Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 81 Purgatory on Earth
Gao Changgong lowered his head and looked at the well.

The eldest grandson stood aside and described the scene of last night in vivid detail.

"That monster is three meters tall! It's completely black, even its eyes and teeth are black."

Gao Changgong looked into the well for a long time but didn't see any monsters. Although the well water was not so clear, there were definitely no monsters lurking there.

"The monster jumped into the well. We rushed in and saw a black dragon wandering in the well. The monster looked at me and said a lot of words. The words were not Chinese, Xianbei, or Xiongnu."

Changsun trembled and said, "I have fought outside the Great Wall for many years, and I can understand some of the Rouran language, but I can't understand the words of that monster. But when I think about it, that word is a bit like the word "leaving" in the Xianbei language, like a beast imitating human language!"

"This monster's words are indeed different from human words."

Liu Taozi was standing not far away, and suddenly turned his head to look at the crowd of bandits.

Kou Liu lowered his head and didn't even dare to raise it.

Yao Xiong, on the other hand, stood beside him cheerfully, and when no one was paying attention, he even nudged him with his elbow.

The eldest grandson continued, "The monster was dancing Qiuyu's Nuo opera, but it didn't look like a human dance. Its hands and feet were uncoordinated and extremely weird. I can't even describe it."

"All right."

Gao Changgong interrupted him, he stood up and began to think.

Gao Changgong didn’t really believe in ghosts and gods, but the county lieutenant spoke so convincingly, and so many people saw it. Could it be that there really were ghosts and gods protecting the Murong family?
Gao Changgong looked at Lu Qubing standing aside and asked, "Mr. Lu, do you know of any monster with a black body and a dragon head?"

Lu Qubing pondered, "Mr. Gao, monsters with dragon heads are not uncommon."

"Like Qilin, Pixiu, and Hou, they all have dragon heads, but this one has a black body."

He looked up suddenly, "I know!!"

Gao Changgong was stunned. "Oh? Really?"

"Have!"

"County Lord, in the time of Yan State, a black dragon appeared in Longshan. Many people saw this and believed that the black dragon was protecting Murong. The then King Wenming of Yan offered sacrifices to the black dragon, pardoned the criminals in the country, and renamed his palace the Helong Palace."

"Oh? The black dragon is protecting the Murong family?"

Gao Changgong's expression became extremely solemn. For some reason, he was particularly irritated at this moment.

He slowly raised his head and looked at the buildings in front of him.

"Yan has long since perished."

At this moment, Lu Qing's carriage rushed out of Cheng'an and galloped towards Yecheng.

Lu Qing urged again and again, and the groom kept waving the whip in his hand, making bursts of breaking sounds in the air.

The knights also picked up speed.

They kicked up a cloud of dust on the road and rushed towards Yecheng.

At this moment, Lu Qing no longer dared to think about the Murong family's orders, nor did he dare to think about Yang Gong. He just wanted to leave Cheng'an as soon as possible, hand over the mission, and get out of it.

That Murong Zeng is simply a fool!

Who dares to have anything to do with the underworld these days?
At this moment, a knight suddenly shouted: "Lu Gong! There are a lot of knights ahead! Get out of the way! "

Lu Qing was so frightened that his hair stood on end. “Get out of the way! Get out of the way!!”

The knights hurriedly separated to the sides, and the carriage was driven directly into the muddy field on the side of the road.

Lu Qing got off the carriage in a miserable state and looked into the distance. All he saw was rolling dust, the ground shaking constantly, and the sound of horse hooves becoming louder and louder. Lu Qing looked around anxiously, trying to find a place to hide, but there was no escape from this empty road.

The figure of a knight appeared in the distance.

They were all wearing heavy armor, even the horses under their crotch were covered in armor. The knights wore masks and held spears in their hands, sweeping towards here like the wind.

"Baibao."

Lu Qing muttered a few words, and hurriedly led everyone to kneel on the side of the road.

The knights galloped past them. The huge wind and waves made Lu Qing unable to open his eyes, and his clothes made a rustling sound.

Several knights simply changed direction and surrounded them, while the rest of the knights continued to move forward.

Lu Qing knelt on the ground with his butt raised high, motionless.

Countless knights flew past him, and finally, one stopped in front of him.

Lu Qing raised his head cautiously.

A dark-skinned man was standing on the carriage. He was naked, holding a long knife in his hand, and looking at him with a ferocious expression.

