Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 116 Give it back to me!!
Ayanna looked at Shi Yao in front of him, then turned around and looked at the giant beast running towards him.

At this moment, his eyes were full of despair.

He immediately knelt down in front of Shi Yao.

"I am willing to surrender! Please, Mr. Shi, save me!!"

"When you sent people to kill my chief clerk, did you ever think about today?!"

"Pfft~~"

Shi Yao let out a loud roar and pushed the sword in his hand forward with force. The sword directly pierced the chest of the Hu monk in front of him, and then passed through his body without any hindrance. The tip of the sword pierced out from the back of the Hu monk, and blood flowed down from the tip of the sword.

Ayan raised his head in disbelief and looked at Shi Yao in front of him.

Shi Yao's face was extremely determined, and he maintained the posture of drawing his sword. When he pulled back the sword with all his strength, Ayana immediately fell in front of him.

Seeing this scene, the other old monks were so frightened that their souls flew out of their bodies. They shouted towards the direction of the county government office, "Governor! Help! Help! Rebellion!!"

At Shi Yao's command, several county officials pounced forward. The demons dodged in a hurry but could not escape their attack. After a while, several people fell in a pool of blood, motionless.

It was at this time that Taozi appeared in front of them with a sword in hand.

Liu Taozi looked at the several big monks lying in a pool of blood, and then looked at Shi Yao in front of him.

Shi Yao's sword-holding hand was shaking from extreme excitement. His face was red and his chest was rising and falling. He said, "I learned that Lord Liu was leading his troops to Chongguang Temple, so I took my men to guard here."

Liu Taozi nodded and said, "Well done."

He bent down and chopped off the heads of several evil monks very fluently. Liu Taozi's technique was obviously different from Yao Xiong's. Yao Xiong needed to use a lot of force to chop them off, but Liu Taozi was very relaxed. He just made a few simple cuts and the heads fell off. He held them in his hands. These monks all had short hair, so it was not easy to string them together. Liu Taozi glanced at Shi Yao and said, "Take the heads and follow me."

Shi Yao hurriedly called all the county officials together and they all went back together.

Yao Xiong appeared on the road panting. He covered his chest and could not breathe. His armor was too heavy. In order to catch up with Liu Taozi, he ran as fast as he could. At this moment, he felt a buzzing in his ears and severe pain. His abdomen also hurt. There was no place on his body that did not hurt.

Shi Yao hurried over to take off his armor. Yao Xiong slumped on the ground, exhausted.

"Brother, you are too fast."

Liu Taozi asked a county official to support Yao Xiong and continue to move towards Chongguang Temple.

When they returned to Chongguang Temple again, Dugu Jie was collecting the spoils. He placed the corpses, heads and other items in front of the main hall in military style.

Dugu Jie did not leave any prisoners behind. It was not because he did not want to, but because he did not dare to.

The battle of the county soldiers made this veteran general too embarrassed to watch. He didn't even dare to tell others that these were the soldiers he trained. If it were in Gao Shenwu's era, the soldiers would rush forward carrying ladders and then smash their teammates to death. He really couldn't imagine the scene.

The reason they succeeded was simply because their enemies were worse than them.

In Dugu Jie's opinion, those monks were not soldiers. They had no armor and no weapons. Although they were much taller than the county soldiers, they did not even know how to form a basic battle formation. They just rushed forward shouting and swinging sticks. They had no organization, and each person was independent, not a whole.

There was only one Hu monk who was their leader, and he did not give any orders, but just shouted at them to go forward.

This definitely cannot be considered an army. No matter how weak the county soldiers are, they still have a clear organization, with the captain in command, the sergeant supervising, and the squad leader charging. No matter how strong their individual martial arts are, if there is no organization, they will collapse at the first touch.

But the performance of the county soldiers was really unstable, so Dugu Jie did not dare to leave any prisoners, for fear that he would lose control of them or cause trouble again.

All the monks in the temple are clean at this moment.

Liu Taozi and Shi Yao walked in, and all they saw was corpses all over the floor.

