Volume 1 Chushan Bandits Chapter 64: The Long Night of Terror
Tang Tiande did not return to the military camp, but stayed in Yuehong Tower at night, and was still tossing and turning on the delicate body of a prostitute. Hearing someone knocking on the door outside saying that Guo Caoling was assassinated, he sat up with a start and almost broke a bone.
Tang Tiande walked over and opened the door, only to see his cousin Tang Lingde, who was in charge of Yuehonglou, and Tang Pan, a rising star of the Tang family and now a scout of the Inspection Department, standing in the corridor. He pulled a robe over his shoulders and asked in shock:
"Guo Caoling was assassinated and died. How is that possible?"
It’s not that there have been cases of officials being killed in Tongbai Mountain. Just over 20 years ago, when the bandit problem in Tongbai Mountain was at its worst, several gangs of bandits joined together, broke out of Tongbai Mountain, robbed merchants and travelers near Biyang City, and sneaked into Biyang City several times to kidnap hostages and extort money.
At that time, the prefectures and counties had launched several suppression operations but were defeated. A former military commander and magistrate of Biyang County were killed in the mountains. At least 800 officers and soldiers were buried in Tongbai Mountain without a complete body. The surrounding prefectures and counties were all shocked. The court finally transferred the brave minister Wang Xiaocheng to be the magistrate of Tangzhou to quell the banditry.
After Wang Xiaocheng left Tangzhou, although Tongbai Mountain was not absolutely peaceful, there had not been an assassination of a high-ranking official in nearly twenty years.
Even though Tang Tiande did not know the real reason why Guo Caoling succeeded Deng Gui, he knew that Guo Caoling died in the military camp on the eve of officially taking over, which was definitely a serious matter.
Jin Longquan stayed in Shangliu Village to clean up the mess. He should have stayed in the military village to take charge of the night duty today. If nothing happened, his staying in Yuehonglou would not be a big deal. However, Guo Caoling was assassinated and someone had to take the blame...
Thinking of this, Tang Tiande suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.
He didn't dare stay in Yuehonglou any longer. He didn't even bother to put on his clothes. He took his sword, said goodbye to Tang Lingde, and took Tang Pan across the river to the military camp.
When Tang Tiande crossed the Baijian River, he saw torches on the walls of the military camp from the ferry. The flames in the camp were so bright that many bonfires must have been lit. There was a man guarding the wall every few steps, as if he was going to overthrow the camp. He asked Tang Pan, "Is the assassin still in the camp?"
"The postman saw the assassin succeed and climb out of the posthouse from the north. There were some messy footprints and bloodstains on the wall of the stockade to the north of the posthouse. Coincidentally, when we heard Guo Caoling shouting, there happened to be a patrol team in the north, but they didn't notice any movement. Mr. Deng suspected that these footprints and bloodstains were deliberately laid by the assassin before the assassination, intending to make us mistakenly believe that he succeeded and escaped from the military stockade!" Tang Pan said, "It was also a fluke. If there hadn't been a patrol team walking in the north, they would have been deceived. This assassin is really powerful, but I don't know if we can catch him..."
"Him?" Tang Tiande was stunned and asked, "There is only one assassin?"
"The postman saw a figure tumbling out, and from the assassination scene, it seemed that one person killed General Guo and his two subordinates," Tang Pan said, "The assassin also left the eight characters 'Murderer Chushan Yaksha Fox' on the wall of the posthouse, but no one in Tongbai Mountain has ever heard of such a person!"
Tang Pan is a rising star of the Tang family. Although he is young, he is not only skilled in martial arts, but also smart and capable. He found an opportunity to run out and communicate with Tang Tiande, and he also had a clear grasp of the current situation.
"..." Tang Tiande took a breath and subconsciously wanted to ask the boatman to turn around.
When the bandits surrounded Shangliu Village and attacked Pan Chenghu, Guo Caoling had not officially taken over yet, so of course he would not interfere with Deng Gui's deployment of troops, but he did show off his skills in front of the battle.
Tang Tiande also boasted of his extraordinary strength, but he could hardly even draw the large lacquer bow that Guo Caoling carried with him, while Guo Caoling could use the bow to shoot seven or eight arrows without even taking a breath.
The penetrating power of Guo Caoling's lacquered bow was amazing. Even the thin wooden shields of the bandits could not block it. Three or four of them were shot dead, and the bandits were defeated.
