Gu Yun noticed that most of the arrows were aimed at Lin Yue.
Lin Yue had clearly noticed it as well. The wooden lid he had been using to preserve his life had instead become a hindrance.
He threw aside the wooden lid, gripped a wooden staff, and swept away the arrows flying at him from three directions. The soles of his feet struck the ground as he surged forwards at speed. After batting aside several volleys of arrows, he reached one of the archers. Catching the man in a moment of shock, his arm jerked, shaking loose the dagger he had tucked into his sleeve pouch, and the blade sliced across the man’s carotid artery.
Blood sprayed across his face.
“Whoosh!” The sound of arrowheads tearing through the air rang out. Lin Yue glanced sideways and saw several feathered arrows flying towards him.
He grabbed the shoulder of the doomed archer, who was clutching at his neck and wheezing for breath, and dragged him in front as a shield.
Most of the arrows drove into the man’s body with a series of wet thuds. The remaining arrows shot straight towards Lin Yue. He released the body, raised the wooden staff, swept several arrows aside, and dashed towards a nearby alley.
Several cries of pain sounded behind him. The people who had fought their way out alongside him had fallen.
Lin Yue did not look back. He had only just reached the mouth of the alley when two men sprang out wielding machetes, hacking directly at his head. With a single strike of his staff, Lin Yue knocked the machetes from their hands, then raised his long leg and kicked them several metres away before continuing onwards.
He had only taken a single step when an earth-shaking roar of killing suddenly erupted.
Lin Yue turned his head and saw a group of people with turbid auras, brandishing all manner of sharp weapons, charging towards the burning county yamen.
They were going in to kill.
Lin Yue’s face darkened. At that very moment, “Whoosh!” another volley of arrows flew towards him.
The alley was narrow and blocked many of the arrows. He only needed to deal with several of them.
The two men he had kicked away scrambled back to their feet, picked up their machetes, and charged over again.
Lin Yue had no time to deal with every arrow. With one hand, he snatched away one of the men’s machetes and thrust it backwards, stabbing through the other man’s stomach. Then his fingers flipped, producing the dagger once more and finishing off the first man. Yet although this let him dispatch the enemies, it also left him unable to deal with the two remaining arrows.
One arrow veered off course, striking the ground and bouncing away.
The other, however, flew true and embedded itself directly into his abdomen.
Lin Yue broke out in cold sweat from the pain. Through the crowd and the glow of the flames, he cast one glance towards the county yamen, snapped off the shaft of the arrow, and, taking advantage of the moment when the archers were nocking fresh arrows, darted into a pitch-black alley.
“He didn’t even turn back. Truly cold-hearted,” the lead archer said frostily as he watched the figure vanish from sight.
This man was none other than the black-clothed man from before.
“And we’re just letting him run off like that?” the person beside him asked.
“Don’t worry. He won’t get far!”
…
Gu Yun prayed that Lin Yue would be able to find reinforcements, but before that, he had to deal with the group of knife-wielding men who had barged through the gates.
This group was dressed in a complete mishmash. Strips of cloth with two holes cut into them covered their eyes, while damp cloths wrapped around their mouths and noses. Tall, short, fat, thin, they all looked different.
They had no discipline whatsoever. As soon as they rushed in, they shouted wildly and scattered in all directions, snatching gold, silver, and jewels while killing anyone they encountered.
Their attacks were vicious, utterly fearless, and entirely without method. Judging from their bearing, their weapons, and everything else about them, they were either bandits who had spent years burning, killing, and pillaging, or desperate fugitives wandering from place to place.
The conclusion filled Gu Yun with dread.
How could ordinary people possibly stand against men like these?
Squinting through eyes that had been streaming constantly from the smoke, he looked around and spotted a rockery in one corner of the courtyard. He hurried over to hide behind it. Two young maids were already crouching inside, clutching one another and sobbing softly.
Gu Yun said, “Stop crying. It’ll draw the wolves over.”
Fortunately, the two maids listened and hurriedly covered their mouths.
Gu Yun heard pleas for mercy, sounds of fighting, and agonised screams rising and falling all around him. His face turned pale as gold paper and cold sweat streamed down his body. It was not that he did not want to save people, but right now he could barely save himself. Gu Yun thought bitterly to himself that he truly was a selfish and self-serving person.
Suddenly, the sound of a child crying came from nearby.
Gu Yun poked his head out from behind the rockery and saw that the cries belonged to Magistrate Gu’s son.
