Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Once the chaos started, it got a lot easier for Xie Licheng to make his move.

Xie Licheng glanced toward the explosions and decided to leave the protagonist's crew alone for now.

Whether it was Lingzhou or the Great Zhou, the whole place was rotten to the core—there was no reason for it to keep going.

Of course, his lack of support for the Great Zhou didn't mean he supported the protagonist's group either.

He was all for rebellion, but not for burning, killing, and looting as they went.

That wasn't rebellion—that was just a bunch of sociopaths who finally had an excuse to kill and burn without consequences.

They killed any man who wouldn't join them, raped omegas and women, and tortured old folks and kids to death.

They didn't act like rebels—they acted like an invading army.

Xie Licheng had zero respect for people like that.

A few garrison soldiers shouted, "What's going on? What was that sound?"

"Sounds like thunder, and there's fire. Let's go see what's going on."

But before they could check it out, all hell broke loose outside the city gates.

The merchant caravan hadn't brought in that many people—there was no way they could take the city on their own.

Obviously, they were just there to cause a distraction—the real force was probably still outside.

When explosions started going off outside too, the civilians nearby scattered in a panic.

They were just unarmed civilians—one bandit showing up would scare them half to death.

Besides, they weren't desperate enough yet—most people wouldn't just start hurting others in a situation like this.

While the garrison soldiers went to check the city gates, the yamen runners guarding the prisoners stayed on task, still determined to haul the "criminals" to the government office.

Xie Licheng followed them all the way to the yamen.

He noticed the runners didn't go in through the front door—they ducked into an alley next to the yamen instead.

Xie Licheng moved to keep following, but one of the runners spotted him.

The runner blocked the alley, staring at Xie Licheng as he drew his sword. "This is government property. No outsiders allowed."

Xie Licheng just smiled and kept walking.

The runner cursed at him, "You deaf or you got a death wish?!"

With that, he raised his sword and moved in on Xie Licheng.

When the guy got within about six feet, Xie Licheng lunged and snapped his neck clean.

Since it was a neck snap, there wasn't a sound.

The runner's sword was still up when Xie Licheng grabbed it out of his hand as he crumpled.

Xie Licheng chuckled softly, pulled out a mask, put it on, and kept following the group.

When Xie Licheng caught up, two runners were shoving the prisoners through a small door into the yamen.

Hearing footsteps behind them, they figured it was just one of their guys.

But when they turned around, it wasn't the runner who'd gone to stop him—it was some guy in a weird mask.

The two runners looked at each other, and one reached for a wanted poster to compare.

But the second he reached for it, the runner next to him got his head chopped off.

The runner with the poster dropped to his knees with a thud, tossing the poster aside as he begged, "Hero, hero, this lowly one didn't recognize you. Please, hero, spare my life."

Xie Licheng looked at him like he was an idiot, then raised his blade and cut him down without a second thought.

By then, the captured men had all recognized Xie Licheng.

But Xie Licheng's killing was so brutal that even after recognizing him, none of them dared to come close.

Xie Licheng cut the ropes on the men in front and asked, "How'd you end up getting caught by them?"

The young man from before whispered, "W-we'd already gotten down the mountain, but then we ran into the authorities. They grabbed us without even asking anything. They said... we were the bandits, that we killed an Imperial Official."

Xie Licheng: "Imperial Official? Who's that?"

Young man: "The bandit leader. The runners said he was an Imperial Official, that he had a real government post."

Xie Licheng laughed. "What position could he have? The guy's illiterate—he couldn't pass the imperial exams if his life depended on it... unless he bought the title?"

He paused. Buying official posts was rampant in the Great Zhou. The bandit leader had looted so much gold and treasure—maybe he'd guessed right, and the guy really had bought his way into office.

The thought of someone like that becoming an official was a nightmare for anyone under his rule.

A bandit boss who burned, killed, and robbed without mercy, suddenly turned into a local magistrate.

God, what a sick joke was that?

Xie Licheng: "Forget them. The city's in chaos now—you all need to get out of here."

With that, Xie Licheng handed the young man a sword.

Seeing the blood still on the blade, the young man flinched and stepped back.

Xie Licheng couldn't be bothered with him anymore. He shoved past the people blocking the door and walked into the yamen.

Just then, a runner inside sensed something off and came out to check.

And then... he ran right into Xie Licheng.

Seeing Xie Licheng's nearly six-foot frame, he knew exactly who he was.

The runner shouted, "What the hell are you doing? This is the yamen, not some mountain!"

