Chapter 1 Plan Change

Facing Zhou Jing's menacing gaze, Instructor Hu was scared out of his wits, answering whatever he was asked, afraid that a slow reply would cost him his life.

After a few questions from Zhou Jing, he basically figured out the identities of Deng Commandery and the other four, as well as the current situation.

'No wonder these soldiers seemed so strange, and their timing was off. So they were temporarily assigned, a group of non-direct military officers with different positions, leading the yamen soldiers to arrest me… And I didn't expect the Yellow and He family patriarchs to go and host a banquet for the Prefect today, so neither of them are at home...'

Zhou Jing frowned slightly.

Thoughts raced through his mind, and he suddenly said:

"Brothers, strip off three sets of soldiers' uniforms, we'll change into them."

Gao Yun was taken aback: "Brother, what are you going to do?"

Zhou Jing dragged Instructor Hu up from the ground, patted his other intact shoulder, and said in a deep voice:

"The plan has changed. We'll take a detour to Spring Rain Pavilion. I'm sure Instructor Hu will be willing to lead the way."

Instructor Hu trembled, and hurriedly said, "Good man, what are you going to do?!"

Gao Yun and Fang Zhen also looked shocked.

Zhou Jing answered calmly, "Naturally, it's to eliminate the heads of the Yellow and He families. If they're alive, with their connections and resources, even if their families are greatly weakened, they can still barely stand, and they'll squeeze the losses back from the people, exploiting them even more severely in the future. If we don't eliminate the leaders, our efforts against these two families will be greatly reduced."

"So that's it, you scared me, I thought you were going to kill the Prefect."

Gao Yun breathed a sigh of relief.

But as soon as he finished speaking, Gao Yun saw Zhou Jing staring at him silently, and couldn't help but be stunned. Then his expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly said:

"Brother, killing wealthy and unrighteous bullies is a completely different crime from killing high-ranking court officials. This… this is treason!"

Zhou Jing waved his hand and frowned, "I didn't say anything about killing the Prefect. We're going to kill the heads of the two families. Are we supposed to back down if the Prefect happens to be there? We'll see what happens then."

"Then do we still have time to visit the remaining two wealthy families?" Fang Zhen couldn't help but ask.

"Probably not, we'll do our best."

Zhou Jing shook his head.

It's difficult to control unexpected factors when making plans. He couldn't have foreseen the Yellow and He family patriarchs' itineraries, which is why the situation is what it is now.

If the situation changes, he'll adapt accordingly. After weighing things, he felt that eliminating the Yellow and He families completely was a higher priority than dealing with the remaining two families. He should finish what he was already doing thoroughly first.

Besides, in the plan, eliminating all four wealthy families was just the most ideal scenario. It wouldn't matter if he couldn't do it, he would just do what he could.

At this time, Instructor Hu endured the pain and hurriedly advised:

"Three heroes, this plan will never work! Even if you disguise yourselves as soldiers, the soldiers you scattered earlier will recognize your faces. You can't possibly blend in with the soldiers. Besides, I'm not the commander of this operation. The one who jumped over the wall and ran away just now is the one giving orders. Even if I take you out, I can't order the soldiers outside to go somewhere else..."

"Brother, this bird-man is right. Even if the soldiers outside are useless, they won't mistake us for someone else," Fang Zhen thought for a moment, and also nodded.

Zhou Jing shook his head and said in a deep voice:

"Who said I wanted to blend in with the soldiers? There's no need for such trouble. We'll avoid the soldiers outside later, find a gap to slip away, and make sure the soldiers don't see us. Then the three of us will take Instructor Hu straight to Spring Rain Pavilion, and act separately from the soldiers. Changing into soldiers' uniforms is just to disguise ourselves a little, to fool passersby. Even if the people see us, they won't suspect anything, at most they'll think we're a few stragglers, to avoid any trouble on the way... Bringing Instructor Hu is just in case."

