Chapter 556: The Ten-Day Great Search

A few days later, in Tan County of Donghai Commandery, amid rolling thunder and flashing lightning, the broken door of the dark, abandoned Temple of Viscount Tan creaked open. Inside, besides the statue of Viscount Tan frozen in a solemn bow, two more shadows appeared.

They had met here in secret more than once, and by the light of the lightning streaking across the night sky outside, they quickly recognized each other.

"Chief Zhongli, have you heard? The tyrant is dead!"

The younger man, his hair bound in a topknot and a long sword strapped to his back — likely a wandering knight — spoke these words with a distinct Lu region accent, his voice hoarse with excitement.

"Truly? Qin Shi Huang is truly dead?"

The other man's voice was much deeper and steadier. He spoke in the Qu County dialect of Donghai Commandery, his hair hanging loose. In the Qin dynasty, those who wore their hair this way were of low status — either hired laborers or tenant farmers. He was not tall and carried no weapon of any size, yet he seemed ready to erupt with tremendous force at any moment.

"Absolutely true!"

The Lu knight was beside himself with agitation. "I heard it happened at Ju'nan, just over a hundred li north of here. The Emperor's carriage was attacked — he died on the spot!"

"No wonder Donghai Commandery suddenly imposed martial law today. The patrols on the roads have multiplied several times over. I nearly couldn't get through."

The middle-aged man addressed as "Chief Zhongli" fell into thoughtful silence, then asked:

"Tian Zhong, where did you get this news?"

Tian Zhong answered, "From my fellow knights. They... have connections over in Langya."

Although the Qin dynasty had outlawed wandering knights, the ban was only effective in Guanzhong, Nan Commandery, and Jiaodong where Heifu held sway. Elsewhere, repeated prohibitions failed to stamp them out. Those who played obedient subjects by day and gathered to stir up trouble by night were far from few. With local Qin officials and soldiers so sparse, and native clerks turning a blind eye to their own local sons, the knights still had room to survive.

Someone like Tian Zhong often ran back and forth through the ungoverned borderlands of Langya, Xue, and Donghai Commanderies, and was thoroughly familiar with the news of all three.

Tian Zhong began to recount what he had learned in vivid detail. It was said that although the Emperor's carriage was tightly guarded, it could not withstand the assassin-hero's strength of ten thousand men. From high in the dense forest, a single hammer flew — and the tyrant Zhao Zheng, carriage and all, was smashed to powder...

Of course, the reality could not possibly be so exaggerated, and there was no word from outside that the Emperor was dead. The authorities kept their mouths tightly shut on the matter, only enforcing martial law and arresting people.

But "Chief Zhongli" merely listened quietly, without interrupting. Only at the end did he say, coolly:

"Whether this matter is true or false, I fear the Qin officials will soon conduct a great search across the commanderies and counties for the assassin. You and I must not meet these next few days. Be careful in your daily activities. Do not let those dog Qin officials seize any handle against us — to die at the hands of petty clerks before we have even done anything great."

"Understood!"

Tian Zhong rubbed his hands together and pressed, "Chief Zhongli, if this is true, what should we do?"

"What should we do?"

Chief Zhongli gave a low chuckle. He stood, walked behind the wooden statue of Viscount Tan, and after groping around for a moment, actually pulled out a gleaming sword. From its style, it was clearly a Chu sword!

In the wave of confiscating all weapons under heaven to cast the Twelve Metal Men, Chu swords among the common people had been seized without exception. One rarely saw anyone dare to wear one anymore.

Just then, another thunderbolt flashed outside, and in the sudden burst of light, his eyes blazed with fierce spirit!

Beneath those eyes gleamed stark white teeth. "If it is true — if Qin Shi Huang is dead — then this is a rare opportunity for the Six Kingdoms! This long-sealed sword of Zhongli Mei can be put to use again! The hatred of eight years — our kingdom destroyed, our homes lost, reduced to common slaves — can be avenged!"

The lightning vanished in an instant. When the temple returned to darkness, Zhongli Mei had already hidden the sword again. He asked Tian Zhong, "The world is vast, and across the lands of the Six Kingdoms, those who wish to slay the tyrant are beyond counting. That brave man who struck at Qin in Ju'nan — who exactly was he?"

How would Tian Zhong know? He shook his head. "I don't know. That man's actions were very secretive. I heard that after the deed, he fled immediately. The Emperor's guards are searching everywhere for him. But though the authorities tried their utmost to suppress the news of the tyrant's assassination, it still leaked out. One told ten, ten told a hundred — now it has spread across all three commanderies..."

Zhongli Mei could not help but sigh in admiration. "A pity. If I could but meet that great hero once, I would bow twice in thanks!"

