Mu Tang was sharing a few drinks with several young gentlemen in the pavilion of the back garden at the Mu Estate. As their spirits ran high, a shout echoed from the front courtyard: "There's an assassin! Someone come quick! Someone come quick!"
Hearing the voice screaming at the top of its lungs, Mu Tang naturally caught it. Looking somewhat embarrassed, Mu Tang stood up and cupped his hands toward the young gentlemen. "Pardon me, pardon me, I must step away for a moment."
"Come on, what's with the formalities? I'm good at dealing with this sort of thing. Just let me know if you need any help," Duanmu Shiqing, the second young master of Duanmu Manor, said while picking up some food with his chopsticks.
"Can't even the Mu Estate handle a petty thief?!" Mu Tang said with a stern expression.
Duanmu Shiqing said nothing more.
With Mu Tang gone, the rest of them lost interest. They were curious about what had happened, but since it was awkward to ask, they all took their leave and exited the Mu Estate.
At the entrance of the Mu Estate, the young gentlemen were preparing to head home when they saw someone gallop out on horseback right through the gates. Immediately after, Mu Tang gave chase.
"After him!" Duanmu Shiqing reacted the fastest, leaping onto his horse and speeding off in pursuit. The others reacted with extreme swiftness; almost in the blink of an eye, they were all in the saddle, darting out like arrows released from a bow.
If they couldn't catch this person today with so many witnesses present, they would lose face completely. Mu Tang grew somewhat anxious. Urging his horse to go faster, his eyes flashed with sharp focus as he stared straight ahead, as if trying to pierce through the space before him.
Duanmu Shiqing had always been on good terms with Mu Tang and was determined to hunt down the assassin. Besides, if anything serious really happened, Duanmu Manor could not shirk its responsibility.
Also accompanying them was Mu Da, Mu Tang's cousin. Short, stocky, and robust, Mu Da considered the Mu Estate's business to be his own, so he naturally gave chase with all his might.
Several other young gentlemen had also tagged along simply because they had nothing to do and gladly joined in the commotion for the excitement.
Riding at a gallop, they cleared the city gates before long. The assassin moved at an extreme speed, with the group pressing closely behind, continuously whipping the horses' rumps. Dust billowed everywhere along their path. The road grew increasingly rugged until they reached a bend ahead. Perhaps riding too fast and lacking the agility to react properly at the corner, a horse missed its footing and stumbled, its front legs buckling to the ground. The animal reacted quickly and rose instantly, but from the fall, the assassin riding on its back rolled off onto the ground. Moments later, Mu Tang, Mu Da, Duanmu Shiqing, and the rest of the party closed in. No matter how capable the assassin might be, there was no escaping now with wings. Together, the group hurriedly bound the assassin hand and foot, then slung him face down across a horse's back.
What incredible nerve, actually coming to assassinate someone right inside the Mu Estate! There couldn't possibly be a second explanation other than having a death wish...
Mu Tang cast a cold, frosty glance at the assassin, then looked off into the distance and quietly spat out three words: "Let's head back."
Gone was the urgency of the outward journey. The horses trotted along at an unhurried, steady pace, making a rhythmic *clop-clop-clop*. Suddenly, Duanmu Shiqing spotted something up in a tree. Drawing closer, he saw it was a piece of clothing. Nothing else was found besides the garment. Suspecting it might be related to the assassin, they took it along with them. After walking a short distance, Mu Tang felt that the clothing seemed peculiar and turned back to search thoroughly, but still found nothing at all.
Mu Tang was plunged into the deepest gloom, growing even more silent.
Entering the city, Duanmu Shiqing returned to Duanmu Manor while the others dispersed, leaving Mu Tang and Mu Da to return to the Mu Estate.
The guards at the Mu Estate were stepped up to a higher level of alert.
