Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 94 Instigation
Outside Cheng'an City, piles of bonfires were lit.

The dead sat around the campfire, roasting their bodies, without saying a word.

Looking from the city wall, there seemed to be patches of ghost lights outside the city. Around the ghost lights, there was a group of motionless people sitting, not speaking, just staring at the ghost lights. The scene was a bit creepy, and the county soldiers on the city wall quickly looked away.

The wind blew up the bonfire, and the flames swayed. Under the light of the flames, the pale faces of the dead became even more terrifying.

But now, their eyes are no longer as dull and lifeless as they were at the beginning. They will look at the city gate from time to time, waiting for food to be distributed tomorrow.

Several county soldiers were dragging a corpse as they passed by them, but the crowd was not much moved.

From time to time, people would die here. They were already terminally ill, and even if they could eat here, they could not avoid death.

In front of the campfire, there was a man with a dark face and covered in mud, but he did not look thin.

He stretched out his hand, warmed it over the campfire, and said, "We are still alive thanks to Liu Youjiao."

The few dead people around him were still in a daze, as if they didn't hear what he said.

He continued, "That is the official who often comes to inspect on a tall horse. He is Liu Youjiao."

"I heard that it was he who proposed to accept refugees. He dealt with many traitors and made sure that the county had enough food to accept refugees."

"He will also patrol the roads to protect the dead along the way. If anyone kills innocent people, he will stop them."

“He is truly our benefactor.”

"If we stay here, we won't be afraid of being bullied. If anyone wants to murder us again, we can just wait for the patrol officer on the blue horse to show up and complain to him."

The man spoke in a low voice, and everyone seemed to hear it, and several people looked at him.

Similar situations occurred in front of many campfires. There were about thirteen campfires, and people were saying the same thing.

In front of the seventh bonfire, a man cleared his throat and was about to speak when he saw the person opposite him speak first.

"I heard that the government wants to kill us all."

For a moment, everyone looked at him. The effect of this sentence was much greater than praising Youjiao.

The person who didn't have time to speak was stunned.

Then the man on the other side continued, "I heard that the people who were originally resettled were secretly killed. The man called Gao Changgong wanted to completely kill all the refugees from all over Qingdu, so he came up with this vicious plan."

"They tricked us here first, and then poisoned our food. Otherwise, why would they be so kind? Look at those people. Didn't they die after eating?"

Hearing this person's words, the crowd suddenly became a little agitated.

At dawn, a man stood at the gate of the county government office.

The soldiers stationed on various important roads outside the county government office finally disappeared. With the departure of Gao Changgong, the defense of the county government office was finally the same as before, and ordinary people could also get close.

The man looked at the tightly closed gate of the county government office and was extremely anxious.

"Squeak~~~"

The door groaned and Old Man Xu pushed it open, holding a wooden basin in his hand. When he looked up, he saw a stranger in front of him.

Old Man Xu was startled, then asked suspiciously, "Are you here to report to the police?"

"No, I am a servant of Mr. Tian's family. Something happened in his family, and I came to report it."

"Oh, from Tian Zili's family?"

"Yes, please let me go, old man."

"Your private affairs cannot be let go. I can help you inform them. You just wait here."

Old Man Xu handed the wooden basin in his hand to the man, motioning him to help him pour it, and then walked into the yard. Soon, Tian Zili came out in a hurry. When he saw this man, his eyes trembled. The man returned the wooden basin to Old Man Xu, and Tian Zili pulled him to the opposite side.

Old man Xu looked at them curiously, muttered a few words, and continued to busy himself with his own things.

"Why are you here? What happened?"

The man hurriedly said, "Brother, something terrible has happened. Last night, I was just about to tell everyone about the Lord's kindness as you instructed, when someone suddenly showed up."

He told Tian Zili everything the man opposite him said yesterday.

The more Tian Zili listened, the more solemn his expression became.

After listening to him, Tian Zili nodded, "Okay, I understand. Go back and keep an eye on that man to see if he has any accomplices. Tell the rest of the people to keep an eye on them."

"I will go back and report to my lord!"

"only!!"

Tian Zili hurried to the county government office. Old Man Xu suddenly blocked his way and asked, "What's missing from your house? Was there a thief?"

"Hmm? Ah, nothing was lost, he just couldn't find it, so he thought he had lost something. No problem, no problem."

