Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 682 Because He Is Kind

"Hurry up..."

Wu Jiong quickly descended two steps and called the two guards behind him to protect him.

But after going down two stone steps, he discovered that the two guards behind him were also covering their throats with their hands and staggering as they fell down.

Four lanterns fell to the ground around him, and the candlelight burned the lampshades. For a moment, Wu Jiong was surrounded by light.

Ji Xiang was carrying a katana, with her face covered with a black scarf, revealing only a pair of fierce eyes, and she walked out with murderous intent.

"Come quickly, there are assassins!"

Wu Jiong shouted loudly, but before he could finish his shout, Fujiwara no Himeka grasped the knife with both hands, shouted loudly, and chopped him on the head.

What a quick knife!

Wu Jiong's eyes narrowed and he crossed his hands to block.

"Keng!"

There was a sound of metal clashing, and Wu Jiong's arms felt numb. If it weren't for the iron arm guards on both of his forearms, this knife would have split his head in half.

Wu Jiong took three steps back and landed on the ground. Just as he staggered a bit, Ji Xiang's second knife arrived.

“Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock…”

The knife was so fast. Wu Jiong's kung fu was not that good, so he blocked a few times in a hurry. From the moment he was hit by the first knife, his movements slowed down.

He was slow, but Ji Xiang was not slow at all.

Since gaining Yang Yuan's complete trust and being taught the "Zhelong Gong" by Yang Yuan, Ji Xiang now even has the confidence to compete with her sword master.

Ji Xiang was like chopping a wooden man covered with a straw curtain. She chopped and scraped, cut and wiped, and finished the work in a flash.

Wu Jiong turned into a bloody man.

His head was half drooped on his neck, his arms hanging only by a layer of skin, and he didn't even have time to fall down.

Wu Jiong's loud shout attracted people from the nearby courtyard.

Someone rushed over with a knife in hand, shouting, "It happened..."

"puff!"

In the darkness of the night, a "shuriken" flew over and hit his throat with incredible accuracy.

"Shuriken" is the general term used in Japan for hidden weapons launched by hand.

There are some differences in the style of their hidden weapons and those in Middle-earth.

However, Hanane and Xiaonai have switched to using the common hidden weapons in Middle-earth. After getting familiar with them for a while, they were able to use them with ease.

Xiaonai and Kanon always hide in the dark, they don't want to be in the spotlight like Himeka.

Himeka is a swordsman and a samurai, while they are ninjas.

The faster they can kill the target without showing up, the more it proves their ability.

……

In Pengzhou City, the two heads of the Wu family selected two hundred strong and sturdy servants, armed with hunting bows and swords, and hurriedly left the city and rushed towards Wu Jiong's residence in the northwest direction.

Even when they reached the foot of the mountain, they did not light torches, for fear of being discovered by Wu Jiongben's people.

"Seventh Brother, I will lead my men to attack, and you lead your men to surround the villa!"

The team leader, Lao Liu, gave an order and was the first to climb over the wall.

His men immediately followed suit and climbed over the wall.

The seventh son of the Wu family immediately ordered his men to disperse and surround the entire villa.

Lao Liu entered the villa, thinking that a fierce battle was about to take place because the villa had a dog.

Their infiltration should not be hidden from those guard dogs.

However, he squatted down and waited for a moment, but there was no barking sound of the vicious dog noticing someone had broken in.

Lao Liu frowned and waved his hand, and all the men stood up and moved forward at the same time.

"Sixth Master, look here..."

Lao Liu hurried over and immediately smelled a hint of blood.

It was hard to see clearly in the dark. Lao Liu thought that tonight would not end well, so he made up his mind and shouted, "Light the torches."

With a "bang", the torch was lit and the flames illuminated the ground.

Seeing the corpse on the ground, Lao Liu was horrified and shouted in a deep voice: "Search every room, step by step!"

Originally, he wanted to launch a sneak attack first to catch Wu Jiong off guard, and then wait until the people in the villa were alerted before launching an open attack.

But the current situation was inexplicably weird, and Lao Liu no longer cared about his original intention.

