Daqian Night Emperor

Chapter 343 Xie Family Crisis
Tianyuan County, Changxi County.

On both sides of the street, there are broken walls and ruins, presenting a desolate scene.

"Ta Tata..."

The sound of horse hooves rang out on the street, breaking the silence on the long street.

Zhao Guanxiang was riding on his horse, looking around, and couldn't help feeling emotional.

Nowadays in Jingzhou, there are only a few places like Baofeng County that can still maintain order. Most places are as dilapidated as Changxi County in front of us.

There are still people living in this county town, but now they are in a panic and are all huddled in their homes, surviving on their stored food.

If the stored food was gone, the whole family would either go to live with the local gentry and work like slaves in exchange for food.

Or, you can risk your life and property to leave this place and become a refugee to fight for a way to survive.

The disaster in Jingzhou was caused by both a severe drought and the man-made disaster of the Salvation Church.

It is true that good fortune never comes alone, and misfortune never comes alone.

"Sir, turn the corner ahead and you will see the Xie family mansion."

One of his adjutants came to report, and Zhao Guanxiang had already seen the magnificent "Xie Mansion" at the end of the long street.

The gate of Xie's house was open today, with a white cloth hanging on the plaque on the top, and a faint sound of funeral music could be heard from the house.

In the front yard of the house, facing the lobby, there was an incense table. Two Namo masters were wearing Taoist robes and evil ghost masks. One held a nine-ring golden staff, and the other held a wooden mallet and leather drum. They took turns to chant:
"In the vast Fengdu, there are many diamond mountains."

"Lingbao has infinite light, and the hole illuminates the lake of fire."

"All the sinful souls in the Nine Netherworlds follow the fragrant cloud flags."

"The blue lotus of concentration and wisdom, the gods will be reborn in eternal peace."

There were two rows of incense tables, and kneeling in a row were filial sons and grandchildren in mourning.

What is strange is that there are no young and strong people among these people in mourning, all of them are the elderly, the weak, women and children.

"Ta Tata..."

The sound of horse hooves suddenly sounded from outside the courtyard gate, and everyone in the courtyard was suddenly startled.

Zhao Guanxiang rode directly into the courtyard and shouted loudly: "The Astronomical Observatory is doing business!"

After he shouted, the people behind him rushed into the Xie family and took control of everyone in the family.

The strange thing was that even though the officials had arrived, the two Namo Taoist priests in front of the incense table did not stop their rituals. They continued beating drums and shaking sticks, and the words they muttered sounded like singing.

"Stop singing!"

Two officers from the Astronomical Observatory stepped forward and stopped them with their official swords in hand.

But at this moment, a woman rushed out from the group of Xie family members in mourning and said in panic, "No!"

The woman was not very old, probably in her early twenties. She rushed forward to stop them, but the officers around her immediately drew their knives, scaring her so much that she turned pale.

The next moment, she knelt on the ground with a thud and kowtowed: "Sir, we can't stop, we can't stop... If the ritual stops, my son will become a lonely ghost and won't be able to enter the Pure Land!"

Zhao Guanxiang frowned and dismounted.

He asked, "Who is in charge here?"

Among the group of Xie family members in mourning, an old man stood up tremblingly: "Sir, I am Xie Baolin. I am the oldest in the Xie family. May I ask what you want to do?"

Zhao Guanxiang narrowed his eyes and looked at the old man, and asked, "Are you the head of the Xie family? But I heard that the head of the Xie family is only fifty years old, in the prime of life."

Xie Baolin said bitterly: "Sir, the Xie family now only has women, children, the elderly and the weak."

"Where are the others?"

"The head of the family said he wanted to do something, so he mobilized all the young and strong men in the family, and even took away all the servants in the mansion..."

"Transferred? Where did he go?"

"I don't know."

Zhao Guanxiang was a little surprised and confused for a moment, but when he looked around the courtyard at the Xie family, except for three or two young children, most of them were old people with no teeth, or women such as wives and concubines in the family.

He turned sideways and looked at the incense table, looking at the spirit tablet on the table: "Who died?"

Xie Baolin replied, "It was the eldest grandson of the first house, Xie Yuan. He was only nine years old this year. He caught a cold last month and didn't survive... He died."

As he spoke, he sighed, and the young woman kneeling on the ground covered her face with her long sleeves and sobbed.

An official from the Astronomical Observatory approached the incense table, carefully identified the words on the tablet, and reported back: "Sir, the name on the tablet is indeed Xie Yuan."

Xie Baolin came to Zhao Guanxiang on crutches and asked cautiously, "Sir, I don't know what has happened to our Xie family since the adults are here to visit?"

