The Waterway Gang chose Ba Shang Pier as the location for negotiations because they had made thorough preparations beforehand. None of the negotiators from either side carried any weapons, and three lines of defense were set up around the pier and the perimeter of the pier. The armed warriors from both sides stood guard together, preventing unrelated people from approaching.
However, even the tightest line of defense was meant to be broken through. Those people dressed in ash-gray robes, wearing dog skin hats that covered their heads and faces, had already broken through the first line of defense and were currently approaching the pier step by step.
Six armed warriors were patrolling an area that was a hundred zhang wide. This area was not a spacious and empty piece of land. There were temporary stacks of all sizes built on the pier. During the busy period of the water transportation, large amounts of goods that couldn't be sorted out, stored, or transported in time would be temporarily unloaded and piled up here.
Right now, even though the stacks were empty, the wooden raft-like walls that were half the height of a person provided excellent concealment. The group of people who were quietly approaching were hiding under the wooden rafts, and no one discovered them. The six people patrolling the pier belonged to the Eastern and Western Alliances, with three people from each alliance.
They pressed down on their sabers, unhurriedly walking past each other. The way they looked at each other was somewhat unkind, even somewhat provocative. The people hiding behind the stacks couldn't go any further. If they went any further, there would be an open area that was several dozen steps long. It was impossible to avoid the patrolling warriors from both sides.
They hid behind the stacks, took out a pitch-black weapon from under their spacious robes, and lightly placed it on the wooden raft. Then, they slowly pulled out an arrow from their boots. Unexpectedly, what they were holding were crossbows, military crossbows that could penetrate heavy armor within a hundred steps.
The shaft of the arrow was made of birch wood, two feet and four inches long. The shaft was decorated with black peach skin, and the tail was made of black eagle feathers. The sharp iron shaft was nearly six centimeters long. The string of the crossbow was noiselessly pulled back, and the terrifyingly sharp arrow was slowly nocked.
"Kill!"
Once the order was given, the six patrolling men didn't even see the shadows of the arrows clearly before the arrows accurately penetrated their vitals. Like rain hitting a withered lotus, the six men fell to the ground. Almost at the same time, the people hidden behind the wooden raft rushed out, drew their sabers, and ended the lives of two of the heavily injured men who weren't dead yet.
There was no gap in the entire attack. Shooting, abandoning the crossbow, dashing forward, unsheathing the sword, and stabbing. The whole process was seamless and flawless. Although the two dying people let out a cry of pain, their cries were not loud due to their heavy injuries. Furthermore, their lives were quickly ended, so it did not attract the attention of others.
The corpses were either lying or lying on the ground on the snowy ground. Other than the two who had been stabbed once, the other four had almost no blood on their bodies. The crossbow bolts had pierced deeply into their throats and came out from the back of their necks. Only the places where the bolts had pierced through their necks did a few drops of blood splash out.
A young lady walked out from behind the raft. She was seventeen or eighteen years old and had a slender figure. Her thin lips were tightly pursed, and her pair of phoenix tail almond-shaped eyes were fiercely slanted, revealing a fierce murderous aura. It was Wei Xiaoxiao, the daughter of the Heavenly Eagle Gang's leader, Wei Yongtang.
Wei Xiaoxiao didn't even look at the corpses on the ground. She only said in a low voice, "Let's go!"
The corpses were quickly dragged behind an obstacle. The bloodstains on the ground could be easily covered with some snow. The group of people took their crossbows and quietly moved forward again.
The leader of the Heavenly Eagle Gang, Wei Yongtang, was dead. When the two sides sent assassins to assassinate the other side's leader, he was seriously injured. Before his injury had recovered, he was dragged away by the yamen runners and thrown into prison. Wei Yongtang was angry and afraid. His injury worsened, and no one knew if he had been tortured during the trial in prison. In the end, he died.
