Chapter 92: Killing by Night

Not long after shouting that the God of Wealth Temple was on fire, the commotion in the courtyard grew louder. They could hear the sound of a door opening, and a man yelled, "Who's out there? What's going on?"

"It's me, Xiaowei. Brother Sun Wu, the God of Wealth Temple is on fire! Brother Six sent me to call for the Big Brother." Liu Yong had a quick wit and made it sound convincing.

"What? On fire? Someone must have set it!" another voice said gruffly.

"Why are you shouting so loud? Hurry up and wake the Big Brother." The earlier Brother Sun Wu scolded in a low voice.

Footsteps sounded in the courtyard. Zhao Jin leveled the spear in his hand and pushed the loudly shouting Liu Yong aside.

Liu Yong kept yelling at the top of his lungs, even adding a tearful sob to his voice, but he already had his axe in hand. Wang Zhaojing and Chen Sheng also slowed their breathing and raised their weapons.

Through the crack of the gate, they could faintly see lamplight flickering inside. The footsteps drew closer, and they could hear the man inside cursing impatiently, "Stop your howling! Who are you wailing for in the middle of the night? Look at you, so scared your voice is cracking."

Zhao Jin took a deep breath and slowly settled into his stance. Liu Yong lowered his voice slightly but still called out with heartfelt urgency, "The brothers were sleeping there, and suddenly we smelled smoke and fire..."

The door bolt inside had already been drawn back. The gate swung inward, and a man said gruffly, "Did you brats start this fire playing around, or..."

He stopped mid-sentence, stunned. He realized there was no one outside the door. In the darkness, he could vaguely make out a point of cold light gleaming before him, and then that point of cold light shot toward him like a shooting star.

A muffled "thud" sounded. Even in the darkness, Zhao Jin's spear accurately pierced the man's throat. The spear blade lodged sideways in his throat; he opened his mouth to shout but no sound came out. He reached out to grapple but had no strength. Zhao Jin yanked back fiercely, and a thread of blood spurted from the man's throat as he twisted and collapsed to the ground.

"Old Five, what happened to you?!" Someone in the courtyard shouted. Zhao Jin did not pause. He stepped over the threshold, swung both arms, and without even looking for his target, thrust his spear backhanded toward the sound!

Discerning positions by sound was exceptionally clear in the quiet night. The moment the spear thrust out, Zhao Jin knew it had struck true. Immediately, a piercing scream followed. Zhao Jin withdrew the spear and turned. The man opposite was clutching his chest and abdomen, shouting and retreating.

No matter how fast he retreated, how could he be faster than a head-on charge? In an instant, Zhao Jin had leveled his spear and thrust again. The previous strike had gone slightly off, but this time there was no dodging it—another direct hit to the throat.

The shouting stopped abruptly. The man clutched his throat with both hands, let out a rasping "gurgle," and fell face-first to the ground.

Zhao Jin strode past the spirit screen. The courtyard was not large, but it looked fairly tidy. Having fought in blurry darkness until now, the sudden sight of lamplight momentarily strained his eyes.

Headman Cheng, draped in a thin robe and holding a lantern, stood staring ahead in utter shock.

Zhao Jin narrowed his eyes. Chen Sheng and Wang Zhaojing also emerged from behind the spirit screen, while Liu Yong, as previously instructed, kept watch outside the gate.

Seeing the tall, sturdy figures before him, armed with sharp blades and clearly possessing exceptional skill, and his two subordinates already lying on the ground after a single exchange—

"G-gentlemen, if it's money you seek, take all the gold and silver. If it's not enough, Cheng will take you back to fetch more." A man who knew his way around the jianghu after all, Headman Cheng started out stammering but quickly spoke smoothly.

"If there's an old grudge, can you at least make it clear..." Before he could finish, Zhao Jin charged straight at him. The distance between the gate and the spirit screen was short, but there was some space from the screen to the house door. Headman Cheng still had time to react. He flung the lantern in his hand, sidestepped to dodge, and reached for his boot.

Zhao Jin charged fast. Spear thrusting demanded unstoppable forward momentum, so this lunge missed entirely. Just as he steadied himself, by the light of the lantern now burning on the ground, he saw Headman Cheng already holding a short knife, lunging at him ferociously.

The courtyard was narrow, and it was three against one. Headman Cheng knew he was doomed and had resolved to fight to the death. He was two steps from Zhao Jin, while Wang Zhaojing and Chen Sheng could no longer catch up in time.

