Chapter 206: Inside and Outside the Manor

Summer was prone to thunderstorms. The morning had been clear and sunny, but after noon, the sky gradually darkened. Black clouds gathered, and the wind, carrying the smell of sun-baked earth, grew stronger and stronger, mixed with a fishy odor. A heavy thunderstorm was imminent.

Min Zhanlian stood in the courtyard with his hands behind his back, gazing at the rolling black clouds and the faint flashes of lightning in the sky, seemingly lost in thought. Three black shadows silently appeared behind him.

“Speak.”

“We have confirmed that the Daoist priest Zhang is staying at the Zhuang family manor in Dadian Village.”

“The Zhuang family is a local gentry family. The head of the family is Zhuang Qian, who has just retired from a post in the capital and returned to his hometown.”

“The Daoist priest Zhang went to treat Zhuang Qian’s illness. Zhuang Qian’s illness is now mostly cured, but he has been staying at the Zhuang family manor with his disciples under the pretext of needing to recuperate.”

“The Zhuang family treats him with great courtesy. The Daoist priest Zhang has also won over the hearts of the people in the manor, and everyone, from top to bottom, calls him a living immortal. He seems to have plans to stay at the Zhuang family manor for a long time.”

Min Zhanlian listened in silence. Finally, he asked, “If we want to go in and kill him, can it be done?”

The three answered in unison, “It cannot be done.”

“Dadian Village is a fortified compound.”

“There are more than three hundred militiamen in the stockade. They have hired four martial arts instructors, all of whom are experts in spear, staff, bow, and arrow.”

“To enter the Zhuang family manor, one must pass through two layers of enclosures, each guarded by militiamen and family retainers. They are on watch day and night, and the security is extremely tight.”

If it were just a matter of sneaking into someone’s residence to kill them, it would not be difficult for Min Zhanlian. But the target was living inside a fortified compound of a local tycoon, which was much more difficult to enter than an ordinary residence—even the grand mansion of a high official.

A so-called grand mansion was nothing more than having higher walls and larger rooms. The defensive force was relatively weak. Besides a few guards patrolling the courtyard, there were only watchmen making their rounds along the walls. With Min Zhanlian’s skills, it was not difficult to subdue or evade a few guards and watchmen.

However, a fortified compound was essentially a small city. No matter how skilled a martial artist was, once the city gates were closed, they could only sigh in despair. Although Min Zhanlian was young, he had been in the jianghu for many years. No matter how big a figure you were in the jianghu, you would never dare to openly draw your sword and fight in the city in broad daylight. As for the so-called “masters” among the flying thieves and great robbers, if they were a step too slow when fleeing and were trapped inside the city when the gates closed, they would fall into the hands of the government soldiers and constables.

At night, when the gates of the fortified compound were closed, lanterns and torches were lit on the walls, and militiamen patrolled in groups. It was very difficult to find an opportunity to subdue them secretly. Even a highly skilled flying thief might not be able to sneak in successfully.

Three hundred well-trained militiamen and retainers, armed with long spears and strong bows—if they were discovered and a fight broke out, not just Min Zhanlian and his few men, but even if you summoned all the most famous “great heroes” and “demon lords” of the martial world to fight, they would not necessarily be a match for the militiamen.

Of course, if they were determined to do it, it was not impossible, but it would likely cost a few lives.

Min Zhanlian knew his men well. Like him, they valued caution and prudence above all else. Killing was for money, and if they died, no amount of money would be of any use.

Min Zhanlian pondered. This was a difficult matter.

Of course, it was not without solutions. The simplest way was to send someone with a letter, saying that a certain wealthy family in the city had a sudden illness and needed him to come and treat it. They could then intercept and kill him on the way.

The problem was that this would lack the element of “heavenly retribution.” Min Zhanlian had thought of several ways to send the Daoist priest on his final journey with “heavenly retribution,” but none of them could be carried out on the main road.

To just kill him like that would not meet the client’s requirements. Losing the silver was a small matter, but it would be a great blow to his reputation.

“I need more detailed information. Where does he live, what is the environment like, when does he usually wake up and go to bed, what personal belongings does he have…”

“We cannot do this.”

“Oh,” Min Zhanlian was taken aback. He had worked with these three for many years and had rarely heard them say “cannot be done.” “Why?”

“No strangers are allowed to enter Dadian Village. To enter the village, one must be vouched for by a resident. To stay overnight, one needs a joint guarantee from three households.”

Because southern Shandong had been plagued by natural and man-made disasters for the past decade, all the villages were on high alert, and their security was much stricter than that of the prefectural and county seats.

So far, the information they had gathered was all from the market street outside the village. It was very difficult to get details about the Zhuang family inside Dadian Village.

Whether they wanted to enter Dadian Village openly or sneak in, it was extremely difficult for the “eyes and ears” because they had no inside contacts. They didn’t even know which way the Zhuang family’s main gate faced.

“You can go for now. Continue to gather information.”

“Yes!” The three black shadows disappeared from under the eaves.

Min Zhanlian was silent for a moment, then said in a deep voice, “I didn’t draw a talisman or shout an incantation. How did you come?”

