The Longest Day in Chang’an: A Race Against Time - Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Wu Zheng (12:00-12:59) Part 6

Translator: DragonRider

Shortly afterwards, word came from Elder Ge: the wooden plate was from Zhao Tuan’er’s in the First Lane; Long Bo started visiting here half year ago, once in ten days, and he asked for a girl named Tong’er every time; Although he was not generous, he never owned “Chan Tou” (Money spent for hiring a harlot).

“Walk a horse or bathe there?” Zhang Xiaojing asked. These were jargons in Pingkang Fang, walking a horse meant take the prostitute out, and bathing meant one-night stay.

“Bathe occasionally, he walks a horse most of the time.”

Sparkle rose from Zhang Xiaojing’s eye. Huaiyuan Fang was far from here, and was inhabited mostly by devout followers of Xianism (Zoroastrianism), so Long Bo couldn’t bring her back-that was to say, he had another place to stay.

“Where is Tong’er?”

“The girl got on crush with a candidate for the imperial examinations and ran away with him.”

Zhang Xiaojing smiled, “Elder Ge, how can a sparrow escape from your hand?” Hearing this, Elder Ge’s black wrinkled face smoothed, and his full lips opened, revealing white teeth like a row of human bones lying in the night.

He crooked his finger, “Come with me.”

Elder Ge pulled his coat closer around him, bringing them into the maze of shack. As the top of the shack was thatched unevenly, walking inside, the flickering sunlight shined through the top made everyone’s expression appear somewhat blurred. On both sides of the aisle, there were small compartments, some of which were locked and some wide open, but without exception, they had the smells of rotten straw. There were many figures inside, but quiet like living death.

When Yao Ru’neng passed by, a skeleton hand flashed out the dark, and scared him to scream. Looking closer, it was a scrawny woman lying prone on the door. Elder Ge gave a growl, and the woman quickly withdrew her hand.

Elder Ge kept walking, his voice saying coldly among the ghosts, “Outsiders say that Pingkang Fang is a paradise of beautiful fairy, but they don’t know how dirty it is from behind. Girls who got gonorrhea, the disfigured star harlots, and the baby who was born with a disability… had nowhere to go and no one took them in, so they all flowed here like sewage and waited for reincarnation. I’ve done all bad things, never afraid of the so-called Hell – I’ve already lived in it, so nothing is new to me.”

Yao Ru’neng was shocked to know the dark side of Pingkang Fang was so dirty. He turned his head and saw that Zhang Xiaojing didn’t bat an eye. Obviously he already knew it.

They finally arrived at a gloomy shed storing firewood. As the door opened, there were two people, a man and a woman, hanging inside, their faces covered with blood, exhausted. The woman’s yellow light-yellow dress was in pieces, revealing her ivory skin; the man with delicate skin was a weak scholar, dropping his head, and seemed to have fainted. A dwarf of deformed feature stood aside, holding a whip.

Zhang Xiaojing was about to walk up, but was stopped by Elder Ge’s hand, and was brought to the next room, “Bro. Zhang, what I owed you ends here.” His implication was clear: since I told you where the woman was, we were even. What were you going to do to her was another deal.

Zhang Xiaojing said, “It’s my turn to owe you a favor.” Elder Ge sneered, “The favor of dying doesn’t carry much weight. Change for another.”

Yao Ru’neng cut in hurriedly, “Jing’an Department can pay you enough.” Elder Ge glanced at him, indifferently, as if watching a funny clown.

Yao Runeng was burning with anxiety; how could he be stopped here by an old Zanzibar slave? He drew his sabre and exclaimed, “Believe it or not, if you impede the work of Jing’an Department, your shack will be swept off in two hours.”

Elder Ge shrugged, he had heard more threats in his life than what the young man said. Zhang Xiaojing patted Yao on the shoulder for him to back off, and looked at Elder Ge, “What do you want?” Elder Ge squinted at Zhang Xiaojing, as if thinking what he could squeeze from a condemned prisoner. Suddenly, He smiled and his dark wrinkles trembled, sticking out two fingers, “Two.”

