Chapter 169: The Chase
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
"Your excellency, look, Xiao Ba managed to catch a hare." The soldiers smiled as he spoke.
From afar, the hunting dog came running over. It rolled several steps before reaching a halt, just in front of Pei Zi Yun.
The hunting dog had its jaws locked around the hare as it glared at Pei Zi Yun, "Woof woof woof" The dog started barking ferociously. The bailiff then spoke, "This is really a lucky place. It seems like the dog has found another hare."
All of a sudden, the sound of its barks vanished completely. The bailiff looked around suspiciously before pointing at the soldier, "You, go down and investigate it."
The bailiff himself however took several steps back in apprehension. He was clutching onto a gong in his hands. Once he was sure that it was Pei Zi Yun hiding beneath the grass patch, he would immediately sound the gong. Then, he would strike rich.
The soldier’s forehead started sweating profusely as he approached the thick, tall grassy area. He cautiously took a step before shouting, "Xiao Ba, Xiao Ba?"
No reply came, and the dog was still nowhere to be seen. All of a sudden, there was a rustle in the grass patch and Pei Zi Yun dashed out from beneath. With a flash of his sword, the soldier gave out a loud groan and fell over.
The minute the bailiff saw Pei Zi Yun attack the soldier, he raised his hand to sound the gong. Even before the gong could be struck, Pei Zi Yun moved quickly and appeared next to the bailiff. With a flash of the sword he struck. A look of sheer terror could be seen on the bailiff’s face. He didn’t even have time to sound the gong, his eyes froze in shock.
"No!" Even before the bailiff could finish speaking, he dropped the gong, which Pei Zi Yun caught deftly.
Three other soldiers were nearby and were about to shout in horror when Pei Zi Yun swept his sword across the necks of all three of them in a single line. Fresh blood sputtered out from his victims as they dropped to the ground.
At this point, he could hear the blasts of whistles being sounded by the soldiers around. He knew that they were using this to track each other’s movements. Pei Zi Yun hurriedly searched the three soldiers for the whistle, and didn’t manage to find it. He turned around and started to flee.
After ten breaths, a group of soldiers walked over and didn’t see anyone. As they got nearer, they found bodies.
The sound of the gong rang out in excitement, "Boom boom boom."
Several groups of soldiers and bailiffs who were trying to hunt Pei Zi Yun down immediately reacted to the sound of the gong. They started to converge towards the sound. It looked exactly like a fisherman retrieving his fishing nets, as they tried to trap him.
The person who was leading the group of hunting men was the renowned constable Fang Jie. When he approached the group of soldiers who had sounded the gong he asked loudly, "Where’s he?"
"Constable Fang, we found the corpses of a bailiff and several soldiers here. When we touched the blood we realized it was still hot. I’m afraid our target has just killed these man, and couldn’t have gone far."
"Boom!" After hearing this, Fang Jie didn’t even bother to reply. He retrieved a firecracker and fired it up into the sky. Soldiers who were even further away saw this firecracker in the sky and started heading towards that direction.
"We’ve confirmed that the traitor is in the vicinity!" Fang Jie announced as soon as a hundred men had gathered around the are. He then continued, "This is Black Load Mountain, and it stretches on for about ten kilometers. It’s terrains are extremely treacherous, so be careful!"
"Report this news to the eunuch!" Fang Jie ordered, "Although this Black Load Mountain is dangerous, there aren’t many exits he can take. It’s the perfect mountain for us to capture him. Please inform the eunuch to dispatch all his troops here and close in on him!"
"Yes!" A soldier immediately responded.
Late night
Pei Zi Yun was in extremely poor shape. He didn’t know how long he had been fleeing for, or how many people he had killed to escape. Thankfully, the terrains of this mountain were extremely harsh, which made it harder for normal men to scale and reach him. That was how he had just escaped.
Just as he was about to climb some rocks, he could feel a wave of sharp pain over his entire head. He then thought to himself that a new wave of pain had come. Crippled by the intensity of the pain, he slipped and slid down from high up. Before long, he was unable to control his fall and was rolling down the steep mountainous roads.
The steep decline finally ended at the entrance of a cave. Pei Zi Yun rolled all the way down into the cave and finally came to a stop after some distance rolled. He felt his entire body aching terribly, as he used his sword to help himself to his feet.
"Light Technique!" Pei Zi Yun extended a hand, and a ball of white energy appeared on his hands, radiating heat and light from it. The entire mountain cave was illuminated by this light.
