Chapter 959 - 798: A Warrior Dies for a Confidant

Li Si left the Xu Family Mansion and stood under the plaque of the Advanced Scholar’s House, looking at Taiping Street in front of him.

The carriages and horses of the Xu Family that originally blocked the entire street had vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving behind a ground full of melon seed shells, exuding a sense of desolation.

Before Li Si could feel sentimental, Taiping Street, which was originally quiet, saw civilians passing by, followed by an ox cart. The old yellow ox left grass droppings in front of the door, and the smell of grass wafted far. Street vendors passed by, hawking steamed cakes from their baskets.

In just thirty minutes, Taiping Street reverted to its usual hustle and bustle.

Li Si suddenly laughed, "I said they should be wiped out completely."

He looked around, gave a cold snort, and merged into the crowd. Two men in the south were staring intently at him, following him as he weaved through the crowd.

Li Si hadn’t had lunch yet, so he bought a basket of buns when passing by a shop. Taking a bite, he frowned, "Pah, pah, pah, why is it sweet!"

He casually shoved the bun into a passerby’s arms. The passerby frowned, "What are you doing?"

Li Si nonchalantly replied, "Giving it to you to eat."

The passerby said impatiently, "I don’t eat it."

Li Si did not hesitate at all, "Neither do I, thanks."

The passerby was confused, "Who are you?"

Just as the question was asked, Li Si had already walked far away, leaving the passerby holding the bun, bewildered.

North out of Taiping Street is Huapai Building, further north is Dang Gong Lane.

Li Si suddenly turned right at Dang Gong Lane, heading towards Tongji Gate. But as he approached Tongji Gate, he did not leave the city; instead, he turned towards Jubao Gate to the south, leading the two tailing men in a large circle.

The two tailing men exchanged a glance, realizing they’d been detected. They simply reached their hands into their sleeves to grip the handles of their knives, quickening their pace.

Thirty steps, twenty steps, fifteen steps...

Just when the two were about to catch up with Li Si, he suddenly pulled out two half-burnt firewood sticks from under the stove of a roadside noodle stall and dashed into a cloth shop named Fengzhi.

He tossed a stick of firewood behind the counter, and the fabrics hanging there burst into flames instantly.

Li Si didn’t stop and proceeded to the backyard, setting the silk pieces hung on bamboo poles ablaze with a stick of firewood as he passed by. The thick smoke rose skyward, and the shop was soon engulfed in flames.

Li Si took one last glance, humming a tune as he slipped out through the back door.

The two men following him arrived at the cloth shop to find it ablaze. They gritted their teeth and chased after him regardless.

When they emerged from the back alley, their bodies were covered in soot and fire scars. They patted the sparks off their clothes, looked around outside the back door, and just caught sight of Li Si’s silhouette turning into Baihua Alley.

One of them cursed, "Let’s kill this bastard!"

The two men started sprinting, chasing into Baihua Alley.

But as soon as they entered the alley, they sensed something amiss. Ahead, seven or eight black-clothed men with bamboo hats and long knives at their waists were staring at them. Some leaned against the wall, some stood under the eaves with arms crossed holding long knives, and some squatted on the ground, all eyes glaring fiercely at them.

Li Si stood behind these black-clothed men, panting heavily, "Damn it, followed me as soon as I stepped out, causing me not dare to eat... Kill them!"

The two men turned to leave, but before they reached the alley entrance, another seven or eight black-clothed men blocked the way, waist tags hanging at their sides.

The two men glanced at the waist tags, which were inscribed... Imperial Inspection, big matters reported, small matters decided instantly, and their expressions changed immediately: "Wait!"

Li Si from behind the crowd shouted angrily, "Wait for your mother, kill them!"

More than ten black-clothed men surrounded the two and drew knives to slaughter.

Li Si supported himself on the wall, looking at the only black-clothed man not moving, "What’s your name, brother?"

The black-clothed man turned his head to look at him, grinning, "West Wind."

Li Si made an ’oh’ sound, "So brother is West Wind."

He took a piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it to West Wind, "Next, brother West Wind, listen to my orders. First, we deliver a letter in the city, then wait outside the city, and then head to Suzhou."

West Wind raised his eyebrows, "I am Hai Dongqing, why don’t you follow my orders?"

Li Si nudged the paper with his mouth, "The paper says you’re not quick-witted."

West Wind’s face turned sour.

Li Si stroked his goatee, smiling, "Is this written by your superior? The evaluation of a superior is generally not wrong."

West Wind murmured quietly, "Nonsense, I was even his superior before."

Li Si became interested, "Oh? Tell me more."

At this moment, the two men had been pressed to the ground by the Spy Department. West Wind tucked the paper into his sleeve and squatted beside the two, "Who sent you? Tell us, and we’ll spare your miserable lives."

One of the men quickly replied, "Xu Chuanyin, Xu Chuanyin told us to kill this old fellow to vent his anger."

West Wind was about to ask more when Li Si came over, drew the knife from West Wind’s waist, and ended both lives with one cut per person: "What’s the use of talking to them, it’s a ghost if they tell the truth now."

West Wind lifted his sleeve to wipe the blood splatter off his cheek: "At least give me a heads up next time!"

Li Si chuckled: "Let’s move, let’s move."

