Rescue
Jiang Wan quickly untied the ropes binding Sheng Zixu. The moment the ropes loosened, his limbs went weak, and his wrists trembled involuntarily.
The bruises around his wrists were exposed to the air. A sensation of soreness, numbness, swelling, and pain spread along his wrist bones, while his tense back finally relaxed.
He immediately pulled the cloth from his mouth and gave Jiang Wan a light scoff.
“Didn’t you say you’d come rescue me as soon as possible?”
“I’ve waited so long that even the turtles have learned to climb trees. And this is all you’re capable of?”
“You took so damn long!”
Jiang Wan couldn’t be bothered to argue with him. She grabbed him and rushed outside, drawing the dagger she carried for self-defense along the way. She used it to drive back the guards who rushed through the opened door.
“Hey, hey, hey! Pull a little more gently, will you? I just got out! Are you trying to abuse me?”
Jiang Wan retorted in a perfectly even voice, every word clear. “…Oh. Then go back. Those people won’t abuse you.”
Sheng Zixu didn’t even have time to consider that suggestion before Jiang Wan dragged him toward Ye Yurong and Lin Yuan.
Quite a few guards surrounded them along the way. Jiang Wan used her dagger to fend them off, putting force into her kicks and sending some of them flying.
Sheng Zixu, however, made absolutely no attempt to help. His excuse was, “I was captured and tortured here, and on top of that, I lost my memory. I’ve already forgotten how to use martial arts.”
Even someone as composed as Jiang Wan was so infuriated that she felt like hitting him. She was seriously considering grabbing him and using him as a “human shield.” At least that might make him speak less and cut down on the sarcasm.
Sheng Zixu raised his chin.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Weren’t you pretty arrogant when you tied me up?”
“Why are you so listless now? You look like an eggplant beaten down by frost. Don’t tell me you haven’t eaten? How pitiful. Tsk, tsk, tsk…”
“Overestimating yourselves. Jiang Wan, hurry, over there! Kick him, hurry! Jiang Wan, put some strength into it!”
Who could tolerate such provocation?
The guards surrounding the two immediately attacked even more fiercely.
Jiang Wan struggled to fend them off, inwardly wondering whether she should just throw Sheng Zixu out there and let him take the blows.
At the critical moment, Ye Yurong rushed over. The flashes of blades and swords filled the air, accompanied by an endless succession of clang, clang, clang.
Ye Yurong frowned as she looked at the guards who continued to entangle them.
“Now that we’ve rescued the person, let’s take the shortcut through the eastern side rooms and retreat through the front courtyard.”
“Okay.”
Sheng Zixu cast a sidelong, disdainful glance at Ye Yurong.
“Wait, who are you? Why should I listen to you?”
Jiang Wan punched him in the lower back.
“Shut up!”
She immediately turned to Ye Yurong and said, “Don’t mind him. There’s no time to waste. Let’s go.”
Lin Yuan arrived at that moment as well.
“Wait, since you’ve rescued the person, why are you still standing around here?”
“Run! If we don’t get out now, it’ll be too late!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Sheng Zixu, who had just been punched by Jiang Wan, leaned close to her ear and muttered sarcastically, “You’ve got quite a lot of people after you.”
The moment Jiang Wan heard him, she unhesitatingly punched him in the lower back again.
“Behave yourself, or I’ll throw you out there and let them turn you into a pincushion.”
Sheng Zixu’s brows furrowed slightly. He cursed her silently in his heart, but obediently shut his mouth and didn’t say another word.
Ye Yurong and Lin Yuan led from the front, while Jiang Wan tightly pulled Sheng Zixu along behind them. They hurried toward the eastern side rooms, taking the shortcut to escape.
At that moment, the faint light of dawn began spilling from the edges of the clouds, falling across the carved vermilion railings along the corridor, as though even Heaven itself were helping them.
The dim light landed upon the orderly bluestone pavement, almost as if guiding them in the direction they needed to go.
When the group hurried into the eastern side rooms, they encountered a group of women in brightly colored clothes fleeing from the direction of the corridor.
The women clearly froze when they saw them.
In this extremely dangerous situation, the woman at the head of the group quickly explained, “We were kidnapped and brought here. Can you take us with you? Please.”
Jiang Wan and the others exchanged glances, obviously unsure what was happening.
Sheng Zixu wanted to say something, but remembering Jiang Wan’s order to keep his mouth shut, he sulked and silently watched.
