Chapter 19 Caught

"Did it work?"

Hu Ma looked in the direction of the voice, but couldn't see clearly for a moment.

He hadn't yet cultivated his seven apertures, and his eyesight wasn't that precise. Plus, Ji Tang was moving fast, so he could only vaguely see a few silver needles stuck in him.

But they weren't stuck in deeply; some were only lightly touching the surface, as if they would fall off with a slightly larger movement.

A night watchman who cultivates the five viscera wouldn't necessarily be affected even if the needles penetrated deep into the organs. Moreover, Ji Tang had entered the Fu realm, so he must be even more mysterious. How could these needles, barely piercing the skin, scare him so much?

But just as suspicion arose in his heart, Miss Red Wine looked indifferent, and Ji Tang seemed to sense something terribly frightening. He roared, and billowing Yin energy surged from his body. The broadsword in his hand seemed to be filled with baleful energy at this moment.

Faced with this baleful aura, Hu Ma was startled. He suddenly drew his knife and stood in front of Miss Red Wine.

He had seen how Miss Red Wine fought Ji Tang just now, and it was clear that she was already in a precarious and strenuous situation after receiving those few moves.

Of course, his skills were not as great as Miss Red Wine's, but he could help in close combat.

"Oh?"

After retreating, Miss Red Wine had already pulled a red thread from her sleeve. She didn't even glance at Ji Tang, who was about to rush up, but was somewhat appreciative when she suddenly saw Hu Ma standing in front of her.

In the midst of the chaos, Ji Tang was also taken aback, feeling that the red dudou (a type of Chinese bodice) seemed a bit like his wild woman's mandarin ducks playing in the water.

He hurriedly turned his head to look and saw a desolate grave in the fields by the roadside. Beside the grave, an old man wearing a black cotton coat and a melon-skin hat was holding three incense sticks, raising them high, and then bowing down hard.

The more effort he used to pull, the faster the silver needles drilled into his body.

In front of him, the object being worshipped was actually a red dudou.

Suddenly, he felt inexplicably angry, feeling that he was losing face while fleeing, as if the young shopkeeper and Madam Han were staring at his back, laughing hysterically.

"嗖!" (sound of wind)

"..."

On the other side, Ji Tang looked angry and ferocious, as if he wanted to rush over and fight to the death. But unexpectedly, it was a feint. After rushing forward a few steps, he suddenly turned around and ran away. His feet kicked up two trails of muddy smoke, even faster than a galloping horse.

Hu Ma didn't expect Ji Tang to be so fierce just now, not even giving a greeting before killing.

At the same moment this thought arose, he also felt inexplicably dizzy, and for a moment, he seemed to forget that he was running away, and his speed slowed down.

No wonder Xiao Bai…

Now that he wanted to escape, he was so decisive, and didn't even say goodbye.

This bizarre change shocked him, and he dared not pull the needles out forcefully, but only accelerated his speed, wanting to escape far away.

"However, he can't escape today..."

In her low laughter, Ji Tang fled for more than ten zhang (a unit of length), and while fleeing, he also hurriedly reached out to pull out the few silver needles that had just been stuck in him.

Both being night watchmen, Lao Bai Gan and this leader of the Beggar Gang were far apart in skill. But he dared to block for her subconsciously, he was a very responsible person.

"He ran?"

Unexpectedly, Miss Red Wine behind him suddenly chuckled and said, "This is the most troublesome thing about night watchmen. They can fight and escape, like wild donkeys, no one can catch them."

But when he hadn't pulled away much distance, he suddenly felt a burning sensation on the right side of his body, as if someone had taken burning paper money and shoved it into his eyes.

Unexpectedly, these silver needles seemed like they would fall off with a slight shake, but when he reached out to pull them, he had only just pinched the end of the needle when it suddenly seemed to come to life and drilled into his body instead.

While his mind raced, she didn't stop her hands, putting one end of the red thread into her mouth, gently holding it, and then looked up at Ji Tang.

He suddenly didn't want to escape anymore, he just felt that face was more important than anything at this moment.

He just wanted to turn around and fight them again.

"Not good..."

This idea didn't make Ji Tang really turn around to fight, it just flashed in his mind, but it also slowed down his escape momentum.

For a few breaths, the dizzy him realized the problem: "Am I crazy? Still want to go back and fight? An incense stick's worth of time is up, kill if you can, retreat if you can't, wasn't that what I decided earlier?"

Every time he made a move, he set a rule of one incense stick's worth of time for himself, just to make himself understand:

When a night watchman takes action, he should make it happen within the time it takes to burn an incense stick. If he can't, he should be aware of it and retreat.

It was precisely because he had strictly adhered to this rule for many years that he could still retain a sliver of sanity even when he was dizzy, and make the right choice.

With this thought, he also realized the problem, and roared suddenly, dispelling the dizziness in his head. At the same time, his body twisted, and instead of taking the main road, he directly窜 (cuan - darted) into the field next to him, crossing the field and rushing away.

Madam Han was prepared and wanted to keep me, so I can't take the main road anymore.

With this thought, he stepped on the soft soil of the field, creating a deep pit with each step, and rushed forward.

