Chapter 259: Besieged (Part 1)

After a quick agreement, Ning Yi left the Qian family home and retrieved two barrels of gunpowder from his carriage. At that time, even in the military, firearms like gunpowder and bamboo-tube guns were not commonplace, so the Qian family naturally did not normally keep them in stock. These two barrels were extra amounts the Qian family's steward had acquired from the armory department when Ning Yi had previously sent someone to request gunpowder. Ning Yi inquired about them and simply took them along, as he still had ingredients to mix with gunpowder, which were perfect to take back and prepare.

Although many of Fang La’s people had infiltrated Hangzhou at this point, the city was still largely under the control of the Wude Battalion, so it wasn't necessarily considered dangerous or urgent. Qian Xiwen's words indicated that people still had some confidence in the situation. However, it was unwise to put all eggs in one basket. Ning Yi’s goal was not merely to plan for the city's defense, but to make thorough preparations, planning for every eventuality. Qian Xiwen was also pleased to facilitate this.

If official government departments were to announce preparations for the city's potential fall, the residents would inevitably become more agitated, and the affluent families notified would first think not of uniting against the enemy, but of how to ensure their own survival. But if Ning Yi, as a prominent citizen, were to take the lead, it would appear as if people were looking out for their own interests. While many with ulterior motives might prioritize their own escape, the level of cooperation would be greater than if the army were to initiate it.

Having settled the initial arrangements with Qian Xiwen, Ning Yi felt a little more at ease and began driving back. By this time, the fire that had spread in the north of the city should have been brought under control. In the clear morning light, black smoke plumes drifted on the horizon with the wind. As Xiao Chan had mentioned, it had only just rained; had it not been for someone deliberately starting fires in various locations, the buildings, soaked for four days by the heavy rain, could not have spread with such intensity as they had that morning.

The carriage sped along the road. Although most residents confined themselves to their own districts, there were still a number of people on the passable streets. Some were out gathering information, others were bringing their families along to reunite with relatives, and still others were perhaps hoping to board a ship at the southern port to escape, laden with bundles of various sizes, their expressions desolate. A moment later, a clamor of sound again emanated from Qiantang Gate in the west of the city.

From such a distance, the sounds of battle were already indistinct, yet like the surge of a tide in the dead of night or muffled thunder on the distant horizon, the sound wasn't directly audible but dense like a torrential downpour, conveying a profound sense of shock and the oppressive weight of battle. Ning Yi continued driving forward, the fighting at the distant city gate continued, growing fiercer without a moment's pause.

Then, an ominous chaos began to surface on the way to Taiping Lane.

Sporadic skirmishes erupted within the city, some seemingly close, others more distant, and a few wounded soldiers could be seen. From afar, Ning Yi also saw a contingent of soldiers rush across a street intersection. It seemed that after Fang La's people were dispersed that morning in the north of the city, some were now being pursued by the army towards this area. A palpable sense of dread already enveloped the vicinity. Further on, fewer and fewer figures were on the main road. As Ning Yi passed a waterway, sounds of shouting and fighting echoed from the alley on the opposite side. From his vantage point, he could vaguely discern several rebels rushing into a courtyard and slaughtering several women and children. The courtyard walls and buildings on the side of the street bordering the waterway had collapsed, allowing Ning Yi to roughly make out the scene.

Although such alleys had, like Taiping Lane, organized young, able-bodied men as guards, these youths, who had rushed to the scene but had never truly seen blood, were simply no match. The first to step forward was cut down with a single stroke; the others could only scatter and evade. Amidst cries, screams, and the clang of warning gongs, the seven or eight rebels burst out of the courtyard and into the chaotic street filled with fleeing figures. A man, wielding a massive wooden club, charged forward, striking with loud thuds. His momentum momentarily forced the bandits to retreat, but his club was quickly severed by several blades, forcing him to retreat towards the waterway, where he was then cut down by a blood-soaked rebel.

