The night wind howled. Yang Heng's body was burning on the ground, casting a flickering light in the room. The wine in the broken wine jar was still flowing slowly. The hand that had just extinguished the flame was slowly trembling in the darkness. Their gazes met in the air. Even though he had suffered such an injury, the scholar's gaze was still cold and sharp. From the beginning to the end, it had not changed.
"Sometimes, it's like this …" The scholar enunciated each word. "One wrong step and you die."
Yang Yi looked around him. His eldest son was on the verge of death, but he was still being held hostage. There was no news of his family, and his brother had died just like that. He had kidnapped dozens of hostages like this, but he had never encountered something like this. A frail scholar, a frail scholar … That gaze wasn't that of a frail scholar. He had never seen such a ruthless and decisive gaze in the eyes of the most self-proclaimed fugitive. That trembling hand was mixed with that gaze. Not only was this person ruthless to his enemies, he was ruthless to himself as well.
It was as though he had unknowingly kidnapped a little white rabbit and brought it home. In the blink of an eye, that little white rabbit had bared its fangs. Before he could even react, it had wreaked havoc in his home. When he turned around, all he could see was a pool of blood and the little white rabbit's blood-red eyes.
He gritted his teeth, "Erlang — —" This shout resounded through the entire room and reverberated in the night sky. However, there was no reply. A moment later, he shouted again, "His mother — —" His voice passed through, but there was no reply. He smiled with red eyes and shouted the last name, "Dalang — —" He let go of the crossbow in his hand and stared fiercely at Yang Heng's steel knife on the ground.
"I'll chop you into pieces …"
Gritting his teeth, he walked towards the steel knife. At that moment, he saw the steel drill slowly leave his son's throat. Without the hand holding him in place, his son's body staggered. Perhaps it was because of his earlier shout, his son's consciousness seemed to have become a little clearer. In his field of vision, the scholar untied the rope and waved his hand in the air, releasing the rope.
In an instant, his spirit rose to its peak.
The scholar took a step back and suddenly kicked his son's back with all his strength.
The flames flickered. His son staggered as he rushed over. On the other side of the field of vision, the scholar waved his hand and the iron rod was raised into the air.
"Ya —"
"Ahhh —"
As he shouted, the scholar threw the metal rod with all his might. Yang Yi also exerted his strength and charged forward, pulling Dalang to the side. The metal rod flew through the air, leaving a trail of blood on his hand. The scholar closed in in the blink of an eye, brandishing a wine jar in his hand!
Bang!
Yang Yi didn't even try to dodge. The wine jar smashed into the scholar's head. He wiped the wine off the scholar's face, but the scholar was already slammed into a cabinet a few meters away and vomited blood. At this moment, there was only killing intent in his heart. Without the slightest hesitation, he charged forward and punched out.
The scholar's right hand reached behind him.
"One wrong step and you're dead..."
Bam! Yang Yi hesitated for a split second before he punched the air. A gleeful smile flashed across the scholar's face. He bent his back with all his might and ran in the direction of the door. There was no way Yang Yi was going to let him escape. He picked up a cabinet and smashed it at the scholar. The cabinet smashed into the door and the scholar staggered a few steps before turning around. The steel knife on the ground was only a few steps away from him.
The wine jar flew over and smashed into Yang Heng's burning body. The flames dimmed as a result of the wine. The scholar rolled forward because of a piece of the jar. Yang Yi charged forward and covered half the room in the blink of an eye. The scholar was tenacious. He got up with all his might and threw an empty wine jar at Yang Yi. Yang Yi didn't dodge. Instead, he closed the distance between them. He grabbed the scholar's chest with his left hand and swung his right hand behind him.
In his panic, the scholar tried to grab another empty wine jar behind him. However, he missed this time, so he grabbed it a second time! A gust of wind whistled through the air.
"I'll shred —"
Pfft —
His body swayed in that instant, and his fist landed on the other party's shoulder. Even so, the scholar was still knocked down to the ground behind him, falling over a meter away.
"... You."
