Chapter 370: Chapter 370: Four-way Movement
Chapter 370: Four-way Movement
At dusk, the setting sun was like blood.
Xu Qi'an saw a rich feast in front of him. Sitting at the table were an old lady with a gentle temperament, a young man, a pretty woman, and two children of different ages.
They were Zheng Xinghuai's family... I am now looking back at his memories from Zheng Xinghuai's first perspective... Xu Qi'an, who had empathy once, immediately came to an understanding.
He listened quietly to Zheng Xinghuai scolding his son.
Zheng Xinghuai had two sons. The eldest son went into officialdom. Thanks to Zheng Xinghuai's teaching, he had a very good reputation and a promising future.
The second son was a playboy disciple who spent all day fighting and doing nothing.
Because Zheng Xinghuai's family education was very strict, the second son did not dare to do anything to bully men and women, and he couldn't even be a playboy.
A useless waste.
Today, the second son of Zheng was drinking in a brothel and had a conflict with an officer, and was beaten up by him.
Zheng Xinghuai scolded his second son, speaking harshly.
The second son of Zheng was not convinced and said aggrievedly: "Dad, I just went to the brothel. It was that man who took the initiative to cause trouble, not me. What's wrong with me?"
Yes, what's wrong with visiting a brothel? Xu Qi'an spoke up for the second son of Zheng. "Father, I want to go back to my mother's house. My father's 60th birthday is next month." At this time, the daughter-in-law spoke.
Before Zheng Xinghuai spoke, the second son waved his hands and said, "Are you crazy? Recently, the barbarians outside are making a lot of trouble, and Chuzhou City is so close to the border. What if you go out of the city recklessly and encounter barbarian cavalry on the way?"
He showed fear on his face and scolded his wife who didn't know how to live or die.
Zheng Xinghuai said angrily: "You cowardly thing, how could I give birth to a waste like you."
Xu Qi'an couldn't see Zheng Xinghuai's face, but in the state of empathy, he could feel Zheng Xinghuai's anger.
He was disappointed and helpless with his second son. He felt that he was useless and could not even compare to his eldest son.
At this time, a man in light armor rushed into the inner hall in a panic. He was carrying an ox- horn bow and a long sword on his waist. It was Li Han.
Li Han said repeatedly: "Sir, the troops of the guards suddenly entered the city for some reason and gathered the people. I don't know what they are going to do."
Zheng Xinghuai was surprised and asked in confusion: "The guards gathered the people? Where did they gather and who led the army?"
Gathering the people and massacre? Xu Qian'an's heart trembled, and he was alert. Then he heard Li Han say:
"The people were gathered in the four directions of southeast, northwest, and northeast. The commander-in-chief, the Duke of the State, Que Yongxiu, led the army. He should be in the south city now."
Zheng Xinghuai put down his chopsticks, stood up and said: "Prepare the horse, I will take a look. Inform Mr. Zhu to go with me."
Immediately, Zheng Xinghuai took the "guest" in the mansion and rode towards the south city. Along the way, he saw the soldiers of the guards escorting the people and forming a team. He didn't know where they were going.
"Stop, what are you going to do?" Zheng Xinghuai shouted to stop.
The soldiers in armor looked at him coldly without saying a word.
Zheng Xinghuai asked again, but still no one answered.
He had an ominous premonition in his heart, and did not continue to entangle with the lower-level soldiers. He whipped the horse whip and ran wildly along the street towards the south city.
Following the soldiers along the way, Zheng Xinghuai soon arrived at the destination. He saw a sea of people, roughly estimated to be more than 100,000 people.
There were common people, merchants, and even clerks in the government office. This group of people were gathered in a wasteland in the south city, rubbing shoulders with each other. Thousands of soldiers wearing armor and holding sharp weapons, some carrying hard bows, and some hanging crossbows, surrounded this group of people.
Zheng Xinghuai swept his eyes and locked onto the commander-in-chief Que Yongxiu who was riding high on the horse, and the dozen spies wrapped in black robes around him.
The spy of the King of Zhenbei... Zheng Xinghuai narrowed his eyes and shouted in a deep voice: "Duke of the Protectorate, what are you doing?"
"Governor Zheng, you are here just in time." Que Yongxiu looked at him coldly with his one eye, and said: "Sir Zheng, the barbarians have repeatedly invaded the border, burning, killing and looting. Do you know why?"