As far as Lao Liu knew, Wu Jiong's house had more than 40 guards, plus the male members of Wu Jiong's house, a total of more than 50 people.

So he brought in half of his troops, about a hundred people. These hundred people were the elite private soldiers maintained by the Wu family. They also had the advantage of the surprise attack, so they should be able to control the situation.

However, as he searched further, Lao Liu became more and more shocked.

Dead, all dead.

Some were hacked to death, and some were killed by hidden weapons.

The places of death are also different: under the steps, on the doorstep, on the edge of the kang, in the main room...

Some were disheveled, some neatly dressed...

Some showed no signs of resistance, as if they were killed quietly in their sleep.

Because, in some houses, they broke the door bolts and rushed in, and the doors were still bolted and the windows were still closed, and they didn't know how they were caught.

If they had not found many women huddled in the corners and shivering, Lao Liu, with so many people in his command, each holding a knife and holding a torch, would have been terrified.

Because this bloodbath scene was really weird and terrifying, and it didn't seem like it was done by human power.

Lao Liu led his men to search from beginning to end, but found no man alive in Wu Jiong's house.

Wu Jiong's body was also found. He was killed in strange ways.

The whole body was clearly about to fall apart, but it was still intact thanks to some muscle tissue and skin.

Even if the bones were completely cut off, some parts of his body were still connected and not completely severed.

Judging from the deep knife marks on the iron arm guard on Wu Jiong's forearm, he had resisted.

So the opponent killed him in a fierce battle. But in the fierce battle, he was able to retain 30% of his strength when using the knife, and even accurately controlled the force and speed of the knife. What a terrifying person he was.

Lao Liu felt that he could no longer handle the situation, so he called Lao Qi in as well.

After seeing this scene, Mr. Qi didn't know what to do.

The two brothers sat there for a long while, and ordered their men to search the house again inside and out, but they found neither any survivors nor the body of the attacker.

Therefore, the Seventh Master ordered all the surviving women in the mansion to be gathered together, and confiscated a lot of property, and then took the women away from the villa.

Pengzhou is the base camp of their Wu family, a place that has been run by several generations for hundreds of years. It is very easy to arrange these women for them.

……

In the ancestral hall of the Wu family's old house, the lights are on all night long.

The heads of each family, elders and persons in charge all stayed up all night, waiting for news in the ancestral hall.

They are looking forward to hearing that everything went well, but they are also worried about hearing the results.

Before tonight, they were a loving family, but suddenly they turned against each other. It would take time for anyone to adjust to the mood.

Just as the sky was getting light, Wu Laoliu came back.

After hearing his words, Wu Yuan's face darkened: "Sixth Brother, you went there on the orders of my family's head. It was for the future of our entire Wu family. You were the one who did the knife, but the matter has nothing to do with you.

If any of my Wu family members have any complaints, please come to me. If the spirits of our ancestors in heaven are dissatisfied, I will bear the responsibility. You don’t have to make up the news that a mysterious person massacred the villa. "

Wu Laoliu wanted to cry but had no tears: "Master, please believe me. I really didn't kill him! When we arrived, the whole villa was silent and there were dead bodies everywhere. It was obvious that there had been a big battle, but... we have no idea who did it."

Lao Liu's father couldn't help it and stepped forward to ask carefully.

Wu Laoliu told the whole story in detail, and everyone felt that it didn't sound false. However, the facts were so mysterious that everyone was still a little skeptical.

After a while, Wu Laoqi, who had settled the female relatives, came back. Everyone hurriedly asked him again, and Wu Laoqi's statement was exactly the same as Wu Laoliu's.

The elders and the heads of the house looked at each other in bewilderment.

Wu Yuan thought for a moment and said, "Whoever did it, let's put it aside for now and deal with the aftermath first."

"Sixth Brother, have you checked? Are there any omissions in the number of people?"

Wu Laoliu's face suddenly turned pale. "I checked them all, and no one was missing. All the men were killed, and nine women were killed. Judging from the scene, they were killed when they resisted with weapons. The rest of the women were all taken away by me."

Wu Yuan took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Okay, I'll go to the manor to meet the Marshal. Second Uncle, I'll trouble you with the government."