Zhang Xiaojing’s short eyebrows knotted together as he hesitantly responded with a finger. Elder Ge thought for a moment and smiled, “It is deal.” Zhang Xiaojing didn’t look well, but nodded.

Yao Ru’neng was puzzled, not knowing what the meaning of their enigma was.

Elder Ge bowed with word “hold on please” and disappeared into the dark. Zhang Xiaojing stood still, then leaned against a column and dusted off his eye socket with a finger. The dim light squeezing through the ceiling outlined his grey profile.

“Commandant Zhang, what’s your bargain?”

“I promised to tell him a name of a court undercover.” Zhang Xiaojing answered bleakly.

Zhang Xiaojing’s shoulders trembled violently, eyes widened, and he cried, “You…How could you do that?”

Zhang Xiaojing was former Commandant of the Indecent in Wannian County, so he knew very well of the power that court had hidden in the underworld, or he had in charge of it before. Yao Ru’neng never expected that this guy would betray colleagues for convenience! This was incredible!

Zhang Xiaojing said, “This is the only way to get him in.”

Yao Ru’neng quietly moved his right hand to the hilt, and the advice of Li Bi before the departure emerged in his mind.

Li Bi met him alone before he left. Once he discovered that Zhang Xiaojing had signs of escape or betrayal, he should immediately sounded a warning; if he was in a place where he could not warn, he must handle it himself. Yao Ru’neng felt that Zhang Xiaojing had given himself away. He couldn’t believe that they had to stoop to deal with a thief. There must be something wrong, and he should stop Zhang Xiaojing to betray more interest of the court.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Xiaojing saw his intention and swiftly kicked him hard to the ground, “Behave yourself!” Killing intent nearly overflowed in his one-eye. Yao Ru’neng struggled to get up for a while, failed, which showed the great power of the kick. He curled himself up in pain, but his eyes burned with rage.

Shame on him to trade court undercover for information! Yao Ru’neng struggled to pick himself up, and asked loudly, “Why did you betray your own race?”

Zhang Xiaojing glanced at him, saying coldly, “Sicheng Li’s command is to stop Turks at all costs, is it clear?”

“Don’t you even ignore the bottom line and morality to achieve the goal!” Yao Ru’neng thought the excuse was ridiculous.

“All I care about is whether hundreds of thousands life in Chang’an can survive.”

Yao Ru’neng blushed by the retort, and argued, “It is sheer sophistry. Man of honor should know what to do, and what they cannot do. If these thieves ask you do something evil; hmm, for example, treason, will you say yes?”

Zhang Xiaojing nodded slightly, “One person can surely not compare with all people.”

Yao Ru’neng was stunned by the offensive word, “How dare you…?” Before he finished, a power suddenly clutched his neck, pushing him hard on the wall. Zhang Xiaojing’s one-eye almost touched his nose top, and hoarse voice whispered in his ear,

“Listen, Chang’an will be ruined in six hours, but we have no clue to locate Turks now. Help me or fuck off!”

Yao Ru’neng straightened his neck fearlessly, “Come on, you aren’t concerned for the safety of Chang’an. You must be put in Death Row for doing something wrong, so you hate the court!” A subtle change came into Zhang Xiaojing’s face in the light and darkness. It was a kind of indescribable wry smile with deeply hidden sarcasm and sadness.

“You’re right, I hate it, but I’m the one to save it.”

At that time, densely footsteps coming, then two dozen people, who were men with different height and age, and wore short coat skirts and white blouses, trickled in. Yao Ru’neng recognized that some of them he had seen in the gambling house. Elder Ge ordered them to stand in line, and then he gestured toward Zhang Xiaojing.

Yao Ru’neng froze up, even if he didn’t understand their argot, he knew what that meant. He was surprised that this Zanzibar slave was so cruel that he not only asked Zhang Xiaojing to name the undercover, but also to point it out. The next thing was clear, Zhang Xiaojing must kill the undercover to reach the agreement-this was to show his allegiance.

