Chapter 101: No Ordinary Man

"If I'm not mistaken, those fugitive bandits are clearly two separate groups, fleeing in batches. The ones we've been chasing are just the two who can ride horses."

Outside the second post station, hearing Heifu analyze it this way, Commandant Clerk Anpu frowned and said, "Then where are the other six?"

"The remaining six are most likely hiding in the wooded hills along the roadside."

The Stable Master was somewhat indignant: "If only two of them could ride, why did they make off with over a dozen of my horses!"

Heifu said, "That's precisely the cunning of that bandit chief Ao. He first set fire to the stables, alarming the township officials and drawing the main force into pursuit. You see, apart from the five of us on five horses, the post soldiers from every station have also set out on foot toward here after getting word. That leaves the entire western part of the township defenseless. Those six men could very well use the cover of night to head west and vanish into the Cloud Dream Marsh! For someone on foot trying to leave Qin territory, that is the shortcut most likely to succeed!"

He glanced at the sky. It was almost the hour of the Rooster; in another one or two double-hours, the sun would set. That would be the moment those six would use the night to slip away.

Then another question arose: which direction would Ao, the mastermind behind it all, take?

Heifu thought to himself, "He knew to use the Jing tally to confuse the Constable's investigation, exploited the time gap to raid the stables and seize the horses, and then used that to lure us into pursuit… These stratagems are linked one after another. Only a person of great intellect and daring could pull this off. Ao's identity grows ever more baffling. I refuse to believe he is merely an ordinary fugitive from Chu. A man willing to work as a hired farmhand, who for over a year never revealed the slightest hint of his true nature — perhaps it was all for this very day. He has made fools of every Qin official in the entire township!"

"A reckless desperado like this — he would absolutely be capable of using himself as bait!"

But this was only conjecture. To the others, Heifu could only say that Ao had orchestrated this entire horse-theft and flight incident, that he was a cunning and audacious villain, and that the man who had charged through on horseback was, eight or nine times out of ten, him!

Heifu clasped his hands toward Anpu and said, "Commandant Clerk, please take one man and return at once. Do not let all the township post soldiers come here. Set up sentries at every crossroads leading to Cloud Dream Marsh and strictly guard against anyone slipping away under cover of night!"

Anpu nodded and rode back with the township post chief. Capturing Ao, the principal offender, was essential, but they could not allow the other six to escape either.

Heifu, along with Shuwu and the Stable Master, continued the pursuit along the road. The Stable Master took the lead on his horse, but after rounding a small hill, Heifu found him stopped up ahead.

"Stable Master, what's the matter?"

"The hoofprints split here. The herd's prints are chaotic and continue straight down the main road, but a single horse has broken away and galloped off onto this side path."

Shuwu asked hesitantly, "Could it be that the bandit chief deliberately set a horse loose?"

"Unlikely. Gentlemen, look here. This hoofprint is very deep — there was definitely a rider on it! The prints on the main road, though numerous, are all relatively light, clearly indicating riderless horses!"

The Stable Master was an expert horse breeder and could naturally make that judgment. But to be absolutely sure, Shuwu continued the chase alone along the main road. Less than two li ahead was the easternmost post station of Anlu County. Shuwu said that if he didn't find the bandits, he would stop there to request some men and round up the scattered herd.

Heifu and the Stable Master spurred their horses onto the side path. The main road, though a muddy track of yellow earth, could at least accommodate two horse-drawn carts side by side. After turning onto the branch path, they could only advance along a narrow trail between desolate fields, barely discernible by old cart ruts. Slightly wider than a paddy ridge, it allowed only a single horse to pass. Seldom traveled, the path was thick with dense weeds; the pale yellow wildflowers had already withered, and brown late-autumn grasshoppers crawled to and fro across the ground…

Though the path was difficult, the Stable Master, relying on his superb riding skill, still pressed on urgently. Whenever he spotted anything, he would immediately dismount to investigate.

He was seen excitedly squeezing a pile of warm horse dung, not showing the slightest disgust, and shouting to Heifu in the distance: "Chief Heifu, we've caught up to him! This dung is scalding hot — it was dropped just moments ago!"

With that, the Stable Master didn't wait for Heifu. He mounted again and sped forward.