The first thing he saw was a huge boulder, which was dazzling and sparkling. Just looking at it was enough to make a person dizzy.
Immediately after the flashing light came on, long enough for Pei Zi Yun to be familiar with his surroundings, he extinguished it. As he walked down the narrow path leading deeper into the cave, he grimaced, 'Another wave of sharp pain in my head.'
'The pain happens everyday, but it’s becoming less painful after each time. If it continues this way, I just have to bear it another time before I could start making a recovery. In future I must absorb a legacy with more planning and not as recklessly as this time.'
'Damn it. Only now do I realize the effectiveness of the army.' Pei Zi Yun felt an intense thirst and hunger overwhelm him. Some people would have hunted for meat and consumed it raw without first cooking it, but that was extremely distasteful to him.
'The reason why the army is so effective is because they have large numbers, since men cost nothing.'
'All it takes is a single stab to my heart to kill me, and yet many soldiers would have to die before they even get a chance to do that. It was what the officials deem a "necessary sacrifice". This was the strength of the military, being able to spare the lives of many men in order to attain such an objective.'
'Once I recover from this splitting headache and retribution, can these soldiers deal with my fighting skills and Dao arts?'
As the night got darker, an entire group of soldiers could be seen sneaking up the mountains in a long trail. From time to time, the sound of dogs barking could be heard. Fang Jie looked up and asked, "Is this it?"
"Yes, blood trails could be seen all the way here."
"The hunting dogs have detected a scent. It must be him, who ran off into the cave. It seems like he’s hurt. Let’s kill our way in and take his head off."
"Once we’ve killed him, I shall organize a huge banquet in celebration, and none of you shall ever be short on silver or women. Kill him!" Fang Jie raised a hand and his troop of soldiers held onto torches as they rushed into the dark cave.
The smell of salted sea combined with mold covered the entire cave. The surface of the cave was extremely rocky and bumpy. After walking for some time, he reached an exit. Pei Zi Yun paused to catch his breath. All of a sudden, he could feel the headache disappear completely like a tide withdrawing from the shores. He started to feel clear headed for the first time in several days, and a feeling of comfort rested upon his shoulders. He then revealed a satisfied grin.
'I can feel that after this last wave of headaches, the remaining fragment of the spirit from the Legacy has been vanquished from my mind forever.'
'The residual spirit that haunted me was his wandering spirit that refused to move on. Although I’m already a Yin Master, I was still affected by it. Since the original owner and Xie Cheng Dong weren’t the least affected, that must mean I’m missing out on something.'
'But I guess I should focus on the matter at hand now!'
"Stars Transposition." Pei Zi Yun felt a sudden sense of ease, as the retribution from the Imperial Qi was reduced by six folds.
'There’s no such thing as unlimited energy or force. As long as I continue to hide the traces of my powers from the Imperial Qi, thereby reducing its ability to detect me, and by increasing my own defenses, I would be able to suppress the strength of the retribution upon me.'
'That’s the most I can do with this level of Divine powers. Thankfully the retribution of Imperial Qi would eventually dissipate and recede over time.' Pei Zi Yun sighed. With the retribution of the Imperial Qi looming over him, he could only use a small amount of his spiritual energy. At this point the retribution had been reduced considerably, and he felt a wave of comfort take over him. Most of his energy had returned, and the constant pain he felt was getting significantly easier to bear with each passing second.
'Indeed, when a person’s armed with a knife, he will feel like killing.' Pei Zi Yun smiled before standing up. He was clutching onto the jade charm, his fingers moving over the smooth surface. Whenever he touched it, he would feel a certain vibration all over his body. After some time, he laughed, 'This jade charmed had been imbued with the convictions of the crazy Daoist, and thus became a valuable treasure. However, this particular divine power can only be cultivated up to the third level, it is a shame.'
'Daoists are restricted by the Imperial Qi, and this isn’t limited to just one or two Daoists. In order to protect the officials of the Imperial Court, the Imperial Qi was thus being put into place to prevent an uprising of the Daoists against the dynasty.'
'According to my memories, this crazy Daoist managed to obtain certain records from his own sect before combining that with the knowledge he had acquired from other clans and sects to produce such a divine power.'
'If I were to continuing acquiring relevant information with regards to this divine power, I might be able to take it to another level.' Pei Zi Yun thought as his expression changed.
'Hm, the same strange energy is circling around me once more. This has happened several times in the past few days. Every time this energy shows me, the soldiers chasing after me would get a precise knowledge of my current location. This wasn’t them scrying on me, but rather tracking me down. I’m afraid they have acquired some blood from me in order to do something like that.'
