Ning Chen and the others came out of the mountains and went straight for the city of Xiuzhou.
They reached it toward evening, and went in separately.
Yuan Zishi had been right. The city of Xiuzhou was being searched hard.
But the four of them had changed their faces now, to the point where they did not know themselves.
Nothing went wrong, and they got into the city without trouble.
Once inside, the four of them parted from Yuan Zishi.
They went to the inn where they had stayed before.
Ning Chen came back to the same inn.
Inside, Ning Chen ran his eyes around. It was the supper hour and there were a good many guests.
“Eating or staying?”
The inn’s boy came up to them, all attention.
Ning Chen wasted no words. “Eating.”
Eating meant a meal and then on your way.
“Sit down, gentlemen!”
They came to a corner table and sat down, and ordered several of the house dishes.
The four of them sat waiting a while, and then the food began to come.
These last few days in the mountains they had eaten nothing but game, and without salt, until their mouths had gone flat as water.
The four of them fell on it.
Halfway through, Ning Chen put down his chopsticks and asked the boy where the privy was.
“It’s in the rear courtyard, sir. This small man will take you.”
“No need. I’ll find it myself.”
Ning Chen came out into the rear courtyard, looked things over, and then instead of going to the privy he went to the stables on the other side of a wall.
At the stables Ning Chen ran his eyes around. There was nobody there.
But Diaochan was gone.
So he had guessed right. They had picked Diaochan out for a warhorse first, seen that something was wrong, and sent word to Qiu Mingde to take him.
No—the order must have gone to every magistrate under Xiuzhou’s authority.
Because they had no way of knowing which county he would go to.
And after that Qiu Mingde must have sent word to Prince Duan… and Prince Duan had engaged the Ghost-Shadow Sect to run him down.
Diaochan had probably fallen into Prince Duan’s hands.
Ning Chen shook his head and walked toward the trough.
Then Ning Chen’s step checked and he looked back.
An old man in coarse hemp cloth had come out through a small door at the side with an armful of dry grass. There was something wrong with his leg, and he came limping.
Seeing Ning Chen, the old man put on an ingratiating smile. “Does the gentleman want his horse? Which one is the gentleman’s? This old fellow will bring it.”
Ning Chen smiled faintly. “No need. I’ll do it myself.”
As he said it he went to one of the stalls, heaved the stone trough up, and from under it drew out a long thing wound around with black cloth.
The imperial sword.
The day he left the inn he had come to look in on Diaochan, and had hidden the imperial sword under the trough while he was at it.
On his way out he had even told Diaochan to be sure to keep it safe for him.
In the end the imperial sword had not been lost. Diaochan had lost herself.
Then Ning Chen sniffed. Something was burning.
He turned his head and saw the old man had set fire to the bundle of dry grass in his hands. Black smoke was going up.
Ning Chen’s eyes tightened. He saw at once that this was a signal.
He shook the black cloth off and the imperial sword came out.
Ning Chen drew and went in like a leopard, and thrust for the old man’s throat. The blade went out like a snake’s tongue, hissing as it cut the air.
The old man gave a cold snort, reached behind his waist and drew a dagger.
Clang!!!
There was a clean ring of metal on metal, and the dagger turned Ning Chen’s thrust aside.
Ning Chen changed the stroke, from a thrust to a sweep.
Clang!!!
The old man stopped Ning Chen’s sword with the dagger again, and at the same time his good leg came up like lightning.
A streak of cold light.
There was a hiss of parting flesh, and the old man staggered backward. He looked down and there was a cut on his leg.
He raised his head, something vicious in his eyes, and fixed them on the dagger in Ning Chen’s left hand.
“I never thought it. We searched this whole inn, and you had the imperial sword under a horse trough?”
Ning Chen stepped back and flicked the burning bundle of grass apart with his sword, and only then said coldly, “I never thought it either. That a damn cripple like you would turn out to be first-rate. That was careless of me.”
The old man smiled darkly. “Anyone dealing with Ning the Silver Coat of Great Xuan naturally has to be more careful and take more trouble over it.”
“I look like this, and you can still tell?”
“Ning the Silver Coat went out of the city empty-handed. He would naturally come back for the imperial sword.”
Ning Chen’s eyes narrowed. “How did you know I had the imperial sword on me?”
The old man laughed coldly. “Ning the Silver Coat is riding high. Naturally there are plenty of eyes on everything he does.”
Ning Chen wasted no more words. He swung the sword and went at him.
Clang, clang, clang!!!
Sparks flew.
The old man’s skill was real. One leg lame and the other cut, and he could still hold off the close, unbroken pressure Ning Chen was putting on him.
Ning Chen gave a cold snort and swept the sword at the old man’s throat.
At the same time his left hand came up.
The old man swung the dagger and stopped Ning Chen’s sword, and Ning Chen’s thrown dagger went straight into his shoulder.
The old man grunted and staggered backward.
Ning Chen took one long stride, and the sword went in like a splinter of light, straight into his throat. One thrust and it was finished.
Ning Chen went forward and pulled the dagger out, put the imperial sword back in its scabbard and walked quickly toward the front room.
Coming out of the stalls into the rear courtyard, he was about to go through to the front when Gao Ziping and the other two came running out one after another through the door from the front room.
The three of them saw Ning Chen.
“We’ve walked into it. There’s an ambush!”
Ning Chen said heavily, “The back gate!”
The four of them fell back toward the back gate.
Crash!!!
The back gate was suddenly driven in with great force, and a body of archers in full armor came pouring through, with spearmen behind them.
Ning Chen frowned. “Over the wall!”
But figures came up on top of the wall all at once, with bows drawn on them.
Ning Chen thought of falling back toward the stalls, but there were archers in numbers on the stable roof and on the courtyard wall there too.
They were completely surrounded.
Feng Qizheng muttered, “We’re done for. Ning Chen, what do we do? Think of something, quick, I don’t want to die… I haven’t taken a wife or had children, I haven’t been to the courtesans’ quarter enough… I wonder if there’s a courtesans’ quarter in the world below.”
The corner of Ning Chen’s mouth twitched slightly. The blockhead, with a mind for that at a time like this.
Gao Ziping said, low, “These are the Xiuzhou garrison.”
Ning Chen had gone cool by now. He stepped forward and said harshly, “Whoever is in charge here, come out to me.”
A big middle-aged man in armor came forward a few paces.
Ning Chen fixed his eyes on him. “Who are you?”
The man looked Ning Chen over, and his manner was arrogant. He said lazily, “Gu Xingfa, Protector of the Changxiu Army.”
Ning Chen said heavily, “Do you know who I am?”
Gu Xingfa gave Ning Chen a couple of contemptuous glances. “No.”
“Then do you know the imperial sword in my hand?”
Ning Chen raised the imperial sword and said it so it rang. “The imperial sword is here, and it is as if His Majesty were present. Are you still not on your knees?”
Gu Xingfa laughed scornfully. “It’s the imperial sword because you say so? Then I say this blade of mine is the imperial saber.”
Ning Chen’s face darkened. “Gu Xingfa, do you mean to rebel?”
Gu Xingfa said mockingly, “I could never carry a charge that heavy.”
Ning Chen stared coldly at him, then let his eyes go around the soldiers on every side, and held the imperial sword up high and said aloud,
“I am Ning Chen, silver coat of the Inspectorate of Great Xuan, and I am here by His Majesty’s command to inspect Xiuzhou… To see the imperial sword is to see His Majesty. Any man who sees the imperial sword and does not kneel is a traitor, and the entire household to the sword!”
(End of Chapter 313)