Chapter 422: Magistrate Luan, please take a look at who I am. (5k)
In the morning, a caravan from the north arrived in Fengcheng County.
The carriage was driving on the main road that ran through the ancient city from north to south. The wheels rolled over the bluestone slabs, making a monotonous sound.
Zhao Duan sat in his own carriage, opened the curtain, and scanned the ancient buildings on both sides of Fengcheng Street - the houses on Binhai Road were different from those in the capital and Huaishui.
Most of the buildings are two-story buildings, and the roofs are steeper and larger than those in the north. There are ditches dug on both sides of the streets to drain rainwater.
According to the "Geography of Dayu", Binhaidao is low-lying and close to Dadonghai. Fengcheng is particularly low-lying. Because it is nearby a mountain range called "Yunling", it has formed a particularly rainy geographical pattern.
It is said that Yunling goes south in discontinuous paths, leading to the "Luoshan" of Jiancheng Road, which is the place where emperors of all dynasties performed "fengshan".
If you go east from Fengcheng to the end, you will reach the Daqing Mountain in the East China Sea, which is shrouded in sea fog all year round.
"Qingshan is located on the coast, so there are many underworld forces in Binhai Road. Wanted criminals often cross this area. Zhuang Xiaocheng hiding here must have put a lot of thought into it."
Zhao Duan withdrew his gaze, holding the ancient and mysterious "Mirror of Love and Lust" in his hand.
At this moment, the bronze mirror reflected his ordinary face after he was disguised with a mask.
"Zhuang Xiaocheng..."
Zhao Duan stared at the mirror, recalling Zhuang Xiaocheng's appearance in his mind. Clouds of mist surged on the mirror surface, rolling endlessly. He could vaguely see an image in the mirror, but it was so blurry that he could not see clearly.
"As expected, although Zhuang Xiaocheng is a mortal, he must have a way to avoid being tracked by magic, and the Fengyue Treasure Mirror cannot spy on him...
However, the reaction of the treasure mirror shows that this person is most likely in Fengcheng territory, otherwise the spell would fail instead of being blurred..."
Zhao Duan was not surprised at all. This meant that the method of directly finding the headquarters location through the Fengyue Treasure Mirror failed.
It’s not surprising. If it were so easy to find, the Kuangfu Society would have been destroyed long ago.
Sensing the convoy turning, Zhao Duan turned his wrist, put away the bronze mirror, and waited silently.
…
Soon, the carriage made many turns and stopped behind an inn in a somewhat remote location.
The men in brocade clothes disguised as members of the caravan got off the carriages and knocked on the door, then led the carriages and cargo into the backyard of the inn.
It looks like a normal business accommodation.
Zhao Duan got out of the car, looked at his colleagues who were also coming out, exchanged glances with them, and the group went into the backyard and, led by a waiter, entered the main hall of the courtyard.
The main hall is not big, with tables and chairs on both sides and cheap calligraphy and paintings on the walls.
"This is a stronghold of the imperial shadow guards. Haha, the inn is real too, run by the outer shadow guards to pass on messages."
Haitang looked at Gongshu Tianyuan and the listless Jin Jian with curiosity, and took the initiative to explain in a low voice.
The fat little priest nodded slowly, put his hands behind his back, and looked around the room with his chest puffed out proudly.
"When we, the disciples of the Tianshi Mansion, are away from home, we can go to any Taoist temple with our talismans and stay overnight. Even if we go to any government office, we will be treated as guests of honor."
As a Zhudian priest, Gongshu Tianyuan joined the government team this time to repay a favor, but he was always thinking about maintaining the noble image of Tianshi Mansion.
"When a priest from the Tianshi Mansion is outside, he represents the face of the Taoist leader. He cannot lose face!"
Before leaving the city, Gongshu Tianyuan repeatedly gave Mihu Jinjian instructions.
At this moment, even though the young priestess's palm-sized face was full of sleepiness and her eyelids could not help drooping, she still straightened her face and said proudly after hearing her senior brother's words:
"Yes... yawn..."
No... Fatty Gongshu is always thinking about not losing face, but you are so sleepy, why do you want to join in the fun... Zhao Duan complained in his heart and suddenly felt a headache.
Given Jin Jian's behavior, does that mean he can only fight at night from now on?
As soon as the group sat down in the hall, two figures came out side by side. They were:
He was dressed like a scholar, with a sickly pale complexion, like a sickly young man who would fall down at the slightest breeze.