"The first bow, to thank him for avenging Chu's destruction. The second bow, to thank him for lifting a great mountain from the backs of the Six Kingdoms' remnants!"

Just as Zhongli Mei had said, the news of Qin Shi Huang's assassination stirred up tremendous waves in Donghai, Langya, and the other commanderies. After the fruitless search for the assassin in Ju'nan, the First Emperor's carriage proceeded as scheduled to Tan County in Donghai Commandery. But the Emperor did not show himself immediately; he merely ordered Chancellor Li Si, Commandant of Justice Ye Teng, and others to conduct a ten-day great search for the assassin's accomplices!

The ten-day great search practically turned every commandery and county inside out, further straining the already tense relations between officials and commoners in each commandery.

Everywhere, one could see the Gentlemen-of-the-Guard leading commandery and county troops, overturning heaven and digging up earth, seizing suspicious persons. The entire society was on high alert. Coupled with the news of Qin Shi Huang's assassination — leaked by who knows whom — people's hearts were thrown into panic. The common folk of the markets either believed Qin Shi Huang was already dead, or thought he was merely wounded. At this time, though the authorities all proclaimed the Emperor would live ten thousand years without the slightest injury, the people no longer believed it...

These rumors, true and false alike, spread gradually in all directions, carried by those with their own agendas. Meanwhile, a hundred li from the center of the vortex, in Bian County of Xue Commandery, an unusual guest arrived.

Bian County lay at the foot of the Yimeng Mountains. The Yimeng range stretched across the border between Langya and Xue Commanderies — peaks high, slopes steep, ridges rolling endlessly, ancient trees piercing the heavens. Below, the Yi River wound like a ribbon.

The forests here remained in their primordial state. In the Spring and Autumn period, the most famous story of Bian was "Bian Zhuangzi Stabs the Tiger" — one can well imagine it was a savage wilderness teeming with fierce beasts, and also an excellent place to escape harsh governance. Indeed, Qin officials and clerks came here extremely rarely.

In the mountains stood a few hunters' huts — thatched roofs, yellow mud walls — where hunters who made their living deep in the hills stayed. But recently, a renowned hero, famous far and wide, had quietly come to this place and taken up residence in a lone hunter's hut. He had been there for half a month already...

This man's name was Zhu Jia, a great hero of Lu, famed for his chivalry for over a decade. After Qin destroyed Chu and seized the Lu region, Zhu Jia took advantage of his home's location near the Yimeng Mountains, a place rarely trod by men, to hide large numbers of bold warriors targeted by Qin and fugitives from the Six Kingdoms. Chu people fleeing from Huaiyang and Donghai often passed through here into Qi.

In those years, the bold heroes Zhu Jia hid and aided numbered in the dozens to hundreds. As for the ordinary people he saved, they were too many to count.

Yet Zhu Jia always kept a very low profile. He never went around boasting of his benevolence and ability like ordinary wandering knights, seeking fame. Those he had once given aid to, Zhu Jia avoided as if afraid of seeing them again.

The reasons: first, Zhu Jia believed he acted purely out of chivalric righteousness, seeking no reward; second, he did not wish to be implicated by them...

In daily life, Zhu Jia also liked to appear as if his family had no surplus wealth — clothes never whole, food never of more than one flavor, riding in a crude cart pulled by an ox. He drew no attention from the authorities whatsoever. Outsider Qin officials took him for nothing more than an honest hunter.

Yet in the underworld, Zhu Jia's reputation spread far across Qi and Chu. At the mention of his name, everyone would raise a thumb and praise him for "rushing to others' crises more urgently than to his own affairs."

Thus people honored him as "Zhu Xinling," placing him on equal footing only with that "Overseas Lord Mengchang," the Lord of Canghai.

In secret, the Qi and Chu knights willing to work for Zhu Jia numbered in the hundreds. Though without the formal name of master and servant, they willingly served him as a father — a hidden local power.

But now, Zhu Jia wore a tattered leather coat and a crude hat, a simple bow slung across his back, looking every bit an ordinary hunter.

For ten days, he had hidden himself daily among the pines and cypresses of the Yimeng Mountains, watching only one narrow path, waiting from sunrise to sunset, letting mosquitoes and flies bite as they would. No one knew whom he was waiting for.

At last, on the seventh day of the third month, in the depths of the untrodden Yimeng Mountains, a plain-robed scholar stumbled out. One shoe had vanished somewhere, and his body bore many wounds torn by brambles and thorns — but the short sword in his hand had not loosened in the slightest.

Zhu Jia narrowed his eyes. Only after confirming again and again did he let out a few bird calls and reveal himself.

Seeing Zhu Jia, the middle-aged scholar seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. He hurried forward a few steps, was just about to greet him — and collapsed to the ground...

