Chapter 22: Rumors begin! Is this martial arts?
ninth day.
Three yamen runners stood side by side and patrolled along the designated route.
One of them had his lips tightly pursed, his brows furrowed, and his expression was very strange.
After a while, one of the companions couldn't help but say, "Old Li, I saw you in such a terrible state this morning, as if your parents had died. What happened?"
"Yes, Lao Li, if you have something to say, just say it. If you are not feeling well, find someone to replace you. Who are you showing such a sour face to?"
The other person was also unhappy.
"…Ah, I'm sorry, brothers. I'm really upset."
Old Li sighed, looking dejected.
The two companions looked at each other, and thought of the same thing at the same time, and immediately felt sympathy.
"Well, Lao Li, how can I put it? Anyway, the children are already that old, so we just have to make do with it for now."
"Yes, yes, your sister-in-law has taken care of your family for so many years, and she has made contributions. Just forgive her this time and be more open-minded."
"What sister-in-law... You can't spit out ivory from your fucking dog mouths! Believe me or not..."
Old Li was so angry that he started to curse, but he suddenly lost his temper halfway through his curse, "Forget it, why are you saying this? We don't know how long we can live."
When these words were spoken, the two companions were frightened at the same time.
"What's the meaning?"
"Speak clearly, what do you mean you don't know how many days you can live?"
"this……"
Old Li looked around and immediately lowered his voice, "Do you know who we are looking for? They are traitors! The traitors of the Taiping Dao!"
"I know the rebels, but what is Taiping Dao?"
"I have some impression... I heard from the people who escaped that the Taiping Dao were the kind of people who were good at martial arts in the storybooks, and that one person could kill 10,000 people... The massacre in the south a few years ago seemed to be done by the Taiping Dao."
"Oh, a martial arts master? Wrong! That's called martial arts!"
Old Li's face turned pale. "Have you forgotten? When the Youde Bookstore was closed down, Zhou Zhubu kicked the stone lion weighing several hundred kilograms away with one kick. Can a normal person have such great strength? This is actually martial arts."
"This... seems... I remember it! I was right next to Zhou Zhubu at that time!"
"I remember it now! It is true..."
"Strange...how could I forget something like this?"
"Martial Arts, is this the Martial Arts?"
With Lao Li's targeted mention, the two people's memories were quickly restored and their faces became extremely shocked.
"In short, the rebels of Taiping Dao are martial arts masters, and they are much stronger than Zhou Zhubu."
Lao Li added.
"Wait, you said that the Taiping Dao were rebels and I believed you. You said that the rebels were martial arts masters and I also believed you. But you said that the people we arrested were rebels? Isn't arresting rebels the job of the military?"
"Yeah, don't make up such a big thing."
"Edit?"
Old Li smiled coldly, "Many of the brothers in our class have relatives working in the Sixth Chamber, and the news came from them... Hey, it is said that the arrest order was issued by a big shot of the Blood Robe Guard himself, and he was required to be captured alive."
"The Blood-Cloaked Guards are here?! If that's the case...it must be true..."
"Wait, capture alive?!"
One of the companions noticed the point and exclaimed, "One Zhou Zhubu can knock us all down, and we are asked to capture a stronger one? And we have to capture him alive?! Isn't this asking us to die?"
"Oh, no need to guess, this is just suicide!"
"Even if tens of thousands of people in Canglong County stick their necks out to be chopped off, we will tire the rebels out. These are the original words of that great man."
“I don’t want to believe it, but I have to.”
Lao Li looked miserable. "I have asked Lao Fang's team to take the suicide note back. They will pass by my house today."
The two companions were silent.
After a while, one of them asked unwillingly, "Where is the county magistrate? He didn't say a word for us in this obviously suicidal job?"
"Haha, him? After so many days of searching, have you ever seen him leave the county government? And that Zhou Ze, both of them are cowards without balls. They know how powerful the rebels are, so they hide faster than anyone else."
Old Li cursed with disdain, his expression becoming somewhat complicated: "Only Lord Xu, in order to give us more chances to survive, had the guts to confront the county lord and ask for shields and armor for us. Not only that, he even led the team to investigate personally, doing a job that was far more dangerous than ours."
"...I once called him a sour scholar with fake morals. I...I am such a worthless person."
"Haha, we have followed the county magistrate for almost six years, and when something happened, it was only Mr. Xu who was willing to stand up for us..."
"Don't think that we are very impressive in the eyes of the villagers. I think the only one who truly treats us as human beings is Lord Xu."
Old Li sighed, "That big shot only gave us ten days, and today is the ninth day. I think, tomorrow at the latest, we will be forced to sacrifice our lives for that traitor."
“…”
The three of them were silent at the same time.
As the lowest-level official personnel, they knew that they had no room for resistance.
Any single charge could make their descendants doomed to eternal damnation.
Instead of resisting, it is better to accept your fate and take a chance.
If you are lucky, someone else will die. If you are unlucky, at least your wife and children can be saved.
As for the pension, it was given to those who survived, and they had never even dreamed of such a thing.
The three of them stopped talking and continued their patrol in despair and unwillingness.
Until passing a street corner, the yamen runner guarding there suddenly waved.
"Yang Lao Hun? What did he ask us to do?"
"I don't know. He is on the quarantine line and can't move. Let's go over and take a look."
The three of them stepped closer.
"Old Li, you all know what happened, right?"
Yang Lao Hun didn't waste any words and got straight to the point. "My brothers have all agreed to ask Liu Er to go find Master Xu and ask him to find a way for us to survive."
"Master Xu? Can he do anything?"
Old Li was a little dazed.
"have no idea."
Yang Lao Hun shook his head. "Anyway, I don't want to die. If I die, what will happen to my widow and orphan? The only person I can count on now is Lord Xu."
"You don't want to die, so do I want to die? Who doesn't have a wife, children and elders at home?"
Old Li gritted his teeth, exchanged glances with his companions, and nodded vigorously, "Counting the three of us, as long as we can survive, we will do whatever Lord Xu says!"
"Okay, if there is a reply from the master, I will ask someone to bring the message to you."
After a brief conversation, the two parties were connected.
It wasn't just Yang Laohun and Lao Li's case, the same scene happened in various places in Canglong County on the same day.
And all those who learned the "rumor" had one thing in common.
They participated in the closure of Youde Bookstore and witnessed the scene that was beyond human control that Zhou Zhubu committed.
For a time, undercurrents surged in Canglong County.
However, Wu Wenjing and Zhou Ze, who were in a slump, and Fu Yuanlong, who was confident of winning, knew nothing about this.
