Chapter 139: Poisoning the Well

Li Wantong, the Grand Preceptor of the Great Xia Kingdom, devised a scheme to poison the water wells and claimed he could ride the clouds and the mists to fly over the city walls of Dingbian. None of the generals and soldiers doubted him, because they had once witnessed Li Wantong perform magic in public, pulling copper coins out of a pot of boiling oil with his bare hands. They firmly believed that this Grand Preceptor possessed supernatural powers.

That night, at the third watch of midnight, Li Wantong strapped a large bundle to his back, left the barbarian encampment alone, and headed straight for Dingbian City.

Before even reaching the city walls, he noticed squads of patrolling soldiers holding torches walking along the top of the ramparts. He thought to himself, the defenses of Dingbian City are indeed strictly maintained!

When he was still about a mile away from the city wall, Li Wantong stopped in his tracks. He took off the bundle from his back and opened it to reveal various wooden components. Unhurriedly, he assembled these parts until they finally formed a large wooden bird with outstretched wings.

On the back of the large wooden bird was a seat, and in front of the seat was a wooden wheel equipped with a hand crank. Li Wantong straddled the seat on the wooden bird's back and turned the hand crank in front of him. As the wooden wheel rotated, it drove a propeller at the tail of the wooden bird to spin as well. At the bottom of the wooden bird were four small wheels. As the speed of cranking the wheel increased, the propeller began to propel the wooden bird forward in a glide.

After gliding forward for a certain distance, the wooden bird actually lifted off the ground and flew directly toward the top of the city wall.

As luck would have it, just at that moment, a patrol squad had finished passing by that section of the city wall, and the next squad had not yet arrived.

Taking advantage of this gap, Li Wantong piloted the large wooden bird and truly flew right over the city wall.

As it turned out, this wooden bird was known as the Lu Ban Bird. Legend has it that the Lu Ban Bird crafted by Lu Ban back in the day could fly in the sky for days and nights without landing.

This Lu Ban Bird of Li Wantong's was something he had recently acquired in an ancient tomb. In his quest for the art of achieving immortality, he frequently sought out ancient sites and ruins, and had explored quite a few tombs of the ancients. Not long ago, inside an ancient tomb, he discovered this Lu Ban Bird. At first, when he read the description stating that this bird could fly into the sky, he was skeptical. However, when he assembled the Lu Ban Bird according to the instructions and turned the wooden crank, it actually flew up into the air. He was utterly stunned, realizing at once that he had obtained a precious treasure.

When he boasted in the military camp that he could ride the clouds and the mists, this Lu Ban Bird was what he was relying upon.

In an open space inside the city walls, he landed the Lu Ban Bird, took it apart, packed it back into his bundle, and shouldered it.

Dingbian City in the night was quiet and still. On the broad streets, apart from the watchman coming out at the hour marks to strike his wooden clapper, there was not a soul to be seen. Displaying his lightweight Kung Fu, Li Wantong vaulted over walls and skimmed across rooftops, heading toward the garrison camp of the detached forces.

Almost all of the detached forces within the city were stationed in the military camp of Dingbian County. Although the barracks within the county garrison were utterly incapable of accommodating so many soldiers, the troops still pitched tents in the courtyards and open spaces of the drill grounds, and many private residences near the garrison had recently been requisitioned by the imperial army.

The location of the county garrison camp was actually quite easy to find, situated not far from the county magistrate's office. For Li Wantong, who was familiar with the urban layout of this era, finding the military camp was no difficult task.

At the entrance of the garrison camp, there were also two guards on duty. By this time, the two sentries at the gate were growing drowsy, standing at the entrance with their eyelids heavy and barely able to stay open.

Seeing people at the barracks gate, Li Wantong detoured to the outer side of a side wall. The walls of the military camp were by no means as tall and imposing as the city walls. Displaying his lightweight Kung Fu, Li Wantong gave a light leap, landed atop the wall, and vaulted into the courtyard.

The lights inside the barracks quarters were mostly extinguished, and by now, most of the soldiers had drifted into dreamland.

Li Wantong headed straight for the kitchen in the backyard of the garrison. Reaching the kitchen area, he spotted a water well in the courtyard. The inside of the kitchen house was completely empty at this moment.

Li Wantong approached the water well, drew a porcelain bottle containing poison from his bosom, removed the stopper, and scattered the toxic substance into the well. Just at that moment, the door of an adjacent side room suddenly opened, and out stepped a short, stout soldier. The soldier happened to see Li Wantong poisoning the well, shouted at the top of his lungs, "Who are you? What are you doing?" and then bellowed, "Quickly, come here! There is a spy!"