The two men under Guo Caoling are also excellent fighters picked from a hundred miles away. They also wanted to show off and establish their authority in front of the clan yesterday. They showed their skills when they stormed Shangliu Village and are considered top fighters in Tongbai Mountain.
If Guo Caoling was assassinated alone, it might be said that he was careless, but two of Guo Caoling's bodyguards were killed. How powerful was this assassin!
It would be fine if the assassin had already left the military camp, but if he was captured by them and was still fighting hard, if he rushed to the military camp at this time, wouldn't he have to lead his men to fight the assassin to the front?
Thinking of this, Tang Tiande felt a little nervous, but thinking that if he turned around and left at this time, Deng Gui might put all the blame on him, he could only suppress his inner fear and walked towards the military camp with gritted teeth.
"Mr. Deng!"
Tang Tiande first went back to his house to put on his armor before going to the west gate to meet Deng Gui.
Four bonfires were burning on both sides. Deng Gui, wearing dark iron armor, was staring at the dark distant mountains with a sullen face, his hands tightly grasping the sword at his waist. After a long while, he slowly turned his head to look at Tang Tiande, and said with a fake smile: "Captain Tang, you are so carefree today! You really responded well to Guo Jun's moves!"
Tang Tiande was depressed and said nothing.
If faced with such a thing, no one in Deng Gui's position would be happy.
Who can Tang Tiande do except swallow his anger when Deng Gui is still a serious inspector? If he were someone with a bad temper, he would have to endure two slaps in the face.
After a long silence, seeing that Deng Gui was standing there without saying anything and had not given any new orders, Tang Tiande could not help but ask, "Are you sure the assassin is still hiding in the military camp?"
Even though Tang Tiande was worried that the assassin would fight back, he knew that he could only explain the past if he caught the assassin. At the same time, he also wanted to redeem himself, so he thought about leading a team of soldiers to search for him.
"We have searched all the places that can be searched. The assassin may have escaped." Deng Gui said.
"Have you searched Mr. Wang's place..." Tang Tiande asked.
Deng Gui's pupils suddenly narrowed like a frightened trapped animal and stared at Tang Tiande.
Tang Tiande touched his face in confusion, thinking that maybe Miss Pan'er's rouge and powder got on his face. There was nothing wrong with him asking Deng Gui this.
Tang Tiande did not doubt anything. He knew that Wang Bing's influence was still there. Without Deng Gui leading the team personally, the officers and soldiers under him would never dare to disturb him easily. He was afraid that Deng Gui would miss something.
"If Mr. Deng is afraid of disturbing Mr. Wang, I will bring people to talk to Mr. Wang politely. After all, we cannot ignore Mr. Wang's safety. If the assassin really hides with Mr. Wang and something happens, we can't afford it!" Tang Tiande said with an understanding look.
"No need. After I found the assassin, I went to check on Mr. Wang the first time. Besides, Mr. Wang has Master Lu by his side. If the assassin really wants to run into him, he will not get away with it."
Deng Gui let out a long breath, said this calmly, closed his eyes and thought for a while, then said,
"Forget it. Since the assassins have already escaped, no matter how hard we try, it's just a show. Don't search the military camp anymore. Let's all go and rest. Next, I'll trouble Captain Tang to personally lead a team of people to search the streets of Hedong until dawn, which also shows that we are still trying our best. For the rest, we'll report to County Magistrate Cheng and County Magistrate Chen first! It's said that people are the butchers and we are the meat. What is coming will always come. We can't escape..."
Seeing Deng Gui say something strange and then leave, with an indescribable desolation in his figure, Tang Tiande asked a section officer in charge of the West Gate in confusion: "What happened to Mr. Deng?"
"The successor died at this critical moment. Mr. Deng is like someone threw shit on his face. How can he be in a good mood?" The officer yawned and begged for mercy from Tang Tiande. "We have been in trouble until now because we heard about the assassins. Captain Tang is going to take people to Hedong. Please be considerate of us!"
"Have you really looked at Mr. Wang's place?" Tang Tiande realized that Deng Gui's temper became intense when he mentioned searching Wang Bing's residence, and asked in confusion.
"Of course he hasn't seen it. After seeing General Guo die in the post house, Mr. Deng didn't waste any time and broke into Mr. Wang's courtyard. He was scolded by Mr. Lu for his rudeness and they almost got into a fight - everyone has such a bad temper nowadays." The superior sighed.
…
…
Tang Tiande led his team to search the Hedong streets overnight, causing chaos everywhere. The news of Guo Caoling's assassination spread quickly before dawn.
