Jiangshan Fengwuzhi

Chapter 49: A Hero's Cutoff (Part )

Blood gushed out from the wound on the neck, making a pleasant sound.

Chao Ju covered Huang Heng's eyes with one hand, and slashed him again with the dagger in the other hand before letting go and throwing away the bloody dagger.

He staggered back two steps, picked up a few documents from the table, wiped his hands, threw the bloody paper ball on the ground, and pulled the bell hanging beside the screen.

After a while, Qiao'er came in and saw the blood all over the floor. She exclaimed, "Master..."

"He is not your son." Chao Juzhi said, "It's been two or three days, didn't you notice?"

"I feel something is wrong, but..."

"But you like him like this, and think that if he grows that thing, you will definitely benefit from it, you crazy bitch."

"This slave deserves to die."

"Come here." Chao Juzhi raised his hands that had not been wiped clean by the official paper and said, "Wipe them clean."

"Yes."

"When you said he was well, I knew something was wrong. I just tried to test him a little bit, but he dared to contradict me and then led the conversation to the direction he wanted to inquire about. He was being too smart."

"Yes, the master is really smart."

"Did you pass the message to Mei Chengzong at Xinglin Pavilion?"

"Passed it."

"Heng'er is likely in his hands. That is the only evidence of the Chao family's connection with the aliens. Mei Chengzong should check and eliminate it. From now on, out of sight, out of mind."

Qiao'er said in a low voice, "Yes, you don't have to suffer anymore, sir."

"When a viper bites your hand, a brave man cuts off his arm. I will also forget about that evil creature." Chao Juzhi said, "As for what you want, I will give it to you."

"master."

"At this time, it's not a bad idea to leave the Chao family with a way out."

Chao Juzhi patted Qiao'er's young face and said, "Clean up and come back in the evening."

After saying that, he turned around the screen, reached out to pry open the candlestick on the wall, opened a partition wall, and walked into the secret room.

Qiao'er knew that she had to deal with the corpse and the bloodstains, and also clean herself up.

She approached the corpse in the wheelchair, pinched "Chao Heng's" chin with her fingers and lifted up the face to look at it. At first she felt pity, pity that she had given so much but in the end did not gain anything from the young master. Then she smiled slightly and muttered something.

"Pity."

"What's a pity?"

Qiao'er's pupils widened as if she had seen a ghost. Before she could even scream, a pair of hands had already grabbed her throat tightly.

"Click."

With a loud bang, her neck was broken.

The moment her eyes went dark, she saw Chao Heng's sickly face and thought, the young master has devoted himself to practicing evil magic, and finally succeeded...

Throwing the corpse in his hand to the ground, Gu Jingnian picked up the dagger on the ground. The dagger was very sharp and heavy.

Go around the screen and move the candlestick on the wall.

With a slight sound, the wall slowly opened before his eyes.

Inside was a large stone chamber with several rows of shelves. Chao Juzhi was counting boxes of jewels between the shelves. Hearing the noise, he turned around and suddenly saw "Chao Heng". His hand shook and a string of pearls fell into the box.

"Are you the real Heng'er?"

Chao Juzhi asked. This was the most reasonable judgment he made immediately in surprise.

But soon, he saw bloodstains under "Chao Heng's" neck.

"Damn it, alien!"

Huang Ju cursed and retreated.

Gu Jingnian rushed forward with a dagger in hand.

The next moment, a dark shadow on the shelf suddenly rushed out, turned into a human form, and blocked his way.

Gu Jingnian swung the dagger at the opponent, but the dagger could not reach anything in the darkness. Instead, the black shadow stretched out his hand and punched him with a tremendous force.

Then, the black shadow twisted his arm, swung him and threw him against the stone wall.

Taking advantage of this gap, Chao Juzhi rushed out, turned the mechanism, and the stone door slowly closed.

Gu Jingnian looked back and noticed that the black shadow that had transformed into a human form did not dare to approach where the firelight was shining.

I don’t know what kind of alien creature this black shadow guard is. He seems to have no emotions.

He stood up, walked around it, and chased after Chao Juzhi, his arms creaking and recovering quickly.

Chao Juzhi quickly blew out the candle, and the black shadow blocked by the firelight suddenly rushed towards Gu Jingnian. When he rushed out of the secret room, he grabbed his hand and pulled him back.

This black shadow is extremely powerful. If it traps him in the secret room, he might never be able to get out.

Seeing that the stone door was about to close, Gu Jingnian did not hesitate, and chopped down with the dagger in his hand, cutting off the wrist.

The huge force that was pulling him loosened instantly, and he finally rushed out at the moment before the stone door closed.

Chao Juzhi originally thought that he was safe. He had just calmed down and looked back to see "Chao Heng" being swallowed by the black shadow guard. Unexpectedly, the next moment the man had rushed in front of him.

"Somebody come!"

It was too late, the dagger was already at his neck.

An arm with a broken wrist was tightly wrapped around his body. He looked down and was surprised to find that the broken wrist was no longer bleeding, and meridians were growing out of it, floating in the air.

"Don't move! If you don't want to die, be quiet."

"Are you an alien?" Chao Juzhi asked, "Were you sent by the caged man? Or by the great pharmacist?"

"Take a guess." "It looks more like he was sent by the Cage Man to inquire about the whereabouts of Viper Heart. We all suspect the Great Pharmacist, so we can cooperate."

"Aren't we always working together?"

"The Ministry of Works and the Imperial Army are both court agencies. Can we call it cooperation? You and I can cooperate privately. What do you want? I can help you."