"I see."

Gao Yun and Fang Zhen suddenly understood.

They had thought that Zhou Jing wanted to disguise himself and blend in with the soldiers to carry out some kind of stealth mission, and secretly muttered that it was too risky. Now they realized that wasn't the case. This was so simple and crude, not flashy at all, and it might actually work.

Avoiding the soldiers outside wasn't that difficult — the Yellow family's property was vast, and they had swallowed up the surrounding land at low prices, so the mansion covered a large area. The few soldiers outside weren't enough to surround the entire Yellow mansion, and there were plenty of gaps.

Moreover, the No. 4 Apostle's map radar could show where there were people and where there weren't, making it quite easy to avoid being spotted.

The soldiers who had chased into the mansion had been beaten back, and the guards and servants had fled in panic. With no one around, the three of them quickly stripped off the soldiers' clothes from the corpses on the ground and quickly changed into them.

Instructor Hu was naturally unwilling to help. If he did this, even if he survived, he wouldn't get any credit for it. But with his life in someone else's hands, he didn't want to die like this.

He could only pray silently, hoping that Spring Rain Pavilion would be empty by the time they arrived.

Before long, the three of them had changed their clothes and were dressed as soldiers. They even smeared dust on their faces, so they wouldn't be recognized at first glance.

Zhou Jing followed the map radar, found a section of the back wall of the mansion that wasn't guarded, and led the others to climb over it, landing in an empty alley. Then, he dragged Instructor Hu and headed straight for Spring Rain Pavilion.

...

On the other side.

Deng Commandery, as if his buttocks were on fire, leaped out of the courtyard, and then scrambled over several walls, finally escaping from the Yellow mansion and returning to the street.

He hurriedly joined up with the soldiers outside the mansion who were waiting for orders, and was surrounded and guarded by them. He was still weak in the limbs, with lingering fear and trepidation.

In Deng Commandery's view, the soldiers who had entered the mansion had basically been wiped out, and Instructor Hu had no chance of surviving.

Of the five military experts who had accompanied him, only he had survived. If he had been a step slower and been entangled by the gun-wielding thief again, he would have had to face the death-summoning Yama and would have been killed inside.

At this moment, in his eyes, the gate of the Yellow mansion was like a giant mouth that chose people to devour, and the inside was a dragon's den and a tiger's lair.

— It was too damn scary!

"Sir Deng, what should we do now?" the soldier next to him couldn't help but ask.

"...Withdraw first, and wait for reinforcements."

Deng Commandery was really frightened by Zhou Jing's skills. With the troops he had on hand, he was determined not to deal with Zhou Jing again, and didn't even want to pursue him.

— If he provoked him and he turned around and killed him and these soldiers before leaving, that would be the end of it.

However, it was really inappropriate to just sit idly by and let the fierce bandit leave unpunished.

Moreover, if these soldiers and military experts were lost, he would definitely leave an impression of incompetence in the Prefect's mind if he didn't explain...

Deng Commandery barely calmed down, and an idea came to his mind. He called over a nearby officer and said solemnly:

"The thief's martial arts are so high that they're almost inhuman. I'll go back and report to the Prefect and request the dispatch of a battalion of troops to the city to capture the thief. You'll take over my command here temporarily, and make sure not to lose track of the thief."

Hearing this, the officer's eyes widened, and he almost thought Deng Commandery was talking nonsense.

Just to deal with one person, you want to dispatch a battalion of troops to the city? Are you crazy!

But Deng Commandery didn't give him a chance to object, pushed the command over to him, and then couldn't wait to turn around and leave, heading straight for Spring Rain Pavilion.

The officer had no choice but to accept the command on the spot.

...

Spring Rain Pavilion.

Another yamen runner who had gone to gather information returned. This was the third time he had reported the progress of the situation to the Prefect.