“I am not a little ghost, young lady. Seeing you at a loss, how could I not come?” A charming voice echoed in the courtyard, mixed with the rolling thunder and wind from the sky, making it sound incredibly eerie.

Min Zhanlian said, “You’ve given us a difficult problem.” He smiled bitterly. “You’re bullying us for being strangers here.”

“This is a trivial matter for our sect,” the girl’s voice seemed to spin around the courtyard, making it difficult for him to pinpoint her location. Min Zhanlian was instantly on alert. Although he knew the other party was just showing off with some tricks and probably had no ill intentions towards him, he still tensed his hand slightly, ready to draw his sword at any moment.

“Don’t be nervous,” the giggling sound came again. “Our sect has great use for you…”

Zhang Yingchen glanced at the courtyard outside the window. Ming Qing and the two young apprentices were gathering the medicinal herbs that had been drying. The air was thick with the smell of an impending storm. From near and far, he could hear people shouting, “It’s going to rain, quick, put up the shutters!” and “Gather the things!”

He touched the satchel on his body and strolled into the courtyard. He called out to Ming Qing:

“I am going to the main house to take Master Zhuang’s pulse. You and your junior brothers gather the things and go inside. Don’t run around!” After giving his instructions, he walked along the narrow path towards the main house.

Since arriving at the Zhuang family manor in Dadian Village, he had felt much more at ease, at least sleeping more soundly at night. But he was not entirely without worries. He had still made some emergency preparations with the things he had on hand.

Zhang Yingchen had brought an emergency kit with him to southern Shandong, a standard configuration that had been reviewed many times. It was a small, waterproof nylon bag containing spare ammunition for his pistol: one magazine, 24 rounds of shot, one offensive grenade, two hand-held flare launchers made in Lingao, one dose of a “stamina potion” extracted from coca leaves, and a waterproof medicine box the size of a cigarette case. Inside were penicillin V potassium tablets, norfloxacin, diphenhydramine, acetaminophen, nitroglycerin, domperidone, potassium permanganate, gauze, bandages, and a scalpel with needle and thread. In the interlayer of the nylon bag was a gold leaf for emergency expenses.

The small bag and the pistol he carried were usually slung over his body, hidden under his Daoist robe. He kept them under his pillow when he slept. If anything happened, he could escape at any time.

Zhang Yingchen did not go directly to the main house. Since he was from the 21st century, he of course knew the importance of the mass line. Moreover, he wanted to preach, and besides the upper-class route, the mass line was also important. So every time he went to the main house to take Master Zhuang’s pulse or when he had nothing to do, he would always walk around the backyard, the main kitchen, and the servants’ quarters, talking to the Zhuang family’s servants and treating their illnesses—without charging for medicine. The Zhuang family’s servants all had a good impression of his approachable and un-snobbish style, saying that he was a true “man of the cloth.”

When he reached the backyard, he saw many objects piled up in the courtyard: pots, bowls, basins, as well as various shovels and knives. Zhang Yingchen, with his background in Chinese medicine, knew at a glance that these were all tools of the trade from a Chinese pharmacy. Among them was a rectangular iron cage, which looked quite old and was covered in rust. Several servants were cleaning it. When they saw him coming, they all put down their work and greeted him.

“What is this?” Zhang Yingchen was a little curious.

“Daoist priest, this was used to keep deer in the old pharmacy,” an old servant said. “Look, there are some smaller ones over there for keeping pangolins and black-boned chickens.”

It turned out that the Zhuang family had run a large pharmacy in Yizhou city in the past. After the pharmacy closed, these items became useless and had been stored in a warehouse in the backyard.

“Then why are they being taken out now?”

“Isn’t it all thanks to your good deeds?” another middle-aged servant said. “Since you cured the master’s illness and advised him to donate medicine, the master said that this area is constantly suffering from floods and droughts, and the people are all afflicted with diseases. Instead of just donating medicine, it would be better to open a pharmacy to help the masses. So he instructed us to take out all these things again.”

“Master Zhuang is truly a great philanthropist,” Zhang Yingchen immediately put a high hat on Zhuang Qian.

“Who says otherwise,” the old servant said. “The master is opening a shop to help the people, and we servants also benefit. The master has already promised my fourth grandson a job as an apprentice in the shop. Otherwise, he would just be idle at home, wasting his parents’ money!”

Zhang Yingchen knew that he had indeed discussed donating medicine with Master Zhuang a few days ago. In fact, he had been secretly promoting the ideas of the New Taoism to him these past few days, instilling the doctrines bit by bit. According to his understanding, without the support and protection of the local gentry, it would be as difficult as climbing to heaven to preach here.

Originally, when he advised Master Zhuang to donate medicine, it was partly to build a reputation for Runshitang. Now that he wanted to open a pharmacy, it was even better. With the various special Chinese patent medicines from Runshitang, he was confident he could control this pharmacy.

If he could completely win over this Master Zhuang and make him a key figure of the New Taoism in the local area, the entire Dadian Village would become the “combat fortress” of the New Taoism in the Yizhou region. He would no longer have to live in fear of being attacked by other forces. He could even use the local human resources to carry out missionary work. The local converts would at least be more suitable in terms of accent than the people he brought from Qiongshan.