Chapter 2304 - A Close Shave

"The situation is critical!" Luo Yangming could contain himself no longer. He roared at the sergeant, "Something terrible is about to happen!"

The sergeant also realized things had gone wrong. "Go, quickly!" Then he turned to his soldiers. "All units, prepare to fire!"

Luo Yangming bellowed, "Brothers, grab your weapons and charge!"

The moment Song Ming climbed onto the wall, he heard the crack of bird guns and the roar of battle that followed. He knew pursuers had arrived—time was running out. They had to get out of the city immediately. Once beyond the walls, with the night pitch-dark and the thieves lacking cavalry, they could play hide-and-seek across terrain they knew intimately. Escape would become far easier.

But the guard who had been carrying the thief was exhausted. Having hauled a living body weighing over a hundred jin all the way here, he had no strength left to climb while burdened. They had to switch to another man. This cost precious time. Just as they finally managed to drag Xie the Thief up the wall bound in ropes, a roar erupted from the direction of the Great Cloud Gate tower. Countless lanterns and torches swayed as they approached.

Discovered! Song Ming's heart lurched. That was too fast! Only about a dozen men had made it onto the wall; the rest were still at the base. Even if everyone climbed up, they would have only thirty men—not enough to hold for long.

"Quick! Lower the thief down!" he ordered.

There was no time to set up the rope ladder properly. Several soldiers immediately tied long ropes around Xie Erren and began dragging him toward the battlements.

Though blind and mute, Xie Erren could still hear. From the jostling and the fragments of conversation, he understood they intended to kidnap him out of the city.

The purpose required no explanation. They would hand him over to the Great Ming court. The joke that circulated among Senators—"sending you to taste the methods of the Eastern Depot Eunuchs"—was suddenly no longer amusing. It was about to happen to him. His hands and feet went cold. Though trussed up like a dumpling, he struggled with desperate fury.

When a person faces death, they can summon reserves of strength they never knew they possessed. Hearing the sounds of pursuers closing in, Xie Erren fought with everything he had. Three or four soldiers couldn't hold him.

Seeing this, Song Ming struck the back of his blade against Xie Erren's head, knocking him unconscious.

"Quick!" he urged.

But at that moment, the Great Cloud Gate tower—having judged from the firelight and sounds of combat at the base of the wall that something was wrong—launched a warning signal rocket into the sky. Immediately afterward came the crack of Minié rifle volleys tearing through the darkness. Three soldiers moving along the wall were struck down instantly. The men dragging Xie Erren toward the battlements were also hit and fell.

Song Ming was truly desperate now. "Quick! Quick! Lower him down!" He waved to the others. "Stop them!"

Seven or eight personal guards who had already climbed the wall immediately moved to intercept. Luo Yangming saw figures emerging from the darkness to fight and knew his gamble had paid off. At his command, everyone hurled their lanterns and torches simultaneously, instantly illuminating the area where the enemy had intended to rappel down. For a moment, Song Ming and his men were clearly visible in the light. Luo Yangming could even see Xie Erren collapsed on the ground.

Unable to contain his excitement, he shouted, "Brothers! Wealth and glory are ours today! Risk your lives and charge!"

Seeing that the enemy was few in number, the courage of the hundred-odd porters swelled. They grabbed their carrying poles and cleavers and charged forward with killing intent. Though their opponents were elite soldiers, they couldn't withstand such overwhelming numbers backed by raw courage. Within moments, the porters engulfed them. The entire section of wall echoed with the sounds of slaughter. Occasionally, men lost their footing and tumbled off the wall entirely.

Song Ming saw the situation spiraling out of control. Not only was his force on the wall being swamped, but lights and torches were converging from all directions below. Knowing it was now impossible to take the True Kun away, he resolved to take his head instead.

But by now the crossing point was a seething mass of struggling bodies and rolling combatants. He couldn't locate Xie Erren in the chaos. Even if he found him, taking his head in this maelstrom would be nearly impossible. Watching his guards and retainers fall one by one, knowing he would be trapped if he didn't leave now, Song Ming heaved a long sigh and shouted, "Go! Go now!"

With that, he leaped over the battlement, grabbed a rope, and slid down.

Several soldiers followed, seizing ropes and rappelling after him. The rest were either killed or beaten to the ground and captured alive. At the base of the wall, Jiang Suo's dozen men lay dead or wounded. Jiang Suo stood with his back against the wall, desperately swinging his sword to fend off attackers, but the surrounding porters kept multiplying. These men had gone red-eyed with bloodlust; carrying poles rained down on him like a storm. Within moments, his head was split and bleeding. He lost his weapon and crumpled to the ground.

Wen Tietou stopped the others. "This one's an officer! Tie him up and hand him to the Australians for a reward!"

On the wall, Luo Yangming frantically searched for Xie Erren among the piles of corpses and wounded, terrified that his judgment had been wrong and he had delayed the Senator's rescue. Not until he searched beneath the parapet did he find a man bound tightly, a black cloth hood over his head. By the firelight, he could see the man wore a cadre suit.