Zheng Xinghuai didn't understand why he asked this question, and frowned: "What does this have to do with your gathering of the people?"
Que Yongxiu pointed his spear at hundreds of thousands of people and laughed:
"Of course it has something to do with it. As a citizen of Dafeng, I should devote myself to the stability of Dafeng's border and die for it. I will shed my blood for the prosperity of Dafeng. Governor Zheng, do you think what I said makes sense?"
"It's inexplicable..."
Zheng Xinghuai was about to scold, but suddenly saw Que Yongxiu kick his horse's belly and charge towards the people.
"Puff!"
He thrust his spear into the chest of a civilian, lifted him up high, blood splashed out, and the man on the tip of the spear struggled painfully for a few times, and his limbs drooped weakly.
The scene was in chaos in an instant, and the people around screamed, while the people farther away did not see this bloody scene and were still at a loss.
Zheng Xinghuai's eyes were bloodshot: "Que Yongxiu, you dare to kill civilians indiscriminately, are you crazy?"
The massacre is about to begin......Xu Qian'an already knew the next plot, and through empathy, he deeply understood Zheng Xinghuai's surprise and anger at this time.
"Don't worry, Lord Zheng, it's your turn soon." Que Yongxiu shook his hand to get rid of the
corpse on the tip of the spear, and waved his hand: "Shoot!"
Thousands of soldiers bent their bows together and aimed at the innocent people who had
gathered.
"Swish, swish, swish..."
The overwhelming arrows shot out, dense as locusts, like a rainstorm.
Each arrow would take away a life. People fell to the ground after being shot, crying desperately, and their lives were worthless. This included the elderly and children.
Those who had escaped the first wave of arrows began to flee, but what awaited them was the butcher knives of the elite soldiers. As soldiers of Dafeng, they killed the people of Dafeng
without mercy.
"Help, help..."
"Don't kill me, don't kill me."
The people panicked and knelt down to beg for mercy. They couldn't understand why the army of Dafeng wanted to kill them. Why didn't these soldiers guarding the border kill the barbarians, but waved their knives at them.
Puff...
The knives fell, people fell to the ground, and blood splattered.
The soldiers did not have any mercy because they begged for mercy and knelt down.
"Assholes, what are you doing? I am a student of the prefectural school, a scholar with a good reputation. You slaughtered innocent people, which is a heinous crime..."
A scholar in a blue Confucian robe turned pale, but bravely stood up in front of the people and shouted at the soldiers.
Not far away, a sergeant drew out his sword with a "clang" sound and stabbed it into the
scholar's chest fiercely.
Warm blood flowed along the blade, and the scholar stared at him, staring at him...
Xu Qian'an felt his soul trembling, not knowing whether it came from himself or Zheng
Xinghuai, probably both.
"Kill everyone, leave no one alive." Que Yongxiu raised his spear and shouted.
No one alive, of course, including Zheng Buzhengshi who was present. Several spies drew their weapons and rushed towards Zheng Buzhengshi aggressively.
The guest official surnamed Zhu lowered his waist and hips, and his fist ignited a transparent flame-like aura, twisting the air and striking out suddenly.
A black-robed spy did not retreat but advanced, his five fingers like claws, deterring the whistling fist force, and with a fierce tear, the fist force dissipated into a hurricane.
"My lord, hurry up.'
11
The guest official surnamed Zhu stayed behind to cover the rear, and the other guards took
Zheng Xinghuai to escape to the Zheng Mansion.
The horse galloped away, and Zheng Xinghuai looked back for the last time, seeing thousands
of soldiers bending their bows and shooting, arrows piercing the bodies of the people; seeing soldiers waving their sabers and beheading a mother who was fleeing with her child; seeing Que Yongxiu sitting high on the horse, watching all this with one eye indifferently.
Life is like grass.
Beast... Xu Qian'an heard the voice in his heart, and couldn't tell whether it was his own, Li
Miaozhen's, or Zheng Xinghuai's.
The soldiers along the way ignored them, mechanically and numbly repeating the work of escorting the people, driving them to the designated location.
Zheng Xinghuai knew what fate these people would face, and ordered the guards to rescue
them several times, but the guards refused and escorted Zheng Xinghuai back to the mansion.
