A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 212 Horror Night

It was the fourth watch of the night.

Many noble officials in Pingkangfang went to the palace, but no one expected that someone would assassinate them on the street in the district.

"My dear!" Du Shiniang cried out in grief.

Blood splattered, and a few drops of blood splashed on Du Shiniang's carefully made-up face, still warm.

"Go!" Li Yi shouted in pain.

The moment he was shot, a man in black rushed over with a big stick.

The arrow hit his left shoulder, and blood stained his court robes red.

Li Yi gritted his teeth, reached out and broke the arrow shaft, and then felt a sharp pain. He looked around but found no usable weapons.

"Hurry up!" Li Yi shouted at Du Shiniang and Ji Lingyi.

The horses neighed loudly, and the sound of metal clashed.

A soldier ran over holding a wooden stick, standing in front of Li Yi and his men, and shouted at the man in black holding the stick: "Don't hurt my Alang!" He raised the stick high and rushed towards the assassin without hesitation.

Before his stick fell, the burly man in black suddenly accelerated, and then swept the stick across, hitting the soldier's leg.

The loyal soldier screamed and fell to the ground with his leg broken.

The man in black raised his club and was about to run towards Li Yi, but the soldier with the broken leg grabbed his foot and said, "Ah Lang, run!" The man in black turned his head and looked at him. "You're looking for death!" He raised his club and was about to hit him on the head.

"Don't hurt him!" Li Yi roared and pounced on the black-clad assassin.

"Come on!" The burly assassin laughed disdainfully, raising his club high and charging towards Li Yi. The man with the broken leg clung to the assassin's foot, lowering his head and biting down fiercely. The burly man, in pain, raised his leg to try and break free, but Li Yi held on tight.

"Dog slave, look at me!"

Li Yi rushed towards the burly man. When he was still a few steps away, he suddenly raised his sleeve and turned on the electric baton towards the burly man, emitting a strong light.

This electric baton can shock and paralyze people, or emit a strong light that can temporarily blind people. It can illuminate a range of over 200 meters, simple and crude.

Li Yi was stunned just now and didn't think of it. But now, seeing his loyal servant about to die tragically, he finally remembered that there was this powerful weapon.

A strong light flashed in the darkness, like a meteor streaking through the night.

The strong man heard the sound and looked over, but was illuminated by the strong light at close range. Suddenly, he felt everything in front of his eyes go white and he could not see anything.

Before he could react, Li Yi had already rushed forward, turned off the bright light, and placed the electric baton against his waist. The ultra-high voltage of 18 million volts, while a small current wouldn't be fatal, could paralyze him. The burly man was still blinded when he felt a sudden, immense force strike his waist, instantly throwing him off balance. His muscles involuntarily contracted, and then he felt a wave of excruciating pain.

This pain was like countless needles piercing my body, unbearable. And this pain continued in waves without stopping.

The strong man wanted to fight back, but his body soon showed symptoms of paralysis, his limbs began to stiffen, and he could not move them at all.

The next moment, he could no longer bear the pain, and the man as strong as an ox fainted on the ground.

Li Yi shocked the guy for over ten seconds straight, applying the shock to his waist. This was absolutely against the manual and could have caused injury, but Li Yi didn't care. After confirming that the guy was completely unconscious, Li Yi snatched the stick from his hand and hit him hard on the head, sending blood splattering everywhere.

It happened so quickly, like a flash of lightning.

The people present only remembered that Li Yi shouted "Dog slave, look at me!", then a strong white light flashed, and then Li Yi punched the strong man on the waist, and then the strong man fell to the ground and Li Yi grabbed the stick and hit him.

Too fast, too brutal.

Everyone was a little confused. What was that light just now? Why did that strong assassin suddenly let Li Yi kill him?

The assassin, who was shielding the burly man with a bow and arrow from behind, witnessed the entire scene. From a distance across from Li Yi, he clearly saw how Li Yi raised his sleeve and pointed it at the burly man, and then a beam of lightning pierced the darkness, illuminating the burly man. The burly man then stood there motionless, allowing Li Yi to pounce on him and punch him in the waist, knocking down his accomplice, who was as strong as an ox.

The beam of light even caused him to temporarily go blind.

He really knows Taoism and the Five Thunders Law.

The archer's lips trembled slightly. This mystery beyond his comprehension filled him with boundless fear.

More people came from behind. More than a dozen servants in green clothes came running and stood in front of Li Yi and his wife with sticks in their hands.

Chu Suiliang appears.

"Director Li, what happened?"

"There's an assassin!" Li Yi was holding a bloody stick, breathing heavily. His violent emotions slowly subsided, and he finally regained some rationality.

He responded to Chu Suiliang's call and hurried to see the soldier. The soldier had fainted, and one of his legs was broken, at least a comminuted fracture.

Li Yi helped him up. He seemed to recognize him. His name was Song Yi. He was one of the first recruits he had made at Sanqiao. He was from Xizhou, Shannan, and had fled to Guanzhong due to Zhu Can's rampages and looting. He was in his thirties, with a family to support. He was a man who looked like a man of integrity. Li Yi had recruited him personally. He had been given fifty acres of land to farm, and now, during the winter, he and his wife were helping out in the workshop. Because he was diligent, had learned some martial arts, and was tall, he was chosen to be a servant. He was surprisingly loyal and brave today. Although he was no match for the assassin, he was devoted to his duties. If it weren't for him, Li Yi might not have even realized what was happening after being shot.

As the cold wind blew, Li Yi supported the tall man and called his name, "Song Yi, Song Yi, wake up!"

