Chapter 91: Trouble

91. Chapter 91: Trouble

Zhao Jin's eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the street in front of the gate, but he suddenly sensed someone nearby to his side and immediately tensed, leveling his spear.

"Big Brother, it's me." A figure stood up from the corner not far away — it was Liu Yong, judging by the voice.

Zhao Jin smiled and said quietly, "You came this early?"

As soon as he asked, Zhao Jin suddenly realized and said, "Don't tell me you were sleeping here just now?"

"Didn't dare sleep. Afraid of coming late, and afraid I wouldn't wake up and would delay Big Brother's business," Liu Yong said, keeping his voice equally low.

In the darkness, Zhao Jin couldn't make out Liu Yong's expression. For a moment, he didn't know what to say, and only said in a deep voice, "Xiaoyong, I will remember what you've done and never forget it."

He spoke with solemn formality. Before Liu Yong could answer, they heard footsteps from the street entrance. They could only make out a vague outline, but the build looked like Wang Zhaojing — and no one else would be appearing here at this hour. The two of them quickly strode forward to meet him.

"Brother Zhao?" The voice was very soft, yet clear in the quiet night — it was indeed Wang Zhaojing.

Zhao Jin and the others hurried to the street entrance and saw Wang Zhaojing dressed in a dark, close-fitting short robe, a long sword in his hand.

The night was too dark to see expressions clearly, and everyone deliberately kept their voices low, but after exchanging a few brief words, Zhao Jin could still sense Wang Zhaojing's excitement.

"Hasn't Dasheng come yet?" Wang Zhaojing asked quietly.

"Getting up in the early morning hours isn't easy. Chen Sheng might not be able to rise on time. Let's wait for him a while," Zhao Jin said.

Wang Zhaojing laughed twice and said, "I had the night-watch servant keep an eye out and wake me at the fourth watch, so I wouldn't miss this."

Zhao Jin paused, then asked, "Your family doesn't mind?"

"My father said I am now an adult and may decide my own affairs. I now live alone in a separate residence," Wang Zhaojing answered with a smile.

After a few brief exchanges, they all fell silent. None of the three had ever been out at this hour before, and everything felt novel — the quiet, dark streets, completely empty all around. Once their eyes adjusted to the darkness, they all looked around curiously, observing everything.

Zhao Jin had often stayed up all night in the past, but the nights of that era were flooded with all kinds of colored lights and were very bright. Now, aside from the light of the stars and moon in the sky, there was virtually no other source of light at night. This night, even the moonlight was not particularly bright, and the surroundings were pitch black. Even though his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, anything a little farther away was still blurry and unclear.

After about half a shichen had passed, Chen Sheng still had not appeared. Zhao Jin thought for a moment, turned his head, and asked, "Brother Wang, if it's just the three of us, will you still go?"

"If the three of us go, are we certain of success? Aren't there also three of them over there?" Wang Zhaojing did not refuse, but asked a cautious question in return.

"In martial skill alone, we definitely have the upper hand. Xiaoyong won't be at a disadvantage either. What's more, the weapons in our hands are battlefield tools meant for killing, while they at most have short knives and axes. And we'll be launching a night ambush. Adding all these factors together, we have an eighty percent chance of success!" Zhao Jin said.

Wang Zhaojing smiled and said with admiration, "Brother Zhao calculates matters with such meticulous care — truly the manner of a famed general. Since we've already come out, there's no reason to go back. I'm in!"

"Good—" Zhao Jin was about to speak when he heard the sound of running from the other side of the street. The running set the dogs on both sides barking loudly, and the quiet street instantly erupted into noise.

There could be no one else appearing at this hour. A smile spread across Zhao Jin's face, and Wang Zhaojing said quietly, "Dasheng is here."

Liu Yong called out in a lowered voice, "Over here, over here."

The footsteps over there stopped, then headed this way. It was indeed Chen Sheng. Seeing Zhao Jin and the others, Chen Sheng let out a long breath and said, "I slept too deeply. If Erhong hadn't called me, I'd probably have been even later."

His voice was loud at first, but he immediately lowered it.

"Move out. If we don't go now, everyone around here will be woken up by the dogs," Zhao Jin said with a laugh, and they all quickened their pace together.

Liu Yong led the way, but it was clear he was not very familiar with traveling at night either, stumbling and tripping as he went.

In the quiet night, as the four of them walked through the streets, they would disturb the dogs kept by the households along the road at the slightest provocation, and then all the dogs on the entire street would join in the racket.

Besides the barking dogs, there were other troubles. Although Xuzhou City was dilapidated, there were still night-patrol yamen runners and watchmen — though they did not patrol with any real diligence.