Although Wei Xiaoyou resented Wenbin's womanizing, it was not easy to find a man of equal status and pleasing to the eye in a place like Ba. It was common for men to womanize outside. After her anger subsided, her hatred also faded. She didn't want to give up her fiancé just like that.
Unfortunately, she could no longer save Wenbin. Wenbin had been sentenced to death by Chen Dong of the Ministry of Justice. Now her fiancé was about to die, her father was also dead, and Wei Xiaoxiao's family was almost ruined. The Eastern and Western Alliances were actually going to reconcile! Her father was dead, and her fiancé was also about to die, but no one asked her if she agreed to reconcile.
She didn't agree! The righteous Jianghu brothers of the Western Alliance didn't seek justice for her. She would seek justice herself! She knew she was alone. After her father's death, she couldn't even command the gang. She couldn't take revenge on her own. So she spent all her money and hired a few killers from far away Long.
These killers were good at using crossbows. Crossbows were strictly controlled by the imperial court. Even soldiers were not allowed to use them from the armory when there was no war. Once discovered, the private possession of armors, crossbows, and long weapons among the common people would be regarded as rebellion. Even so, there were still many people who kept illegal weapons. Lu Binzhi had once used a sleeve crossbow to threaten Yang Fan. In recent years, the northwest region was not peaceful. Wars broke out frequently, and crossbows were easy to lose.
Once a woman was filled with hatred, she would lose all reason. Exterminating the entire clan was meaningless to Wei Xiaoxiao. After the assassination, the two sides fell into a fierce battle again. She didn't care about how the tens of thousands of people in Ba would live. Her fiancé was killed by Dugu Wentao, the helmsman of the Caokou of the School of Shun, and her father was killed by the girl surnamed Gu, the helmsman of the Caoquan of the School of Shun.
On the pier, Li Hei said to Shu Zixuan, the helmsman of Cao Quan, "Helmsman Shu, the matter of the leaders of our two gangs is now an official matter. It's not up to you or me to decide. In this situation, we must first reach an agreement and let everyone go to Yangzhou to start this year's transportation. "
Shu Zixuan said, "That's right! But you won't budge an inch. How can we continue? Don't tell me we don't need to mention our great losses? We have hundreds of people injured. Who should we find to settle this debt? "
Li Hei said, "You have people injured. Don't tell me we don't? What's more, we have the upper hand! Don't tell me you want to put aside all disputes and follow the same rules as in previous years? Even if I agree, will the other gang leaders agree? Even if we agree, will our tens of thousands of brothers agree? Helmsman Shu, I don't want to see any more fights to the death on the transportation road. If that happens, the boat will capsize and the boat will capsize. Who can bear that kind of loss? "
Shu Zixuan laughed coldly and said, "Are you threatening me?"
Li Hei said coldly, "If you think I'm threatening you, I think there's no need for us to continue talking."
Yang Fan, who was disguised as a rugged man with a curly beard, stood there with his hands behind his back. He listened to the two of them bickering and was not moved at all. He knew that even though Li Hei was still speaking tough, he was just putting on an act. Today, he would definitely make some concessions and finally reach an agreement.
Even though Yang Fan's move was on Ba, which caused a huge earthquake in Chang 'an's officialdom, the main battlefield of the struggle had already shifted to the city. The dispute on Ba was no longer that important. Yang Fan did not want these Jianghu heroes to suffer a great loss. After all, the transportation still depended on them.
Yang Fan looked at the sky and thought to himself, "The banquet by the Quchi River should have ended …"
Chen Dong and Hu Yuanli deliberately did not attend the banquet to infuriate the various forces in Chang 'an and cause the two sides to be unable to reconcile. This was Yang Fan's real purpose. As long as the two forces in Chang' an entered the stage of a life-and-death battle, the reconciliation of the Ba Shang Cao Gang would be irrelevant.