"Prefect, it's bad! The Yellow mansion has also been broken into by the evil bandit Chen Feng. The guards and servants have all fled, and the Yellow family has suffered heavy casualties. Although Deng Commandery led troops to the scene, he was defeated by the bandit and lost many soldiers. The evil bandit escaped from the Yellow mansion, and now his whereabouts are unknown..."

Prefect Lin was almost bursting with anger, his face was livid, and he said angrily:

"What is Deng Zhi doing? He's a useless Cavalry Commandery in name only, unable to capture even one strongman! What good is he?!"

He was furious here, while Old Master Yellow on the other side was also slumped in his seat, his face ashen and listless, with the same expression as Old Master He.

"Why has my Yellow family suffered this calamity..."

Old Master Yellow groaned in pain.

They had been running their family business in the state for several generations, hoarding a large amount of wealth for expansion and monopoly, and had slowly become a local wealthy family, branching out and spreading... But now everything was lost in one fell swoop. His heart was bleeding, and he was furious and deranged.

Hearing that the Yellow family had suffered the same fate, Old Master He, although he knew he shouldn't, instinctively felt much better... At least he wasn't the only one who had bad luck.

Of course, Old Master He's anger would not be reduced because of this. He gritted his teeth and said hoarsely:

"Chen Feng must be slowly sliced to death to quell the hatred in my heart! Prefect, you must seek justice for us commoners..."

Prefect Lin frowned and pretended to be righteous, saying:

"Don't worry, you two, how can this Prefect tolerate such an evil bandit running free? Even if we have to seal off the city and search it today, we will capture him!"

He usually received a lot of benefits from the four wealthy families, and it wasn't easy for him to leave at will now, so he stayed here and used this place as a temporary command post, showing the two old masters how seriously he took this matter.

Prefect Lin comforted the two of them with a few words, then turned to look at the runner who had brought the news, and shouted:

"Go back and tell Deng Zhi that if he can't capture Chen Feng, this official will definitely punish him for dereliction of duty and strip him of his position as Cavalry Commandery!"

"This humble servant will go."

The messenger hurriedly agreed and was about to turn around and leave.

But at this moment, another runner came upstairs, came to the door of the room, bowed and cupped his fist:

"Prefect, Instructor Hu, who went with Deng Commandery to suppress the bandits, has returned. He was injured and brought two stragglers with him. They have urgent news to report."

Hearing this, Prefect Lin was a little surprised, but he didn't suspect anything else and waved his hand:

"Let him come up and explain."

The runner immediately went downstairs upon receiving the order.

After a while, he brought Instructor Hu and two disheveled-looking soldiers into the room.

Prefect Lin sized up Instructor Hu, saw that one of his arms was hanging limply, couldn't help but frown, and didn't feel like saying anything sympathetic. He said directly:

"You didn't go to suppress the bandits, but you came back to find me. What urgent matter do you have to report? Is it related to the evil bandit Chen Feng?"

Instructor Hu's lips were pale, and he hesitated, not daring to speak.

Seeing this, Prefect Lin was puzzled and impatient, and was about to order this man not to waste time.

However, the two soldiers next to Instructor Hu took off the leather hats on their heads at the same time, revealing their faces.

It was Zhou Jing and Fang Zhen.

"So you're the bird Prefect who colludes with the local wealthy families to harm people?"

Zhou Jing took a step forward, looked at Prefect Lin, and clicked his tongue.

Prefect Lin was stunned, carefully looked at this burly and fierce man, and couldn't help but feel a jump in his heart, and a sense of foreboding arose.

"You're not a yamen runner, who are you?!"

"Ha! Didn't you want to arrest me? Your grandpa is in front of you, but you can't recognize me?"

Zhou Jing grinned.

Prefect Lin was shocked and exclaimed: "You're Chen Feng?!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the faces of the runners and guards on the side changed drastically, and they hurriedly drew their knives.

However, Fang Zhen had been prepared for this. His iron-headed staff fell in a series of blows, and he quickly killed all the guards on the side with a few whacks.