Fortunately, the deep night was quiet, and Zhao Jin and the others were careful enough, avoiding the main roads as much as possible. Whenever they heard movement ahead, they would first hide in a corner for a while. On this night journey, Zhao Jin discovered that they were not the only ones moving in secret — twice on the side paths, they encountered other people.

But these chance passersby hurriedly ran off before Zhao Jin and the others could even hide. Liu Yong knew these dealings fairly well and explained in a low voice, "Thieves sneaking around in the dead of night. They're all very cautious."

The four of them proceeded with extreme caution the entire way and still reached their destination smoothly. In the end, in the deep night and early morning hours, there simply were hardly any people on the streets.

Once they entered the southern part of the city, they couldn't even hear dogs barking as they walked. The journey had been gloomy, and to lighten everyone's mood, Zhao Jin asked with a smile, "Why are there no dogs barking around here?"

"These are all poor households here. They don't have anything worth stealing. Besides, if anyone had a dog, they'd have slaughtered it long ago for a bit of meat to liven up a meal — who would keep it?" Liu Yong said with a laugh. Everyone chuckled quietly. Eating dog meat was quite a tradition in Xuzhou, and they all knew this well.

After turning down two more streets, Liu Yong stopped and said quietly, "The third door in, across the way, is Constable Cheng's mistress's place."

"Is there a dog in the yard?" Zhao Jin asked in a low voice. Liu Yong paused, then said quietly, "I don't know that. I've never been to this yard before."

Before anyone else could speak, Zhao Jin added with a smile, "If there is a dog, we'll kill it too. That's a minor matter."

Everyone looked at the weapons in their hands and nodded.

Constable Cheng's mistress was a young widow. Normally, she lived here alone. Even with Constable Cheng backing her, a household like this wouldn't necessarily look much more prosperous. Compared to the other houses on this street, her courtyard wall was a bit neater, but still only about the height of a person. The main gate was intact, without holes — that was all.

"No dog. If there were one, it would have barked by now," Liu Yong said quietly. Zhao Jin nodded and said in a low voice, "With Constable Cheng shielding her, no petty thieves would be blind enough to come knocking."

When they reached the door, all four of them were breathing a little fast. Zhao Jin spoke first: "Everyone, cover your faces."

They took out the black cloth they had prepared beforehand and masked their faces, leaving only their eyes exposed. Once that was done, Chen Sheng looked at the not-very-high courtyard wall and said quietly, "The wall isn't tall. Should we climb over?"

Zhao Jin pondered for a moment, then said, "Going in will definitely make noise. If we alert the people inside and they prepare themselves, it'll be them in the dark and us in the light. In this pitch-black darkness, that would be dangerous."

After saying this, Zhao Jin turned to Liu Yong and said, "In a moment, pretend to be one of Constable Cheng's underlings, someone around your age. Pound on the door and call out. Pinch your nose when you shout. Say the God of Wealth Temple is on fire and tell Brother Constable to hurry over and take a look."

Liu Yong nodded. Zhao Jin continued, "That God of Wealth Temple is Constable Cheng's foundation. If something's happened there, he'll definitely go check. When the time comes, whoever comes to open the door — kill without mercy!"

The moment the words "kill without mercy" were spoken, the other three couldn't help but tremble. Zhao Jin took a deep breath and said, "Xiaoyong, pound on the door and shout. Once you've shouted, get out of the way. I'll take the lead!"

Even in the darkness, when they heard Zhao Jin's arrangement, both Wang Zhaojing and Chen Sheng glanced at him.

Zhao Jin signaled to Liu Yong. Liu Yong stepped forward, pinched his nose, and pounded loudly on the door. The "Bang! Bang! Bang!" of the knocking rang out clearly in the quiet night.

"Shout: 'Brother Constable, trouble!'" Zhao Jin reminded him in a low voice. Liu Yong immediately did as told.

Shouting while pinching his nose, Liu Yong deliberately changed his pitch, making his voice extremely shrill. Even someone who knew him well wouldn't recognize it as his voice.

Such pounding and shouting alarmed the entire street. There was stirring in every household's yard, but no one came out to look. Hearing the words "Brother Constable," no one wanted to invite that kind of trouble.

Hearing the commotion around them, everyone grew a little nervous, but seeing Zhao Jin's calmness, they steadied themselves as well.

There was now movement in the yard behind the door. After Liu Yong had shouted "Trouble!" several times, he called out again in that shrill voice, "Big Brother, the God of Wealth Temple is on fire!"

He shouted this twice, and the street actually fell quiet. The God of Wealth Temple was Constable Cheng's territory — that was his own business. Everyone figured it was best not to meddle.