucky, they could catch a few mice, singe off the fur, gut them, roast them over the fire, tear them into small pieces, put a bit in their mouths, and chew slowly.

"Alas, I heard that these past days the magistrate has again moved many things out of the county office storehouse," a jailer sighed, complaining, "Our rations and pay keep being cut, supposedly to exterminate river bandits, but I think… the magistrate is just lining his own pockets."

Anyway, no officials will come by right now.

The jailers then spoke openly.

Another cursed: "From the magistrate down to the other officials and constables, they all profited from this bandit‑suppression tax and conscription drive, while we who don't need to go out on duty get no chance at all—damn it…"

An older jailer chuckled and said, "Even if you had the chance, could you really conscience‑lessly rob them like they do, ignoring the people's lives?"

The jailer who had just been cursing fell silent, giving a wry smile and shaking his head.

They are the lowest‑ranking officials in the county office.

In the past, even when they could extort a little from prisoners' families during visits, they never gave anyone a hard time, especially when the harvest was poor and ordinary folk were suffering.

If they encountered a truly pitiful inmate, they would sometimes pool their own silver to improve his meals.

As a result, each jailer ended up penniless, and still the other officials mocked them for being stupid.

The jail chief gnawed on a charred mouse paw and said, "Alright, anyway it's like this—what can we do? At least, because we serve in the county office, our families won't be seized as conscripts and we're exempt from the bandit tax, so we're already better off than many civilians."

Though he said that, everyone still felt uneasy inside.

They considered themselves lucky—but what about… the other commoners?

This inevitably included their own neighbors and friends they usually got along with.

We ourselves escaped the disaster, but those people…

"Alas, what kind of world is this?" a jailer's eyes flashed with resentment, "Whether in years of plenty or famine, folks like us and the ordinary people live miserably, while only the magistrate and his ilk live in comfort—must we really abandon our conscience to live well?"

The jail chief laughed and said, "Isn't it obvious? Have you ever seen anyone here get rich by having a conscience? Just not starving to death counts as good fortune."

That jailer grit his teeth, unconsciously lowering his voice, "Now those officials in the county office are far more relaxed than usual—perhaps the storehouse…"

The jail chief's face changed: "What are you planning to do?"

Several other jailers also showed looks of astonishment.

That jailer summoned his courage: "I just want to take a bit of what ought to be issued to us; my family… is about to run out of food, I was counting on the county office's rations to get us through winter."

The jail chief hurriedly said, "Don't act rashly! You'll get yourself killed! We're no match for those officials. How about this: we'll think of a way, try to pool some food from our own homes, and that should see your family through."

Upon hearing this, the jailer lowered his head and rubbed his eyes hard.

They looked at each other in silence, only sighs filling the air.

At this very moment, outside the county office.

Li He led a dozen or so youths, taking advantage of the fact that no officials were patrolling outside, and locked the county office's main gate, side gate, and rear gate with chains.

Li He used a drone to fly over the county office and observe; he could basically confirm that the vast majority of officials were inside.

The three officials who had killed the schoolteacher, just now together with a few constables, had loaded some goods onto a cart and headed for the magistrate's residence.

Thus it can be determined that the magistrate is not in the county office.

Now they have sealed every entrance and exit of the county office so that, when they move in, they can delay the reinforcements of most officials as much as possible.

Having done that, the group swiftly headed for the magistrate's mansion.

They were burning with rage, all just over ten years old; they had trained day and night for this day, and the thought of soon being able to cut down their enemies made their blood boil, so they ran at full speed without feeling tired.

Not long after, they saw the cart's silhouette.

Li He ordered: "This place is too open, not suitable for attacking; first wait until they enter the lane ahead, then, according to my earlier plan, split up, take up ambush positions around the lane, and surround and kill them."

"Yes."

The youths received the order and scattered.

The cart swayed slowly into the lane.

An official with a large black mole on his nose sat in the cart, half‑asleep; the other two officials drove, one on the left and one on the right, while four constables followed on either side of the cart.

The seven of them, utterly lacking any vigilance, proceeded to the middle of the lane, where neither the front nor the rear exit could be seen any longer.

Just then, the government lackey driving the carriage let out a surprised 'eh' and pulled the reins.

The horse stopped, and the carriage jerked.

Dàhēi Zhì lifted his eyelids, yawned, and asked, "Why did it stop suddenly?"

"Big brother, something seems to be blocking the way ahead," one government lackey said, pointing forward.

Dàhēi Zhì narrowed his eyes, stretched his neck to look, and vaguely made out some broken bricks and rotten planks, that sort of debris, lying across the alley, not knowing where it had collapsed from.

"You lot, clear it away," Dàhēi Zhì said to the constables.

The four constables showed displeasure on their faces.

One constable gave him a sideways glance and said, "We're peers; why are you still ordering us around? We came all the way from the County Office, and you three have been riding comfortably in the carriage while we've had to walk on foot—now you expect us to clear the road?"

Dàhēi Zhì sank his face, "Brother, being so calculative is no fun—we're all working for the county magistrate, and he ordered you to escort the carriage, but only three can sit in the driver's seat behind the horse; are we supposed to squeeze all four of you up there? Or you could sit on the cargo—oh right, if the horse can't pull, don't blame me."

Hearing that, the constables became even more displeased.

"Hey, I'm telling you, you really won't take any loss, huh? Why don't you three get down and clear that stuff yourselves?"

"Exactly, it won't work your hands to the bone!"

