Chapter 90: Watch the Show

“Gentlemen, gentlemen, don’t run so fast.” Gu Ning’an called out from the back of the group.

Li Xunshan and the others immediately stopped, thinking that Gu Ning’an couldn’t keep up. Wei Hai and Li Xunshan exchanged glances, then jogged back to his side and said in unison, “We’ll help you run.”

Hearing this, Gu Ning’an paused for a moment before smiling and saying, “No, no, no, I’m not unable to run…”

“I just wanted to say, if you leave now, you’ll miss the good show that’s coming up.”

An old beggar, walking back, frowned and asked, “Mr. Gu, what do you mean by that?”

“Follow me to this corner by the wall, and you’ll understand once you listen and watch.” As he spoke, Gu Ning’an moved to a corner connected to the alley.

The group didn’t understand Gu Ning’an’s meaning, but out of trust in him, they chose to stand with him.

“This place is only about a hundred steps from the end of the alley. If Guard Qian loses, we…” The old beggar said in a low voice, worry written all over his face.

Gu Ning’an gestured for silence. “Old Wen, just be patient and listen.”

The old beggar opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing.

The sound of clashing blades and swords—ding-ling-clang—rang out. Even though they were hundreds of steps away, the group could still feel the danger in the air.

About half a tea time later, the clashing sound of blades gradually faded, and faint footsteps accompanied by sounds of laughter, which shouldn’t have been there, reached their ears.

“Hurry up and pull the arrow out, it hurts like hell!”

Li Xunshan frowned. “That’s Guard Qian’s voice!”

“Brother Qian, hold on!”

There was a sound like an arrow being pulled from flesh, followed by a muffled groan.

“Damned filthy beggar, had to make me use a trick like this!” Guard Qian cursed loudly, tossing the bloodied arrow aside with a ding-ling sound.

Once the words “trick” were spoken, even the slowest to understand, Li Xunshan, caught on… Guard Qian had betrayed them, he was in cahoots with those three black-clad figures!

“Brother Qian, do you think the old beggar will believe this act once it’s all over?”

Guard Qian replied with certainty, “He’ll definitely believe it. I went to him with tears and sincerity, even blocked arrows for him… I convinced myself, how could he not believe?”

“Brother Qian is right. Should we hurry and chase after them… What if they get too far ahead?”

“Wait a moment, their group—two scholars, a drunkard, and an old beggar—can’t run fast.” Guard Qian continued, “When I was holding that filthy beggar earlier, I coated him with tracking powder. We’ll just follow the trail.”

“Brother Qian, you’re the best… No wonder Lord Sun values you so much!”

Guard Qian was in a good mood and laughed loudly. “Stop flattering me. You guys still need to work on your archery. How could you miss those two arrows earlier?”

“It’s really strange,” he added, “Li Xunshan got pushed by the scholar next to him, and by accident, he used his knife to block the arrow.”

“And that drunkard was even stranger. The arrow clearly aimed at his face, but somehow, it just fell to the ground!”

Guard Qian waved his hand. “Alright, alright, no more excuses! Bandage me up, and then we’ll go after them.”

“Yes!”

Not far away, at the corner outside the alley, Wei Hai indeed found a lot of dark red powder on the ragged clothes of the old beggar. The powder, when it fell to the ground, even emitted a faint glow.

“Old Wen, hurry up and take off your clothes.” Wei Hai urged, reaching to pull off the old beggar’s upper garment.

Gu Ning’an patted the back of the old beggar and said calmly, “Just a pat and it’s gone. No need to take it off.”

As he patted, the dark red powder fell to the ground in a swish, and after Wei Hai and Li Xunshan carefully checked, they confirmed there was no powder sticking. The old beggar did not need to remove his clothes.

“These days, all the loyalty, righteousness, propriety, and filial piety have been eaten by dogs,” Wei Hai muttered, then turned to Gu Ning’an and continued, “What should we do next? If we go directly for evidence, these dog thieves will surely keep chasing us.”

“At that point, it might not just be these four people.”

Gu Ning’an pointed at the rubble on the ground and smiled. “Let’s solve them here.”

Li Xunshan widened his eyes. “But we might not be able to defeat them?”

“If we catch them off guard, it’s still possible. Otherwise, if we run now, with their legs, and without the tracking powder, they could still easily find us.” As Gu Ning’an finished speaking, he casually picked up two palm-sized stones.

Seeing this, Wei Hai and the others also picked up stones and followed Gu Ning’an to find a spot to ambush.

Before long, after tending to his wound, Guard Qian came out, following the glow of the tracking powder.

When they discovered that the trail of the powder did not lead toward the street but toward the corner, their brows furrowed.

“That looks like a dead end, doesn’t it?”

“Could it be that they didn’t leave earlier and overheard us talking?”

One of the black-clad men lowered his voice.

Clang!

Guard Qian drew his blade and made a gesture. “Let’s go in and have a look. I don’t believe these people, even if they overheard us, would dare not run and instead set up an ambush here.”

Soon, Guard Qian and his men turned the corner. The first thing they saw was the tracking powder gathered in one spot.

Guard Qian squatted down, pinched the powder, and frowned. “Damned, this is a miracle… This powder doesn’t fade even after three days of water washing, yet all of it is on the ground?”

“Brother Qian, there’s a depression in there. It looks like someone could be hiding inside!” One of the black-clad men said. Guard Qian and the others immediately turned their gaze to the depression.

While Guard Qian made a gesture, he knocked on the wall beside him with his blade. “Lord Wen? Lord Wen, are you there?”

The echo in the silent dead-end alley was unusually clear.

Just as they were about to approach the depression, Guard Qian shouted, “Charge!”

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In the blink of an eye, three of the black-clad men, along with Guard Qian, rushed into the depression. Before entering, they did not see anyone but anticipated with their blades ready.

However, the depression was empty, and their anticipation landed on nothing.

Guard Qian sighed deeply. “I told you, even if they overheard us, they wouldn’t dare set an ambush here.”

“Then aren’t they just looking for their own death?”

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The sound of something cutting through the air rang out, and Guard Qian suddenly felt a powerful force strike his back. His whole body was thrown into the air, knocking one of the black-clad men down beneath him.

Thud! Thud!

The four men, one on top of the other, fell to the ground!

Behind them, Wei Hai swallowed and said, “Goddamn it, whose stone was that with so much force?”

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