Chapter 293: Treading the Same Path (II)

At dawn, the gates of Dansui County opened, and Le Wuya, who had tidied himself up, wrapped in a gray cloth headscarf with a cloth satchel slung diagonally over his shoulder, staggered into the city.

The guard at the city gate rubbed the sleep from his eyes and, seeing such an ordinary man trudging in alone with his head hanging low and a dejected air, without even a pack animal for transport, carrying only a thin bundle on his back—the stuff of legend compared to the imperial censor—couldn't be bothered to question him and let him pass.

Once past the city gate, Le Wuya shook off his listless act, threw back his shoulders, and quickened his pace, moving faster and faster. Taking advantage of the faint morning light, he made his way without stopping to the back alley of the Niu Family Inn.

After the disaster, Dansui had even fewer people out and about than before, and the town stirred even later than usual.

In such an atmosphere, the lookouts around the Niu Family Inn didn't dare draw too much attention.

Watching day and night would be way too obvious.

Besides, this VIP didn't exactly look like a censor. He stayed holed up at the inn, sleeping in, but he was picky and greedy—he sent his attendant out for all three meals.

They watched until their eyes went blurry, but couldn't make heads or tails of it. Eventually, too worn out to keep watching, they simply slept a bit more.

Le Wuya picked this moment when the watchers were most drowsy. With a leap, he used the gaps between the bricks as footholds, shimmied up the drainpipe to the second floor, and slipped through the window into his room without a sound.

Qin Xingyue, who had been sleeping fully clothed, heard the commotion and shot up from the bed like a jack-in-the-box.

Seeing Le Wuya return but bearing wounds, his eyes went wide. He stood frozen for a beat, then without a word, grabbed the medicine and went to put it on him.

Le Wuya pushed his hand away, sat down at the table, grabbed something at random from the pile of snacks Qin Xingyue had bought, and wolfed it down.

As he hurriedly regained his strength, he gave Qin Xingyue a quick rundown of everything he had seen and heard over the past day and night.

Qin Xingyue: "..."

He had only heard half of it before his head was spinning, like it might explode.

Le Wuya finished his account in one breath and, seeing Qin Xingyue dumbfounded, couldn't help but laugh. He gave the man's knee a light kick: "What part didn't you get?"

Qin Xingyue latched onto the one thing that worried him most: "Sir... why won't you put on the medicine?"

"This?" Le Wuya tilted his neck, a smirk curling at the corner of his mouth. "Saving it to squeeze someone for money."

Qin Xingyue was completely baffled.

If he had it straight, since arriving in Dansui, his master had done the following:

Used both threats and sweet talk on a Changmen Guard.

Sneaked into the mine through a back way.

Killed four soldiers who'd tried to rob him on the road.

And now he was going to shake someone down.

...The master's stint as a censor was quite the ride.

But Qin Xingyue did as he was told anyway.

If the master was going to shake someone down, he needed a full stomach first.

He set aside the medicine, handed him a cold meat bun, and poured a cup of tea: "Sir, this one's better hot. Once we're done, I'll get you one straight off the griddle."

"This'll do."

Le Wuya gave him a brilliant smile, then suddenly remembered something. He opened the thin bundle and pulled out a dusty cornmeal flatbread: "Ah, almost forgot."

With that, he simply peeled off the dirty outer layer and took a bite without a second thought.

Qin Xingyue's heart ached for him: "Sir, that's too rough to eat. Have something better."

Le Wuya chewed as he spoke: "Can't let it go to waste."

It was a bite of food Granny Sun had scrimped and saved. He couldn't just throw it away.

...

The previous evening, Zhong Piaoping had ridden posthaste to the Dansui County office, bringing the miner's corpse, the unconscious A Shun, and the witness—the young Changmen Guard Ji Zhun—to beat the drum and file a complaint.

The County Vice Magistrate stationed at the county office, surnamed Jian with the given name He, lacked the skill of Sun Ru, the former Deputy Magistrate of Nanting, who could manipulate situations with ease. He only had the authority to detain, not to try cases. After accepting the complaint and learning that it accused yamen runners of murder, his head swelled to twice its size.

This matter was truly bizarre.

The duty roster clearly recorded that A Shun should have been excavating for survivors at Xiaolian Mountain. How could he suddenly turn and attack a survivor?

And Magistrate Zhou wasn't even in town. What was he to do?

