NOVEL NEXT Clang– Clang– Clang–
The giant bell above the main hall of the Persian Temple rang. All Nestorian monks stopped whatever they were doing and wondered what was going on. Two men carrying a makeshift stretcher covered by a blanket made of camel hair, one on each end, walked out of the residential area and headed outside the temple.
All monks nearby were murmuring amongst themselves. Learning that an eminent monk was assassinated and being transferred to a clinic, they started to pray for their brother fervently.
Fortunately, it was the first day of the Lantern Festival. Clinics in all neighborhood were prepared to work all night. Outside the gate, an oilcloth ox carriage had just arrived. Drawn by an ox, this type of carriage was slow and steady, with a bamboo- roof and curtains on both sides -perfect for transferring seriously wounded patients.
Two men placed the elder into the carriage carefully. An apprentice physician, who had been waiting inside, helped lay the patient flat and then stuffed a Ginseng Lifesaving Pill into his mouth. The carriage was too small for two more men, so the apprentice physician bade them head for the clinic first. Then he hung a bereavement-bell with white and blue stripes outside the carriage and then asked the coachman to leave.
The moment the ox-drawn carriage started moving, the bereavement-bell jingled. This bell was made of lead, so it sounded different from normal bells. When they hear the sound of it, people nearby knew that someone was being transferred to the clinic to receive emergency treatment, so they all hurried out of the way to avoid catching bad luck.
The ox-drawn carriage slowly progressed through busy streets and crowds to the jingling bell, heading for the clinic. After it traveled about a quarter mile, the carriage left the sight of the Persian Temple. It suddenly swerved off the crowded main road into a small alley. There were no lanterns here, so it was pitch-dark.
The coachman halted the ox carriage and coughed. The apprentice physician in the cart-box drew a dagger from his waist and stabbed towards the patient on the stretcher. At that moment a big hand flew out from beneath the blanket like lightning and held the wrist of the apprentice in a vice-like grip.
The blanket was lifted, revealing a one-eyed, hideous man who sat up from the stretcher and grinned, “A physician is supposed to treat a patient as their own child. Where is your love?”
The apprentice knew he was tricked and his face dropped. He flipped his wrist and jabbed the man, only to hear a clang when the dagger hit its target. Zhang Xiaojing, who wore a hauberk, drew a little jet-black iron hammer and swung it at the apprentice’s shin. Inside the narrow carriage, this hammer became a very practical and powerful weapon. The apprentice could neither dodge nor parry the blow which instantly crushed his knee.
The apprentice screeched in anguish and fell backwards, and his cheek moved eerily. Zhang Xiaojing saw it and immediately hammered his temple, knocking him out. Then Zhang Xiaojing squeezed the apprentice’s chin with his right hand and popped a jet-black poison pellet out of his mouth.
The coachman heard sounds in the carriage and realized that something was wrong. He was just about to turn around when two arrows flew from the end of the alley and nailed a hand and a leg. He fell off the seat bolt like a stiff body.
A sniper at the entrance of the alley lowered his bow. Lubi soldiers rushed past him and surrounded the ox-drawn carriage. Unfortunately, after falling to the ground, the coachman knew there was no way he could survive this, so he swallowed a poison pellet and killed himself. His face turned black after he died.
Tanqi, who was standing beside the archer, exhaled deeply.
She had just questioned Es in detail and learnt that Elder Puzhe was still alive when the assassin left. She believed that these assassins would come back to confirm the elder’s death, so Zhang Xiaojing devised this counterplot.
Though there was only one captive, it was better than nothing.
Zhang Xiaojing carried the unconscious apprentice physician off the carriage and handed him to the soldier beside him. Then he took off the hauberk, checked his lower chest and found that though that dagger didn’t go into his body, The stab had left a bruise on his skin. With a wry smile, Zhang Xiaojing rubbed the bruise -this was probably the slightest injury he had suffered so far today.
Lubi soldiers raised a couple of big lanterns at the entrance of the alley, lighting up half the street. Leaning against the ox-drawn carriage, Zhang Xiaojing pressed against his wound while looking at those lanterns. Under the candlelight, of all those people walking around, the lithe and graceful figure standing at the entrance was the most distinct.
Thanks to Tanqi’s call, they were able to capture the apprentice. Li Bi did a great job teaching his people.
What an interesting lady. For the first time, Zhang Xiaojing, staring at Tanqi with his dulled vision, saw her reflection on a deeper level.
Tanqi was unaware of Zhang Xiaojing. She was busy dealing with a troublesome guy.
Es hurried after them from the temple. When he saw that the counterplot worked, he felt relieved. Had the two assassins escaped, the Persian Temple –no, the Grand Qin Temple would not only lose its face, but also have committed the crime of “collusion with foreign criminals”. It had never been easy to preach Nestorianism in the Central Plains, and they couldn’t afford to suffer any setbacks.
Tanqi glared at Es and said, “Didn’t you say that you had sharp eyes? Come here and take a look. Are these two the assassins you fought?” Es was just about to speak when Tanqi yelled, “Yes or no!”
Es resigned and swallowed his speech. He walked over to scrutinize the two bodies and confirmed that the coachman was the assassin who killed Yousha, and the “apprentice” was the helper waiting outside. He raised his head and said, “Um, Yes…”
“Are you sure?” Tanqi didn’t trust him very much.
“With my penetrating eyes, I can see the tiniest hair on the fur of beasts in autumn, and I can see through all tricks as distinctly as watching a flame.” Es held up two fingers and pointed at his green eyes smugly. These two quotes came from Mencius and Shangshu respectively. They could be considered eloquent and fitting under the circumstances.