His furious voice suddenly became softer and reverberated throughout the room. It swayed a few times but couldn't find a place to return to …
Yang Yi's figure froze for a few seconds before he moved. He staggered two steps backward with a dazed look in his eyes. He looked at the scholar on the ground in front of him before turning his head to look at his son on the ground. On top of the burly man's head, the pig iron weight with sharp edges had smashed the top of his skull and was now embedded in it. Blood gushed out from the top of his head and began to drip down to his ears, forehead, every inch of hair, the roots of his ears, and spread to his neck …
The scholar staggered a few times before he grabbed the cabinet beside him with his right hand and climbed up.
The wine jars did not pose a threat to the furious Yang Yi. The empty wine jars were no threat either. Yang Yi's subtle movement behind him had already infuriated him. If he missed, he might have been the one to die. However, this was the only thing he could do in this situation. He had no other choice …
Yang Yi was still swaying on his feet. Ning Yi inhaled deeply and felt the pain. He walked to Yang Heng's corpse coldly and picked up the steel knife. Yang Yi looked over at him and slashed Dalang's neck. Then, he turned his hand and slashed Yang Yi's face.
Blood spurted out.
"You should have killed me immediately..."
After he said that softly, he struck Yang Yi a second and third time. Finally, Yang Yi collapsed to the ground. He stabbed the people in the room a few more times before he staggered backward and leaned against the wall. His body trembled weakly as he muttered, "Ha..."
At this moment, fear and nervousness surged up unreservedly. He had died once, but it didn't mean that he could accept dying again at any time. Fear, panic, and nervousness were still present in him. Even in his previous life, it was rare to encounter such a situation where blood was shed. Scheming and the like was just doing one's best. Most of the time, it was still up to fate. It was almost like walking with the threat of death. Fortunately, he managed to overcome this hurdle in the end. Now, he had some time to rejoice …
He walked through the pool of blood in the room. Then he picked up a wine jar and smashed it on Yang Heng's body. The wine extinguished the flames. Then, he smashed another jar. The light in the room gradually went out …
*****
The light came back on. The oil lamp shone like a bean. Corpses, blood, and a messy room. The figure sat under the light with medicine laid out beside him. He bit one end of the bandage with his teeth and pulled the other end with his right hand. He wrapped it around his left hand.
Unfortunately, he didn't have the time to find out who was behind him.
In that kind of situation, he couldn't do everything. He calmly suppressed everything in his heart. His original goal was only to kill them. If he couldn't hit them, he would at least delay them for a while and then escape. Later on, the brothers' fierceness had indeed exceeded his expectations. Even when he was holding a hostage, they continued to display strong aggressiveness, making it impossible for him to use the hostage as a threat to further inquire about the situation.
It was easier to deal with a threat with clues, but this time, there were no clues at all. Someone was watching him from behind, but he didn't know who it was. This was the most intolerable situation for him.
The pain in his arm, shoulder, and chest continued to spread. He drank a mouthful of wine and stood up to look around the room. Then, he picked up the crossbow and placed it on the table. He pushed the door open and walked out. This was a house by a deserted riverbed. The water below it didn't seem to be deep. A simple wooden walkway led to the riverside. There was a forest by the riverside and a short mountain in the distance. The morning stars twinkled in the sky.
Ning Yi stood there, looking at the distant mountain, the nearby water, the forest in front, and the boat behind him. He pondered for a while.
Then, he walked back.
The door closed and the light dimmed again.
Midnight … How much longer until the ion hour …
*****
It was almost midnight. The farewell banquet at the relay station outside the city gates was coming to an end. Gu Yanzhen said goodbye to a group of good friends. Then, he and his follower, Old Six, headed to a small village nearby.
This time, he didn't plan to bring many attendants to Rao Zhou. Among his several confidants, only Old Six knew the most. The rest of them would probably vaguely guess something, but they would naturally keep it a secret.
He went to the manor to check on the things he needed to bring along. There were a total of three horse carriages. He checked the one in the middle a little bit. After opening the curtain, he saw a large cage inside. It looked like it could be used to hold prisoners.
After looking at it for a while, he nodded indifferently.