But the commotion of the fight also alarmed the people downstairs.

Thump, thump, thump...

A series of messy footsteps sounded, and more soldiers rushed upstairs in a hurry. They were all guards who had accompanied the Prefect to the banquet, and were distributed around the Spring Rain Pavilion. There weren't many of them.

Just now, because Instructor Hu had led the way, Zhou Jing and Fang Zhen had not clashed with them.

"I'll block them."

Fang Zhen didn't say anything, ran to guard the stairs, and swung his iron-headed staff, knocking the soldiers down one by one.

At the same time, a series of screams suddenly rang out downstairs.

Gao Yun, who had been lying in ambush outside the building, rushed in with his spear, specifically targeting the relatives of the He and Yellow families who had come to the banquet together.

A pincer attack from inside and outside immediately caught the soldiers in the building off guard.

This was Zhou Jing's special arrangement, taking care of Gao Yun's wishes, not letting him come up to see the court officials, but letting Gao Yun lie in ambush outside the building, waiting for an opportunity to act — when things got chaotic here, he would block the door and start killing, preventing the relatives of the He and Yellow families in the building from escaping.

"It's over..." Instructor Hu was full of bitterness when he saw this, and understood that he would not be able to stay in the imperial court.

Even without him, these highly skilled thieves could still break into the Spring Rain Pavilion. That was why he had to cooperate all the time in order to survive.

Gu Tao

Bringing thieves in private to the Prefect's presence, he would be lucky to be exiled instead of executed in the future.

If he didn't want to be punished, Instructor Hu knew that he had almost no choice but to become an outlaw and go all the way to the dark side. Therefore, he was shrinking to the side at this time, and had no intention of interjecting to stop them. He only hoped that no one would notice him now.

"Murder! Murder!"

At this time, cries of alarm rang out on the streets outside the Spring Rain Pavilion. The nearby people noticed the changes here and ran away in panic.

Listening to the sounds of fighting downstairs, Prefect Lin's face changed several times.

But he still calmed down, and didn't believe in his heart that these thieves dared to do anything to him, an imperial court official.

"Chen Feng, you came here to see this official on purpose, do you want to beg for mercy and get rid of your crime?"

Prefect Lin said in a deep voice, thinking that he had guessed the other party's thoughts.

Zhou Jing sneered: "Don't be so affectionate, grandpa didn't come to find you, a dog official."

After saying that, he ignored Prefect Lin's suddenly ugly face, but turned to look at Old Master He and Old Master Yellow, who were full of shock, and said slowly:

"You two, let's go?"

Hearing this, Old Master He's face suddenly turned red, and he stood up suddenly, pointing at Zhou Jing and shouting angrily:

"You evil thief, has my He family ever offended you? Why are you harming my He family!"

Zhou Jing looked at him without answering.

He just carried his spear and approached step by step.

Seeing this, the anger that had surged up in Old Master He's heart disappeared in an instant, leaving only panic and fear. He wanted to run away, but his legs were shaking and disobedient.

Cold sweat was streaming down his face, and he called out in a panic:

"Don't, don't do it! I have a lot of money, whatever you want, you say it, I will definitely do it! You ah! You must want something, don't you? You ah! I can give you anything!"

His face was twisted and hideous, looking like a madman, completely out of control.

Zhou Jing was indifferent, raised his hand to grab Old Master He's neck, and used a little force.

Crack!

There was a crisp sound.

Old Master He's head tilted to the side, and he stopped moving.

Zhou Jing let go, letting him fall to the ground with a thud, expressionless:

"Go down and think about it slowly."

At this moment, Old Master Yellow cried out "Ah!", and suddenly burst out with strength, rushing towards the window with all his might, actually trying to jump out of the window and escape.

However, as soon as he ran to the window, he suddenly felt a pain in his back, and his whole body froze.

Old Master Yellow looked down in a daze, and saw at a glance the tip of a blood-stained spear protruding from his chest.

