Miao Chu

Chapter 319 Going out
No one spoke in the courtyard; instead, some took knives and axes, while others took long sticks.

Some tiptoed to the door and hid to the side, while others hurriedly closed the door and opened the back wooden window so they could jump out and escape later.

Before Old Huang could speak, the person outside the door shouted, "Hey, you inside! I followed you here, and I just saw someone go in. What are you pretending to be stupid for! Open the door!"

He shouted again, "I've put up with you for days! Do you live in a latrine? Don't you find it stinky! Your sewage is even flowing into my yard!"

As he spoke, he pounded on the door again.

Everyone in the room was quiet. They could hear an old woman's voice, but they all looked at their "daughter" without prior arrangement.

The latter hesitated for a moment, then went forward and opened the door.

The door latch was pulled off, and a strong force pushed in from outside. An old woman holding a rolling pin and a woman holding a washing stick followed behind her. The two of them came in with great force. As soon as they entered, they looked left and right. Before the "daughter" and "Old Huang" and the strong man behind them could stop them, they had already found a corner of the yard.

The woman slapped her thigh and stamped her foot, cursing, "This is filthy! Is this a pigsty?! How disgusting! No wonder it stinks so much inside our walls, and dirty water is flowing in—damn it! My dried cucumbers and vegetables have all been ruined by this stench!"

The old woman, however, didn't look for her "daughter." Instead, she grabbed "Old Huang" and pulled him, saying, "You've only been here a few days, and you're already pooping and peeing everywhere, piling up your swill in the yard. You won't even pay a penny for your foot! The wall is broken and you haven't repaired it, just letting stinky water flow into our yard! And another thing—didn't you kill fish the other day and throw the gills and intestines at my doorstep? It smelled so bad that my son couldn't wash it off even after two days!"

While talking, they were also trying to pull people outside.

Old Huang hurriedly shrank back and winked at his "daughter".

The "daughter" and another burly man stepped forward to stop him, rescued Old Huang, and then went to the next house.

There was a commotion on the other side of the wall, and it took quite a while before the two of them ran back.

"It's nothing, there was no leak. It's just that the wall base was loose, and water seeped through and spilled onto the food they were drying. It's such a small thing, but those two women are arguing like crows, and they're even demanding compensation. If it were any other day, I would have slapped them across the face!"

Hearing the burly man's explanation, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that it wasn't the authorities coming to their door.

The burly man then stretched out his hand to the group and said, "Give me some money and I'll send them away."

This sentence has clearly stirred up a hornet's nest.

"What??"

"Losing money? What kind of dream are you having?"

"You didn't watch your own watch properly, what's it to us! Let's give you a good beating, do you think we're easy to bully?"

Seeing everyone's dissatisfaction, someone nearby advised, "This is very unlucky. Let's get rid of it quickly. It's not good to cause trouble now, lest we attract the authorities. Old Huang is carrying a warrant for his arrest!"

They were a bunch of swindlers and con artists, few of them had good tempers, and even after hearing all that, they were still indignant.

Old Huang was still shaken and most afraid of attracting the attention of the authorities, so he quickly said, "Forget it, why bother with her? After we leave, we'll just smear their excrement on their doors and let them vent their frustrations!"

Just then, the "daughter" went to take money from a bag and was counting it when there was another knocking on the door. The old woman shouted through the door, "You're just taking out some money! Are you going to be reincarnated? It's already dark and you still haven't taken it out!"

He then asked, "Did I leave my rolling pin inside?"

He was swearing and cursing, and it was very offensive.

The burly man, already furious from arguing with the woman across the street, couldn't help but curse her ancestors for eighteen generations. He stormed outside, and looking down, he saw a rolling pin not far behind the door, which the old woman must have accidentally dropped when she came in.

He didn't pick it up, but kicked it, sending the rolling pin flying far to the corner of the wall—that was where people had been urinating and defecating these days, and the wall had broken, letting the dirty water leak across to the other side.

Seeing that the rolling pin had rolled around in the excrement a few times and was completely filthy and unusable, he opened the door and shouted, "What's all the noise about!"

Once the burly man left, the others paid no further attention and sat inside discussing matters in hushed tones.

"Old Huang, are you sure it's okay for you to take this order? Something feels off!"

"That's the idea. How could it be drawn so realistically? I've been in the underworld for so many years, and I've seen countless fishing paintings, but none of them are like this one! Could it be that they brought out an artist from the imperial palace?"

“I’ve seen portraits on those antique paintings and calligraphy, but none of them are like this—have you checked? It only costs a few yuan, but if you offend someone powerful!”

