Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 169 Trapped
Yan Mingzhang gradually regained his senses and slowly opened his eyes. Rong Wanyin, Mo Yun, and Changfeng stood shoulder to shoulder in the center of the dilapidated prison cell, protecting him behind them. The weapons in their hands gleamed coldly, their eyes wary as they stared intently at the numerous county soldiers outside the cell. Governor Wang stood among the county soldiers, and with a wave of his hand, the soldiers immediately surrounded the cell, shields clashing heavily. Other soldiers, wielding longswords, blocked the exit completely, preventing even a fly from escaping.

Outside the cell, Lord Sun sat calmly in his carved chair, slowly waving his gold-embroidered fan. A half-smile played on his face as he leisurely watched the tense situation unfold before him, as if it were nothing more than an amusing spectacle. Every now and then, he would take a sip of the hot tea offered by his attendant and let out a contented sound.

Yan Mingzhang looked at Mo Yun with some confusion: "Didn't we agree that you would come in later? Why are you here so soon? I haven't gotten any information out of them yet."

"My lord, if we had been any later, you might have lost your fingers. You woke up too late; perhaps you took too much medicine?" Mo Yun sighed.

Yan Mingzhang did some mental calculations and shook his head: "That shouldn't be the case. Could it be that I stayed in the dream for too long?" Oh well, there's no solution. He still can't control the effects of these medicines. It seems he needs to experiment more.

The cell had only one exit. Lord Sun, looking completely confident, sat silently, simply smiling as he watched them. Governor Wang, however, wiped the sweat from his brow, took a step back, and feigned bravado, saying, "Do you really think you can escape? We're surrounded. Surrender!"

In the dim and damp cell, the air seemed to freeze. Suddenly, the candle flame flickered slightly, and Rong Wanyin and the others launched their attack.

In the candlelight, several twisted black shadows were fiercely fighting, baring their fangs and brandishing their claws. The gust of wind brought by the swords swept away a few pieces of plaster from the wall, and dust fell down with a clatter, covering Governor Wang. Governor Wang coughed twice, covered his mouth in disgust, and waved his other hand, trying to sweep the dust away.

In terms of combat strength, Rong Wanyin and her group would definitely have the upper hand. Unfortunately, the prison cell was small and cramped, and there were too many soldiers. They could easily injure their own men, which severely restricted their movements. However, they only needed another incense stick to burn for them to win.

Lord Sun saw the trend, gave them a cold look, pretended to be calm and composed, picked up his fan and walked out: "Prefect Wang, this matter is in your hands. Make sure these thieves are brought to justice. The air here is not good. I will wait for you outside."

After finishing his sentence, Lord Sun quickened his pace and headed outside.

"Hey... Lord Sun... don't go!" Governor Wang, while directing his men, also considered fleeing the battlefield. Continuing the fight wouldn't necessarily bring any advantage; it would be better to lock them in the dungeon, release the poison gas, and everything would be fine. As for the lives of these soldiers, he couldn't care less; other people's lives were naturally less valuable than his own!

Governor Wang shouted, "You lot, hold them off with all your might!" He then quickly turned around and led a squad of elite county soldiers, who escorted him outwards like stars surrounding the moon.

Seeing this, Rong Wanyin was extremely anxious. She wielded her soft sword even faster and shouted, "Oh no! They're going to lock us up inside!" But her shouts were quickly drowned out by the sounds of clashing weapons and the roars of the county soldiers, who were blocking their way.

Just as the standoff was reaching its conclusion, someone shouted, "Fire! Fire!"

The voice sounded like Li Feihu's. Thick smoke billowed up from nowhere, and everyone's expressions changed drastically. The county soldiers, who had been on high alert, instantly panicked. They were only after a few taels of silver to make a living. They were already at a disadvantage in their fight against Rong Wanyin and the others. Now, with the fire, the secret chamber only had one exit. Everyone knew what kind of people those two corrupt officials were. If they closed the door, there would be no way for them to survive!

Amidst the chaotic screams, the soldiers fled through the gates. With the two officials gone, morale had already collapsed, and their weapons had become a burden. They had lost all will to fight and scattered like birds and beasts, after all, who would want to perish in the flames?

Unbeknownst to them, two men were waiting at the exit of the secret chamber, lying in wait. One of them, wielding a meteor hammer, was none other than Li Feihu. Each time someone emerged, he would strike them down with a single blow, as if playing whack-a-mole. These soldiers didn't even see who it was before they were knocked unconscious by the hammer.

Liu Mubai helped drag the fallen soldiers aside and tied them up tightly with ropes. The two worked together seamlessly.

When Rong Wanyin and the others came out, they saw the group of people lying on the ground in disarray. The ropes tightly tied the wrists of the person in front to the ankles of the person behind, stringing them together like grasshoppers on a rope.

"You can tie someone up like that?" Rong Wanyin asked, somewhat surprised.

“We didn’t have enough rope, so we need to be frugal…” Liu Mubai explained simply, using only a few words.

Before everyone could catch their breath, a series of noisy footsteps approached from not far away. Turning around, they saw Lord Sun leading a group of county soldiers. It turned out that Lord Sun had returned, and the soldiers he brought back were all carrying bows on their backs, and even had oil on their hands—he intended to kill them all!

Before anyone could react, the county soldiers had already surrounded Yan Mingzhang and his men. The front-line soldiers had already formed a battle formation, ready to fire arrows. Lord Sun's face was ashen, veins bulging on his forehead. He waved his hand and shouted, "Shoot! Shoot all of them to death! Leave no traitors alive!"

Governor Wang lay on his side on the ground, struggling to get up like a writhing, fat maggot. His face was pale, his whole body trembling, and he cried out in a sob, "Lord Sun, I'm still here!"

Lord Sun's lips curled into a chilling smile, his eyes contemptuous and indifferent: "You have indeed sacrificed yourself for the country and served His Majesty faithfully. Afterwards, I will personally report your merits to the Emperor."

The bound jailers realized that even Governor Wang was of no importance, so there was no need to waste their breath on them.

The head constable in charge of the county soldiers hesitated, glancing at Lord Sun and the bound soldiers, some of whom he had even shared drinks with. After a moment's thought, he spoke up: "Lord Sun, Prefect Wang and these soldiers are still in their hands. We're hesitant to act rashly. The arrows might accidentally injure Prefect Wang and the soldiers. Wouldn't that be inappropriate? Perhaps we should talk to them and ask them to hand them over?"