Chapter 46: Elder Wu
From afar, the ship already appeared massive, but its grandeur was even more evident up close. The hull stretched over two hundred chi long, with three levels of cabins atop the deck, and more than thirty portholes along its sides. Among them, several were illuminated, with voices audible from within. Yet the deck itself remained eerily quiet, devoid of any presence.
Head Constable Wang frowned and remarked, “A headquarters like this should have both visible and hidden guards, but it's far too quiet here.”
An uneasy feeling crept over him. Today's operation might not simply be about destroying a martial gang; something sinister could be at play.
After all, it was already known that someone within the Five Lakes Gang practiced ghost-rearing arts, implanting yin spirits into ordinary people. This was similar to the incident his concubine, Yue Niang, had encountered previously.
Li Yanchu softly spoke, “I'll go take a look.”
As soon as his voice fell, Li Yanchu swiftly dashed forward, his body low to the ground, making no sound.
About one zhang[1] from the nearest lit window, Li Yanchu suddenly swung his palm diagonally.
Bang!
Wood splinters flew as Li Yanchu burst into the cabin. But oddly, the room, which had clearly emitted voices moments earlier, was now empty.
Li Yanchu’s gaze turned sharp, and like a beast from ancient times, he rammed straight into the cabin wall.
Crash!
A hole the height of a man appeared, and Li Yanchu surged through it without hesitation.
Bang!
After searching three consecutive rooms, those that previously had voices were now eerily silent. Standing on the deck, Head Constable Wang showed admiration upon witnessing Li Yanchu’s martial prowess. Compared to the time when they'd dealt with Zhao Wuzhu's evil corpse at Lady Qingyi Temple, Daoist Li’s martial skills had clearly improved.
Zhang Zhiliang, on the other hand, was filled with horror. Was this commotion really made by a single person?! Are we sure this wasn’t some ferocious beast rampaging from the mountains? No, even the strongest bear or a 400- to 500-jin boar king wouldn't possess the terrifying momentum Li Yanchu displayed.
Li Yanchu flew back out, frowning deeply. “No one’s inside. The room I heard voices from earlier was empty.”
Head Constable Wang’s expression instantly darkened. Had something strange already occurred during the first step of tonight’s raid?
“Daoist Master Li, do you think this is human interference, or something supernatural?” Head Constable Wang asked.
Li Yanchu had previously used his Qi-observation technique but found nothing obviously wrong with the ship.
“I can’t say for certain. This place feels peculiar. Just instruct your men to remain vigilant,” Li Yanchu advised.
Head Constable Wang nodded gravely and gave orders, “Search the area! Form groups of three. Do not act alone. Find these people!”
“Yes, sir!”
Behind him, armed officers and militia holding torches began their thorough search.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Heavy footsteps echoed as the men moved aggressively, hunting like wolves and tigers. However, the vast headquarters of the Five Lakes Gang turned out to be completely empty. Not only were the ordinary gang members missing, even the higher-ranking elders and gang leader, Gongsun Hong, had vanished without a trace.
“Could it be that Gongsun Hong learned about this beforehand and fled overnight?” one of the officers suggested.
Head Constable Wang frowned. Tonight’s operation was personally and hastily decided by Magistrate Xu himself, and they'd swiftly led troops directly here from the city. Could there be a spy?
When Head Constable Wang voiced this concern, Li Yanchu shook his head and said, “Not necessarily. Since the gang placed spies like Zhang Zhiliang and his junior sister in the city, it's reasonable to assume others were also stationed. It could be that someone skilled in light-body martial arts and adept at scaling walls managed to rush back and alert them.
“Moreover, we don't yet know the extent of the capabilities of the person in the gang who practices ghost cultivation. Perhaps he detected something beforehand.”
Head Constable Wang felt somewhat relieved upon hearing this explanation.
Tonight, Wei City’s government forces had marched out in full force to eliminate the Five Lakes Gang. Returning empty-handed would be troublesome, but discovering a traitor within the government would be far worse.
“Sir, we found eleven members of the Five Lakes Gang in the ship’s hold, all tied up,” reported an officer who approached quickly.
Head Constable Wang’s eyes lit up immediately. “Bring them up!”
Shortly afterward, armed guards escorted the captive Five Lakes Gang members up from the hold. Among them, an elderly man with a flushed face stood out prominently.
He had a robust build, towering half a head taller than an ordinary man. His large, knotted hands clearly indicated extensive practice in hard qigong body-hardening martial arts. He'd evidently attained considerable skill.
“Elder Wu!” Zhang Zhiliang blurted out.
Li Yanchu glanced at him and asked, “You know him?”
Zhang Zhiliang nodded. “Elder Wu is a senior elder of the gang with a fiery temperament, disliked by the younger leaders. He disappeared after being sent out on a mission some time ago. I never expected he'd been imprisoned here.”
Elder Wu, though bound with hands behind his back and well into his sixties, still possessed a bear-like build. He had heard from the officers along the way about the government's raid against the Five Lakes Gang.
Upon seeing Zhang Zhiliang, he exploded angrily, “You treacherous dog! So it was you who betrayed the Five Lakes Gang!”
A cold gleam flashed through Zhang Zhiliang’s eyes as he sneered back, “Elder Wu, the Five Lakes Gang secretly stockpiled gunpowder for malicious purposes. That’s a crime punishable by the execution of three generations of one's family. I advise you to stop clinging to your foolish loyalty.”
“Pah!” Elder Wu spat angrily, “You shameless scoundrel! And to think you were once Elder Ren’s disciple! That old man must’ve been blind to have accepted someone like you.”
Zhang Zhiliang retorted coldly, “The Five Lakes Gang treated me like dirt. I risked my life countless times for the gang, yet the gang leader still implanted a yin spirit in me, intending to silence me forever. Why should I stay loyal to such a gang?”
“You!” Elder Wu seemed to hold grievances toward gang Leader Gongsun as well, as he didn’t immediately refute Zhang Zhiliang’s claims.
Head Constable Wang signaled discreetly, and an officer immediately struck Elder Wu's neck harshly with a sword sheath. The robust old man, evidently wounded, staggered and dropped to one knee, yet his fierce expression remained unchanged.
“You filthy lackeys of the government! If I weren't injured, I could tear you apart with a single hand!” Elder Wu continued cursing in anger.
Head Constable Wang barked coldly, “Wu Qiushan, if you persist with your stubbornness and rude remarks, you'll be disregarding the lives of the dozens of people behind you!
“The Five Lakes Gang secretly stockpiled gunpowder; the evidence is ironclad. If you don't want every gang member executed and your families implicated, then confess everything now!”
Head Constable Wang’s expression was icy. He had pursued bandits for years, deeply familiar with these hard-boiled martial artists.
Threatening their own lives often failed to yield results, but threatening their family, wives, and children almost always worked. No matter how ruthless someone was, they usually had a soft spot somewhere.
Elder Wu, indeed, became speechless. His eyes still glowed fiercely, yet he stopped cursing.
In Wei City, Head Constable Wang was widely known as a formidable figure. In his youth, he'd even cleared out a bandit stronghold single-handedly, and numerous dangerous outlaws had fallen under his hands over the years.
Seeing Elder Wu suppressed, Head Constable Wang demanded harshly, “Where are the rest of the Five Lakes Gang members? Who injured you and tied you up in the hold? And where has Gongsun Hong fled to!?”
1. The zhang (丈) is a traditional Chinese unit of length, commonly used in historical and literary contexts. 1 zhang (丈) = 10 chi (尺). In modern metric terms, 1 zhang ≈ 3.33 meters or approximately 11 feet. ☜
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