Chapter 255: The Two Armies Meet

Pan Yun stood quietly on the shore, waiting for the boat to dock.

Zhang Ning and Li Ji led Zhang Weiliang's group forward to greet them.

The soldiers on shore checked their identities, then let them pull aside and began letting people off the boat.

Pan Yun and Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He leaned against the cart, hugging their swords and watching with an air of cool detachment as people came down from the boat, occasionally offering commentary. "Look, that one's soaked through — must've been fished out of the sea. Seems like if you want to fight a naval battle, you better learn to swim, otherwise fall into the sea and you won't live long enough to be rescued."

"Little Xiao Shishu, should we learn to swim once we're back at Huishan?"

"Sure, there's a pool up the mountain anyway."

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He shuddered in unison and cried out, "Swim in the Hanxing Pool?!"

Pan Yun turned to look at them. "Is there a problem?"

Seeing Miao Zhen: "It's freezing cold."

Miao He: "And it's still winter."

Pan Yun waved a hand. "That's called winter swimming — good exercise."

Seeing Miao Zhen asked, "Will Little Xiao Shishu swim too?"

"Of course!" Pan Yun agreed at once, having no detailed notion of what winter at the Hanxing Pool was actually like.

Seeing Miao Zhen let out a breath and said, "In that case, we suppose it's not out of the question."

Miao He: "Then does that mean we have to wash our clothes in the Hanxing Pool too?"

Pan Yun: "What's wrong with the Hanxing Pool? It's just a few extra steps. Isn't it more spacious than the Elixir Well, and you don't even have to haul water."

Seeing Miao Zhen unfolded a gentle smile. "Once we're back on the mountain, Little Xiao Shishu can decide then."

As they chatted, the three of them spotted Master Xuanmiao and Tao Ji coming down from the boat.

The three immediately dropped their arms and stood straight, excitedly waving at them. "Senior Brother! Senior Sister!"

"Third Xiao Shishu! Fourth Xiao Shishu!"

"Master! Xiao Shishu!"

Everyone turned to look and saw three young Daoist Priests vigorously waving their arms.

The members of the Celestial Tian Zhang Tian Shi Fu following behind Master Xuanmiao saw them and some were surprised: "These are disciples of Mount Sanqing? So young — how could you bring them to the battlefield?"

Others looked grim. "How did they get here?"

Master Xuanmiao turned on her heel and immediately walked toward Pan Yun and the other two; the Daoists instinctively followed.

They weren't all from Long Hushan — it was just that all Daoists under heaven fell under the jurisdiction of the Celestial Tian Zhang Tian Shi Fu. In a joint operation like this, the wandering martial heroes were managed by the Jianghu Alliance; whether they'd been summoned by the Youjianghu Alliance or had come scampering over on their own after hearing the news, once they arrived, they fell under the Jianghu Alliance's command;

the same went for the Daoists.

Whether they were Daoists organized by the Celestial Tian Zhang Tian Shi Fu or had come on their own after hearing the news, as long as they were Daoists — ordained or not — they fell under the Celestial Tian Zhang Tian Shi Fu.

Master Xuanmiao had once been one of the Zhang family of Long Hushan, and her martial prowess was the highest of all. Though she wasn't a staff member of the Celestial Tian Zhang Tian Shi Fu, the Daoists instinctively obeyed her commands.

Seeing her turn, everyone turned with her in unison.

Cao, the Daoist Recorder of the Fujian Daoist Recorder Bureau, followed along with a helpless look.

Master Xuanmiao walked up, looked the three of them up and down, and her gaze settled on Seeing Miao Zhen's shoulder. "How did you get hurt?"

Hu Jing and Su Ying both felt a chill run down their spines at the same time.

Seeing Miao Zhen: "Got hurt in a fight."

"And the one who did it?"

Seeing Miao Zhen pointed at Song Bei, who had been bound and gagged and tossed aside. "There's one more who got away."

Master Xuanmiao frowned and turned to look at Pan Yun. "Didn't you say you'd broken through again? How did you still let one escape?"

Pan Yun gave her a wink. "That was my oversight."