Luo Yangming's heart hammered. He rushed forward, turned the body over, and pulled off the hood. It was indeed Chief Xie—eyes closed, blood on his head. Horror seized him. He quickly reached out to check for breathing.

The breathing was steady. He touched the neck—there was still a pulse. Luo Yangming felt all the strength drain from his body as if a crushing weight had been lifted. He could no longer stand and sank to his knees, so weak he couldn't even lift his hands.

The gate-guarding sergeant arrived moments later. Seeing the scene, he was stunned. "What's going on?" He looked more closely at the person Luo Yangming was cradling and exclaimed in shock, "It's Chief Xie!"

Luo Yangming gave a slight nod and whispered, "Keep quiet. Find a stretcher quickly. Get him back without attracting attention."

"Yes, yes." The sergeant was sweating profusely, remembering how stubbornly he had refused to cooperate earlier. He had nearly ruined everything! If Chief Xie had been taken by the Ming army or killed, he would have been the chief culprit! The realization made him stammer. "I—I'll go right away... Master, please don't hold it against me. I was blind just now! You, Master, deserve full credit for this!"

Luo Yangming shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Just hurry. The Chief is injured and needs treatment. Say nothing of this matter."

"Yes, yes. I understand." The sergeant saluted and hurried off to find a stretcher. Privately, he cursed himself for his stupidity—not only had he let a heaven-sent opportunity for merit slip through his fingers, but now he might even bear responsibility for the near-disaster.

Before long, a stretcher arrived. Luo Yangming ordered two porters to untie the ropes binding Xie Erren, then lift the stretcher to carry him back to the Prefectural Yamen. He himself was helped up by a porter and stood with difficulty. At that moment, Wen Tietou came running up, covered in bloodstains and dripping sweat.

"Master!" he said breathlessly. "We caught a leader! Did you save the VIP? I saw someone carrying a stretcher down."

"Saved." Luo Yangming nodded. "Safe and sound. You and your brothers have earned great merit."

"The ancestors have finally shown their favor!" Wen Tietou grinned. "My luck is about to change!"

Luo Yangming managed a tired smile. "Gather all the brothers. The dead and wounded must be taken care of properly. Make me a list first. The living will be rewarded according to their contributions, and the families of the dead must receive pensions. They're all good brothers—we can't let men who risked their lives go without a proper end."

"Rest assured, I'll see to it right away!" Wen Tietou studied his appearance and suddenly frowned. "Master, are you injured?"

"I'm fine. Just weak all over." Luo Yangming was anxious to return to the Prefectural Yamen to discuss the aftermath with Zhao Fengtian. "Get two of your brothers to carry me—in a chair or on someone's back, I don't care—just get me to the Yamen quickly." He added, "Speak to no one about what happened tonight."

"Understood!"

Zhao Fengtian was pacing like an ant on a hot pan in the Prefectural Yamen. He too had heard the gunshots at the Great Cloud Gate. The moment they rang out, he dispatched men to reinforce the position and gather intelligence.

When word came that Luo Yangming had rescued Chief Xie on the Great Cloud Gate wall and was sending him back, Zhao Fengtian collapsed into a chair, trembling all over.

It had truly been a close shave! If not for Luo Yangming, the disaster that had befallen Wuzhou tonight couldn't have been settled even if he apologized with his own death...

In a crisis, these experienced locals were indeed invaluable.

Right now, the most important thing was to get the Chief back to the Yamen and contain the news as much as possible. It couldn't be hidden from the Senate, but that wasn't his concern—Elder Xie would bear the brunt of that. The priority was blocking the news from naturalized citizens and local natives to prevent public morale from wavering.

"Carry Chief Xie quietly to his residence in the Three Generals' Office immediately!" he ordered. "Just say Chief Xie was wounded during the attack and needs rest. Say nothing else."

His thoughts turned to Sanhezu. Not knowing the situation there, he was about to send someone to inquire when Qian Duo returned.

"The fire and cannon sounds at Sanhezu have gradually died down—we've made contact with them. The enemy has retreated." Qian Duo removed his hat wearily. "What a night! I heard drums in the city earlier. Did enemies get inside?"

"Something major happened in the city!" Zhao Fengtian gave him a brief summary. Even an experienced veteran like Qian Duo turned pale, stunned for a long moment before speaking. "Good heavens! So that's what happened! We nearly caused a catastrophe!"

"Luo Yangming saved us tonight," Zhao Fengtian said with a bitter smile. "It seems the Chief wasn't fated to die."

"Our luck held too," Qian Duo said. "We really must thank him properly."

While they were talking, Zhu Si arrived, looking utterly drained. The moment he entered, he asked if there was news of Xie Erren. Hearing the Chief had been rescued, he let out a long breath and collapsed into a chair.

"That really saved my life," he murmured.

(End of Chapter)