Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 87 Start counterattack

As Li He spoke, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he looked at Zhou Zhao expectantly, "Could it be that you are going to grant us a pardon on behalf of the imperial court?"

Zhou Zhao scoffed, "It's not even dawn yet, and you're already daydreaming. Murderers pay with their lives; they deserve it. How can they be pardoned?"

Li He's face fell, and before he could continue cricketing, Zhou Zhao continued, "Your crimes are unforgivable, but what about your wife, children, and parents?"

In Tianying City, there are not only these criminals, but also many ordinary people, or even the newlywed wives and children of these criminals. They have not committed any wrongdoing. As an official of the court, how can Zhou Zhao stand by and watch them die under the blood sacrifice formation?
Moreover, even those who have committed crimes should not die from vigilante justice; otherwise, what is the point of the law?
They have to deal with Qin Tianying and can't spare any time to save these people.

Although she has destroyed the mechanism, who knows if Qin Tianying and the mechanics have any backup plans?

Li He was speechless.

Zhan Guang, standing to the side, pursed his dry lips. "Whatever you want me to do, I will do it. Lord Zhou, I have a favor to ask. I have two children, who are only three years old. Their only mistake is having a father like me."

"Soon, Tianying City will be gone, won't it? The world is vast, and there will be no place for them to stay, because they are unregistered vagrants."

"I am willing to submit to the law, but I implore you, Lord Zhou, to register them so that they can live as ordinary people in the future."

Zhou Zhao thought for a moment, "Zhao Yizhou is a kind-hearted and true gentleman. Based on my understanding of him, he will make proper arrangements for the innocent."

Su Changying, who was standing to the side, twitched her fingers behind her back when she heard Zhao Yizhou's name.

Zhou Zhao didn't say anything more to them. He took out a map of the outer city of Tianying City and said, "The city gates are guarded by Qin Tianying's trusted men. No one is allowed to enter or leave without permission. There are probably people lying in wait in the tunnels leading out of the city. In a little while, you will continue to search my and Liu Huang's orders and gather everyone in the place I have circled in red."

“These places don’t have underground caves; they are empty spaces for rituals, so they are safe for the time being.”

Seeing that he was all alone, Li He braced himself and went over to memorize all the safe zones within the Vermilion Bird Hall.

"There's no time to lose, you all go out and make the arrangements immediately."

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he clasped his hands in a fist salute to the hall masters and said earnestly, "Gentlemen, whether so many people in Tianying City can survive depends entirely on you."

Li He felt a chill run down his spine and couldn't help but straighten his chest.

In all his previous years, no one had ever placed high hopes on him.

He's clearly a bad guy, yet he's being asked to save a city—it's utterly absurd!
Yet, despite the absurdity, he felt it was wonderful to be able to do such a thing at the end of his sinful life.

As Li He thought about it, his eyes inexplicably welled up with tears. He glanced at Zhou Zhao and couldn't help but call out, "Young Master Zhou, after this matter is settled, will you listen to my story?"

Zhou Zhao nodded. "The court statement needs to be entered into the record."

Li He and Zhan Guang exchanged a glance, and then inexplicably laughed.

The group didn't say anything more and walked out with Cheng Yuyuan and Cheng Ming. Ye Bai and Yan Junyu didn't move and stood quietly against the wall.

The secret room suddenly felt much more spacious.

Zhou Zhao looked at Liu Huang in the shadows and said, "Huang, help me remove these handcuffs."

Liu Huang stepped forward as instructed, and with a sudden squeeze of his hand, he deformed the indestructible black iron shackles. Zhou Zhao moved his ankle and escaped from them.

"Brother Ah Huang, you're amazing! Can you teach me this trick?"

Upon hearing Yan Junyu's address as "Brother Huang," Liu Huang froze instantly. He stumbled backward, nearly crashing into the wall, and fled in terror from the menacing little tiger tooth.

Yan Junyu hadn't expected such a strong reaction. He scratched his head and abruptly changed the subject, "Sister Zhao, how do we kill Qin Tianying?" Zhou Zhao took out a map of the underground caves in Tianying Mountain and tapped it lightly. "We only have one chance, so everyone must be absolutely certain."

……

Tianying Mountain Top

Qin Tianying stood on a large blue stone, gazing at the scene outside the city. Clusters of torches moved quickly through the streets, like ants carrying food.

"Didn't the city lord just organize some kind of lantern festival tomorrow, inviting everyone to the streets? Why is it suddenly starting tonight?"

The mechanic stood beside Qin Tianying, frowning as he followed his gaze. He had drunk quite a bit tonight and was somewhat tipsy; even the torches in the distance appeared hazy to him.

Qin Tianying stared at the moving torches, glancing out of the corner of her eye at Xu Yuan, who stood trembling at the top of the steps. "Speak."

Xu Yuan shrank his neck and cupped his hands in greeting. “City Lord, the Hall Master of Tian Shu is still unconscious. The doctor estimates that she will not wake up until the day after tomorrow. This time, she injured her right hand. Even if she recovers, her skills will probably be greatly reduced.”

"As the city lord instructed, I immediately went to check on Yao Guang and Kai Yang's whereabouts. They were both in the courtyard and had not left."

"The inner city has been thoroughly searched, but no trace of Zhou Zhaotong or that guy named Ahuang has been found. Now, the four hall masters in the outer city are searching house to house, but they haven't found him yet."

Qin Tianying's eyes flickered. "Before Yaoguang arrived, you were the top newcomer in the inner hall. In your opinion, who in the outer city could rival you?"

Xu Yuan didn't keep Qin Tianying waiting for long. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Yan Junyu is Yuheng's nephew. He comes from the Yan Family Sword Manor in Nanyang, so he must be quite skilled. As for the other one, I wonder if the city lord knows Ye Bai."

Qin Tianying turned around in surprise, "Ye Bai? That ugly old servant beside Ye Xuan?"

Xu Yuan shook his head. "He's not some old servant. He used to be General Ye's number one warrior. Although he's old now, in terms of skill alone, he's on par with me and Tianquan."

Qin Tianying turned back thoughtfully and continued to look at the moving torch.

Suddenly, he froze, abruptly turning to look at the mechanic. "Have you figured out anything?"

The mechanic hiccuped, rubbed his eyes, and then his expression turned serious. "You're not mistaken."

Qin Tianying's face was ashen, and he gritted his teeth as he said, "Zhou Zhao!"

"Xu Yuan, go to the outer city and find Ye Bai and Yan Junyu, then summon Kaiyang and Yaoguang."

Xu Yuan was stunned for a moment, then cupped his hands in agreement and jogged down the mountain.

Once Qin Tianying could no longer see him, she said, "Now prepare. Once they've all arrived, activate the mechanism and perform a blood sacrifice to the Six Paths Heavenly Book."

The mechanic nodded, now completely sober. He looked at Qin Tianying with a sinister gaze, "We agreed on the longevity formula, I want one too."

Hiding in his study, Zhou Zhao listened to the summons from the inner city outside the window and stared intently at Ye Bai, who was standing by the window.

As she predicted, the counterattack began.

She went to great lengths to arrange the four outer halls, not entirely to save their lives, but to force Qin Tianying to perform a blood sacrifice ahead of schedule.

The first step is to seize the right opportunity.

The date has been changed from July 15th to July 14th.