Chapter 46 Fire
The smoke in the secret passage grew thicker and thicker. My eyes felt like they were being pricked by fine needles as they were filled with smoke, and tears streamed down my cheeks, blurring my vision.
Pei Zhiwei's hand gripping the short blade was already numb from the vibration, and her entire arm felt almost like it didn't belong to her anymore.
Scarface's blade was still firmly pressed against her short knife, the brute force almost breaking her arm.
She knew in her heart that if she continued to fight Scarface head-on...
Scarface was much stronger than her. If they continued to waste time, she would not only fail to save the girl inside, but she herself would also perish here first.
Pei Zhiwei's gaze quickly swept over the scarred man's lower body: his right leg was bent tightly, his knee almost touching her leg, all his strength was concentrated on the blade, and even his face was almost pressed against the back of the blade.
She gritted her teeth, relying on the support of her back against the iron gate, and endured the excruciating pain in her back and arms. Suddenly, she shouted and kicked out with her right foot.
The movement was quick and urgent, kicking him squarely in the soft spot below his abdomen.
"Ouch!" Scarface let out a miserable howl, his face instantly turning as white as paper. His grip on the knife loosened slightly, and his whole body uncontrollably bent forward.
Pei Zhiwei was not going to give him a chance to catch his breath.
With a sharp twist of his wrist, the short blade slashed forcefully along the inside of his arm. Accompanied by Scarface's scream, two lines of blood immediately gushed out, successfully severing the tendons in Scarface's hands.
Scarface's knife fell to the ground with a thud. He stared at his hands with bloodshot eyes, unable to believe that he had been crippled by a young woman.
He raised his head fiercely, but before he could utter a sound, Pei Zhiwei had already raised her right foot and kicked him hard in the chin.
With a sharp "crack," Scarface's head snapped back, his eyes rolled back instantly, and he slammed to the ground like a rag filled with lead, never to move again.
Pei Zhiwei, panting heavily, turned to look at the remaining three gang members.
The two who were just groaning have lost their fighting ability. One had his hamstring severed and was paralyzed on the ground, unable to even crawl. The other had his tendon severed and was kneeling on the ground.
There was another one, who somehow slipped away through the secret passage sometime ago, leaving no trace behind.
She looked down at her arm; the wound was still bleeding, and the blood had seeped into her sleeve, causing pain with every movement.
She couldn't deal with it; the smoke in the secret passage was getting thicker, and the girls' coughs had drowned out their cries for help. If she delayed any longer, they would probably be choked by the smoke.
Pei Zhiwei picked up the knife that Scarface had dropped on the ground, walked to the iron gate, gripped the handle tightly with both hands, and slashed fiercely at the iron chain.
The blade struck the iron chain, the sound echoing through the secret passage.
With each slash, the wound on her arm felt like it was being torn open, the pain so intense she almost gritted her teeth to pieces, but she had only one thought in her mind: faster, faster, she had to get them out of there.
After the 10th or so strikes, the chain finally snapped in two with a "crack".
Pei Zhiwei pushed open the iron gate.
The girls inside were crammed on the ground, a dark mass.
A girl was huddled in a corner, hugging her knees, her eyes vacant, staring at the stone slab above her head, repeatedly muttering, "Don't come any closer... don't kill me."
Some of them, seeing the iron gate open, froze for a moment, then burst into tears, rushing over and grabbing her sleeves, refusing to let go: "Girl, save us! We don't want to die!"
There was also a very thin girl, her hair all smeared on her face, huddled in a corner, clutching a tattered cloth in her hand. She didn't cry or make a fuss, but just kept murmuring, "Mother, I want to go home." She was clearly terrified.
Pei Zhiwei's heart skipped a beat. She squatted down and spoke in a very soft voice, afraid of frightening her: "Don't be afraid, I'm here to save you. You're safe now. Come with me, I'll take you to find your family."
The little girl didn't react, but kept repeating, "Mommy, I want to go home."
Pei Zhiwei had no choice but to let the two girls who were still relatively conscious support her, while she went to help those who couldn't stand up, saying, "Everyone, don't push, take your time, the passage is narrow, follow me, don't fall behind."
As she spoke, she handed the knife in her hand to a girl next to her who looked relatively calm, "Take this, and call me if you encounter any danger."
Just then, footsteps came from the entrance of the secret passage, accompanied by a faint light.
Pei Zhiwei's heart tightened, thinking that the runaway gang members had called someone back. Just as she was about to reach for her dagger, she heard a familiar voice: "Pei Zhiwei? How are you?"
It is Xiao Yunzhan.
Pei Zhiwei breathed a sigh of relief and peeked out. In the dim light, she could clearly see the anxiety on his face.
He strode over, his gaze sweeping over her first, then landing on the girls behind her. His tense shoulders finally relaxed a little: "It's good that you're alright. I was worried about you..."
Before he could finish speaking, his gaze fell on her hands covered in blood, and he abruptly stopped talking.
Just as Xiao Yunzhan was about to ask, Pei Zhiwei quickly pulled her arm back, hiding the wound behind her back: "It's not my blood. How is it outside? Have Prince Consort Gu and my father arrived?"
"They're here. They arrived with their men shortly after I gave the signal." Xiao Yunzhan was slightly relieved to see that her voice was still steady.