"I will gather the guards in the mansion, you quickly go and inform the madam and the young
masters, leave the city immediately, we will kill them." Li Han, who was carrying an ox horn bow, shouted.
Soon, the guards in the mansion gathered in the front yard. Except for weapons and armor, they did not carry any valuables.
"Dad, Dad... What's wrong? Did the barbarians break in?"
The second son of Zheng ran out with his female relatives, his face pale and fear flowing in his
eyes.
"The soldiers in the city mutinied and massacred the people. We are also among them. Let's get out of the city quickly." Zheng Xinghuai said briefly.
Until this time, Zheng Xinghuai was confused. He didn't know why Que Yongxiu and the King
of Zhenbei gathered the people to slaughter, and for what purpose they committed such
atrocities.
But after half a lifetime of ups and downs in the officialdom, he knew that this was not the time to explore the truth. The best plan now was to leave Chuzhou City and get out of danger. The second son of Zheng swayed and almost couldn't stand. It was his wife who helped him.
Everyone had long been accustomed to the cowardly look of the second son of Zheng, including Zheng Xinghuai himself.
Under the protection of the guards, the women and children entered the carriage, and everyone rode their horses and galloped towards the city gate.
"They are chasing us." Li Han, who was carrying an ox horn bow, shouted. Several black-robed spies chased after them. Their speed was much faster than that of horses.
Li Han turned around and pulled out a powerful full bow. With a bang, the arrows whistled
away.
The spies were not weak hands. They dodged arrows one by one and killed them in an instant. They swung long swords from the sky and slashed at the carriage.
"Protect the lady."
Wei Youlong, who was wearing a purple robe, swung his machete in the opposite direction,
blocking the spy's blade. His aura exploded, and the carriage made a creaking sound as if it was about to fall apart.
The two sides fought and ran, and soon arrived at the city gate.
In front, hundreds of soldiers in armor and sharp weapons were waiting early, and on the city
wall, more soldiers were waiting.
The commander-in-chief, the Duke of the Protectorate, Que Yongxiu, sat high on the horseback, looking at the people trying to escape the city, with a sneer on his face: "Sir Zheng,
you can't escape.
"There are not only elite soldiers on the city wall, but also top-level masters carefully trained by the King of Zhenbei. No one can escape."
They can't escape. Once the city gates are closed, there are large armies and experts guarding
from above. Even the barbarian army may not be able to attack... Xu Qian'an's heart sank.
He was in the situation, and his heart was extremely tormented and anxious. Reason told him that the people of the Zheng family could not escape...
Zheng Buzheng pulled the reins and shouted, "Que Yongxiu, what do you want to do? Are you going to rebel?"
Que Yongxiu grinned, "You ants, why do you need to rebel?"
His one eye flashed with murderous light, he was cruel and indifferent, he raised his spear and
shouted, "Kill!"
There are wolves in front and tigers behind, and the situation becomes critical in an instant. The guards try their best to protect Zheng Buzhengshi and his family, but between life and
death, they have to do their best, how can they take care of so many ordinary people who are powerless.
After a round of charge, the carriage overturned, and the women were hacked to death. Que Yongxiu handed over the spear, picked up Zheng Xinghuai's grandson, and laughed wildly: "Sir Zheng, you claim to be an honest official and a celebrity, and you don't tolerate any sand
in your eyes. Last year, you ignored the face of King Huai and investigated the military land case strictly. You killed three of my capable subordinates on the grounds of occupying military land. Have you ever thought that this day would come?
"I killed your descendants as a courtesy, take it."
He shook his hand and threw the child's body to Zheng Buzhengshi, but this was a cover.
When Zheng Xinghuai subconsciously reached out to take it, Que Yongxiu threw the spear. The spear pierced through the body and nailed the man to the ground.
But it was not Zheng Xinghuai who died, but that cowardly and cowardly dandy.
The second son of Zheng, this cowardly dandy, raised his pale face and choked, "Dad, I'm in
so much pain, I, I'm so scared..."
He was still that useless dandy, who had already started a family and a career, but still cried to
his father. But this useless and cowardly dandy pushed his father away at the critical moment and blocked the spear with his body without blinking.
He was afraid of his father, he was submissive, but in his heart, his father should be the sky
above his head, more important than anything else.