Madam Gu was holding the child while a servant escorted them away towards another part of the compound.
The maid who had been carrying the child earlier had just had her head chopped off. Having witnessed it with his own eyes, the child burst into loud wails.
The steward and that scholar were nowhere to be seen.
Magistrate Gu lay sprawled on the ground with a knife wound in his chest, his life or death uncertain.
Gu Yun noticed that two villains had already fixed their eyes on Madam Gu retreat after hearing the child crying. Laughing madly, they gripped their knife hilts and advanced step by step. The servant tried to protect his mistress, only to be run through with a single stab.
The two men kicked the corpse aside and sneered, “Oi, where do you think you’re taking that little bastard?”
The child cried even louder. Madam Gu clapped a hand over his mouth, her lips trembling as she said, “You only want money, don’t you? I know where the money is! I’m the magistrate’s wife!” As she spoke, she stripped off all the gold and silver ornaments from her hair and wrists and threw them at the men. “These, these as well. Please spare the two of us.”
The men did not even glance at the valuables and simply kicked them aside.
“That’s your attitude when begging?” The damned smoke was so thick that even killing people no longer felt satisfying.
Tears brimming in her eyes, Madam Gu dropped to her knees with the child in her arms.
The two men burst into cackling laughter at the sight.
Madam Gu pressed the child down as well, making him kneel with her while the pair kowtowed repeatedly. “Please spare us!”
After tormenting them to their satisfaction, the two men raised their knives. Bright orange-red firelight reflected from the gleaming blades. Then, with a loud clang, both knives crashed to the ground. One man collapsed, while the other screamed and clutched the back of his neck.
Blood streamed through his fingers. Baring his teeth viciously, he whipped around and saw an exceptionally beautiful “woman”. Using the crackling of the burning house as cover, the person had somehow crept up behind them and struck from the shadows.
Under normal circumstances, lust would certainly have arisen in him. But at this moment, all he felt was blazing fury. His reason had already been burnt away as he spun around and lunged forwards.
“You damned bitch, I’ll kill you!”
Gu Yun dropped the other large goose-egg stone he had been clutching in one hand, tightened his grip on the kitchen cleaver he had picked up from the ground earlier, clenched his back teeth, and hacked down at the man’s head. Blood from the black cleaver dripped onto the man’s tangled hair. The razor-sharp blade split open his scalp, then struck the hard skull with a clang. The skull cracked apart, and white matter mixed with dark red blood burst out.
Gu Yun was splattered all over. Several drops landed on his lips. He pressed them together and tasted a rusty tang.
He yanked the cleaver back out. Unsure whether the man was dead or alive, he hacked down several more times.
“Gu… Gu-niangzi…” Madam Gu stammered shakily.
Gu Yun tightened his grip on the cleaver’s handle and said, “Take the young master and leave quickly.”
Madam Gu was plainly terrified. It took her several tries before she managed to stand. Tugging the child along, she hurriedly retreated. The child had also been frightened senseless and by now could not even cry anymore.
Gu Yun drew a deep breath. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed several accomplices of the two villains spotting what had happened and hurrying over. He did not dare linger for even a moment and immediately turned and ran.
After several days of treatment with medicinal soups and ointments, his knees no longer hurt unbearably when he ran. At a crucial moment like this, he was still able to force himself onwards.
He was not going back to the other side of the rockery lest he implicate innocent people.
“Stop right there! Today we’re going to skin you alive!” Several villains gave chase behind him. The one whose head he had smashed from behind and knocked unconscious had also regained consciousness and joined the pursuit, cursing furiously as he ran.
Gu Yun was hardly foolish enough to obey them and simply kept running.
The blazing flames scorched the brick ground until it cracked apart, while the leaves of the plants curled and yellowed from the heat.
The cold sweat soaking Gu Yun’s body was forcibly dried by the searing air. He was panting violently and, even through the damp handkerchief, he struggled to breathe.
Seeing that there was almost no path to survival left, he looked towards the burning main residence in the rear courtyard of the county yamen and plunged straight inside.
The rear residence of the county yamen, where the magistrate lived, was a fairly large compound divided into front and rear courtyards.
Gu Yun had previously been in the rear courtyard. After circling around the yamen with the villains, he had now returned there once again.
The villains immediately halted outside. After pausing for a moment, they cautiously started edging inwards.
Seeing this, Gu Yun went further inside, turned another corner, and entered the left side room where the smoke and flames were so thick that anyone entering could barely see a thing.