Dugu Jie hurried forward and said, "Mr. Liu, there are no thieves in the temple. They have several warehouses in the northwest, which are full of money and grain. Further in, there is a secret room that can hide it from others, but not from me. I opened it and checked, and found a large number of swords, crossbows, and armor hidden inside. You are right! This group of thieves really want to rebel!"

"Fortunately, they didn't use these just now, otherwise, I'm afraid we wouldn't be able to take them down so easily!"

"But we didn't find the flag and the tunnel. I sent people to look for it. There is a lot of gold, pearls, jade, calligraphy and paintings, and porcelain hidden in the tunnel, which have not been moved out yet."

Dugu Jie said this very seriously, and Shi Yao was stunned.

"Are they really going to rebel?"

Liu Taozi didn't say anything. Tian Zili came out covered in blood. "Why else would we attack them?"

Shi Yao was even more confused.

Tian Zili looked at the confused Shi Yao and complained in his heart: These rich and powerful bastards, who doesn't have swords and armor hidden at home?
The world is not peaceful to begin with, and these people are not clean, so they have to keep something to protect themselves.

This is really normal, but the weapons in Chongguang Temple are much more than those in ordinary wealthy families. This cannot be explained by self-defense. These people may really have some intentions.
But the incident happened suddenly, and they did not dare to put on armor and go into battle rashly.

Tian Zili looked at Liu Taozi and said, "Brother, we have brought all those people out, but some of them died if they were touched. Well, come and see for yourself."

Everyone followed Tian Zili into the main hall, where the Buddha statues were located. Thirty people were curled up beside the statues. Tian Zili covered them with cloth, which were searched out from Chongguang Temple. Many people fell to the ground, not breathing.

And these people who were curled up were also in great pain. Shi Yao just took a look and couldn't bear to look at them anymore. He took a few steps back and turned his head, his face also showing pain.

Tian Zili looked at these people and murmured, "Death is better than living like this."

These people are almost all disabled and have been tortured beyond recognition.

Yao Xiong and Tian Zili have seen many evil people, but these are simply not things that human beings can do. They don’t even understand why they do this.

Liu Taozi asked Tian Zilie to invite Chu Jiande to settle these people.

He went to discuss the rest of the matters with Dugu Jie.

The county government office soon became busy. A large amount of gold and jewelry were moved out from the tunnel. The county soldiers looked at the gold and jewelry with almost obsessed eyes, but when they saw the county officials supervising them in the distance, they had to put those thoughts aside.

After experiencing a not-so-difficult siege, the county soldiers did look a little different. They were much more efficient in their work, unlike their usual clumsiness.

County soldiers began to transport the bodies out, and county officials began to count the money, grain and treasures in the temple.

The doors of all the Chongguang Temple were open, making it extremely lively.

The city was still quiet and no one knew what had happened.

It was not until the next day that the county government issued a notice listing the many crimes of Chongguang Temple and stating that Chongguang Temple, who intended to rebel, had been executed.

This immediately caused an uproar in Liyang. Chongguang Temple was actually quite famous in Liyang. If it weren't for Liu Taozi's previous reputation of distributing grain to curb evil, the people would not have easily believed these things. After all, the monks were still very kind in front of most people. They often gave out porridge to help the people, taught scriptures everywhere, and cured illnesses and saved lives. They always had a kind smile on their faces. Only the martial monks were fierce and were often scolded by the monks, who told them not to be rude to the people.

However, with Liu Taozi's testimony, the situation was different. Although Liu Taozi had only been there for a short time, he saved more lives than Chongguang Temple had saved in the past ten years.

Their porridge distribution is completely not on the same level as Liu Taozi's grain distribution.

Liu Taozi took back a large amount of arable land in Chongguang Temple. The fertile land under the name of Chongguang Temple accounted for one-third of the entire arable land in Liyang. This is a very scary amount, more than the official land.

Liyang County immediately had several thousand hectares of arable land available for use as land for granting.

Liu Taozi and others had experience in the land allocation and resettlement in Cheng'an. He and Shi Yao hit it off immediately and without hesitation began to check the allocated mulberry fields in Liyang, preparing to distribute the allocated land as soon as possible.

County government office.

The backyard was empty, without a single servant to be seen.

Several knights were guarding the gate to the backyard, looking around vigilantly and not allowing anyone to approach.

