Chapter 661: Joining the Great Enterprise, Part 1

In the small hours, the night-long downpour finally ceased. All around, silence reigned, and the air was thick with the damp scent of flowers and grass.

When a faint fish-belly white showed in the east, the yawning relief jailer crossed the front-hall walkway, reached the entrance of the "workplace," and reached out to knock on the main door.

Unexpectedly, the moment his fist landed, the door swung open at the touch... Stepping inside with some confusion, the jailer found the gatehouse completely empty, his duty colleague nowhere to be seen.

This scene, a total violation of "regulations," baffled him.

Next, suddenly realizing something was off, the relief brother rushed anxiously toward the inner courtyard. As he walked, he shouted his colleagues' names.

What answered him were the stirred-up prisoners. These medieval scum, through the thick wooden doors, let out all sorts of weird howls from behind their small windows.

When the duty brother reached the middle courtyard and saw the same wide-open door and the same empty office, he was finally certain: something had happened.

Trembling, he drew a single-edged blade from the scabbard hanging on the wall. The relief brother, drenched in sweat, his legs quivering, endured the jeers and shouts coming from the cells on both sides. On full alert, gripping the blade in both hands, he edged step by step to the door of death row.

As expected, both doors of death row were open.

And when the relief brother entered the death row compound, the first thing he saw was the wide-open door of a certain death row cell.

Ten breaths later, a shrill scream rose from death row: "Disaster! Someone's broken the jail!"

At the very moment the relief brother scrambled and stumbled his way out of the prison, the East Gate of Hanyang City, the one closest to the riverbank, slowly opened as well.

At this hour every day, all manner of peddlers and porters who had long been waiting outside the city would swarm in, carrying fresh farm produce. At the same time, a line of men in short jackets, wearing Bamboo Hats, tossed a handful of coins into a basket and, moving against the flow of people, swiftly strode out of the city gate on foot.

The patrolling soldiers, who had originally intended to question them a little, let the matter slide, considering the quality of that fine handful of coins.

After the incident was discovered, the Prefectural Yamen reacted very quickly, since the prison was located in the outer yamen after all. Lu Gao, the Prefect of Hanyang, who was still in the rear yamen and had not yet risen, was shocked by the news. In a minute, he threw on an outer robe and rushed to death row.

... The facts of the case were clear at a glance.

Seeing the rebel poem on the wall, and then the jailers' corpses dumped in a pile at his feet, the great Prefect Lu, beside himself with rage, immediately ordered all four gates sealed, mobilized the prefectural garrison troops, and launched a city-wide search.

Yet it was ultimately too late.

When the search troops learned that several suspicious men had left the city as soon as the East Gate opened that morning, they immediately set out in pursuit. Very quickly, the pursuers traced them to the riverbank dock. After questioning some enthusiastic morning residents, they found out: a group of sturdy men had boarded a riverboat and set sail just as the sky was beginning to brighten.

At this stage, anyone with sense knew the game was up... "Thoroughfare to Nine Provinces" was no idle boast. Once the criminals entered the Yangtze, it was like fish leaping into the sea: the riverboat could cross to Wuchang, head south into Dongting and on to Sichuan, or cover a thousand li to Jiangling in a single day... For all anyone knew, those scoundrels could be drinking flower wine on the Qinhuai River tomorrow.

With Hanyang Prefecture's limited strength, there was absolutely no way to pursue the criminals in multiple directions.

Prefect Lu Gao, upon learning this news, felt his head splitting with pain. If he couldn't catch the men, he would have great difficulty explaining such a massive rebel case, which had happened right under his nose, to the authorities in Wuchang.

Although the situation was dire, the necessary responses still had to be made. So Lu Gao, while sending a messenger to Wuchang Prefecture to report, also issued Wanted Posters and mustered troops to begin sealing the line from Hanyang to Xiaogan — the criminals' most likely move was to return north to their old nest in Shaan-Luo.