Xu Qian'an suddenly felt tears blurring his vision, his eyes burning, he subconsciously wanted
to reach out and wipe away his tears, then he thought that he was just a bystander, the one who really shed tears was Zheng Xinghuai.
Empathy ended here, the picture was fragmented, and the last thing that Xu Qian'an saw was Que Yongxiu's hideous smile.
He suddenly woke up and opened his eyes. He heard Zheng Xinghuai crying loudly. The clear
memory of the tragic death of his family made Zheng Buzheng emotionally collapsed and empathy ended early.
The crying went from fierce and high-pitched to low and whimpering. After a long time,
Zheng Xinghuai wiped his tears carefully with his sleeves, his eyes red, and bowed his hands and said:
"I lost my composure."
"Sorry."
Xu Qi'an clasped his fists in return, exhaled a long breath, and said: "What happened next?"
Li Han, who was carrying a hard bow, said in a deep voice: "We sacrificed two fourth-rank
soldiers to fight out of the city, and then we have been hiding from place to place, secretly contacting chivalrous people, trying to expose the conspiracy of the King of Zhenbei."
So, except for Zheng Xinghuai, his family members died in Chuzhou City...Xu Qi'an glanced at
everyone and whispered: "I'll go out and calm down."
The air here is extremely dull, and the carbon dioxide produced by the bonfire makes people
extremely uncomfortable. Xu Qi'an actually feels a little chest tightness. Ignoring everyone's expressions, he turned around and walked to the cave entrance, pushed aside the branches that blocked his view, and walked out.
He stood in the valley, breathing the slightly cool air, and then he realized that the chest
tightness had nothing to do with the air, but was caused by the difficulty in calming down, breathing hard, and feeling uncomfortable. Soft footsteps came from behind.
"I'm going to Chuzhou City." Li Miaozhen whispered.
Great hatred is silent, and there is no joy or anger on her calm face, and her eyes are full of
determination.
"We need to go to Chuzhou City to have a look. Anger will only overwhelm reason. Before we
go, let's sort out our thoughts and revisit the bloody massacre of three thousand miles." Xu
Qian'an broke off a dead branch, bit it in his mouth, and said:
"The King of Zhenbei massacred the city in order to refine his blood essence and impact the second grade, but refining blood essence takes time, so he chose to massacre Chuzhou City and concealed it from everyone with the inertia of thinking under the lamp.
"I intercepted the King of Zhenbei's spy before and summoned his soul to ask about the
situation. The spy didn't know the place where the King of Zhenbei massacred the people, but from the recollections of Zheng Buzhengshi, there were many soldiers and spies who participated in the massacre."
Li Miaozhen frowned and said, "You mean, those soldiers and spies are very likely to have
their memories modified."
Xu Qian'an nodded: "It is also possible that they don't know what they have done. In any case,
it is not something that a warrior can do. Therefore, the King of Zhenbei has helpers, and the
top masters of other systems are helping him.
"That strong man even has the ability to restore Chuzhou City to its "original state", but I'm
not sure which system it is. The northern border has been infiltrated by many barbarians, and they are all investigating this matter. The King of Zhenbei must know about it. He either stopped refining the blood essence or was confident. In this way, it is difficult for us to do
anything with our strength.
"Miaozhen, I need you to pass the message to the barbarians and the demons." Li Miaozhen nodded. She can fly with a sword, which is very suitable for passing messages.
Xu Qi'an met her gaze and said, "I will protect Lord Zheng here, and wait for you to come back
and go to Chuzhou City together."
Li Miaozhen breathed a sigh of relief: "Be sure to wait for me."
"There is no time to lose, go quickly."
"Okay."
Li Miaozhen summoned the flying sword, jumped onto the sword ridge, and she stood in the
air.
Xu Qi'an returned to the mountain cave, and Zheng Buzhengshi and others looked at him. He
said in a deep voice: "Lord Zheng, everyone, you wait for my news here."
Zheng Buzhengshi seemed to have noticed something and asked hurriedly, "What are you
going to do?"
"Go to Chuzhou to investigate a case."
This is understandable, and Zheng Buzhengshi and others nodded slightly.
Xu Qian'an glanced at them and said, "Several chivalrous men have protected Lord Zheng and
never left him. I admire you. There are heroes like you in the world, which makes people feel
interesting and yearning.
