Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 22 South Street Butcher
A burly man with his face almost covered by a beard rushed into the classroom.

Lu Qubing was stunned.

He knew this man. He was a thief catcher in the county, a Khitan named Qilou Nanhuo.

He was accompanied by some clerks and soldiers, all armed with swords.

Qi Lou Nan’s curly beard is so recognizable that many students know him.

Kou Liu, who had just walked out of the house, was so frightened that his whole body froze and he couldn't move.

Qi Lou Nanhuo's eyes searched among them, his light green eyes were like a wolf, which was frightening.

Among many students, he locked on his target.

He was not tall, but quite strong. He didn't care about the muddy ground and walked up to the man in a few steps.

He laughed.

"Mr. Lu, please come with us."

"what??"

There was a commotion among the students, everyone was whispering, Taozi hung her head with her eyes closed.

Qilou Nanhuo said again: "It's like this. We caught a thief at night and he said he stole your things. Please help us identify him."

Lu Qubing's face looked grim, but he still nodded.

"it is good."

He glanced at Taozi, then at the other students, "I'll be back soon."

Qilou Nanhu took Lu Qubing away from here in the mud. The old official who delivered the meal was quite surprised but did not dare to say anything.

The law classroom was silent, and the students said nothing.

The atmosphere became a little strange. The less they talked, the more depressing it became, as if something was making it hard for them to breathe.

Liu Taozi was still the same as usual, eating rice and drinking soup with big mouthfuls.

Kou Liu squatted beside him without him knowing when.

He lowered his voice.

"What's going on? How was last night?"

Taozi was stunned, "What happened last night?"

Kou Liu pursed his lips but didn't dare to get angry, so he lowered his head and continued eating.

"It's not a bad thing to give way and take the blame. None of these bastards are good people anyway."

Taozi narrowed her eyes and still ignored him.

At this moment, Lu Qubing was already sitting in the carriage, which was just an ordinary horse-drawn carriage. Qi Lou Nanhuo was sitting opposite him, and there was also a clerk sitting next to him.

Lu Qubing then asked, "Why did you arrest me? Tell me directly."

"Hahaha, I knew I couldn't hide it from you."

"I'm not arresting Lu Jun, I just want to ask you something."

Qilou Nanhuo said this and looked outside from the car window.

Lu Qubing noticed that some soldiers were running across the road, and the entire street was empty.

"Mr. Lu is at odds with Dr. Fatty from the county school?"

"It is indeed not harmonious."

"So where was Lu Jun last night?"

"Sleeping in the county school."

"Can anyone testify?"

"Liu Taozi, a student in the Law School, can testify."

Qi Lou Nan or nodded gently, "That's good, very good."

The two men said no more words. The carriage arrived outside the county government office. Qi Lou Nanhuo took Lu Qubing out of the carriage. It was particularly noisy here.

The gates of the county government were open and people were coming and going.

Some people were crying loudly and were escorted into the county government office by soldiers, while others were carried out. A lot of people gathered outside.

Lu Qubing had almost never seen the county government office so lively.

Qilou Nanhu led Lu Qubing in, and it was even more lively inside.

Several people had terrified looks on their faces, describing the situation over and over again.

"There should be five people! No! At least six!"

"Everyone uses sharp swords!"

"I was fast asleep at the time, and I rushed out when I heard the scream."

Before Lu Qubing could finish listening to his words, he was taken deeper into the cave by Qi Lou Nanhuo.

Qi Lou Nan brought Lu Qubing all the way to a remote house, took his hand, and brought him in as if he was entertaining a friend.

This house has no windows and the door is extremely heavy. It is pitch black inside, cold and damp, and emitting a bloody stench. There is no furniture and all kinds of iron chains are hung on the walls.

Qi Lou Nan asked everyone to wait outside the door and closed it.

At this moment, Qi Lou Nan breathed a sigh of relief.

"Lord Lu, please don't blame me. I was just following orders."

"Something big has happened in the county. Anyone who has anything to do with Fei Zongxian must be invited here for a talk. This is a necessary task. I know you are not a bandit, so please don't blame me."

"Thieves?" Lu Qubing was even more confused. "What happened?"

Qi Lou Nan lit a candle, got a mat from somewhere, and invited Lu Qubing to sit down.

He pulled his hair and said tiredly:
"In the early hours of the morning, bandits attacked Fei Zongxian's residence."

"I was the first one there."

"Tsk, that scene must have been horrific. I wonder who Fei Zongxian offended."

"Those bandits are so cruel and vicious, they are outrageous!"