But Lu Gao, this Parent-Official, knew in his heart that as long as this gang of audacious rebels had even a single point of Edo experience, they would find somewhere to lie low for a while.

A high-intensity lockdown cannot be sustained. This point holds true not just for the Ming Dynasty, but even in later generations. For major and important cases, various checkpoints are set up on city thoroughfares, and the intensity is usually strongest within one week. Prefect Lu knew that no matter where this gang of rebels was intending to go, right now they would certainly find a place to hole up first, and make their plans after the heat died down.

With the contest between officials and rebels reaching this point, what remained was almost an open hand. Lu Gao could now only pin his hopes on his capable subordinates to search out the criminals' traces in the coming period.

Thinking of this, Lu Gao could not help but feel his headache return: it had been confirmed that, right around the time of the crime, Du Chong, the Constable of Hanyang Prefecture, and Bao Shinan, the Jailer-in-Chief of the prison, had both disappeared.

As time passed, by that afternoon, Lu Gao had obtained more information: Du and Bao had gone missing the previous afternoon, and along with them, a number of their personal attendants and subordinates had also vanished.

Without needing any brilliant deduction, even an ordinary person could guess at this point that the disappearance of Du and Bao was definitely connected to this earth-shattering case.

What put Lu Gao in a dilemma was that he now could not determine whether Du and Bao had been killed by the rebels, or whether these two men were themselves rebel accomplices who had fled together in the aftermath.

Although the latter theory seemed unlikely — after all, Bao and Du had disappeared, abandoning their homes, wives, and children, and taking a crowd of subordinates with them — it was ultimately one possibility. Prefect Lu now lacked more information, and he could not jump to a conclusion prematurely.

"Investigate! Investigate for this official! Dig three feet deep if you must, but dig those scoundrels out!"

Lu Gao, the great Prefect Lu, his Furious Hair Rushing to the Crown, his face full of killing intent, thundered at the cluster of functionaries kneeling in the hall.

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What Prefect Lu did not know was that the gang of criminals who had escaped were, in fact, hiding right now in Hankou Town, less than twenty li from him.

It was just as the official investigation had found: that day, the rescue squad had left Hanyang City's East Gate in the small hours, and immediately boarded a riverboat that had been arranged long before. After this, the riverboat had actually just circled around on the river surface, and before long, it dropped its passengers at the Hankou Town dock downstream.

After Tian Da and his companion disembarked, they directly boarded a horse-drawn carriage. After that, the carriage circled around Hankou Town a few times, and once it was confirmed there was no tail behind them, Tian Da and his companion were finally hidden away in a secret little courtyard.

This little courtyard was a safe house specially prepared by Wuhan Station, the result of private Construction work carried out by Wuhan Station's garrison personnel during this period.

The courtyard's terrain was extremely secluded, surrounded on all sides by other compounds, resembling a light well, with no ordinary gate at all. To enter the courtyard, one either had to seek a way over the rows upon rows of Roofs, or take the hidden door inside the firewood shed of the outer cover compound.

After Tian Da and his companion moved into the little courtyard, they first rested and recuperated peacefully for a few days. During this period, Zhou Yi came to visit every day, not only bringing food, clothing, and daily necessities, but also bringing some written information like court gazettes.

Both men were literate. Reading this screened information, they could roughly understand what had happened in the outside world after their imprisonment, especially the situation regarding the northern peasant armies.

Thus they lived in seclusion in the little courtyard, safe and stable, for five days.

On the sixth day, Zhou Yi came calling as usual.

Unlike previous days, today when Zhou Yi arrived, he not only brought two attendants, but his Wearing had also changed: a strangely styled, front-buttoned blue Daoist Robe... this would be called a windbreaker in later generations.

"Brother Tian, how are you today?"

After meeting, Zhou Yi, as was his custom, inquired after Tian San's health.

Upon hearing this, Tian San hurriedly rose and forcefully pounded his own shoulder socket: "I've troubled Brother Zhou with your concern. I'm already fully recovered."