A woman who looks like a female martial arts heroine, with a long sword tied to her back and a bronze mask covering most of her face.
At this moment, two sharp eyes shone through the holes in her visor.
As soon as the two stepped into the room, they looked around and locked onto the strange man who was obviously sitting in the main seat. They bowed and saluted:
"I pay my respects to Lord Zhao. I was unaware that you were entering the city, and I apologize for not coming to greet you."
The secret spies waiting at the Jinfu Inn were actually the two "gold medal shadow guards" who had arrested the county magistrate Wang Chusheng in Taicang.
The man's code name is "Scholar" and the female hero's code name is "Red Leaf".
The latter was suspected to be a descendant of Pei Niannu. Zhao Duan had reviewed the files in the palace and was deeply impressed.
In addition, out of recognition of the two men's abilities, when planning the exchange of prisoners and the placement of spies, Zhao Duan ordered that the task of contacting the spies be given to them.
This time when they came to Fengcheng, they made arrangements in advance. The two shadow guards arrived early and stayed in the inn as "travelers" for several days.
"No need to be polite, sit down and talk."
Zhao Duan smiled and gestured. Seeing the two shadow guards sitting down a little stiffly, he asked:
"I have come here incognito, and I believe you all know my purpose. Has there been any change in this place recently?"
The scholar and Hongye exchanged a glance, and the former said seriously:
"Reporting to you, sir, as per your instructions, we have been maintaining secret contact with the spies headed by 'Actor'. The many rebels who were captured in exchange are still being housed in a manor ten miles east of the city and have not been relocated.
A while ago during the New Year, the rebels gathered here, and Zhuang Xiaocheng appeared... Unfortunately, there were no signs in advance, and by the time the spies reported back, the people had already dispersed."
"As for these days, I haven't contacted them out of caution. However, we secretly investigated and found something amiss."
"Oh?" Zhao Duan raised his eyebrows.
The sickly scholar was about to speak when suddenly, Jin Jian, who was slumped in his chair and drowsy, opened his eyes and looked outside as if in response to stress.
Then, Ji Yue, Lang Shiba, and Gongshu Tianyuan all looked outside the house in astonishment almost at the same time.
"The sound of horse hooves... and swords... Many people... are coming this way, surrounding the inn."
Drunkard Lang Shiba suddenly spoke.
The former lieutenant general of Jubei City had a sharp look in his eyes. He walked briskly to the corner of the room, pushed the window open a crack, and spoke in a deep voice.
Surrounding the inn? Swords and spears? Zhao Duan was stunned, looking at the scholar and Hongye in astonishment.
The two gold medal shadow guards also had confused expressions and didn't understand what was going on.
"Let's go out and take a look." Zhao Duan stood up and said, walking out first, and several people in the room followed hurriedly.
As they walked out of the room, they heard a commotion coming from the main entrance of the inn, accompanied by people's exclamations and loud shouts:
"The court is arresting the traitors. Everyone, get down quickly!"
At the same time, Zhao Duan, with his outstanding hearing, caught the sound of footsteps filling the entire inn.
He turned his head left and right, and saw archers jumping out from the roof of the building next door outside the walls on all sides.
They all held military crossbows and aimed at the patio in the backyard of the inn. The sharp arrows flashed coldly in the sunlight.
"My Lord, be careful..."
The Jinyi people who were originally tidying up the rooms in the inn also rushed out. Hou Ren suddenly drew his sword from his luggage and rushed out. He looked up and glanced at the archers at the "shooting points" around him. His face changed:
"It's a magical crossbow!"
"Protect the Lord!"
A group of Jinyi captains drew their swords and surrounded Zhao Duan and his men in a circle, alert to the rain of arrows that might come at any time.
They seemed to have completely forgotten that compared to the four World Realm cultivators beside Zhao Duan, the ones they should protect more are themselves...
"Bang!"
Immediately, the front door of the inn was kicked open with great force. The entire door flew out horizontally and hit the ground in the backyard hard, raising a cloud of dust.
Zhao Duan looked coldly and saw a group of fully armed elite officers wearing armor and holding swords rushing into the yard like a torrent, surrounding everyone in the yard in a semicircle.