In the dungeon:
The assassin was locked inside a cell built from steel pillars as thick as a man's wrist. The chief jailer stood respectfully to one side of Mu Tang and Mu Da, awaiting Mu Tang's orders. Mu Tang looked at the assassin in the cell, whose body was already covered in a web of bloody lashes. Blood trickled down from the wounds, staining the clothes so that they resembled an ink wash painting. The hair was disheveled, clumping together with dried blood where the strands hung down. With head lowered and eyes closed, the prisoner was unconscious. Mu Tang scrutinized the assassin further—a robust physique, and... a tattoo visible at the waist. Mu Tang frowned and glanced at the blue clothing nearby. Mu Tang had seen the garment before; it was not of local style. This made Mu Tang even more certain that the matter was not so simple. Turning his head to look at the chief jailer, Mu Tang asked, "How is it going?"
"He only claims he ran out of money and came to steal things. When pressed further, he just says to kill or carve him up and get it over with," the chief jailer said in a very quiet voice, clearly lacking confidence.
"How about... we splash him awake with cold water?" the jailer probed cautiously, already moving to open the cell door.
A basin of cold water was poured down over the assassin's head. The assassin gave a start and jolted awake, head still groggy and drooping. Eyelids lifting slightly, the prisoner glanced sidelong at Mu Tang and the others with a peripheral sweep, showing no great reaction. In a tone carrying clear interrogation, Mu Tang asked, "Where are you from?"
"I'm just a thief. I go wherever people have things, and I don't even know where I'm from myself," the assassin said, shooting Mu Tang a sideways sneer.
Strictly speaking, that statement was actually true; this assassin was an orphan and truly didn't know where home was.
"Do you have accomplices? Where are they?" Mu Tang continued.
"I told you, I'm just a lone thief with no family to worry about once I'm fed. Aren't you sick of asking the same thing over and over?" the assassin shouted at the top of his lungs toward Mu Tang.
"Not saying a word, but quite a temper you've got! You're just asking for a beating!" Mu Da burst out in anger, rushing right up to the assassin and throwing a punch straight at the assassin's face. Blood instantly spurted from the assassin's mouth and nostrils, dripping onto the floor with a patter. Mu Tang asked a few more questions. The assassin let his head droop even lower, simply closed his eyes, and remained utterly silent—the picture of a hardened rogue who cared nothing for punishment.
Mu Tang stopped asking questions and merely looked the assassin up and down. Around twenty-seven or eight years old, with thick eyebrows and large eyes, not bad-looking at all.
"You can state any questions or demands you might have," Mu Tang said solemnly.
The assassin simply remained completely silent.
The assassin wasn't stupid either; if he confessed everything, would he still keep his life?
Mu Tang looked again at the retrieved clothing. His brow furrowed—did the garment belong to a woman?
*Clang*, the sound of the cell door slamming shut echoed through the space. Mu Tang and Mu Da turned and walked out of the dungeon.
They headed straight for the garden, where rows of weeping willows hung down with lush, thriving branches. Mu Tang and Mu Da came to a halt beneath the trees. After a moment of silent thought, Mu Tang asked Mu Da, "What do you make of this?"
"Beat him, beat him hard! Or else we might as well just finish the fellow off. I can tell that punk is no ordinary trouble," Mu Da said without a second thought.
Mu Tang's brows tightened sternly. Mu Da shrank back and said no more.
Mu Tang's handsome face was overcast with worry, his lips pressed tightly together in silence. Not only Mu Tang, but even the jailer wouldn't believe the interrogation answers they had gotten.
When word of the assassin first came, Mu Tang had been shattered. The security at the Mu Estate was extremely strict. Both Mu Tang and Mu Da had practiced martial arts since childhood, and a large portion of the estate servants were martial artists as well. Yet the assassin had moved as if through empty territory and left the Mu Estate gates with effortless ease. Where on earth had the flaw occurred, or was the opponent simply too formidable...? Mu Tang thought of that tattoo once more, and turning his head, he instructed Mu Da, "Send someone to investigate the tattoo on the assassin's waist."
"Tattoo? What tattoo?" Clearly, Mu Da had not noticed any tattoo on the assassin's waist.
Hearing this, Mu Tang raised his eyes to look at Mu Da.
"I'll go right now." Mu Da turned and hurried off to investigate the matter of the tattoo.
Mu Tang knew deep down that this affair could not possibly end here. But what, after all, was the opponent's objective?