Chapter 103: and ===GLOSSARY=== sections

Hu Xiaotian finished speaking, sighed, and said: "Taking advantage of the deep night and quiet, I will take you away from here. Where is your hometown? Are your parents still alive? Are there any other relatives at home?"

Upon hearing these words, Le Yao felt a sudden sourness in her heart, and two lines of crystal tears streamed down her pure, pretty face. Seeing her reaction, Hu Xiaotian realized he had inadvertently touched on her painful matter, and hastily said: "Don't cry, I won't ask!"

Le Yao wiped her tears, composed herself, and said: "Sir, it's best you leave this place quickly; once they discover you, you might not be able to leave even if you want to."

Hu Xiaotian said: "I'm leaving; what will you do?"

Le Yao said: "You don't need to worry about me; I have my own way to cope." Actually, she didn't have any particularly good solution at this moment.

Hu Xiaotian said: "I actually have an idea that might help us get through tonight's situation."

Le Yao moved a bit closer to him, listening to his low-voice explanation of the countermeasure, she kept nodding. Unconsciously, they drew nearer; Le Yao felt the strong, scorching masculine aura from him enveloping her, her heart fluttered involuntarily, her pretty face instantly reddened to the base of her neck. This is related to the fact that the drug's effects haven't fully worn off; at this moment, Le Yao's self-control is especially weak.

Hu Xiaotian and Le Yao together lifted Wan Ting Sheng, with Hu Xiaotian carrying him on his back as they headed west, away from Le Yao's residence, and casually threw Wan Ting Sheng in front of a household's gate.

After finishing all that, Hu Xiaotian retraced his original path back to the wooden hut, took out the ladder, and climbed up the wall along it. Midway, he saw Le Yao arrive at the wall, her bright eyes showing a complex expression; he wondered whether there was a hint of reluctance and longing.

Hu Xiaotian smiled at Le Yao and whispered: "Let's go now; there's still time!"

Le Yao bit her cherry lips, shook her head, and whispered: "Sir, may I ask your surname?" She found this question extremely difficult to ask; after saying it, her face flushed, but luckily the night was dark enough that Hu Xiaotian couldn't see her expression at that moment.

Hu Xiaotian said: "My surname is Hu!" He knew Le Yao would never easily leave, so he could only sigh at the poor woman's fate; he had saved her temporarily, but might not be able to protect her for a lifetime, after all, the Wan family father and son are basically not good people.

"Sir Hu, take care!"

Upon hearing those words, Hu Xiaotian couldn't help but turn his head again, seeing Le Yao's beautiful eyes glistening with tears, truly pitiful; he steeled his heart and climbed over the wall to leave.

Le Yao gazed at the empty wall, feeling lost. After a while, she went to retrieve the wooden ladder. On the ground she spotted a shiny object, picked it up, and found it was a coiling dragon jade pendant; presumably it was the one Hu Xiaotian had accidentally dropped while climbing over the wall. Le Yao thought for a moment, then decided to first keep the pendant, then retrieve the ladder. She returned to her room, waited a bit. Just as she was about to call for help, she heard someone outside shouting, "Thief!"

Hu Xiaotian didn't hear that shout. He climbed over the wall and left the Wan residence; it was already the second watch of deep night, the streets and alleys of Qingyun County were deserted. Hu Xiaotian reminisced about just holding Le Yao in his arms, feeling as if he could still sense her captivating bodily fragrance; using the moonlight to orient himself, he headed toward the Fulai Inn. Recalling the day's perilous adventure, he considered himself fortunate, though he wondered how much worry he might have caused Murong Feiyan and Liang Da Zhuang.

Ahead he could already see the swaying lanterns of the Fulai Inn. Hu Xiaotian thought of first taking a hot bath, then enjoying a bowl of noodle soup, preferably beef noodles; the more he thought, the hungrier he got. He broke into a light jog through the streets, eager to return, wishing to rest as soon as possible.

But ahead, two black-clad constables suddenly appeared from around a corner, startling Hu Xiaotian badly. He exclaimed, covered his chest, and said: "Damn, people scaring people, scaring to death! Gentlemen, it's not right to go about scaring people in the middle of the night."

The two constables coldly stared at Hu Xiaotian and said: "In the dead of night, why aren't you sleeping soundly at home, but running wildly in the streets?"

Hu Xiaotian replied: "I'm going home! I live right ahead at the Fulai Inn."

The constables looked at him suspiciously. Hu Xiaotian had been soaking in the pond for most of the day; his clothes were still dripping wet, and his features were somewhat swollen from the water. Realizing he looked suspicious, he hastily explained: "Gentlemen, I just happened to slip into the river, which is why I look like this. I do live at the Fulai Inn; if you don't believe me, you can come with me to check."

The two constables exchanged a glance; one of them sneered: "Don't believe? Of course not. You're sneaking about at midnight, with furtive movements and a thief's look—you're either a scoundrel or a thief. We'll take you in first and talk later."

Without further ado, they placed an iron chain around Hu Xiaotian's neck and dragged him toward the county office.

Hu Xiaotian, feeling vexed, said: "Hey, you two, you could come back with me to ask and clear things up."

"Shut up! If you dare to shout and disturb the peace again in this quiet night, you'll get a slap immediately!" One of the constables had already drawn a bamboo board shaped like a spatula, which Hu Xiaotian recognized as a tool specifically used to slap prisoners; a single strike would surely swell half his face. Not wanting to suffer a loss, Hu Xiaotian immediately put on a smile and said: "Gentlemen, you've misunderstood; we're actually in the same line of work—I'm the newly appointed magistrate of Qingyun County."

