Chapter 260: The Besieged City (Part Two)

Ning Yi had not anticipated encountering Fang La's rebels on the road. In Hangzhou at that moment, the rebels, taking advantage of the earthquake and their sudden assault, were able to wreak havoc for a time. However, their rampage could not last long. As time passed, they would increasingly seek refuge in the city's ruins, hoping to escape and then plan their next move.

While considering that the rebels' rampage wouldn't last long, Ning Yi was also worried about the situation in Taiping Lane. Seeing the horrific scene on the street and then suddenly encountering over a dozen desperate men, Ning Yi was momentarily stunned. But when faced with danger, boldness was required, and he made a decision immediately. He then ran, gripping his sword, and the remaining people behind him, after a brief moment, shouted and gave chase.

The buildings in the nearby streets were not well-constructed to begin with, and now they had been battered by the earthquake. Some walls had collapsed, and some houses had already cracked open from the quake. After several days of rain, only crumbling pillars and broken beams remained. There were also buildings that had suffered fires earlier, leaving behind charred and crumbling walls. In fact, there were still intact homes nearby, some with people inside, locked behind doors, too afraid to come out. Others, due to the severe damage in the area, had already fled during the previous days of conflict and the recent upheaval.

Several fierce men, their bodies stained red with blood, split into multiple paths to pursue him through the ruins. Ning Yi, running ahead, wore only a scholar's robe and held a sword wrapped in cloth, making him look rather out of place. Yet, his charge was swift. The habit of wielding a sword, acquired years ago during certain experiences, was almost second nature, and as he ran, he exuded a natural momentum.

He sprinted through the ruins ahead and turned onto a street. Those pursuing him also changed direction, some scrambling over crumbling low walls, others splashing through black mud. Ning Yi's speed was good, but some of his pursuers were also quite fast. One tall man, wielding a single sabre, was noticeably faster than the others. As Ning Yi realized it was unwise to turn and instead charged directly through a ruin ahead, that man had already cut the distance between them by half. As he cleared a low wall, he snatched up a brick and hurled it with a thud.

While ranged weapons on the battlefield were primarily bows and arrows, in general skirmishes at mid-range, readily available stones were often the weapon of choice – simple, convenient, and painful for anyone struck. People with real strength had usually practiced throwing them. Ning Yi was just running past a pillar when the stone burst against it with a bang, splinters and fragments spraying onto his face, causing a faint sting. Glancing slightly to his side and behind, he saw that the figure had once again closed the distance between them.

After running another ten meters or so, he passed through what would have been an inn's lobby. The curses from behind suddenly ceased. Ning Yi spun around, swinging his sword with all his might, just as a large, dark silhouette leaped into the air, obscuring the daylight behind it.

With a resounding bang, sparks seemed to fly even in broad daylight. A great gush of blood erupted, and a flash of a blade flew past Ning Yi's ear. With a thud, half of a blade embedded itself in the wood of a distant abandoned house, followed by more thudding sounds.

In a blur, the pursuer leaped and brought his blade down fiercely, while the scholar, in mid-run, turned with all his might and swung his sword. What followed was a violent collision of sounds. The leaping man was cleaved, person and blade together, his chest almost split entirely open. His corpse, along with a shocking gush of crimson, seemed to burst forth like a bucket of ink spilled beside the scholar, splashing violently. Due to the angle, not a single drop of blood stained the scholar, even though he had cleaved his opponent apart with this simple strike right beside him. He merely stumbled a few steps, then turned and continued to run.

Ning Yi's arm stung from the impact. He wasn't entirely sure what had just happened himself, nor could he tell if the man who had leaped and attacked him had an expression of disbelief. This self-defense blade had been commissioned for him by Kang Xian before Ning Yi left Jiangning. Its design leaned slightly towards later military knives and choppers, making it effective for simple hacking. In terms of pure quality, anything Kang Xian had made for him was certainly of steel refined over a hundred times, practically a treasured blade in that era. Lu Hongti had once said that his simple, brave, and straightforward fighting style and techniques were a joke in the eyes of true masters. However, the man before him was not a master. In this direct, unembellished blade-to-blade clash, propelled by the explosive *qigong* Lu Hongti had taught him, Ning Yi's strike displayed astonishing and fierce power.

The strike was brutal, simple, and so clean that he could hardly believe it himself. With no time to reflect, Ning Yi kept running. The crowd behind him, after a brief silence, resumed their roaring pursuit. A few stones nearly landed by Ning Yi's legs, but they lacked force, merely thrown in frustration. As he reached a crossroads ahead, Ning Yi suddenly stopped. He turned, and his pursuers also abruptly halted.

In the alley to Ning Yi's side, the figures of two soldiers suddenly appeared. Ning Yi recognized one of them: the bearded officer who had earlier told him to take a detour. This man and the soldier following him appeared unharmed. Ning Yi saw them and sensed that other soldiers were likely nearby. He raised his blade, pointing it towards the approaching rebels, indicating that there were people here. But the bearded officer, seeing Ning Yi's stance with the sword at the crossroads, was suddenly taken aback.