Pei Zi Yun gave a cold laugh, "In the past, it was difficult for me to avoid your tracking methods. With the Stars Transposition, I can even hide from something as powerful as Imperial Qi, why shouldn’t I be able to hide from your tracking methods?"
Pei Zi Yun extended a finger and pointed a finger at the energy encircling him. It was as if his physical body had disappeared, for the energy started swirling around the entire cave, as if it was looking for him. However, it failed to locate him. Soon after, the energy disappeared. Seeing something like that happening.
Pei Zi Yun fell deep in thought, "It looks like the Imperial Court has sent out their own Daoist personnel too." Pei Zi Yun whispered to himself, as he started hearing the sounds of soft footsteps gradually appearing from some distance away.
"Now I’m still drained and exhausted, and it isn’t the right time for me to show up and fight yet. Wait for me to be done with my rest, I shall complete the mission and take my reward. After that, I shall give you a big surprise." Pei Zi Yun was speaking to himself. Without further ado, he turned around to leave.
The cave was extremely deep and dark. Fang Jie allowed two bailiffs to walk ahead first, leading the soldiers’ troops. As they walked forward cautiously, Fang Jie sniffed the air.
"Not right, the air is fresh here." Fang Jie spoke out.
"Your excellency, what’s the matter?" The bailiff asked hurriedly, his expression was one of surprise.
Fang Jie plucked out a strand of hair in his head, and allowed it to fall. Using the torch as a source of light, he could see that the strand of air was being blown by the wind in the direction of the entrance of the cave. "Not good, this cave has two sides to it. This man must’ve exited the other way. Chase!"
Fang Jie issued the command nervously, as the troops behind him started running in pursuit.
The cave meandered for a long distance. After some time of running through the zigzags of the maze, Pei Zi Yun could finally see some light at the end of it. The exit of the cave led to a cliff, which was led to a great height.
"It’s about twenty to thirty meters high!" Pei Zi Yun looked down. A normal person would definitely not be able to jump down such a height and survive. But how could it ever be dangerous for a Yin Master?
Pei Zi Yun took off his clothes and piled them together. He then pointed at his pile of clothes, which was illuminated by a bright light.
'Such a waste. If I had more cloth, I would be able to make an entire wing, which would enable me to glide down for a much further distance. It would then be hard for these men to pursue me.'
'But at this point a parachute is acceptable as well.'
He clutched onto the pile of clothing, held it above his head and jumped. The cloth inflated as it caught the air, and begin to descend gradually.
The cliff had a height of about twenty meters, and Pei Zi Yun reached the ground gently. He could then hear a commotion on the cliff. When he raised his head to look up, he could see many torches being illuminated. He then smiled, "The cliff broke off your path to chase me down, can you still continue pursuing me?"
Pei Zi Yun then ignored them, and started running off.
"Asshole!" The people looked down and could see the person down below. Fang Jie’s eyes squinted in anger, as he looked to his left and right, "Damn it. Who here brought ropes? Throw the ropes over, let’s continue our chase."
Hearing these words, the bailiffs all looked at each other nervously and shook their heads. This was supposed to be a pursuit of a criminal, who would’ve brought a rope along with them?
A bailiff fell deep in thought before hurriedly stepping forward, "Constable, I’ve brought a single rope to tie our prisoner up if we caught him. But it’s only five meters long. I don’t have anything longer."
"All of you, remove your outer coats and tie them together. I shall climb down myself." Fang Jie immediately responded.
"Yes!" The bailiffs all responded quickly and removed their outer coats and tied them together to form a rope of sorts. They then allowed the rope of coats to descend.
"I shall go down first because my martial art’s skills are powerful. If the rope isn’t stable, I can still find a way to survive if it gives up. All of you, start thinking of a way to go down. If you can’t think of a way to come down, fire the firecrackers into the sky." Fang Jie gritted his teeth as he spoke to the bailiff, "I have to catch this traitor, and avenge his excellency Ji no matter what."
"Yes, your excellency." The bailiffs shouted loudly. Everyone present knew of Ji family’s graciousness and generosity towards him. That was how he could become the man he was today, with his standing. That was why he gave this pursuit his all, hoping that he would be the one to apprehend Pei Zi Yun. Besides, the reward that would be granted to him by eunuch Ding wouldn’t be a small matter. He might even become an official if he succeeded.
However, all these were unspoken facts that nobody dared to mention.