In the house at the deepest part of the backyard, a faint sound could be heard at this moment.

This house is very special. It is built very solidly, has thick walls, no windows, and has good sound insulation.

Inside the house, candles were brightly lit.

Torches were lit everywhere and candlelight was everywhere. The room did not feel dark at all, nor was it as damp and smelly as Gao Yang's palace. Instead, there were bursts of fragrance coming from it.

Lou Rui sat in the middle, holding a wine bag in his hand, and ate in a daze, enjoying the food.

There were several musicians sitting on his left, playing instruments and humming songs for him.

There were more than ten dancers dancing passionately close to him. Lou Rui would sometimes pounce on them and press them under him, and his hearty and joyful laughter could be heard in the room.

What's strange is that these dancers are all wearing mourning clothes.

This seems to be Lou Rui's unique way of mourning.

Just when Lou Rui was having fun, there was a knock on the door.

The music stopped immediately and several dancers stood still, covering their mouths. Lou Rui instantly woke up and was no longer confused. He quickly stood up and motioned for the beauties and the musicians to hide. He sprayed some air into his hands, smelled it, and slowly walked to the door.

"Who?!" "Master, it's me!"

Hearing the familiar voice, Lou Rui opened the door, dragged the knight outside in, and quickly closed the door.

His face was extremely gloomy. "What did I say? I want to worship Buddha and mourn for His Majesty. No one is allowed to disturb me! No one is allowed to disturb me! How dare you disobey my order?!"

"Don't dare!"

The knight lowered his head quickly, and then said, "It was the county magistrate Zhao Kai. He stood at the gate of the county government office and refused to leave, saying that he had to see you. I went there in person and asked him to leave, but he refused to leave, saying that there was something very important going on."

"I don't care what the big deal is!!"

"If it weren't for the Western Hu and Southern Barbarians attacking us, then don't bother me!!"

"I was so close to the late emperor. I prayed to him and prayed for him to ascend to heaven soon. This loyalty is so precious. Is there anything else that can compare to it? If he doesn't leave, you can hit him on the head with your stick and I'll see if he leaves or not!!"

Lou Rui drove the knight out and turned back to the house angrily.

The musician and the beauty came out again. Lou Rui calmed down and smiled again. "Keep going! Serve well! The Lord has plenty of money and will not be stingy with rewards!!"

After hearing this, both the musicians and the beauties worked even harder.

Lou Rui had been having fun like this for a few days and didn't care about anything happening outside.

On this day, Lou Rui walked out of the house.

The sun in the sky was a little dazzling, and Lou Rui subconsciously raised his hands to block it. He looked very haggard, his eyes were swollen and bloodshot, his hair and beard were messy, and he smelled bad all over. He had neither strength nor energy.

He couldn't help yawning, then lowered his head and walked towards the side room.

Seeing him coming out, several knights hurried over and gathered around him.

"Go and get me Taozi."

Lou Rui gave an order and then walked into the side room. He changed his clothes and washed up.

When he walked out, Liu Taozi was already waiting in the backyard.

The county government office is opposite to the county government office, so it is very convenient to travel between them.

"grown ups."

Liu Taozi bowed, and Lou Rui helped him up with a smile, and couldn't help yawning, "My dear nephew, please don't blame me. These days, I have been reciting scriptures for the late emperor day and night. I dare not relax for a moment and I am really exhausted."

He looked at Taozi's solid physique with envy, "I used to be like you, strong as an ox, but I coughed all night. I'm old. I'm old."

He stretched his body and walked towards the front yard with Taozi. "How is it, nothing serious has happened these days?"

"No, I just got some more money, food and treasures, and I have sent them to you."

"what??"

Lou Rui suddenly became alert, his eyes sparkling, no longer tired and sleepy, he asked energetically: "Money, food and treasures? How much is it?"

"There are more than 300 cars. Your northern warehouse can't hold them all. I had them stored in the northern and southern courtyards."

"Let's go, let's go, this is important, we have to go check it out!"

Lou Rui's steps became quicker, and he became more agile from the clumsy fat man he used to be.

