Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 391 Internal strife
Just as the arrow was about to hit Manager Li, at the critical moment, Manager Li took a step to the side and twisted his body, causing the arrow to fly past him.

The next moment, several more arrows came rushing in.

Manager Li picked up a stick from the ground and waved it to defend himself, while quickly retreating to a corner.

Shouts came from all around: "Take him alive!"

The voice belonged to a woman.

Manager Li showed no panic whatsoever; on the contrary, he remained remarkably calm. He looked around and, sure enough, spotted the servants who had come to the backyard with him earlier, sneaking towards him.

Steward Li leaned against the wall, pretending to be oblivious. When the servant got close enough, he suddenly sprang up and punched the servant in the chest. The servant was hit squarely, screamed, and staggered backward. Steward Li wasn't about to let him escape. He lunged forward and kicked the servant in the head. While the servant was nearly unconscious, he dragged him to a corner.

"Manager, manager," the servant pleaded as he regained some composure, "I came to help because I saw the manager had been shot by an arrow."

Manager Li sneered, "I knew all along that you let those people in."

The servant tried to argue, but Steward Li kicked him in the knee, the crisp sound of breaking bones immediately followed by a scream from the servant.

Manager Li swiftly kicked and broke his other leg as well.

The servant was sweating profusely from the pain. Steward Li said fiercely, "I have treated you well, yet you conspired with outsiders to harm me."

The servant's lips trembled, and despite his fear, he still insisted, "I didn't, I didn't, the manager must have misunderstood me."

Manager Li sneered, "You were ordered to do this by someone from the cult."

The servant's body trembled even more violently. He tried his best to control his emotions, but it was too late. Steward Li easily saw through his act.

"It's those nuns."

A look of surprise flashed in the servant's eyes. He stared blankly at the steward, wondering when the steward had found out about everything.

"It seems they've wanted to rebel against the Holy Church for a long time, and they've secretly gathered so many people," Manager Li said coldly.

The servant could only shake his head, unable to utter any more words in defense.

Steward Li stared at the servant: "I noticed a few days ago that you often sneak out of the manor."

At this point, Manager Li's anger surged, and he kicked the servant a few more times.

"It really startled me. Luckily, I found out that the person you met was a nun from Yunqi Temple, so I didn't disturb you. I wanted to see what you were up to."

He also wanted to find out whether those nuns were colluding with outsiders. Collusion between followers and outsiders was no small matter, and failure to investigate would lead to disaster.

Therefore, even though he was afraid of being targeted and unable to escape, he patiently refrained from immediately exposing the matter.

Just as he suspected, he always felt that someone was secretly sabotaging the He family's affairs, and he suspected that it was related to these people.

Yesterday, when he went to Yunqi Temple, he deliberately provoked the nun with his words to see what she could do. As a result, they couldn't hold back and attacked him.

After saying this, Manager Li suddenly revealed a cold smile and shouted, "Take those people down!"

Upon hearing this, the servants looked around in alarm and indeed saw several figures darting out from a nearby house, clearly having been lying in ambush.

Seeing this, the servant turned pale. He really didn't know when so many people had come to the manor.

Manager Li's voice was almost squeezed out through clenched teeth: "Now that everyone's here, none of them are leaving. A few nuns, leading a group to rob the estate, according to the laws of Liang, it's only right that you be beaten to death."

The servants were even more terrified upon hearing this. Steward Li stepped on the man's broken leg bone: "Is the He family's affair also related to you?"

The servant screamed, his body trembling uncontrollably. In order to escape the pain as soon as possible, he kept saying, "No...no...we didn't do those things, we didn't do anything. It was Master Mingzhen who said that the missionaries and the steward wanted to strangle her...she had no choice but to lead us in resistance."

Manager Li frowned. He had never laid a hand on Abbess Mingzhen, but at a time like this, he would only think that Abbess Mingzhen was using this as an excuse to rebel.

“If you don’t speak up, there are plenty of other people who can.”

Manager Li lost his patience and kicked the servant in the neck, breaking his bones. The servant convulsed a few times and then died.

Steward Li never cared about human life. To him, this servant knew too much about him, so it was better to end his life as soon as possible.

He really wanted to interrogate her... but he was better at dealing with women.

The Buddhist followers gathered by the nuns were clearly unprepared for the ambush at the estate. By the time they tried to leave, their escape route had been blocked.

Since there was no way to escape, they could only fight against the people of the village.

Several nuns were protected in the middle, watching as their side gradually fell into a disadvantageous position. One of the nuns gritted her teeth, took off the bundle she was carrying, and pulled out a jar from it.

Since they were all members of the Holy Church, they naturally knew what it was.

Someone shouted, "Stop that nun!"

The nuns and others were prepared, and they blocked the person holding the black oil behind them. In a short while, a ball of flame rose up, and the nun actually held the burning pottery jar and threw it at the people in the village.

Black oil splattered out, and the nun who threw the pottery jar was also burned, but she seemed not to feel the pain at all, and picked up the pottery jar handed to her by someone next to her.

Each of the nuns carried a jar of black oil, which they prepared to use in a critical moment.

However, the second burning pottery jar was not thrown out and was shattered by a flying stone.

Black oil flowed out, pouring all over the nun's body, and flames followed, completely setting her ablaze in the blink of an eye.

The nun struggled and screamed in agony, and the surrounding nuns watched in horror, quickly moving away.

The humanoid fireball struggled violently, chasing after the people around her as if seeking help, and finally she rushed towards the people on the estate.

This scene made everyone forget to stop her for a moment. They watched as she rushed into a house, and the next moment, flames came out of the house.

not good.

Manager Li's heart sank when he saw this; the fire would attract the people nearby.

The fire caused by the black oil burned extremely fast. To extinguish it, the people in front of them would have to be released. The nuns also found a way to escape, and they lit the pottery jars again and threw them at the house.

Manager Li gritted his teeth: "Hurry up and get rid of all these people."

They wanted to silence everyone before they were discovered.

At Steward Li's command, the people on the estate attacked the nuns and others again, but Steward Li then thought of the women in the cellar.

He drew his dagger and walked into the cellar.

There was no time to release them, so the only option was to kill them. This meant that many things could no longer be covered up.

The estate was under the Li family's name, and it was clear that he couldn't keep it. His identity would also be questioned. Therefore, he had no choice but to flee Bianjing after committing the murder.