Tian Zili said a few perfunctory words and turned to go in, but suddenly stopped, took out some money from his pocket and handed it to Old Man Xu, "Thank you for letting me know in time!"

"Hey! Why are you doing this?"

As Mr. Xu spoke, he watched the other person walk in with a smile.

After seeing Tian Zili off, he took a broom and began to sweep the street outside the gate of the county government office. As he was sweeping, a man came quickly carrying an empty bucket. Old Man Xu hurriedly stopped the man.

"Hey! You, a dung carrier, dare to go in through the front door? Aren't you afraid of offending the noble? Go through the side door!"

"Follow me." At this moment, Tian Zilie was standing beside Liu Taozi, telling her what happened outside.

Liu Taozi glanced at him and said, "You sent people to flatter me among the refugees."

"And then you discovered that someone was inciting the dead to cause chaos?"

"Yes, brother, Shiro saw it with his own eyes!"

Tian Zili hurriedly analyzed the situation, "Could it be the county magistrate? Does he want to sabotage it on purpose?"

"Impossible. If the dead start a rebellion now, he will be the first to suffer."

"Who could that be? Who would benefit from doing this?"

Tian Zili was really puzzled. He suddenly slapped his thigh and said, "Brother, Silang's original words were: The one named Gao Changgong..."

"Is this a conspiracy against County Lord Gao? Was it done by his enemies?"

Liu Taozi's face was extremely solemn, "Call someone! Let's go!"

At this moment, several officials at the city gate looked at these dead people in astonishment. The carriages beside them were piled with various wooden barrels, and these dead people in front of them did not rush towards them trembling like they did yesterday. They seemed to be whispering something, and the eyes they looked at them were full of vigilance and uneasiness.

"What are you standing there for? It's time to distribute food!!"

The official said loudly.

Some people wanted to go forward, but were stopped by their companions.

"poisonous."

"It's poisonous. Anyone who eats it will die!"

There were whispers in the crowd, and the clerk was stunned. He quickly stood on the carriage and said, "Who said that?! Who said that!"

The crowd became agitated, the refugees pushed each other, and some seemed to be shouting something. Seeing that the situation was not right, the soldiers at the door shouted, and they hurriedly raised the crossbows in their hands and blocked the city gate.

The county soldiers on the city wall moved forward one after another, aiming their bows and crossbows at the dead.

Some Xianbei soldiers were yelling something.

This intensified the current conflict, and the refugees became even more terrified, with some even starting to flee from far away.

Just at this moment, the sound of fierce horse hooves came from the city.

A moment later, a large green horse carrying its owner appeared here. The horse raised its front hooves high and neighed. Liu Taozi looked down at the dead man outside the city gate.

"No one wants to kill you!!!"

Liu Taozi seemed to have used all his strength, and his roar echoed outside the city gate.

"Give me the food!!"

He shouted loudly, and the official beside him hurriedly handed him a dry biscuit.

Liu Taozi raised the biscuit in his hand, faced everyone's gaze, chewed it into pieces, and then swallowed it.

“Non-toxic!!!”

He roared again.

The dead looked at him in astonishment, motionless.

Liu Taozi looked around and saw Yao Xiong and Kou Liu leading the county soldiers out in a line.

"There are traitors among you, trying to instigate you to rebel against the government! Now, get down on your knees!!!"

"Squat down!!!"

Taozi shouted again and drew his knife. Several people in the front squatted down quickly, which inspired the rest of the dead to squat down one after another. The county soldiers quickly rushed into the crowd and controlled the people in different places.

"Shiro!"

"Go find those traitors..."

As soon as Liu Taozi opened his mouth, he saw a man rising from the dead and rushing to the person next to him, "Brother!! He's here!! This is the man!!"

The Peach people in the crowd suddenly took action, pounced on several people and pinned them to the ground.

The county soldiers immediately had a target and rushed forward to cooperate with them to subdue those people, a total of five people.

Taozi signaled Yao Xiong to take these people away, and then looked at everyone again.

"I am the patrol officer of the county! I swear by the Zhang River! As long as you obey the law and cooperate with the officials, I will protect you and never let anyone harm you!!"

"If you break this oath, the Zhang River will flood my ancestral graves!!"

The deceased looked at the official riding on a tall horse in astonishment, and suddenly someone remembered the name he vaguely heard in front of the campfire yesterday.

The murmurs of the crowd could be heard again.

"Liu Youjiao"

"Liu Youjiao"

"Liu Youjiao"

(End of this chapter)