Chapter 38: On The Importance Of Procedure
The Pingyuan City at night was even livelier than during the day, mainly because there were too many fire points, too many people fighting the fires, plus so many arsonists, robbers, murderers, and opportunist thieves; the outer city had completely lost order.
With order in chaos, all evils were exposed under the broad daylight. Yun Ce stood on the rooftop, watching an old man being hacked to death by refugees, watching a woman being dragged away by a group of refugees, also watching a group of residents smash a young refugee into meat paste with wooden clubs, and seeing a female refugee holding her child knocking on doors for help, only to be smashed on the head with blood flowing by a stick poking out from the courtyard wall, collapsing to the ground, the child in her arms rolling onto the street, and immediately being trampled over by a group of people…
Yun Ce put away the telescope; this was the only way he could show his compassion.
Previously, jokes from stand-up comedy, when really happening in reality, no longer brought joy; the reason people laughed before was because they knew it was just a joke, impossible to really happen.
The place where Yun Ce was hiding at this time was the rooftop of a three-story wooden building; this pavilion was the tallest building in Pingyuan City, and with the higher terrain here, standing there not only allowed overlooking the entire city, but during the day, one could even cast their gaze outside the city.
At this time, the city had fallen into chaos. Logically, the city lord and the captain guarding the city should appear here to command the suppression of the rebellion. However, Yun Ce had been here for ten minutes, and not a single person showed up.
Not far away, the City Lord’s Mansion was brightly lit, and in the huge courtyard, countless people were bustling about like ants. From the piles of trunks like mountains, it was clear they were preparing to flee.
Yun Ce thought the city lord was somewhat shameless. Turning his head, he saw another large mansion on the other side also brightly lit, but here, the ones bustling were all a group of armored soldiers, unlike the other side where most were servants dressed in cloth.
An armored soldier holding a long-handled cleaver stood at the courtyard entrance, occasionally shouting loudly at something. Seeing women and children scrambling onto the sheep cart in a mess, he actually reached out and yanked down one or two. The women cried and wailed, hugging his legs and begging, but this guy swung his saber and hacked the woman to death.
The inner city backed against the outer wall, where there was still a gate. As long as they passed through this gate, beyond it was boundless wilderness. Fortunately, before heading to the wasteland, they had to go through this huge pavilion.
1 Yun Ce originally didn’t want to do anything, but after seeing the movements at the city lord’s and captain’s mansions, he jumped into the pavilion, knocked over a lamp to let the lamp oil flow out. Just as he wanted to light it, he suddenly discovered a huge map hanging on the wall, and on the nearby desk were stacks of silk manuscripts, even the lotus flower jar beside it was stuffed full of scrolls.
1 Yun Ce carefully collected the map, silk manuscripts, and scrolls into the Dragon Pearl, opened a room on the left, and saw piles of bamboo slips and wooden slips like mountains. He could only sigh regretfully; there were too many, the Dragon Pearl couldn’t hold them.
1 The room on the right looked like a public office. He drew out a few silk manuscripts from the desk and found they were recommendation letters, ones where City Lord Zhang Gong Yaliang recommended local talents to Yun Prefecture Inspector Pei Yuanjing.
1 Looking at the signature, he found the written date was yesterday. Yun Ce thought for a moment, then ground ink, picked up the brush, and on a recommendation letter already laid out, wrote his own situation.
1 The entire process was overflowing with words of praise; he felt not the slightest bit embarrassed. For a talent like him who could assist a king, no amount of praise was excessive.
1 To avoid exposing flaws, Yun Ce checked a few more letters to see how others operated, only to discover that such a recommendation letter required fifty thousand cash, and to get the city lord’s seal on it required another hundred thousand cash.
1 Yun Ce rummaged in the public office for a while but didn’t find the seal.
1 In a fit of anger, Yun Ce poured a jar of lamp oil over the bamboo slips and wooden slips, then gritted his teeth and threw a torch before hurriedly leaving.
1 Flames rose, but they weren’t very conspicuous; after all, the entire city was burning.
1 Perhaps seeing the pavilion catch fire, the people from the City Lord’s Mansion and Captain’s Mansion abandoned many people and many trunks, hurriedly leaving their respective mansions.
2 With no one blocking the surging crowds on the streets, the City Lord’s Mansion and Captain’s Mansion were immediately engulfed by the gray-white masses.
2 The armored soldiers from the Captain’s Mansion cleaved through the crowd, and a group of horned horses charged out, lowering their heads to gore the frenzied people flying in all directions. Behind this group of horses, a group of armored soldiers guarded a long convoy closely following, leaving corpses strewn everywhere they went.
2 Originally thought that captain was a gutless coward, but unexpectedly, this guy’s martial skills were not bad at all. His saber danced like a windmill, and the rushing refugees were like bundles of grass under a cleaver, severed with a light cut.
2 When Miss Hong led her elites to charge over, that captain had already killed to the point of near madness. Spotting Miss Hong, he raised his blade and chopped down.
2 Miss Hong, holding a spear, didn’t dare meet it head-on, dodged aside, but was kicked in the chest by the captain who had dismounted and was walking, sending her flying backward.
2 Pei Chuan’s spear thrust out like a viper, stabbing the captain in the lower back, but it was blocked by the armor. The captain, who had just retracted his foot, kicked the grounded saber, then twisted his waist and turned, the saber rotating like an electric fan blade and slashing backward.