In the night, Song Yi slowly opened his eyes, his face pale, and saw Li Yi, "A Lang, go!"

"It's okay, the assassin has been defeated."

On the main street of the block, the nobles and officials of Pingkang Block, passing through on their way to court, quickly sprang into action upon hearing of the assassination attempt. Servants and retainers from each household rushed over, clubs in hand.

Du Li and Ji Lingyi ran up from behind with their skirts lifted, hugged Li Yi, and cried bitterly.

"I'm fine, I'm fine."

Li Yi carried Song Yi onto the carriage and told him to lie down and not move to avoid getting injured again.

Li Jing and his wife approached, knives in hand. "There were seven assassins in total, five in front and behind, and I didn't expect there were two more in the back. How are your injuries?"

Li Yi looked at the half-broken arrow still stuck in his shoulder and said, "It didn't hurt any vital parts."

Li Jing was quite experienced. "I'll help you pull out the arrow. Stop the bleeding immediately."

"bring it on."

Using a knife to cut open the court robe at the wound, Li Jing carefully examined the shape of the arrow. Fortunately, it was just an ordinary arrow. "Just bear with it for a while." Li Yi groaned. The arrow was pulled out, and he simply cleaned the wound to stop the bleeding.

Wu Hou always appears last.

Torches lit up the long street. The village head and the neighborhood head arrived first with their neighborhood guards, followed by the military officers from the shops outside the neighborhood and the patrol officers. Soon, people from the Wannian County Government Office also arrived.

No one could have imagined that on the first day of the new year in the second year of Wude, Li Yi, who was on his way to attend a grand court meeting on Pingkangfang Street, was attacked by seven assassins.

This incident shocked the emperor. More and more people came, and the emperor even sent a special imperial physician. Li Yi's arrow wound was treated and bandaged again, and it was not serious. However, if Song Yi had not sacrificed himself to save him, Li Yi might have been hit to death by a stick.

Fortunately, Li Jing and his wife and Chu Suiliang and his father came to the rescue in time.

The imperial guards had taken over Pingkangfang. The emperor issued an edict to immediately blockade the entire Pingkangfang, and the imperial guards began searching house by house.

Of the nine assassins, two were killed on the spot. Li Jing and Li Yi killed one each, and Zhang Chuchen knocked one unconscious. Seeing that they failed, the other six quickly retreated.

"Those people hid in the canals on the street and launched a surprise attack. After failing, they quickly fled along the canals." Xin Chujian, the magistrate of Wannian County, came in a hurry. After listening to the report from his subordinate, the legal officer Li Qi, his face wrinkled like a bitter gourd. He encountered all kinds of bad things during the New Year.

"Zhao Shuai, take the bad guys and track them down immediately."

Zhao Chang, the unscrupulous commander, pursed his lips helplessly. "Mingfu, this case has now alarmed the Saint, and he has directly ordered the garrison troops to take over. They have already sealed off the entire Pingkangfang, and we must obey their orders."

Xin Chujian came to see Li Yi again. Half a year ago, Li Yi was still a commoner, but now he has been promoted to the fourth rank and conferred the title of Earl, which is much better than him who is a fifth rank Wannianling.

"How is Marquis Qianshui?" Li Yi was in a bad mood and had no time to deal with the cuckolded county magistrate.

Li Jing was chatting with the Wannian Law Officer, and it turned out that Li Qi was actually Li Jing's nephew. Li Qi was the fourth son of Li Jing's younger brother, Li Keshi. Li Keshi had moved to Zhuo County as a household official at the end of the Sui Dynasty, and was now serving as a military officer under Luo Yi, the governor of Youzhou.

"Dazhi, have you found any clues?" Li Jing asked him.

"These assassins are obviously targeting Lord Qianshui. Does Lord Qianshui have any suspects in his mind?" Li Dazhi asked Li Yi.

"I don't know who it is. Maybe I offended someone unintentionally."

As soon as these words were spoken, Li Jing addressed his nephew, "Last night at the palace's New Year's Eve banquet, Wei Ting competed for a seat with Wu Yi. He provoked Wu Yi and was knocked down. Your Majesty has punished Wei Ting by stripping him of his title, honors, and position, and transferring his title of Marquis of Yifeng to his half-brother, Wei Deyun."

Li Dazhi heard this and said, "This sounds like it might be related. I'll report it immediately."

In the carriage, the imperial physician personally treated Doctor Song's broken leg. Song Yi never thought that he, an ordinary citizen from Shannan, would one day be treated by the imperial physician.

"Song Yi, you saved my life today. Take good care of yourself and I will repay you. I will build you three new cave dwellings, give you one hundred pieces of silk, ten stone of rice, and a cow. When you recover, you can also be the head of my guard."

Song Yi was so excited that his face turned red and he wanted to stand up to express his gratitude.

"Lie down quickly and don't hurt your legs." Li Yi looked at the street that was as bright as day, his thoughts surging in his mind.

It was hard to imagine that such a thrilling assassination had just taken place here. Although Li Dazhi suspected that it was Wei Ting's doing, Li Yi had a hunch that it wasn't Wei Ting's doing. In his opinion, Wei Ting wasn't that stupid, nor would he have had such courage.

He instinctively knew that Du Yan was responsible. Only Du Yan could be so ruthless, decisive, and even reckless. However, he had no evidence. But Li Yi was already certain it was Du Yan. After all, he had left something in the man's arms after beating him to death.

I believe that thing should have been discovered by now.

(End of this chapter)