In this critical moment, Zhao Jin was instead utterly calm. He had no time to adjust his stance and thrust again. Going with the momentum, he twisted his body, swung both arms sideways, and the iron cap at the butt of the spear smashed heavily into Headman Cheng's lower abdomen. The force was no small matter, and the spot struck was sensitive. Headman Cheng's charge halted instantly, his body doubling over involuntarily.

The bend and straighten took only a brief moment. Chen Sheng slid forward from the side, his long blade thrusting straight into Headman Cheng's ribs, sinking a full foot deep. He twisted the blade with both hands.

With that twist, Headman Cheng's internal organs were shredded. He didn't even have time to cry out before a mouthful of blood sprayed out. Zhao Jin raised the shaft of his spear and drove the iron butt cap directly into Headman Cheng's Adam's apple. After that blow, Headman Cheng couldn't even make a sound. Chen Sheng pulled out his blade, and Headman Cheng toppled over.

The lantern was about to burn out completely. Headman Cheng stretched out a hand as if to grasp something. Zhao Jin bent down close, pulled down the black cloth covering his face, then pulled it back up.

Headman Cheng, his Adam's apple shattered, recognized Zhao Jin. An expression of utter terror and shock appeared on his agonized face, then froze there. He stopped breathing.

The lantern went out, and the entire courtyard fell silent again. In truth, the whole street was deathly quiet. Many had been startled awake and had clearly heard the slaughter and screams in this courtyard, but no one dared even breathe loudly, afraid of getting caught up in it. Everyone assumed it was jianghu men seeking revenge, or even an internal feud among their own kind. Why get involved?

A brief, stifled sob came from inside the house, but it was immediately suppressed. It sounded like a woman's voice. Zhao Jin thought for a moment. From the angle where he had just bent over, no one could possibly have seen his face. Only then did he deliberately roughen his voice and say, "Don't come out, don't make a sound, and it's none of your business. Otherwise, your whole family dies!"

After these words, not a single sound came from the house. Zhao Jin gestured to the two behind him and said in a low voice, "Call Xiaoyong in."

Wang Zhaojing immediately went out to call him. Liu Yong entered, while Wang Zhaojing stayed outside. Zhao Jin whispered into Liu Yong's ear, "Use your axe to hack up the wounds on these dead men. Hack them deep!"

Liu Yong was briefly stunned, then nodded. He walked over to the three corpses with his axe and swung it down. Chen Sheng watched, puzzled, but said nothing.

The first man's wound was only on his throat. One axe blow nearly severed half his neck. The second man also took an axe blow to the neck. Just as Liu Yong was about to hack Headman Cheng, Zhao Jin used his spear to tap the wound on the man's chest and abdomen, signaling he had missed it, and told him to keep hacking. Headman Cheng, having sustained many wounds, had half his body hacked to a pulp.

Once everyone was outside, they all breathed a sigh of relief. Just as they were about to speak, Zhao Jin stopped them with a hand gesture and said in a low voice, "Move."

The four of them instinctively let Zhao Jin go first, but he did not move. As they stood puzzled, they heard Zhao Jin urge in a low voice, "You go first. I'll go last!"

Both Chen Sheng and Wang Zhaojing glanced at Zhao Jin before striding forward quickly. Liu Yong even cupped his fist in salute before walking past.

The four of them left in silence along the way they had come. They had started out walking fast, but unconsciously picked up speed, until they were practically jogging at the end.

They ran the whole way, faster and faster, as if something were chasing them from behind. Although their eyes had adjusted to the darkness, they still tripped and fell several times along the way. It wasn't until they heard the distant sound of the night watchman on his rounds that Zhao Jin signaled everyone to stop and hide.

After this pause, everyone's mood calmed considerably. Catching their breath and continuing forward, they instead felt as if their legs were filled with lead, heavy and sore. Their bodies ached terribly too. The midnight raid, the charge and killing, and now returning in complete victory—the taut string in their minds had snapped, and with sudden relaxation, all the aftereffects came flooding up.

Seeing the outline of the bell tower in the distance, they knew they had emerged from the southern part of the city. Entering the northern part, the roads would at least be much easier to walk.

"... Back home I'll have to wipe down and sharpen my blade again..." Chen Sheng muttered from the front of the group. He had just killed a man, yet his voice was remarkably calm. Truly, everything was only difficult at the beginning; he had already adapted considerably.

After a couple more steps, Chen Sheng turned his head and said with a smile, "Zhao Jin, I remember you're older than me. They all call you Brother Zhao or Big Brother Zhao. It's too rude of me to keep calling you by name."

"Keep your voice down, don't alert anyone!" Zhao Jin said in a low voice.