Chapter 25: The Russian (Please keep reading, don't let this book sit in your library)

Seeing Jiang Xiaodao stumble toward them, the two Russian soldiers immediately tossed away their cigarettes. They stepped back with their right feet, lowered their shoulders, and raised their rifles. Their handlebar mustaches twitched as they shouted a stern warning.

"Stoy! Stoy! (Halt!)"

Terrified, Jiang Xiaodao hurriedly raised his hands and fell to his knees with a thud. "No, no, no! Khorosho! Khorosho!"

The two soldiers looked at each other, confused, and exchanged a few words in their native tongue before reaching a consensus and slightly lowering their weapons.

Jiang Xiaodao, still too afraid to stand, stammered in a panic, "Listen to me, both of you! That man with the buckteeth—he... he killed your people!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd fell into a deathly silence.

Hu Biao turned deathly pale. A chill ran from his heels straight to the top of his head, causing his entire body to shudder. The aggressive, overbearing aura he had projected only moments ago instantly withered away.

"You little bastard! What... what nonsense are you spewing?" Hu Biao turned his head and urged, "Chief Li, if the Russians get involved, this will be impossible to handle. We’d better drag him back to the yamen at once!"

Chief Li nodded repeatedly, calling for his attendants to rush forward and seize the man.

Seeing that the Russian soldiers did not understand, Jiang Xiaodao grew frantic. He gestured wildly, pointing first at Hu Biao, then at the soldiers, and finally made a throat-slitting motion.

After repeating the gestures a few times, the soldiers finally grasped his meaning. They immediately raised their bayonets to force back the yamen runners, turned their heads, and bellowed, "Zhang! Zhang!"

Before long, a young man’s voice called out from the edge of the crowd, "Here! I’m here!"

The crowd turned to see a long-legged, tall young man pushing his way through.

Jiang Xiaodao was overjoyed to see the man he had met once before, the "Great Poet." "Brother Zhang!"

"Eh? Brother, it’s you?" Zhang Zongchang looked surprised. "I was blocked on the outside and didn't see you. What’s going on here?"

Jiang Xiaodao had no time to explain and begged Zhang Zongchang to translate for him: "That bucktoothed man from the Changfeng Escort Agency—he killed Russians!"

Realizing this was a chance to earn merit, Zhang Zongchang did not hesitate and immediately began jabbering at the two soldiers. Though his Russian was far from fluent and his words were disjointed, he managed to convey the message.

The two soldiers spoke briefly, as if questioning him, and Zhang Zongchang replied, "Changfeng Escort Agency!"

Seeing the situation turn dire, Head Escort Hu whispered, "Erqiang, be sharp! Go! Get back and warn the agency. Don't worry about anything else, just run and hide."

Erqiang grunted an acknowledgment and was about to slip into the crowd to make his escape when a voice from the onlookers rang out, "That man is trying to run!"

Following this, the crowd blocked Erqiang’s path, shouting, "Catch him! Catch him!"

The Russian soldiers immediately raised their rifles and stepped forward, cursing.

Seeing himself betrayed by his own townsfolk, Erqiang was stunned. After practicing martial arts for over a decade, he had thought his body was made of steel, but under the threat of the guns, he went limp. His knees turned to lead, and he collapsed to the ground.

"Officer, this has nothing to do with me!" Erqiang pointed at Head Escort Hu. "It’s him! He’s the one you want!"

"Erqiang! You!" Hu Biao choked on his words, his eyes filled with shock and disappointment.

"Officer, his name is Hu Biao, he’s an escort leader. I can take you to the Changfeng Escort Agency!" Erqiang crawled toward Zhang Zongchang. "Brother, help me tell them... ah!"

Erqiang never got the chance to lead the way.

Before he could finish his sentence, the bayonet on a Russian soldier’s rifle plunged into his eye socket. With a brutal twist, viscous blood and brain matter gushed out. Soon, a pool of deep red stained the snow.

Strangely, despite the gruesome scene, not a single cry of shock escaped the crowd.

They remained deathly silent, as if they had merely witnessed a minor misunderstanding on the ground. They turned their faces away, quiet and still, intent only on staying out of the way. Fear was rare among them, let alone anger.

A Russian soldier fired a shot into the air and roared, "Stoy!"

Zhang Zongchang followed up, shouting, "Halt! Everyone, halt!"

The crowd froze, turning back to stand with their hands at their sides, acting like zombies. Some trembled like chaff, while others stood dazed and motionless.

Jiang Xiaodao, following behind Zhang Zongchang, scanned the surroundings. In a daze, he felt as if he had returned to the room where Old Madam Feng kept her human livestock.

The two Russian soldiers were long accustomed to such sights. They stood like shepherds, ignoring the crowd as they chatted briefly. One of them then turned and strode away.

Chief Li put on a fawning smile and walked up to Zhang Zongchang, trembling. "Brother, where did that soldier go?"

Zhang Zongchang tilted his head, showing nothing but contempt for the official. "What the hell is it to you?"

Chief Li swallowed his pride and continued to grin. "Brother, I can tell by your accent you aren't from around here. The General of Shengjing has ordered that there be no conflict with the Tsarist Russians. They caused quite a stir when they moved south two years ago, and things have finally quieted down. It’s best not to blow this out of proportion, or else the masters will blame us..."

"Go to hell!" Zhang Zongchang cursed. "Those are *your* masters. I work for the Russians now."

"Yes, yes, of course!" Chief Li said obsequiously. "But this whole thing was just a theft case. It was all because of this kid's nonsense that it reached this point. He’s just spouting garbage. I’m afraid that in the end, it’ll be a misunderstanding, and you won’t have a good report for them!"

"Get lost! You’re the one spouting garbage!" Zhang Zongchang puffed out his chest. "This is my brother! Don't look down on me because I'm young. I can make it in this world, especially on the Russian railways, because of two things—loyalty and justice! Now hurry up and unlock my brother's shackles!"

Chief Li, having no choice, walked over with his head hung low and unlocked Jiang Xiaodao’s shackles.

Jiang Xiaodao reminded him, "And Old Cui! Unlock him too!"

Chief Li complied.

Seeing this, the Russian soldiers raised their guns to ask why.

Young Zhang Zongchang stepped forward and gestured, pointing at Jiang Xiaodao and then at himself. "He and I, drug (friends)!"

He wasn't bluffing; after a few explanations, the soldier actually lowered his rifle and lit a cigarette.

Just as he finished the cigarette, the sound of "tap-tap-tap" hoofbeats echoed from a distance.

Everyone looked up to see seven or eight Cossack cavalrymen charging toward them with an imposing air.

The leader wore a crisp woolen military overcoat. His features were as sharp as if carved by a knife. His mustache was not thick, just barely brushing the peaks of his lips. Unlike the other Russians, he appeared full of vigor, stern and capable.