Chapter 035 – The Slaughter
Li Yuan knocked on the door a few times, then patiently waited without continuing. He took a step back to size up the houses along White Cloud Alley in Silver Creek.
They weren’t particularly fancy—black-tiled roofs and white walls, plain and unassuming. The ground was uneven dirt, with no flooring. The alley itself was cramped, the buildings pressed close together. Take a few steps from one front door, and you were already at the neighbor’s. Still, in Silver Creek, this was considered a mid-tier residential area.
Just yesterday, Li Yuan had struck up a conversation with a local who lived in a wooden shack far more basic than anything found even in the villages. However, its single perk was being near the main road, making it easier to shop and run errands.
While Li Yuan was lost in thought, a small door off to the side creaked open. Out stepped a young woman in heavy makeup, yawning as she made her way out. She glanced at Li Yuan, her face showing mild disdain, then strolled off into the night.
He blinked in confusion. Did she guess right away that he wasn’t from here, just some country bumpkin? Whatever the case, the sight of her walking around so late confirmed something he’d noticed from the upper balcony of the Heavenly Scent Pavilion the previous night. Silver Creek’s public safety was far better than back in Little Ink Village. People here could wander out wearing fine clothes, even in the dead of night, without fear.
Eventually, the door in front of him opened. A maid he didn’t recognize peered out, looking him over. “Who are you here to see?” she asked.
Li Yuan held out a box of breakfast pastries from Cicada’s Cuisine. “My name’s Li Yuan. I’m looking for Cai Ze. May I trouble you to let him know I’m here?”
The maid took the box and nodded politely. “Wait here. The master hasn’t gotten up yet.”
Li Yuan smiled. “No rush.”
He waited a good while before a young man finally emerged, dressed in the uniform of a bailiff. Spotting Li Yuan by the door, the young man grinned. “You’re here. Come on in.”
Li Yuan shook his head. “I know you've been busy all day, so I won’t impose. I just came to deliver the silver I promised.”
He took out two small pouches. One held a 10-tael silver ingot, the other five silver nuggets.
Cai Ze weighed them in his hand and looked pleased. “You gathered all this so quickly?”
Li Yuan shrugged. “I went into the mountains yesterday, risked my neck, and managed to bag a wild boar. Sold it for enough to scrape together the rest.”
Cai Ze nodded. “You’re a capable man who knows the ropes. All right. Give me five days to take care of everything. Come back then and pick up your residency papers.”
“Thank you.” Li Yuan gave a sincere bow. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll leave you to your day.”
˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙
By the time Li Yuan got back to Little Ink Village, Li Yuan’s 30 taels of silver had dwindled to seven. It hurt, but he had to spend it. Skimping on bribes and fees would only lead to worse trouble.
When he returned home, Yan Yu took one look at his red eyes, reeking of alcohol and perfume, and said nothing. She simply heated water for his bath and helped him to bed. Just as she was about to go wash his clothes, he grabbed her wrist.
She turned back, surprised.
Li Yuan held her gaze and said, “Yan Yu, I didn’t sleep with another woman.”
“Mhm,” she responded happily. Though winter hadn’t yet passed, warmth bloomed in her bright eyes as though spring had arrived early.
After a quiet moment, she teased him, “You paid for it and still didn’t do anything? Where else am I going to find a man as silly as you?”
Yet she seemed genuinely pleased, gathering his clothes into a wash basin before heading off to the river with Auntie Wang to do the laundry.
˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙
Li Yuan slept until dusk. After a simple dinner, he stepped outside for some air, gazing toward the small mountain near Little Ink Village. His mood darkened. The past two days in the mountains, he hadn’t seen Calico—the tiger that used to find him by scent, even sneaking down to the village if Li Yuan stayed home. Yet this time, there’d been no sign of it at all.
He recalled how Calico had risked its life to warn him of danger, letting him escape. He owed a debt to that animal now. But going deep into the wilderness again? Not a chance. He’d almost lost his life there once, and he wouldn’t tempt fate again.