Jian He dared not act on his own authority. He wanted to ride out to seek Magistrate Zhou's instructions, but by then it was already dark and the city gates had been closed.

In Dansui County, Zhou Wenchang had always handled everything, big and small, with an iron grip. Deputy Magistrate Jian was nothing but an honest auxiliary official who wouldn't even dare to act in his stead—how could he bear the responsibility of opening the city gates without authorization?

So the miner's corpse was placed in the underground cellar for proper preservation, and Deputy Magistrate Jian urgently summoned the coroner to conduct an autopsy on the spot.

As for the wounded A Shun, suspected of murder, the injured Zhong Piaoping, and Ji Zhun, who claimed he was just passing by—they were all granted a fine private cell in the prison.

As Zhong Piaoping was being escorted into the county jail, he happened to brush past a physician carrying a medicine box.

Zhong Piaoping glanced toward the cell the physician had just exited—

Well, well. An old acquaintance.

Wang Cheng, who had just had his wounds dressed, was leaning against the wall. Seeing Zhong Piaoping pass by, his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, then he looked away.

The Dansui County prison held few inmates, and since Wang Cheng and Zhong Piaoping had entered one after the other, they were assigned as neighbors.

Once the jailers had left, Wang Cheng silently shuffled over and asked in a low voice: "Why are you in here?"

Zhong Piaoping: "You?"

Wang Cheng: "I extorted a merchant."

Zhong Piaoping: "I killed someone."

Wang Cheng: "...I didn't blackmail anyone."

Zhong Piaoping: "I really did kill."

Wang Cheng: "..."

Zhong Piaoping added: "Just didn't succeed."

Wang Cheng stared at Zhong Piaoping, a storm raging in his mind.

But before the waves in his head could settle, someone tossed a Thunderclap Bomb into the mix.

Before long, the commotion outside grew louder.

The jailers shoved two people in and tossed them into the cell across from Zhong Piaoping and Wang Cheng.

Le Wuya strolled in, looked around, picked the spot with the softest straw, and sat down cross-legged. He even found time to flash Wang Cheng a smile.

Qin Xingyue was more direct. Sporting a face that had clearly taken a punch, he bared his teeth at Wang Cheng in a grin.

Wang Cheng stared, dumbfounded, and for a moment forgot to keep pretending he was sick.

The chief jailer of the county jail hadn't been on duty the night before. He'd just finished breakfast outside and was still thinking about Wang Cheng—the extortionist who'd gotten his head knocked. Picking his teeth, he poked his head in for a look. The sight of the packed cell stunned him. He turned to the jailer on duty. "What's all the ruckus today?"

"No idea."

"What are they all in for?"

"The magistrate hasn't come back yet, so no court's been held—none of them have been sentenced yet. See those two? They got locked up last night, said they hurt someone in self-defense. The yamen didn't give details, just said to stick them here. The other two, brought in this morning, were trying to extort money from Niu's Inn. Claimed a door curtain hook cut their neck and demanded ten taels of silver from the innkeeper. Next thing you know, words turned to blows, and the clerk ran off to report it."

The chief jailer scratched his head. "Then they probably won't be dealt with for a while. Just now I saw the magistrate come back with his men, saying they're going to post notices to arrest someone."

"Arrest who?"

"Seems four people from the mines got killed. A cowherd found the bodies this morning—he saw four horses grazing out in the wild, went over for a look, and lo and behold, four corpses piled in a ditch by the road. The old man nearly scared himself into a fit, rushed to report it, and just happened to run into the magistrate coming back from Xiaolian Mountain. So he took it straight to him."

"...Huh?" The jailer's face went pale. "What kind of monster could kill four people in one go?"

"No idea. Out in the wilds, they say they were mountain bandits who fled down from Xiaolian Mountain... Strange, though. That mountain was sealed up tight as an iron barrel, and it's been hit by disaster—how could bandits still be holed up there?"

The chief jailer lowered his voice, still shaken. "I took a look—seems they were all killed by arrows. Brutal, I tell ya... I'm telling you all, don't go wandering around outside no more. Who knows, someone might give you the same treatment on the neck..."

They muttered among themselves and wandered off.

Wang Cheng slowly turned his gaze back to Le Wuya.

When it came to archery, he did know one such "fiend" who was skilled at it.

Le Wuya turned his face away and lazily began to whistle.

Wang Cheng: "..." Well, case closed.

He pressed his burning forehead against the wall, cooling it down while racking his brain over how to break this situation.