Li Wantong was so startled that he nearly dropped the bottle in his hand straight into the well. He hurriedly turned around to flee, but his path was blocked by the short, stout soldier.

Li Wantong hastily drew his precious sword and thrust it at the short, stout soldier, only to find that this soldier was likewise skilled in martial arts. The soldier nimbly leaped to the side, effortlessly dodging Li Wantong's sword strike, and then raised his fist to punch Li Wantong in the chest.

The short, stout soldier who fought with Li Wantong was none other than Fan Sanpang. As a mess cook responsible for preparing meals for the soldiers in the barracks every day, he had no need to take risks on the front lines. Like the other kitchen staff, he lived in the side rooms right next to the backyard kitchen.

Tonight, it so happened that he had risen in the middle of the night to relieve himself at the latrine. The moment he stepped outside, he saw Li Wantong scattering things into the water well. Knowing that this Taoist-dressed fellow was up to no good, he raised a shout.

Before long, over a dozen soldiers rushed into the backyard. Wielding torches, they surrounded Li Wantong tightly, and soldiers with decent martial prowess stepped forward to assist Fan Sanpang in attacking Li Wantong.

Seeing that the situation was turning unfavorable, Li Wantong wanted to make a quick escape, but the damned fat man before him clung stubbornly and refused to let go. At this moment, he snatched a waist saber from someone's hand and slashed repeatedly at Li Wantong's vital points; had he dodged even a fraction slower, he might well have been injured.

Li Wantong grew extremely anxious. He knew he was in the main camp of the detached forces, and if more people gathered shortly, it would be too late for him to leave.

Hence, he hurled the porcelain bottle in his hand toward the faces of the surrounding soldiers. Instantly, the medicinal powder billowed into a cloud of smoke, enveloping the soldiers' faces. Fan Sanpang retreated repeatedly, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Hold your breath!" He knew that the powder scattered by this Taoist priest was certainly nothing benign.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Li Wantong swiftly leaped out of the encirclement, sprang onto the roof, and fled outside the military camp.

"Go quickly and report this to Magistrate Yang!" Fan Sanpang shouted, then arched his body, leaped onto the eaves, and gave chase in the direction of Li Wantong's flight. Regrettably, Fan Sanpang's lightweight Kung Fu fell far short of Li Wantong's; after chasing only a short distance, he lost sight of Li Wantong entirely.

Personnel from the garrison immediately went to the county office to report the incident to Magistrate Yang. Magistrate Yang promptly issued an order: seal the city gates and dispatch troops throughout the night to search for the spy.

After shaking off Fan Sanpang, Li Wantong ran toward the direction of the city wall. As he ran, however, he sensed something amiss. The previously deserted streets were now swarming with soldiers, and these troops seemed to be searching for something.

Li Wantong knew that these soldiers were undoubtedly looking for him. It seemed impossible to get out of the city for the time being. Although his wooden bird could fly, it required gliding across an open space for a certain distance before it could take off. With soldiers everywhere in the city, where on earth was there a place that would allow him to glide and fly out of the city?

For now, he had no choice but to find a place to hide and avoid being discovered.

With this thought in mind, Li Wantong lowered his body and darted across the rooftops of the city, searching for a place to conceal himself.

Huang Wenlong, Fei Wen, and Little Ding had all received the news by this time. They scrambled out of their beds one after another and came to the military camp to investigate the situation.

When Little Ding arrived at the garrison, he happened to see a physician taking the pulse of several soldiers whose faces had been struck by Li Wantong's toxic powder, the physician's brow deeply furrowed.

By this time, those soldiers had already fallen unconscious, their complexions turned pitch black and their lips deeply purplish.

"They have been poisoned with a deadly venom, and this old man is helpless to save them!" After finishing the pulse check, the physician sighed with resignation.

Seeing Fan Sanpang standing nearby, Little Ding asked, "What on earth happened here?"

Fan Sanpang recounted the events that had just taken place.

"So you mean to say that poison has already been dumped into that water well?" Little Ding asked.

"Most likely. When I came out, I saw that Taoist priest pouring medicinal powder directly into the well," Fan Sanpang replied.

"Notify everyone not to use the water from this well for the time being," Little Ding instructed.

After giving his instructions to Fan Sanpang and the other soldiers, Little Ding pondered inwardly: Who on earth was this poisoning Taoist priest? It seemed that only by capturing this Taoist could the answer be revealed.