Chapter 30: The Mysterious Tattoo

Qin Fei paid no attention to the cheers, unsure whether they were sarcastic or sincere. Still drenched in cold sweat from fright, he hurriedly pulled Hong Qigong and Qiu Zhiqing several steps farther back, then pointed at the crossbow bolts on the ground, signaling Qiu Zhiqing to retrieve them.

Qiu Zhiqing found the fellow thoroughly irritating. What a coward! With a flick and sweep of his horsetail whisk, the two bolts flew into his hand, and he passed them to Qin Fei.

At that moment, the voice sounded again from the end of the passage:

“Friends, we have no grudge between us, either past or present. Why don’t we sit down and share a drink while discussing our ideals and future? As the saying goes, once you have mastered the civil and martial arts, you should offer them to the emperor. But if the emperor has no use for you, offer them to a noble household instead! This is the only exit, and ten armstrong crossbows are guarding it. I believe you have plenty of time to consider your options!”

Qiu Zhiqing looked at Qin Fei. Qin Fei nodded. These really were armstrong crossbows. Judging by the style of the bolts, they had been produced by the Lin’an Imperial Arsenal several years ago. Unfortunately, there were no maker’s marks on them.

When Qiu Zhiqing continued staring fixedly at him, Qin Fei began to feel uneasy. Surely he wasn’t planning to throw him out as bait?

Sure enough, Qiu Zhiqing confirmed his suspicion with a single sentence.

“Your name is Qin Fei, right? Your elder brother seems to practice the Thirteen Guardians Iron Body technique. Why don’t you go out and take a few bolts head-on?”

Qin Fei nearly burst into tears. My brother practices the Thirty Guardians Iron Body technique. What does that have to do with me? And who told you that the Thirteen Guardians Iron Body can stop an armstrong crossbow bolt?

Yet when a man was desperate, any idea could come to mind. Qin Fei shouted toward the exit, “What you say makes sense, brother, but could you give us a moment to consider it?”

“Of course~”

In any case, everyone was merely buying time. The longer they took to decide, the better!

Hong Qigong remained silent. He wanted to see what tricks these two youngsters could come up with.

Qiu Zhiqing also said nothing. He wanted to see whether this minor official—or whatever he was—could devise a good plan.

Qin Fei had intended to remain silent as well, but then he remembered how Qiu Zhiqing had just tried to use him to draw the crossbow fire.

After a short while, Qin Fei returned, carrying a corpse.

Qiu Zhiqing took one look and blurted out, “Isn’t that the unlucky fellow Elder Brother Seven killed? Why did you drag him over here? How unlucky!”

Hong Qigong had originally frowned at Qin Fei’s desecration of the corpse. But when he heard Qiu Zhiqing’s words, he could not stop himself from rolling his eyes.

What do you mean, the unlucky fellow killed by this old beggar? You were the one who killed him!

But there was no time to argue. Qin Fei looked at Qiu Zhiqing, who was looking back at him. Then he turned toward the Beggar Clan leader, who was also staring at him.

The meaning in both their eyes was unmistakable:

Only shameless government dogs like you could come up with such despicable behavior. What are you waiting for? Get moving!

Qin Fei had no choice. He cautiously poked his head out, then swiftly pulled it back in, earning himself three crossbow bolts. He then thrust the corpse outward.

At once, the snapping of bowstrings and the whistle of bolts filled the passage. Qiu Zhiqing and Elder Brother Seven exchanged a glance and charged out together.

Two more bolts shot toward them. The pair twisted past them and raced toward the exit ten yards away.

The crossbowman at the doorway calmly retreated as the two approached. Four men carrying spears stepped forward, thrusting their weapons straight at the rapidly advancing pair.

With a single move—Flying Dragon in Heaven—Hong Qigong sent all four spear-wielders flying. Qiu Zhiqing hurriedly increased his speed and shot through the mouth of the cave.

The moment he emerged, Qiu Zhiqing began cursing. Dozens of men wielding spears were stabbing toward him from both sides.

A vicious gust sounded behind him as spears closed in from either side. Qiu Zhiqing quickly stepped five times through the empty air, then turned and struck one of his attackers with a palm. The ambusher was sent flying, while Qiu Zhiqing himself flew beyond the reach of the spears.

Before he could catch his breath, three more crossbow bolts shot toward him.

The bolts were simply too fast, especially when fired from such close range. Although Qiu Zhiqing reacted instantly, dodging and blocking as best he could, one bolt still pierced straight through his shoulder, spraying a cloud of blood.

The tremendous force carried Qiu Zhiqing two steps backward. By then, several other crossbowmen had reloaded and were raising their weapons, preparing to give him another free ticket through the afterlife.

At last, Hong Qigong arrived. With a move called Dragon Battles in the Wild, he sent the ten most dangerous crossbowmen flying, instantly crippling the enemy’s strongest fighting force.

Qiu Zhiqing breathed a sigh of relief and quickly sealed his acupoints to stop the bleeding. He then rushed forward and knocked away several men trying to seize the armstrong crossbows. After securing the weapons, he sealed the acupoints of the half-dead crossbowmen as well, ensuring that they would remain quiet.

He did not go to help the others. The remaining men were nothing more than rotten sweet potatoes and spoiled eggs. Even Qin Fei ought to be able to handle them himself…

All right, Qin Fei could not handle them himself.

