Chapter 214: Captured Alive

His men drew their weapons and rushed out of the woods almost simultaneously.

Some blocked the head, some attacked the tail, and some charged straight into the middle of the procession, their swords and spears moving like lightning.

Min Zhanlian only saw a flash of fire from the other party’s horses, followed by a clap of thunder—they had firearms! Before the thought had even passed, a series of flashes and thunderclaps erupted.

In that fleeting moment, he saw Uncle He get hit as if by a powerful punch. His waist saber flew from his hand, and his body fell backward at an incredible angle, blood splattering everywhere.

The three “eyes and ears” assigned to cut off the rear, because their target was at the back of the procession, had rushed out of the woods in a single, fluid motion, as swift as a startled rabbit. However, after five loud bangs, they all fell. One of them had half his head blown off after a loud bang, his brains splattering.

This was the last scene he saw.

Within thirty seconds, Min Zhanlian and his eight subordinates were all lying motionless on the ground.

Ye Mengyan put his Glock pistol back into his robe. Thanks to the rapid pistol shooting training conducted by Xue Ziliang and other American-born Elders, he and his team had taken down nine moving targets in thirty seconds. This was nothing: according to the assessment standards, it wasn’t even a passing grade. Divided among them, it was only 0.9 targets per person, a piece of cake.

“Clear!” the team members shouted one after another. Ye Mengyan frowned.

“Control the battlefield! Collect the shell casings!”

Several team members immediately rode their horses to control the front and rear intersections and stand guard, while others went to inspect and handle the bodies.

There were a total of nine attackers, seven men and two women. The team members briefly searched their belongings, which were nothing more than spare clothes, weapons, and a small amount of silver.

Of the nine, only one man and one woman were still alive. The man had been shot in the thigh, the bullet passing through the flesh. The woman had also been shot, but the bullet had only grazed her. She had fainted from the shock.

“They’re probably some kind of major bandits, not proper people,” the guide said after looking at the confiscated items. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be robbing people on the main road. This was a major crime. An ordinary jianghu traveler with some standing might have committed murder and arson in secret, but robbing on the main road was the work of greenwood heroes. Once caught, they would lose their heads.

“Zhao Kai is dead,” someone came to report, presenting a dart.

Ye Mengyan took the blood-stained dart with a look of disgust. It was very finely made, and its surface was slightly black. He smelled a familiar scent.

“Upas tree poison!” he immediately remembered. When they were training in the Li people’s territory, they had seen Li hunters searching for this substance to coat their arrowheads. It was said that some Han people had also occasionally bought it in the past.

The upas tree was a rare tropical plant. He hadn’t expected this group of major bandits to have it. It seemed that demand created a market.

“What about the prisoners?”

“Give them another stab and throw them in the ditch,” Ye Mengyan said nonchalantly. He was in a hurry and couldn’t take prisoners. Although this place was relatively remote and it was afternoon when there were few travelers, it was still a main road. People were coming and going, so they couldn’t stay long.

“Captain, look!” a team member suddenly handed him a roll of paper. Ye Mengyan casually opened it and saw that it was a portrait of Daoist Priest Zhang!

“Tie them up and take them with us!” Ye Mengyan changed his mind.

The two were not seriously injured, and there were no bullets left in their bodies. If their injuries were too severe or the bullets were lodged deep inside, they would not be able to treat them with their abilities, and they would have had to send them on their way on the spot.

There were already regulations for carrying prisoners: a bamboo hat on the head, a veil covering the face, and then an eye patch. The body was wrapped in a cloak, making them look just like traveling knights.

However, the prisoners had gags in their mouths, the eye patches were opaque, and their hands were tied—with special restraints made in Lingao, but of tough, fine rattan. The prisoners were placed on horseback, unable to shout or move, and could only follow the team in a daze, with no other thoughts.

Ye Mengyan, of course, couldn’t have come up with such a method. These jianghu tricks were all learned from the Qiwei Escort Agency. Although the agency did not engage in illegal activities, they dealt with people who did every day and knew all their tricks clearly.

The group traveled at a forced march and soon arrived at Dadian Village, where people were already waiting to receive them.

Zhang Yingchen’s influence in Dadian Village had already swelled—not that he had intentionally sought it. The Nanwuliang sect’s followers in Dadian Village, from the incense masters and incense attendants to the ordinary believers, had all turned against their former masters. Before Zhang Yingchen could react, he had become “Patriarch Zhang” and “Immortal Zhang.”

It was not just the sect’s organization within Dadian Village that had turned; the entire Nanwuliang sect in the Yizhou region was shaken. The panic of the altar master and the upper echelons seemed to confirm the legend of the “magical duel” at the Zhuang family’s residence that night.

Although an order had been sent down from the Yizhou altar forbidding the believers from spreading the story and declaring the magical duel to be “completely fabricated,” the believers in Dadian Village seemed particularly keen on publicizing the matter to prove that they had chosen the “true path.” They boasted everywhere of Patriarch Zhang’s “boundless magical power.” Originally, Zhang Yingchen had thought they would just talk about the “thunder bath” incident, but in less than a week, his various “miracles” had become almost as numerous as those of an immortal.

