novelraw Chapter 141: Gold and Celestial Lantern
Chapter 141: Gold and Celestial Lantern
The night was dark and silent, and at the entrance of Yuan Shun Escort Agency, the sound of horse hooves scraping the ground echoed...
On an escort vehicle at the entrance, sat two people: Duan Rong holding a lantern, with a somber look in his eyes; Lu Feng holding the horse whip, his lips trembling as he glanced around nervously...
Just as the two settled on the escort vehicle, two burly men with exposed chests slowly moved a steel-cast box and placed it on the escort vehicle.
As soon as the box was placed on the vehicle, the bottom suddenly sank half an inch. A weight of one thousand pounds was somewhat strenuous even for an escort vehicle used to transporting goods year-round.
Duan Rong, holding the lantern, glanced at the box. It wasn’t very large, about a third of the cargo box size used for shipments to Ruyang Prefecture.
However, Duan Rong knew that inside this box was a full one thousand pounds of gold.
The density of gold is more than twice that of iron, so although the box was not large, the weight of one thousand pounds was undeniable. This was evident from the labored movements of the burly men who moved it earlier.
In the Nine Provinces Territory, the exchange rate between gold and silver is one to twenty. Moreover, this is the official rate, while in reality among the people, the exchange rate is even higher.
Gold has a significant advantage: it is universally accepted in this realm.
For instance, silver notes are convenient to carry, but they have a drawback: they can only be used within the Qingzhou territory. The Yunshui Note House is under Taiyi Sect, and outside its jurisdiction, nobody recognizes them. But gold is universally accepted.
And inside this box is a full one thousand pounds of gold! The temptation is truly enormous!
Lu Feng gently flicked the horse whip, and the clip-clop of horse hooves rang out on the bluestone paving as the escort vehicle wheels started to turn...
The escort vehicle rolled along the street, taking over a stick of incense’s time to reach the South City Gate of the county town.
The lantern at the city gate swayed in the night wind, casting a dim light and revealing the nearby scenery...
As the escort vehicle arrived at the city gate, a yawning city guard constable walked over and shouted, "Who goes there? Why leaving the city at this hour?"
Duan Rong jumped down from the vehicle and smiled, "Yuan Shun Escort Agency, delivering urgent cargo out of the city."
The constable raised his lantern to scrutinize Duan Rong and then the escort vehicle behind him, including Lu Feng sitting atop. Seeing both were dressed as escort masters, he asked, "Why send cargo at this hour?"
"It’s an urgent delivery! Heading to Houpo Town, just twenty miles away." Duan Rong nodded and explained with a humble tone.
"Pass card!" demanded the constable.
Duan Rong handed over his pass card.
"Who are they?" Suddenly, a middle-aged constable wearing a felt hat emerged from the guard room by the city gate and asked in a deep voice.
This middle-aged constable was named He Guizhou, just over forty years old, who had taken over his father’s role at eighteen and had since worked in the government office as a constable. He was the leader of the city guard constables on duty.
When the constable heard him, he immediately went over, and with an apologetic smile said, "Boss, it’s the escort vehicle from Yuan Shun Escort Agency!"
He Guizhou’s gaze flickered as he swept over Duan Rong and Lu Feng’s faces, took the lantern and walked over, glanced at the escort vehicle, then turned around and shouted, "Let them pass!"
Upon He Guizhou’s command, the constables promptly opened the city gate, and Duan Rong jumped onto the escort vehicle, riding out of Xianggu County with the clip-clop of the horse echoing...
After the escort vehicle exiting the city, the South City Gate closed again behind them!
He Guizhou watched the escort vehicle depart from the city before swiftly stepping back into the guard room, where he lit a celestial lantern (Kongming Lantern) and released it through the guard room window!
On the official road outside the South City, a solitary light illuminated an escort vehicle advancing slowly in the dead of night...
The wind across the fields rustled the wheat waves, sounding like a whisper...
Lu Feng drove the escort vehicle, his gaze sweeping over the dark fields. He shifted his eyes, looked at Duan Rong sitting beside him, and said, "Duan Rong, let’s escape! If we flee now, we might survive..."
