Chapter 13: Constable And Ji Qing
“Constable?”
Ji Qing’s pupils contracted, and he immediately gripped the hilt!
He hadn’t forgotten that he was the “fugitive” on the wanted poster. Could his whereabouts have been leaked, and the constables had tracked him down?
However, this group of constables didn’t pay any attention to Ji Qing.
Instead, they headed straight for the front hall.
“Not coming for me?”
Ji Qing understood.
This group of constables probably wasn’t there to arrest him.
It was most likely related to the Rat King corpse.
Sure enough, a servant hurriedly ran out from the front hall and respectfully said, “Great Hero Li, men from the yamen are here. They want to take away the Rat King corpse and meet the rat extermination hero, so Master is asking you to go to the front hall.”
“Lead the way.”
Ji Qing didn’t avoid them.
First, men from the yamen had come and specifically asked to see him, so he couldn’t refuse.
Second, Ji Yao was still in the front hall watching the excitement with Suo’er, so he couldn’t quietly take Ji Yao and leave.
Besides, the other side was just a group of ordinary constables. If it really came to blows, Ji Qing wasn’t afraid.
Thus, Ji Qing followed the servant to the front hall.
At this moment, the front hall was already crowded with people.
A group of constables was loading the Rat King’s corpse onto a horse carriage.
“Great Hero Li is here, Constable Wang. This is the rat extermination hero, Great Hero Li!”
Steward Jin pulled Ji Qing and introduced him to Constable Wang.
“I’ve met Constable Wang.”
“Did you kill this giant rat?”
“Yes.”
“Then you are the rat extermination hero, having eliminated harm for the people. The yamen will give you commendation. You can come back to the yamen with me; at least twenty taels of bounty.”
Ji Qing shook his head and said, “Steward Jin has already given plenty of bounty. I won’t go to the yamen.”
“Good, I will report the facts to Lord!”
This Constable Wang, ever since glancing at Ji Qing, had eyes that darted around evasively, no longer looking straight at Ji Qing.
But behind Constable Wang, there was a young constable who kept staring at Ji Qing, scrutinizing him up and down.
Seeing Constable Wang about to leave, the young constable stepped forward and softly reminded, “Constable, this person looks very familiar. He might be the one on the wanted poster…”
“Shut up!”
The young constable’s words were cut off by Constable Wang’s stern rebuke before he could finish.
“Constable, he clearly is…”
“Pa.”
Constable Wang slapped the young constable across the face.
The atmosphere instantly froze.
Everyone held their breath, not daring to speak.
Many people were baffled, not knowing what had happened.
Why had Constable Wang suddenly lost his temper like that?
“You misidentified him. This Great Hero Li is the rat extermination hero!”
“Load up the Rat King corpse. We’re heading back to the yamen!”
Constable Wang acted decisively and immediately left with the Rat King corpse.
Ji Qing watched Constable Wang’s receding figure, nodding to himself inwardly. The other man was a smart one.
That Constable Wang had actually recognized Ji Qing from the first glance.
After all, who in the yamen could serve as constable for twenty years without a sharp eye?
How could Constable Wang fail to recognize a fugitive from the wanted poster?
It was just that Constable Wang didn’t dare, and couldn’t, “recognize” him.
Recognizing “Ji Qing” in this situation would mean they all had to die!
Ji Qing also knew this was no place to linger.
“Yao’er, we have to go.”
“Leaving now?”
Ji Yao was a bit reluctant to part with Suo’er.
This was her only friend during this time.
But Ji Yao was sensible and said goodbye to Suo’er.
“Little sister Li Yao, will you come back to see me later?”
“This is Suo’er’s favorite bracelet. Mother said it brings safety. Since you’re leaving, I’ll give you this bracelet. Don’t forget Suo’er in the future, okay?”
Suo’er reluctantly gave the bracelet to Ji Yao.
