Chapter 39: The Stampede

"Check it one more time. If everything is in order, we leave at once!"

In the dark alley behind the Jia estate, three carts piled high with hay stood waiting. The head bailiff was directing his men to finish their inspection.

Prefect Jia stood by the back gate, his face etched with anxiety. "Once this batch is handled, leave the ones at the Xianle Hall for now," he whispered.

The head bailiff stepped forward, his expression full of disdain and resentment. "My lord, must we continue to be led by the nose like this..."

"Hmph." Prefect Jia let out a cold snort. "There will be a way... just let me survive this ordeal first."

The head bailiff had no choice but to comply. He signaled his men to drive the carts out of the alley. As the horses pulled and the wheels began to turn, the cart boards creaked in the silence.

The clapper sounded; it was the first watch of the dawn.

Watching the carts depart, Prefect Jia turned to return to the estate to rest, only to hear a flurry of rapid footsteps behind him.

Suddenly, he felt a weight of a thousand pounds descend upon his shoulders, forcing him to his knees!

Beside his ear, the blade of a crescent moon saber gleamed with icy light. Prefect Jia was too terrified to even scream for help, cold sweat streaming down his forehead. As he looked up, he met the murderous gaze of Lin Jiangyue.

The head bailiff and his men were heading toward the city gate when they suddenly saw someone blocking their path. The head bailiff froze, but upon recognizing the intruder, his old grievances flared into a burning rage.

"Kill anyone who blocks the way!" the head bailiff roared.

Yan Kuang’s long sword left its scabbard at the sound. The bailiffs hesitated, but Yan Kuang seized the initiative. He lunged forward, his blade rising and falling; in the blink of an eye, four or five men lay at his feet.

Seeing no escape, the remaining bailiffs had no choice but to fight. Sensing the tide turning, the head bailiff turned and ran back toward the dark alley, only to collide head-on with Prefect Jia.

"My lord, it’s a disaster! That villain, he..."

Before the head bailiff could finish his sentence, a cold, lethal light emerged from behind the Prefect.

Lin Jiangyue, standing behind the Prefect, was about to command her men, but Prefect Jia suddenly grabbed the head bailiff’s arm—in a flash, he spun and shoved the man toward Lin Jiangyue, seizing the chance to break away and run!

The sudden turn of events caught Lin Jiangyue off guard. As they brushed past each other, she instinctively swung her saber horizontally—

The head bailiff had no chance to cry out before blood sprayed everywhere, staining Lin Jiangyue’s red robes even deeper.

On the other side, the bailiffs lay scattered across the ground, groaning in pain. Yan Kuang stepped over them to overturn the hay on the carts, his brow furrowing instantly. At the same moment, he heard Lin Jiangyue’s shout: "Don't let that corrupt official escape!"

Prefect Jia had scrambled out of the alley, intending to flee toward the city gate, but terrified by the chaos of Yan Kuang’s battle, he turned and fled in the opposite direction.

Yan Kuang had to break off his fight to pursue him. Lin Jiangyue was closing in, her heavy saber raised to strike the Prefect’s legs, when a sharp *clang* rang out—

Yan Kuang had stepped in to block her strike with his sword. "If that blade lands, he will surely bleed to death," he said.

He then pinned the Prefect to the ground with his sword at his throat. Seeing Lin Jiangyue’s face splattered with blood, he frowned. "Where is the head bailiff?"

"I killed him by mistake," Lin Jiangyue replied.

Just then, a whistle pierced the air!

The horses pulling the carts seemed to go mad with fear, bolting toward the city gate. Several bailiffs lying on the ground were trampled to death under the hooves and wheels.

Seeing this, Yan Kuang urged Lin Jiangyue, "Quickly, go after the carts! Xiao Hong might be on one of them!"

Lin Jiangyue’s eyes widened, and as she turned to chase, several hidden weapons flew toward her. She deflected them with her saber, but suddenly, needles rained down from both sides!

Yan Kuang drew his sword to deflect them, shielding the Prefect. Just then, a figure in black leaped down from the high wall of the Jia estate, and while the two were occupied, snatched the Prefect away.

The rain of needles ceased. Lin Jiangyue gasped, "It’s the Tang Sect’s 'Frost-Shattering Jade' needles! It’s the Tang Sect!"

Yan Kuang said coldly, "No time for that. You chase the carts; I’ll hunt him down!"

...

As the figure in black dragged Prefect Jia along, the Prefect gasped, "Are... are you sent by him?"

"If you want to live, stay close," the figure in black hissed.

"Where... where are we going?"

As he spoke, Prefect Jia stumbled and fell. The figure in black hauled him up, tossed a box behind him, and continued running.

The sky was beginning to brighten. Yan Kuang pursued the direction the Prefect had initially fled, but the path was eerily silent; he could not hear a single footstep. He suddenly realized something was wrong and stopped.

They hadn't gone this way at all.

Meanwhile, Lin Jiangyue, carrying her heavy saber toward the city gate, was suddenly met with a flash of silver light!

