Madmen don't keep diaries

Chapter 468, Chapter 467: Drawing Names and Taking Lives
The long dike had stood firm for many years since its construction, so how could it have been washed away without warning?
Perhaps it was truly the wrath of Jiang Liugong, something that could only be caused by the immense power of a deity.

Only the remnants of the boatmen's gang and three onlookers, including Feng Xiuhu, knew the truth.

The key to the problem lies with Wang Daxian.

This old boatman witnessed firsthand how the long dike was built brick by brick. No one knew better than him which foundation stones were solid and which were loose and fragile.

During the planning and preparation, Jin the Dumb took advantage of his position as the factory's chief steward to help Wang Daxian secretly dig a tunnel beneath the factory, leading directly to the inner side of the long dike. Wang Daxian then placed explosives at the weak points of the dike's stones. It is worth mentioning that the private possession of explosives violated the laws of Xuan Kingdom, and it would be very difficult for ordinary people to obtain a large quantity of gunpowder.

The gunpowder in the hands of the ship guild actually came from Albert—a foreigner who ran a factory in Xuanguo and was able to obtain large quantities of gunpowder from the government under the pretext of industrial use.

Once Wang Daxian receives Chen Ajiang's signal to "seal the door and hole," he will immediately detonate the explosives, which is why everyone saw the billowing smoke just now.

Back to the present.

Waves crashed against the shore, and torrential rain poured down.

As they watched helplessly as the embankment collapsed, some in the crowd panicked, some were confused, some were horrified, and some fled for their lives. Thousands of different colors of people were present, but in the end, they all turned into an atmosphere of despair that spread.

Suddenly, someone shouted angrily, "We can't build a bridge!"

This immediately drew many echoes of agreement.

"The Jiangliu sacrifice was not completed, and Lord Jiangliu has come to take my life!"

"While there's still time, dismantle their pier!"

"Arrest the foreigners and take them to the temple to confess their sins and kowtow!"

As if a single word had awakened someone from a dream, a commotion immediately broke out in the crowd.

Before they could think further, someone in the crowd suddenly pushed forward, shouting encouragement: "Dismantle the pier! Arrest the foreigners!"

The shouts were made by the tax officials, and the pushing was also initiated by them. They were not a large number of people scattered in the crowd, but what was needed in the oppressive atmosphere was this push to amplify the situation.

A stone stirred up a thousand waves.

As the crowd surged forward, influenced by herd mentality, the people, whether willingly or unwillingly, pressed towards the inner wall of police officers.

Some of the police officers who were clear-headed, seeing that things were not going well, would fire their guns into the air.

Just as he cocked the gun with a whoosh, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his wrist, and the musket slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

Looking down, he saw blood gushing out—his tendons had been severed!

The police officers stared wide-eyed as they searched for the wielder, only to find themselves surrounded by bloodthirsty civilians, making it impossible to distinguish one from another.

Not far away, a foot suddenly shot out from the crowd, sending the police officer who was trying to stop him tumbling over.

A gap appeared in the human wall, and amidst the clamor of shouts, the people surged in.

At this point, it didn't matter whether they were in a frenzy or sober; everyone was pushing and shoving. Anyone who didn't join in would be pushed over and trampled.

"Protect the mayor! Protect Mr. Abbott!"

The situation was critical, and it was clear that the police could no longer stop them. Han Shaojun, the director of the police station, quickly shouted loudly in an attempt to bring the police back.

The mayor, supported by his secretary, had descended from the platform and was preparing to evacuate along the edge of the street.

The officials had their own plans: some planned to slip away with the mayor, some wanted to wait for the police to come and protect them, and some immediately hid in shops on the street.

Dumb Jin stood behind Abbott, his face showing no sign of panic.

Ever since witnessing the collapse of the levee, Abbott's gaze had been fixed on that direction—his factory was there, and now, without the levee's protection, it was likely to perish as well. Dumb King whispered a reminder, "Mr. Abbott, it's not safe here. We should leave."

Abbott suddenly realized: "Yes...that's right! Quick, let's go back to the factory and get the workers together!"

Dumb Jin glanced around and pointed to an area where the crowd seemed to be smaller: "Let's go this way."

Abbott dared not linger and immediately left.

Just as the mute Jin was about to catch up, he was pushed aside by Albert's entourage.

He took a deep look at the backs of the two burly attendants—these two were Abbott's bodyguards. Dumb King didn't know much about them, only that they were brought by Abbott from the Heretoz Empire and were almost inseparable from him.

Two bodyguards followed closely behind Abbott, protecting him in the middle, and tried to squeeze through the gaps in the crowd.

As Dumb Jin said, there weren't too many people here compared to other places, so it seemed like it wouldn't take too much effort to escape safely.

Jin, the mute, trailed behind, his gaze sweeping across the crowd.

Someone in the crowd happened to be looking at them, and when their eyes met, the mute Jin nodded slightly.

Having received instructions, the man stepped forward from the crowd, pointed at Albert not far away, and shouted: "The foreigners are over here!"

As soon as he finished speaking, people rushed out from all directions and quickly surrounded Abbott.

These men were all pre-arranged under the tax officer's command; they weren't there to kill Abbott, but rather to take care of the two bodyguards.

Sure enough, Abbott, like a frightened bird, saw many people heading straight for him and quickly shouted at the top of his lungs, "Stop them!"

The two bodyguards acted on command, one flanking the other, and with a few swings of their arms and feet, they forced all of the tax official's men back.

However, two fists can't fight four hands. These tax officials' henchmen weren't fighting for their lives but only for entanglement. They pounced on him all at once, one grabbing his leg, another wrapping his arm around his arm, and if all else failed, they could bite his buttocks. The two bodyguards were unable to move for a while.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Jin squeezed through the crowd, grabbed Abbott's arm, and shouted in his ear, "Mr. Abbott! Let's go first!"

Abbott, without a second thought or suspicion, followed the mute Jin, crouching low as they squeezed through the gaps between countless legs.

……

On the second-floor terrace, Shunzi saw that Dumb Jin had led Abbott away from the crowd and was running towards the factory.

Shunzi wiped the rain off his face, patted Feng Xiuhu on the shoulder, and gestured in that direction.

Feng Xiuhu glanced at the backs of the mute Jin and his companion and said, "You go first, I'll come back after I've finished looking around here."

Shunzi nodded in agreement, then turned and jumped off the balcony railing.

Feng Xiuhu turned his gaze back to the dock.

After searching for a while, they quickly spotted the figure of He Shijie, the director of the Planning Department. Back then, Abbott bribed the Planning Department to force the shipping guilds to make way for the foreigners under the pretext of illegal construction and land use. This matter was handled by He Shijie, so he was also on the shipping guilds' list.

Director He was quite shrewd. He knew that the public's anger was directed at the pier and the foreigners. If the police intervened, it would only incite greater emotions. So, He Shijie did not choose to join the police. Instead, he mingled into the crowd and slowly moved outwards along the direction of the crowd.

Little did he know that he had been targeted, and someone was following behind him.

Zhou Bailang gripped the fish-cleaning knife in reverse, concealing the sharp blade within his sleeve.

He followed at a leisurely pace, maintaining a distance that was neither too close nor too far. Even though the heavy rain blurred his vision, he refused to blink and kept his eyes fixed on He Shijie's back.

(End of this chapter)