Chapter 52
"By the way, this is for you."...
The moon set, crows cawed, and spring frost filled the sky.
When the night wind blew, the lanterns in front of the Jia family's granary illuminated the gilded characters on the plaque. In the side room nearby, the gatekeeper slept soundly on a reclining chair, hands tucked in his sleeves, until he was abruptly awakened by a series of knocks from outside.
Startled, the gatekeeper picked up the blanket that had fallen to the floor, placed it back on the reclining chair, and stepped out of the side room with a lantern. Through the heavy vermilion-lacquered gate, he called out, "Who's there?"
Outside, the noise abruptly ceased, as if the knocking had merely been the gatekeeper's imagination.
In the dead of night, the gatekeeper felt a chill run down his spine, his drowsiness now mostly gone.
Hearing no response, he raised his voice again, "Who's out there?"
Beyond the gate, only silence remained, making the gatekeeper increasingly uneasy.
His calls drew the attention of the night watchmen patrolling the estate. "Jia San, what's going on?" they asked.
The gatekeeper turned to the guards and explained, "I was sound asleep when I heard knocking outside. I've been calling out for a while, but no one answered."
The granary stored last year's harvest—old grains that hadn't yet spoiled, which the Jia family intended to use for porridge distribution.
Nearby bandits had been cleared out by the Xinzhou garrison, and even if the local farmers were starving, they wouldn't dare steal from the Jia family. So why such a strange occurrence?
The head guard drew the sword at his waist and said, "Open the door and take a look."
Seeing all five night watchmen present and armed with blades, the gatekeeper felt somewhat reassured.
He removed the door bolt, pulled the vermilion gate open a crack, and peered outside with the dim lantern light. Seeing no one, he opened the door wider, stepped out with the lantern, and carefully scanned the surroundings. Scratching his head in confusion, he turned back to the guards and said, "Strange, there's no one out here."
One of the guards laughed, "Jia San, you must've been dreaming!"
The head guard seemed to share the sentiment. Sheathing his sword, he led the others back, saying, "Making a fuss over nothing. Let's make one more round, and then the next shift can take over for the latter half of the night!"
Only the gatekeeper remained unconvinced, taking one last look outside and muttering, "It shouldn't be..."
But the lantern's glow couldn't pierce the darkness beyond, and all remained quiet. Suppressing his doubts, the gatekeeper retreated inside and prepared to close the gate.
The change occurred in an instant. A dark figure leaped down from the eaves and, before the gatekeeper could make a sound, struck him unconscious with a chop to the neck.
Xiao Li steadied the gatekeeper with one hand to prevent any noise from his fall, while gesturing with the other hand for someone outside to enter.
The head guard, noticing the sudden absence of the gate closing, immediately sensed something amiss.
His hand on the hilt of his sword, he turned around, simultaneously sweeping his blade backward.
Xiao Li leaned back, narrowly avoiding the blade that came within an inch of his neck. With a swift hook of his leg, he destabilized the head guard, causing him to stumble sideways. In one fluid motion, Xiao Li seized the guard's sword-wielding arm, twisted it behind his back, and dislocated it.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye. The other guards hadn't even managed to draw their swords before Xiao Li knocked them out with precise chops to the neck.Having endured life-and-death struggles against Pei Song's Hawk Hounds, Xiao Li found these ordinary estate guards no match for him at all.
The newly recruited ruffians under Wen Yu had braced themselves for another bloody fight to the death. But when they charged through the gates with firewood cleavers and kitchen knives, they discovered their efforts were unnecessary—Xiao Li alone had already subdued all five guards.
Only the guard captain, being somewhat seasoned in the ways of the world, managed to seize an opening to shout: "Bandits are here!"
At his cry, the entire grain estate, silent under the night sky, erupted into chaos.
Lamps and candles flickered on in the houses one after another. Maids and servants, barely dressed, fled in all directions.
The guards scheduled for the late-night shift rushed out with their blades drawn.
But several ruffians were already stationed outside their doors. The moment the guards emerged, the ruffians, heeding Wen Yu's instruction to seize goods but spare lives, swung laundry clubs at the backs of the guards' necks, knocking them unconscious.