Xie Licheng dug a finger in his ear, thinking the guy was way too loud.

Xie Licheng asked, "Why'd you arrest them? Did the bandit leader buy his post from your boss?"

The runner's eyes flickered, then he turned and ran for his life.

Xie Licheng sighed. This guy really wasn't going to play straight.

Since I couldn't get anything out of him, there was no need to keep him alive.

With that thought, he pulled out a small dagger and aimed it at the back of his head.

Before Xie Licheng could hurl the dagger, a woman nearby suddenly shouted, "Kind sir, kind sir, please, save those girls and young men."

Xie Licheng didn't lower the dagger upon hearing her words but turned his gaze to the woman who had spoken.

He recognized her—she was from the mountain village.

Seeing him look her way, she quickly said, "A group of us were seized by the bailiffs, and they took Xiao Rui and the others aside. They said they'd sell them off. They entered the city ahead of us—who knows where they are now?"

Xie Licheng nodded in understanding. So that was why he hadn't seen those women and young men—they'd been split up and brought into the city first.

He reasoned the bailiffs knew selling women and young men wasn't exactly honorable, so to keep the residents of Lingzhou City from finding out, they'd secretly brought that group in separately.

But since they hadn't been separated for long, those women and young men were probably still safe for now.

Xie Licheng didn't waste any more time. He quickly entered the yamen, killed the guards, and freed the people inside.

As he watched them slip out through the side gate, the runner who had fled earlier returned with a large group.

Leading them was a middle-aged man with a beard, looking cultured and bookish.

He was likely the yamen's chief clerk, and his demeanor suggested he wasn't someone to take lightly.

The middle-aged man pointed at Xie Licheng and barked, "Who are you, you audacious thug? Do you know where you are?"

Xie Licheng urged those behind him to hurry out while casually answering, "I know. This is the government office."

"You know, and you still dared to break in—not only killing government officers but also releasing official prisoners."

"Prisoners? Who? What prisoners?"

The middle-aged man was infuriated by Xie Licheng's attitude and gestured to the runners behind him to prepare to seize him.

He refused to believe that once they had him strung up and beaten, he'd still be so cocky.

Then the messenger hurriedly whispered in his ear, "Sir, we're no match for him. This man is formidable—Lord Hu's second and third brothers both died at his hands."

The middle-aged man, the chief clerk, went even paler at that.

He snapped, "If we can't beat him, why did you summon me here?"

The runner looked wronged. "I thought you could muster some conscript soldiers, or even call in the garrison if possible."

"The city gates are in turmoil right now—where am I supposed to find the garrison?"

The garrison and the yamen were separate branches; the garrison wouldn't take orders from a mere clerk.

"Then... what should we do now?"

The chief clerk huffed and flicked his sleeves. "Never mind him. Come with me quickly to find the magistrate."

With that, he shot Xie Licheng a hateful glare and turned to flee with his men.

Xie Licheng didn't give chase immediately but used his dagger to stop one runner.

He needed to find out first where the little girl and those women and young men were.

As for the chief clerk and the prefect, the hero's men were all over the city outside—there was no way they'd escape now.

He could deal with them later.

Xie Licheng asked the runner he'd stopped, "Where are the women and young men who were with them?"

The runner initially tried to stay tough, but then he noticed that among the people Xie Licheng had freed, the young man and the strong young men hadn't left.

They'd picked up the runners' weapons and were now glaring at him with murder in their eyes.

Seeing that, the runner clutched his wounded neck and said, "This really isn't our fault—we were just following orders from our superiors."

The farmer, his eyes red with rage, demanded, "Where is he? Where is he?!"

He was asking about his young man, the one he'd only just obtained today.

He'd promised him he would protect him.

But before a single day had passed, he'd watched helplessly as they took him away.

The runner said, "They should have been sent to Yingchun Brothel."

Xie Licheng said, "Lead the way. If I find you're lying or stalling, I'll hang you up and slice you piece by piece."

The runner's face went pale, and he hurriedly led the way, clutching his wounded neck.

Yingchun Brothel wasn't far from the yamen, and they arrived quickly.

Since it was broad daylight and the city was in turmoil, the brothel had its doors shut when they got there.

Xie Licheng didn't go around or climb over the wall—he simply kicked the front door open.

Hearing the commotion at the entrance, several brothel workers rushed out.

Seeing the runner leading the way, one worker asked in confusion, "Officer, what's this about? Didn't we already pay the money?"

They'd done a cash-on-delivery deal, and they hadn't even had a chance to inspect the goods yet—why were they storming back in with such force?

