Chapter 34: Grab Him

Many children do not understand, when they are young, just how much their parents worry themselves sick over their education while they are sleeping soundly.

Truly:

*How pitiful are the hearts of parents under heaven.*

For example, Zheng Fan.

Perhaps because he had spent the day getting beaten, he slept especially well after Feng Siniang’s massage.

By the time he woke, the sun was already high.

He pushed open the door to his room.

Two young women were waiting below the steps.

Seeing that Zheng Fan was awake, one went to the kitchen to fetch breakfast while the other brought hot water to help him wash.

In his heart, Zheng Fan rejected this sort of decadent lifestyle.

But sometimes, if he did not need their service, he would effectively be denying the value of their existence.

After all, they were slaves.

Most of their homes were deep inside the State of Yan, or even farther away in the states of Qian and Jin.

So in order to let them continue living here with peace of mind, Zheng Fan could only silently “endure” their service.

Sigh.

After washing and eating, Zheng Fan followed the habit he had developed over the previous few days.

He picked up his wooden sword and went to the courtyard to prepare for another beating.

But to his surprise, Liang Cheng—who had always been waiting there ahead of him these past few days was absent.

“Where is he?”

Zheng Fan did not think Liang Cheng had given up on him.

He had clearly made progress.

At the very least, his ability to withstand a beating had improved day by day.

“Master, the Fourth Lady told me in advance to inform you that they have some matters to handle today.

“So they won’t be able to come accept Master’s guidance.”

The speaker was a young girl.

Her original name had contained the character “Fang.”

After entering the residence, Feng Siniang had renamed her Fangcao.

An extremely rustic name.

Zheng Fan had seen her several times before.

She seemed to follow A’Ming around most of the time.

Apparently, she was the girl A’Ming had “picked up.”

“They all went out?”

“Yes.

“They left first thing this morning.”

“Oh.

“Fine, then.”

Zheng Fan simply took his wooden sword and began practicing chopping motions by himself.

By noon, the Fourth Lady and the others still had not returned.

So Zheng Fan called Fangcao over again.

“Did they say where they were going?”

“Reporting to Master, I think they went toward the east side of the city.

“They all rode horses.”

...

Outside Tiger Head City, on a low dirt rise, six people were either crouching or standing as they surveyed the surrounding terrain.

“Blind Man, you didn’t arrange all of this beforehand, did you?”

Xue San asked in disbelief.

Because this was simply far too coincidental.

Only last night, everyone had discussed the plan to capture a graded Martial Artist and bring him back to teach Master.

And first thing this morning, the Blind Man Bei suddenly informed everyone that he had already found a target.

It was basically like going on your first blind date yesterday and visiting the civil affairs bureau today.

No.

Even that was too slow.

It was like going straight to the maternity hospital.

“You had everything worked out in your head already, didn’t you?”

Feng Siniang said accusingly.

“You’d already selected the target, then deliberately let us discuss freely while you stood behind us enjoying the thrill of having everything under control.”

The Blind Man Bei shook his head.

A helpless smile hung on his face.

“Would I really need to go through such pointless theatrics?

“Actually, while we were discussing things in the pavilion last night, I genuinely had not yet found a target.

“We already know graded experts can keep glowing for longer periods.

“But they can’t possibly shine like light bulbs all day long.

“It’s not easy to casually pick out a suitable one.”

“Then last night?” A’Ming asked.

“Last night, the wife of the Patrol Lieutenant Commander sent a maidservant to deliver a message.

“She said her husband would be leaving the city on official business today.

“She asked me to visit her residence and deliver some talisman-water to help her pray for a child.”

Xue San crouched there and chuckled.

Three blades of grass beneath him swayed in the wind.

“You all need to understand.

“The State of Yan’s official system is complicated and messy, but a Patrol Lieutenant Commander already counts as someone with status in Tiger Head City.

“At least for now, even though both posts carry the title of Lieutenant Commander, his office is far more valuable than Master’s current office of Lieutenant Commander of Merchant Protection.”

The complexity of Yan’s official system had deep roots.

Because powerful clans were entrenched everywhere, the court’s control over the localities was weak.

Many local matters even required the court to “share the rain and dew” with powerful local families.

So on top of the normal official structure, many additional offices had been created to reward and accommodate local interests.

Lieutenant Commander counted as a military office.

Some posts carried real authority.

Others were honorary.

Still others could be bought, or acquired through connections.

Basically, so long as a family had some standing in the locality, its patriarch could usually hang some sort of Lieutenant Commander title on himself.

In that sense, it resembled the final years of the Qing Dynasty in Zheng Fan’s old world.

If you had money, whether you were a landlord or merchant, you could purchase an official hat button, peacock feather, and full ceremonial robes for yourself.

Even in Chinese communities across Southeast Asia, a clan gathering could sometimes produce an entire crowd dressed like Qing Dynasty hopping corpses.

“At the time, I asked the maidservant whether something was happening in the city today.

“That Patrol Lieutenant Commander apparently has no idea how to keep his mouth shut.

“He tells his wife everything.

“And the maid happened to know about it too.

“So she told me.

“She said an important criminal would be escorted here from Beikang City today.

“Her master would personally lead men out to take custody of the prisoner, then escort him onward to Tuman City.

“So I asked the maid who the criminal was.

“She told me he was a mounted bandit named Ding Hao.

