Chapter 146 - Borrowing the Fire to Burn a Mountain
Translator: Myuu Editor: Myuu
Though Yan Liqiang recognized Commandant Su, he didn’t recognize Yan Liqiang.
Commandant Su, who had rushed here, threw a glance at Yan Liqiang, the other two, and the Shatu man on the ground with his face exposed before he instantly frowned. “Who are you all? Were you the ones who shot the whistling arrow just now…?” he asked loudly.
Facing a group of soldiers who were dripping with murderous intent like tigers which were watching their prey for the first time, Shi Dafeng and Shen Teng felt rather nervous and suffocated. Yan Liqiang was the only one who still maintained his composure.
“Reporting sir, we are students from the martial arts academy. We indeed just released that whistling arrow. There is something strange going on in the backyard of this boutique. We discovered some suspicious activity and suspected that King Cobra might be hiding inside. Some Wanderers already barged in just now…” Yan Liqiang cupped his fist and respectfully answered Commandant Su.
“Damnnn, is it my turn to get rich now?” As expected, black-faced Commandant Su’s eyes instantly lit up at the mention of King Cobra’s name as he licked his lips. He didn’t even have time to carefully inquire Yan Liqiang and them about how they discovered that something strange was going on inside this boutique. He took the longbow he was carrying on his back and then turned to yell at the soldiers around him. “Brothers! After suffering for the past few days, the time for us to get rich has come! Capture King Cobra and we shall have fine wine and meat for a month! Break the main door of this shop for me!!”
Commandant Su yelled as he personally led a troop of yelling soldiers with powerful crossbows and long spears in their hands. They broke the boutique’s entrance and barged in…
I’m sorry, Commandant Su. I didn’t expect for you come here… The one inside is not King Cobra but the Prefectural Governor’s young lord. Anyway, since you took the blame last time at the city entrance and offended the Prefectural Governor, it’s probably… no big deal for you… to offend him one more time…
Yan Liqiang silently mourned in his heart for Commandant Su…
“Liqiang, what are we going to do now?” Shi Dafeng asked him softly from the side.
Yan Liqiang smiled. “We shall wait here and see how this turns out. If they really find King Cobra inside, the credit and reward of discovering King Cobra will definitely be ours. But since the situation inside is still unknown and we are only students of the martial arts academy with feeble strength, there is no need for us to rush inside and risk our lives. We’ll just do whatever that is within our capabilities!”
The frowning Shen Teng also whispered his question to him. “Liqiang, why did we have to wait until we reached the main street to release the whistling arrow?”
“If we released the whistling arrow in the alley and got ambushed by some expert from the side who could have eliminated the three of us in just the blink of an eye, no one would ever find out about what happened to us!” Yan Liqiang also lowered down his voice in response. “A great commotion will ensue the moment the whistling arrow is released. Look around us, these manors are not places normal folks can afford to stay in. Brother Shen, do you really think ordinary people can possibly open a boutique here and be involved in some sort of shady business with the Shatu people? Besides, we also don’t know who is in that boutique or what is the connection between this boutique and that huge manor on the side. Therefore, we can only release the whistling arrow in the main street where it is a relatively safer place under the watchful eyes of people and out in the open. We also have to expose this Shatu man. Only by doing so, we can protect ourselves and be out of harm’s way. So now, we don’t have to care about what those Wanderers and soldiers have discovered in that boutique. All we need to do is just stand watch here…”
Yan Liqiang’s words were not only audible to Shen Teng but also Shi Dafeng who was at the side. When both of them recalled the situation just now, they were startled as their backs broke into cold sweat at the same time. Both of them were nervous and excited then, how could such important details even cross their minds? Both of them only realized that after hearing Yan Liqiang’s explanation. Danger indeed lurked around the small alley they were in just now and it wasn’t a place for them to linger too long in. Both Shen Teng and Shi Dafeng were so impressed by Yan Liqiang that they could prostrate themselves before him in admiration.
Just as Yan Liqiang said, there was no doubt that the three of them had made some contributions. Even if King Cobra wasn’t in the boutique, this Shatu man must have been involved in some sort of shady business with those people in there. The two Wanderers must have released a signal because they discovered something going on inside the boutique. Therefore, the contribution from the three was exposing the secret dealings involving this Shatu man.