The two constables looked at Hu Xiaotian, then both laughed. One said: "You claim to be the magistrate of Qingyun County, while I'm the prefect of Xiezhou? Young man, have you gone crazy dreaming of office?"

Another added: "There are madmen every year, but this year there are especially many—all a bunch of office-obsessed fools. Yesterday we caught someone impersonating an imperial secretary, and today we run into this guy."

Hu Xiaotian wanted to cry but had no tears; "Damn it, I'm telling the truth, why won't anyone believe me?"

Hu Xiaotian never imagined that his first night in Qingyun County would be spent in a jail cell; the two constables refused to listen to his explanation, didn't even bother to investigate the nearby Fulai Inn, and simply took him to the county office and locked him up in a cell.

After being shoved into the cell, Hu Xiaotian remained indignant and shouted: "Is this a mistake? At least investigate first. What crime did I commit? You need a reason to arrest someone!"

Outside, a loud clang sounded as the heavy door was bolted. Hu Xiaotian knew that shouting until his throat was raw would do no good; he could only accept reality and wait until tomorrow to speak again.

Inside the cell were five prisoners who had originally been asleep, but Hu Xiaotian's arrival woke them from their dreams; they stared at this unwelcome guest with tiger-like gazes.

Hu Xiaotian saw that several of them harbored ill intentions, and he chuckled: "Everyone's here indeed—what a small world! All under heaven are brothers; let's get acquainted—I'm Hu Xiaotian!"

None of them paid him any heed.

In the northwest corner of the cell lay a big-bearded man, reclining like a sleeping Buddha, his left hand propping up his large head, his right hand holding a stalk of dry grass which he chewed, not even glancing at Hu Xiaotian. At that moment, the other four prisoners swarmed over, surrounded Hu Xiaotian, and gave him a sound beating. Hu Xiaotian's two fists could not fend off four hands; he could only clutch his head and huddle into the corner. Fortunately, they weren't truly trying to beat him to death; although they punched and kicked, it was merely meant to teach him a lesson.

After the barrage of punches and kicks, the big-bearded man grunted: "Enough, do you really want to cause a death?" Everyone dispersed, immediately returning to their own spots to sleep.

Hu Xiaotian had taken quite a few blows, but they were only superficial injuries; it was also fortunate that he didn't resist, because the more he resisted, the fiercer their attacks would become. Observing the scene, the five individuals—he could at most handle two; as for that big-bearded man, one could tell at a glance his combat prowess was extraordinary, and Hu Xiaotian likely wasn't his match; he was probably the leader of this group of inmates. Hu Xiaotian sat leaning against the cell's wooden bars, estimating that tonight's beating was suffered in vain—like a mute eating coptis, the bitterness known only to himself.

The big-bearded man looked at him, still chewing the stalk of dry grass, and said: "Little brother, what's your name?"

Hu Xiaotian silently cursed, "Mary next door,"—just now he'd been surrounded and beaten, and now this guy was trying to get chummy. But under another's roof, one must lower one's head; regardless of background or status, here whoever has the stronger fist gets obeyed. So he put on a bright, sunny smile and said: "Little brother Hu Xiaotian, may I ask your esteemed name, elder brother?" Though he smiled brightly, inside he had already marked this man as a target; once he regained his identity, he'd make sure to give him twenty heavy boards and teach him a lesson.

The big-bearded man said: "Zhou Batian!"

Hu Xiaotian secretly approved; the name indeed exuded domineering flair, a bit too arrogant and overbearing, yet looking at this big-bearded man, he certainly deserved the name. Hu Xiaotian, always smooth and adaptable, with ingratiating himself as his forte, laughed: "Big Brother Zhou, we really do have fate—we both have the character 'heaven' in our names."

Zhou Batian hadn't spoken yet when someone in the neighboring cell burst out laughing; the laugher was sitting back-to-back with Hu Xiaotian. Hu Xiaotian turned his head, and by the cell's firelight saw that the laughing person was a fat man—none other than Jia Dewang, who had just been suing in the court today.

Hu Xiaotian ignored him, after all Jia Dewang was in the adjacent cell and had no direct relation to him.

After Jia Dewang finished laughing, he said: "Kid, your flattery is really sickening—just because you both have the character 'heaven' in your names doesn't mean you're fated. What kind of affinity? Could it be that you've taken a liking to him and want to sleep with him?"

Everyone laughed at once, except Zhou Batian, who lay there unmoved. Zhou Batian said: "It's late; go to sleep, don't yak about calves here." After he spoke, everyone fell silent, including the fat man Jia Dewang.

Hu Xiaotian sensed that Zhou Batian held absolute authority among this group. As for Jia Dewang's strange behavior today, according to Murong Feiyan, he and that Jia Liu had been suing over a goat; after Jia Liu was beaten ten times, he sneaked off to the Red Willow Manor south of the gate, obviously lying, and Jia Dewang also seemed to have deliberately provoked County Magistrate Xu Qinglian.

In the cell corridor, the oil lamp glowed dimly. Hu Xiaotian, exhausted from the day, could barely keep his eyes open; as drowsiness settled, he heard Jia Dewang whisper: "Big brother, how are you feeling?"

Zhou Batian replied: "Much better!"

Hu Xiaotian's heart skipped a beat; from their exchange it seemed Zhou Batian and Jia Dewang had known each other for a long time. Could it be that Jia Dewang's lawsuit today was a bitter ploy, his real aim being to get thrown into jail? Sharing weal and woe, this bond seemed anything but ordinary.

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