“Years ago, Ding Hao had actually been her master’s superior officer.

“Her master had even served under him as an assistant officer and learned martial arts from him.

“Later, Ding Hao was promoted and transferred to Tuman City.

“But several years ago, for reasons she didn’t know, he slaughtered his superior’s entire household and fled Tuman City.

“After that, he became an outlaw and lived as a bandit.

“This time his luck was terrible.

“He went out to rob someone and ran into the Zhenbei Army returning from its campaign against the barbarian tribe.

“Even worse, the idiot tried to rob the convoy carrying spoils the Zhenbei Army had seized after destroying the tribe.

“So the Zhenbei Army dispatched a cavalry force, wiped out his stronghold, and captured him alive.

“Because he used to be an official and was already a wanted fugitive, the Zhenbei Army severed the tendons in his hands and feet before turning him over to nearby Beikang City.

“Beikang City is now responsible for escorting him.

“He’ll be transferred here at Tiger Head City, then finally sent onward to Tuman City, the prefectural seat of Beifeng Commandery.

“I asked the maid whether Ding Hao was very formidable.

“She said her master had actually learned martial arts under Ding Hao back then.

“Apparently Ding Hao entered the grades a long time ago.

“That’s why several attempts by local garrison troops to suppress him had all failed.

“This time he simply had terrible luck and ran into the Zhenbei Army.”

The Blind Man Bei finished speaking, licked his somewhat dry lips, and said, “That’s the whole story.

“If any of you still have questions, ask.”

Xue San frowned, drew in a breath, and asked, “Blind Man, I really do have one.”

“Ask.”

“Does that maidservant want your talisman-water too?

“Trying to have a child herself?”

“...”

The Blind Man Bei fell silent.

A’Ming stepped in to help him out.

“For a disabled man to sacrifice himself to feed the tiger and obtain intelligence for us is already difficult enough.

“Everyone should show a little mercy with their words.”

“I could go too,” Xue San said matter-of-factly.

“That’s enough nonsense.

“So, Blind Man, when Hong Bazi came to find you earlier, he had gone to scout the route and timing of the prisoner handoff and was reporting back to you, right?”

“Hong Bazi is completely obsessed with becoming a vampire and living forever.

“He’s reliable.

“Originally, the Cart Gang would have been the most suitable group to handle this sort of scouting.

“But someone forced their current leader to kill his own father.”

“I didn’t know at the time!”

Feng Siniang snapped.

“Tch.

“Fine.

“Let me ask you something.

“If you had known, what would you have done?”

“I still would’ve made him kill the man.

“How interesting would that be?

“Oh-ho-ho-ho...”

Feng Siniang covered her mouth and laughed.

Her body trembled with the motion, charm spilling everywhere.

The Blind Man Bei shrugged.

His expression clearly said:

*See? I knew it.*

“How many men are escorting the prisoner?” Liang Cheng asked.

Liang Cheng was a relatively practical person.

A practical zombie.

“Because they’re only escorting a cripple whose hand and foot tendons have all been severed, even if he used to be an expert, he’s basically useless now.

“According to Hong Bazi’s report, the Patrol Lieutenant Commander only took fifty cavalry.”

Fifty cavalry...

Liang Cheng silently calculated what a fifty-rider formation would look like.

If these were fifty elite Zhenbei cavalry battle-hardened mounted troops then on terrain this open, the moment they formed up properly, Liang Cheng’s current strength would probably be insufficient to shake them.

Even as a zombie, repeated cavalry charges could grind him down until he exhausted himself and died.

But Tiger Head City’s garrison cavalry obviously could not compare with the elite Zhenbei Army.

The gap was roughly like that between a central field army and a local security regiment.

And on top of that, there were five companions beside him.

With the combined strength of the six of them, if they coordinated properly, even if they could not wipe out all fifty cavalrymen, snatching the crippled Ding Hao away from the escort should not be especially difficult.

“I still think this is a little too reckless,” A’Ming said hesitantly.

“First, the man is crippled.

“He probably can’t glow anymore.

“If we capture someone like that and make him teach Master, won’t the results be greatly reduced?

“Second, aren’t we rushing into this too quickly?”

At that moment, the Blind Man Bei suddenly stood.

He spread both arms wide and shouted, “AAAAAH!”

“...”

A’Ming.

“...”

Feng Siniang.

“...”

Xue San and Fan Li.

Everyone was startled by the Blind Man Bei’s sudden insanity.

“Ah!

“Last night we sat together and discussed finding a great teacher for Master.

“And today, a target who perfectly matches our requirements arrives!

“What does that mean?

“This is the will of Heaven, comrades!

“The will of Heaven!

“This is Heaven’s decree!

“This is fate itself!

“Heaven is watching over our Master!

“Our Master is the chosen one!

“We cannot disappoint Heaven’s decree!

“We must obey the arrangement of fate!

“To follow at Master’s side is the glory of our entire lives!”

Xue San rolled his eyes at the Blind Man Bei and snapped irritably, “What the hell are you doing, you damned blind man?

“Master isn’t even here.

“Who are you licking for—”

“Hyah!”

Before Xue San could finish, a rider came around the back of the dirt rise.

Who else could it be but Zheng Fan?

A meaningful smile appeared on the Blind Man Bei’s face.

Xue San instantly exploded.

“Fuck!

“You cheated with mental detection!”

(End of Chapter)