Chapter 52: Breaking Out of the Encirclement

  At the hour of Xu, the sky turned dark, and on the desolate hillside, a crow cried out mournfully. A wild fire drifted by, and all around was quiet, without even a hint of sound.

  Min An only dared to straighten his waist and take a deep breath after getting rid of the two cavalrymen. Once he relaxed, he noticed that his left arm was in severe pain. He looked down and found that his arm had swollen thicker. When he pinched it with his hand, a piercing pain came from inside.

  The bone seems to be fractured and slightly displaced.

  Min An walked to the foot of the slope full of strange flowers and weeds, pulled out a handful of muddy medicinal herbs and applied them to the painful area, then tied a splint on his left arm. There were many broken pottery shards and tile pieces at the grave, but not a single wooden board was available. He felt around in the dark for a while, and finally had to settle for tying rough branches to the inside and outside of his elbow.

  Min An wiped the sweat, tears and snot from his face with a sleeve, sat in front of the grave to catch his breath, blaming himself for being so useless. He had learned horse riding at the training hall for half a month, but still couldn't avoid getting hurt, just like Master scolded him as a dog's fate.

  "He must practice more later." He secretly made up his mind, looked down at the broken pot on his left side with a glint of water, and saw a dark shadow flashing by inside, which scared him so much that he fell to the ground and scrambled away with several kicks.

  Ghost! - these two words were stuck in Min's throat, being held back by him and not spoken out. He wiped the sweat and leaned over to take a look, only to discover that it was his own disheveled appearance reflected in the water jug, which had turned into a ghostly shadow. But he thought for a moment, and suddenly realized another unreasonable thing: Huan Xiao was even more timid than him, how could she dare to run to the chaotic grave mound to worship in the middle of the night?

  Min An gathered up the scattered hair, stuffed it into his hat, and bowed towards Mao Shi San's grave. Only then did he feel around to the edge of the buried ceramic jar. The jar was too heavy, deeply buried in the ground, and the yamen runners had overlooked this piece of evidence and hadn't brought it back to the yamen. Min An dug into the jar, pulled out a handful of mud, and put it under his nose, smelling a bitter, waxy scent.

  Min An recalled the moment she had just dug up Hanyu, her body was cold and slippery, as if it had been marinated in some kind of medicinal mud. When he examined Bisi's corpse, he only felt a slight chill at the heart, and there was no slippery feeling on his entire body. In order to verify more carefully, he climbed up the slope where Bisi was stabbed, and lay down sideways in front of the withered flower bush, imitating the posture of the corpse when it fell to the ground.

  The scene of the crime was as usual, with many chaotic marks, but under the flower tree, a muddy footprint was left behind. Min An fell down and faintly smelled a familiar scent of mud wax, only then could he determine that this was the evidence he had been looking for.

  Someone smeared mud on Huan Xiao's body and moved Bi Shi's corpse to the foot of a mountain slope with flowers, framing Fei Yi. As for why he went to such great lengths to kill Bi Shi and freeze his corpse, but not harm Huan Xiao, these were also answers that Min An was eager to find.

  However, judging from the current situation, finding the source of the mud wax would lead to the culprit. Min An thought of dispatching hunting dogs to search for the scent and endured the pain to hurry back to the city. He used Peng Yin's newly issued fire token to explain to the eastern gate guard that he was injured while on duty outside and had returned to the government office to report first. The guard saw that Min An was pale with pain, his arm in a splint, and thought it wasn't a fake appearance, so he waved his hand and let him enter the city gate.

  At this time, near the third watch, the streets were under curfew, and every household had closed their doors tightly. Min An slipped into the alley where the Taoist priests often stayed, opening each door one by one, and letting them smell the mud wax wrapped in his waist bag. Most people shook their heads saying they didn't know the origin of the scent, but one doctor recognized Master Wu Ren, and thus remembered Min An's face as a young apprentice, kindly telling him a secret: the mud wax contained the fragrance of pear flower honey, which was a special type of honey from Western China. The young master would have to go to Nan Street, where outsiders gathered, to find his master.

  Min An heard the door open and hastily pulled out five taels of silver to hand over, asking Uncle Lang to help him resolve another doubt: If the corpse is frozen and then thawed, will its appearance change? Doctor Lang shook his head, saying that there was no such case recorded in medical books.

  Min An searched everywhere and found the last bit of silver, handed it over to Lang Zhong, and knelt down to kowtow: "I'll tell you a plan, Uncle Lang, please help me find evidence. As soon as we have results, I'll ask you to rush to the county yamen and beat the drum loudly. This concerns the lives of hundreds of people, so don't be careless."

