Chapter 28: Seize the Initiative

  Not much effort was required, after Kong Yaoshi and the others had settled in, two yamen runners went downstairs, sat at a table for dinner, and asked the shop owner to bring wine and dishes. Kong Yaoshi did not go downstairs, but instead had someone send the food up to his room on the upper floor.

  Soon, the dishes were all served, and the two bailiffs ate with their heads down, not even saying a word. Li Wenjun still couldn't hear any news.

  The two bailiffs went upstairs after finishing their meal.

  Li Wenjun watched as they entered Kong Yao's room, thinking to himself that the two bailiffs had come over at this time not only to protect Ye Shan Jing nearby but also to discuss tomorrow's itinerary with Kong Yao, mainly what time to leave.

  This is extremely important for Li Wenjun. Only by knowing when Kong Yaoshi and others leave the house can he grasp the timing, rush ahead of them, block their way, and seize the Wild Mountain Spirit. Otherwise, if he leaves late, Kong Yaoshi and his companions will have already arrived at the prefecture city, and he will only be able to chase after them in vain.

  To avoid drawing attention, Li Wenjun sat for a moment, pretending to go to the stable to check on his horses. He got up and left the inn. At the fastest speed, he glanced at the stable and turned around, walking towards the west wall of the inn.

  He cautiously stuck to the wall root, Li Wenjun tried to eavesdrop on the movement in Kong Yaoshi's room. He was downstairs, and the windows upstairs were closed, making it difficult to hear the movements upstairs. Moreover, he didn't dare to get too close to Kong Yaoshi's room, and what's more, Kong Yaoshi and others were very cautious, speaking in a low voice. After listening for half a day, he still couldn't hear any news that he wanted to hear.

  Li Wenjun was secretly annoyed, but there was nothing he could do. Seeing that it was really impossible to gather intelligence, he was about to return to his own room when he suddenly heard footsteps coming from Kong Yaoshi's room. The sound seemed to be two people's footsteps, and the footsteps went straight into the next room.

  Li Wenjun's heart skipped a beat, and he hastily put his foot back down, sticking it to the wall root again, trying to see if he could hear some information he needed.

  This time, Li Wenjun's efforts paid off.

  With a creak, the window of the two constables' room was opened by someone, and one of the constables stood at the window, looking out.

  Li Wenjun hastily lay down on the ground, tightly sticking to the corner of the wall. Fortunately, it was already dark outside, and the officer didn't intentionally look towards the corner of the wall, but instead gazed discontentedly at the outside of the inn.

  "What are you doing? It's freezing outside, opening a window, aren't you sick?" the official standing in the house asked.

  "Li Tou has been suffering from a day of bird air, I opened the window to ventilate, otherwise, he would suffocate to death." The official standing by the window said.

  Li said, "I knew you had a grudge in your heart. But even if you have a grudge, you must endure it. Safely escorting the mountain spirit and Kong's medicine to the Magistrate's mansion is a task entrusted by Master himself. If this errand is botched, be careful that Master breaks your leg."

  "Li Tou, I don't understand. Kong Yao Shi is also a big man, why does he have to sit in a horse carriage like an old woman? He can't ride a horse? If he rode a horse, the three of us could hurry up and arrive at the prefecture city in one day, no need to take this slow route. The matter of the wild mountain spirit is very important, if we deliver it to the prefecture city one day earlier, the old lady of the prefecture magistrate can take the medicine earlier and recover, and we can also be less anxious for a whole day." Another official said indignantly.

  Li said, "Do you think Kong the medicine master is like us, a roughneck? He's a world-renowned doctor who can treat the county magistrate, he has status and position, and his own pride. Such dignified people all ride in sedan chairs or carriages, have you ever seen one of them riding a horse? Didn't Kong say that whether the county magistrate's old lady gets better today or tomorrow makes no difference? Kong is the county magistrate's favorite, so he's not anxious, why should we be?"

  "Hum, really can't understand this Kong medicine master, who values face more than anything else, causing us brothers to suffer along with him."

  "Stop being so arrogant. Is this suffering? Think about it, if Master Ta didn't trust us, would he have given us such an important task to handle? When we get to the Magistrate's place, we'll present the mountain spirit and then hand over County Master's letter. Who knows, the Magistrate might be pleased and even reward us with 10 or 20 taels of silver. Isn't this better than nothing? Alright, hurry up and close the window, we need to get up at dawn tomorrow and hit the road, don't miss our chance."

  Upon hearing this, Li Wenjun was secretly delighted. He had obtained all the information he wanted. This way, he could take targeted measures.

  Li Wenjun didn't sleep all night. In the first half of the night, he leaned against the bed with his clothes on and dozed off slightly. When it reached midnight, he took out a rope and tied one end to the bed, throwing the other end out the window. Then, holding onto the rope, he climbed outside and quietly slipped over to the stable.

