Chapter 79: Linked-Pearl Arrows

"Liu Xiangyu, have you gone mad!

I am a court-appointed official, selected by the Ministry of Personnel and approved by His Majesty's own vermilion brush. Where did you hire these desperate outlaws? This is rebellion!"

When Liu Chengzong led his men into the rear residence of the county yamen, Gao Xian was directing two border soldiers to carry firewood.

The magistrate had somehow been cornered by him in a side room, with men watching both windows.

Gao Xian said, "That old dog has a musket. Can't get in. Gotta burn him out."

Liu Chengzong looked around. This was no place for arson.

A fire would be easy to start, but impossible to put out.

Two whole streets next to the yamen would burn down.

Ordinary folk are just living their lives in peace. A scare is one thing, but burning their homes down too — that would be utterly despicable.

He glanced down. A corpse lay sprawled dead in the courtyard, and beside it knelt a man in official robes — a beast in cap and gown.

Liu Chengzong looked left and right, figuring they'd still have to go through the windows. He laughed and cursed, "Damn it, why didn't we bring gunpowder to blast him sky-high? I'm definitely killing him. Who are these two?"

Gao Xian glared. "That bastard on the ground was the private secretary. He recited the Great Ming Code at me, going on about calamity for three generations. My three generations — dead or sold off — I'm the only one left, and he still dared to threaten me!

He was too damn noisy, so I hacked him down with one stroke.

The one beside him is the deputy magistrate. See if he's involved — I saved him for you."

The deputy magistrate looked utterly terrified by Gao Xian. Even the mention of his official title made him shrink further away from Gao Xian.

Liu Chengzong turned his head and asked, "Father, when they threw you in jail — did he have a hand in it?"

Hearing these words, the deputy magistrate, who had thought he would not live past this day, suddenly raised his head, a hope of survival kindling in his eyes. He hurriedly said to Liu Xiangyu, "Brother Xiangyu, see clearly — I never harmed you!"

Liu Xiangyu remained unmoved by the plea, merely shaking his head flatly. "Deputy Magistrate Meng had no part in it. Shizi, don't make trouble for him."

Seeing his father's expression, Liu Chengzong could guess the gist of it. He turned his head. "So you did nothing at all — just stood by and watched them frame my father?"

Had this deputy magistrate spoken even a single good word on his behalf, his father's intercession would not have been so utterly indifferent.

"I was afraid. I had no choice. Battalion Commander Zhang wanted him arrested, the jail warden wanted him arrested, the magistrate wanted him arrested even more. I went to ask the prefect, but even he said Brother Xiangyu still had a fondness for cursing people — that he hadn't suffered enough."

Deputy Magistrate Meng pleaded, "I am merely an assistant official..."

Liu Chengzong turned his head and gave his father an odd look. Liu Xiangyu's expression was a little awkward too.

Of all people to ask, why ask the prefect? Liu Xiangyu's last imprisonment had been for cursing the prefect.

And this time he'd cursed the magistrate. Even if the prefect didn't know the inside story, he'd never have had a good word to say.

"Get up. I don't blame you for this. However."

Liu Chengzong broke off mid-sentence, his eyes fixed dead on the side room. He lowered his voice. "You have to help me with something. Go knock on the door. Shout to him, loud — make sure Secretary Zhang outside can hear it, and make sure the magistrate opens his mouth to speak."

Just then, Cai Zhongpan stepped forward and whispered in Liu Chengzong's ear, "Shizi, the runners from the prefectural yamen are about to arrive. I'll take the prisoners and hold them off. Hurry!"

Liu Chengzong nodded, his face unchanged. He continued to coax Deputy Magistrate Meng in a gentle voice. "If you don't help me, I'll have to kill you.

Help me, and when all the officials in Fushi County are dead, you'll be the only one left. You'll be in charge."

Liu Chengzong raised his axe first, then his short blade. "Go make him talk, and become acting magistrate. Or die here, and remain Deputy Magistrate Meng."

Cai Zhongpan was mustering men. The yamen was in chaos.

Every so often, the magistrate would shout curses from inside the side room. Liu Chengzong's proposal sounded superfluous, but it made Deputy Magistrate Meng's eyes widen in nervous terror. "Once you flee, you can't come back. Why harm me?"

He understood exactly what Liu Chengzong meant.

Accomplice!

Liu Chengzong did not reply. He simply reached out to Guo Zhashi for a bow and arrows. "Three."

"What do you want me to do?!"

"Two."

"I'll... I'll do it."

Deputy Magistrate Meng rose to his feet and walked toward the side room door, shouting loudly as he went, "Magistrate, don't fire! It's me!"

Liu Chengzong smiled with satisfaction. He drew three arrows from his quiver and held them between his fingers, then walked toward the side room window.

"Deputy Magistrate Meng, they didn't kill you? I knew they wouldn't dare kill you. Soon — Liu Xiangyu, listen well — soon the garrison troops will storm the city. You won't escape!"

Liu Chengzong first walked to the left window, cocked his ear to listen, raised his bow to gauge the approximate distance, then paced around to the right window.

He drew three more arrows and planted them in the ground before him, then closed his eyes and listened in silence, estimating the position.

"Yes, these vile bandits! Death a hundred times would not be enough!"