Zhao Guanxiang said in a deep voice: "The head of the Xie family, Xie Hong, colluded with the Salvation Sect and has been killed by us!"

"what!"

Xie Baolin felt as if struck by lightning. He swayed a few times and then staggered to the ground.

Everyone in the Xie family rushed over to help. A child about seven or eight years old rushed out and supported Xie Baolin:
"Grandpa Zu!"

The child supported Xie Baolin's arm and glared at Zhao Guanxiang: "You are talking nonsense, my father would never do such a thing! You, you bunch of executioners, you killed my father!"

Zhao Guanxiang looked down at the child and he could see hatred in the child's eyes.

"grown ups……"

An adjutant came to Zhao Guanxiang's side and said in a low voice: "We have searched the Xie family from beginning to end, but found nothing useful. Now there are only these old and weak people left in the Xie family. It seems that they are unaware of the fact that the head of the family is colluding with the Salvation Church. Sir, do you think we should arrest them and interrogate them, or just let it go?"

Zhao Guanxiang stood with his hands behind his back and said to Xie Baolin and the Xie family members behind him: "Although Xie Hong has been executed, his body has disappeared from the funeral home. And now you are holding a grand funeral again. I have reason to suspect that your Xie family colluded with an insider and stole Xie Hong's body."

Xie Baolin pretended to be calm and approached with his crutches: "What do you want, sir?"

"Open the coffin and perform an autopsy!"

As Zhao Guanxiang finished his merciless words, the woman who had just knelt on the ground immediately panicked and stood up to stop him: "No, no! Today is the day my son is buried. Do you want to make my son rest in peace even after his death? Do you want him to become a lonely ghost?"

The boy who was originally supporting Xie Baolin threw himself directly onto the coffin, his childish voice full of hatred: "Whoever dares to touch my brother's coffin, I will fight you!"

For a moment, facing these women, children and young kids, everyone drew their official swords but didn't know what to do, and they all looked at Zhao Guanxiang.

But Zhao Guanxiang was unmoved, and shouted coldly: "Open the coffin and examine the body!"

If he hadn't secretly asked his third sister to check the Xie family for him in advance, he would have been frightened by the Xie family's behavior today.

The Xie family bought a batch of grain some time ago, and now the only place in Tianyuan County that sells grain is Baofeng County!

All the grain stores in Baofeng County are under the control of Zhao’s Trading Company and can be easily found out with a simple search.

As for the food that the Xie family bought, it was enough for the elderly, the weak, the women and the children in front of them to eat until they became moldy. It was enough to feed a thousand people for a month.

These old, weak, women and children from the Xie family must be connected to the group of Xie family members who joined the Salvation Church!

Zhao Guanxiang wants to see what they are up to today!

Seeing their boss' words, the surrounding officers gritted their teeth and rushed forward, lifting the boy from the Xie family off the coffin.

"No way you're ruining my brother's funeral!"

The boy from the Xie family turned around and bit the arm of the person who caught him, which immediately made the officer furious and he slapped the boy in the face.

Zhao Guanxiang personally drew his knife and approached the coffin: "Everyone get out of the way!"

"Yes, my lord."

Everyone stepped back and made way for them.

Zhao Guanxiang came to the coffin, poked the knife at the gap in the coffin lid, and then pried it open with all his strength. But when he opened the coffin, he found that the body inside was not that of an adult male, but that of an eight or nine-year-old child.

The child's body was pale all over, his lips were purple, but he was no longer breathing. He was truly deader than dead.

Mistaken?
Zhao Guanxiang frowned slightly, somewhat surprised by this situation.

But in the next moment, his whole body hair stood up suddenly.

The sounds around him seemed to disappear in an instant the moment he opened the coffin.

The woman's crying, the children's screams, the scolding of the subordinates around...

And...from the moment they entered this house, the two Namo Taoists never stopped chanting.

For a moment, the whole world seemed to be quiet.

Zhao Guanxiang suddenly raised his head and looked across at the incense table.

The two Namo Taoist priests wearing evil ghost masks stopped their "shaman-like" movements at some point.

The two of them stood on the left and right opposite Zhao Guanxiang. Through the holes in the evil ghost masks, one could see that their eyes were staring straight at Zhao Guanxiang.

The Taoist priest on the right slowly spoke, with a hoarse voice of an old man: "Zhao Guanxiang..."

Zhao Guanxiang was stunned for a moment that this person actually knew his name.

The next moment, the Taoist priest on the left uttered a sharp voice like a woman: "...You really deserve to die!"

Then, the nine-ring golden staff shook, making a clanging sound.

The drumstick hits the drum, making a "dong" sound.