While they succeeded against the first guards caught off guard, the remaining guards were now alert, making it much harder to land surprise blows.
After the short ruffian at the front was kicked flying by a guard, the tall, sturdy man who had earlier argued with Wen Yu about his arm strength pinned the guard down. Enduring the guard's kicks, he grimaced and yelled to his companions: "Quick, knock him out with a club!"
By the time Xiao Li had knocked out most of the guards and glanced back, he saw the ruffians panting heavily as they subdued several more.
Counting Zhao Youcai's three men and the seventeen ruffians Xiao Li brought, their group totaled twenty-one, all with black cloths covering their faces—a sight intimidating enough.
Seeing the guards all knocked out, the maids and servants were too terrified to flee, collapsing to the ground and weeping: "Don't kill me... please don't kill me..."
Xiao Li ordered the ruffians: "Tie up all the guards. Leave five here to stand guard. Take the estate servants with you to the granary to move the grain."
The government strictly controlled salt and iron, but the Jia family, wealthy and well-connected with the county officials, equipped their estate guards with blades far superior to the chipped and dull knives the ruffians had seen in their bandit days. After knocking out the guards, they reverted to their old ways, not only seizing the guards' swords but also stripping off the leather wrist guards fastened to their sleeves.
One guard, struck hard on the back of the neck but not knocked out, feigned unconsciousness upon realizing the dire situation.
As someone began removing his wrist guard, he gritted his teeth but decided to keep playing dead given the overwhelming odds.
Once his wrist guards were taken and his limbs bound, he cracked his eyes open slightly, searching for an escape. Peering around, he noticed the bound guard captain beside him also moving his eyelids.
The young guard nearly wept with relief. Seeing no bandits nearby, he whispered: "Captain, you're awake too!"
The guard captain stiffened slightly and replied with closed eyes: "Don't act rashly. Wait until they've all gone to the granary. Then we'll find a way to break out."
The young guard, reassured by this anchor, settled back into feigning unconsciousness.
After tying up the guards, the ruffians hoisted their newly acquired blades and fastened the leather wrist guards, beaming with more joy than if they'd plundered silver.Fortunately, they remembered their main task was to seize grain. Prodding the mansion servants' backs with their scabbards, they forced them to lead the way to the granary and ordered these Jia Manor servants to load the grain onto carts.
The grain estate couldn't compare to the main Jia Manor residence - it contained far fewer valuable items. Zhao Youcai led his men to pry and dig around, managing to pilfer numerous gold and silver fragments.
While supervising the servants moving grain, he couldn't resist saying: "Brother, we're the Tongcheng Army. This grain we're transporting will be distributed to your local civilians and refugees. Would you like to join us?"
He no longer coveted the bounty of one hundred coins per recruit, but now yearned for an official position!
The Jia Manor servants were already terrified, but upon hearing him identify their affiliation, one servant's legs gave way in fear. The grain sack on his shoulder crushed him to the ground as he covered his ears pleading: "This humble one heard nothing, truly nothing! Please don't mock me, valiant sirs..."
Zhao Youcai frustratedly poked the servant with his scabbard, but each poke made the man tremble violently, deepening his frustration. He finally said: "Forget it! Stop playing dead on the ground for your grandfather! If you don't get up now, I'll use my blade!"
The servant scrambled up immediately, hoisted the grain sack, and dashed toward the grain cart.
Zhao Youcai stared blankly before asking Zhao Deng'er beside him: "Why did inviting him to join our army scare him like that?"
Zhao Deng'er thought for a moment: "Perhaps he fears we're saying this to silence witnesses?"
Zhao Youcai spat in anger: "I genuinely wanted to help them gain wealth and status!"
Suddenly, a subordinate reported from the front courtyard that two guards were feigning unconsciousness. Zhao Youcai hesitated between personally reporting to Xiao Li versus having subordinates report while he investigated first, ultimately choosing the latter.
His reason was simple - he wanted to test whether he could recruit those two guards.
