Chapter 118

Chapter 118: Kill Them All

Yu Zhi Yi and her group entered the city and wandered without a fixed plan.

This was an upper county seat. It was not as bustling as the capital city, but compared with other county towns it was quite wealthy. It was even livelier than some remote prefectural cities, and Gaoliang County was known for its crowds.

As they walked, the people trailing them grew restless, muttering to each other: “Weren’t we here to rescue people? Why are we just strolling around?”

Someone scoffed: “I said from the start this woman is only putting on a show.”

Another complained: “If I had known, I would have gone back with the princess. Now we have the princess mad at us, and we did not even get to watch anything fun. What a loss.”

Their voices were not low. Yu Zhi Yi could hear every word, but she did not care.

Suddenly she stopped.

Everyone followed her gaze and their faces changed. A few soft-hearted ones even covered their mouths.

Ahead by the street, a ragged beggar lay flat on the ground. His body hardly moved at all, as if he were dead. Beside his head sat a chipped bowl with a missing edge. A handful of copper coins already lay inside, but the man seemed not to see them. He kept lying there half-dead. Even after Yu Zhi Yi and the others had walked dozens of steps, he still did not move.

Most important of all, the places where his hands and feet should be were empty.

When they were less than three meters away, Yu Zhi Yi spoke: “Elder Zhang, this person is so pitiful, should we give him some money?”

Elder Zhang froze and looked at her, puzzled. She knew he had no money of his own. But the lord had saved his life and was now helping him look for his son, so he felt ashamed to refuse. He said awkwardly: “Could you front it for me first? Take it out of my charity fund later.”

The moment Elder Zhang opened his mouth, the beggar on the ground suddenly raised his head, showing a face so filthy you could not see his real features.

Elder Zhang was startled and looked over by instinct. He was about to say something more to Yu Zhi Yi, but then he jerked back, stared hard at the beggar, and choked out: “Tuwa?!”

The beggar whimpered and struggled to throw himself at Old Man Zhang. He had no hands and no feet, so he could not stand up. Even sitting up by himself took all his strength. But right now he went wild, ignoring his broken body and trying with all his might to lunge toward Old Man Zhang.

Old Man Zhang hobbled forward on his cane, then tossed the cane aside and caught the man with shaking arms. He tried to wipe the man’s face clean with his sleeve.

The people following them were stunned by the sudden turn.

A moment ago, they had blamed Yu Zhi Yi for making trouble when she asked Old Man Zhang to give money. The mouthy young master who had argued with her earlier was about to speak again, but this change left him dumb. His words stuck in his throat and would not come out.

Yu Zhi Yi’s eyes did not linger on the pitiful father and son. She looked past them at a middle-aged man not far away.

The lady in blue looked too, then frowned. She rarely used the words sneaky and rat-eyed to describe a person, because she felt they were too insulting. But now, the word became real right in front of her eyes. The man noticed their gaze, turned, and ran.

Yu Zhi Yi moved at once. She told the coachman to stay and watch over the Zhang clan father and son, then followed in the man’s direction.

It looked like a chase, but her steps were unhurried, more like a quiet stroll.

The mouthy young master could not help himself and shouted: “Hey, what are you doing? If you don’t hurry, he will get away!”

Yu Zhi Yi replied calmly: “Young master, if you think I am too slow, then do not follow. Wait for us to bring back good news.”

The young master was speechless. [Wait, is this how a normal person should react? Shouldn’t it be: if I am too slow, then you go chase him yourself?] But seeing that the lady in blue did not question Yu Zhi Yi, he swallowed his anger and followed anyway.

While Yu Zhi Yi and the others strolled through the streets and alleys, the sneaky man rushed through several lanes and finally reached a small courtyard. The place looked ordinary, like any common home. Strangely, the neighboring houses were empty. If anyone lived nearby, they would have noticed that strange sounds came from this house every day: sometimes screams, sometimes the painful moans of boys and girls, and sometimes loud, ugly laughter.

The man lifted the door ring and knocked four times in a pattern of three long and one short. A lowered voice came from inside: “Heavenly King!”

He answered in a low voice: “Earth Tiger!”

The signal matched. He entered and said in a deep tone: “The family of one of the pigs came looking, and they brought nobles.”

“They wear gold and silver and carry themselves like people of rank. They are not common. If they make a move, not even the lord can protect us.”

The doorkeeper frowned and asked: “You are sure you did not see wrong?”

“I am sure.”

The sneaky man urged: “Before they find this place, we should leave.”

The doorkeeper cursed at the bad luck and snapped: “Then move now.” He sent two old women to keep watch while the rest packed their things and their people.

Inside the courtyard were many disabled folks like Old Man Zhang’s son, though each was hurt in a different way. Some were missing an arm, some had a broken leg. Almost none were as miserable as Old Man Zhang’s son, who had lost both hands and both feet. One thing was the same: they had all been made mute.

When these people first heard that nobles might come and find this place, a tiny hope rose in their hearts. But when they heard how quickly the gang planned to change hiding spots, that hope died again.

Suddenly one of the old women ran in, panicked: “Bad news. Two men are knocking door to door borrowing water. They are already on the next street. They do not look like people who need a sip of water. They must be the nobles’ men.”

The sneaky man punched the air: “So fast!” He looked over the disabled crowd, and his eyes turned cold. “Looks like we cannot take these pigs with us.”

Their contact, who was also the boss of the group, frowned and asked: “You mean, kill them all?”

“What else?” The sneaky man was not the boss, but he was the strategist. He said coolly: “They are mutes, yes, but they have seen our faces. Their ears still work. They could give us away. Kill them. That is faster.”

There were many disabled people here, some with bad legs. Taking them along would be dead weight.

The others agreed. None of them thought killing was wrong.

To save time, every one of them, men and women alike, picked up butcher knives.