Yao Ru’neng looked nervously at Zhang Xiaojing and was about to ask him, all of a sudden, he was knocked out by a slam on the neck.

Elder Ge grinned, “You are very protective of this little sparrow hawk from the court. He looks rather like you in your day.” Zhang Xiaojing did not answer, but went over and swept the row.

Zhang Xiaojing had slight muscles jerking on the cheek. Even a condemned prisoner, he had to overcome serious psychological barriers when helping former enemies to identify colleague. His arm slowly lifted up, and Elder Ge suddenly said, “Commandant Zhang, in fact, you have another option.”

“What?”

“I can see that the court has threatened you with Pardon to accept the mission, right?”

Zhang Xiaojing kept silent, but he did not deny it.

“He-he, this is what they always do.” Elder Ge overlapped his fingers gently, “How about make another deal? As long as you tell me things about Chang’an, you don’t have to identify the undercover, and I will send you out of Chang’an, safe and sound. From then on, boundless is the sea for fish to dive at will, unlimited is the sky for birds to fly at ease. What a wonderful life that will be.”

He had to admit that Elder Ge’s proposal was very tempting. Once he went out of Chang’an, he would be thoroughly freed, Jing’an Department and Li Bi didn’t have time to chase him-whether they could survive tonight was still unknown. And the price Zhang Xiaojing needed to pay for was very small.

This path was much easier than killing his former colleagues in exchange for information, and then carrying suspicion to trace the Turkic villains.

The room became so quiet that the faint cry of woman next door could be heard. Zhang Xiaojing stood in the shadow and briefly shut his eyes, then he reopened and lifted his hand to brush the dust off his eye socket, “Sorry, Elder Ge, I can’t leave this time.”

“You really like to be running dog of the court?”

“No, it’s nothing to do with the court.” Zhang Xiaojing looked up, and there was a faint gleam shining in through the gap between thatches.

“How stubborn you are,” said Elder Ge sharply, yawning, “Well, my forbearance has been utterly exhausted. Please identify an undercover, and I prefer the one you brought in. I love the show like this.”

Zhang Xiaojing ran his determined eyes over the crowd again. Suddenly, he knelt on one knee, bowed seriously, “Considering the urgency, I have to do it as expediency. I’ll make amends to you after I die.”

A man in the line changed countenance, and swiftly jumped back. Zhang Xiaojing stood up and took action all at once, the knife flashed and cut the man’s throat open. Before other men had time to react, the man had collapsed on the ground, breathless. It was Little B who had opened the door.

The beggar leader of the gambling house stood in the row, his legs trembling.

“Zzz….what a shame you kill him,” Elder Ge licked his lips unwillingly, “If he falls into our hands, he will be tortured to death more than three days.”

Zhang Xiaojing was livid and raised his knife again. The beggar leader dropped to his knees and cried, “I sought refuge with Elder Ge for I couldn’t stay in the court any more. I’m for money, not an undercover!” he exclaimed, suddenly a bloody finger fall before him. The beggar leader was at his wit’s end and looked up, seeing that Zhang Xiaojing’s left little finger was cut off from root, bleeding heavily.

All was silent and only heard Zhang Xiaojing’s voice, “I brought in Little B and betrayed him myself. I don’t regret doing this to reach the overall target. I will repay the murder sooner or later — but not now. So I cut my finger off as a proof, and everyone present is my witness.”

Elder Ge snorted, “You’re pedantic. Are you really going to blame yourself for just one life? Forget it.” Without answering him, Zhang Xiaojing took out a handkerchief to dress the wound with spare hand. The beggar leader timidly turned to Elder Ge and saw he said nothing, so he rushed over to attend to Zhang Xiaojing.

He had nursed Cap. Zhang many times when they were colleagues in court, so the work was easy for him. After receiving treatment, Zhang Xiaojing lifted the corner of his robe to wipe the blood off the knife, and enunciated every word painfully to Elder Ge,

“Elder Ge, it’s your turn.”

The strong killing intent coming out of him even rendered the old black slave speechless. The latter moved his lips and did not say anything sarcastic after all.