Master Xuanmiao looked into her eyes and asked no more.

Tao Ji immediately said to Seeing Miao Zhen, "Come here, let me take another look at the wound."

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He went off with Tao Ji. Only then did Master Xuanmiao step slightly aside, revealing Cao Yunhuan behind her. "This is Cao, the Daoist Recorder of the Fujian Daoist Recorder Bureau."

A Daoist Recorder was the local head of the official Daoist affairs administration.

The Celestial Tian Zhang Tian Shi Fu took orders from the imperial court, yet did not entirely belong to it — it was a semi-official organization.

The Daoist Recorder Bureau was different: it belonged to the Daoist Registrar Bureau, an official institution Zhu Yuanzhang had specially established to manage all Daoists under heaven.

Oh, and the ordination certificates were issued by them.

Besides ordination certificates, any major Daoist rites, imperial sacrifices, and Daoist proselytizing activities all required applying to the Daoist Recorder Bureau; only after approval could they be carried out.

If Pan Yun was going to sit for her ordination certificate in the future and move through the world as a Daoist, she would inevitably have to deal with the various local Daoist Recorder Bureaus and the Daoist Registrar Bureau in Jingcheng.

Master Xuanmiao was cold, but she wasn't some clueless greenhorn.

Cao Yunhuan had also come out of the Long Hushan Academy, and Fujian wasn't far from Jiangxi — Daoist news traveled fast. He had long heard of this rising star of the Academy.

He sized up Pan Yun without showing it. Seeing her qi and blood full and abundant, spiritual energy wreathing her whole body, he knew her cultivation wasn't low. Unfortunately, her cultivation was above his own, so he couldn't probe it — and he wouldn't dare test her openly in front of Master Xuanmiao.

But that didn't stop his admiration. "Truly a young talent. No wonder Tao Ji was so delighted, constantly bragging to us about the genius junior sister he'd gained."

Even knowing it might just be polite talk, Pan Yun couldn't help the corners of her mouth turning up.

Xue Shao had only just come down from the boat with the soldiers when he spotted Master Xuanmiao and Pan Yun standing by the cart, and immediately went over.

Xi Jin, who had stepped off another boat a beat behind him, hurried to chase after him.

He couldn't let his young master be at a disadvantage!

But his young master was too fast. Xi Jin stumbled and nearly fell, still unable to catch up.

Xue Shao ran over and apologized to Pan Yun. "... I delivered the letter. Master Xuanmiao said they were going to attack the sea-island and couldn't come rescue you, so I... I went with them. You weren't hurt, were you?"

Pan Yun looked him up and down, then asked, "Did my senior sister say that you coming to find me would only be more trouble for me, so she wouldn't let you come?"

Xue Shao: "... Something like that. My martial skills really are pretty ordinary."

Pan Yun nodded. "They really are. Lucky for you you didn't come — otherwise I'd have been even more trouble."

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Xue Shao let out a breath of relief, nodded, and said, "As long as I didn't cause you trouble."

By the time Xi Jin ran up, the two had already finished their conversation, and a crowd was gathered around Song Bei watching the spectacle.

A man of the jianghu said, "I've heard his name. They say he's generous and open-handed, and plenty of chivalrous wanderers wanted to work under him. Never thought he was one of the Japanese pirates."

"Looks like he's pretty good at building himself up — isn't that just deceiving people? Even if he's not a Japanese pirate, he's still a pirate, tricking people into doing illegal things."

The people present silently turned to look at the speaker, the same thought in every eye.

A chivalrous hero who roamed north and south, righting wrongs — afraid of breaking the law?

The very existence of jianghu people is one constant wild probe along the edge of the law, isn't it?

As people of the jianghu, whether you're a chivalrous hero or not, who hasn't done one or two things wrong?

A fistfight is already breaking the law — tell me, among everyone here, who hasn't broken the law?

