Yingqiu within Flat River Territory.
The eldest, second, fourth, and fifth of the Five Birds Brothers stood guard for a day and a night. Even when the sky turned bright, the person they were waiting for did not appear. Their third brother, who had gone to an unknown town to investigate, did not return either.
An ominous feeling began to spread in the hearts of the four of them. None of them said a word and remained silent. Without their third brother, Li Yi, they suddenly realized that they were unsure of what to do next.
At this moment, a man and a horse suddenly appeared on the horizon.
"It's third brother's horse!" Fifth brother, Yi Xun, shouted.
He only mentioned the horse but not the person. The other three's expressions immediately darkened. Eldest Zhang Hong gestured with his hand. The four of them endured and hid according to their previous arrangement.
This was planned by their third brother. Now that his horse was returning, he was nowhere to be seen. Who was the person leading their third brother's horse? Lu Ping? But shouldn't they be a group of four?
A man and a horse walked straight towards the forest where they were lying in ambush. When they got closer, they finally saw that it was not just a man and a horse. There was another person on the horse. The person's face was facing downwards and could not be seen clearly. However, the person's clothing was the same as the four of them.
Fifth brother, Yi Xun, was about to rush out but was stopped by a look from Eldest Zhang Hong. They could basically confirm that the person on the horse was their third brother, Li Yi. They did not know if he was alive or dead. They did not know the person's intentions. The four of them continued to wait for the person to enter their ambush. No matter what, they had to take the initiative first.
But as they got closer, the person's appearance became clearer.
It was not any of Lu Ping's group. The person leading their third brother's horse was Yu Ruo, the lord of Flat River City.
What was going on?
The four of them were confused. They looked at each other but did not say anything. Yu Ruo led the horse forward but stopped about ten steps away from the four's ambush.
"My lords, are you going to ambush me too?" Yu Ruo called out.
The four figures emerged from the forest, but their gazes all fell on the figure that was being carried by the horse.
"My condolences." Yu Ruo said.
Four silhouettes flew out and landed in front of the horse. They surrounded it and saw that it was indeed their third brother, Li Yi, who had been dead for an unknown period of time.
"Who is it?" Zhang Hong roared. The four of them locked their gazes on Yu Ruo.
"I don't know. When I found it, there was only one person and one horse," Yu Ruo said.
"Who discovered it? Where?" Zhang Hong continued to ask.
"East of Yingcheng. A passing merchant found it," Yu Ruo said.
Ying City!
The four of them wished they could grow wings and fly away, but right now, they still needed to obtain more information. The dead couldn't speak, but animals were no different from humans in the eyes of these bionic experts. Killing people but not killing horses was a big mistake by the other party.
However, the expressions of the four quickly changed.
Communicating with animals was one of the tricks of the bionic system. However, their attempts to communicate with the horse were fruitless. All they knew was that it was carrying Li Yi's body and walking aimlessly until it was discovered by someone.
"This horse has been tampered with," Second Brother Yu Gang said in a deep voice.
"The culprit is a bionic expert," Zhang Hong nodded.
"Then it shouldn't be Lu Ping's group?" Fourth Brother Xu Yuan was confused. From the information they had, Lu Ping's group did not possess any bionic techniques. This was also one of the reasons why the Protectorate Nation sent the five of them on this mission.
The four of them looked at Yu Ruo. Yu Ruo did not show any reaction to their judgment of the horse. It was as if he already knew about it.
"From what I know, there are no bionic experts in the state of Chuan Ping," Yu Ruo said to the four of them.
"Governor Yu, please speak your mind," Eldest Brother Zhang Hong said.
"The cause of death is a little strange," Yu Ruo said.
"Cause of death?" Zhang Hong turned to look. The other three were also examining Li Yi's body. They were also confused.
"It's suffocation," Fourth Brother Xu Yuan said.
"There are no injuries, just suffocation," Fifth Brother Yi Xun added.
"It looks like he didn't resist at all, he suffocated to death," Yu Ruo said.
That was indeed strange.
Death by suffocation was a slow process, especially for cultivators. There were too many things that could happen during the process and create too many possibilities. Therefore, whether it was an ambush or a trap, it was unusual for there to be no signs of struggle. No one could figure out what kind of situation it was.
The clues were all cut off. The four of them were relying on Li Yi to make decisions, so they were helpless. In the end, their gazes landed on Yu Ruo.
"Governor Yu, why are you here?" Eldest Brother Zhang Hong asked.
"I received a report and found out it was Sir Li, so I came to deliver it to you personally," Yu Ruo said.
"How did you know we were here?" Zhang Hong asked.
"There are very few things in Chuan Ping that I don't know," Yu Ruo said.
"Then do you know where Lu Ping's group is? Do you know who killed my third brother? "Xu Yuan asked.
"That's why I said there are very few, not none." Yu Ruo was calm.
Seeing that the four of them were speechless, Yu Ruo continued, "I'll leave Sir Li to you. Please decide what to do next. If there's anything you need, please let me know. Chuan Ping District will cooperate fully."
After he finished speaking, he bowed to the four of them, turned around, and leisurely walked back the way he came. The Five Birds Brothers were at a loss. Track down the murderer? Ambush Lu Ping's group? Without Li Yi, the four of them suddenly felt that they had no direction.
"No matter what, we must find the murderer!" Eldest Brother Zhang Hong stood up and expressed his stance. The other three nodded solemnly, but it seemed that such a statement was just empty words.
"Although we brothers have been on bad terms with some people in recent years, we haven't reached a point where we have to fight to the death. At least I haven't. Third Brother is the most stable among the five of us. If he had, he would have told us. What about you guys? Do you have such an enemy? "Zhang Hong looked at the three of them.
"The five of us are of one mind. If we have an enemy, it's a common enemy. We don't have such personal grudges," Fourth Brother Xu Yuan said.
"No."
"No."
The other two also expressed their stance.
"Then it's not hard to figure out the murderer's motive. He might not be Lu Ping's group, but he's definitely related to them. Third Brother was looking for Lu Ping's whereabouts. To cover for Lu Ping's group, the murderer killed Third Brother. This is the only motive I can think of, "Eldest Brother Zhang Hong said.
"That's right!" The other three nodded.
"That's why to avenge Third Brother, this matter still falls on Lu Ping's group," Eldest Brother Zhang Hong said.
"But … they probably won't come here, right?" Fifth Brother Yi Xun said.
One day and one night. Based on their estimation of Lu Ping's group's journey, they should have reached Ying Qiu long ago according to their deduced route. If they had not arrived after so long, they must have changed their route. If the four of them were not waiting for Third Brother Li Yi's news, they would not have waited so foolishly.
"Start from the beginning! Find the whereabouts of Lu Ping's group! "Eldest Brother Zhang Hong ordered.
"Yes!" The other three responded. This time, it was not just the mission that the Empire had given them. They had to find a way to avenge Third Brother Li Yi from Lu Ping's group.
"Let's go!" They led their mounts out of the forest and the four of them mounted their horses. Then, they took one last look at Third Brother Li Yi, who was still on the horse's back, and left just like that.
Bionics focused on the relationship between man and nature. If it was not necessary, they would ignore the corpses and allow the natural environment to destroy them. Third Brother's corpse was found in this manner. Wasn't it because the murderer followed this tradition?
They had to find him!
With this thought, the four of them continued their journey.
Yu Ruo, the Lord of Flat River City, who had parted ways with them, soon appeared outside the Jialing Navy's camp.
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