The leader of this group of officers had a dark complexion and sharp eyes. Unlike the others who wore soft armor, he was only wearing a police chief's robe with dark red cuffs and collar embroidered with silver thread. Zhao Duan recognized it at a glance as it was the standard robe worn by police chiefs at the government level.
Zhang Han, the head of the Mudantang Investigation Division, was visibly stunned. Zhao Duan glanced at him and asked in a low voice:
"know?"
Zhang Han lowered his voice and said:
"Zhang Jian, the head constable of the Binhaidao West Prefecture Yamen, has the same surname as me, but we're not from the same family. He's a pretty formidable guy, and we've met once before."
The head constable of Xifu Yamen? Luan Cheng's subordinate?
How did he get to Fengcheng County? When Zhao Duan was puzzled, he saw a man in a crimson official robe approaching aggressively from behind a large group of officials.
Behind him was a county magistrate with a restrained look.
The prefect Luan Cheng, who wore a black hat and looked like a middle-aged scholar, shouted:
"You are such a traitor, how dare you hide in this prefecture and parade through the streets? Your crime is unforgivable. Lay down your weapons and surrender immediately, and I may show you a lighter sentence!"
Zhao Duan's expression suddenly became extremely strange, and the Lihuatang Jinyimen around him also changed from being as if they were facing a great enemy to being confused and stunned.
no……
Are we the rebels?
Jin Jian was no longer sleepy. She took out a pair of ground crystal glasses from her pocket with her little hands, put them on her nose and watched the show seriously. If the scene was not inappropriate, she would have wanted to grab a handful of melon seeds.
Tsk, it's really interesting to follow the government in solving cases...
"You guys..." Haitang raised her eyebrows, took a step forward with her long legs, put one hand on the flying knife at her waist, and was about to speak.
But he was suddenly pulled by Zhao Duan and stopped.
"The fourth-rank prefect Luan Cheng in Fengcheng area?" Zhao Duan stepped out from the crowd and confirmed with a strange expression.
Before going on a business trip, he also did his homework carefully and read the information of local officials.
I still remember this prefect Luan very clearly. He was a Jinshi in the ninth year of the Jingyun era. Like Lu Zhi, he served as a judge in the Dali Temple. Later, he was assigned as a county magistrate. Because of mourning for his mother, he resigned for several years, then returned to office... and finally became the prefect of Binhai...
His resume is not special. What really makes him famous is his ability to handle cases. Among the people, he is known as "the iron-faced and impartial Luan Qingtian".
He was one of the local officials that the empress particularly valued after she ascended the throne.
It is said that there was a master beside him who was once a martial arts master and later served him as a guard and police chief.
How should I put it...
It feels like the Yu Kingdom version of "Justice Bao and Guard Zhan" combination, the difference is that the black-faced one is not Luan Cheng but the head constable Zhang Jian, and there is no crescent moon on his forehead...
"It's our government!"
Yu State's Justice Bao's gaze pierced through, dignified and solemn. He swept his sight over a group of people dressed as merchants but holding sharp blades. He knew at a glance that they were the rebels of the military. He felt both surprised and delighted.
I'm glad the information is true. Who would be so kind as to draw their swords and resist the police as soon as they see them coming?
What is shocking is that the rebel group is so large, with dozens of people, and it is not known whether they can be captured.
Luan Cheng said sternly, "Since you know our name, just surrender. It's better than dying for that traitor Zhuang Xiaocheng!"
Zhao Duan seemed to smile, without any fear that the rebels should have when they were in desperate situation.
He looked at Luan Cheng with disdain and asked, "How did you know we were coming? When did you enter Fengcheng?"
Luan Cheng was stunned, and the officers were also confused, thinking to themselves, are all the rebels this generation so tough?
Why does he act like he's interrogating me?
"How dare you!" Luan Cheng sneered, his face showing annoyance.
"What a traitor! You are so arrogant that you even dare to question this government! Well, well, do you think you can defy the government with so many men? Zhang Jian!"
At the command.
The captain of the police, with a black face as cold as iron and wearing a short shirt with iron edges, took a step forward. His shoes stepped on the floor tiles with a "click" sound, leaving spider-web-like dents.
Magistrate Luan, who is different from a mortal body.
Zhang Jian, who had been wandering the world for half his life and was once a martial arts master, felt a subtle sense of pressure after entering the inn.
The pressure is not on those knives-wielding Jinyi.
