Hong Fei tested a low kick, then snapped it back when Two Clubs sent the next strike downward. The dūtóu’s knife licked out to catch the gang member’s hand, yet the other club came smashing toward Hong Fei’s own hand.
The stalemate persisted—knives and clubs trading attacks—while the clamor of battle sounded from below. The presence of Auntie Ling and Sun Han persisted in Hong Fei’s mind, so his two summonses were still in play. They seemed to be already moving deeper into the building.
The corridor’s end was coming up behind Hong Fei. He tightened his defenses and shortened the length of his steps. His opponent, meanwhile, grinned at seeing him about to be constrained; there was no more room for retreating. Two Clubs would be able to use his weapons’ reach to its full advantage then.
In that moment of his opponent’s anticipation, when the situation was its brightest for Two Clubs, Hong Fei spit. Fueled by essence, the saliva shot forward to strike the gang member in the eyes, causing him to flinch.
The clubs moved out of position, which opened the path for Hong Fei to slip to the side and stab his foe between the ribs. A stutter step allowed the dūtóu to draw his knife along the side of Two Club’s neck. Then turning, he carved into the man’s upper arm, before—feet settling—he took a close, forward fighting stance. Hong Fei sent his other knife stabbing toward his enemy’s kidney.
One wound, Two Clubs might’ve fought through, but this sudden accumulation was too much. Essence bled into the air as the gang member panicked. Hong Fei used his opponent’s disorientation to sweep the man’s feet out from under him, then stabbed him repeatedly until his opponent’s body shuddered and went still.
Blood had splashed the walls, adding to the copper tang in the air. The stink of piss wrinkled Hong Fei’s nose, yet he took a deep breath anyway, enjoying the sweetness of his victory.
Rising, he left the body to glance inside each of the rooms. There were more sleep quarters, as well as a kitchen and a lounge, but nothing obviously helpful or interesting. The second floor appeared to be a place for the Rock Knives to rest or wait for assignments while in the middle city. There were none of the offices or storerooms he’d hoped to find.
Hong Fei retrieved “his” crossbow and re-cocked it. He added to his collection of bolts by looting more from his opponents. Moving to the top of the stairs, he peeked below to see that the main hall stretched before him. The ground was littered with bodies: one a Yu soldier and the rest Rock Knives. Most of the visible wounds were consistent with what one would expect from a giant badger’s claws, though a few of the dead appeared to have been either stabbed or cut by a sword.
A handful of Yu soldiers had remained in the main hall to guard against Rock Knife reinforcements.
“Friend here,” Hong Fei yelled out. “The second floor’s clear of enemies.”
The soldiers below recognized his voice, so no new crossbow bolts came his way when he stepped out into the open. Hong Fei once again let the qi he’d prepared in case of accident or betrayal return to its ready state.
He took the steps down two at a time. “Report!” he demanded.
A soldier saluted. “A count of three Qi Gathering retreated before our spirit beast could get to them. These…” He gestured toward the bodies on the ground. “The enemy threw them at the beast to win time to escape.”
“Her name is Ling,” Hong Fei corrected, then asked, “Just three?”
“That were obvious, yes sir.”
Hong Fei’s eyes swept the main hall. He saw a goodly number of tables and chairs, now in questionable condition thanks to the fighting; cups and dishware still stained by the drink and food they’d contained; two partially empty racks of knives, clubs, and crossbows propped up against the wall opposite the front door; and a pair of small closets that looked to have already been searched.
The only major features were the stairway leading to the second floor at one end of the hall and a corridor at the other that led deeper into the building. Hong Fei rushed toward the corridor with crossbow at the ready.
He immediately came across the bodies of two more gangsters, both having been eviscerated. Hong Fei stepped over them, turned the corner, and saw that the dead Rock Knives had been guarding a reinforced door that was now blown off of its hinges. A crack ran through the wood, showing where it’d been struck by a mighty blow.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
On the other side, he found a handful of Yu soldiers stationed between what appeared to be a pair of cells for keeping prisoners. Hong Fei heard some of the captives inside being interrogated by one of Cai Shi’s people.
The soldiers spotted the dūtóu and made way for him. “Keep going, sir,” one called out. “The corridor follows the shape of the building.”
Hong Fei acknowledged the information, his head turning left and right to catch the details of the cells he was passing. Nearly a dozen people were crammed into the cells, all of them dressed like laborers. He skidded to a stop when he saw three separate white number 1s among them.
“Who are these prisoners?” the dūtóu asked.
“Just ordinary folk,” the same soldier replied.
The one who’d been conducting the interrogations added, “Sir, there’s a man whose name is on the list found at the Dreaming Ox.” The soldier gestured toward a numberless fellow with a thick mustache, slicked-back hair, and a large mole to the right of his mouth. “You there! Step forward and introduce yourself to the dūtóu!”
The man flinched, yet there was nowhere for him to hide from the attention. The other prisoners nearby shifted to push him out toward the front. Seeing no escape, the man ducked his head and replied, “Noble, sir. I’m called Many Sons. How can I serve?”