……

When the sky brightens, pedestrians, tourists, vendors and workers on the street begin to become active.

Then, someone saw the prosecutor of Pengzhou Prefecture, along with a group of yamen runners, hurriedly leaving the city and heading northwest.

Another half hour later, another large group of people from the Wu family rushed out of the city and headed northwest.

In the Wu family manor in the southeast direction, Wu Yuan was expressing his loyalty to Yang Yuan.

He originally wanted to conceal the strange things that happened in Wu Jiong Villa, but after thinking it over, he decided to tell the truth.

Although, to tell the truth it would probably be difficult for Yang Yuan to believe it.

However, when he hesitantly said that he had sent people to clean up the house, but a mysterious person took the initiative and wiped out Wu Jiong's entire family, waiting for Yang Yuan to question, ask questions, or even get furious, Yang Yuan smiled.

"I believe it, because I sent that person."

Yang Yuan smiled and said to Wu Yuan: "You sent someone, that's enough. Even if you are doing it out of public interest, it's hard to avoid suspicion from your own clansmen. So, let me do it."

……

By noon, the news had indeed spread.

After all, Wu Jiong’s villa is not far from Pengzhou City.

It is said that some bandits have sneaked into the local area and robbed the Wu family's manor on Wangxiaping last night.

The bandits were so brutal that they looted the villa of the fourth master of the Wu family.

Mr. Wu Si and all the men in the villa were killed, and many properties and women were taken away.

For a time, the whole Pengzhou City was in a panic and everyone was in danger.

Because the prefect was furious, not only were all the three shifts of yamen runners sent out, but also the soldiers stationed in the city, local soldiers, militia, and civilian men, either stepped up the searches and arrests within the city, or went out of the city in groups to search for the thieves or the spies who were in collusion with the thieves.

This incident happened on the night when the new pacification envoy arrived in Pengzhou. Isn't this trying to seduce the prefect?

No wonder Chen Zhizhou became angry and humiliated.

Moreover, the new pacification envoy was a guest of honor of the Wu family, but the Wu family suffered such a heavy blow that night. Isn't it obvious that someone was trying to scare the new pacification envoy?

But, is it possible for an ordinary person to be qualified to demonstrate against Yang Yuan?
For a moment, all the wealthy and powerful people in Pengzhou gave up the idea of ​​finding out what happened.

They all sternly warned their children and nephews not to hear, ask or know anything about the matter.

Even if someone brings it up, you should immediately stay away from it.

When gods fight, these little ghosts try to avoid it as much as possible. If they are involved, they will probably be smashed to pieces.

Yang Yuan's arrival was an extremely sensitive matter for all the officials, gentry and powerful people in the four routes of Sichuan and Xia.

This is especially true for the three generals of the Western Army stationed in Lizhou Road.

Although Yang Yuan, the most popular person in the imperial court, was suddenly assigned to a remote area, he already had legitimate reasons for falling out of favor.

But who is this person?

No one doubted Yang Yuan, because this incident was obviously a heavy blow to the prestige of Yang Yuan, who had just taken office.

Many people viewed the killing of the entire Wu family and the fourth master as a warning to Yang Yuan.

The Wen family of Lidong suspected it was the Wu family of Lixi, the Wu family of Lixi suspected it was the Guo family of Lidong, the Guo family of Lidong suspected it was the Yang family of Lizhong, the Yang family of Lizhong suspected it was the Guo family of Lidong...

Of course, they had more than one suspect.

For example, the suspects of the Wu family in Lixi include the Yang family in Lizhong. It is not impossible that Yang Zheng is unwilling to hand over the military power to the Wu family and wants to stir up trouble.

All the major military leaders, except themselves, are suspicious of all other forces.

It's just that their suspicions have different focuses.

There are no eternal enemies or eternal friends among the aristocratic families and factions; everything is based on the interests of their respective forces.

Even if they are from the same bloodline and are solid allies now, there is a possibility that they may become enemies tomorrow.

Therefore, when the news spread, the three giants and four factions of the Western Army (among which Lizhou East Road was split into the Guo faction and the Wen faction) became suspicious of each other.

(End of this chapter)