"Xu promises you that he will severely punish the murderer and give justice to the people of
Chuzhou."
Zheng Xinghuai stood up and bowed: "In this way, I will die without regrets."
Li Han and others bowed: "No regrets in death."
In the early morning, Xu Qian'an came to a small county town and found the best inn there.
After paying the silver and asking the waiter for a bucket of water, Xu Qian'an closed the door,
took out the fragments of the earth book, shook his hand, and the sleeping princess rolled onto the soft bed.
"Wake up..."
Xu Qi'an patted her face gently, and suddenly remembered that this woman had been drugged by him, so he immediately sent a gas delivery machine to force her to wake up. The princess murmured and opened her eyes, and her dilated pupils slowly regained focus.
She looked at Xu Qi'an blankly for a few seconds, and her face suddenly froze, and she shrank
to the foot of the bed like a little rabbit.
While examining herself, she turned her head and looked around, shouting: "You, you, what did you do to me?!"
Her eyes were wide and round, and she made a fierce gesture, but she gave people a feeling of
being fierce on the outside but weak on the inside.
Xu Qi'an wanted to laugh when he saw her, and his heart unconsciously calmed down. He
shrugged and said: "I didn't do anything to you, I just let you sleep." "I don't believe it. You knocked me out, so you must have bad intentions towards me." She
said
angrily. You are at least a young woman. Can't you tell whether the child's bedroom was broken into
by criminals? Xu Qi'an complained in his heart and said lightly:
"I'll go out for a while. Check it yourself."
He waited at the door for a while until the young woman Princess's delicate voice came from
inside: "Xu?"
Xu Qi'an pushed the door open and walked in.
The Princess sat at the dressing table combing her hair. She turned her head and glared at him
with her peripheral vision, "Why did you knock me out if you have nothing to do?" She continued to stare at herself in the mirror and concentrate on combing her hair. It seems that she has confirmed that she is still a whole melon, and her anger has subsided a
lot.
Xu Qi'an picked up the wooden barrel, poured water into the copper basin, and then added a bottle of red potion. He buried his whole face in it and kept rubbing it. quarter of an hour later, Xu Qi'an's face was hot, and when he raised his face again, he
About a
was a different person.
This man is so handsome that he shocked the party and embarrassed Louis Koo. He is the
most handsome man in the world... Xu Qi'an thinks so.
He pushed the princess away and looked at the familiar face in the mirror, lost in thought.
After a while, he murmured: "Long time no see..."
The princess looked at him and nodded slowly: "Who are you in disguise? This ordinary look
is very suitable for lurking."
After saying that, she saw Xu Qi'an glanced at her with murderous intent.
What do you know about handsome? Xu Qi'an didn't look at the princess who had walked
around in hell, and said lightly: "I went to investigate the case, it is not convenient to take
you with me, so I resorted to this last resort."
After a pause, he said in a deep voice: "The King of Zhenbei slaughtered Chuzhou City."
Click!
The comb fell to the ground, and the princess came back to her senses. Her face was intertwined with horror and grief. She unconsciously lowered her voice: "Chu, Chuzhou City?"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
No matter who it was, they didn't believe the news at first.
The princess was no exception.
Xu Qiyan briefly described Zheng Xinghuai's story.
The princess murmured: "Although I don't like him, and I hate that the two brothers treat me
as a commodity, I still admire him in my heart. He is the first martial artist in Dafeng, with
great talent and strategy, and has guarded the border for the people of Dafeng for more than
ten years......
"I was wrong, he is a selfish person. He guarded the border not for the people, but simply
because Dafeng is their home and outsiders are not allowed to plunder. "Similarly, in their eyes, the people are also objects, which can be traded and sacrificed. When
he needs them, they can be sacrificed without hesitation." She knew that the King of Zhenbei slaughtered the people, but when she heard Xu Qiyan
mention the process of the massacre, she couldn't help herself for a while. The atrocities committed by the King of Zhenbei are unforgivable, and the Duke of Huguo,
Que Yongxiu, should be cut into pieces. However, he is a third-rank warrior and a prince of
Dafeng. Who can punish him?
Who can make him confess his crime and be punished? At this time, she heard Xu Qiyan say, "I'm going to leave for a few days. You stay in the inn
and don't go anywhere."
