Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 88: A show of force

The knights said nothing, they didn't even dare to look back.

The atmosphere was extremely depressing. They were afraid of hearing the sound of horse hooves coming from behind them. The hands holding the weapons had already turned white and were shaking constantly.

It’s not that they haven’t seen people killing people before, but they have never seen someone killing people so brutally. Before they could even say a few words, they chopped off all the heads, one head at a time. Who wouldn’t be afraid of this?
Lu Yao pursed his lips at this moment and continued moving forward like this for a long time.

He finally spoke, "Are they behind us?"

The knight who had been following the carriage was not wearing armor like the other knights. He was wearing very simple clothes and had a scholarly demeanor.

He secretly looked back and saw several knights in the distance staring at them with murderous intent. At this moment, the man's scalp went numb.

"Still following."

Lu Yao's heart trembled, "What should I do? If I charge at full speed now, can I rush into Cheng'an County before them?"

"No, we are still some distance away from Cheng'an County. These fierce bandits have fast horses. If we alarm them, we will definitely be killed by the bandits."

Lu Yao was very unwilling, "How could there be such a villain under the emperor's feet?"

"Mr. Lu, I see they are all wearing official uniforms. Could they be officials from Cheng'an? If you can reveal your identity..."

"That's not right. Who knows if they will kill me to silence me after knowing my identity?"

"Just keep going."

They walked like this for a long time. The sound of insects chirping could be heard from the bushes on both sides of the road. The scorching sun was still hanging in the sky. Everyone's shadows were stretched out very long. For some reason, time passed very slowly. They just lowered their heads and hurried on. The sound of insects made them even more upset.

The man turned back quietly again.

Far away, those murderous men were looking in their direction, motionless.

The man's eyes were full of despair.

"Mr. Lu, they are still following us."

The man looked forward again, but hurriedly stopped the carriage.

Lu Yao hurriedly asked: "What happened again?"

"The dead. So many dead. We are surrounded by the dead!!"

Lu Yao hurriedly got off the carriage and said, "In the capital, is there anyone who can..."

Before he could finish his words, he was stunned. Looking ahead, it seemed that the place ahead was occupied by the dead. Everywhere were those zombie-like people, so densely packed that Lu Yao suddenly thought of using a word to describe them.

Ant thief.

Lu Yao had never seen so many dead people, and he didn't know where they came from. Some of the dead people seemed to have discovered their carriage.

At this moment, he was actually staring at their horses, with green light flashing in his eyes.

Lu Yao looked at this scene and was completely stunned.

He knew Cheng An was comforting the dead, but why were there so many dead?

Could it be that all the refugees of Da Qi have gathered here? ?
A few people turned around stiffly and faced Lu Yao and the others. Then, they slowly moved their bodies and pressed towards Lu Yao and the others.

Even the horses under their crotches felt the malice coming from these "corpses" and their horses neighed.

More and more dead people noticed them and stopped.

At the same time, the sound of horse hooves came from behind.

The gang of evil thieves finally stopped hiding and started running towards us.

Lu Yao raised his head and sighed.

He looked around and said softly, "I am old and cannot run away. You are still young, so hurry up and ride away on horseback."

The man next to Lu Yao was anxious, "Mr. Lu, let me help you get on the horse, you go first, we will stop them for you!"

"There are wolves in front and tigers behind. You don't have to risk your life for me. Go away."

"If you run away, don't go to the county town, otherwise you will be caught and charged. Don't be a bandit and hurt people. Go back home directly. My brother won't blame you."

The knights looked at each other and said through gritted teeth: "Lord Lu has been kind to us all, how can we escape!! We are willing to die with Lord Lu!!"

The sound of horse hooves was already ringing in their ears, and everyone was ready to die.

The atmosphere is tragic.

The huge green horse suddenly stopped and raised its front hooves high, scaring the knight's sword out of his hand.

The sturdy man looked at the dead men and said, "What do you want to do?!"

The sturdy man's voice was extremely loud, like thunder, and Lu Yao was even shocked.

The dead man stopped and looked up at him, "Begging for food."

