Chapter 57: The Inescapable Ordeal

What happened to Instructor Wang?

Ren Yuan hurriedly picked up the message delivered by the homing pigeon. This was the fruit of Shi Qian's scouting unit. Shi Qian had found an old acquaintance of his, a person named Bai Huang, who was exceptionally skilled in the art of training birds. After she joined the scouting unit, Ren Yuan appointed her as a deputy commander.

She was now exclusively responsible for training carrier pigeons and peregrine falcons for Liangshan, dedicated to enhancing Liangshan's intelligence-gathering capabilities.

Of course, delivering messages with peregrine falcons was not easy to cultivate and was quite expensive. Bai Huang currently had only two white falcons at her disposal.

Therefore, Liangshan still primarily relied on carrier pigeons; unless it was an absolute emergency, Bai Huang would not deploy her two white falcons.

Over at the Shi Family Village, because the Three Heroes of Shaohua Mountain had been intercepted by him in advance, that area was relatively peaceful. To keep tabs on the situation of Instructor Wang Jin and Shi Jin, Ren Yuan had later specifically sent Shi Qian's men to open a tavern near the Shi Family Village to keep a close watch.

Yet now, the report actually said Wang Jin was in mortal danger?

How was that possible? He was the former Chief Instructor of the Eighty Thousand Imperial Guards of the Eastern Capital, whose martial arts prowess was virtually unmatched throughout the entire imperial guard! (Wang Jin's father, Wang Sheng, was the Metropolitan Military Instructor, which meant he was the Chief Instructor. Wang Jin should have succeeded his father's position. After Wang Jin was framed, this position should have been taken over by Qiu Yue.)

Such a fierce and formidable warrior was actually running into trouble?

With a sense of disbelief, Ren Yuan opened the pigeon message, and after reading it, he slammed his fist on the table!

"Sound the general-summoning drum!"

Ren Yuan signaled the young bandits to beat the drum. This matter was of great importance, and he needed to consult everyone's opinions.

When all the chieftains had arrived at the Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness and exchanged pleasantries, Ren Yuan finally revealed the purpose of sounding the drum.

"Wang Jin is in trouble."

"Ah? Could the chieftain be referring to Instructor Wang, who is hiding from disaster at the Shi Family Village? How could he possibly get into trouble?"

"Indeed, Chieftain, Instructor Wang's martial arts are almost without peer in the Great Song. How could he run into trouble?"

Sure enough, upon hearing this, everyone's first reaction was that it was impossible.

"That Gao Qiu has never let Wang Jin off. Even though Wang Jin left the Eastern Capital half a year ago, Gao Qiu still harbors deep resentment and has issued a nationwide arrest warrant to capture him."

"Our scouts reported that a day ago, just as Wang Jin was about to take his aged mother and leave Shi Family Village to seek refuge with Elder Prime Minister Zhong, he ran head-on into Gao Qiu's hunting hounds dispatched to investigate the area right as they stepped out of the village entrance."

"The nearly one hundred men sent by Gao Qiu are all extraordinary individuals. Normally, if Instructor Wang were alone, fighting or fleeing would pose no problem."

"The issue, however, was that Instructor Wang was traveling with his mother. Being pursued in this manner, the elderly woman simply could not run fast enough. Instructor Wang had no choice but to settle his mother in a secluded corner of the woods outside Shi Family Village and lead the pursuers away by himself."

"What about Instructor Wang's mother?"

Zhu Wu hurriedly asked.

"She has already been rescued by our scouts and hidden in the tavern."

Ren Yuan's expression was grave.

"But Wang Jin's whereabouts are unknown afterward. That is why the scouts sent an urgent message."

"Is the chieftain planning to go rescue Instructor Wang? Then I will go too!"

Mo Tuo was the first to stand up and declare.

"Yes, Chieftain, take us along. No one knows what kind of people Gao Qiu has sent, so having a few more people will make it safer."

Sun An and the others chimed in.

"We cannot take too many troops this time. I plan to travel light and gallop at top speed! Just pick the ten best fighters from the first, second, and third battalions for me."

"Chieftain, it is inappropriate for you to go alone. You must at least have a chieftain accompany you."

Zhu Wu objected to Ren Yuan going by himself.

"Military Advisor, are you still not confident in my abilities?"

Ren Yuan smiled, knowing that Zhu Wu was only concerned for his safety.

"Chieftain, Gao Qiu is ruthless in his methods, and since he is targeting Instructor Wang, he will undoubtedly select experts from the pugilistic world. Although the chieftain is highly skilled in martial arts, going alone is certainly out of the question. I suggest letting Brother Sun An accompany the chieftain on this trip."