2 Pei Chuan, after thrusting the spear, had long retreated continuously into the crowd. The refugees who couldn’t retreat in time were struck by the whirlwind-like saber, which severed two men’s bodies in succession before its force dissipated, embedding into the third man’s body.
2 Miss Hong staggered to her feet, shouted loudly, and bravely thrust her spear at the captain. The captain grinned ferociously, dodged aside, and just as he was about to swing his blade to sever Miss Hong’s neck, a jar flew through the air. The captain ignored killing Miss Hong, swung his blade to smash the jar, which shattered, splashing him with liquid inside.
2 Under Miss Hong’s incredulous gaze, a pig-headed person threw a torch over. The lamp oil flowing on the ground ignited, and the flames eventually climbed onto the captain.
2 Seeing the captain on fire, clumsily flailing about, Yun Ce waved at Miss Hong and prepared to go find the city lord; after all, if this Zhang Gong Yaliang didn’t seal it for him, his recommendation letter would be worthless.
3 Beating a drowning dog was Pei Chuan’s expertise. After the captain caught fire, he reappeared, thrusting his spear wildly at the captain who was armored and impervious to blades and spears. He didn’t expect to assassinate the captain, only hoped this frenzy of stabs would make the fire on the captain burn bigger.
3 The streets were in extreme chaos, fires starting everywhere. Yun Ce worriedly glanced toward the guesthouse and found everyone’s attention focused on the official offices and rich district here; the guesthouse side was still relatively peaceful.
3 Yun Ce leaped and bounded across two streets on the rooftops before barely spotting the city lord’s convoy. Sure enough, officials all had their skills; City Lord Zhang Yaliang, holding a halberd and covering the rear for his family, slashed left and right, with almost no one under his hand able to last even one exchange. After hacking a dozen people to death, the pursuing refugees stopped.
3 Zhang Yaliang roared angrily: “Those who block me die!”
3 Yun Ce hurriedly jumped down, waving the recommendation letter in his hand at Zhang Yaliang: “City Lord Zhang, proceed slowly. First use your seal on this humble one’s recommendation letter before leaving, it’s not too late.”
3 Zhang Yaliang was stunned for a moment. Seeing a bizarre pig-headed person quickly approaching him, his halberd whistled through the air toward Yun Ce’s neck. Yun Ce crouched to dodge, but unexpectedly, Zhang Yaliang’s halberd halted its chopping momentum abruptly, spun in his palm, and instantly turned into a hook, silently hooking toward Yun Ce’s back.
3 Yun Ce reached out and grabbed the sharp edge of the halberd, yanked hard, and seized it from Zhang Yaliang. Sticking the halberd into the ground, Yun Ce once again held out the recommendation letter respectfully to Zhang Yaliang and earnestly said: “This recommendation letter is very important to this humble one. Please, City Lord Zhang, use your seal.”
3 Zhang Yaliang finally snapped out of his shock at the halberd being seized. However, as a seasoned official, he still took the recommendation letter politely from the courteous Yun Ce, glanced at it, narrowed his eyes, and said: “Oh, Liu Chang’an. I wonder which young master’s fine son is this young master?”
3 Yun Ce saw fires starting on the long street over there too, growing anxious. Seeing this guy still dawdling at this point, anger rose in his heart. He raised his hand and slapped Zhang Yaliang across the face. With a crisp smack, Zhang Yaliang’s head snapped to the side. Yun Ce seized his neck and shook him violently: “Quickly seal it for me, damn it.”
3 “This old man is in full armor; how would I carry a seal?”
4 Zhang Yaliang was shaken until he was dizzy and confused. Though he didn’t know why the other wanted his seal, he knew his life hung by a thread, and only dangling the bait could control him, so he clenched his teeth and refused to speak.
4 Yun Ce turned his head and saw the fire spreading toward the guesthouse. Enraged, he smashed a fist into Zhang Yaliang’s face. This punch was very heavy, caving in Zhang Yaliang’s cheekbone immediately, his upper and lower teeth clashing violently and shattering one after another.
4 Among the refugees, some knew the pig-headed person’s ferocity. Seeing him at work, they held back the ignorant brothers, planning to wait until this demon king finished.
4 At that moment, Zhang Yaliang’s servants finally found an opportunity to break from the refugees. Seeing their master captured, they rushed forward to rescue Zhang Yaliang.
4 Yun Ce gripped the halberd with one hand and swept horizontally, cleaving the most eager strong man rescuer in two. The other servants, seeing the pig-headed person’s brutality, all retreated.
4 “Seal it for me…”
4 Yun Ce grabbed Zhang Yaliang’s neck and continued shaking.
4 Zhang Yaliang had long passed out from that punch, his broken nasal bone even piercing into his brain. Now, he was barely alive with one breath left; how could he answer?
4 Anxious, Yun Ce violently tore open Zhang Yaliang’s belt, ripped apart his well-worn armor, and finally found a brocade bag at his waist. Pouring out the contents, he saw it was exactly what he needed.
4 Putting away the brocade bag, Yun Ce stomped on Zhang Yaliang’s caved-in face. Feeling the softness underfoot, he used the force to leap onto the rooftop and dashed swiftly toward the guesthouse.