However, Tanqi merely grunted Oh as a response, and his efforts were in vain.
Now the identity of the assassins had been confirmed and one of them was captured alive. Tanqi told a soldier, “Report to Jing’an Department! Tell them to prepare to interrogate the captive.”
A signalman lifted a purple lantern and sent a message to the watchtower in Yining Fang by moving it up and down several times. Then the signalman frowned, feeling that something was not right. The flickering purple light on the watchtower in Yining Fang in the distance seemed to be conveying a long message.
Finally, the purple light went out, and with that the signalman turned his head around and said to Tanqi in a surprised tone, “The watchtower responded that communication with the main watchtower was cut. They couldn’t reach Jin’an Department.”
Like the streets outside, candles were ablaze and people walked around in the main hall of Jing’an Department, only that the candles were common ones and people inside were busy. The atmosphere here was entirely different from the air of leisureliness, relaxation and extravagance outside in the Lantern Festival.
Sitting before his desk, Li Bi took a volume of Secrets of Seclusion (A Taoist classic on regimen). He tried reading a few lines but was unable to concentrate on these profound, abstruse words in his anxiety, so he dropped the book, picked up the horsetail whisk and started slowly combing the smooth, fine horse tail.
Zhang Xiaojing and some others had gone to Yining Fang. There were no reports so far. It had also been a while since any watchtower messaged the department. He had a messenger urge them for a response, but that messenger had not returned. Even Xu Bin was nowhere to be seen.
Li Bi disliked this situation. It made him feel like the whole thing had gone out of his control.
Turkish Wolf Guards, Kailu Hodo, the mole in Jing’an Department, Zhang Xiaojing’s secret business, the struggle between Prime Minister Li and the Crown Prince –none of these matters had been settled and recorded in stamped documents. Numerous incidents were intertwined and formed an extremely complicated net that lay heavy on Li Bi’s chest.
The hour copper in the corner of the hall struck another quarter. There was still no news from Yining Fang. Li Bi decided to send another messenge –this time in a harsher tone. After he sent off the messenger, he looked at the hourcopper and found that Cui Qi was no longer there.
What happened? Li Bi suddenly felt that something was wrong.
Urgent footsteps came from outside the main hall. There was rebuke, then exclamation, and soon screams in anguish. Li Bi’s combing fingers froze and he abruptly looked at the entrance of the main hall intensely.
Several dozen masked men in black ferociously leaped over the threshold. A dozen crossbows fired simultaneously and shot down a dozen armed guards and Indecent members. As half of them started reloading their crossbows, the other half whipped out their sabers and started slaughtering petty officials closest to them. Blindsided, these weak and frail civil officials were totally powerless to resist. Blood was spilled.
These rascals stormed into the hall like a fierce squall.
It happened so fast that others in the hall couldn’t react at all. They stared blankly at this scene. Only a member of the Indecent, who managed to survive the first wave of the surprise attack, whipped out his iron ruler and charged at the enemy. With a puff, a bolt shot burst his soft eyeball. Blood and white liquid splattered all over a servant who then started wiping his clothes in a frenzy and screamed like a madman. Then a jet-black bolt went into his throat and the screaming abruptly stopped.
Chewing a mint leaf, Long Bo stepped over the threshold and dropped two unloaded crossbows.
It was not until now that staff members of Jing’an Department realized what was happening, like waking up from a dream. Shrieks abruptly rippled through the whole hall. Some people bent over to hide. Some ran for the streets. Tables were hitting against each other. The hall instantly fell into chaos. But all gates had been occupied, and whoever tried to get through was either forced to retreat by sabers or shot dead on the spot.
“Those who stay quiet and lie prostrate will live!” Long Bo’s shrill voice was heard in the hall. There was a sarcastic tone to this remark, since Lubi soldiers often said this they were executing tasks, but now this sentence was used against staff members of Jing’an Department themselves.
Most people in the hall were civil officials and totally powerless under violence. Once they heard Long Bo, horrified people lay down one by one, not making a sounds. There was only one person left standing in the hall.
After the situation was under control, Long Bo walked slowly to the middle of the hall, looking around with mild interest. “So this is the Jing’an Department people were talking about –the heart, the pivot of the defense of Chang’an, in command of all garrison forces except the Praetorian Guards. It’s a pity that this place is just as soft and weak as a heart which cannot withstand a single blow if a sword goes into the chest.”
Long Bo walked past rows of wooden tables. Scrolls that had fallen onto the ground broke under his cowhide boots with unpleasant clacks. He paused for a while before the big sand table, then out of curiosity he broke off a piece of wall, raised it before his eyes to scrutinize it. He clicked his tongue before paying it a compliment. “It’s so exquisite. If Turks see this, they will be green with envy.”
An old petty official raised his head and sighed regretfully. Long Bo looked at him. “A pity? It’s just a sand table. If Chang’an city ends up like this, won’t you feel even more pity?” He sighed mockingly, drew a narrow blade out of his sleeve and slit the old official’s throat. The old man fell face down onto the sand table. Streets of Chang’an were dyed blood-red.
This scene sent another ripple of panic through the crowd. The masked men barked at them, ordering them to quiet down. Long Bo said loudly, “For your information, we are the Termites. Today we came here to shake the great tree that is the Jing’an Department (ancient Chinese idiom: in numbers, even termites could a great tree).”
People looked at each other, perplexed. They had never heard of this organization before.