West Wind got up and walked deeper into Baihua Alley: "This way."

Fifteen people exited the alley. Outside, fifteen horses were tied. They mounted the horses and headed towards the Ten-mile Qinhuai.

Upon reaching the Qinhuai River, Li Si looked around to find his bearings: "Where is Quanfu Alley?"

West Wind lifted his whip and pointed in a direction: "There."

Li Si rode into Quanfu Alley, wrapped a letter around a short knife, and casually threw it. With a thud, the knife embedded with the letter nailed itself to the plaque of a mansion.

He turned his horse around and led the spies straight out of the city. But once they were out, they stopped and dismounted under the Ten-mile Pavilion to wait.

Moments later, more than ten scholars arrived at the Ten-mile Pavilion. Seeing the spies, they were initially stunned, then assumed Li Si and West Wind were also there to bid someone farewell, so they paid them no mind.

This Ten-mile Pavilion was a place for saying goodbye to friends and relatives. It’s normal for more than a dozen groups to come and go in a day.

The scholars set up a table of food and wine at the Ten-mile Pavilion. Li Si tiptoed to peek inside: "Chicken, duck, fish, meat, not bad eating."

The scholars glanced at him sideways and ignored him. They had a servant set up a table with paper, ink, brush, and inkstone.

One young scholar smiled and said: "I’ll write a farewell poem first, and the teacher will go last. Otherwise, if we present our poems after the teacher’s, they would be lackluster."

A middle-aged scholar among them modestly said: "Nonsense, your poetic talents far exceed mine now."

Li Si watched the commotion on the side, cracking melon seeds without saying a word.

West Wind frowned and said: "How long is this going to take? The brothers haven’t eaten. If we find a place to stay tonight, it might be midnight."

Li Si laughed happily: "No rush, let’s wait a bit longer. Eating is not urgent."

It was evening when they finally saw an ox cart approaching from afar.

On the cart, two middle-aged men wore shackles. The scholars in the pavilion stood up. As the cart came near, a middle-aged scholar in the pavilion stepped onto the road politely and stopped the cart.

A servant behind him threw two silver ingots to the prison soap slave escorting the cart: "This is a small token from my master for the two of you, please take good care of them on the road."

The soap slave grinned as he unlocked the shackles of the two prisoners: "No problem, no problem! We greatly admire these two elders; we won’t give them trouble."

The two prisoners stretched their limbs and jumped off the cart. The middle-aged scholar stepped forward to support one of them, sighing: "You’ve lived a life of integrity and duty, without shame to your family and country. To suffer such a calamity now, not by a deserved crime but bad luck and being implicated by others."

One prisoner sighed: "It’s a long story."

The middle-aged scholar held his arm: "Come, we’ve prepared some food and wine to see you off. Next March, I’ll take academy students to visit you again in Lingnan."

Moved, the prisoner said: "Brother, having you..."

"Wait a moment."

The voice was abrupt, catching everyone’s attention towards Li Si.

"Watching you all being so sentimental gives me an itch," Li Si said as he pulled the knife from West Wind’s waist again and walked towards the two prisoners: "You two, as the magistrate and county chief of Jingjiang County, abandoned the people of Jingjiang to escape to Jinling, leaving half the official granary empty, and the other half filled with stale grain and mixed with sand and straw for the walls. My brother Ah Xing said I should kill you both for him. He owes me three cups of wine."

With that, Li Si pushed aside the middle-aged scholar in front, swiftly slitting the throats of both men. The county magistrate and county chief of Jingjiang County fell in a pool of blood.

The scholars outside the Ten-mile Pavilion screamed in horror, turning pale, while the middle-aged scholar stammered: "You... you dare use private punishment, I’ll report you to the Imperial Capital!"

Li Si flicked the blood off his knife disdainfully: "Get lost!"

The scholars tumbled onto the carriage hurriedly, fleeing towards Jinling.

Li Si sheathed the knife back on West Wind’s waist, pointed to the food and wine in the Ten-mile Pavilion, and laughed: "Let’s go, drink and eat, then continue on our journey after we’re full."

West Wind gave him a once-over: "You’re in the spirit, let’s drink!"

Li Si laughed: "Won’t this cause trouble for you?"

West Wind chuckled: "Don’t worry, this is how we typically handle things. At worst, we’ll get sent to Lingnan again."

Li Si admired: "You’re in the spirit! By the way, is the Spy Department hiring?"

The fifteen gathered around the stone table, not using chopsticks, grabbing chicken, duck, and fish with their hands, drinking straight from the wine jar, faces flushed as they drank.

After Li Si had eaten and drunk his fill, he went to the paper and ink prepared by the scholars. After a moment of thought, he laughed and wrote two words: "It’s satisfying."

West Wind stood in the pavilion, wiping the oil from his mouth: "Shall we find a village ahead to rest for the night before moving on?"

Li Si sobered up: "No, we’ll push to Suzhou tonight, I have important matters to attend to."

West Wind laughed: "Why so dedicated?"

Li Si untied the reins from the Horse Tie, hopped onto the horse back drunkenly: "You don’t understand. In the past, nobody dared let me handle anything, fearing I’d cause a colossal disaster. Now that someone trusts me with something so important, I must do it well for them."

West Wind laughed heartily, leading the group of spies onto horseback: "Let’s go!"