  Li Wenjun's movements were agile and silent, thanks to his frequent practice in the martial arts hall. With the nourishment of heaven and earth, his skills improved rapidly, and the head of the martial arts hall said he already had the skills of a top-notch master close to the third rank of Jianghu.

  This is a fairly high evaluation, as long as you reach the level of a third-rate master, you can have a certain status and position in the Jianghu, and it will not be a problem to be a branch leader or a deputy leader in a mountain stronghold or a Jianghu school.

  Under the dim moonlight, Li Wenjun found the yoke horse used by Kong Yaoshi's carriage. He grabbed a few handfuls of hay from the manger and mixed some crotonis powder into it. Then, he found the horse ridden by the constable and did the same thing to this horse.

  No matter if it's a person or a large animal like a horse, they won't be able to have diarrhea immediately after eating broad beans. There is a process involved that requires some time. The timing Li Wenjun chose was to make the three horses have diarrhea halfway through their journey, delaying Kong Yaoshi and others' progress, weakening the two officials' combat effectiveness.

  After taking the medicine, Li Wenjun returned to his own room by the original road, lay down on the bed with his clothes on, and fell asleep. With something on his mind, he didn't sleep soundly, and when he heard the rooster crowing, he got up. After packing up, he came out of the guest room, carrying his luggage, and went downstairs. The shop owner hurried over to greet him.

  Li Wenjun asked the shop owner what time it was now. The shop owner told him that the rooster had crowed twice, and in about an hour or so, dawn would break.

  Li Wenjun calmly let the shop owner prepare his breakfast, and after eating his fill, he settled the bill for his room and food before mounting his horse and leaving the inn to chase after Kong Yaoshi and the others.

  After chasing for about half a time, Li Wenjun found that there were some horse dung pulled out on the road. These dungs were not shiny dung eggs, but were scattered in two strips, extending towards the direction of the prefecture city.

  Li Wenjun smiled and urged his horse on, quickening its pace as he chased after them.

  After another meal's worth of time, Li Wenjun saw Kong Yaoshi and the others. The legs of their horses had softened, but they still didn't spare any horse power, insisting on moving forward.

  Two horses simultaneously got diarrhea, even if they had no experience in the jianghu, they could guess that someone must have poisoned their horses. They didn't think of defending themselves on the spot or seeking help from nearby. However, both plans had pros and cons, and Master Kong disagreed with them. Under his insistence, the three people could only continue on their journey, hoping to arrive at the village ahead after dawn and replace their horses with new ones.

  Li Wenjun drove his horse to catch up from behind, and Kong Yaoshi and others stopped. They stopped by the side of the road, and the mounted official turned around, vigilantly watching Li Wenjun rushing over.

  Li Wenjun didn't plan to waste words with them, the more he said, the more likely he was to make a mistake, increasing the risk of exposure. He might as well take action directly. Anyway, whether he spoke or not, his goal was still to capture the Wild Mountain Spirit.

  As they approached Kong Yao Shi, Li Wen Jun reached into his bosom and pulled out a paper package, which he hurled at the two constables.

  The paper package was simply wrapped, not tied or sealed tightly. Before Li Wenjun's hand even reached the yamen official's body, the package had already burst open.

  Whoosh! A pungent cloud of dust burst out from the paper package.

  This is some hay that Li Wenjun picked up from the manger when he was giving the horse medicine, which includes some very fine grass fragments, soil and other debris.

  This is a trick Li Wenjun learned from the storyteller. Those street rascals often use this method, which is called "earth cannon". The materials used for these earth cannons are usually quicklime or sand, but Li Wenjun didn't use quicklime because he was worried that if there was wind when he fired the earth cannon and happened to be downwind, he wouldn't just be dealing with the two bailiffs, but would also harm himself.

  It turned out that Li Wenjun's worries were not unreasonable. The two paper packages he threw out had a large amount of grass ash inside, which splashed onto the faces of the two officials, while another part was blown back towards him by the wind. Fortunately, what blew towards him was mostly grass ash, and the heavier mud and sand particles were all directed at the two officials.

  "Bastard." The two constables rushed to raise their sleeves, covering their faces, but their movements were a bit late, only blocking part of it, and still letting some blow onto their faces, rushing into their eyes.

  "Ptooey!" The two bailiffs spat out the mud and sand that had blown into their mouths while rubbing their eyes.

  Li Wenjun rode his horse to the front, he pulled the reins, circled around, turned the horse's head, and rushed towards the two officials again. He stretched out his hand and grabbed a small stick about the thickness of a child's arm hanging from one side of the horse.

  The reason for using a whistle rod instead of a knife or gun is that the whistle rod can be used to cut down branches and make its own, whereas with knives and guns, one would have to go buy them. And on the knives and guns sold at several shops in the county seat of Sanshan County, there are specific marks on each one, once left behind, this becomes a clue that can be traced.