The runner said bitterly, "They're not from the government. They're here for the women and young men."

Hearing they weren't officials, the workers immediately lost their fear.

Anyone in this trade wasn't clean to begin with.

So even with Xie Licheng and the others carrying blades, they didn't feel particularly rattled.

"Since you're not from the government, we won't be hosting you. Lingzhou City is in chaos today—you'd best not be so clueless."

The threat was clear, but it meant nothing to Xie Licheng.

He sliced off the arm of the worker who had spoken with a single stroke, sending shock through the runner and the brothel staff alike.

Xie Licheng asked, "Now, can you take us to see them?"

A man who looked like a steward stepped forward and said with a helpless tone, "We paid a hefty sum for those people. You can't just waltz in and take them away."

Seeing that the man wouldn't yield until it was too late, Xie Licheng simply cut his head off.

The rest of them immediately realized they'd bitten off more than they could chew.

With the steward dead, one of them pointed at the back door and said, "They're—they're all in the back courtyard."

Xie Licheng nodded and led his men toward the back courtyard.

The rest of them, including the yamen runner, all looked like they'd seen a ghost.

They'd seen ruthless men and fierce men, but never a killing god like this who wouldn't even waste a word.

When Xie Licheng got there, the madam of the Welcome Spring Pavilion was just about to inspect the goods with her people.

When the door was suddenly kicked open, the madam was still caught off guard.

When she saw the crowd outside, she shrieked, "Who are you people? Is there no law and order anymore?!"

The young man shouted, "Law? Buying these innocent people from the authorities is your idea of law?"

The madam said, "Honestly, if they weren't a bit good-looking, I wouldn't have wanted to buy them at all."

The young man said, "If you don't want them, then give them back!"

The madam said, "No way. We paid good money for them. If you want them, you'll have to pay double what we paid. Otherwise, not a single one leaves today."

At first, when Xie Licheng heard that money could settle it, he did briefly consider buying them out.

Not because he'd suddenly become reasonable, but because Lingzhou had fallen into chaos ahead of schedule, and gold and silver would soon be worthless.

His personal world was stocked with plenty of gold and treasure, and keeping it around just took up space.

He might as well spare a little and buy the people out quick and peaceful.

But since they insisted on double the price, Xie Licheng didn't feel like spending the money anymore.

Xie Licheng said, "If you're going to be this unreasonable, then I'll have no choice but to get rough with you."

The madam chuckled at that, crossing one leg over the other and looking up at Xie Licheng with a smirk. "I've been in this business for twenty years. Even the prefect of Lingzhou treats me with respect when he comes around. You young punk—small in years, big in temper—stirring up trouble on my turf, aren't you afraid you'll walk in but never walk out?!"

This time, before Xie Licheng could speak, the farmer said, "Benefactor, stop wasting your breath on her. Just kill her!"

Xie Licheng didn't kill the madam, but he sent a short blade flying, slicing a gash across her face.

The madam, who had just been acting like she was the baddest and toughest around, felt her eyelid twitch. Suddenly changing her tune, she let go of a woman beside her.

Covering her face, she laughed, "Hahaha, hahaha, we're all family, all family. No need to get upset, no need to get upset. We'll let them go right now. They're just a few women and young men—no big deal, no big deal."

As she spoke, she gestured for the thugs behind her to let the people go.

Since they were being cooperative, Xie Licheng didn't make things too difficult for them.

He'd said it before—he wasn't a bloodthirsty maniac.

As long as others didn't cause him trouble, he generally wouldn't cause them trouble either.

Xie Licheng successfully got the people out of the Welcome Spring Pavilion. He asked the ten-year-old girl, "Do you want to come with me from now on?"

The girl's eyes lit up at the question. "Really? Can Xiao Rui follow the Benefactor?"

Xie Licheng said, "As long as you don't cry or make a fuss, I'll give you food to eat and soup to drink."

The girl, Xiao Rui, quickly replied, "Yes, yes! Xiao Rui is willing to follow the Benefactor, to serve as a beast of burden and a servant for life."

Xie Licheng found her rather endearing and said with a smile, "I don't need you to be a beast of burden or a servant. You just need to help me tend the cattle and horses."

"That's wonderful! Xiao Rui was born in a mountain village—not only can she tend horses and cattle, but she can also do laundry, cook, and raise chickens, ducks, and geese."

Hearing this, the others also turned to look at Xie Licheng. The young man said to him, "Benefactor, can I follow you from now on too?"