"First, I will stay in the house near Shinlinpu for a month, and then I will go to Rao Zhou. After that, I will treat her as if she had gone mad and died."
Then, he went to check the things to be used in Yamcha and the gifts to be given. Although he had just left, most of his thoughts were already on Yamcha and his future plans.
As for the things that had already been decided, there was no need to think too much about it. It was already a trivial matter.
"Let's go, it's almost time. Let's go and see if the Yang Clan brothers have finished their task."
"I think it's okay. The two brothers have never failed before."
"Anything, you have to see it with your own eyes."
Gu Yanzhen shook his head and said, "I don't do things that I take for granted."
Although he said so, there was actually nothing to worry about in his heart. It was just his habit to confirm things. After confirming it, he could consider making a move on Yunzhu. If he failed here, he would capture Yunzhu, and the result would be a big loss of face. He couldn't stand such ridicule the most, just like the slap in the face on the street. As for what would happen next, everything was set in stone. Whether it was a scholar or a distinguished scholar, under the blade, they were all the same. After showing it to that woman, he would no longer have the slightest bit of pity for that woman. After a month … this matter would be completely over. He would go to Yamcha and cut off his heart demon, leaving nothing behind.
Along the way, he discussed with Old Six about Yamcha, who to give gifts to, how much to give, and what to do to win the hearts of the people. Old Six walked in front with a torch. When he approached the top of the mountain, he stopped and looked. There were also torches on the mountain. After three laps to the left and three laps to the right, there was also a response. Then, the torch on the top of the mountain signaled to the rear.
Gu Yanzhen looked at all this. He had been here once before, so he was familiar with it. He had to consider a lot of things. At this time, he just lowered his head and pondered, thinking about his plans for a year and a few years later. Perhaps it would be better to follow Prime Minister Li's path next time. After all, Prime Minister Li was a military officer. If he wanted to throw away his pen and join the army, he should not refuse. Of course, he also had to have outstanding achievements in office. As for Yamcha, he already had a comprehensive plan. During his three years in office, he had the opportunity to make the people's livelihood several times better. He had to be bold and decisive. After three years, the friction and war between the Liajin Empire and the Great Wu Empire would probably rise to the peak. It was impossible to have a result in three years — this was the time for heroes to make contributions.
It was a pity that if it could be three years earlier, if he could have made contributions at this time and catch up with the start of the war this year or next year, it would have been better. However, there was nothing to complain about this kind of thing. The timing was a little bad, so he just had to put in a little more effort … In Tokyo, he used all kinds of methods and wasted time. If he could be promoted in the future, he would come back and clean up this kind of mediocrity.
Passing through the forest path and the bamboo forest by the river, the house on the water in front of him was dimly lit. Old Six walked in front while he lowered his head and followed behind. To be honest, when facing the brothers, he still felt a little unnatural. At this time, thinking about other things made him look more at ease. The wind whimpered and the river gurgled. When approaching the door, something was raised to the highest point, but he tried not to care. The smell of alcohol came from inside. This group of people might be drinking, so one could imagine.
Old Six pushed open the half-closed door. There was a "clang" sound inside, then ping, bang, hiss, the lights went out. He could not figure out what kind of reaction this was.
In the next moment, there was a loud bang, and the plank of the door suddenly shattered not far away from him. A beam whistled out from the inside, straight towards Old Six's face, and then swung back. A second later, the roof of the house in front of him collapsed in front of him. In the huge tremor, the beam pulled the roof down with it.
Old Six fell into the river, which was not too deep. In the riverbed, a few inverted arrows pierced through his chest. Thick blood rippled with the flow of the river and diluted. The bodyguard who was lively a moment ago had become a corpse.
A broken piece of the door splashed on his face and fell into the river. All his thoughts came to an abrupt stop. Gu Yanzhen stood there, stunned for a long time.
The night wind whistled past. Under the starlight, the lonely figure in front of the house could not find a home …
*****
The third leader of "Drafted Son-in-law" appeared. Thanks to the book friend "Brother, you know" for the support ^ _ ^
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