It arrived like a torrent of rain. She swiped her saber to defend herself, only to realize they were thousands of blades as thin as cicada wings, clanging against her weapon like wind chimes.

After struggling for a while, she leaped onto a roof beam. The silver rain continued. Borrowing the moonlight, she followed the trajectory of the lethal blades and saw a round, palm-sized iron box vibrating on the ground nearby. The blades were being spat out from slits in its surface.

"The 'Silver Flower Waterfall'... the Tang Sect again!" she muttered.

...

Prefect Jia was panting, completely out of breath. The figure in black suddenly grabbed his collar, shoved him forward, and said, "Prefect Jia, take care."

With that, the figure leaped away and vanished.

Before the Prefect could recover, he felt himself thrown onto a soft pile of hay. Panting, he focused his eyes and realized he was atop the hay-laden carts.

At the gates of Fengzhou City, the guards stared at him in shock. Desperate, Prefect Jia lunged toward them as if they were his lifeline. "There... there are assassins! Assassins trying to kill me!"

The guards remained unmoved, their faces filled with hesitation. One frowned and said, "Prefect Jia, these carts are full of..."

Jia felt a jolt of fear. "You... you’ve checked them?"

Before the guard could answer, a commotion broke out in the alley nearby. Voices roared:

"The corrupt official Jia Chuan is here!"

"Don't let him get away!"

Prefect Jia turned to see a tide of citizens pouring out of the alley. Before he could shout a command, people surged forward and tore the hay off the carts.

On the carts lay people—men, women, the elderly, and children, all bound and unconscious. They were buried in the hay like corpses, their tattered clothes revealing crusted blood and bruises, some wounds festering and giving off a foul stench.

The guards stepped back, recoiling from the sight. The angry crowd roared: "Corrupt official! We’ve caught you red-handed!"

"Harm the people? You call yourself a father to this city?"

"Seize him! Do not let him escape!"

Prefect Jia was stunned, but it was too late to run. The crowd surged from all sides, joined even by the guards. Hands grabbed his hair, and his clothes were shredded. In the chaos, he caught a glimpse of a face... he tried to scream a name, but the crowd crushed him to the ground.

...

Cheng Ruyi was dragging Young Master Han at the back of the crowd. Hearing the noise, Han wanted to get closer to watch, but Cheng Ruyi pulled him back.

"Sister-in-law, what are you doing?" Han asked. "It's a grand spectacle, why not get a closer look?"

Cheng Ruyi couldn't be bothered with the title. "Are you going to listen to me or not?"

Han bit his lip and nodded heavily. Without the protection of Han Shaozhen, he was like a fish out of water. Cheng Ruyi was the only one he could trust.

"Then stay close," she said. "Don't..."

Before she could finish, they emerged from the alley to a cacophony of heart-wrenching screams and waves of curses.

Cheng Ruyi’s breath hitched. Han stood on tiptoes, trying to see, but Cheng Ruyi gripped his wrist tightly.

"Don't look," she whispered.

Lin Jiangyue and Yan Kuang finally reached the gate. Lin Jiangyue stood with her saber, unable to approach the wall of innocent people. Yan Kuang sighed, his fists clenching and unclenching.

"How could it be such a coincidence..." Cheng Ruyi murmured.

To run into the mastermind right at the city gate at the height of the public's fury—it was indeed too convenient.

A faint light broke through the clouds, watching the human tragedy—or farce—unfold. The crowd had lost all reason, fueled by Luo Shaofeng’s testimony and the horror before them. They trampled and tore at the Prefect, as if staining their hands with his blood would crown them with justice.

Prefect Jia’s leg bones were shattered, and he was crushed into the earth, his internal organs pulverized. He could no longer even scream.

Only when the military officers arrived to restore order did the crowd disperse. Cheng Ruyi finally saw the scene: three carts, each carrying a dozen bound, gagged victims.

The true victims were finally saved.

Young Master Han ran to the wall to vomit. Yan Kuang, long accustomed to the horrors of the Surveillance Bureau, remained stoic. Cheng Ruyi, having "enjoyed" the full services of the Bureau and spent a night in a mass grave, managed to hold her composure.

Lin Jiangyue rushed forward, ignoring the guards, searching frantically among the survivors.

"Xiao Hong... Xiao Hong! It's me! Xiao Hong!"

She called out, but the officers tried to stop her, thinking she was another madwoman. Luo Shaofeng emerged from the back and signaled the officers to stand down.

"Xiao Hong... there is no Xiao Hong," Lin Jiangyue said, her eyes vacant, looking around in a daze.

The hope she had clung to had shattered.

Luo Shaofeng stepped forward. "Alas, these poor souls... catching the Prefect red-handed is retribution enough. Lady Blade, grieve no more..."

Lin Jiangyue’s lips trembled, but before she could speak, Young Master Han let out a sudden, piercing cry!

He hesitated for a moment, then lunged toward the center, bypassing the bloodied mess, and threw himself onto a young boy who had just been lifted from a cart.

He widened his eyes, brushed aside the boy’s matted hair, and burst into tears.