And there were a few obviously weird people around the rebel leader:
A fat man with his hands behind his back, chest puffed out and nose looking up.
A confused girl wearing strange glasses and trying to keep her eyelids open with her fingers.
A man carrying a wine gourd and holding the handle of a machete.
The woman huddled in the corner, head down, face buried in her messy black hair...
A sickly scholar and a woman with a bronze mask on her face.
This team almost has the word "evil" welded onto their faces.
Out of ten, twelve points are clearly wrong.
Even the man and woman who looked the most "normal" always gave him a faint sense of threat.
Zhang Jian groaned in his heart, thinking, "Sir, please don't say anything. It seems like I've hit a wall this time."
However, things have come to this point. Having been in the martial arts world for half his life, he knows that when two brave men meet on a narrow road, the braver one wins. In the current situation, it is impossible to retreat safely. Instead of passively defending, it is better to capture the leader first, or there may be a glimmer of hope.
Therefore, when the prefect uttered the word "Zhang", he had already moved. He took a step forward and drew out the two knives from his waist with both hands at the same time.
The two knives are one long and one short. The long one is thick, long and narrow, and is called Zhen Lei.
The short ones are as thin as cicada wings and are called autumn leaves.
At this moment, the long sword vibrated with a humming sound like morning thunder, and the energy transformed into wisps of illusory flames in a burning posture, spurting out from the pores, wrapping around the narrow sword that was similar in style to the East China Sea Ronin, flowing down from the tip of the sword, drop by drop onto the ground, burning the floor tiles into mottled charred marks.
The short knife Qiu Ye was suddenly thrown out, spinning like a wheel in the air, and with the speed of lightning, it attacked Zhao Duan who was standing in the front from another angle.
“Great swordsmanship!”
Zhao Duan's eyes lit up. With his current vision, there were few martial arts in the world that could amaze him.
But this sword technique was learned from nowhere. The two swords are one light and one dark. One takes a different approach, the other takes a righteous path. Good and evil complement each other.
The timing and decisiveness of his knife-drawing were also remarkable, making him worthy of being called the Iron Constable, whom Zhang Han remembered in his mind after only meeting him once.
Well, leaving aside other things, this person’s solid martial arts skills alone are on par with Zhang Han, the head of the Mudan Hall’s police department.
Even in the capital, he could have earned a position. It is really a waste of his talent to be a guard for a prefect in this place.
Many thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, and the flying autumn leaf knife was already flying towards his face.
Zhao Duan's hair was lifted back slightly. He was about to try out the "Buddhist Golden Bell" he had just mastered, but Lang Shiba had already rushed out from behind him.
Beidi Xuedao, who was carrying a wine gourd on his back, had a weathered face covered with green stubble, and his pupils reflected the Autumn Leaf Knife spinning like a wheel.
He moved the scarred thumb on his waist upwards and pulled out the gleaming Western scimitar.
The courtyard seemed to be lit up by a pool of moonlight.
Lang Shiba's fingers flicked frivolously, and the scimitar flew out like a leap of joy, pulling his hand, and with a "ding" sound, it hit the flying autumn leaf knife.
The Autumn Leaf Knife, which looked as thin as a cicada's wing but could actually cut an adult man in half, offered no resistance and was knocked away by the scimitar.
With a whoosh, it deviated from its trajectory, grazed Jin Jian's scalp, and stabbed fiercely into the pillar behind the crowd. The blade was halfway in, and the handle was still vibrating!
Jin Jian, who was holding up his eyelids with his hands, was stunned for a moment, and the shadow of a blood-red moon behind his head slowly faded away.
Lang Shiba, who was in the worldly realm, slashed out with his sword, unstoppable, and appeared in front of Zhang Jian in the blink of an eye. Zhao Duan's lazy voice came to his ears:
"A small punishment is a big warning."
Lang Shiba casually dropped his scimitar, spread out his five fingers, turned the knife into a palm, and in front of Zhang Jian's horrified gaze, he knocked the famous captain of the police off the ground with both feet, sending him flying backwards like a cannonball.
"boom!!"
Zhang Jian smashed the window of the inn, rushed into the room, knocked over the tables and chairs, and left only a large human-shaped hole in the window.
Lang Shiba kicked the scimitar with his foot, sheathed it, and walked back to the team calmly, as if he had done something trivial.
Gongshu Tianyuan and others looked bored and did not show any surprise.