The head guard and young guard had been trying to untie each other's ropes when they noticed fewer bandits guarding them. Unfortunately, they were discovered before completing their escape.
After subordinates reported the incident, the two guards expected a minor leader to arrive, but instead came an unremarkable-looking fellow.
The man squatted before them, studied them for a while, then put on a stern expression: "The Jia family hoards wealth without virtue, oppressing the common people. We are the Tongcheng Army, here today to eliminate this scourge for the people. I observe your martial skills are passable. Would you join our Tongcheng Army to seek your fortunes?"
Dead silence followed his words.
The head guard and young guard displayed rapidly shifting expressions.
As Zhao Youcai pretended profundity while preparing further persuasion, the head guard completely freed his hands from the loosened knots and reached to choke Zhao Youcai's neck. But a long blade cutting through the heavy night sliced his hand.
Xiao Li's cold edge rested steadily against the head guard's neck.
Zhao Youcai fell backward in terror, pale-faced as he repeatedly patted his chest in relief: "So close, so close..."
After scrambling upright, he hurriedly bowed repeatedly to Xiao Li: "Thank you for saving me, sir! Many thanks, many thanks!"
The head guard dared not move with the blade at his throat, but felt astonished by Xiao Li's speed and his weapon - two feet longer than ordinary swords. Most martial artists would struggle with such a blade, yet Xiao Li's drawing and swinging motions flowed naturally, clearly more accustomed to this weapon than conventional swords.
Considering this, his arm strength must be truly extraordinary.The head guard knew he had kicked an iron plate. He turned his head aside and said, "My martial skills are inferior. I submit to your punishment!"
Xiao Li remembered Wen Yu's instructions—to distribute part of the grain to local tenant farmers before transporting the rest to the refugee gathering area for distribution. With no time to waste here, he struck the back of the head guard's neck with the flat of his blade, rendering the man completely unconscious.
The young guard turned pale with fear. Xiao Li merely cast him a cold glance and ordered, "Knock him out."
A lackey standing nearby raised a club and struck the young guard on the back of the neck.
The grain had mostly been loaded onto carts when another lackey came to ask how to deal with the servants who had helped with the transportation.
Xiao Li said, "Tie them up as well."
The remaining maids and elderly women were locked in the firewood shed.
This course of action was solely to prevent the manor's people from reporting to the authorities in the short term, thereby buying them more time to "recruit soldiers" among the refugees.
The mission was accomplished with a full load. After ensuring no one had escaped on the manor grounds, Xiao Li was about to head to the grain carts when Zhao Youcai cautiously called out to him, "S-sir..."
Xiao Li glanced sideways at him.
As dawn approached, Xiao Li lifted the makeshift awning made of worn straw mats and ducked inside, addressing Wen Yu, who had also stayed up all night: "It's done."
This was the outskirts of the refugee gathering area. Since Wen Yu was not skilled in martial arts and couldn't assist in the grain raid, she had waited here as planned for their return.
By the light of a fire inside the shelter, she had drawn a chessboard on the ground and used stones and broken bits of dried grass as pieces, playing against herself all night.
Xiao Li's sudden entrance seemed to disrupt her train of thought, yet also dispelled the worry hidden beneath her calm. No longer needing the chess game to steady her mind, she finally refrained from placing the dried grass piece in her hand onto the drawn board.
She looked up at Xiao Li, her question uttered calmly: "Did everything go smoothly?"
Xiao Li replied, "Not a drop of blood was shed. We distributed several cartloads of grain to the local villagers on the way. The remaining carts—Zhao Youcai is currently organizing the people he brought to distribute the grain to the refugees and persuading them to join the army in Tongcheng."
Wen Yu faintly heard the commotion of refugees outside. Twirling the dried grass in her hand, she said, "The Prefect of Xinzhou and Pei Song will have quite the headache next."
Everything was unfolding as she had anticipated, yet her expression remained placid, as if she found no particular joy in it.
Noticing this, Xiao Li pulled out an object wrapped in a silk handkerchief from his robe and handed it to her: "By the way, this is for you."
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