Duan Rong glanced coldly at Lu Feng and asked, "Did you see the celestial lantern rising from the city wall behind us?"
"Celestial lantern?" Lu Feng’s heart skipped, and he immediately looked back, indeed seeing a celestial lantern rising high on the city wall.
They were not far from the South City Gate, and in the night, the celestial lantern bore a character resembling "mi"!
Lu Feng’s heart leaped; he realized the character on the celestial lantern was some kind of secret signal, though its specific meaning was unknown to him.
"What does the celestial lantern mean?" Lu Feng turned around and asked Duan Rong.
"I don’t know what it means. But I know that certainly, eyes are watching us in the dark now," Duan Rong said expressionlessly.
Upon hearing this, Lu Feng’s fear intensified. He glanced left and right, seeing nothing in the dark night except the sound of the rustling wheat waves, nowhere near a human shadow.
Lu Feng suddenly felt that if he could dash into the wilderness and find a place to hide, he might escape calamity.
Engaging in this endeavor with Duan Rong, transporting the gold to the Desolate Burial Mound, meant certain doom!
Lu Feng contemplated repeatedly, seeing Duan Rong’s cold expression, clearly indicating no intention of fleeing with him.
Finally, Lu Feng’s eyes focused sharply. Suddenly, he leapt off the escort vehicle, raced toward the wild field.
Duan Rong witnessed Lu Feng’s action without batting an eyelid, taking the horse whip left by Lu Feng and continued driving the vehicle along the road...
Every person has to make their own choice, often it’s not about right or wrong.
Lu Feng had just leaped to the roadside, preparing to jump from the road into the wheat fields, when suddenly two twangs echoed in the dark night!
Two crossbow arrows shot from the dark, rippling wheat waves!
Lu Feng heard the twangs in the night wind, and his body tightened. The arrows’ tearing sound wasn’t loud, but to Lu Feng, it was like thunder echoing directly in his ear, causing his scalp to tingle!
Almost instinctively, his muscles reacted as he hunched down attempting to roll back. But he was evidently a step too late. Almost simultaneous with the life-seizing sound, one arrow pierced his shoulder; the other penetrated straight through his chest!
The source of the arrows was surprisingly just near him amid the wheat waves!
Blood trickled from Lu Feng’s mouth as he fell beside the road, blood flowed from his mouth as he saw the escort vehicle disappearing into the night. With a bitter smile, venomous eyes, he murmured, "Duan Rong, I’ll be waiting for you below..."
Lu Feng was not inherently a bad person, but fear and despair could easily turn someone ghastly...
Before Lu Feng finished his words, the grim smile on his mouth froze forever. An arrow suddenly pierced through his head, the bloody, icy arrowhead shot out from his brow...
Subsequently, two figures emerged from the wheat waves in the night, dragging Lu Feng’s corpse back into the wheat waves.
The wheat before and after the Lesser Fullness of Grain Festival had already sprouted ears, and the height of the stalks could cover a person’s knees...
Inside Xianggu County, within the South City Gate!
Not far from the city gate, in the shadows of an alley, stood two masked figures in black, precisely Ruan Fengshan and Luan Jingfu from Yuan Shun Escort Agency.
Ruan Fengshan saw the celestial lantern rise from the city wall and his heart suddenly shuddered, thinking: Does this mean perhaps government office members are involved too?
Ruan Fengshan suddenly felt the matter was even deeper than he had imagined!
In the darkness, Ruan Fengshan clenched his fist tightly!
"No matter if they’re from the government office or not! Dare to set sights on Yuan Shun Escort Agency, I’ll bash their teeth in!"
Otherwise, those lurking predators would think Yuan Shun Escort Agency was actually weak and easy to bully!
However, the fact that city gate constables had informants meant he and Luan Jingfu had difficulty leaving the city.
If this matter alarmed those people, then Jing’Er would likely lose his life immediately!
Even though Ruan Fengshan was resourceful, at this moment he faced dilemmas, and his cold eyes flickered with an unpredictable depth.