Chapter 186: Chapter 164: Torrential Rain, Infiltrating Alone
Wu Liangchen drained the last of the wine from the flask and suddenly said, "You two wait in the carriage. I’m going out for a bit."
Both of them were startled.
"Brother Xiaowu, where are you going in such heavy rain?" Erya couldn’t help but ask.
"Xiaodian Town is just ahead. I need to scout it out first to prevent any surprises when we pass through tomorrow."
With that, Wu Liangchen gave the worried pair a smile.
"Don’t worry. In a downpour like this, even if there are people from Cyan Cloud Mountain in the town, they won’t come out. It’s the perfect time for me to move."
Erya knew she couldn’t talk Wu Liangchen out of it, so she silently found his raincoat, helped him put it on, and then said,
"If it’s too difficult, don’t force it. At worst, we can just abandon the carriage tomorrow and take the mountain paths around Xiaodian Town."
"Mm, don’t worry. I know my limits."
Wu Liangchen gathered his things, wrapped his bow and arrows in oilcloth, and slung them over his back. He then lifted the carriage curtain and, in a few leaps, vanished into the thick curtain of rain.
Bai Erya sat there staring blankly, her face filled with unconcealable worry and heartache.
Seeing this, Old Man Bai couldn’t help but console her, "Alright now, just relax. That kid Xiaowu knows when to advance and when to retreat, and he has a good sense of judgment. He’ll be fine."
Despite this, Bai Erya couldn’t stop herself from praying silently.
Meanwhile, Wu Liangchen was moving through the rain at an incredible speed.
Taking the official road was out of the question. The packed-earth paths turned slick and treacherous when soaked with rain, making them difficult to traverse.
Fortunately, Wu Liangchen’s Qinggong was superb. He chose to travel through the woods alongside the road, stepping on branches, so he was unaffected.
A distance of twenty-some li was but a quarter of an hour’s journey for Wu Liangchen.
Soon, the faint outline of a large town emerged ahead.
It was situated right next to a major crossroads—the very same Xiaodian Town that controlled this critical choke point.
At this moment, Xiaodian Town was brightly lit, but as he drew closer, he realized there were no voices to be heard.
The light came from wind-proof lanterns hung all over the streets.
And as he got even closer, he saw that the streets were deserted. Nearly all the shops were boarded up, looking cold and desolate, utterly devoid of life.
Only a tavern in the center of town was still lit, and from it, he could faintly hear the sound of voices.
As for the outskirts of town, there wasn’t a single sentry on guard, showing just how arrogant and conceited this gang from Cyan Cloud Mountain was.
In their eyes, the name Cyan Cloud Mountain was a golden seal of approval that made even gods retreat. No one would dare cause trouble.
Plus, with the heavy rain today, these thugs had long since gone off to find places to drink and cavort with women. Who would want to suffer through patrolling the streets?
This, however, made things convenient for Wu Liangchen. He encountered no obstacles and walked straight to the small building in the center of town.
Once he got close, the guards finally became a bit tighter.
But this was no challenge for Wu Liangchen. Relying on his superb Qinggong and Body Technique, Wu Liangchen dodged and weaved, quickly breaking through the multiple lines of defense. He arrived behind the small building, then silently scaled the wall, listening for sounds coming from the windows.
When he reached a window on the second floor, he suddenly froze.
Because a familiar voice was coming from inside.
A man’s voice could be heard speaking while loudly chewing his food: "Of course I understand your difficulties (CHEW CHEW CHEW), but (GULP) you also have to appreciate (DRINKS) my difficulties."
"I have so many brothers stationed here with me (CHEW CHEW CHEW). What for? Isn’t it for the safety of the whole town? My brothers are out here (DRINKS) bleeding and sweating for you. It’s only right and proper that you merchants and common folk take out a little money to reward them."
Wu Liangchen’s eyes lit up. The speaker was none other than the Seventh Village Chief, Cong Bo, with whom he had crossed paths once before.
Besides him, there were many other ragged breaths in the room. Clearly, he wasn’t alone.
Wu Liangchen had guessed correctly. Right now, in this private room of the tavern, the heads of Xiaodian Town’s various businesses and the local wealthy families were gathered, all staring with long faces at the man behind the table.
Cong Bo was seated behind a large table laden with a sumptuous spread of all kinds of dishes—all of them meat, without a single vegetable in sight.