At this moment, the alley contained women and children, as well as young men, but they were completely overwhelmed by the seven or eight rebels' ferocity. There were screams and cries, but after another young man who tried to intervene was cut down, for a moment, no one dared to come forward to save the fallen man. The blood-soaked rebel approached, knife in hand. The man on the ground desperately tried to crawl away. His chest was then slashed, then another slash, and another… A woman clutching a child leaned against a wall corner about two meters away, crying out desperately. The man on the ground kept trying to crawl, but in moments, blood drenched his entire body. He crawled to the edge of the waterway, unable to move further. The rebel then brutally slashed him several more times before finally kicking the corpse into the water, cursing in a local dialect, "Come on, try me again, old man!"

Faint sounds of approaching soldiers were already heard at this point. The rebel, built like an iron tower and half-covered in crimson blood, looked particularly monstrous. A comrade slapped his shoulder, urging him to leave. He turned to leave, but the next moment he spun around. He had spotted Ning Yi's carriage, which had paused nearby to observe the scene. He glanced around, looking for something to hurl, then, without warning, he charged towards the wailing woman and child not far away.

The rebel lunged to snatch the infant from the woman's arms. The woman clutched the baby tightly, screaming and shaking her head desperately. He tore at the swaddling, ripping off a piece of cloth. The next moment, he raised his steel blade and brought it down violently. He hacked wildly several times, and blood spilled profusely onto the ground. As this unfolded, the alley erupted in shouts and cries. Ning Yi watched the entire scene, unblinking, from his vantage point. The rebel took a few more steps, pried a half-brick from a nearby wall, and hurled it with force.

It was only a small waterway, no more than ten meters wide, and the throw was precise. The brick whistled through the air, aimed directly at Ning Yi's face. Ning Yi tilted his head. The bun-sized brick crashed against the doorframe on the opposite side of the carriage, then dropped down the cotton curtain. The rebel pointed his steel knife in their direction, grinning ferociously, then turned and departed with his comrades.

Ning Yi sat there for two seconds. He raised his whip, about to drive away, but the next moment, he frowned and lowered the whip. He picked up the brick that had landed in the carriage, jumped down, ran a few paces, and hurled the brick back with all his might. It whistled with a tremendous whoosh, instantly crossing the waterway, and with a sickening thud, blood splattered. The rebel's body stiffened. Indeed, a comrade less than two meters away had the back of his head caved in by the brick. He collapsed forward onto the ground, and the blood-stained brick bounced further ahead.

It wasn't a direct hit. Ning Yi stood by the waterway's edge, took a deep breath, and rubbed his face with his hands. When the remaining rebels on the opposite bank looked over, Ning Yi glanced around at the ground beside him, finding only mud and grass, no readily available bricks. He turned, climbed back into the carriage, and cracked the whip to leave. Furious shouts erupted from behind, followed by more screams. Presumably, the enraged man had turned his fury on someone else, killing them with his blade. Ning Yi didn't look back; he didn't want to see any more.

Not all the city's streets and alleys were as defenseless as the one he had just witnessed. Some guards from wealthy households, or those from martial arts schools and escort agencies, had indeed seen combat, and their resistance would be significantly greater. However, ordinary young men, unless they vastly outnumbered their opponents, could achieve very little. The people Fang La had infiltrated into the city this time were likely elite fighters, like those berserk killers who couldn't hold back. Even ordinary young men who had learned some martial arts in training halls, without true combat experience, would likely be cut down with a single stroke if they encountered them.

It appeared that at this point, after the morning's chaos in the north of the city, Fang La's followers had scattered throughout the city, engaging in sporadic attacks. While the Wude Battalion claimed control of Hangzhou, its main forces were stationed near the city walls. As for those pursuing criminals within the city, even if they were also dispersed, they couldn't truly grasp the overall situation in the short term, which led to the current incidents. But Ning Yi thought this state of affairs would likely not last past this morning.