Even though Zheng Yu vaguely felt that Yang Fan, who was hiding behind the scenes, seemed to play a great role in this, he did not think that Yang Fan could be the mastermind. Otherwise, he would not have mistaken Chen Dong and Hu Yuanli as the main culprits of the series of conflicts and invited them to the banquet. He even found the wrong person in charge, so how could the mediation succeed?
Zheng Yu originally thought that he had integrated the aristocratic families, nobles, officials and celebrities in Chang 'an to forge a Heavenly Weapon, which was enough to fight against Chen Dong and Hu Yuanli's Sword of the Emperor. But he failed. Now Wei Xiaoxiao was trying the same thing. The difference was that one of them was intentional, while the other was unintentional. The intentional one failed, but what about the unintentional one? Sometimes, national affairs only required the anger of a common man!
There were some goods piled up on the dock. The transport boats had to sail from here back to Yangzhou. Naturally, they could not travel empty-handed. There were already some goods consigned by merchants piled up on the dock. Because the Ba Shang Cao Gang had been delayed, there was a lot of goods piled up. So Wei Xiaoxiao led a few crossbowmen and quietly climbed up a pile of goods, looking down at the dock from above. Still, no one noticed.
Of the three layers of defense, only the outermost and the innermost layer of defense were really tight. The outermost layer of defense was for the outside world, and the innermost layer of defense was actually to prevent the two sides from fighting. The people in the middle were only patrolling the layers of obstacles to prevent people from hiding.
Now Wei Xiaoxiao approached from the area guarded by the Western Alliance's guards, and suddenly killed them. Along the way, she also took out a few more hidden posts. Now she was close to the two sides of the negotiation. Although the third layer of guards was patrolling ahead, they did not need to break through.
The crossbows in their hands could directly kill the people on the dock from here. The patrolling guards on the dock did not expect that someone would silently approach here and use a long-range weapon to kill the target. Their attention was focused on the leaders of the two sides.
The assassin hid himself and glanced at the Wei River not far away. They were all good swimmers and could immediately dive into the river to escape after they succeeded. Although the spring was cold and the water was bone-chilling, the bounty offered by this client was too generous. They could wash their hands of the business after this deal was done. It was worth it!
Wei Xiaoyou's eyes were red. It took her a long time to steady her trembling fingers. She glared at Gu Zhuting, and said through gritted teeth, "Shoot them! That man in cyan, and that woman in white … that bitch! "
"Just those two?" The leader of the assassins smiled coldly, his eyes locked on the two Wei Xiaoyou pointed at. "Tsk tsk tsk, and a great beauty. It'd be a shame to kill her."
"Cut the crap! Kill her! I want her dead. She must die! "Wei Xiaoyou's voice was very low, but there was a hint of madness in it.
The leader of the assassins glanced at her, and said slowly, "Don't worry. I, Yan Suzhuan, have the nickname 'Living Hades'. Do you think it's for nothing? With my reputation, she must die today! "
As Yan Suzhuan spoke, he slowly pulled out a crossbow from his boot, and placed it on the notch. The crossbow string was slowly tightened. "After this deal, we brothers can wash our hands of the business. Be alert, we must hit the target in one shot! Crow, Great Immortal, porter, the three of you kill the man. Be polite, don't be annoying, the two of you follow me to kill the woman! "
A few quiet replies came from all directions. Yan Suzhuan put his eyes on the 'mountain gazing' of the crossbow, and the sharp arrowhead was aimed at Gu Zhuting's throat. Just as the word 'kill' was about to come out of his mouth, his lips suddenly curled into a devilish smile. The crossbow moved slightly, and the arrowhead was aimed at the girl's voluptuous breasts.
The jet-black, sharp arrowhead pierced through the tender, red, freshly peeled chicken head and pierced straight into the soft, jade-like chest, piercing through the beating heart. Thinking of that scene, Yan Suzhuan suddenly felt an inexplicable excitement. He took a deep breath, and said in a low voice, "Shoot!"
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