He was currently using two greasy hands to tear into a glistening, large pork knuckle, eating with loud slurps.
At this moment, someone could finally bear it no longer. He stepped forward and said, "Stronghold Lord, you make a very good point, but the problem is, we really have no money left. Since you and your brothers have been stationed here, it’s been a small donation every three days and a large one every five. Even if our families owned a silver mine, we couldn’t afford to keep paying out like this!"
Cong Bo didn’t say a word. With a CRUNCH, CRUNCH, he chewed the bones in his mouth to bits and swallowed them with a look of pure enjoyment.
Only then did he wipe his mouth with a greasy towel and raise his eyes to look at the speaker.
"And who might you be?"
"My name is Zhang Wu. I own a pawnshop in town," the speaker said.
Cong Bo nodded, then pointed to his underlings. "You see that? Starting today, this Master Zhang Wu’s pawnshop no longer needs to pay donations."
"Yes, sir!" a few of the large thugs responded with smirks.
Zhang Wu’s face turned pale. He was about to say something, but Cong Bo waved his hand dismissively and started picking his teeth with a pig bone.
"I hear Master Zhang Wu’s family recently welcomed a new daughter-in-law. A pretty one, I’m told. As it happens, I have no one to make my bed and warm it for me tonight. Why don’t you send your daughter-in-law over later? Not only will your donations be waived, but you won’t have to pay any other miscellaneous taxes either."
The moment the words left his mouth, Zhang Wu fell to his knees with a THUD, kowtowing so fast his head was like a pestle pounding garlic.
"Stronghold Lord, please calm your anger! I’m willing to pay the donation, I’m willing to pay! I beg you, please spare my poor son and daughter-in-law."
"Aiya, what is Master Zhang Wu doing? Didn’t I tell you not to pay the donation? Why such enthusiasm? Well, in that case, since you insist on paying, you can bring the money over tomorrow when you come to pick up your daughter-in-law," Cong Bo said with a smug smile.
And his words drew raucous laughter from his underlings.
"Exactly! Since the old man is so enthusiastic, we have to give him a proper answer! Come on, brothers, let’s go to the Zhang family’s place and grab that little lady for the Stronghold Lord," a burly thug sneered.
Hearing this, however, Cong Bo frowned and snapped, "Bastard! How can you call it ’grabbing’? You must use the word ’invite.’"
"Right, right, the Stronghold Lord’s lesson is correct. We’ll go ’invite’ that little lady over right now," the thug said with a laugh, then actually led a few men downstairs and left.
Zhang Wu’s face was deathly pale, and he was trembling so hard he couldn’t even speak.
As for the others, they were all as silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to even breathe too loudly.
Just then, the smile on Cong Bo’s face vanished, replaced by a ferocious killing intent.
"Did I fucking give you too much face? You actually dare to bargain with me? Believe it or not, with one order, I could have all your families slaughtered right now!"
At his harsh question, all of them lowered their heads and began to tremble.
As if still not satisfied, Cong Bo stood up, walked over to Zhang Wu, and cackled maliciously.
"Zhang Wu, so you don’t want to pay the donation, is that it? Fine. Tonight, I’ll ’play’ with your daughter-in-law first, then I’ll reward my brothers with her. Trust me, with my brothers’ methods, she’ll be played to death before dawn."
"And you? You’re not going anywhere. You’re going to stay right here and watch! HAHAHAHA! Isn’t that exciting?" Cong Bo laughed maniacally as he spoke.
Zhang Wu’s eyes were filled with such rage they seemed about to split. He suddenly spat hard at Cong Bo. "Animal!"
The spittle landed right on Cong Bo’s face, silencing him instantly. He stared at Zhang Wu’s hate-filled expression, his eyelids twitching uncontrollably.
The violent killing intent made everyone in the room tremble; some of the weaker ones could no longer even stand.
"You’re courting death!" Cong Bo finally exploded. He raised his hand, ready to smash Zhang Wu’s mouth and rip out his tongue.
But at that very moment, the window suddenly shattered, and a round object was thrown inside.
As the round object rolled to a stop at Cong Bo’s feet, the lamplight illuminated it, revealing a face frozen in a grimace.
It was the head of the very same burly thug who had just boasted about going to grab the woman.