However, this wave of chaos had temporarily enveloped him, and for the moment, he had no way to avoid it or turn back. To reach Taiping Lane, Ning Yi took several detours. When he reached an intersection, about twenty soldiers rushed out, pursuing two rebels and hacking them to death at the street corner. The officer leading them was a burly, bearded man with a fierce demeanor. He advanced, pointing his blade at Ning Yi, and demanded, "Who are you?!"

Ning Yi produced his token, then a document issued by the Qian family, explaining that he needed to return to Taiping Lane. The burly officer was panting from the pursuit of the rebels, his expression grim, but after examining the credentials and Ning Yi's scholarly attire, and after a brief inspection, he bellowed, "There are rebels causing trouble here; we are apprehending the culprits! You cannot drive your carriage this way! Detour! Take a detour!" Although there was gunpowder in the carriage, Ning Yi's credentials carried significant authority, and combined with Commander Du's token, the burly officer could not say much more.

These men were carrying out their duties and had their own reasons. Ning Yi didn't believe he had the privilege to barge through, so he had no choice but to detour again. He circled around once more. When he reached a fork in the road, he saw a side road that seemed to have been a scene of brutal carnage. Hundreds of bodies stretched out along the street into the distance. He had no idea what kind of battle had unfolded there; there were bodies of soldiers, a few rebels, and even civilians caught in the crossfire. The surrounding alleys were eerily silent, as if death had fallen upon them. The city's general hum spread over the quiet, and the sounds of battle from Qiantang Gate were still faintly audible in the distance.

Ning Yi turned his horse and headed down another road, turning two streets later. A low hum of activity emanated from what appeared to be a wealthy family's compound nearby. The earthquake must have caused considerable damage to this household's buildings as well. Only a long stretch of the wall facing the street remained intact; there were gaps in places, but he couldn't see what was happening inside. He listened for a moment; the sounds from within grew steadily louder, as if people were rushing towards his location.

Just as Ning Yi was about to speed up, from a gap in the street ahead, a rebel, his entire body stained crimson with blood, burst onto the street, his gaze fixing on Ning Yi. Ning Yi wanted to turn the carriage around, but glancing behind him, several other figures were scaling the wall behind him. Among them, a man wielding a steel whip bellowed, "That killer! Leave the carriage! Brothers! Seize his carriage, set it ablaze, and ram it into those dog-bribed officials!"

As he bellowed, the figures ahead rushed towards them. The first, wielding an iron hammer, was particularly ferocious. Ning Yi, still in his scholarly attire, glanced wildly from front to back for a moment. He nearly lost control of the erratic carriage and was about to fall out. He scrambled to his feet in a panic and ran towards a gap in a nearby wall. After running about twenty meters, Ning Yi looked back from the small, collapsed courtyard. On the road behind, one person agilely leaped onto the carriage, grabbed the reins, and with a single "Whoa!" brought the agitated horse to a halt with one hand. His figure, stained crimson, looked starkly heroic.

Ning Yi stepped back a few paces. Watching them, he frowned and covered his mouth with his sleeve.

"Damn it all..."

Inside the carriage, a fuse burned down to its end. Someone pulled back the curtain, and a blinding light erupted.

With a thunderous boom, a column of light and flame shot skyward, swallowing the twisted faces and frantic neighs of horses. A human body was flung into the air. Flames billowed upwards, and the air swirled violently, ruffling Ning Yi's clothes. Mutilated limbs rained down before his eyes. A few seconds later, he turned and started to run. In his ears, which were still ringing loudly, someone bellowed furiously, "Kill him! Kill him! Kill him! Get that son of a bitch!"

The uninjured survivors began to chase him.

With another crash, Ning Yi burst through a rickety wooden door. Splinters of wood flew everywhere as he drew a steel knife from the side of his robe. As he ran, he pulled out strips of cloth and, using his hands and mouth, secured the knife's hilt to his hand.