Chapter 81

In the past, whenever Fang Heng and his brothers were in danger, Fang would hold his staff and rush in like a savior, fighting off enemies from all sides.

But this was the first time that he himself had become the target.

Four gleaming blades attacked him from all directions, glinting in the noonday sun. It reminded him vividly of that day in Fengjing, when his Second Uncle and Aunt had viciously forced him and his mother to hand over their property.

"Give it to us or no one gets to live!"

"Don't hand it over and no one will survive!"

Fang Heng's mind went blank for a moment, and his retreat was a little slow. The man on the far left stabbed his arm with a sword.

"Third Brother..." Jiang Sheng's anguished cry rang out from the alley.

She scrambled to jump down from the carriage, but Zheng Ruqian and Xu Mo held her back tightly. She could only cry out loudly, "Third Brother, does it hurt? Don't hit my Third Brother!"

"Little Three, hang in there!" Xu Mo, the refined young scholar, bellowed at the top of his lungs for the first time.

Finally Fang Heng emerged from his daze. He touched the mangled wound on his left arm, then smelled the blood on his fingers. A glint of ferocity rose in his eyes.

Why were they forcing him like this, killing his parents, seizing their property, even taking his life?

This was going too far, much too far!

He pulled out his staff from behind and spun it rapidly with his right wrist, using it to block the remaining three blades.

With three crisp clangs, the staff split in half.

After all, it was made of wood, no match for steel blades.

But right now, with his elder and younger siblings behind him, Fang Heng had no choice but to stand his ground.

His eyes turned bloodshot, and he ignored his mangled left arm. With the splintered half of the staff, he swung it swiftly up and down. The broken wood became a vicious weapon.

Although one was no match for four, and wounds covered his body, when boundless hatred mixed with hopeless desperation, Fang displayed even sharper skills than before.

He attacked relentlessly, as if he didn't care about his own life. As long as he didn't die, as long as the blood kept flowing, he would kill them.

There's no escape. Let's go to hell together! The experienced assassins were frightened. Fortunately they outnumbered him, otherwise they'd be no match in single combat.

But they couldn't keep dragging this out. The city had strict security, and though this alley was deserted, the sounds of fighting were too loud. That little girl's shrieks could be heard from a mile away. It would definitely attract attention.

As if on cue, the assassins were just about to use their ultimate moves when someone walked by the alley entrance and jumped in fright. "Help, someone's beating children here!"

The assassins frowned. Not daring to linger, one of them stabbed Fang Heng in the stomach before nimbly scaling the wall to escape.

"Third Brother!"

"Little Three!"

The children all rushed over, surrounding the injured Fang Heng.

"Third Brother, they're gone, don't worry. None of us are hurt," Jiang Sheng sobbed. "But you've lost so much blood, so, so much blood."

Only then did Fang Heng relax. His taut body slowly collapsed backward.

Zheng Ruqian and Xu Mo caught him, cushioning his fall. Wen Zhiyun was still in shock until Chang Yan grabbed his arm. "Fourth Brother, hurry, the medicine kit!"

Thanks to his medical training, he never went anywhere without it.

Tears in his eyes, Wen Zhiyun rushed to the carriage and rummaged for the medicine kit. With shaking hands he took out golden sore medicine, bandages, gauze, and silver needles.

By the time the magistrate's constables rushed over, they saw a group of children huddled in a circle. Inside, a frail, skinny child was tearfully treating another child covered in blood.

"What happened here?" they asked.

Xu Mo looked up, struggling to stay calm. "Sir, we were attacked."

"Young Master Xu?" The head constable recognized them. "What's going on? Was it a grudge?"

Xu Mo shook his head, unsure. Then he recognized the constable too, who had accompanied the Anshui Magistrate to Xieyang County.

"Murder in broad daylight, how outrageous!"

Constable Yuan left two constables behind to protect them, then hurried back to the yamen to report this to the Magistrate and demand severe punishment.

On the way, he kindly stopped by the medicine hall.

By the time the trembling doctor arrived at the alley, the first aid was nearly complete.

Although Wen Zhiyun had been frightened and flustered at first, when he actually touched the mangled wounds and saw the gushing blood, he quickly calmed down and entered a focused state. He cleanly washed the wounds, applied medicine, bandaged them, proceeding smoothly and methodically. Even the doctor couldn't find any mistakes. He just stood by helplessly and sighed at the abilities of the younger generation.

Soon the doctor returned to his medicine hall.

Finally, Wen Zhiyun stopped his ministrations.

Fang Heng was wrapped up like a white dumpling.

"Fourth Brother, will Third Brother be okay? Will he die? He lost so much blood, will it all drain out?" Jiang Sheng sobbed as she asked. Wen Zhiyun shook his head.

"They're all external injuries. He lost a lot of blood so he'll need fortifying medicine. He'll need good care for the next month or so," he estimated the healing time the way Doctor Wu did. "About a month."

As long as he didn't die, it would be fine. All the children relaxed when they heard Fang Heng would live.

Before long, the Magistrate arrived with Constable Yuan and a large contingent.

Seeing the bandage-swathed Fang Heng, he frowned. "To dare commit murder in my Anshui Prefecture! Go guard the city gates immediately and prevent their escape!"

"Yes sir!" Constable Yuan hurried to carry out his orders.

The teacher sighed and stepped forward with brush and paper. "I will record this case. The name, home region, age of the victim, and any relation to the assailants."

The children instantly quieted.

The rest was easy to explain, but their home region would be hard to account for.

To be precise, other than Xu Mo and Wen Zhiyun, the other four were all unregistered with no fixed abode.

But without providing their registry, there was no way to file a case.

Xu Mo carefully explained, "Sir, these younger brothers and sister of mine are beggars, no parents."

Naturally, they had no registered home region.

The Magistrate frowned.

In the Dayu Dynasty, many baby girls were abandoned at birth or ran away, leaving them unregistered. But unregistered boys were rare.

However, Xu Mo was a scholar, and a top student at that. The Magistrate was especially fond of him and was inclined to give him some leeway.

"Then let's just record them as being from Xieyang County for now," he ordered. "The decennial census is coming up soon. We must account for all the vagrant children in Anshui, their numbers have swelled over the past decade."

The teacher nodded and swiftly recorded the case in the yamen archives.

After some more questioning to ascertain the assassins' characteristics and likely escape route, the Magistrate left Constable Yuan to escort them home safely in case of another incident.

At the former Hairpin Courtyard,

Zhang Qiquan and Liu Cui were researching methods for making cured meat, so they could teach the workers and be the first to learn.

Zhang Xianglian was also interested and came over to help.

Suddenly they heard the sound of a carriage stopping outside.

"That must be them back with the meat," Zhang Qiquan said. He washed his hands and limped over to open the door.

Instead he saw the bandaged Fang Heng and the rest of the disheveled children.