"Keep going! There will be food when you get to Cheng'an!" "Let's go!!!"

The man yelled again.

The deceased just stared at him blankly, motionless and completely without movement.

When Lu Yao saw the man's eyes twitching, he guessed the result in his heart.

The big horse rushed forward, the knife flashed, and the dead man's head flew high. The people around the guy were not afraid at all and wanted to rush forward to kill him. The strong man swung the knife a few more times, and several more heads flew up and blood spurted.

This time, Lu Yao took a few steps back to prevent the head from falling into his arms again.

“Everyone, get out of here!!”

The man shouted again, his body covered in blood, looking like a demon. The dead man was terrified and did not dare to stop. He turned around and continued to move forward.

Lu Yao breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at the sturdy man and said, "This..."

The sturdy man looked at him and interrupted him without any hesitation, "Xiong, take these ignorant fools to the official road!"

"Keep an eye on the road, don't let pedestrians hurt the dead, and don't let the dead hurt pedestrians."

"only!!"

When the sturdy man rode away on his horse with the rest of the people, the only one left here was a tall, curly-haired, blue-eyed Hu man.

The Hu man signaled these people to follow him, and then he took the initiative to leave the road.

Everyone looked at Lu Yao, and Lu Yao nodded, and everyone followed.

Lu Yao did not get into the carriage this time. He also chose to ride a horse. He looked at the Hu people leading the way in front and suddenly asked, "Is this gentleman an official of Cheng'an?"

"Yes, I am a cavalry officer of Cheng'an."

"I see. What about that gentleman just now?"

"Oh, he is a patrolman."

Lu Yao laughed.

Yao Xiong turned around suddenly and stared at him unkindly, "Are you making fun of my brother?"

"How dare I, how dare I, it's just that I have never seen such a brave man."

Hearing this person praising Liu Taozi, Yao Xiong was overjoyed. He said proudly, "Of course. The four warriors under Lord Changsun are no match for my brother!"

"These four people all came back from the frontier. It is said that one of them can beat ten Rurun. My brother can beat at least forty Rurun by himself!"

"I see."

At this moment, Lu Yao was talking to Yao Xiong, asking about some news in the city without showing any emotion.

"Is this patrol officer a local tycoon?"

"Of course. My brother is not big, so who dares to say that he is older?"

As they chatted, they finally came to the main road. There were fewer dead bodies here, and some pedestrians could be seen. It was not as dangerous as before.

Yao Xiong didn't say much. He just waved his hand and rode away.

The man beside Lu Yao narrowed his eyes at this moment, "Mr. Lu, it seems that the wealthy family in Cheng'an is quite arrogant. You are dressed like this, and you have knights accompanying you. Who can't tell that you are an official?"

"And the officials in Cheng'an didn't care about it at all, as if they didn't care about your status at all."

"This doesn't make sense. I think, maybe this isn't a coincidence at all. Maybe they are here to demonstrate to us!"

"If the big families in the city don't have someone to back them up, they definitely won't dare to do this. It's either the county magistrate or the county lieutenant, or maybe..."

Listening to the man's analysis, Lu Yao couldn't help but look at him, "The county magistrate is already going to take up a post elsewhere, how could it be him?"

The man shook his head. "Mr. Lu, the county lord is also from the royal family. Don't forget what kind of people the royal family members in Yecheng are like. Who can understand what they want to do? Who can guess it?"

Lu Yao frowned, "Not always."

"If it's not him, then it must be the county magistrate."

The man took out a piece of paper from his sleeve and flipped through it for a while. "This county magistrate is from the Yangping Lu family. He entered the government through Confucian classics and was transferred and dismissed many times. He was promoted to county magistrate not long ago."

"As for the county lieutenant, there is no need for him to come and demonstrate to you. The things he is responsible for have nothing to do with us. He is responsible for the security of the capital."

They finally arrived outside Cheng'an City, but the surrounding area had already been occupied by refugees. There were so many people, like bandits attacking a city, it was really scary.

Lu Yao pursed her lips, looking worried.

“It’s not easy.”

(End of this chapter)