"Anyway, we're not going; we're tired from walking and need a rest—you three handle it yourselves!"

The constables adopted a tough attitude.

The two government lackeys beside Dàhēi Zhì made as if to start cursing.

"Forget it," Dàhēi Zhì said with a dark expression, holding the two back, "Don't stoop to their level; we'll take care of it ourselves."

Having said that, he took the lead in getting down from the carriage, gave the constables a cold glance, and walked straight ahead.

The other two government lackeys could only follow after him.

The four constables watched their three frustrated backs and couldn't help but smile.

"Alright, let them work slowly; we brothers will sit down and rest a bit."

The four of them used the carriage to block the cold wind blowing through the alley, picked a relatively clean spot, sat with their backs against the wall, and took out the liquor and jerky they carried, leisurely eating and drinking.

Dàhēi Zhì and his two companions reached the spot with the obstruction, looked back, and saw the carriage had been turned sideways; from afar they could see the four constables' legs crossed beneath the carriage.

"Damn, they're pretty good at slacking off."

Dàhēi Zhì cursed and began clearing the debris.

When he had been sitting in the carriage looking this way earlier, the messy obstruction hadn't seemed like much.

Only when they started clearing did they discover that the broken bamboo poles and planks were crisscrossed in a chaotic tangle, with lots of broken bricks and stones jammed in between, making it extremely hard to move.

One government lackey muttered, "How strange, where did this stuff come from? We passed through here yesterday and there was nothing like this."

Another government lackey said, "Could it have collapsed from the nearby wall?"

Dàhēi Zhì looked around, frowned, and said, "No, look—both sides of the walls and their tops are intact… it seems someone deliberately dumped this here."

The two government lackeys snapped:

"Who's so bored!"

"If I catch whoever did this, I'll skin them alive!"

Dàhēi Zhì had a vague feeling that something was off.

But on second thought, given the current situation in the city, it's unlikely anyone would be plotting harm.

After all, ordinary people with that kind of energy have all been conscripted to fight bandits; only the old, weak, sick, and disabled remain, and even they struggle to get out in this weather.

As for the wealthy families, they may have the means, but they certainly wouldn't bother.

So he stopped speculating, urged the two government lackeys beside him to hurry up and clear the obstruction with him, so they could finish quickly and get through, lest they end up sucking the northwest wind here.

About the time it takes to burn an incense stick passed.

The three government lackeys were panting from exhaustion.

They had sweated inside their clothes, and the cold wind crept into their collars, making them miserable all over.

Yet more than half of the obstruction remained, and the gap they had cleared was too narrow for the carriage to pass.

"We can't do it, big brother—just the three of us can't manage," one government lackey said, wiping sweat from his forehead, "Let's call those four fellows over to help; after a little more work it should be about done—they surely won't still refuse."

Another government lackey had no strength left to speak, leaning against the wall and gasping for breath.

Dàhēi Zhì, at a loss, shouted toward the carriage, "Hey! Have you rested enough?! Come help!"

His voice was carried by the cold wind through the alley, becoming faint and wavering.

Dàhēi Zhì looked down at the carriage and saw the four constables still sitting on the ground, not having moved their buttocks an inch; thinking the wind might have scattered his voice and they hadn't heard, he swallowed his anger and raised his voice: "You guys, come over and help! Did you hear me?"

This time his voice was loud enough.

But the constables still didn't budge, not even giving him a reply.

"Damn it! I really can't stand these four dogs anymore!"

Dàhēi Zhì flew into a rage, drew his waist sword with a swish, and strode angrily toward the carriage.

Seeing him angry, the other two government lackeys roused themselves, drew their swords, and followed.

When the three had walked to a distance of more than ten steps from the carriage, they suddenly smelled a stench of blood.

"Wait!" Dàhēi Zhì's heart jolted; he signaled the two beside him to stop, then he himself slowly lowered himself until he was lying flat on the ground.

Only then did he see that the four constables were all dead!

Each had a slash on the throat, no longer bleeding, and the blood that had flowed out had frozen solid.

Dàhēi Zhì's whole body went numb, and he could barely muster the strength to get up.

From this situation, it looks like the four constables probably died before he called for help, and only because the carriage was downwind did the blood smell not reach the obstruction side.

"Big brother, what's wrong?"

The two government lackeys saw Dàhēi Zhì trembling as he rose, their faces like they'd seen a ghost, and hurriedly asked what was happening.

Dàhēi Zhì lowered his voice, "We… we should go… don't… don't worry about the carriage and the constables—go!"

After he finished speaking, he turned and ran.

To be able to silently kill four Constables in this awful weather—what kind of person must that be?

Da Heizhi had absolutely no confidence in being able to go head‑to‑head with the opponent.

Whether the other side was after those four Constables or trying to rob the food supplies in the carriage, he didn't care anymore—his own survival was paramount!

The two other government runners froze for a moment, then hurriedly followed Da Heizhi in a panicked flight to the other end of the alley.

Just as Da Heizhi had run up beside the obstacle.

Li He descended as if from the heavens, blocking his path, and gave him a cold, grinning sneer:

"Three sirs, in such a hurry, where are you rushing off to?"

The three of them skidded to a halt, having been startled.

Although he wore strange clothes and held a dagger, once they saw he was just a teenager, they didn't think much of it.

"Kid, it looks like you're one of the conscripts who slipped through the net," Da Heizhi pointed his knife at Li He, "I don't have time to grab you right now—get out of the way, or I'll take your life!"