The villains stopped advancing. Spitting on the ground, they retreated outside and stood guard there instead.
After entering the side room, Gu Yun found a corner to stand in, though he did not dare lean against the walls.
The entire county yamen had been constructed using a combination of brick and wood.
At this moment, the brick walls had already been heated until they were scorching hot. Touching them would certainly strip away a layer of skin.
Gu Yun intended to wait a little while before going back out.
By then, they probably would no longer be guarding the place. Even if they still were, there would be no other choice. He had to go out eventually. Otherwise, once the wooden roof beams burned through and the debris above collapsed, he would surely be buried alive.
To meet requirements such as load-bearing, waterproofing, and heat insulation, multiple layers had been built between the roof beams and grey tiles, including rafters, roof boards, and backing layers.
Together, they formed a complete roofing structure system.
The fire raged fiercely all around him and overhead. Cracking sounds rose one after another without pause, while sparks burst out from time to time and scattered onto Gu Yun’s body. He forced himself to keep his eyes open and constantly checked his clothing. The damp handkerchief he had been using to cover his mouth and nose had already dried out and had almost completely lost its ability to block the smoke.
It was so choking.
Gu Yun could not help coughing. His throat felt painfully dry, as though it had been stuffed full of ash.
Gu Yun endured for a little while longer before hearing a faint sound coming from overhead. Realising he could not wait any longer, he immediately ran outside. Perhaps the heat had muddled his mind, or perhaps the thick smoke had left him dazed, or maybe his brain was beginning to suffer from lack of air, but as he ran his entire body swayed unsteadily. As he passed the main hall, he narrowly avoided being struck by falling debris.
Once outside the building, things improved somewhat, even though flames still surrounded the area on all sides.
Gu Yun suspected that for the fire to spread so quickly and so fiercely, there had to be a traitor within the county yamen. Oil must also have been splashed throughout the compound. But the fire had erupted too quickly, and the people trying to kill them had arrived too quickly as well, leaving no opportunity to verify his suspicions.
Standing in an open space, he took several breaths and finally managed to steady himself.
The villains had already left.
He let out a sigh of relief, stepped over the corpses strewn across the ground, found shelter behind a tree beside the wall, and hid there, waiting for a chance of survival.
He was not certain such a chance would come… but Lin Yue had promised he would not abandon him and flee alone.
In Gu Yun’s view, if Lin Yue were clever, he would leave this place forever.
Such a massive disaster had struck the county yamen, yet even after so much time no one had come to rescue them. That could only mean there was no rescuing them.
Zhuyang County’s military strength had long since collapsed.
…
The county’s defences primarily relied upon the garrison troops, supplemented by the yamen archers, constables, and temporary village militia. During exceptional times, the local gentry and scholars within the county would also participate in mobilisation.
Lin Yue first made his way to the garrison. The sight that greeted him nearly made him laugh from sheer fury.
The entire garrison was drinking. The stench of alcohol permeated the air. Several wine jars lay overturned upon the ground, and everyone from the officers down to the ordinary soldiers had collapsed unconscious.
Lin Yue picked up one of the jars. The pale yellow liquid sloshing inside was fine yellow wine commonly sold on the market. Looking again at the wine placed upon the officers’ table, he saw that it was not yellow wine. Although he did not recognise the variety, its fragrance alone revealed that it was far more expensive.
Without even tasting it, the scene before him was enough to tell him the wine had been drugged.
Wine sent over by Magistrate Wang’s people?
If they drank wine delivered by just anyone, what need was there for this army to continue existing?
What need was there for these officers to continue existing?!
Lin Yue lifted the wine jar and smashed it against an officer’s head. Once he had done so, he finally calmed down completely.
In truth, today’s situation had been doomed from the start. Doomed from the very first case of land annexation beyond the garrison.
The garrison system combined military and agricultural functions, relying upon military farms for self-sufficiency.
And if land annexation had already become so severe outside, as shown by the endlessly rising vegetable prices, then a place like the garrison, hardly isolated from the secular world, naturally could not remain untouched by it either.
Once land annexation appeared within the garrison, officers or local strongmen would seize vast tracts of military farmland. Military households deprived of their fields and unable to afford rent would fall into ruin and flee. The remaining military households would then be forced to shoulder the labour obligations of those who had fled. The hardship and exhaustion would only drive yet more people to desert.
