sinovels Chapter 25 Kill as you please!
Chapter 25 Kill as you please!
Yue Feng raised a hand: "Wait a minute. What kind of cargo does Fusang want you to transport?"
"I don't know that. They just asked me to transport the goods to Chenjia Village in Min County. They wouldn't say anything else, but they offered me a lot of money."
Lin Zhennan had barely finished speaking when Chen Ji interjected, "Chenjia Village in Min County? That's my hometown. Japanese pirates roam there. The Fusang Association wouldn't be asking you to deliver supplies to them, would they?"
Lin Zhennan broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly said, "If that's the case, we absolutely must not accept this shipment. Otherwise, how can my Lin family maintain its standing in Fujian?"
Yue Feng remained silent for a moment, and everyone else followed suit, waiting for his decision.
"This matter is quite strange. If what Chen Ji said is true, Fusang will deliver the goods themselves, so why involve Fuwei Escort Agency? They are probably trying to kill two birds with one stone. I think we should turn the tables on them and take over their escort mission."
"Chen Ji and I will disguise ourselves as two spies and follow them to see what they're up to. Before that, we'd better try to get Chunniang to talk. If we can get anything out of her, it'll be better than the blind men and the elephant."
Everyone agreed, and they were about to interrogate Chunniang when a servant came to report: "A swordsman from the Fusang Society has arrived outside, claiming to be Kato Ichi, and requests an audience with the chief镖头 (chief镖头 is a high-ranking镖头 is a term used in Chinese martial arts to refer to someone who is a skilled镖师, and is seeking an audience with the head镖师).
Lin Zhennan frowned and said, "I know this Kato Ichi. He is the leader of the Fusang Society and also an assassin."
"Many honest officials in Fuzhou died at the hands of Kato Hajime simply because they refused to cooperate with the Fusang Association. The Fusang Association has connections in the government and the Six Doors (a government agency), so even if they knew it was him, no one cared."
"I heard that Kato Hajime originally had a different name, but he changed it to his current name because he never needed to use a second stab to kill someone."
Yue Feng glanced at Chen Ji, then stood up and said, "Let's go take a look."
The group entered the living room, and Lin Zhennan ordered someone to bring Kato Ichiro in. Soon, a middle-aged man dressed in a kimono slowly walked in.
Kato Hajime walked to the front of the hall and stopped. His cold gaze swept over Lin Zhennan and the others one by one, pausing briefly on Yue Feng and Chen Ji before bowing to Lin Zhennan and Lin Pingzhi and saying, "Kato Hajime, the leader of the Fusang Association, greets Chief Escort Lin and Young Chief Escort Lin. And who are these two friends?"
Lin Zhennan and his son returned the greeting casually without answering. Yue Feng asked indifferently, "What do you want here?"
A flash of anger crossed Kato's eyes, but he said in a deep voice, "I heard that three people raided my gambling den, kidnapped the manager, and completely sealed off the ground exits. One of them is the young head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) of the Fuwei Escort Agency. I believe I have never offended the Fuwei Escort Agency, so I have come to inquire about this."
Yue Feng asked, "What gives you the right to ask?"
Kato paused, his eyes suddenly turning cold.
"With the knife in my hand!"
Lin Zhennan and his son were suddenly struck by a flash of light as a blade of light pierced through most of the space between Kato and Yue Feng, coming within a foot of Yue Feng's chest. Lin Zhennan and his son were terrified and tried to intervene, but it was too late.
Just then, Chen Ji swayed and stepped in front of Yue Feng, drawing a single-edged sword from his belt and slashing towards Kato's throat. Kato's expression changed slightly, and he dodged to the side. However, Chen Ji's sword was like a persistent thorn in his side; no matter how Kato tried to move, he couldn't escape the threat of Chen Ji's blade.
Forced to retreat, Kato withdrew his longsword and took several steps back, distancing himself from Chen Ji. Realizing that this meant his reputation for killing without a second strike was ruined, he was filled with remorse and asked Chen Ji, "Who are you? With such swordsmanship, why are you content to be a servant?"
Chen Ji said with a grin, "I don't understand servants or anything like that. Whoever pays me is my boss. Japanese man, do you have any money on you?"
Kato took a heavy money bag from his pocket and tossed it to Chen Ji.
"There are more than twenty taels of silver in here. Take it and move aside. There will be a reward after I kill this brat."
Chen Ji took the money pouch, whistled, and laughed, "You really gave it to me?" He then handed the pouch to Yue Feng, "Master, may I kill him?"
Yue Feng coldly replied, "Kill them all!"
Kato was so angry he was practically fuming. Just as he opened his mouth, a sheathless single-edged sword appeared out of nowhere and stabbed into his mouth.
"So, 'killing without a second strike'? Is that all?" Chen Ji drew his single-edged sword, wiped it on Kato's clothes, tucked it back into his belt, walked back behind Yue Feng, and shook his head.
Lin Zhennan and his son were speechless with astonishment. Although Lin Pingzhi had witnessed Chen Ji wield his sword before, he never imagined that he could kill Kato Hajime in such a way. Yue Feng also muttered to himself, wondering if he should give Chen Ji a raise. In the end, he returned Kato Hajime's money bag to Chen Ji.
"Here's a reward for you."
"Thank you for the reward, sir!" Chen Ji happily accepted the money bag, counted the silver inside, and put it into his pocket.
Lin Zhennan ordered his men to carry away and bury Kato Hajime's body. Chen Ji shouted, "Wait!" and ran over to unfasten Kato Hajime's sword, tucking it into his own belt, but threw away the unsheathed single-edged sword. Yue Feng couldn't help but ask, "Can you get used to using a Japanese sword?"
Chen Ji said, "A knife is just a knife; you get used to it after a while. I have to admit, his knife is indeed better than mine. It would be such a waste to bury him with it."
Yue Feng, finding his argument reasonable, ignored it. The group returned to the inner courtyard, took Chunniang to a well-soundproofed secret room, and tied her to a thick beam. Yue Feng released Chunniang's pressure points, and she slowly awoke.
Despite Yue Feng and the others' best efforts, they were unable to get Chunniang to reveal information about the Fusang Society, so they had to give up for the time being. After leaving the secret room, the group ate something together. Suddenly, Yue Feng remembered someone, so he left Chen Ji to guard the Lin residence and left alone.
He asked Lin Zhennan for directions to the Six Doors headquarters. When he arrived, he found it to be a rather tidy courtyard. An old servant was sweeping at the entrance. Hearing that he was looking for Lord Han, the servant led him to the outside of a study.
Yue Feng knocked and entered. Han Yan was engrossed in reviewing official documents, the pile on his desk resembling a small mountain. Yue Feng casually found a seat and sat down, laughing, "I thought the Six Doors was all about fighting and killing, but I didn't expect it to be so complicated?"
Han Yan placed an official document aside and sighed deeply: "You people below only need to fight and kill, but as the chief constable, I have to consider many more things."
"Fuzhou is a city with a lot of people and a lot of things to do. Just sorting and summarizing the reports from all the undercover agents is enough to give me a headache. To make matters worse, the imperial court strictly controls the Six Doors, preventing them from expanding their recruitment at will. What can I do?"
Yue Feng then realized why there were guest advisors in the Six Doors; it turned out that the number of full-time employees was limited, so they had to outsource them.