"They climbed over the wall from the south courtyard, hacking and killing along the way. They killed all the big dogs, guards, and servants they met along the way. The bandits killed their way into Fei Zongxian's bedroom. Fortunately, Fei Zongxian was not sleeping alone, and he had three guards."

"A patrolling knight came in and scared off the bandits."

"The three guards in the house were hacked to death in order to save Fei Zongxian. Fei Zongxian was stabbed three times, but fortunately his flesh was thick and he did not die on the spot. He was rushed to the hospital."

"Although the man woke up, he seemed to be frightened and crazy. He couldn't answer any questions. He was urinating and defecating all over. He just kept mumbling 'human head'."

Lu Qubing's eyes were wide open, and even his mouth was open.

"How could this happen?"

Qi Lou Nan smiled bitterly and said, "I can understand him. If you haven't been there, you don't know how bloody the scene was. These bandits are simply heartless!!!"

"Those guards and followers who were hacked to death had their bodies chopped to pieces. He wasn't just killing people, he was just chopping meat!"

"Anyone who stands in the way of the bandits will be chopped into pieces."

Qi Lounan grabbed a handful of mud from the ground and squeezed it in front of Lu Qubing.

"That's right, they don't look like bandits, they look like butchers chopping meat!"

Lu Qubing's face was pale, his lips were blue and white, and his whole body was trembling slightly.

"There have been more and more strange things these days. First, there was a gang of bandits outside the city who ate people. Then there was a lot of women missing in the city. Then there was a man who had an affair with an official's maid and murdered the official. Now something like this has happened again."

"There were a total of thirty-eight people in the mansion, nineteen of them died and one was injured. The people in the side yard were just lucky and didn't encounter bandits, otherwise they would have died."

“I’ve reached the end of my rope!”

He patted his forehead and looked at Lu Qubing again.

"It rained heavily last night, and the bandits attacked suddenly. The surviving guards had never seen the bandits, and the knights couldn't tell how many bandits there were. To kill so many, there must have been at least five, right?
"We didn't find any evidence or clues. The county government was in chaos!"

"Look, I was asked to arrest people early in the morning. All those who are suspicious and have a grudge against Fei Zongxian must be arrested."

"His servants said that Lu Jun had some grievances with him. Logically, he should be brought here for interrogation. You have seen the situation here."

The beggar looked around in an ugly way.

"It's just that I know what kind of person Mr. Lu is. When the county magistrate insisted on driving you out of the county government office without knowing right or wrong, I was very angry!"

Lu Qubing was still in a trance at the moment and just nodded blankly.

"So I went there on purpose, just to ask a few simple questions, so that you wouldn't be humiliated."

"I admire gentlemen like Lu Jun the most. If I lose my life this time, I hope Lu Jun can help take care of my family."

Lu Qubing's mind was really confused at this moment.

The young man had never experienced anything so terrible in his life.

The darkest thing he had ever seen in the city was that the county magistrate hinted at them to find someone to take the blame, and then kicked him out after he questioned him.

He had never heard of such a thing as breaking into someone else's house in the middle of the night, slaughtering the people, and chopping them into meat paste.

The two were chatting when a familiar voice was heard outside.

"Where is he? How dare he come to my county school to arrest someone?!"

Hearing the voice, Qi Lounan frowned, muttered something, and hurriedly pulled Lu Qubing out of the house.

The person standing outside was Cui Mou.

Several officials stood before him with their heads down, allowing him to scold them.

This celebrity, who was usually calm and approachable, was extremely irritable at this moment. When he saw Lu Qubing being brought out, he hurried forward.

"Rong Zu? They didn't give you any trouble, did they?"

Lu Qubing was stunned and shook his head.

Cui Mou looked at Qi Lounan, who had a big smile on his face and did not dare to be negligent at all.

"How dare you embarrass Mr. Cui's men? I'm just asking questions as usual."

"Oh, if you dare to step into the county school again, I will chop off the leg that entered first!"

Cui Mou took Lu Qubing and left quickly.

Qi Lou Nan still smiled and did not dare to refute.

After the two men left, a clerk stepped forward and said, "Mr. Nan, he has a priest to protect him. We have people around us, so why should we let him go?"

Qi Lou Nan was furious, "You bastard? How dare you humiliate Lu Jun?!"

The official lowered his head, feeling very aggrieved.

Weren't you the one who first came up with this nickname?

You usually look disdainful on him, why did you suddenly change?

Qi Lou Nan just looked at the direction where they were going away, remaining silent.

Three days ago, he was ordered to welcome the new county magistrate.

When the new county magistrate saw him, the first thing he asked was: Is there an official in this county named Lu Qubing?
(End of this chapter)