As he said that, Xu Qiyan put the fragments of the Earth Book on the table, "Please keep it for
me
for a few days."
Once the monk Shenshu lets go, all the items on his body will be at risk of being lost,
including clothes.
The fragments of the Earth Book are of great importance. He didn't want the princess to see it.
The best plan was to give it to Li Miaozhen, but the princess was still sleeping in it. She was
not an object and could not stay in the Earth Book forever. In order to prevent the first beauty of Dafeng from dying of starvation, he could only resort to
this last resort. Fortunately, the princess was a silly girl and had no knowledge. The fragments
of the Earth Book might just be a small mirror with rough handwork to her. The princess did not look at the jade mirror, but stared at him: "Where are you going?"
At this moment, Xu Qi'an's mind flashed with the people who fell like grass, the scholar who
was stabbed in the chest, the mother and child who fled with their children but were killed,
the young child who was picked up by a gun, and the second son of Zheng who was nailed to the ground......
"I said, I will punish the King of Zhenbei, he doesn't deserve those blood essences. I will make
him and the Protector of the Country Que Yongxiu pay the price."
Xu Qi'an looked at him calmly, with no joy or anger on his face, but his eyes were extremely
firm: "I'm going to Chuzhou."
The princess looked into his eyes and knew that she could not stop this man. She bit her lip
and whispered: "You have to come back, you, you promise me."
"Okay."
Xu Qi'an nodded, got up and walked towards the door.
"Xu Qian'an."
She shouted, as if she was worried. She got up in a hurry and knocked over the stool. She
chased out a few steps and said with courage:
"The young man is chivalrous and has made friends with the heroes of the five cities. He is
brave and his hair stands on end. In the conversation, life and death are together, and a
promise is worth a thousand gold."
A promise is worth a thousand gold, so you must come back.
........
Tuotian Mountain.
The horn sounded "woo woo".
Twenty thousand elite cavalrymen of the Qingyan tribe gathered on the plain at the foot of
the mountain. They rode on war horses with single horns and covered with scales, and
wielded scimitars.
In the sound of the horn, they looked at the towering palace. Boom, boom, boom....
Heavy footsteps came from a distance. A two-meter-tall green giant stepped out of the
palace. Every step caused a slight tremor. He dragged a giant that ordinary people could not
use in his hand, dragging deep gullies on the ground.
The cavalrymen of the Qingyan tribe silently watched their leader. The scene was silent except
for the sound of heavy footsteps.
The blue giant raised his heavy sword and roared: "In Chuzhou City."
"In Chuzhou City."
"In Chuzhou City."
The cavalrymen of the Qingyan tribe raised their scimitars, waved them, and roared.
.......
A certain black mountain in the north, a valley shrouded in clouds and mist.
The white-robed sorcerer with a blurred face stood on the edge of the cliff, looking down. The
valley was shrouded in thick fog that had not dissipated all year round. No grass grew, and no
living creatures were seen.
"Zhu Jiu."
As the white-robed sorcerer's voice fell, the thick fog suddenly boiled, like a woman's
dancing veil.
In the layers of fog, a black shadow quickly swept over and stopped in front of the white-
robed sorcerer.
The thick fog dispersed, and it was a huge snake head, red all over, scaleless, with a single eye
tightly closed on its forehead.
Its body was as high as a mountain, and the sorcerer in white was as small as an ant in front of
it.
It is said that in ancient times, there was a god and demon who dominated the extremely cold
land in the north. He had one eye, was scaleless and red, and opened his eyes for day and
closed his eyes for night.
The leader of the northern demon clan, Zhu Jiu, was the descendant of that god and demon.
"In Chuzhou City." The sorcerer in white smiled.
The vertical eye on the giant snake's forehead suddenly opened, and a golden light burst
through the clouds, which could be seen dozens of miles away.
......
On the steep cliff, under the old pine tree, a charming woman with peerless elegance stretched
out her hand, and her sleeves slipped down, revealing her fair arms. The black eagle hovering in the sky swooped down and landed on the woman's arm, speaking
in human language: "That man sent a message in Chuzhou City." The beautiful woman in the fluttering white dress said: "It seems that he not only wants the
blood essence, but also the life of the King of Zhenbei. Pass on my order, all the demon
soldiers, attack Chuzhou City."