  Lang Zhong was frightened and didn't dare to respond, but Min An begged him repeatedly until he finally nodded. After carefully instructing him on the details of the matter, Min An bid farewell to Lang Zhong and rushed towards the inn in the dark. As soon as he arrived at the street corner, he peeked out and saw that his expectations were confirmed - a group of armed soldiers were guarding the entrance and surrounding the inn.

  Li Peinan took all the guards with him when he went to the county government office, leaving only some servants and maids to guard the gate. Judging from the current situation, it should be that the inn was occupied by people sent by Peng Yinxin. Min An moved to the corner of the street outside, fetched a ladder used by civilians to dry their roofs, climbed up the tree behind the stone house along the ladder, and shouted at the leopard slave sitting in front.

  The leopard slave, who had been standing guard on the stone house roof, turned around and saw Min An frowning and making faces at him. He pointed to his mouth and shouted "Aaah!" Min An hastily nodded: "I know, I know, something has happened at the inn, don't panic, Ah Nu. Now listen carefully, the young master is still trapped in the county yamen, waiting for me to deliver evidence. Ah Nu, chase away the leopard, tie up the saddle for me, I'll ride it into the public hall, did you understand?"

  A moment later, a loud roar came from the stone house of the inn, and a golden black striped figure flashed across the half wall, rushing straight to the outside of the street. The soldiers did not dare to chase after him, and they pressed down on the leopard slave to ask what was going on. The leopard slave could not speak the language of Chu State, and he just kept waving his hands and making sounds, finally letting the soldiers give up.

  Min An whistled and chased after, finally spotting the leopard's shadow in a small alley. The leopard heard the whistle call and stopped its paws, walking towards Min An.

  Min An looked at the green-eyed leopard and smiled, "Brother Leopard, shall we let bygones be bygones? We are now at a critical moment, we absolutely cannot afford to have internal conflicts. We should show our mettle as men. If you agree with me, then come down... After the matter is settled, I will definitely treat you to good food and drink..."

  Min An finally "subdued" the leopard, gritting his teeth and climbing onto the saddle, tightly clamping his legs under the leather strap on the leopard's belly. Although the leopard was not as tall and majestic as a warhorse, it had a powerful build, and carrying a young man who had shrunk into a ball on its back was no difficult task. It let out a roar in the darkness, gathered its strength, and shot towards the county government office like an arrow.

  Outside the county government office, a large number of troops surrounded the two thousand rural garrison troops. The vanguard had already entered the main hall, holding torches and shouting at the second hall, they dared to provoke but not advance, because there was a distance of a public hall between them, and the corridor in front of the second hall was piled with corpses.

  Two or three watches ago, the county government was not in this state.

  Li Peinan waited for Min An to walk out of the main gate, then said to Lü Qún: "Go." Lü Qún walked to the front of the hall and whispered to Zuǒ Qīngquán: "The young master has ordered us to provoke Lord Péng into making a move." Zuǒ Qīngquán, like Lü Qún, never asked for reasons, immediately went up to the platform and began another round of questioning Péng Yīnxīn, completely disregarding the etiquette of the court.

  Peng Yin saw the two generals approaching, while Li Peinan remained seated and silent. He loudly called for the imperial guards to come and protect him. Fei Yi stood up and took a few steps forward, blocking a large gate, saying: "You soldiers must take a good look, the two generals on the platform are not wearing any weapons, the prince is sitting safely, and has not said a single word threatening Lord Peng. If you still want to rush in with swords drawn, won't that be considered disturbing the court?"

  The differentiated ones belonging to Peng Yin's new hundred-name forbidden army stopped in their tracks, and Fei said in a low voice: "I advise you not to interfere with my private affairs with the young master. If you insist on stepping into the public hall, you will inevitably have to fight with your former comrades."

  On the left, the light cavalry under Zuo's command drew their swords with a clang and looked towards the opposing imperial guards on the right, their faces stern but not angry. Upon hearing the commotion, Zuo hastily stepped out and bowed to the hundred-strong opposing imperial guard: "If today's battle cannot be avoided, I request that you gentlemen hold back until the end and do not charge in lightly. During the fight, my troops will only use the backs of their blades against you gentlemen, as a way of repaying the camaraderie we shared in the past."

  Zuo Qingyuan sincerely bowed deeply, and the hundred imperial guardsmen turned their blades inward, revealing the broad backs of their swords. The opposing officials gave a signal with their eyes, and the guards behind them slowly retreated, leaving a distance of one zhang from the pavilion.

  The official said: "Please have the prince send out Lord Peng, and we will naturally not step over the gate."

  Li Peinan sat silently, not speaking, while Peng Yinxin stood in front of the public case, not daring to move. Fei Yi walked back and asked Li Peinan's opinion in a low voice. Li Peinan looked at Peng Yinxin and said, "There is no use leaving him."

