Chapter 659: Rescuing the Rebel (8)

"Master, all three have gone inside — shall we seize them!?"

The impatient one was Du Chong's senior disciple.

"What's the rush? We must let the scoundrels confer for a while."

In Du Chong's view, now that the three villains had met, there was a chance Xiao Guan would reveal the exact location of the buried silver to the two Shaanxi men ahead of time. That way, once they made the arrests, he could extract the location from any one of them — a much lighter workload... What if Xiao Guan got hacked to death in the fight, or his heart suddenly seized up from fright and he dropped dead? Wouldn't that leave the job half-done?

So at this moment Du Chong was in no hurry at all: "Have the rear of the temple been secured?"

"The Hu Er brothers are watching the back wall."

"Good. Check your gear. I'll say it once more — keep Xiao Guan alive, and watch those two hardened outlaws inside. All of you, stay sharp! Lose your life, and there's no getting it back!"

Because of the two genuine "high-combat-strength" rebels, Du Chong was going all out this time. He had called up every member of his private crew. Together with the small group Bao Shinan brought along, they had mobilized a full twelve men.

These men were the true core followers of Du and Bao. Bringing any more would risk the information leaking.

But twelve was more than enough. Subtract the two guarding the back wall, and ten fully armed, seasoned yamen runners, with forethought against the unwary, against two outlaws plus one battle-power-weakling Xiao Guan — it was certainly more than sufficient.

After checking the equipment at the temple gate, Du Chong ran through the operation plan in his mind one last time. Satisfied there were no oversights, he exchanged a glance with Bao Shinan, and they nodded to each other.

The next moment, with a low shout, Du Chong, gripping his long-handled saber, led the charge into the Jade Buddha Temple.

The Jade Buddha Temple had long been abandoned; its side-hall chambers and rear hall had already collapsed completely — Du Chong had sent men to scout this out earlier.

So once the group rushed through the gate, they headed straight for the main hall that housed the Three Buddhas without a moment's hesitation... Only the main hall could still serve as a meeting and resting place now.

Just as expected. When the group arrest officers stormed into the main hall, they found the villains sitting beneath the feet of the Three Buddhas, warming themselves by a fire.

Without any command, the seasoned runners instantly formed a semicircular formation, surrounding the three suspects who sat in a triangular arrangement around the fire. In an instant, seven kinds of weapons were drawn, all pointed at the villains, and the atmosphere grew tense and explosive.

The next moment, the three villains, seated on broken bricks, slowly raised their heads.

And Du Chong's entire party took a step backward in unison: on the faces of all three were bizarre elephant-face masks. Apart from two glass lenses at the eye sockets, a long gray trunk extended from each mask, connecting all the way down to an iron box at the wearer's waist.

"What the hell is this devilry?"

Even as he sucked in a sharp breath, Du Chong suddenly realized his men had shown fear. So without a second thought, he opened his mouth and let out a thunderous roar to boost morale: "Wretched villains, putting on a false face to play ghost! Your crimes are exposed — surrender at once!"

"Heh heh heh, Master Du, I've never heard that warming oneself by a fire is a crime. What law, pray tell, have we brothers broken?"

At that moment, Xiao Guan, seated between the two Shaanxi giants with his back against the Sakyamuni Buddha, spoke in a perfectly unhurried manner. Only, his voice came through the mask on his face, so it was inevitably somewhat muffled.

"This Xiao Guan actually recognizes me?"

Though Du Chong sensed something was off, this was the critical moment of the arrest, and he had no time to dwell on it. So he continued to bellow: "Guan Cai, your collusion with these two rebels has been exposed, and still you dare twist words! Silence your mouth at once and come with me to face the magistrate!"

"Master Du, if you're talking about those words at the Yun Ke Lai... heh heh, there's no silver in Xiaogan — who'd bother with Tian Da's piddling affairs."

As Xiao Guan spoke, he reached out and grabbed a handful of debris — a mix of incense, spirit money, wood splinters, and straw — and unhurriedly added it to the clay brazier before him, making the fire burn even brighter: "That was all nonsense my Station Chief taught me to spin. It truly doesn't count for anything... Master Du, I, Xiao Guan, am really no rebel."

"Nonsense?"

Hearing that Xiao Guan had long known of their own actions, and looking now at these three utterly unafraid rebels before him, Du Chong felt a chill run down his spine, his scalp tingled, and his head even swam with dizziness.

Years of experience dealing with all manner of demons and monsters on the One Line made Du Chong instantly realize an impossible answer: he had fallen into some unknown trap today.

Forcing himself to stay calm, Du Chong planted both hands on his long saber, struggling to control his swaying body, and asked with a dry, raspy voice: "Station Chief... who is this Station Chief of yours?"

"My Station Chief... is simply the Station Chief. I can tell you, the Old Man's codename is 'Chemist.'"

Xiao Guan said this, then pointed at the brazier before him: "Here — this is the greeting gift the Old Man, my Station Chief, asked me to deliver to Master Du. Well? Fragrant enough?"

Accompanying Xiao Guan's words were the booming laughs of the two Shaanxi giants: "Down they go, down they go, down they go!"

The next moment, the sound of "clang, clatter" rang out. The assembled runners, Bao Shinan included, first threw down their weapons one after another, then each man reached up with both hands to clutch his own throat, eyes bulging, mouths emitting "heh heh" sounds, legs kicking wildly... After a few spasms, all were motionless.

"Wh... why?" The only one still holding on in the scene was Constable Du Chong, leaning on his long saber, drool spilling from his mouth, stubbornly clinging on, wanting to know the answer.

"Allow me to enlighten Master Du." Xiao Guan slowly rose at this, slowly extended his arm, and slowly tapped Du Chong's forehead: "You and your ilk are men of the Public Gate, yet you deceive your superiors, hide things from your subordinates, and are blinded by greed. It is only fitting that you were tricked out of the city and disposed of in one batch... My colleagues must rescue a rebel tonight — without the Constable, it will be far more convenient!"

"Urk..." With that single tap from Xiao Guan, Du Chong fell backward.

At the very moment Du Chong breathed his last, behind the temple, the Hu Er brothers, the semi-official runners keeping watch, were also dispatched by crossbow bolts to the back.

At this point, the Action Team members who had been lying in ambush appeared one after another. They were waiting outside the temple to receive Xiao Guan and his two companions as they carried the corpses out through the rear gate of the Jade Buddha Temple.

Not far beyond the rear gate was the riverbank. By now, a fishing boat had already pulled up alongside.

Swiftly, the corpses were loaded onto the boat... Tying stones to bodies and feeding them to the fish — this was one of the most ancient traditional crafts, intangible cultural heritage, common to both China and abroad.

After all this was done, Xiao Guan, having changed into a clean set of clothes, boarded the Intelligence Bureau's large transport vessel at the great dock outside Hankou Town just in time for supper.

Once aboard, Xiao Guan turned and gazed into the distance. Amidst a stretch of scattered, dimming lights, the rain and mist blurred together — that was the direction of Hanyang City.

He knew full well that tonight, inside Hanyang City, a critical operation to rescue a rebel would take place. Yet Xiao Guan was already in Hankou, the Hanyang city gates were shut, and he was certain to miss this operation.

With a sigh, Xiao Guan went below deck, and in the passenger cabin, he met his own mother.

"Mother, this time we truly are going far away. Let your Rong'er explain everything in detail."

Chapter 662: Rescuing the Rebel (8)