Enduring the excruciating pain in his shoulder blade, Hong Qiming was about to scramble up when a sword blade rested against his neck.
Stunned by this sight, he froze, his gaze following the length of the blade up to the person holding it.
"Even if you kill me, it won't change a thing," Hong Qiming said in a heavy voice.
"Tell them to stop first," Shen Qianjun demanded, ignoring him entirely.
Seeing this, Hong Qiming understood his predicament and immediately called out, "Hold your hands, all of you!"
At his command, the remaining personal guards were forced to cease fighting, falling back into defensive positions.
"We want out of the city," Wei Yuefu spoke up first. "Give us the matching passphrases, tokens, or whatever else is needed."
Hong Qiming shook his head. "There are no passphrases or tokens. Without me personally lifting the lockdown, no one leaves."
This was a rebellion. Why would he leave such vulnerabilities for someone to exploit?
Either he succeeded and lifted it in person, or he failed... and once he was dead, why would he care about what happened afterward?
"Then we'll drag you along with us!" Meng Zhijie said with a cold snort.
Yet nobody responded to his words.
Wei Yuefu couldn't help thinking this member of the Meng family was truly a consummate pig of a teammate; keeping him alive might even drag Shen Qianjun down better...
Mainly, it was just too stupid. Wei Yuefu and the others understood that even if they hauled him over to the gate, they still wouldn't get out; instead, they would most likely be shot into sieves.
They had already revolted—there was no such thing as stopping now.
If the boss was caught, the second-in-command took charge; if number two died, number three stepped up.
At this stage, let alone Hong Qiming, even if the Heavenly King Hong himself wanted to halt, his own men would hack him into mincemeat.
Everyone had their heads tucked into their waistbands, betting the lives of their entire clans alongside him. If they stopped, their lives were truly forfeit.
"In that case, you're useless," Wei Yuefu said as he walked up to Hong Qiming and picked up the golden melon hammer he had thrown earlier.
"Wait! I'm useful!" Hong Qiming naturally knew that in the next instant, Wei Yuefu would bring that hammer down on his head, so he blurted out in haste.
"If you can't get us out, you're useless," Wei Yuefu cut in ahead of him. "And don't bother telling me you can suppress the rebels. That has nothing to do with us."
"Of course I know that." How could Hong Qiming not realize this? He pressed on, "To get out, you don't necessarily have to take the city gates. I know of a secret tunnel that leads straight outside the city. If you take that tunnel, not only will you avoid facing the gate garrison, but you also won't have to worry about the rebels."
Hearing this, Wei Yuefu narrowed his eyes. No matter how you looked at it, this sounded fake.
"Do you honestly think we can believe that?" Shen Qianjun's tone turned dangerous as well.
"It doesn't matter; you don't have to believe it," Hong Qiming said. "Go ahead and kill me, then."
He chuckled softly.
If they wanted to live, their only choice was to take a gamble.
As for hidden contingencies, he certainly had them—otherwise, why would he say all this?
Hong Qiming naturally understood that no matter what, they would kill him in the end.
So how could he not plot against them? This was already laid bare on the table.
"Prefect Shangguan, what do you think?" Tian Muchuan asked after untying Shangguan Shutong.
"I don't know," Shangguan Shutong said, shaking his head. "I have never heard of any secret tunnel like the one he mentions."
"You've only been a prefectural official for a few years. How could you be privy to such secrets?" Hong Qiming sneered derisively. "This is a covert legacy from the previous dynasty."
Shangguan Shutong paid no heed to Hong Qiming's mockery; it was merely the frantic barking of a beaten dog.
"However, with his life in your hands, what he says is likely not a lie," Shangguan Shutong said, before adding a warning, "It's just that this rascal is cunning. He will inevitably have schemes up his sleeve, so we must remain vigilant."
With that, he cast a worried glance toward Hong Qiming's personal guards.
Those men were the real trouble.
"Then let's take that path," Shen Qianjun said, seeing no alternative.
"What do we do with them?" Tian Muchuan pointed at the guards.
Hearing Tian Muchuan's words, the personal guards raised their weapons once again.
When their own lives were on the line, they would no longer hold back for Hong Qiming's sake.
"Letting them leave is definitely out of the question," Wei Yuefu said. "The moment they walk away, our tracks will be exposed."
Without a doubt, they would report to someone, and the commanders in the city aligned with Hong Qiming would definitely dispatch troops.
They would rescue him if possible, and if not, killing Hong Qiming would still be better than letting him fall into enemy hands.
"Then we bring them along," Shen Qianjun immediately said. "Once we are outside, we'll hand Hong Qiming over to you. However, you must surrender your weapons."
The lead guard refused outright: "Impossible. Without our weapons, we are no match for you."
"Then give up your bows, crossbows, and arrows," Wei Yuefu said. "Blades must stay in their scabbards, and spearheads must be wrapped in cloth. That should suffice, shouldn't it?"
The lead guard looked back at the others. Seeing no objections, he nodded. "Agreed."
"Where does it start?" Wei Yuefu turned his head and asked Hong Qiming.
"From my residence, of course. Where else could it be?" Hong Qiming answered immediately. "Where else do you think I discovered this secret tunnel?"
Wei Yuefu knew where Hong Qiming's mansion was—after all, Hong's mistress had been kept in an alley right behind it.
"Let's move. I hope you behave yourself," Wei Yuefu said as he bound Hong Qiming tightly. "We only want to survive. Once we're outside the city, as long as you don't pull any tricks, we'll keep our word and let you go."
Hong Qiming only snorted coldly and said nothing.
Even if he survived, so what? All his grand schemes had turned to water drawn with a wicker basket.
With things unfolding like this, someone was bound to step up and replace him in his absence.
Even if the plot succeeded and he managed to return, whoever had seized power wouldn't let him live.
Nor would that person ever hand power back to him—because if Hong Qiming truly regained his authority, the very first person he would purge was whoever took his place.
Such was the nature of power; there was no room for naive illusions.
The group quickly moved toward Hong Qiming's mansion, still led by Wei Yuefu.
After all, with his little brother looking down from the sky, as long as their luck wasn't atrocious, they wouldn't run into rebels or soldiers.
As for the common folk, seeing them fully armed, none dared come near.
Most were actually hiding inside their homes rather than running around aimlessly.
"Bronze Badge Ding, I'm rather curious—how on earth do you manage this?" Shen Qianjun couldn't help asking.
He couldn't fathom how Wei Yuefu was able to evade the enemy with such pinpoint precision.
Naturally, Wei Yuefu couldn't reveal the existence of his little brother, so he borrowed the talents from the Scholar background he hadn't chosen earlier.
"Six-Direction Vision and Eight-Direction Hearing—isn't that something everyone can do?"
"You can't?" Wei Yuefu countered with a question.
Chapter 36