Zhu Wu insisted that Ren Yuan should not go alone.

Ren Yuan thought about it and realized it made sense. Who knew if there were any hidden masters under Gao Qiu? It was better to be safe.

"Then let Sun An and Yuan Lang make the trip with me."

After pondering, Ren Yuan chose Sun An and Yuan Lang.

"Chieftain, why aren't you taking me!"

Mo Tuo raised his hand high, signaling that he wanted to go as well.

"But your third battalion has just been established. Would it be appropriate for you, as the primary commander, to suddenly leave?"

"Chieftain, let Mo Tuo go. I will stay behind, and I'll keep an eye on his third battalion."

Seeing that his sworn brother was eager to go, Yuan Lang took the initiative to give up his spot.

"Good brother! Many thanks!"

Hearing this, Mo Tuo was overjoyed and immediately gave Yuan Lang a bear hug!

"Very well, then go quickly and pack up. We will leave in half an hour! We must be fast!"

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse.

Silvery moonlight cast its glow upon the mountain woods, wrapping the forest in a mysterious veil.

It also illuminated the malice lingering in the woods at that moment.

"Huff, huff."

Wang Jin, former Chief Instructor of the Eighty Thousand Imperial Guards of the Eastern Capital, was currently leaning against a large tree, panting heavily.

His forehead was covered in beads of sweat, traces of dried blood remained on his face, and his single hand tightly grasped a long spear.

The tip of the spear was likewise stained with blood, and the red tassel on the shaft was plastered tight against the wood, completely soaked in blood.

On his body, there were also eight or nine bloody gashes.

It seemed he was not lightly wounded!

"Instructor Wang! Truly worthy of being the Chief Instructor of the Imperial Guards. Even under such circumstances, you managed to slaughter so many of my brothers. I am impressed, truly impressed."

From the shadows of the forest ahead came a harsh, ruthless voice.

"Hmph, old dog Gao Qiu. Wasn't it just because he used to idle away his time and got knocked down by my father with a single staff? I apologized at the time, yet I never expected him to press me to this degree."

Wang Jin spat out a mouthful of phlegm and cursed.

"If you had obediently accepted your punishment back then, none of this would have happened, but you chose to run! Weren't you slapping the Marshal in the face by doing that?!"

"In official circles, reputation is valued above all else! With the Marshal's face disgraced, the lives of us subordinates naturally become difficult! Instructor Wang, the Marshal has given orders to capture you alive and treat you well! You had better submit obediently and save your brothers the trouble of resorting to violence!"

"After all, no matter how skilled you are, you've already killed more than fifty of our brothers over the past four days. How much strength do you have left now?"

The voice echoed from the forest once more, carrying both malice and a hint of dread.

After all, they were men who had crawled out of piles of corpses, each of them willing to fight desperately with ruthless methods. Yet against Wang Jin, they had gained no advantage whatsoever!

In four days, they had lost over fifty men just to capture a single person! And the target had still not been caught!

If word of this got out, people would die of laughter, wouldn't they?

"Hmph, you want to capture me alive? Are you even worthy?"

Wang Jin tightened his grip to recover his strength. Over the past few days, he had led these fellows on a relentless, round-the-clock chase through the woods. He was exhausted, but he believed his pursuers were equally exhausted!

"Instructor Wang! Do not be so ungrateful! We are merely taking someone's money to perform a task!"

"We respect you as a true hero, which is why we haven't touched your mother. Otherwise, do you think we wouldn't have discovered that you hid her away?"

The voice in the forest sounded somewhat exasperated.

"If any of you dare lay a hand on my mother, I will fight you to the bitter end!"

Wang Jin flared up instantly!

Gao Qiu, oh Gao Qiu! Are you truly the hurdle I am fated never to cross in this lifetime?

"Rest assured! We also abide by the rules of the pugilistic world! But if you continue to run, don't blame my brothers for discarding the rules and going after your mother!"

"Fine! Then come at me! I won't run anymore! Let's have one final battle! If you can genuinely take me down, I'll accept my fate!"

Wang Jin swung his long spear, shaking the shaft hard to clear away the red tassel as droplets of blood scattered across the ground!

In the opposite woods, vague, shadowy figures began to emerge—some forty or fifty men.

Each of them was dressed in black night garments, their faces covered with black cloths, holding various kinds of weapons.

"That's more like it. Come on, brothers, let us send Instructor Wang on his final journey!"