Half of the soldiers that Commandant Su brought with him stayed outside, sealing off the streets and alleys on both sides of the boutique. In just two or three short minutes, the sound of synchronized footsteps rang out again from a distance as another troop of soldiers came rushing here.
Many guards from the surrounding wealthy manors, a few nearby martial arts academy patrol groups, and a crowd of onlookers all flocked to the area. In just the blink of an eye, more than a thousand people had gathered around the streets and the crowd was still steadily increasing in size.
“Little Brother, what is going on here? Were you the ones who released the whistling arrow just now? What happened to this Shatu man on the ground?” The guards of the few wealthy manors who came out to gather information spoke up from the crowd when they saw the abnormal situation surrounding Yan Liqiang and the other two.
“So what’s going on here? Let’s hear it!” The onlookers in the surrounding started yelling loudly.
“We came to Fine Willow Alley for a meal tonight but we didn’t expect to find this Shatu man moving suspiciously. Not only that, he also dressed himself up like a Chinese person and wore a dog fur hat to cover his face. He drove this horse carriage and secretively made his way to the backyard of this boutique to deliver some leather goods. However, there seemed to be something else hidden among the leather goods he was delivering, so we restrained him. But then we saw some Wanderers barging into the backyard of this boutique and heard some fighting noises, we released the whistling arrow. After all, we can’t afford to let the criminals get away…” Yan Liqiang cupped his fist respectfully and spoke to everyone around him loudly as he briefly made an account of the incident that the three of them had encountered tonight so everyone could hear.
“Yes, this Shatu man dressed himself to look like us Chinese and hurried along on his horse carriage to deliver goods at night. He must be up to no good to be acting this suspicious…”
“As expected, heroes are cultivated from youth. The students from the martial arts academy are indeed different…”
The surrounding onlookers immediately broke into discussion as they all sang praises for Yan Liqiang and the rest.
Just when Yan Liqiang finished speaking with everyone, the first batch of Wanderers had arrived. They had directly leaped onto the rooftops and vaulted themselves over the walls, stepping on those roof tiles as they made their way here.
The group of soldiers down there could only stare at those Wanderers and whistle at them while they watched them jump off the rooftops into the small courtyard behind the boutique.
However, in just the blink of an eye, some Wanderers leaped onto the rooftops again from that courtyard and yelled at the other Wanderers who were rushing towards here. “There’s an underground tunnel inside the house at the backyard which leads to that big manor there. The big manor is the main building. King Cobra might be in there!”
When the Wanderers who came later heard that there was actually an underground tunnel inside the boutique which led to the huge wealthy manor on the side, certain that some shady business was definitely going on in there, every single one of them immediately charged towards the big manor that Ye Xiao was in without the slightest hesitation.
Upon hearing there was actually an underground tunnel beneath the boutique which was directly connected to another manor in the distance, the crowd was suddenly in an uproar. The countenance of a few of the people among them immediately contorted because they knew exactly who lived in that huge manor which those Wanderers were going to barge into…
“KING COBRA IS INSIDE THAT HUGE MANOR! EVERYONE, GET INSIDE AND SEIZE HIM! A THOUSAND TAELS OF GOLD IS RIGHT BEFORE OUR EYES!!”
Seeing those Wanderers rush toward that huge manor, many people in the crowd started shouting loudly when they heard that King Cobra might be inside that huge manor. After all, the bounty reward of a thousand taels of gold for King Cobra was a large sum of money that was enough to drive many crazy. Who could possibly remain untempted by such a large sum of wealth before their eyes?
Normally, these people wouldn’t dare to rush inside that huge manor to cause a scene and capture someone. However, the situation was different now. The secret tunnel inside the boutique had already been discovered. It was obvious that there was some sort of shady business going on inside that huge manor and this boutique. Now that a group of highly-skilled Wanderers had taken the lead to barge in there, what was there to be afraid of?
When the crowd was jeering rowdily, a bunch of onlookers in the surroundings shouted and suddenly rushed into the huge manor on the side without thinking.
The entrance of the huge manor was shut. Someone even climbed over the courtyard’s walls and opened the door, instantly letting a few hundred people inside.
When Yan Liqiang saw this scene, he finally felt relieved as he let out a long sigh — the father and son of the Ye Clan were done for…