For a moment, all three parties fell silent. Ning Yi stood at the center of the crossroads. The soldiers and rebels couldn't see each other yet, but seeing the situation, they could naturally infer what was happening. Two of the later-arriving rebels rushed up to a pile of rubble and debris, peering down the alleyway under the scorching sun. At that moment, they finally saw each other.

Ning Yi cast a sidelong glance at the bearded officer and the soldier in the alley. The two men froze for a moment, then turned and fled.

The rebels on the rubble pile turned their gaze back to Ning Yi. Ning Yi opened his mouth, sighed, turned, and continued to sprint away.

Ning Yi ran towards a private residential courtyard with an open gate at the end of the street. By now, he had roughly understood that the *Neigong* (inner strength cultivation) Lu Hongti had taught him, while certainly effective for strengthening the body and aiding running, was primarily about momentary explosive power. No wonder Lu Hongti had said it wasn't a top-tier *Neigong*, as using it too much could harm the body. Comparatively, several of the people behind him were slightly faster than he was. Apart from the one he had just cut down, the remaining pursuers were gradually catching up. In this kind of chase, unnecessary turns had become foolish.

After rushing through the deserted courtyard, Ning Yi vigorously pushed off some cluttered items near the wall, then vaulted over the back wall. As he dropped down, he saw two people standing a little diagonally opposite him on the street, watching. There were only these two on the street at that moment, a man and a woman. The woman standing in front appeared petite. She wore a bamboo hat and a veiled scarf, and her vibrant, multi-colored skirt resembled the attire of ethnic minorities. Standing there, she looked like an elegant clothes hanger, her gaze clearly fixed through her veil on Ning Yi, who had suddenly appeared over the wall. The person behind her was a tall, rugged-looking middle-aged man who seemed to be the girl's attendant. He carried a long wooden box on his back, its contents unknown.

Ning Yi dropped from the wall, stumbling a few steps before regaining his balance. His arm instinctively waved at the two people, and he shouted, "Go!" However, this shout was not an unconscious attempt to save them, but rather due to an ominous feeling that had risen within him. As soon as he finished speaking, he dashed off in another direction. In a fleeting glance, the young woman seemed to tilt her head slightly as she watched him. And beneath her vibrant ethnic dress, which nearly swept the ground, one of her embroidered shoes, visible beneath the hem, subtly retracted, disappearing back into the folds of her skirt. Her dress was predominantly blue, green, and yellow, but only the embroidered shoe beneath the hem was stained with blood.

He ran farther away, and the pursuing rebels had now arrived. Their tone seemed somewhat surprised. Ning Yi vaguely heard them saying, "Liu... leader... chief..." "Liu Dabiao..." For some reason, this name struck Ning Yi as odd, though he couldn't pinpoint why. When he glanced back, the young woman and the middle-aged man were among the rebels, looking towards him. At that moment, he reached the street corner, looked around, and truly breathed a sigh of relief.

Over a hundred soldiers, led by a junior officer, were making their way towards his position.

The group looking over cast a few glances in his direction. Then, the young woman in the ethnic floral dress was the first to turn and walk away down a side path...

By the time he returned to Taiping Lane, it was already afternoon, and all the city's disturbances had been temporarily quelled. Ning Yi actually had a minor wound on his shoulder, caused by the flying fragment of the broken blade, though it wasn't serious. Taiping Lane had not been affected by the rebels' attacks that day; everything was fine. After Juan'er had dressed his wound, Ning Yi, accompanied by Steward Geng and others, began to visit the truly influential wealthy merchants, escort agencies, and martial arts schools in the vicinity, one by one.

At this time, chaos reigned outside the city, and the situation within was like a small boat in a storm. The wealthy households were panicking, and smaller families were already enduring extreme hardship. What Ning Yi was doing was not to save the entire city; that was beyond his capabilities. Even preparing for the worst, his efforts were solely for the benefit of his own family and a very small number of others, and naturally, that was all he could manage. Oratory and persuasion, combined with an understanding of prevailing trends, were always his strengths. In less than two days, he contacted many prominent local figures and established a "secret pact": if the city fared well, then all would be well; but if it did not, this pact would serve a specific purpose.

During these past few days, those orchestrating the battles both inside and outside the city had not rested for a moment. On the second day of the conflict, besides the fighting at the Southwest Qiantang Gate, battles suddenly erupted near the North Gate, where defenses had been neglected. Inside the city, someone who had already infiltrated was directing a group of rebels to continuously create chaos. By the third day, an official at the southern dock attempted to steal a boat and flee, which immediately caused chaos among the crowd. The news that an official was trying to escape began to spread throughout the city. This incident alone demonstrated the formidable skill of the mastermind hidden within the city.

Meanwhile, more and more displaced people and troops belonging to Fang La, either driven or rallied, began to gather towards Hangzhou...