So what if he was a martial arts master? He was only at the Divine Chapter Realm. With Lang Shiba's full strength attack, there was no chance of a comeback.
Silence.
"Bang!"
One of the officers' hands trembled and his knife fell to the ground. The other officers in the government office also looked as if they had seen a ghost.
"A warrior in the world?" Someone guessed it was possible, but then felt extremely confused.
When has there ever been such a powerful person in the world among the rebels?
Prefect Luan Cheng stood there in a daze, anger still frozen on his face. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead and quickly froze in the winter.
According to his idea, during this arrest, they would at most encounter a few people in the Divine Chapter Realm, which was already the limit. Zhang Jian and a group of officers would be able to handle it.
But obviously the situation was beyond expectations.
At this time, Gongshu Tianyuan, who was determined not to lose face in front of the court, curled his lips, grabbed a scarecrow from his loose sleeves, and flicked the scarecrow's head with his fingers.
"ah!!"
In an instant, the crossbowmen who were ambushing on the rooftops from all directions screamed at the same time and were thrown away, each of them with a bleeding head.
"It's just a superficial wound, nothing serious. A minor punishment, a major warning. I understand."
Gongshu Tianyuan explained to Zhao Duan with a smile.
You're a quick learner, but you shouldn't be so obsessed with comparing yourself to others… Zhao Duan muttered to himself. As expected, he saw the remaining officials' faces turn pale.
"Warlock! He's a warlock!"
Luan Cheng's scalp went numb, and then his heart was dead, and he had a premonition that he was about to sacrifice his life for his country.
"Prefect Luan," Zhao Duan walked slowly to his side.
During the process, the officers hesitated and did not dare to step forward.
Zhao Duan reached out his hand, straightened his collar while the latter looked expressionless, and said softly:
"Let me ask again, how did you know we were here, and when did you arrive?"
Luan Cheng's face twitched, cold sweat broke out on his back, but he gritted his teeth and stared at him fiercely, his eyes red.
"Traitor, even if you kill me, you will never make me submit!"
Zhao Duan narrowed his eyes, leaned forward, and stared coldly into the middle-aged scholar's eyes, almost face to face.
"You want to die?"
Luan Cheng closed his eyes, his heart sinking to the bottom, his whole body cold, and with his last bit of strength he said:
"Kill me."
The expected death did not come, and a laugh was heard in the almost silent courtyard.
Luan Cheng opened his eyes blankly and saw the rebel leader smiling softly, then slowly walked back and said:
"Old Hou, put away your knives. It seems our whereabouts have been exposed. Haha, we originally planned to sneak into the city without firing a gun, but it seems our opponent is more cunning than we thought. So let's stop pretending."
Hou Renmeng and the other Jinyi officers sheathed their swords and looked at the officials from the government office with disdain:
"Sir, these local officials are a disgrace to the imperial court. If it were us, even if we couldn't defeat them, we wouldn't be in such a state."
Zhao Duan said with a smile:
"Don't say that. Are you willing to sacrifice your life for a few taels of silver?"
Jin Jian felt bored, took off her glasses, put them away like a treasure, and put them in the bag around her waist.
“Cough… cough cough…”
Inside the inn room, Constable Zhang Jian stumbled out coughing. He saw this scene, his expression blank as he turned to look at Luan Cheng:
"Your Excellency, this is..."
Luan Cheng was equally confused.
At this moment, Zhang Han walked out of the crowd, looked at the head constable Zhang Jian with a blank expression, and said:
"Do you remember me?"
Zhang Jian was stunned. He carefully identified the person in front of him and felt that he was familiar, but he couldn't remember clearly. It was not until Zhang Han drew the seven-foot sword from his waist that he opened his mouth in astonishment.
"You are...Zhang Jisi of the Peony Hall of the Imperial Court?!"
Beside them, Haitang, with a string of throwing knives hanging from her waist, walked over with long legs. She glanced at the group of people with some annoyance, took out her police badge from her waist, shook it, and said:
"Haven't you reacted yet?"
The Imperial Court's Judicial Office... Another Judicial Office... Yu State's Justice Bao was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized something. He stuttered, his eyes wide open, and looked at Zhao Duan:
“You are… you are…”
Zhao Duan grabbed his hand, took off the disguise, revealing his original appearance, turned to look at him, and smiled:
"Prefect Luan, please take a look at who I am."
(End of this chapter)
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