Ye Yurong quickly swept her gaze over the women. The situation left no room for hesitation, and in the end, she agreed.
“Fine. Stay close behind us.”
Lin Yuan was somewhat unwilling.
“Boss, are we some kind of great philanthropists? Putting aside whether we can even escape while bringing all these people with us, we’re barely able to protect ourselves.”
Sheng Zixu raised his eyebrows, agreeing with Lin Yuan’s point. These people’s origins were unknown, and there was no telling whether they might stab them in the back.
Jiang Wan timely reminded them, “The guards are catching up. Let’s get out first and talk afterward.”
The atmosphere immediately became tense.
There were twenty-five women in total. Ye Yurong ordered everyone to rearrange their positions, surrounding the women in the middle, before rushing toward the rear courtyard without stopping.
The winding paths paved with cobblestones crisscrossed throughout the garden. Magnolia and flowering crabapple trees grew thickly on either side, their branches and leaves lush and dense. Taihu rocks had been arranged into scattered artificial rockeries.
Yet no one had the time to appreciate the scenery or the fragrance of the flowers. All they felt was the urgency of fleeing for their lives.
As the group rushed past, they stirred up gusts of wind, causing the branches and leaves to sway even more violently.
The guards behind them pursued relentlessly, their footsteps growing closer. Hidden weapons came flying toward them.
Ye Yurong detected the sound of something cutting through the air. She immediately flicked several willow-leaf throwing darts backward. With fierce force, they struck the incoming hidden weapons out of the air, producing several sharp thunks.
Lin Yuan casually pulled out several iron lotus seeds. With a light flick of his fingers, they flew toward tricky landing points, specifically targeting the guards’ lower bodies. His movements appeared casual, yet every attack was precise.
Jiang Wan also reacted swiftly with her dagger, blocking the hidden weapons flying toward the women before they could injure anyone, without showing the slightest trace of panic.
Sheng Zixu kept circling around Jiang Wan, terrified that the hidden weapons would hit him. He hid behind her instead.
The hidden weapons launched by the guards were all deflected, embedding themselves with rustling sounds into the flowers and trees on either side.
While fending off their pursuers, the group protected the women and hurried along the path toward the rear gate of the courtyard.
The rear gate had already been left wide open when they entered, so they didn’t need to waste much time opening it. Ye Yurong was the first to step outside, directing everyone behind her to hurry through.
Once the last person had exited, she immediately pulled out the prepared choking-smoke pellets from her sleeve.
With a flash of cold light, she threw them onto the ground.
Poof!
The pellets exploded with a muffled sound.
A pungent, choking cloud of gray-white smoke instantly spread through the area, scattering fine medicinal powder everywhere. The guards’ eyes burned unbearably. One after another, they dropped their weapons and covered their eyes as tears streamed down their faces, leaving them completely unable to open their eyes.
A chorus of coughing and howling erupted.
“Ahhh! My eyes!”
“I can’t see! My eyes—I can’t see!”
“You despicable bastards!”
“Cough, cough, cough!”
“Cough…”
“…”
Ye Yurong didn’t answer them. The corners of her lips curled into a wide, unrestrained smile.
Before closing the gate, she threw several more choking-smoke pellets inside, making matters even worse and causing the guards to howl even louder.
After firmly shutting the gate, she quickly went after Jiang Wan and the others. It wasn’t long before she spotted their figures.
Lin Yuan immediately stepped forward to “show his concern.”
“Boss, are you all right? Don’t keep quiet if you’re injured. Otherwise, if you die, who’s going to pay my wages?”
Ye Yurong gave him a headbutt.
“Money, money, money! What, are you incapable of thinking about anything other than money?”
“Isn’t it only natural to get paid when you work for someone?”
Ye Yurong rolled her eyes at him.
Jiang Wan silently looked Ye Yurong over carefully.
“Boss Ye isn’t injured. You can put your mind at ease.”
Lin Yuan gave a “hmph” and said nothing.
Ye Yurong couldn’t be bothered with him either. She turned to Jiang Wan and said, “Let’s go. We still have some time, so let’s return to the dock. And we’ll take these people with us.”
Jiang Wan nodded.
“Okay.”
Then she continued, “What about those twenty-five women? What should we do with them?”
Lin Yuan immediately jumped in again.
“They’re out now, aren’t they? Of course we let them go wherever they want.”
Jiang Wan was somewhat at a loss, unsure what to do.