“I’ve inquired about it too. It’s just a shop that sells breakfast and snacks. Business is pretty good, but there’s no special background to it—the owner is a young woman, and her father was drowning in gambling debts at the beginning of the year… Didn’t that coachman come this morning? You all heard what he said!”

At this moment, it was the "son" who spoke up.

One of the more experienced ones said, "No matter what, things aren't going well this time. We're all carrying cases, and it's best for outsiders to avoid messing with local bullies, especially in the capital. So why don't we just pack our things and go into hiding for a while?"

Upon hearing this, everyone else fell silent.

After a short while, Old Huang said, "After all this trouble for so many days, we've only received a few taels of gold as a deposit. It's not even enough for our personal expenses! If we just leave like this, it won't be good to explain to the Bao family..."

Everyone could hear the hint of retreat in his voice, and they quickly set up a ladder for him.

"They only gave him a few gold coins as a deposit, are you expecting me to risk my life for him?"

“Exactly. We only came here because of the tight security in the capital. There are arrest warrants posted here, and although not many people have seen them, the drawing is still so lifelike. We're afraid that people from the west will recognize it…”

"It's best to move south, otherwise you'll get yourself into trouble!"

To be honest, when I arrived at the city gate today, I wanted to scout out what was going on, but I ended up seeing my old face plastered on the wall – the shock of that moment is still fresh in my mind.

picture!
so similar!
He can apply face cream, remove moles, and cover up wounds on his ears, but he can only cover them up temporarily. Does he want to hide them forever?

Even tigers sometimes doze off, so people can naturally be careless.

Over the years, he has committed more than one case, and his extortion has been numerous. He always moves on to a different place after making a big profit. To be honest, this time it was just a small matter. His original plan was to extort a hundred or so coins from the customer and then get another hundred or so coins from him. He would run away as soon as he got the money, but nothing went smoothly.

People in the underworld always pay attention to feng shui, geomancy, and fortune.

If we stay in the capital and get involved in this matter, what if we end up losing everything?
He had actually been planning to escape for a while, and now that he was taking advantage of the situation, after being persuaded by others, Old Huang didn't delay much and almost immediately said, "Alright, that guy surnamed Bao wasn't exactly a decent person to begin with. He's caused me so much trouble, we should be lenient by not causing him any more trouble—let's pack our things, we'll be there in a bit..."

As Old Huang was speaking, he suddenly felt something was amiss and turned to ask, "How long has Si'er been gone? Why hasn't he come back in all this time?"

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, there were several loud "bangs" as the doors and windows were pushed open from the outside almost simultaneously.

The people in the room were all seasoned veterans. As soon as they sensed something was wrong, they didn't even have time to look at who it was. They were all either climbing out of the back window or picking up knives, axes, and sticks from the side.

Unfortunately, because a mother and daughter had come earlier, everyone was already on edge. After confirming that everything was alright, they put the things back. Then, someone came to ask for a rolling pin, which made everyone worry again. This was really not the right time. It felt like they were going to give up after a while, and their reaction was a beat too slow.

As soon as there was movement inside, the person who rushed in immediately shouted a warning.

"Don't move!" "Why are you running!"

"Run and shoot arrows again!"

They were all on criminal charges, so they weren't going to bother with them. Some even thought to themselves with an air of experience, "They're just patrolmen, shooting arrows at me—do they think I'm some kind of ignorant fool?"

Those who run fast first forcefully overturn the table in front of them to block the approaching people, then take a few steps back, take the opportunity to turn around, press one hand against the window, and stick their head out.

Then someone else followed, grabbed the man's leg, and worked together to help push him out.

Give it a push.

Huh? Why isn't it moving?

This man thought he was stuck somewhere, and in the midst of the chaos, he didn't forget to spread his legs, assume a horse stance, take a deep breath, and forcefully push the person in front of him out, saying without urging, "You're just hogging the toilet without doing your business! You bastard, put some effort into it!"

However, no matter how hard he tried, the man seemed to be rooted to the windowsill, refusing to lift his legs. Not only that, he struggled desperately, trying to dodge his hands and kicking wildly.

"If you don't run, I'll run!"

In his haste, he yanked the person on the window open, revealing a gap, and using it as leverage, he did a somersault, landing on the ground outside. As soon as he turned around, he saw a group of people standing outside, at least a dozen or so, each holding a bow—they actually had arrows!

The arrows were already nocked, pointing directly at him. It seemed that as soon as the bow was drawn, they would be released in a volley, turning him into a hedgehog covered in quills.