Puff!

The next moment, the tip of the spear was pulled back.

Old Master Yellow's body swayed, and he leaned forward subconsciously. He immediately fell out of the window headfirst, and fell on the street with a bang, losing his breath.

Only then did Zhou Jing turn to look at Prefect Lin.

Prefect Lin saw him kill two people in a row, his heart was beating wildly, but he still tried his best to maintain a calm expression on his face.

He still didn't believe that Zhou Jing dared to do anything to him.

Although he was a little panicked, he was a court official, what a noble status? How could he lose his composure in front of these bandits.

"You dare to kill people in front of this official, you have great courage."

Prefect Lin snorted angrily.

Hearing this, Zhou Jing didn't answer, but just stared at him without moving or speaking.

Prefect Lin was getting goosebumps from his strange gaze, and hurriedly slapped the table to cover up the panic in his heart, and shouted sternly:

"You madman! Why don't you quickly confess your guilt? Considering that you took the initiative to surrender, I can give you a lighter sentence."

Zhou Jing turned a deaf ear.

He just touched his chin and thought about how to deal with this Prefect.

This Prefect colluded with merchants and wealthy households, accepted bribes, provided official protection, shielded the crimes of wealthy families, and cooperated in setting up a situation to harm the people and merchants, and impose exorbitant taxes. Naturally, he was not a good thing.

However, in the plan he had formulated earlier, he really didn't have the goal of killing the Prefect today, but he didn't expect to meet him by chance.

Zhou Jing frowned slightly. Killing a court official of this level was a different matter. Although this dog official deserved to die, killing him would cause him even greater trouble and be valued by the government in advance.

Although the No. 4 Apostle was mostly going to do it with his violent nature, he also had to consider the apostle's situation when he was released outside of the act. He didn't have many days left in his personal traversal this time...

Seeing that Zhou Jing didn't speak, Prefect Lin thought he was hesitating, so he softened his tone and used a delaying tactic, pretending to be generous and persuading:

"Chen Feng, this official doesn't think you are an unreasonable person. There must be a reason for you to do such a thing. If you confess your guilt, this official can consider your difficulties and grievances and even seek justice for you."

Hearing this, Zhou Jing came back to his senses and finally made a decision.

He held up his spear, pointed it at Prefect Lin, then pointed at the window, expressionless:

"You, jump down."

Prefect Lin was stunned, pointing at himself in disbelief: "You...you want me to jump out of the window?"

Zhou Jing nodded:

"I didn't intend to kill you today, but since you fell into my hands, it's not my style to let you leave in one piece, so I'll give you a way out. Jump down from the building, and if you don't die, I'll let you go."

As soon as he finished speaking, Prefect Lin was furious and suddenly slapped the table and stood up:

"Bold! Outrageous! Ridiculous! I am the Prefect of Anlin Prefecture, a fifth-rank court official, and a student of Prime Minister Qin. How noble! You are a commoner, do you know who you are talking to? How dare you be so arrogant and disrespectful to me?!"

Zhou Jing picked his ears and said slowly:

"If you don't jump, I'll send you to be with the two gentlemen on the ground. Anyway, you are also birds of a feather, colluding with each other. Why are you pretending? Why should you officials be exempt from paying the price for exploiting the people? You have harmed one place, and you can just pat your butts and go to another place to take office?"

Hearing this, Prefect Lin was trembling with anger, raised his hand and pointed at Zhou Jing angrily, shouting:

"You rebellious thief who has no respect for superiors! I..."

Swish!

A flash of spear light.

Prefect Lin suddenly stopped, staring blankly at his arm that had fallen to the ground.

Zhou Jing carried his spear and narrowed his eyes: "You still have one hand, you can point at me again."

"Ah ah ah—"

Prefect Lin's face suddenly became extremely terrified, and he screamed miserably, covering the stump of his arm that was bleeding non-stop, writhing in pain on the ground.