When Xu Wufu heard the report from Zhou Jing, who was on night watch, he shuddered and got up from the bed.
"This news is true. Where did you hear it from?" Xu Wufu grabbed Zhou Jing's hand and asked.
"Tang Tiande led his men to search the streets, causing chaos. Many soldiers saw Guo Caoling's body with their own eyes. The news should be true!" Zhou Jing said.
Although Xu Wufu had gathered most of the men back to Yuhuangling, he still left a small number of people to look after the mule and horse markets, warehouses, and houses in Biyang and Huaiyuan; it was impossible to abandon these houses and shops and completely ignore them.
When the people who stayed behind heard the news, they naturally rushed back overnight to report it.
Xu Wufu's face turned pale.
Xu Wufu knew the inside story better than Zhou Jing, Tang Tiande and others, and of course he also knew that the consequences of Guo Caoling's assassination were much more serious than he had imagined.
"How many assassins sneaked into the military camp to commit assassinations? How come the assassins escaped after succeeding? Junshi Guo and his two bodyguards are all very skilled. Moreover, the military camp is so small and there are soldiers stationed on both sides. How come the assassins succeeded?" Xu Wufu asked tremblingly.
He couldn't imagine that Xu Wujiang and his gang were so bold as to assassinate Guo Caoling, but Wang Bing was in Huaiyuan, and the only people openly involved with him were Xu Wujiang and his gang. Even if it wasn't Xu Wujiang and his gang who did it, there was no guarantee that the people behind Guo Caoling would believe that Xu Wujiang was involved in the assassination.
Xu Wufu's heart sank and his legs went weak. He could hardly stand, so he groped his way to sit down on the doorstep.
Zhou Jing was confused.
The assassination of Guo Caoling was definitely a major event in Tongbai Mountain, but no matter what, it had nothing to do with the Xu family. Why did the head of the family react so strongly?
"Someone in the inn saw the assassin escape over the wall, but there was only one person." Zhou Jing said.
Hearing Zhou Jing say this, Xu Wufu breathed a sigh of relief.
If there were multiple assassins, he would inevitably suspect Xu Wujiang and the others.
After all, Xu Wujiang, Xu Wukun, Xu Wuliang, Xu Xin'an, and that idiot Xu Huai, with their calm deployment, could have killed Guo Caoling in the military camp; and they had some unclear involvement with Wang Bing, so they had reason to assassinate Guo Caoling.
Besides, who else could be more familiar with the internal deployment of the military camp than Xu Wujiang and his men?
If there was only one assassin, I believe the people behind Guo Caoling would not believe that the Xu family had such a powerful assassin...
"Dad, did you know that General Guo was assassinated?" Xu Heng rushed in in panic at this time.
"Why are you panicking?" Xu Wufu calmed down a bit and scolded his eldest son Xu Heng, "General Guo was assassinated. The assassin was very powerful and dared to break into the military camp and kill people alone. This matter is very serious, but what does it have to do with us? This matter may alert Lu Si to come down and investigate the case. At most, each family will spend some money at that time!"
"General Guo's skills are quite strong. Uncle Wu Qi said that he might be slightly stronger than General Guo's two men. The three of them were killed just like that. What should we do if the assassin knows about us and Deng Gui and wants to harm us?" Xu Heng asked in panic.
Others did not know the inside story, but Xu Heng knew that the assassin killed Guo Caoling in order to protect Wang Bin.
At this moment, he was not worried about anything else, but he was worried that the assassin would come to take their lives after knowing that they had conspired with Deng Gui to send Xu Wujiang to Qingxi Village to die in order to isolate Wang Bing.
"What nonsense..." Xu Wufu was so angry that he trembled when he saw Xu Heng was so useless.
From ancient times to the present, assassinations have been recorded countless times in history, but has it ever been easy to assassinate kings and nobles?
This assassination showed that there was someone behind the scenes secretly protecting Wang Bing, but the action was not taken until Guo Caoling arrived in Linhuaiyuan. To put it bluntly, it was because the position of the inspector that Guo Caoling was going to replace was too critical.
It should be so. The people behind the scenes were forced to take risks, and they have temporarily compromised with Xu Wujiang. However, Xu Heng is still worried about being assassinated. It is really disappointing.
Is the assassin so cheap?
Xu Wufu ordered his eldest son Xu Heng, who was so frightened that he almost revealed the truth to Zhou Jing and others, to leave, and told Zhou Jing to take his men to patrol as usual. He sat at the bottom of the steps but was not sleepy at all, and fell into deep thought...