The two walked all the way to the North Courtyard, and as soon as Lou Rui opened the door, he was stunned.

Lou Rui had always stored money and grain in the North Courtyard. At this moment, bags of grain were piled up like mountains in the North Courtyard. They were really piled up like mountains. Lou Rui had to look up. These grains formed a small mountain in the North Courtyard, and Lou Rui couldn't even count them.

He widened his eyes, swallowed hard, and kept his head up. "My dear nephew, did you rob the passing tribute grain convoy?"

"There are more to the south."

Lou Rui then turned his head back and said, "Let's go! To the South Courtyard!"

His pace became faster, he almost ran. Only Liu Taozi was big and could follow him with big strides. Lou Rui rushed all the way to the South Courtyard, where there were two knights stationed. Lou Rui asked them to leave and pushed open the door himself.

The South Courtyard was empty.

Lou Rui was stunned and looked at Taozi, who led him towards the inner room.

Lou Rui was a little disappointed at once, as there were only things in one room.

Liu Taozi pushed open the door and the two walked into the room. For a moment, Lou Rui's eyes were almost blinded by the light.

The room was filled with gold, gleaming brightly, almost as tall as Lou Rui. There were several boxes of jewels nearby, all of which were open so one could see what was inside at a glance. Next to them, various calligraphy and paintings were piled up in groups.

Lou Rui was stunned. He just stood there, motionless.

At this moment, his eyes flashed with greed and his expression became a little ferocious, but soon calmed down.

"My dear nephew."

“Where did all this come from?”

"From Sogo-ji Temple."

"what?!"

Lou Rui was shocked. He suddenly regained consciousness and looked at Liu Taozi in disbelief. "You flattened the Chongguang Temple?!"

"I learned that Chongguang Temple was planning a rebellion, so I slaughtered them. The people from the North Courtyard and the South Courtyard were found from them and have been sent to you."

"What?! You massacred Sogoji?"

Lou Rui’s eyes went dark and he staggered.

A knight immediately supported him. Lou Rui raised his head angrily and looked at Liu Taozi in front of him.

"You, do you know whose power Sogoji is relying on?!"

"I don't know."

"Don't know? I tell you, it was the Queen Mother!! The Queen Mother was very friendly with their teacher and had come here three times. She might come again. But you massacred Chongguang Temple. You."

"They did hide a large amount of armor and weapons, and also deceived the people, saying that the dead Gao were dressed in black."

"Tell this to the Queen Mother! Do you think she will believe it?!"

Lou Rui was so anxious that he kept jumping up and down. "Are you crazy or insane? What should I do? What should I do? Not long ago, the Empress Dowager wrote to me and asked me to take care of you. Now, the whole family of the one I took care of has been executed."

"Sir, you are the Queen Mother's nephew, why are you afraid?"

"Don't call me sir, you are my sir! The Queen Mother has a weird personality. When she gets mad, she doesn't recognize her relatives. You are trying to kill me!"

Seeing Lou Rui's impatience, Liu Taozi bowed again, "If you find it troublesome, you can send me to Yecheng with these things. I am willing to bear the blame."

Lou Rui suddenly paused and looked at the golden light in front of him.

He licked his lips and said darkly, "What's the point of sending them there now? They are all dead. What's the point of sending you there? Can it bring them back to life?"

Liu Taozi didn't say anything.

Lou Rui looked at Liu Taozi thoughtfully. He frowned, his eyes full of grievance.

"Taozi, I have been very kind to you. I have also been very kind to my cousin. Over the years, I have always stood by his side. How could you, how could you use me like this?!"

"I gave you my most precious sword, and I also went around cheering for the King of Changshan. I am a person who cares about family ties, but you treat me like this!"

Liu Taozi pursed her lips and said nothing.

Lou Rui reached out and snatched the sword from Liu Taozi's hand, "Give me back this sword!"

"go out!"

ps: In Bingzi, Buddhism and Taoism were first abolished, all scriptures and statues were destroyed, monks and Taoists were dismissed and ordered to return to the people, and all lewd sacrifices were banned, and all those not recorded in the rituals were eliminated. ———"Book of Zhou: Chronicle of Emperor Gaozu Wu"

(End of this chapter)