Hong Fei recalled the name. The laborer was one of the people thought to be missing.
“I’ll interview him and the rest later,” Hong Fei said to the soldier. His eyes took in the crowd, lingering on the faces of the people with numbers above them. “Keep them all safe for me.”
The soldier saluted. “Yes, sir!”
Hong Fei gave the prisoners one last look before leaving. The sound of battle had become muffled in the intervening time. His sense for Auntie Ling and Sun indicated that they were now underground.
He began to rush again, then quickly moved aside as a Yu soldier came barreling from around the next corner. The woman carried a heavy chest with both hands, a wild grin on her face.
“Sir, I’m sorry, sir.” She’d apologized but hadn’t stopped for the dūtóu.
Another soldier followed on her heels with a second chest. In passing, he said, “Sir, sorry, sir. The shízhǎng’s orders were to not let anything stop us from stripping the place.”
In the corridor behind him were more members of Cai Shi’s squad, these soldiers organizing themselves in front of a series of open doors. The dead Rock Knives had been moved to the sides of the corridor so that the soldiers could pass through without the bodies getting underfoot.
A Yu soldier emerged from one of the rooms with a basket in her hands. She carried the load toward Hong Fei, also hurrying for the exit behind the dūtóu.
“Sir, excuse me, sir,” she said, nodding in place of a salute.
More soldiers began to emerge from the rooms, each carrying crates, chests, or baskets. Hong Fei strode past the line of goods, thinking that the raid was already proving to be productive. He also wondered if the three number 1s among the prisoners coincided with the three Qi Gatherers who’d fled at the onset of the raid on the building. His sense of anticipation grew.
The next turn in the corridor revealed a staircase leading underground. Each of the steps creaked as Hong Fei stepped onto them. Below, he saw a sconce casting a wavering light onto the body of a Rock Knife sprawled across the bottom step. Beyond him, a knife and club had been carved into the marble floor, their channels red from the blood spilled into them.
The entire landing was only about a zhang wide and long, but engravings covered the walls. There were picks and hammers, as well as scenes of laborers toiling to break stones as large as the people.
No sharks or tigers down here, Hong Fei observed. I wonder why that is.
He moved toward another smashed door, this one thicker than the one upstairs. Through it was a finely appointed lounge, though the furniture was strewn about like it’d been knocked aside in a rush. There were only a few tables, chairs, and couches, but each was exquisite in its craftsmanship.
And here were the images of sharks that Hong Fei had expected. He found them stitched into the upholstery and swimming through the paintings on the walls. In addition, eels were carved into the backs of the couches, and lamps in the shape of razor fish hung from the ceiling. If this lounge was a pool, it wouldn’t be a pleasant place to swim, Hong Fei thought.
Ugly Dog stood looking through an open doorway at the opposite end of the room. She turned and spotted Hong Fei. “Through here, sir. They ran down this passage.”
“I heard there were three Qi Gathering,” Hong Fei said, striding toward her.
“At least that many,” she replied. She glanced curiously through the doorway once more. “There’s one with a shield who’s keeping us from following after the rest.”
The passage beyond was barely wide enough for a man to walk through without his shoulders touching the walls. That narrowness forced the Yu soldiers inside to form a line, with none of them able to help Auntie Ling at the front. The giant badger was pounding on a stone shield nearly the size of the passage.
Hong Fei’s scalp went numb. “Get out of there! All of you! Right now!”
The soldiers in the passage turned to look behind them.
“Are you idiots?” the dūtóu yelled. “Hurry and do as you're ordered!”
He watched helplessly as they turned themselves around and worked their way out into the lounge. That included, thank the heavens, the still-alive Yu Yong.
“Where are your heads!” Hong Fei demanded of them. “Gods, it’s like none of you have ever fought in a siege before.”
“What—” Yu Yong began.
Hong Fei’s glare silenced him. “An artifact like the one that took our xiàowèi’s arm would’ve killed you all, so could’ve a Qi Blossoming swordsman with a single stroke, not to mention anything as mundane as crossbow artillery.” He took a breath to cool his temper. “When assaulting an enemy fortification, don’t bunch up and don’t form lines if you can help it.”
The last to leave the narrow passage were a sheepish Sun Han and an embarrassed Cai Shi.
“It was intoxicating to follow in Auntie Ling’s wake,” the scholar reported. “Her strength. I lost myself in the fighting.”
“My apologies, sir,” the shízhǎng added. “I should’ve realized the potential for a trap.”
“The most important thing is to keep your heads,” Hong Fei told them both. He checked the passage and saw that Auntie Ling had stayed inside to continue occupying the Rock Knives’ defender. Turning to Sun Han, he said, “Take Yu Yong and go upstairs to retrieve as much lamp oil as you can find. If we can’t break the stone shield, we’ll cook the meat behind it.”
ten chapters ahead. :)
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Auntie Ling, a summon
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Sun Han, a summon
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Ugly Dog, a former Rock Knife now working for Hong Fei's courtyard
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Cai Shi, a shízhǎng of Yu soldiers responsible for the morning gate
- Yu Yong, the brother of the Yu duchess