Watching Qin Fei fight one opponent to a standstill, Qiu Zhiqing silently withdrew his faith in him. They still had to rely on Hong Qigong, who was holding off three experts and dozens of spear-wielding underlings all by himself without giving ground in the slightest.

Now that was a true jungle carry—worthy of praise!

“Boy, don’t just stand there watching! Give me a hand!”

The strongest jungle carry, Hong Qigong, had spoken. Naturally, Qiu Zhiqing obeyed. After knocking down several men attempting to take advantage of the chaos, he transferred the horsetail whisk to his weakened left hand.

Sitting on the ground, he picked up an armstrong crossbow, took brief aim, and fired.

The crossbow flew from his hand, and two unlucky underlings instantly collapsed.

Qiu Zhiqing had not expected the weapon to possess such tremendous force. Caught unprepared, he had actually let go of the crossbow.

Several underlings who had been watching him fiddle with the other armstrong crossbows could stand it no longer and broke away to attack him.

But when Qiu Zhiqing pointed the crossbow at them, they all stopped at once, just like people in later generations confronted by a gun.

Their hesitation lasted only an instant. Then they charged again.

Seeing that they had no fear of death, Qiu Zhiqing decisively pulled the trigger. The powerful bolt not only pierced one man, but also sank deep into the body of an expert fighting Hong Qigong.

Even Elder Brother Seven was startled.

“Brat! Look carefully before you shoot! Aim properly!”

As the men surrounding Hong Qigong were beaten down one after another, the smaller group of three gradually gained the upper hand. The underlings who had come to deal with Qiu Zhiqing were naturally dispatched by him in three punches and two kicks.

Although his left shoulder had suffered a minor injury, dealing with such worthless riffraff naturally required no great effort.

A powerful gust swept through the area. The two experts who had lost the support of their men were knocked to the ground by Hong Qigong.

At that point, the only people still standing were Qiu Zhiqing, Hong Qigong, Qin Fei, and Qin Fei’s opponent.

Hong Qigong did not go over to help. Instead, he intended to interrogate the three martial experts and see whether he could learn anything from them.

Qiu Zhiqing, meanwhile, picked up an armstrong crossbow and began firing sneak attacks at Qin Fei’s opponent.

After all, he had never had the chance to play with guns in his previous life. Playing with this armstrong crossbow, which was said to be nearly as powerful as a gun, was quite enjoyable.

Qiu Zhiqing had never had a direct feel for the power of firearms from later generations. But this armstrong crossbow—he genuinely loved it.

He planted one foot on the iron ring at the front of the crossbow and pulled back hard with his right hand. A soft metallic click rang out as bronze struck bronze. The weapon was cocked.

He placed a bolt into the groove, aimed at the target’s kidneys, and prepared to fire.

The only problem was that the target refused to cooperate, leaping about nonstop.

Good! Fortunately, Qin Fei suddenly tackled him and knocked him backward.

Now was the moment. Target: kidneys. Fire!

With a twang, the bolt flew from the crossbow. Unexpectedly, it struck the man in the buttocks.

The bolt pierced both cheeks, pinning them together. For some reason, Qiu Zhiqing suddenly thought of that fellow named Cupid, the one who shot two hearts with a single arrow.

Ugh. What terrible luck.

Qin Fei paid no attention to this. How could a spoiled young aristocrat like him appreciate such a scene?

He struck with a Black Tiger Steals the Heart technique. The blow did not kill the man, since Qin Fei still wanted to keep him alive and claim credit for capturing him.

He then pulled out something resembling a small bamboo tube. With a tug, a firework shot into the sky and burst overhead.

Qiu Zhiqing complained, “If you had such a useful way to summon people, why didn’t you use it earlier? What a waste of everyone’s effort…”

Qin Fei was unwilling to be outdone. “If you had helped me sooner, I could have used it sooner! Damn it, I can’t believe you weren’t turned into a pincushion by the crossbow bolts!”

Hey! That temper of mine…

Qiu Zhiqing strode over, ready to argue with him properly.

“Believe it or not, I can still beat you senseless with one hand!”

“Not good!”

Hong Qigong suddenly shouted, drawing both their attention. His expression was grim.

“These men have taken poison and killed themselves!”

The two hurriedly looked toward the man Qin Fei had just subdued. Sure enough, black blood was spilling from his mouth. He was already dead.

Qin Fei tossed the corpse aside in disgust, while Qiu Zhiqing crouched beside it and examined it carefully.

Suddenly, he noticed what seemed to be a character behind the man’s ear. It looked like the word “Mysterious,” but the night was too dark and the mark too small. He could not tell whether it was actually a mole.

Just as he reached for a torch, a squad of soldiers suddenly burst through the door and quickly advanced toward them.

Qiu Zhiqing asked Hong Qigong, “What do we do now?”

Before Hong Qigong could respond, Qin Fei said, “They aren’t our people. They’re soldiers from the Lin’an Prefectural Office.”

Not knowing whether the newcomers were friend or foe, Hong Qigong and Qiu Zhiqing had no desire to linger. They immediately leaped onto the roof and concealed themselves, leaving Qin Fei standing there before he had time to react.

In an instant, the men from the Lin’an Prefectural Office had surrounded him.