Deputy Magistrate Meng's wide-eyed, furious curse had to carry at least a little personal feeling.

"Brother Meng, don't be afraid. They—"

The magistrate inside the side room had only gotten half a sentence out.

Outside the window, Liu Chengzong drew his bow and loosed — one arrow, two arrows, three arrows, shot in rapid succession.

Each arrow shattered the window and entered.

Just as Liu Chengzong bent down to pull the arrows from the ground, a scream rang out from inside, followed by a continuous stream of startled cries and pained curses.

Right after that, a gunshot sounded from within.

Bang!

The lead ball smashed through the window lattice, grazing the window's edge as it flew out at an angle into the air.

Almost at the same instant, from the other window, Gao Xian hurled himself through, crashing through the window and into the side room.

The screaming inside stopped.

The wooden door swung wide open. Gao Xian held the bird musket in his hands, examining it for a moment, then handed it to Guo Zhashi. He turned his head. "He took one arrow. Why didn't I think of that?"

"Not enough bows."

Liu Chengzong craned his neck to peer inside. He saw the magistrate struck in the abdomen by an arrow, then finished off with two more cuts from Gao Xian, collapsed in a pool of blood. It vented most of the stifled anger in his chest.

He said lightly, "If we'd brought five more bows, we wouldn't have needed to listen for where he was — all this trouble. Just shoot him dead with a volley."

Gunfire crackled at the yamen gate. Someone was shouting from a distance, but the words were indistinct — most likely the yamen runners from the prefectural office had already arrived.

"She Tiantian still hasn't entered the city after all this time. Come on, let's fight another round — rout them, then go find Battalion Commander Zhang and settle the score."

With that, Liu Chengzong called for Guo Zhashi to protect Liu Xiangyu well. He took two steps away, then turned back, patting Magistrate Meng on the shoulder. "Magistrate, remember this: Black Dragon Mountain can be lost, but no one touches Liu Family Village. Otherwise, if I come back alive, you won't be the only one to suffer."

"Go on now, look for the silver the county magistrate hid. If anything goes missing, just pin it all on me."

Having spoken, Liu Chengzong strode out with his men, leaving the rear residence.

At this moment, Magistrate Meng was in no state of mind to search for silver.

He glanced back at the side room where the county magistrate lay in a pool of blood, then at the retreating figures of Liu Chengzong and his men. His knees buckled, his body slid down the wall, and he slowly collapsed to the ground, sitting limp.

Walking from the rear residence to the main hall, they heard a clamor of voices. The prisoners were trapped inside the hall, relying entirely on two long tables propped at the doorway, with a few men leaning by the door holding clubs and waist sabers to block the way.

Outside the yamen, several dozen yamen runners and over ten patrol archers had already formed ranks — shields in front, bows behind. There was also a patrol inspector, who had appeared from nowhere, brandishing his saber and directing them.

This patrol inspector from the Fuzheng Patrol Office had entered the city with a few men on official business the day before and happened right into this affair. Seeing the chaos outside the county yamen, he had gone to the prefectural office to muster the runners.

The prisoners had clashed with them outside the yamen. Three were wounded by arrows before they could even get close. No one dared hold their ground, and they promptly retreated into the yamen.

Although Cai Zhongpan had a hand cannon, he could not aim true at a distance and had fired two shots, both wide.

His uncle was somewhat flustered and said, "Two prisoners who ran out to surrender were hacked to death with wild blades. They won't even accept surrender. What do we do now?"

Liu Xiangyu said, "Lion, don't be rash. You can jump out from the upper rooms in the rear residence."

"No matter. Uncle, go sit in the back and watch your Lion Cub's skill — draw that blade out clean and steady."

Hearing this, Guo Zhashi first helped Old Master Liu to a seat inside the hall, then took up that goose-wing saber of horse-tooth bin iron. He drew it out a mere inch, exposing the copper blade stop, and cradled the scabbard against his shoulder.

"He's run right into it — fate's got it in for him!"

Liu Chengzong tore open the oxhorn leather belt at his waist, shed his official robe and cast it to the ground. He nocked a swift eagle-feather arrow, dashed past the main hall doorway, and caught a glimpse of the patrol inspector's position.

Several arrows thudded into the doors, windows, and interior. Two struck the lintel of the main hall, knocking down that plaque inscribed "Justice Shines Bright as a Mirror," which smashed to the ground and split into three pieces.

At that same moment, Liu Chengzong again flashed half his body out from the door's edge, drew the bow to its limit, and with a whiz, loosed an arrow.

The patrol inspector covered his face with a great cry and toppled backward. His men rushed to his aid. The arrow was lodged in his face, and fresh blood welled, streaming through his fingers.

Inside the hall, Guo Zhashi pushed the blade out, only to see Liu Chengzong leaning behind the door, his head thrown back in ceaseless laughter.

He said, "Listen — the famine refugees have entered the city!"

The chaotic sound of footsteps, distant as the edge of heaven, surged like rolling thunder.

Liu Chengzong reined in his laughter, gripped the hilt, and slowly drew the goose-wing saber. His palm brushed lightly over the exquisite patterns on the blade's spine. He shifted to a two-handed grip, his expression stern.

"Who dares follow me out, to send them fleeing with their heads tucked like rats!"