After doing all this, the two men wearing evil ghost masks turned around and walked forward.

Zhao Guanxiang drew out his evil-killing knife and shouted at the two men from behind: "Don't run!"

But just as he was about to jump over the incense table to chase after them, yellow mist suddenly filled the space between him and the two Nanwu Taoists wearing evil ghost masks.

As the yellow fog came, everything around became invisible in an instant.

Zhao Guanxiang watched the two men disappear in the yellow fog, and was about to chase them with his sword in hand.

However, at this moment, several pale arms stretched out from the yellow mist behind him and grabbed his shoulders and arms...

Zhao Guanxiang turned around and was about to chop with his knife, and several pieces of his arm were cut off on the spot. Faint screams were heard in the yellow fog.

"This sound..."

When Zhao Guanxiang heard the scream, he was stunned.

Because the voice sounded familiar to him, it seemed to be a general under his command.

"Something's wrong, something's wrong!"

In the yellow fog, suddenly, several knife lights flashed.

But Zhao Guanxiang did not dare to fight back. He raised the Zhuxie Sword to resist, but he did not fight back. He just retreated step by step.

……

Inside the Xie family courtyard, the officials from the Astronomical Observatory and the palace soldiers suddenly started to attack their own people like crazy.

But those members of the Xie family seemed unaffected.

Xie Baolin looked at the opened coffin with an unreasonable fanaticism in his eyes.

He dropped the cane in his hand and knelt down tremblingly: "White Lotus Pure Land, the mother of all life!"

He took out a dagger from his arms, and his hands trembled even more violently.

He slowly turned the dagger's blade around and pressed it against his chest:
"Blood as sacrifice, soul as guide..."

The dagger pierced his chest, making a cross from top to bottom.

Blood gushed out instantly, and at the last moment of his life, Xie Baolin seemed to have a flash of life, his eyes wide open, and he shouted:

"Welcome Tian Tong!"

With one sound, countless Xie family members were ripped open and their bodies slowly fell forward.

But at the moment before death, each of them had a satisfied smile on their face.

The blood spread on the ground and finally gathered towards the coffin.

The pale body of the boy in the coffin suddenly opened his eyes, and inside his cloudy eyes were a pair of bloodshot pupils!
The next moment, he sat up suddenly, his cloudy eyes looked around and finally fell on Zhao Guanxiang.

At this moment, from Zhao Guanxiang's perspective, he was still surrounded by the yellow fog, struggling to resist the attacks from all directions.

"This can't go on like this..."

If you only defend without counterattacking, no matter how strong you are, you won't be able to sustain it!
But just as Zhao Guanxiang was anxiously thinking of a way to break the impasse, a sharp scream suddenly sounded beside his ears.

The sound was so shrill and sharp that it hurt the eardrums.

Zhao Guanxiang lost consciousness for a moment, and then he felt a piercing pain in his shoulder.

He turned his head and saw a little head gnawing at his shoulder.

It’s the child’s corpse in the coffin!

The child's corpse was now climbing on his back like a monkey. Its sharp teeth broke through Zhao Guanxiang's protective qi and bit his shoulder.

Zhao Guanxiang suddenly smashed the handle of the Zhuxie Knife into the face of the child corpse on his left shoulder.

The Evil-Slaying Sword burst out with unprecedented brilliance, and the child corpse seemed to be somewhat afraid of this magical weapon. It jumped away in an instant and melted into the yellow mist.

"Cold!"

Zhao Guanxiang knelt on one knee, with the long knife in his hand inserted into the ground, supporting his body tightly.

His consciousness suddenly became blurred, and a murderous intent rose in his heart.

These people are obviously his subordinates, but they dared to attack him. He wants to kill them!

The third sister didn’t even investigate the Xie family’s situation clearly, she deserves to be killed!

Jiang Ping'er is so annoying, and she brought those bandits with her...

Kill them all, kill them all!
And my adoptive father, if he hadn't sent me to Jingzhou, I wouldn't be in this dangerous situation now, and my adoptive father should...

Foster father?

"No, no, no, no, no..."

Zhao Guanxiang knelt on the ground and hit his head hard with his hands.

He felt that his "state of mind" was being polluted, and his remaining sanity was being eroded by the murderous intent.

"The elixir my foster father gave me..."

He thought of the bottle of medicine Zhao Qi'an had given him, and tried with great difficulty to take it out of his arms.

But at this moment, a "puff" sound came from behind.

"Hee hee hee……"

The innocent laughter of children came from behind.

Zhao Guanxiang looked back in disbelief, only to see that the child corpse had appeared behind him at some point, and a hand pierced his waist, constantly groping at it, as if playing a fun game.

(End of this chapter)