"Good, good, good." Zhou Yi smiled, sitting in the Bamboo Chair. "In that case, it's time to travel."

"Travel?" Tian Da, standing to the side, keenly caught the implication in Zhou Yi's words. He asked urgently, "Brother Zhou, have the official curs' patrols and checks loosened?"

"Indeed."

Zhou Yi nodded in affirmation: "The day before yesterday, Hanyang City lifted its lockdown. Starting yesterday, the checkpoints along the route to Xiaogan were withdrawn by half."

"Then let's move at once." Tian San, having narrowly escaped death, now did not want to stay in this cursed place of Huguang for even one moment longer: "My body is already fully healed. I can march with the army and walk the roads, and it's more than enough to fight and kill official curs."

"My coming today was originally to discuss this very matter."

Zhou Yi, having said this, his expression turned serious: "There is just one item — today, I must become reacquainted with you two."

Upon hearing this, Tian Da and his companion felt a jolt in their hearts. They rose together, and with the formal etiquette of a first meeting in the Edo, cupped their hands and said solemnly: "Please, brother, enlighten us."

This was the moment Tian Da and his companion had been waiting for, for a long time.

Before this, throughout the dealings between both sides that began with Xiao Guan, Zhou Yi's side had always concealed their own origins.

This situation had persisted until Tian Da and his companion were out of danger.

That day, after being settled in the little courtyard, clearly sensing that Zhou Yi and the others were not their own brothers from Shaan-Luo, Tian Da had asked about this matter. It was just that Zhou Yi was busy arranging many affairs at the time, and so he replied to them: "Rest easy and recuperate. In a few days, you will know."

And so, after delaying for a few days, once the heat outside had died down and Tian Da and his companion had recovered their spirits, Zhou Yi came today to lay his cards on the table.

The next moment, Zhou Yi rose, performed a grand bow with hands clasped, and declared in a ringing voice: "Zhou Yi, current senior disciple of the Iron Umbrella Sect, greets the two benefactors."

"Oh..." Hearing this unfamiliar sect name, Tian Da was briefly stunned, then hurriedly clasped his fists in return salute: "So it is Daoist Zhou before me. Ahem... I have long... long admired... Brother thanks the Daoist for saving his life."

"Hehe... If you've never heard of it, where does this 'long admired' come from?"

After the formalities, Daoist Zhou bore the air of an immortal sage, his speech free and natural: "The Iron Umbrella Sect is a reclusive sect. Even the Daoist Court, I fear, only its various sect patriarchs might have heard of it."

At this, Zhou Yi swept his sleeve: "All of you, sit. Brew tea. We must have a long talk today."

Next, Zhou Yi began reciting from the script the Intelligence Division had prepared beforehand: "Our Iron Umbrella Sect belongs to the lineage of Patriarch Chen Tuan, and is the legitimate transmitted descendant of the Patriarch's closed-door disciple, Cao Sanren."

"The Iron Umbrella Sect is truly orthodox Daoism. The sect preserves the authentic copy of the 'Preface to the Yi Dragon Diagram' personally transmitted by Patriarch Chen Tuan, along with the true explanations of the diagram's preface... This is the true art of Observing the Atmosphere and Shifting Momentum, measuring Dragon Qi, and supporting the severing of Dragon Veins."

"Now the realm is in great chaos, the Great Ming's Fire Virtue already waning, precisely matching the omen of rebels rising in the wilds and the realm's momentum shifting. Ten years ago, the current sect master of our Iron Umbrella Sect, with great resolve and great dharma power, deduced and calculated the Yi Dragon Diagram's preface, and ultimately divined that your lord, Li Zicheng, is in truth the True Dragon rising to the occasion in this cycle's Heavenly Tribulation."

"Therefore, this humble Daoist, by the sect master's command, descended the mountain days ago to lead the outer sect disciples... to aid... to assist."