But he hadn't escaped far when he suddenly saw a woman sitting sideways on a donkey's back on a small path overgrown with weeds in the field ahead. She was plump, with a charming face, and her clothes were soft and light, looking like a wealthy person from the city who shouldn't be here.

But when she saw Ji Tang running towards her, she didn't dodge or avoid him. She just twirled a peach blossom that she had plucked from somewhere in her hand, smiled gently, and tapped the donkey's head.

The donkey immediately hissed, its belly shaking, and squirted out a stream of yellowish urine.

The urine wet the soil in the field, and Ji Tang, who was running wildly, suddenly felt his feet slippery and soft. He was taking big steps, but the ground seemed to have turned into a swamp, and he almost fell.

Even the swamp was filled with the stench of urine.

"Did that Madam Han also set up experts to stop me?"

Ji Tang was secretly angry, and had the urge to rush forward and tear the woman on the donkey's back to pieces, but he gritted his teeth and endured it, forcibly pulling his right leg out of the soil, then using his left leg to push off the ground and leap forward.

When he ran with both legs, he was as powerful as a galloping horse, with a majestic aura. But now that he only used his left leg, he jumped more than a zhang (unit of length) high and three or four zhang far. When he landed, he pushed off again, jumping even higher and farther, and instantly widening the distance.

"Flying legs?"

Even the woman on the donkey's back by the small path in the field was slightly surprised, then pursed her lips and smiled: "It's a pity he's a cripple."

"There's no other way..."

Ji Tang knew that the situation was worse than he thought. After running for a long time, he felt that the silver needles on his body had already drilled halfway into his flesh, and the unknown danger made him frightened.

下横 (xia heng - Determined), after escaping from the field, he suddenly turned his head and rushed towards the mountain gully outside the town ahead, which was where he had arranged for the Great Elder and the Eight Great Vajras (Buddhist guardians) to summon the petty bosses to divide the spoils and disband.

If he could escape on his own, he would never bring danger to them, but now that he was in trouble, he had to borrow their strength to resist it.

There were too many things he could do where there were many people.

Even if it was just to let them temporarily protect him, so that he would have a chance to pull out the silver needles.

But when he rushed with all his strength and finally arrived at the small mountain gully where his followers were gathered, he suddenly smelled a strong bloody smell, which hit his face. It took him a moment to realize that the bloody smell was not coming from his own body.

The first thing he saw when he arrived was a person.

It was a person wearing a black robe, with disheveled hair, and it was impossible to tell how old he was. In front of him, a bonfire was lit, and he was squatting in front of the brazier,烤 (kao - roasting) the knife in his hand.

Or rather,烤 (kao - roasting) the blood on the knife.

It was almost dried now, sizzling, and emitting a焦糊 (jiao hu - scorched) smell.

Behind him, Ji Tang saw the Eight Great Vajras of the Beggar Gang, the Great Elder who had just been serving him, and the petty bosses he had summoned from various places.

They had all been hacked to death, and their bodies were stacked into a mountain behind the person in the black robe. The blood on the knife that he was烤 (kao - roasting) now must have been砍 (kan - hacked) out of these people.

"Gang Leader Ji, don't worry, I've already谴散 (qian san - dismissed) your men for you..."

Sensing Ji Tang rushing over, the person who was借火烤 (jie huo kao - using the fire to roast) his knife slightly raised his head, and gave Ji Tang a灿烂 (can lan - brilliant) smile, full of和气 (he qi - amiability).

But in that instant, Ji Tang only felt his scalp numb and his eyes bulging.

The reason that had just been admonishing him to escape quickly disappeared at this moment.

He couldn't even organize a complete sentence, he just roared and jumped up high, taking advantage of the momentum of rushing, and holding the stolen treasure knife in both hands,挟着千钧力道 (xie zhe qian jun li dao - carrying the weight of a thousand jun - a unit of weight), and hacked down hard at the man in front of the brazier.

But the man in the black robe just raised his head, grinned at Ji Tang, and suddenly flipped the knife in his hand, rolling it upwards.

As the knife rolled, it triggered the fire in the brazier, like a fire dragon, and solidly 接 (jie - caught/received) this knife.

Ji Tang's knife, wielded with the power of a Fu-realm night watchman, was completely supported by him, and he only had his robe corner fluttering, and sparks flying around him, but his body did not move at all.

Ji Tang took a deep breath and finally understood what kind of situation he had encountered.

……

……

"He ran..."

Hu Ma looked at the empty direction ahead, then turned his head to look at Miss Red Wine, and couldn't help but remind her.

He's out of sight...

"He can't escape..."

But Miss Red Wine just smiled, with the red thread in her mouth, and said, "I just let him run out to see how dead the road is blocked."

"When he thinks he can't escape, that's when it's really time to收网 (shou wang - draw in the net) on the night watchman..."

"..."

While speaking, she raised her orchid finger and绕 (rao - twirled) it around the red thread. Her pinky finger lightly hooked on the thread, and the taut red thread suddenly made a "嗡" (weng - buzzing) sound.

(End of this chapter)