"When the Taihu Gang saw that there were many government soldiers, most of them abandoned their weapons and surrendered. Only a few stubborn ones were still resisting, but they have also been captured."
When the girls heard "the soldiers are coming," their crying gradually subsided, and their eyes regained some life.
Pei Zhiwei felt relieved and directed them to follow Xiao Yunzhan out of the secret passage, while she walked at the back, looking back from time to time to make sure no one fell behind.
Once outside the secret passage, the air was much fresher than inside, but the firelight was also brighter.
Thick smoke billowed from the direction of the main courtyard, and flames had already reached the rooftops, turning half the sky red.
Pei Zhiwei's heart sank, and she tugged at Xiao Yunzhan's sleeve: "Just now, someone in Suzhou City tipped them off. Now that the main courtyard is on fire, will all the evidence of their dealings be burned away?"
Xiao Yunzhan followed her gaze, his expression darkening. "It's hard to say. The Taihu Gang was clearly prepared."
The constables reported that all the water vats in the courtyard had been smashed, and all the water had leaked out, making firefighting extremely difficult.
As the two were talking, several constables escorted a man dressed in a black short shirt over.
The man had deliberately smeared soot on his face, leaving only his eyes visible. His hands were tied behind his back, and he kept muttering in protest: "I'm not the leader, I'm just a deputy! I don't know anything!"
“Your Highness, Madam Pei,” the constable stepped forward to report, “according to the identification of those gang members, this is the deputy leader of the Taihu Gang’s branch. He tried to escape but was captured by us behind the manor.”
Xiao Yunzhan's gaze fell on the deputy hall master. "I'm asking you, who fired the red signal flare from the direction of Suzhou City just now? What did it mean?"
The deputy hall master avoided eye contact with Xiao Yunzhan.
"I...I don't know who put it there, I really don't know!"
But we have a rule in our gang: when we see a red signal flare, we know the government troops are coming, and we have to burn down the headquarters and retreat immediately.
"Burn down the headquarters? Retreat?" Xiao Yunzhan frowned. "So what you were saying before, 'a white rainbow piercing the sun,' meant war? And 'fire evacuation' meant setting fire to the headquarters?"
The deputy leader nodded hurriedly, "Yes...that's what it means! These are all code words within the gang; I heard it from the leader!"
Pei Zhiwei was still preoccupied with the matter of the missing woman.
She went over and counted the rescued girls one by one, but she didn't see Sun Qiao'er, and the number of missing women didn't even match up.
Her heart leaped into her throat. She strode up to the deputy leader and kicked him, shouting, "Do you have other places where women are being held? The people here aren't right; several are missing!"
The deputy leader was kicked to the ground by her, and while crying out in pain, he replied, "Ouch... No! Really not! All the girls who were captured are here!"
"Too few!" Pei Zhiwei emphasized, thinking that perhaps these missing women were not hidden in the same place. The people in the other place must have also seen the signal and might have already killed the women there.
She became even more anxious.
“Sun Qiao’er, fifteen or sixteen years old, was abducted on the day of the Cold Clothes Festival. She’s not inside! You must be somewhere else!”
The deputy hall master's face showed a hint of realization, but he quickly covered it up: "Last night... last night the hall master took too much cold food powder and got carried away while playing around with a girl, killing her..."
"It's not her! There's someone else!" Pei Zhiwei interrupted him sharply.
The deputy hall master's expression changed, his eyes darting around, clearly trying to figure out how to fool him.
Xiao Yunzhan sensed something was wrong, stepped on the back of his hand, and shoved him away forcefully: "You'd better tell the truth, or you should know what will happen to you."
The deputy leader howled in pain, "I'll talk, I'll talk, I'll confess everything..."
Xiao Yunzhan loosened his grip on the ground. "Speak quickly."
The deputy leader, clutching his hand that had been stepped on, said tremblingly, "A few days ago... indeed, some people came to pick girls, and the ones with outstanding looks were all taken. It's really not something we've been hiding."
"Who picked them? Where were they taken?" Pei Zhiwei asked quickly, her hands unconsciously clenching. This was the only clue to finding Sun Qiao'er.
"I really don't know who that person is!" The deputy hall master waved his hand hurriedly, his voice trembling with tears.
"I've only met him once, in Yangzhou. He looked like a big shot."
Every time they came to select people, the head of the branch personally received them. We were not even allowed to approach the branch headquarters, and we dared not utter a word.
"By water or land?" Pei Zhiwei pressed.
"The waterway... was by merchant ships. I really don't know the specifics; the sect leader didn't tell me, and I've never seen that ship."
They always come to pick people up in the middle of the night, and leave immediately afterward.
Pei Zhiwei wanted to ask more questions, but suddenly heard a loud "boom".
In the main courtyard, the main house that burned the most fiercely collapsed, with beams falling into the fire and sparks flying high into the air.
Her heart felt as if it had been weighed down by a heavy object.
That room might have contained account books, detention records, and even correspondence between the person who tipped them off today. Now that it's collapsed, all the evidence is gone.
She rushed forward a couple of steps in a hurry, but after only a few steps, her vision suddenly went black, and her ears felt like they were submerged in deep water, making it difficult to hear the sounds around her.
"Pei Zhiwei!"
Xiao Yunzhan's voice was filled with unprecedented panic. He rushed over and hugged Pei Zhi's soft body.
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