Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 231 Zhou Zhao is assassinated
"Is there a rope?"

Zhou Zhao asked Wei Ruo, who was startled and stood up somewhat blankly. She picked up a bundle of hemp rope from the bedside and handed it to Zhou Zhao.

Zhou Zhao nodded and immediately tied Guan Li up. Wei Ruo looked over, took a piece of cloth from a nearby basket, gagged Guan Li, and then slapped him hard across the face without any hesitation.

She looked up at Zhou Zhao, unaware that her face was already covered in tears.

"Today, I will take you out."

Wei Ruo pursed her lips. In Zhou Zhao's clear eyes, she saw no contempt. Even though it was their first meeting, she couldn't help but ask, "Don't you think it's despicable for me to live a life of shame? To sacrifice myself to protect my innocence is what a woman of the Wei family should do."

Zhou Zhao shook his head at Wei Ruo, "It's Guan Li who should die, not you. If the Wei family has such bad habits, then you might as well not be surnamed Wei."

Wei Ruo was taken aback, and her eyes lit up.

She took a deep breath, stood up, walked to the bedside, opened a hole in her pillow, took out a roll of white cloth, and handed it to Zhou Zhao.

"Take this and run away quickly. I know you are skilled in martial arts, but even the strongest can be overwhelmed. These are all the people I've met on the island, and I've drawn them all. Guan Li is just a steward on this island; I don't know who the master is, but I do know that he's a big shot in Chang'an."

On the west side of this island, there is a small building. A eunuch named Gongsun Yi lives in that building; he used Gu worms on us.

Zhou Zhao held the white cloth, feeling as if it weighed a ton. She lifted a corner to take a look and saw that there was a lifelike portrait painted on the white cloth.

She gripped the white cloth tightly, looking at the thin girl before her. She asked herself if she were Wei Ruo, she might not have been able to do this under such circumstances. This girl was truly a rare and resilient person in the world.

It's just that I met the wrong person and fell into Guan Li's trap.

"Did they ask you to use Gu worms on these people as well?"

Zhou Zhao raised the portrait in his hand.

Wei Ruo bit her lip. "I can't be sure, but I guess so, because they take some kind of pill."

As Wei Ruo spoke, as if reminded, she rummaged through the trunk again, found a white porcelain bottle, and handed it to Zhou Zhao, "This is it."

Seeing Zhou Zhao accept the gifts without hesitation and put them into his pocket, Wei Ruo tugged at her clothes. "Aren't you afraid I'm lying to you? After all, this is the first time we've met. You can't even confirm whether I'm Wei Taipu's granddaughter. Even if I am, after everything that's happened, aren't you afraid that I'm deliberately giving you these things to harm loyal and virtuous people?"

Zhou Zhao shook his head. "If you trust me, then I trust you. How many ferry crossings are there on this island?"

Without much thought, Wei Ruo blurted out, "There's only one. The other side of the island is all cliffs and dense forests, so boats can't dock there. That's the only flat area."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhao reached out to Wei Ruo and gently chopped at the back of her neck, knocking Wei Ruo unconscious.

Then, in a flash, he flew out of the window.

This time, Zhou Zhao didn't linger. She moved lightly towards the ferry, appearing like a ghost behind the two sentries. Before they could react, each of them was struck by a stone and fell to the ground with two thuds.

Without hesitation, Zhou Zhao lightly touched the ground and rushed directly towards the pier. Just as she was about to throw the coffin nail in her hand, she saw bubbles rising on the side of the pier, and a straw hat suddenly appeared.

“Ah Huang, sink the boat, leaving only one. I’ll go left, you go right.”

Seeing Zhou Zhao alive and kicking, Liu Huang breathed a slight sigh of relief. Without asking any questions, he followed Zhou Zhao's instructions and punched the boat several times. Each punch created a hole in the boat. Meanwhile, Zhou Zhao had already prepared stones and launched them at the boat, each one piercing through the wooden boat.

Seeing that Liu Huang only had one boat left, Zhou Zhao reached out his hand and pulled him up. "Ah Huang, do you still remember how you caused trouble?"

Liu Huang nodded emphatically; he and Zhou Zhao were both very good at this.

Zhou Zhao nodded. "I've found Chen Jiyuan and the others. Let them go back and report to the Northern Army. You and I will leave the people on this island here."

They had no choice but to call the Northern Army, since there were too many people on the island, and it would be impossible for her and Liu Huang alone to capture so many people and bring them ashore; they also couldn't leave quietly in advance, as that would alert the enemy, and by the time they returned to capture people, the island would probably be a dead island.

Therefore, the only option was to scuttle the boat so that people could not escape.

They sent Chen Jiyuan and Sun Zhi back to report the news.

Meanwhile, she and Liu Huang, like ghosts, were on the island, defeating these villains.

This is the best course of action at present.

Zhou Zhao thought for a moment, then pointed in a direction to Liu Huang. Liu Huang understood immediately and ran away from the ferry, heading in the direction Zhou Zhao was pointing.

Without hesitation, Zhou Zhao lightly touched the ground and flew towards the big tree where Chen Jiyuan and Sun Zhi had been hiding.

As she approached, she heard a commotion: "Something's happened in the dungeon! Zhou Zhao and Chen Jiyuan have escaped! Quickly inform Gongsun and dig them out, leave no stone unturned! Also, arrange boats so the nobles can leave immediately."

Zhou Zhao peeked out and saw a large group of people coming out of the house where the dungeon was hidden. The person who was speaking was a burly man of about forty years old. His belly was sticking out high, as if he was eight months pregnant. When he spoke, his belly twitched.

Zhou Zhao realized something was wrong; these people had discovered the problem with the dungeon so quickly.

As she was thinking, she suddenly felt her hair fluttering; a breeze had picked up.

The leaves rustled, the fog thinned, and no one knew how Chen Jiyuan and Sun Zhi were doing in the tree.

As Zhou Zhao was thinking, she heard a familiar voice behind her, "Sister Zhao."

Zhou Zhao was overjoyed and turned around abruptly. The wind blew her hair behind her head, and she suddenly realized that the wind was blowing from the north.

Cui Zi caused chaos in Qi and murdered Duke Zhuang; blood mist shrouded the lost city as the north wind blew.

According to the death prophecy, she would die when the north wind was blowing.

And now the wind is blowing from the north.

As Zhou Zhao thought about it, her pupils suddenly contracted. Before her mind could process what was happening, her body moved first. She swayed and avoided a fatal blow, but the black dagger in the intruder's hand, which looked like it was coated with poison, pierced her lower abdomen.

The person holding the dagger was none other than the young-looking Chen Jiyuan.

The person who killed her, the mole within the Court of Justice, was Chen Jiyuan, whom she had never suspected.

She came to this island today to save Chen Jiyuan...

No wonder she couldn't avoid it.