Freeing Baideng

[Meia]

If Ding Yi had found the voice to scream, she would have. She stared in shock at the bunch of villagers who were bent on violence. The lady recoiled towards Shangguan Wei, prepared to run when the boy would lead them.

((Follow the boy. I think we should have some guards follow us, and leave some to hold back the villagers.))

[OneEyedDrgn]

This is damn annoying... was what Zhuwen was thinking as he met up with the other commanders. and was not presented with multiple doors. It seemed from what he saw that all the other commanders had found out, and the people pissed outside definitely indicated that they were the bandits.

He listened to the suggestions, not really caring. For him, he wanted to let all the others take the side and for himself to take the front. Zhuwen would however, try to interject with Ju Li's idea. Leaving the girl alone did not suit him well. But it seemed like she would take no objections, and Zhuwen could only scratch his head as she silenced him. With a sigh, he nodded.

"Alright fine, you win..." Zhuwen said as he moved to take the side. "Yo, whatever your name is, let's go!"

Going through side

[Chou Yu]

To Yu's annoyance, none of the soldiers surrounding them followed the group to the mansion. It seemed like the crowd back there was getting restless and they were needed for crowd control. Nevertheless, Yu did not slow down. The group found themselves in front of the mansion, with two entrances on the side and one in the middle. He listened impatiently as Bai Rui suggested the plan of action. He understood the man's reasoning. It was a plan with everyone's survival in mind. However, Yu shook his head, " I cannot risk anyone slipping away from one of the entrances!" It seemed like Tai Ju Li had the same idea, as she went towards the back door and Liang Zhuweng through the side. Yu cursed. There was no way she would let a woman go in alone. "You two take the entrance!" He told Bai Rui and Pan Shaozu,"Everyone move as fast as you can!"

With that, Yu unsheathed the sword on his side, and followed Tai Ju Li.

Going through the back!

[Marquis Black]

Rui grit his teeth as everyone around him seemed to lose control of their mental faculties. Was there a risk of someone getting away through the back door? Perhaps. Was there even a back door to begin with? They didn't know. What he did know was that there were two clear, available entrances, and the two weakest people in the group, himself excluded, had chosen to bullrush the unknown factor in the equation. If they wanted to make sure the back door, if it existed, was appropriately guarded, then they should've sent one of the two warriors in the group and then taken the side entrance.

He was particularly miffed at how Tai Ju Li was acting, given that she had been one of the military advisors in the group. How could the woman call herself a strategist if she lost control of her emotional balance that easily? Didn't she know how easy she would be to manipulate? And Yan Yu, supposedly a leader of men; could he really ever afford to lose his cool like that? He turned to the remaining warrior, one General Pan Shaozu, and nodded at him. "Come, I shall be depending on you," he told the man honestly and directly. "We must hurry if we want to secure the house before those two manage to get their fool selves killed."

Going through the front entrance

[ShamsTron]

Just wanting to see a familiar face Zheng Nu is scrambling through the town in the direction he heard the shriek. As he is running through the town he notices someone that he thinks he recognizes going into a large mansion. Without taking a second to think it through he darts to the front entrance in hopes he has found an ally.

Zheng Nu enters the front entrance of the mansion.

[BJR]

He turned to the remaining warrior, one General Pan Shaozu, and nodded at him. "Come, I shall be depending on you," he told the man honestly and directly. "We must hurry if we want to secure the house before those two manage to get their fool selves killed."

Going through the front entrance

With a nod, Shaozu follows Rui into the building, weapon drawn...

Following Bai Rui into the mansion, statless axe in hand

[Phailak]

Crowd Control

Disturbances could be heard back from the street as more soldiers arrived in an attempt to control the riot. It was full blown by now, after months of battle outside the walls. Soldiers did not have any clear cut instructions and treated the town folk as hostile.

The boy whistled but continued to lead the duo away.

"I have to confess, I have an ulterior motive to leading you away from the mob."

The boy spoke in hush tones as they emerged onto the next street where people were beginning to make their way towards the commotion.

"I think you guys were thrown into something you had no business being in. My dad was killed in the first melee and I was able to gleam some information from this whole mess. I spied on some of you as you went around the town..."

The kid's voice was sad now, as if to sympathize.

"Things are not what they seem, I don't have the whole picture, but I definitely have certain pieces."