In this way, the garrison troops would inevitably suffer from a shortage of soldiers.
The officers would continue reporting the original troop numbers in order to embezzle military pay. Their greed would only grow larger, leading them to commit still more illegal acts until the garrison became rotten to the core.
With troop numbers already insufficient and the garrison utterly corrupt, how could the army possibly be anything but vulnerable?
Being drugged by wine was nothing. Given the state of things, one day they might even slaughter each other over a single sentence.
Lin Yue strode quickly to the stables and found the officer’s horse. It was a fine chestnut horse, powerfully muscled, beautifully built, and glossy-coated. He swung himself onto its back and rode towards the nearest gentry household.
Since the garrison troops, the backbone of the county’s defences, could no longer stand firm, the supporting yamen archers, constables, and temporary village militia naturally became little more than loose sand.
So long as they were not even more useless than the garrison troops, that already counted as good. In every respect, especially treatment and pay, they were inferior to the garrison troops. Moreover, the temporary village militia had been disbanded after their last deployment. To gather them again required fresh recruitment orders from the county magistrate.
And right now, no one even knew whether the magistrate was dead or alive. What recruitment order could possibly be issued?
As Lin Yue saw it, if Zhuyang County wished to resist the enemy now, it could only rely upon the local gentry.
Though not officials, the gentry wielded influence equal to or greater than officials and stood above ordinary people in prestige. As the leading figures of their local communities, they often recruited able-bodied men, known as “tuan ding” or “yi yong”*, and organised militia forces according to the strength of their households.
(*TN: tuan ding = refers to members of a local militia unit called a “tuan” (团). These were usually locally organised, semi-official armed men raised by villages, clans, or local gentry to maintain security, guard against bandits, or assist government forces.
yi yong = literally means “righteous volunteers” and refers to irregular volunteer fighters raised in times of unrest or war.)
Relying upon official rank, landholdings, or clan prestige, the gentry appointed themselves militia heads. In peacetime they suppressed bandits and maintained local order. In wartime they built fortified strongholds for self-defence, effectively becoming the military backbone of the region.
Now that the county magistrate faced disaster, appealing to the gentry meant that, whether for profit or for righteousness, they would not simply stand by. If they contacted one another and gathered roughly a hundred men, tonight’s rescue could still succeed.
In truth, merely finding the two most famous gentry households in the county would have been enough to gather such numbers.
Yet when Lin Yue had passed through earlier on his way to the garrison, he had seen those households ablaze as well, with sounds of killing rising one after another. Chaos had already broken out there too.
Seeking help from them would therefore be less effective than turning to other gentry families. Those others could gather armed men and head to the rescue more swiftly.
Lin Yue thought bitterly: damned court. If I ever become an official, I will surely destroy you and overthrow this dynasty.
From the fragmented images flashing through his mind, Lin Yue could tell that he was most likely the son of a noble clan. As for precisely which clan, he would only be able to deduce it once more memories surfaced.
Most of those fragments involved temples, depicting his daily life there: writing, reading, martial training, and meals.
As Lin Yue rode towards the home of a nearby gentry household, his path was suddenly blocked by a group of men.
They belonged to the same faction as the attackers from before. All had their faces concealed. Once they blocked his way, they said nothing, merely dismounting and charging at him with drawn blades.
They hacked at the horse’s legs, injuring both. The horse toppled sideways. Lin Yue leapt from the saddle, gripped the machete he had seized earlier, killed the foremost few men, and retreated towards the marketplace.
His abdomen was wounded and the bleeding had not yet stopped. It was unwise to fight them head-on. Retreating was the best option. The marketplace provided plenty of cover and made escape easier.
Lin Yue swiftly passed through the marketplace and temporarily shook them off, though he himself acquired several fresh wounds in the process. Leaning against the damp wall of an alleyway, he loosened his outer robe and used his dagger to slice several strips of cloth from the hem of his inner garment. Twisting two strips into one, he bound both the arrow wound and a newly added serious gash.
Blood quickly soaked through the cloth strips, though it was better than nothing.
Lin Yue retied his outer robe and breathed heavily under his breath as he considered what to do next.
The enemy knew he needed the support of the local gentry, and they also knew he had headed in this direction. If he now used this location as a base and searched for gentry households within the furthest range he could travel on foot, they would inevitably discover him.
He needed transport. A horse or even a donkey, it made no difference. He needed something to ride.
At that very moment, the crisp sound of horse hooves came from next door.