"What do you think I want?"

"free?"

Chao Juzhi quickly uttered two words in a tentative tone.

He had seen many caged people, and they all wanted freedom.

Gu Jingnian was a little disdainful when he first heard it, but after thinking about it, he suddenly realized that what he ultimately wanted was freedom.

"Tell me! Who is the mastermind behind what you did? And who is the Great Pharmacist?"

"You are not a caged person?" Chao Juzhi reacted immediately after hearing it, "Who are you?"

"answer my question."

Huang Juzhi sighed helplessly and said, "Who else could it be except Eun-sang?"

"Zheng Kuangfu?" Gu Jingnian asked, "Who is the great pharmacist?"

"Whether it's the Imperial Physician Liu Heng or the Great Pharmacist, they are all servants of the Prime Minister's residence. Cui Hao and I were ordered by the Prime Minister to help them refine medicine in Wanchun Palace. Otherwise, who else could command the Minister of Works and the Commander of the Left Army in front of the Emperor? But what the Prime Minister did was not for his own selfish interests, but for the great cause of the country."

"is it?"

"In Da Rui, driving aliens is considered a heresy, but in the past few decades of fighting with Nanyue and Xiyong, our army has been increasingly restrained by aliens. En is opposed to militarism, hoping to use their spear to attack their shield."

"If that's the case, why did he falsely accuse Gu Beiming after the Western Suburbs Incident?"

"Who said it was a false accusation? Gu Beiming was involved in En Xiang's plan. If something goes wrong, someone has to take the blame."

"Are you saying their disagreement is fake?"

"That's right." Chao Juzhi said, "We just didn't expect that the Great Pharmacist would burn the results of En Xiang's many years of practice in order to refine the Viper Heart. But I don't know whether this was the instruction of Long Ren or his selfish motives."

"You're lying to me."

"No, if not, why would the Northern Yamen help suppress the matter? It is because they want to prevent others from knowing the inside story..."

"Oh!"

During a few words of conversation, the door was smashed open, and rows of guards armed with swords and bows surrounded the study.

But when they saw that the person who had kidnapped their master was their own son, they were all shocked.

Gu Jingnian was not panicked. He shouted, "Don't come over!"

Chao Juzhi also tried to comfort everyone, saying, "Don't be impulsive."

"Let them saddle their horses."

"Go saddle your horse."

"Step aside."

Gu Jingnian did not intend to get stuck here, so he took Chao Juzhi hostage and went to the stable. He chose a horse, knocked Chao Juzhi unconscious, and threw him on the horse's back like a broken sack.

He jumped on his horse and rushed out through the door.

After leaving the city gate, he unconsciously walked west, which was the direction of Chongjing Academy and the only place he was familiar with in the suburbs of the city.

When he arrived at the foot of Frost Maple Mountain, he could not go to Chongjing Academy, so he simply continued to run westward. Anyway, he just had to find a deserted place to interrogate Chao Juzhi for a few questions, and then kill him to silence him.

Through this, he had a general understanding of the situation.

Regardless of whether the mastermind behind this is Zheng Kuangfu, he almost represents absolute power. Because the shady plan has gone awry, there are only two goals now: to calm the situation and find the culprit.

Going along with their wishes may not necessarily ensure peace. If Gu Jingnian hands over Ying Yao, she will be completely useless. Given how ruthless these people are, they will definitely silence her. After all, even Chao Juzhi had thrown his son out.

The best way is to make everyone think that the Great Pharmacist took the Viper Heart, but there is no way to confirm it, so he must find the Great Pharmacist first and make him disappear without anyone noticing. As for the rest, he will wait for Gu Beiming to come back and solve it himself.

With these thoughts in mind, he drove his horse to a secluded meadow by the river. He looked around and saw no one there, only a big tree standing alone on the shore.

The setting sun had almost completely disappeared into the distant mountains, and a waning moon was hanging in the sky.

Gu Jingnian dragged Chao Juzhi off the horse, raised his dagger, and prepared to cripple his hands and feet first.

However, the next moment, a black shadow suddenly shot out from under the tree and grabbed the dagger in Gu Jingnian's hand.

It was the dark guard again.

This time, it's in the shape of a tree.

Because the setting sun stretched the tree's shadow very long, its body became extremely long as well, and every branch and leaf became its hands and feet.

"Shh."

While rolling away the dagger, the shadow guard kept extending branches, wrapping around Gu Jingnian's hands, feet, neck, and waist, pulling him under the tree and tying him up tightly, making him unable to move.

He originally thought that this was Chao Juzhi's bodyguard, but soon realized something was wrong.

Because he saw Chao Juzhi was also tied up.

In the distance, the moonlight shone on the mountain, casting a huge black shadow, which suddenly moved like waves. Someone was standing on the shadow of the mountain with his hands behind his back. His clothes moved in the wind, and he was carried to the river like riding a cloud.

It’s Mei Chengzong.

He landed in front of Gu Jingnian without touching the ground, covering his mouth and nose with a handkerchief with one hand, and raised the index finger of the other hand. He pinched two fingers in the air and pulled out a human-shaped black shadow guard from the shadow of the tree.

The shadowy guard didn't do anything else but kicked the horse manure on the ground away, and in a moment, it turned into a stool.

"Show off a little tonight."

Mei Chengzong sat down gracefully, with a reserved and proud smile on his face, and said: "I am very strong, right? That's why I can be a supervisor. Oh, by the way, you don't know yet, now I am the superior of your superior."

(End of this chapter)