He suddenly realized—no wonder the man was stuck in the window so tightly, and no matter how he lifted his leg, he wouldn't escape!
In this way, it would appear as if he had pinned the person to the window, preventing their escape!

Having lived for so many years, this was the first time he had seen so many arrows pointed at him. His legs went weak, and before he could think, he turned around and saw his companion glaring at him with fury.

He did a somersault, pressed his companion's head down, and quickly went back into the house through the window.

This time, however, he couldn't come and go as freely as he used to.

Almost as soon as he landed, two people pinned him to the ground by the head and hands, and soon his hands were tied behind his back.

"Why run!"

"Where are you from? What's your name? Where did you get your knife and axe?"

"Have you committed any crimes? Confess the truth!"

In the courtyard next door, two old women and women peeked out and heard a lot of noise. After about half an hour, they saw a group of people with their heads covered with black cloth and their hands tied behind their backs being led out. They all looked terrified and hurriedly pulled the guards who were guarding the courtyard away.

"Sir! Who are these people? They're so vicious. Will they come looking for trouble after they get out of jail?"

"Yes, if they come to cause trouble, there are only five or six people in our family, while they have ten strong men—how can we possibly handle them?"

"A lot of stolen goods and murder weapons were found inside, as well as travel permits and identity documents of dubious authenticity. These people will definitely not be able to get out anytime soon; at the very least, they will be exiled. Don't worry—remember to go to the yamen to collect your reward for helping to capture the fugitives today!"

The two were both surprised and delighted, and somewhat belatedly realized what was happening.

"It really is a fugitive! There's a reward!"

"They really are fugitives! I knew it! This house was fine before, but now that this group of people has come, they're rarely seen day or night, they leave things lying around, and they're not clean at all! They ruined all my dried melons and vegetables—they deserve to be killed!"

"Oh dear, there was a murder weapon! If I had known, I wouldn't have dared to go over there—thankfully I didn't know, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten the reward money!"

***
In broad daylight, a group of people were escorted away by the government. No matter how discreet they tried to be, they could not escape the eyes of those who were interested.

Soon, the message was sent back to a house in the same western part of the city.

Inside sat seven or eight burly men, and upon hearing the news, almost all of them changed their expressions.

One of them was utterly incredulous, exclaiming, "No! We were just telling them to hide and not go out recklessly, to wait until tonight to do what we needed to do... How did they get arrested so suddenly?!"

"Who arrested him? Weren't we already notifying the patrols at the city gates of Nanxun, Xinzheng, and Wansheng? Where is he being held now?"

The messenger said, "It wasn't a patrol officer; the Kyoto Prefectural Government arrested him themselves and has already taken him back. They even borrowed soldiers from the garrison outside the city—I heard they even brought longbows. Who can escape now!"

The man paused, then whispered, "It seems they pulled out a lot of travel permits and identity documents, all genuine. I had someone inquire about them for a while, and they all seem to be old thugs. I don't know if they've been implicated in any cases..."

The crowd's expressions grew even more grim.

"What if I really get implicated in the case..."

"I'm not afraid of anything else, but I am afraid of murder cases. Otherwise, I'm afraid I would have to ask the head steward to make a move!"

"What should we do? We were just saying that we would leave the restaurant business to them, but now... Luckily they haven't seen us, otherwise if they implicated us, we might also be implicated!"

"We should still inform your household, otherwise, if we really make a mess of things, I'm afraid we won't be able to get away with just being scolded!"

After discussing it, the group realized they couldn't keep it a secret, so they sent the message to the Wu family.

Not long after, the messenger returned dejectedly.

"The head steward relayed the master's message, saying that as long as the young lady's face is unharmed and her hands are fine, nothing else matters—as for the house, it would be best if it could be kept, but if not, so be it..."

"The other one is also urging us, saying that things have been dragging on for too long and the master is very unhappy. He told the boss not to delay any longer and to find a way to send the person back first!"

Upon hearing this, many people realized what was happening, exchanged glances, and then looked at the leader.

"Boss, Song's family has hired a lot of bodyguards, and they have people following them everywhere they go. They also have the constables and soldiers from the Vermilion Bird Gate. We don't have any influence there, so we can't do anything..."

"We've already mobilized many people, including those who blocked our way and those who caused trouble, but in the end, it hasn't made any difference!"

"Without a pretext, it's not good to just kidnap them..."

The latter gritted his teeth and asked, "The coachman wasn't arrested, was he?"

Having received a positive reply, he added, "Call the person over first!"

After discussing it for half a day, they quietly went out at night.

(End of this chapter)