Heifu tossed a wooden tally from his saddlebag into the middle of the path as a marker to guide the reinforcements behind them. He felt somewhat relieved that he had brought the Stable Master along. Though he knew a smattering of tracking, he could only read human signs; he was completely ignorant of the information revealed by horse hoofprints…

Yet Heifu still felt a twinge of worry. With Ao's cunning and resourcefulness, could he have left some other trick in reserve?

"When Shi confessed, he said that when Ao left the hunter's house, besides his sword and money, he also took several wooden animal traps…"

At this thought, Heifu hurriedly shouted ahead, "Stable Master, be careful!"

But it was already too late. The words had barely left his mouth when, suddenly, on the path where wild grass covered the horses' hooves, the gray horse the Stable Master was riding stumbled and tripped!

The gray horse let out a whinny, its forelegs thrashing wildly, its hind legs buckling. It threw the Stable Master from the saddle, and he slammed heavily onto the ground!

Heifu rushed over to look. Sure enough, the horse's hind leg had stepped right into a wooden animal trap! The wooden spikes were deeply embedded in the horse's hide, blood streaming down.

And the Stable Master, clutching his own leg, was groaning in pain. He had injured his leg when he was thrown.

"Stable Master, are you alright?" Heifu quickly helped him up. After checking, he found the Stable Master's ankle was sprained; the moment it touched the ground, a stabbing pain shot through it.

"Chief Heifu, pay me no mind. Go after the bandit chief at once — he must be just ahead!"

The Stable Master said angrily, "A mere petty thief, not only has he humiliated this old man time and again, but he has also made fools of the officials and soldiers of the entire township as if they were monkeys! If we do not capture him and bring him to justice, we should be ashamed to call ourselves Qin officials!"

"Agreed. Heifu will gladly do this on your behalf!"

Heifu also knew what mattered most. After settling the Stable Master, he mounted again and galloped on in pursuit!

This time, wherever he could not see the condition of the road surface, he carefully steered around it.

But even without the traps, the side path remained difficult. The ground was soft and riddled with cracks, full of half-buried tree roots and hidden stones. Further on, even the water-filled cart ruts vanished completely.

This was the edge of Anlu County's border. Further ahead lay a mountainous region under the jurisdiction of neither Qin nor Chu. There were no registered households there, only some wild barbarian folk who had lived there since time unknown.

Heifu found himself threading through rolling hills, scrambling over fallen trees and tangled brambles, plunging deep into the bottom of a narrow ravine. Heavy branches laden with damp leaves lashed his face again and again.

He even began to lose his sense of direction, even starting to doubt whether the bandit was still ahead of him.

Finally, after charging through a thicket on horseback, he spotted, at the foot of a steep hill ahead, a black horse standing quietly in place, chewing grass…

The horse's back was empty.

But when Heifu looked up, he saw, on the woodcutter's trail up the hill, amid the dense trees, a lean man in coarse hempen clothes, carrying a bow on his back, climbing upward with all his might!

Heifu dismounted at once, grabbed the hand crossbow hanging from the horse's side, loaded a bolt and drew the string in one fluid motion. He raised it, aimed at the bandit halfway up the slope, and without a moment's hesitation, pulled the trigger!

Unfortunately, his archery was nowhere near as good as his swordsmanship. The bolt veered off course and struck a tree to the man's left, shaking the branches, sending pine cones tumbling down, and alerting the man.

The man turned his head. Heifu saw that his hair was tied in a mallet-shaped topknot, a short blade clenched between his teeth. His face was dark, and he wore a short beard beneath his chin. Seeing Heifu had pursued him to this spot, a flicker of surprise passed through his eyes.

After nearly ten days of investigation, days and nights of conjecture and deduction, today, Heifu was finally laying eyes on this criminal he had pictured in his mind countless times!

"Ao!" Heifu raised the cocked crossbow again, aiming it at his back. As he strode quickly closer, he shouted the criminal's name.

"Will you not surrender yourself for capture?"

Ao, however, showed no fear whatsoever. Clenching the short blade in his teeth, he grinned at Heifu. Then, using both hands and feet, he scrambled up the hill even faster!

(End of Chapter)