Chapter 148 - 107: The List (3)
He opened it and peeked inside. Four pills lay within—not one more, not one less.
’How am I supposed to skim off the top with this?’
But he didn’t dare complain out loud, just offered profuse thanks.
Jiang Ran waved his hand.
"Alright, go on about your business. I’m heading to the county yamen."
Master Ma quickly ordered his men to help push the cart.
Jiang Ran was initially reluctant, but he couldn’t refuse Master Ma’s enthusiasm and agreed.
But before they even reached the county yamen, they ran into a group of government constables.
It turned out that some citizens, feeling something was amiss, had gone to the yamen to report it.
The group of constables had come to investigate the situation.
However, upon seeing Jiang Ran, one of the constables recognized him. This was the man the County Magistrate had respectfully invited into the yamen earlier.
He didn’t dare say much, just cautiously asked a couple of questions. Once he learned Jiang Ran was heading to the yamen, he simply began clearing a path for him.
The scene became rather peculiar.
The local boss’s men guarded the cart while the government constables cleared the way.
With both the criminal underworld and the law at his side, Jiang Ran was instantly given a great deal of face.
Ye Jingshuang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She would glance at Jiang Ran from time to time, amused by the helpless expression on his face.
Just like that, the group arrived at the county yamen in the blink of an eye.
Master Ma took his leave. The constables, meanwhile, eyed the flatbed cart with curiosity, fighting the urge to lift the cover and see what was underneath.
In the end, it was Jiang Ran who reached out and yanked off the white cloth.
The sight of the severed heads made the scalps of the present constables tingle with numbness.
Jiang Ran took out the Assassin’s Order.
"Don’t panic, everyone. These are all wanted criminals."
"If you would be so kind, please help me carry these heads inside."
The group of constables looked at each other, and then back at Jiang Ran with completely different expressions.
This man’s clothes were a bit flashy and colorful, but his face was handsome and his bearing was extraordinary.
He just didn’t give off a particularly fierce impression.
How could he have chopped off so many heads at the drop of a hat?
After a quick count, there were twelve heads in total.
They immediately found six men, each carrying two heads, and filed through the gate.
They were only halfway there when they saw Chang Nian coming out to greet them.
He broke into a smile upon seeing Jiang Ran.
"Young Hero Jiang, are you trying to bankrupt our little yamen?"
"Lord Chang, whatever do you mean?"
Jiang Ran blinked.
"There are too many heads! My Benma County has so little money—aren’t you going to clean us out?"
"Well..."
Jiang Ran thought for a moment.
"How about you write me a voucher, and I’ll go ask Lord Guo for the money?"
"That won’t be necessary!"
Chang Nian waved his hands frantically. What kind of logic was it for a subordinate to write a voucher for his superior to pay?
He laughed and led Jiang Ran inside.
Jiang Ran was still talking:
"I’m not joking with you, my lord. Just write me a voucher as proof."
"Have Lord Guo allocate the silver taels from Cangzhou Prefecture. That way, Benma County won’t be stretched so thin."
"Young Hero Jiang is too considerate."
Chang Nian gave a wry smile.
"If I scrape everything together, it should be enough."
"Besides, to be perfectly honest, Lord Guo is no longer the Prefect of Cangzhou Prefecture."
"Oh?"
Jiang Ran was taken aback.
"It’s only been a few days. He lost his official’s hat already?"
"Not exactly."
Chang Nian said with a smile, "I only found out today, but Lord Guo’s presence in Cangzhou Prefecture was for another purpose. Now that his task is complete, His Majesty has decreed that he be appointed the Commander-in-Chief of Kanglong Pass."
"I see."
Jiang Ran understood, but the more he thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed.
"He’s jumping back and forth between civil and military posts. Isn’t anyone going to do something about that?"
"This... This humble official truly does not know."
Even if he knew, he wouldn’t dare say it.
He was different from Jiang Ran; he held an official position.
Jiang Ran was a commoner. With his superior martial arts, he could naturally spout whatever nonsense he wanted.
But if Chang Nian let a single word slip, and it reached the ears of some high-ranking lord, he might lose his position as County Magistrate.
The two of them chatted as they walked, arriving in the main hall in no time.
Jiang Ran explained the details of each head and its bounty to Chang Nian, one by one.
Some of them could be matched to wanted posters in the county yamen’s case files, but others could not.
However, Jiang Ran had the Assassin’s Order. Whether a poster could be found or not, the money had to be paid.
Even though his heart ached, Chang Nian waved his hand grandly and had a constable go fetch the money.
In the end, only the heads of Dugu Yu and Yin Yue were left behind.
Jiang Ran looked troubled.
"I’ll take these two heads with me in a bit."
"Their identities are not simple. I just don’t know what their bounties are, or if they even have one."
Chang Nian smiled.
"I might be able to clear that up for you, Young Hero Jiang..."
As he spoke, he took out a booklet from his robes.
"This is from... from Dao Wuming. He asked me to give it to you."
"Dao Wuming?"
Jiang Ran pursed his lips. ’Don’t tell me this is another pornographic book,’ he thought.
He glanced at Ye Jingshuang beside him before cautiously accepting it.
He flipped it open casually, and before he could get a clear look at the contents, a letter fell out.
The envelope was blank. After a moment of hesitation, Jiang Ran opened the letter.
He scanned it, reading ten lines at a glance, then furrowed his brow slightly.
He picked up the booklet again. Upon opening it, he saw it was filled with dense, tiny script.
He searched through it for a while and finally found two names on one of the middle pages.
"Yang Monarch" Dugu Yu, bounty of ten thousand silver taels.
"Moon Monarch" Yin Yue, bounty of nine thousand silver taels.
At the same time, two notifications popped up in front of Jiang Ran.
After casually accepting the quests, Jiang Ran tapped his fingers lightly on the tabletop.
This booklet was the Sword Holding Department’s "Wanted List."
It listed the names of various masters who were not suitable to appear on common wanted posters.
But as he looked at this list, a strange feeling suddenly arose in Jiang Ran’s heart.
’Can every person on this list really be killed just like that?’
’What if they don’t deserve to die, but were simply listed here because they offended someone powerful who wants to use an Assassin’s hand to eliminate them?’