Ji Yao also took out a wooden carving, a toy that Ji Qing had carved for her on the road when bored.
“A toy my brother made, for you. Suo’er, I will definitely come back to see you.”
“Great, next time I’ll take you to play on the back mountain. There are lots of fun things there.”
The two six- or seven-year-old children had become good friends after just two days together.
Seeing them bid farewell here was amusing.
Ji Qing put Ji Yao into the woven basket and then bid farewell to Steward Jin: “Steward Jin, farewell.”
Steward Jin was a shrewd man.
From the odd scene earlier between Constable Wang and the young constable, Steward Jin seemed to have some guesses.
He vaguely sensed that Li Mu’s identity was probably not simple.
Therefore, Steward Jin didn’t try to keep Ji Qing, but cupped his hands and said, “Wish Great Hero Li a smooth journey.”
Ji Qing turned and left, soon vanishing from sight.
……
Constable Wang and the others raced back and finally returned to the county town.
Only after entering the city gate did Constable Wang finally relax.
He turned to look at the young constable and said coldly, “What, not convinced? Do you know that if I hadn’t slapped you just now, we would all be dead!”
The young constable’s eyes widened at his words: “How could that be?”
“Hmph, you think I didn’t recognize that ‘Li Mu’ was actually Ji Qing from the wanted poster? But who is Ji Qing? Eighth on the Jianghu villain ranking! Latest news says he killed the Three Oddities of Lingdong and the Eighteen Riders of the Great Desert in a ruined temple outside Li City!”
“And look at this Rat King corpse. You all tried earlier—isn’t it impervious to blade and spear? For Ji Qing to kill such a formidable giant rat, how strong must he be? With just us few, do you think we could take him down? Once we exposed his identity, wouldn’t that just force him to go on a killing spree?”
Constable Wang’s words made the young constable suddenly understand, while also breaking out in a cold sweat.
“Thank you, Constable, for saving our lives!”
The young constable quickly saluted Constable Wang.
No wonder Constable Wang had been a constable in the county yamen for over twenty years and remained unshaken.
Indeed, the old ginger is the hottest!
They had actually brushed death’s door back at Steward Jin’s residence.
“Constable, what do we do now? Do we need to report this Ji Qing matter?”
The young constable asked quietly.
“Of course we report it. Hiding something like this—if it’s found out, we’ll all be in deep trouble. But we wait a few more hours until Ji Qing is far away, then we report.”
The young constable nodded thoughtfully. This was all experience.
After a few hours, Ji Qing would be long gone. Even if superiors sent them to arrest him, they probably wouldn’t encounter him.
This was the constables’ “way of survival.”
“You’re all still young. Listen more, learn more—especially when facing Jianghu people. Be cautious; don’t show off if you don’t have to.”
“But this Ji Qing won’t get away for long. Rumor has it the higher-ups sent Qingzhou Six Doors’ top constable, Chasing Wind Blade Du Chen, to capture him. Chasing Wind Blade Du Chen has never failed. Once he makes his move, Ji Qing will surely be arrested and brought to justice for execution!”
Mentioning “Chasing Wind Blade Du Chen,” the constables all perked up, faces full of excitement.
Clearly, “Chasing Wind Blade Du Chen” had a great reputation among constables, an object of admiration and aspiration for them all.
This group of constables dawdled a few more hours, not reporting the encounter with fugitive “Ji Qing” to the yamen until the afternoon.
The yamen quickly reported upward.
After all, a “demon” from the Jianghu villain ranking was beyond what an ordinary county government could handle; they could only keep reporting up.
……
Time passed in a flash, another ten days or so.
Ji Qing arrived before a city gate.
“An Yang City!”
Ji Qing breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.
An Yang City had finally been reached!
Barring surprises, An Yang City was Ji Yao’s “destination.”
The Jianghu ultimately didn’t belong to a six-year-old girl.
Ji Qing followed the crowd and strode into An Yang City.