As he was pondering, a middle-aged man approached, trembling. Recognizing him as Uncle Youcai, Li Yuan asked what was wrong.
Youcai’s eyes were red. “Li Yuan… My son, Tian Bao…he told me not to bother you, but…”
“What happened?”
“Tian Bao…yesterday, he got ambushed. They beat him up pretty bad, stabbed him in the eye. He’s in bed now.”
˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙
Li Yuan followed Uncle Youcai back home. On a rickety pallet lay Tian Bao, a tall, lanky teenager with a bandage covering his right eye, blood seeping through. When he saw Li Yuan, the boy flared up.
“I told you not to bother my boss!” he shouted at his father.
Li Yuan just raised a hand, stilling him. “What happened?”
His question shut Tian Bao up immediately. “It’s nothing. Really.”
After a long pause, the boy sighed. “All right. I was on my way back when three men jumped me. They demanded the money we got from selling the wild boar. I told them I’d deposited it in the bank, but they searched my things anyway. When they didn’t find any receipts, they beat me. That’s when my eye got stabbed. I scratched one of them pretty good, though. Bet he won’t forget it. They also asked about you, where you were, your name. But I didn’t tell them anything. I’d never give you away.”
Li Yuan’s face grew grim. As soon as there was profit to be made, predators closed in. No one in Little Ink Village had dared target him, but apparently these men had.
“Take care of yourself,” he said. Then he returned home to fetch two and a half kilograms of meat, leaving it with Uncle Youcai. On his way out, Tian Bao called after him.
“Once I’m healed, I’ll keep following you.”
Li Yuan paused. “Focus on getting better first.”
˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙
Two days later, Li Yuan managed to hunt another wild boar. After hauling it out of the mountain on a pushcart, he sold it to the Ginger Tavern for 30 taels of silver. He grabbed a quick bowl of noodles to recharge, then headed back—this time, not along the main road, but via a shortcut.
On one side of this narrow path stretched a sea of yellow reeds; on the other, a patch of dark woods. Only a few scattered houses dotted the area, making it fairly secluded. According to what Tian Bao had told him, this was where he’d been ambushed.
The sky was already dimming, a pale moon hanging overhead. Li Yuan quickened his pace. Suddenly, he stopped short. Three figures emerged from the trees: one in front, another to the side, and the third behind him.
The man at the front had fresh scratches on his face, still raw and red. He smirked. “Told you they’d come by again. This time, we’re not leaving empty-handed.”
The other two chuckled, drawing knives as they closed in. Li Yuan feigned terror, trembling. The man in front stepped closer to threaten him, but Li Yuan’s hand flashed to the hatchet at his waist. With a savage swing, he brought it crashing down.
The bandit raised his blade to block, but the force was overwhelming. He barely managed a startled grunt before the hatchet smashed aside his weapon and cut into his neck, chopping his head half off with a sickening crunch.
The other two froze. The one at the rear, perhaps not understanding how quickly things had escalated, charged forward with a yell. The one to the side, seeing that first, terrible blow, turned to run.
Li Yuan sprang toward the charging man. With another swift strike, he knocked aside the bandit’s blade, then followed through in a blur. A second head flew free of its shoulders.
By then, the third man was already fleeing in panic. Li Yuan slid the hatchet into the ground, drew the bow slung across his back, nocked an arrow, and loosed in one fluid motion. The twang of the string rang out, and the fleeing figure collapsed face-first. The arrow had pierced his neck and exited through his throat.
Li Yuan slung the bow over his shoulder, retrieved his hatchet, and dashed over to deliver a finishing blow, severing the man’s head to hide the arrow wound. Then he hastily stuffed each corpse into a prepared burlap sack, weighted them with stones, and dragged them to the nearby riverbank.
One by one, he heaved the sacks into the murky water, hurling their knives in after them. The current was deep; it would take a long time, if ever, for anyone to discover the bodies.
Only when he was certain no one else was around did Li Yuan emerge from the reeds, retrieve his pushcart, and continue on his way home.
Comments
Top