When Zhang Liang awoke, night had fallen outside. He was no longer in the hunter's hut by the mountain's edge, but had been moved to a small manor Zhu Jia kept hidden deep in the ravines. Here, some Six Kingdoms men who had received Zhu Jia's aid, having lost their own states, could only stay on, willing to brave wind and dew as his retainers.

"Our guest has returned."

Zhu Jia had changed into a close-fitting martial outfit. He watched Zhang Liang and nodded, then solemnly rose and bowed to Zhang Liang until his head touched the ground!

"The great deed Zifang has done has already spread across Langya, Xue, and Donghai. Now the court is conducting a great search across the realm, determined to seize you!"

A look of admiration showed in Zhu Jia's eyes. "Those people still do not know — the one who struck at the First Emperor in Ju'nan was none other than Zhang Zifang of Han!"

Zhang Liang was one of the few friends with whom Zhu Jia had maintained contact after assisting them once. Back then, he had helped Zhang Liang travel from Chu into Qi. Years later, Zhang Liang returned, a man of immense strength now at his side — seemingly a Yi barbarian from east of the sea, who spoke little.

He did not bury his younger brother when he died. He plotted for ten years. He made his way back from the Lord of Canghai, personally traveled throughout Qi, Lu, Yan, and Zhao, searching everywhere for a suitable location. Several times he set ambushes, and several times he did not strike.

Zhu Jia knew Zhang Liang had great ambition and gladly agreed to help. He assisted Zhang Liang in forging the great iron hammer, and kept that man of strength — who ate prodigious amounts — hidden in the Yimeng Mountains. Zhang Liang's movements over these years had been mysterious. Several times he returned, took the strongman out, and several times returned empty-handed. Who would have thought that on this final ambush, he had finally struck!

When he did not move, all was still. When he moved, blood flowed five paces, and the world was draped in white!

Yet at this very moment, in Zhang Liang's eyes there was no joy after the assassination — only a sorrow and bewilderment that Zhu Jia had never seen before.

"Great Iron Mallet is dead."

Ever since the fall of Han, and his own younger brother dying under a stray Qin arrow, Zhang Liang had not felt this grieved for a very long time. He sighed:

"My calculations were still not meticulous enough. The Qin soldiers pursued faster than I expected. Great Iron Mallet, to let me escape, ran south and drew the Qin soldiers' attention…"

Zhang Liang still remembered — when they realized they could not both get away, Great Iron Mallet resolutely turned around and left only one sentence behind.

"A gentleman's life is worth more than mine!"

That unyielding silhouette reminded Zhang Liang of Zilu from history, who, dying as a man of honor with his cap still straight, tied his chin-string and met his death…

Zhang Liang could only watch helplessly as Great Iron Mallet, his strength spent, was struck by arrows and fell — his body collapsing like a small mountain. The Qin soldiers surrounded him, spears and halberds in hand, rising and falling without end.

"Even among the barbarians, there are men of loyalty and valor!"

Zhang Liang dried his tears, hid deeper into the mountain mists, and pressed on by memory. Hiding by day and moving by night, he finally returned to Mount Yimeng and the place he had agreed upon with Zhu Jia.

But unlike what Zhang Liang had imagined, after that mallet was hurled, he felt none of the relief of great vengeance achieved.

After blood was spilled five paces away and the realm donned mourning white, what followed might well be a million floating corpses and blood flowing for a thousand li…

"Was what I did right or wrong?"

Zhang Liang shook his head, forcing himself not to dwell on it. He still believed that an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth was heaven's own justice — blood could only be wiped away with blood!

He had only completed the first step: assassinating Qin to avenge his family. Among Zhang Liang's life goals, the great ambition of "Restoring Han" still needed to be fulfilled!

Besides, there was still a matter of extreme importance that had yet to be confirmed…

As it happened, Zhu Jia also brought up that matter. He lowered his voice and said to Zhang Liang:

"Zifang, let me ask you just one thing. The First Emperor of Qin — is he dead or not?"

Zhang Liang raised his head helplessly: "I have heard that Bian Zhuangzi once stabbed a tiger, but that was when two tigers were locked in combat and both were exhausted — only then could he seize the opening. If a brave man wishes to shoot a mighty tiger, he must loose his crossbow and flee at once. If the tiger does not die, it will rage and chase after him. The man can barely outrun it — how would he dare turn his head to look back?"

He smiled bitterly: "It was the same for us. Everything happened too quickly at the time. We only know that the iron mallet struck one of the six gold-rooted chariots, and it likely destroyed the carriage and killed those inside. As for whether the First Emperor of Qin was in that carriage, and whether he is dead or wounded — if I said I do not know either, would Sir Zhu believe me?"

PS: Chapter 2 in the evening

(End of chapter)