Zhang Yingchen had already gained a considerable reputation in Yizhou for his free medical treatment. Coupled with this “magical duel,” the incense masters, incense attendants, and believers from all the villages and towns in Yizhou secretly came to Dadian Village to have an “audience” with “True Master Zhang,” offering various gifts. Zhang Yingchen knew that these people were already prepared to switch their allegiance at any time.

Even within the Zhuang family, he had made a great breakthrough among the female members. Several of the master’s female relatives had expressed their willingness to convert to his “New Taoism.”

At that time, the influence of folk religious sects among women often surpassed that among men. Through the spread by eunuchs, they quickly infiltrated places like the inner court. The women in the deep boudoirs were very susceptible to the influence of these simple and easy-to-understand folk religious sects. There were believers among the palace maids and concubines. Research on folk religious sects shows that the legend and worship of the Nine Lotus Holy Mother that circulated in the palace during the Chongzhen era was also greatly related to folk religious sects. As for the famous “Stick Attack Case” among the three major cases, it was also linked to a contemporary folk religious sect, the Red Seal Sect.

“The revolutionary situation is developing at a rapid pace; I really can’t keep up,” Zhang Yingchen was restless in the Zhuang residence over this gratifying situation. He was happy that he had been able to open up such a situation in Yizhou, which was something he had not expected. Now, not only could he easily organize immigration, but he had also secured a base here, laying the foundation for the Senate’s large-scale operations in the local area in the future. He was worried that his great fame would easily make him a target.

He thought back to how he had been ambushed by his opponents just for providing free medical treatment in the local area. Now that he was snatching food from the tiger’s mouth, who knew what means the enemy would use? How would the government and the Zhuang family view him, this newly minted “charlatan”? Although he had won the appreciation of the head of the family, Zhuang Qian, and now had the affection of the Zhuang family’s sons and nephews, such a family of scholars and farmers had always been wary of monks and Daoists. If his reputation became too great, the other party might deliberately distance themselves from him.

Once he lost the protection of the Zhuang family, not only would the Nanwuliang sect use all their strength to deal with him, but even the government could make trouble for him at any time. This was what he was most worried about. An accusation of “spreading heresy to confuse the people” or “a remnant of the White Lotus Sect” would be enough to get him killed.

Just as he was filled with anxiety, the arrival of Ye Mengyan’s detachment greatly boosted his spirits. The old Tongsheng-turned-missionaries trained by Old Dai were of course useful, but right now, nothing was more useful than a “sword handle.”

On a hill, there was a grove of trees. Beside the grove was a small temple. This place was less than two li from Dadian Village and was originally the property of the incense master in Dadian Village. Later, with the offerings of the believers, a small temple was built here. After the incense master turned against his former masters, this temple also fell into Zhang Yingchen’s hands and became another base for his activities outside the village.

It was called a temple, but it was actually just a small three-sided courtyard. The houses were very small. The main hall was empty. Zhang Yingchen promoted that the New Taoism “does not worship idols,” so the entire main hall was empty, with only the spirit tablets of the Supreme Heavenly Emperor and the Three Pure Ones.

In the small courtyard, seven or eight knights were standing or sitting in various places, but they were not chatting. Instead, they were vigilantly watching all directions and the entrances and exits. They were the members of the Special Reconnaissance Team brought by Ye Mengyan. After they met with Zhang Yingchen, they were settled here.

In the side room, the prisoners were being interrogated.

The two prisoners’ wounds had been treated, and they had been given a bowl of glucose saline solution to revive their spirits.

The interrogator was very careful. The prisoners were stripped naked, regardless of gender.

Two team members held the prisoners down on their knees, holding their shoulders to prevent them from suddenly lashing out and injuring someone. The interrogator then began to question them.

The interrogator was Ye Mengyan himself. Accompanying him was the guide and escort from Qiwei. He acted as both a translator and a fact-checker to see if the other party was lying. After all, the Elders were outsiders and were not clear about some social details, so they could be easily deceived.

Min Zhanlian was the first to be interrogated. Even without the things found on him, it was clear from common sense in this era that his status was likely higher than that of the female prisoner.

Min Zhanlian was only twenty-five or twenty-six years old. His body was strong and tough, his muscles not particularly bulky, but well-proportioned, strong, and with soft lines like a leopard. The escort could tell at a glance that this person was a skilled martial artist and by no means an ordinary person. Even an Elder like Ye Mengyan had to admit that this person’s muscle coordination was excellent and would definitely be highly praised by Chen Sigen.

However, this also showed that to become a martial arts expert in ancient times, one had to come from a wealthy family. Otherwise, just the protein needed to build such muscles was beyond the reach of ordinary people whose ideal was just to have enough to eat.

His belongings were all laid out on the ground: a few dozen taels of silver, a few strings of copper coins, a few small-denomination official bank notes and Shanxi bank notes, totaling no more than two hundred taels. Simple luggage, and a utility knife.