The moment their eyes met, Lu Qing was almost frightened to death.

"Your Majesty, your humble servant, Lu Qing, pays respect to His Majesty!!!"

Lu Qing hurriedly shouted and knelt down again. The person standing on the carriage was Gao Yang.

Gao Yang jumped off the carriage at this moment, walked quickly to Lu Qing, stretched out his hand, pinched Lu Qing's ear, and "Puchi"

With a swing of the knife, Gao Yang cut off Lu Qing's ear.

Lu Qing was in unbearable pain and screamed while covering his ears.

"Does it hurt?"

"Your Majesty, it hurts."

"Okay, since you are a truth-teller, I can ask you now. Are you from Cheng'an?"

Lu Qing felt a sharp pain in his ears, which made it difficult for him to bear. The pain made it difficult for him to think, but facing the emperor's questioning, he still trembled and answered, "I am from Cheng'an."

"Then I ask you, what did you plot with the Murong family?"

"No, Your Majesty. I followed Lord Yang's orders and went to Cheng'an County to deliver the order. I never conspired with the Murong family!"

"Have you ever seen the black dragon of the Murong family?"

"I didn't see it with my own eyes. I heard about it from others and was about to report it to Yecheng."

"oops!"

Gao Yang exclaimed, and quickly handed the ear in his hand to Lu Qing, "I misunderstood you, you turned out to be a loyal minister, take it, take it."

"Thank you very much, Your Majesty."

He forced his ear into Lu Qing's hand and said, "If you want to convey an order, then go and convey the order. After conveying it, go back. Don't run around all the time. Look, you bumped into me and you lost an ear. If you bump into something else in the future, won't it be worse?"

"Thank you for your teachings, Your Majesty! I will remember it!"

"Very good. I heard that King Gaoyang is good at medicine. Go find him when you go back. He may be able to cure your ear!"

After Gao Yang finished speaking, he turned around and quickly returned to the carriage, then galloped away again.

Lu Qing was clutching his ears at this moment, almost fainting from the pain.

After Gao Yang's carriage left, Lu Qing fell down with a dazed look in his eyes.

Gao Yang stood on the carriage, holding a blood-stained long sword and roaring.

The army charged forward, and soon they appeared outside Cheng'an.

The soldiers at the city gate were so frightened when they saw the knights galloping towards them from afar that they turned pale and hurriedly opened the city gate. The officials knelt on both sides as if they were familiar with the situation. The knights did not stop and rushed straight into the city.

For a moment, the ground in the entire county seemed to be shaking.

The people hid in their houses in fear and dared not go out.

The knights rushed towards the east of the city.

"what happened?"

Lieutenant Changsun felt the shaking and looked over there alertly. The other soldiers were still a little confused. Soon, they also felt the sound of cavalry charging. Changsun hurriedly gave orders and began to form a battle line.

When the knights in the distance actually appeared, Changsun gave orders again, asking the soldiers to give way.

This group of people rushed to the east of the city.

"Oh!"

The warhorse broke open the gate and the knight rushed into the yard. The man shouted loudly, and the knight raised his sword and chopped. The man fell directly into a pool of blood. The knight turned over and dismounted, threw away his spear, and holding the long sword, he chopped anyone he saw.

The knights had clear division of labor, with each household being assigned a knight who would simply push open the door and start killing, while the rest of the knights would continue to move forward.

The county soldiers were all terrified when they saw this scene, but County Lieutenant Changsun was fine. He had probably seen similar scenes before. In his eyes, the impact of this scene was not as frightening as that of last night.

He simply pulled up the soldier beside him and said, "Hurry to the county government office and inform the county magistrate!!"

For a moment, the entire east side of the city was in chaos, with the sound of horse hooves, men's roars, women's cries, and knights' hacking. Murong's relatives fled in all directions, crying and shouting, some begging for mercy, some cursing, but all they were greeted with was the knights' ruthless hacking.

Those tall and strong elite soldiers were completely powerless against the knights. The inner courtyard of the Murong family was breached and the knights rushed in.

Murong Zeng rushed out with a cry of surprise, looking at the knight in front of him, "I"

"Pfft!"

The knight's sword hit him in the face and he fell to the ground.

Suddenly, there was a fire again, accompanied by screams.

In a moment, the east of the city turned into purgatory.

(End of this chapter)