He collapsed to the floor as a crossbow bolt hit him in the shoulder. As luck would have it, it hit him there instead of the heart as he turned to look at them. The would be assassin was only 20 feet away, seeing he missed, he drew his sword. Witnesses fled the scene.

OOC: I need tactics. One of you has to look and bandage the boy. The other needs to duel the assassin who is coming to finish the job. Tactics to Cao Chao for the duel

Mansion

Despite all the care of the groups entering from separate entrances, they all end up pretty quickly into the main hall. There was a total absence of guards, but at the top of the stairs, there was an old man lying in a heap, barely able to look up to see the group as he hushed something while holding his head. The man looked like a beggar more than anything else, which was a strong contrast to the rest. The three exits still blared as possible escape routes when they heard a thump from a room beyond the old man up the stairs. That made the ragged old man stare in that direction with fright in his eyes.

OOC: I need tactics again. This is the situation, from the main hall, only the front entrance is visible. All three exists are accessible by other routes which would make them impossible to cover unless you are at the door. The old man is at the top of a flight of stairs, seemingly injured to the head the way he's caressing it. The noise came from one of the rooms upstairs, from the vantage point of the main hall, you can see at least 4 rooms, doors set in the wall of a balcony that goes all around the main hall. You get one action in your tactics. Something like cover back entrance or 1 question to the old man, or go to room A (where room A is above back entrance, room B in front of staircase, room C towards front entrance, room D almost directly above side entrance. From the noise, best guess (actual roll here on each of you) and from consensus is between room B and C, but A and D are not impossible.

[Marquis Black]

Rui grit his teeth in ongoing frustration. What on earth was wrong with this town?! First, they get conned into serving as some guy's goon squad, then they learn they might've deposed the legitimate magistrate in favour of said initial employer, and now someone sounded like they'd been murdered in the very house that looked to be the residence of the town magistrate! There were too many unknowns, too little information, for Rui's liking. Strategically speaking, they were in the worst possible scenario, and it didn't help that two of those who were supposed to be most level-headed had lost it and were letting their emotions do the talking!

Glaring at said two, Rui tried to stave off his irritation by coming up with another plan. "Can we try to follow some semblance of a plan, this time?" he asked sarcastically. "Whoever's upstairs, it's got that man in a fright. Fortunately, there is now one more of us," he nodded to Zheng Nu as he said this. "Generals," he looked specifically to the combat-oriented of the group, "We'll need you to scour the rooms upstairs; I'll ask the old man which one it is and try to narrow it down for you. General Tai, Yan," his gaze on them was hard and unforgiving. "Do try to honor your professions and keep your emotions in check this time, as you two will need to cover the entrances, in case the intruder decides to jump and run," he told them, before realizing there was one more entrance to cover than there were people. Quickly thinking, he pointed to Pan Shaozu. "General Pan, please guard one of the entrances as well. If the intruder does try to jump down from the second floor, capture him."

His plan laid out, Rui went up the stairs towards the old man, where he kneeled down before him and, grabbing the man by the sides of his head, forced him to look at him in the eyes. "Old man, I need answers," he said. "Which room is the person in?" he asked, taking great care to keep his stare on the man's eyes. The tiniest flick in a particular direction would tell him what he needed to know.

(Rui has questioned the old man!)

[BJR]

Shaozu watched the situation unfold, his eyes darting in the general direction of the noise. He heard Rui speak up, forming a plan. He listened intently and followed what sounded like the best plan for the situation...

"Alright, I'll take the back door. If either of you see or hear any sign of trouble, yell, and I will come to your aid." He said to the two covering the other entrances.

Shaozu covers the back entrance!

[Meia]

Seeing the boy collapse in front of her, Ding Yi's immediate reaction was one to help him. Kneeling beside the boy, she quickly removed the sash used to tie her hair, her eyes fixed on the blood seeping into boy's clothing from the wound. She was aware that danger was close by. "He comes!" she shouted with urgency, her brows furrowed as she stared at the unsheathed blade of the oncoming killer.

With Shangguan Wei to deal with the assassin, Ding Yi turned her attention back to the boy. "You need to hold still." she said to him in hurried whisper, "Try to breathe calmly or you will lose blood faster." She layed him straight on the ground, then lifted his shoulder as lightly as she could, proceeding to bandage the wound.

Ding Yi will tend to the boy