Seeing everyone looking at him, the chivalrous hero unconsciously tightened his belly, straightened his back, and said softly, "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, you said it very well," Cao Daoji replied with a smile, then lowered his head to keep looking at Song Bei and commented, "The qi around him is muddled, the murderous aura between his brows runs deep — clearly Deeply sinful, plenty of lives on his hands. And look at his narrow forehead, his bare, bony nose bridge — clearly a petty, vindictive sort. Even if he's not a Japanese pirate or a pirate, once you're under him for any length of time, your days won't be easy."

This was the Daoist Priests' specialty. The Daoist Priests immediately perked up, and the gazes that had been vaguely lingering on Pan Yun all shifted to Song Bei's face at once, each offering their own assessment — one said he had a "greenish-black complexion," another said his "nostrils tilted downward"…

In any case, in their eyes there was nothing good about Song Bei anywhere; just from his physiognomy they could tell this was a man one must not get close to.

The jianghu heroes listened, dumbfounded.

When Jianghu Alliance Alliance leader Lin Jin arrived with Zhang Ning and Li Ji, they only caught the tail end of it.

He swept a glance at Song Bei, surrounded in the middle, ignored him, and instead looked at Master Xuanmiao and Cao Yunhuan, saying, "Master Xuanmiao, Daoist Cao, Zhang Ning says the little Daoist from your Celestial Tian Zhang Tian Shi Fu also captured another ringleader of the Japanese pirates."

Master Xuanmiao looked at Pan Yun.

Pan Yun acted as if she had just remembered, let out an "Ah," and pointed at Lin Zi: "I handed him over to Zhang Weiliang and Zhang Weiqin. They're still inside interrogating him."

When the Jianghu Alliance people pulled Songpu out of Zhang Weiliang's hands, Songpu was already completely dazed.

These prisoners and the captured caravan were all to be handed over to the soldiers for handling.

A Hundred-Pacification Officer came up with his soldiers to take custody, his gaze falling on Axin and the others, who were not bound. He lifted his chin and asked, "Who are these people?"

Zhang Weiliang and the others exchanged glances, then all looked at Pan Yun.

Pan Yun also lifted her chin, and said proudly, "They are slaves who were seized and brought ashore by the Japanese pirates and forced into servitude. After we appealed to their emotions and their reason, they were moved, and — working with us from the inside — joined our resistance. They are pitiful people, and victims."

The Hundred-Pacification Officer couldn't help glancing at her, then looked at Axin and the others, pointed at the prisoners being led over, and asked, "Do you recognize anyone in there?"

Axin and the others spotted their families in the crowd — seeing them bound hand and led by rope, they nearly rushed forward.

But the moment their feet shifted, Pan Yun kicked one in the backside; with a slap he went face-first into the sand. "The officer is asking you a question — answer properly."

Before the Hundred-Pacification Officer could get a word of reprimand out, Axin had already scrambled to his feet, stood at attention, and shouted, "Yes! They are our family and fellow villagers who were seized and taken away by the Japanese pirates along with us."

The Hundred-Pacification Officer gave him a long look, then looked at Pan Yun, swept his gaze over the wretched-looking Song Bei and Songpu, turned, and said, "Wait here."

He soon brought back someone who looked to be of higher rank.

Xue Shao, at some unknown point, had taken a place behind Pan Yun, and said, "This is Thousand-Pacification Officer Chen Wen, the commander of this bandit-suppression operation."

The Thousand-Pacification Officer walked over, his gaze sweeping once across all the Japanese pirate prisoners, before turning to look at Axin and the others.

He stretched out a hand, and a soldier at his side immediately handed him a stack of portraits.

He studied the people before him, comparing them one portrait at a time.

Not only Axin, but even Hu Jing and Su Ying were holding their breath, waiting tensely.

Because among that stack of portraits, they had seen themselves.

Too bad Pan Sanzhu kept too tight a hold on them — otherwise they'd have escaped long ago. Sigh, dealing with soldiers is the worst.

Chen Wen flipped through the portraits one by one, and finally, holding up one, asked, "Where is this person?"

Pan Yun leaned in for a look, then slowly straightened back up and fell silent.

Li Ji, standing at the side, said shamefacedly, "This man is called Zhu Zixun. He got away."

(End of chapter)