His official hat was also thrown to the ground, rolling away.

Instructor Hu gasped and couldn't help but step back, leaning his back tightly against the wall, looking at Zhou Jing as if he were looking at a demon.

He didn't expect this thief to dare to attack the Prefect, and so fiercely. This wasn't an ordinary outlaw hero, he was simply a rebel!

Fang Zhen, who was not far away, was also startled, and looked at Zhou Jing frequently, his eyes shocked.

Although he didn't mind attacking court officials, he had to carefully consider the consequences or whether it was worth it before doing it. He didn't expect Zhou Jing to just do it, as if there was really nothing in the world that this person was afraid of.

Zhou Jing looked at Prefect Lin, who was writhing on the ground with snot and tears, and said to himself indifferently: "I'll count to ten. If you don't jump, then let's go on the road."

Hearing this, Prefect Lin no longer had the arrogant demeanor he had just had. He barely managed to avoid fainting from the pain, and cried out in horror:

"Don't, don't! I am a court official, a fifth-rank official, and a student of Prime Minister Qin! I am in a high position and have great power, I can't die here!"

"One, two, three..."

"Good man! Let me go! If this official survives, I will definitely suppress this case and not let the government issue an arrest warrant for you, as if the matter of you killing the He and Yellow families never happened!"

"Four, five, six..."

"No! You can't kill me! If you kill me, the court will never let you go. Even if you escape to the ends of the earth, you will have nowhere to hide!"

"Seven, eight, nine..."

Just then, Prefect Lin didn't know where the strength came from, but he endured the pain and got up in a hurry.

He dragged his wide official robe and ran towards the window in a panic, not daring to hesitate at all. He jumped out, his robe billowing in the wind, as if he were an immortal soaring into the sky.

Thump!

The next moment, there was a muffled sound from the street, and then there was no movement.

"...Ten."

Zhou Jing finished reading the last number to himself.

Then, he shook his head: "It seems I have to let him go today."

Fang Zhen and Instructor Hu, who were on the side, shuddered secretly, and the same thought flashed through their minds.

This didn't look like "letting him go" at all, it would be better to give him a break!

...

Deng Commandery hurried as fast as he could, and finally saw Spring Rain Pavilion in the distance. His mood became more and more uneasy.

He left the soldiers and rushed back all the way in order to seize the opportunity to report the situation to the Prefect in person.

On the way back, Deng Commandery had been thinking about his words, how to explain the current situation to the Prefect, and how to clear himself of responsibility as much as possible. He had already prepared his speech.

"I hope the Prefect won't blame me..."

Deng Commandery calmed down, took a deep breath, and was about to walk towards Spring Rain Pavilion.

But as he got closer, he was surprised to find that there were many people surrounded here, and there were sounds of fighting from inside the building.

"Could it be... Not good!"

Deng Commandery was startled and hurriedly pushed through the crowd, rushing towards the gate of Spring Rain Pavilion.

However, when he arrived at the gate and was about to rush in, the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground suddenly came from nearby.

Bang!

Deng Commandery turned his head subconsciously, and his pupils suddenly shrank, his face showing horror, and his whole body trembled uncontrollably.

In his line of sight, Prefect Lin, who was always high above, was lying on the street more than ten meters away, his eyes closed, unconscious. Only his chest was still rising and falling slightly, one arm was cut off, one leg was broken, and blood was spreading under him.

"Pre, Prefect?"

Deng Commandery couldn't believe it, and looked up subconsciously.

Coincidentally, Zhou Jing poked his head out of the window upstairs, and his eyes met him.

"Oh, isn't this the officer who ran away? Are you here to chase me?"

Zhou Jing raised his eyebrows.

The string in Deng Commandery's mind snapped in an instant.

Without any hesitation, he turned around and fled, knocking over the onlookers and running away for his life.

What future, what Prefect...

At this moment, all of them were thrown to the back of his mind.