  Peng Yin Xun suddenly ran behind the screen, and Fei Yi flashed past, his clothes still fluttering in the wind. In his hand was a soft sword. He listened to the sound to determine the location, without looking, and launched a swift attack with the snake-like sword, stabbing Peng Yin Xun's throat through the gap in the screen. Just as the guards rushed over to protect him, they collided with the screen, causing Fei Yi's sword tip to bend. With a reverse motion, Fei Yi used his remaining strength to slash open Peng Yin Xun's throat.

  Peng Yin covered his throat and let out a hoarse cry, the bailiffs dragged him to the right side of the chair with all their might, shouting: "Come on, Lord Peng has been stabbed!"

  A hundred imperial guards could no longer hold back, and they rushed into the main hall. Li Peinan beckoned with his hand, and the people from the Crown Prince's mansion retreated to the second hall, blocking the wooden fence at the passageway entrance.

  Zuo Qingyuan quickly took stock of the situation, saw that no one was injured, and with a heroic spirit, he proactively asked Li Peinan to lead the charge. Li Peinan accepted the sword handed over by Lie Qun, stood at the forefront alone, and calmly said: "You can't bear the responsibility for killing the Imperial Guards; I'll take on this great task, you follow Second Master to guard the wall."

  Fei Ti walked over with a sword, smiled and said: "How can the prince's single arm resist the enemy? Count me in. I've already used the imperial envoy to sacrifice my sword, and I won't be able to escape punishment anyway, so let's just kill him quickly."

  Li Peinan turned his head and glanced at Fei Yi: "Use archery."

  Fei Yi took over the bow and arrow from the guard and stood behind Li Peinan.

  The outside situation was tense and intense, but Lü Qún rubbed his palms together excitedly and said: "Since following the young master to drive away a camp of barbarian soldiers in the Western Frontier, I haven't encountered any decent battles. I hope today will allow me to exercise my skills."

  Fei Yi's heart stirred, and he asked: "Was it that time when we were trapped in the White Wood Cliff?"

  "Yes."

  "How many pairs?"

  "Fifty versus five hundred."

  "Is it you who are this batch of guards?"

  Ligun recalled the intense battle, clapped his hands and replied: "Yes, those who survived were all iron-clad men. We fought with blood all over our bodies. The young master instructed us to set fire to drive the wolf pack down the mountain, and then burned the barbarian soldiers again, finally winning a complete victory."

  He faintly said, "So to say, the power of ants can never shake the formation of the young master's army. This is a reassuring thing." He quietly loosened his fingers on the bowstring, and after the sound of the bowstring shook, an arrow flew out, hitting one of the approaching imperial guards in the chest, causing him to fall face up.

  Li Peinan transmitted the order: "Fei Yi, guard the wall!" Fei Yi held his bow and arrow and jumped onto the high wall, looking down at the commotion below. Before long, torches flared outside the county yamen and horses neighed loudly. Fei Yi observed the situation clearly and reported back to Li Peinan: "Peng Yin has brought in new troops from the outskirts."

  Li Peinan said coldly, "You're just in time." He raised his sword and cut open a wooden fence, deliberately leaving an opening, allowing the defending infantry to rush over, then with a swift swing of his sword, he killed them all.

  The battle only lasted for a moment, and then subsided. Peng Yin's hundred elite soldiers suffered the loss of a vanguard soldier and dared not advance again, refusing to attack. The suburban defense troops could not withstand Peng Yin's new stern rebuke, and with knives in hand, they rushed towards the Second Hall, but were met with Li Pei-nan's heavy blow, instantly killing thirty-five people. Seeing that one person, Li Pei-nan, had such a great effect, and that the forces behind him had not been used at all, they sensed some different meaning, and retreated from the main hall, ignoring Peng Yin's frantic jumping about.

  So the two halls stood still for a short while, until Lü Qún's hands itched to go out and fight alone. Li Pei Nan gave him a glance, and he calmed down. At this time, from outside the wall of the warehouse on the west side came a faint sound of a leopard roaring, mixed with a low, thick voice: "Please make way for the military officer, please make way for the military officer, my leopard will eat people!"

  Lü Qún hesitated and said: "It seems like it's Xiao Xiǎo Gōng..."

  Fei Yi looked up to see a golden black leopard shadow falling from the high wall outside, its speed comparable to a shooting star. Immediately afterwards, a grey shadow rolled down from the leopard's saddle and fell directly onto the green bricks in the courtyard. The guards stepped aside, and Min An rushed right up to Li Peinan. He looked up and exclaimed with joy: "Fortunately, I walked into the right yard! A place without torches is indeed where the young master resides!"

  Thank you very much, Pig Ear, Rain After Sunshine, Enya, and H's Landmine (*^__^*) l3l4