At that moment, the woman who had been leading the twenty-five women stepped between them.
“My surname is Zhang, and my name is Qingdai. I’m afraid we’ll still have to trouble you benefactors. Could you let us accompany you to the dock? We’ll leave on our own once we get there.”
Sheng Zixu found the woman somewhat familiar.
Wasn’t this the very woman he had seen that day?
The guards had found him too annoying because of his incessant chatter and had left him in the courtyard to bake under the sun. Then, other guards had dragged this woman past him from the corridor, her body covered in blood and injuries.
At the time, he had cursed silently in his heart:
Those bastards are fucking animals!
But he didn’t want to say it out loud at this moment. Since Jiang Wan had told him not to speak, he had better follow the rules properly, lest Jiang Wan “abuse” him again.
Ye Yurong immediately frowned.
The horses provided and raised by the ship association for riding had already found their own way back after everyone entered the courtyard.
Moreover, these women’s origins were unknown, making it difficult to place their trust in them. Even if they were all kind-hearted, given their current circumstances, there was no way to bring so many people back to the dock all at once.
Ye Yurong couldn’t be certain that their pursuers wouldn’t come after them. If they did, their situation would become extremely passive. And after the fierce fighting in the courtyard, there would certainly be people injured, which would create yet another problem.
Lin Yuan said nothing, merely looking at Ye Yurong as though silently saying: As long as you agree, I agree too.
Jiang Wan walked up to her and lowered her voice.
“Boss Ye, what should we do now? Should we refuse them?”
Ye Yurong took a deep breath.
“This place isn’t far from the town. Let them come with us to Honglian Town. I still have some banknotes on me. We’ll first use them to treat our injured people, then buy horses and carriages and return to the dock in batches.”
Jiang Wan nodded lightly, her lips parting slightly.
“Given the circumstances, this is the only arrangement we can make. I’ll go tell them.”
Ye Yurong nodded in response.
She briefly explained the situation to Zhang Qingdai. Zhang Qingdai immediately looked delighted.
“Thank you, benefactors. I will definitely repay this kindness someday!”
Jiang Wan waved her hand.
“Let’s go.”
The group hurried along for seven li. No one complained; they simply kept their heads down and pressed forward.
They took a small road. The uneven, potholed ground slowed them considerably, with scattered stones and tangled grass roots underfoot. Waist-high wild grass, thorns, and low shrubs grew densely on both sides. Whenever the wind blew, the leaves rustled softly.
By the time they reached the town, the sky was already fully bright.
Ye Yurong found the Beilai Inn, where she had stayed previously while collecting local goods. She was acquainted with the owner and had a good relationship with him, so she felt relatively comfortable staying there.
The owner of Beilai Inn was surnamed Yang. The inn was the second-largest in Honglian Town. When he saw Ye Yurong arrive with such a large group of people, the smile on his face grew even wider.
“Boss Ye, you’ve arrived! I’m truly sorry I wasn’t able to welcome you properly.”
Ye Yurong politely returned the greeting.
“Shopkeeper Yang, long time no see. May your business prosper.”
Hearing this, Shopkeeper Yang modestly replied, “Not at all, not at all. May I ask what brings Boss Ye here this time?”
“We ran into a little trouble and came here to rest. Do you still have more than fifty vacant rooms?”
Shopkeeper Yang immediately understood what she meant.
“Of course we do. I’ll have the attendant take you all to your rooms.”
The young attendant nearby was quick to catch on and immediately stepped forward.
“Hehe, guests, this way, please.”
Ye Yurong bid farewell to Shopkeeper Yang and led everyone, along with the attendant, toward the rear courtyard.
As the attendant was leaving, Ye Yurong took out a banknote and handed it to him.
“With this banknote, we’ll take the entire rear courtyard for six days, including meals.”
The attendant’s eyes immediately lit up.
“Yes, yes, yes! We’ll certainly provide the best service for our esteemed guests!”
After the attendant left, they began distributing the rooms.
The main room in the rear courtyard was reserved for the four of them to rest. The eastern and western side rooms were used to accommodate the injured. Several large communal rooms were packed with the uninjured sailors, while the smaller side rooms in the corners were reserved for those on guard duty to take turns sleeping in.
More than fifty people were all gathered within this single courtyard. They were close enough to look after one another, yet divided into separate rooms to preserve their individual privacy. It was a secure arrangement that also allowed them to avoid the eyes and ears of their pursuers.