Chapter 1381: Unexpected Complications

Qian Yu tore off the seal and opened the box to see two pieces of white jade bi, two black pearls, and a silver note with a face value of 200 taels. Hmm, still sensible.

Smoothing over that account was just a matter of lifting a finger for him.

Moving his pen could earn him hundreds of taels of silver; following General Xue was like accompanying a fierce tiger, but high risk naturally had high returns.

The carriage rolled along, the carriage cabin bumped and bumped, making Qian Yu sleepy.

I don't know if it was the alcohol kicking in or the excessive physical exertion just now, but by the time he reached his residence, his eyelids were almost unable to open.

The whole journey was smooth, and when he got off the carriage, he also tipped the accompanying guards with silver.

On the surface, he just went out to find fun by himself tonight, didn't whisper to unrelated people, and the process of corruption and bribery was also completed in the dark; on the surface, no faults could be picked out.

Qian Yu had been able to work safely under Xue Zongwu for ten years, and he had his own insights. General Xue might not know that he was getting money privately, but as long as he wasn't too blatant and didn't damage the public to benefit himself too much, General Xue could also turn a blind eye.

Although Xue Zongwu was brutal, he knew very well that besides being a bit greedy, Qian Yu also had the trait of loyalty.

No one is perfect.

The servant changed his clothes and washed his hands and face, then hurriedly withdrew.

Qian Yu lay on the bed and fell asleep.

He was just an account manager, and usually, no one would specifically deal with him, so he didn't set up barrier formations or close doors and windows tightly when sleeping.

Even the guard on night duty moved a chair and sat under the eaves to doze off.

No one noticed that a small bat flew down from the roof, took advantage of the night's cover to pass through the window, drill into the tent, and then land beside Qian Yu's pillow.

It could easily kill this person, but it didn't act; instead, it pulled a piece of red string from his neck.

A yellow jade talisman was tied to the string.

This was an amulet that had the effect of clearing the mind, calming the spirit, and warding off evil, and it was attached with a bit of spiritual fluctuation. With Qian Yu wearing it, he was not invaded by ordinary evil spirits.

The bat quietly untied it and threw it to the head of the bed.

Then, the little bat left the same way, without anyone knowing.

Before dawn, a sudden "Ah" scream came from the room.

The guard outside was dozing off so hard that snot bubbles were coming out; he was stunned for a moment when he heard this sound, and then he woke up with a start and hurriedly pushed the door open to rush in.

"Manager Qian!"

But he saw Qian Yu sitting on the bed, his eyes full of terror, his head full of cold sweat.

"Are you alright?"

Qian Yu was sluggish for a while, looked around and then at him, and then touched his neck before saying: "It's nothing, I had a nightmare. Go out... hmm no, bring me a basin of warm water."

He actually dreamed that the accounts he made were wrong, leaking a big hole of 20,000 silver! General Xue discovered it, was furious, and chopped off his head with a knife!

So Qian Yu woke up in a fright.

But before General Xue chopped him, he seemed to have asked him a few questions.

Qian Yu held his head and thought hard, but couldn't remember the content of this conversation no matter what.

He scanned his eyes and found the mind-clearing talisman lying at the head of the bed; it probably slipped off because the knot loosened.

He hurriedly tied the mind-clearing talisman and hung it back on his neck.

Annoying, dreaming of what he feared, really bad luck! Dreams are all nonsensical, so he didn't think about it carefully; how could General Xue kill him so simply? Qian Yu shook his head, collected his mood, and washed the cold sweat off his face with warm water. They say reality and dreams are opposite, so maybe he would have a stroke of luck today?

After changing his clothes and eating a rich breakfast in a leisurely manner, the east finally revealed the first ray of golden light.

After seven consecutive cloudy days, the sun finally came out today.

The food in this small place was far worse than in the Kingdom of Yao; only the red mushroom, shredded chicken, and bamboo shoot tip noodles were worth praising. The bamboo shoots in this season were not as good as in spring, so only that small tender tip was taken. The red mushrooms were fat and thick, but the chicken was a bit dry, and Qian Yu complained that it didn't have enough oil—

The chickens in this place were as thin as the people.

But in any case, the standard of this bowl of noodles was above the passing line, which helped him suppress his shock very well.

So, Qian Yu's mood was still quite pleasant when he went out.

After working for another three to five days, the audit mission would be over, and he could leave Shuangtian and return home.

It was only 5:30 AM, and there were already many pedestrians on the streets of Shuangtian.

Commoners rushing for their livelihood, rising early and working late, was the norm.

Qian Yu had to pass a small river on his way to the government office; it had rained several times recently, and the river level had risen, looking turbulent and muddy.

Qian Yu was pondering how to smooth over the account from last night when a sudden roar from two yards ahead shook the ears: "Qian Yu!"

He looked up in astonishment, only to see a man in black standing two yards ahead, as if he were wearing night-travel clothes in the daytime, with a pitch-black mask on his face, revealing only two eye holes.

There was black smoke curling around him, and when the east wind blew, people standing downwind smelled the burnt smoke.

"You are corrupt, embezzling public funds, forcing good people into prostitution, sucking the fat and scraping the cream of the people..." This person rushed toward him, shouting loudly, "You deserve to die; I am here to collect you on behalf of Heaven!"

When Qian Yu heard the first charge he accused him of, his heart jumped to his throat; but then he heard the remaining two—oh, what the hell?

Pedestrians on the road avoided him one after another, and no one dared to block the murderer.

The guards beside Qian Yu drew their weapons and shouted sharply: "Stop, kill without mercy!"

How could this masked man listen? He didn't stop his steps, and when he was only one yard away from Qian Yu, he even took out a bright knife and waved it at him.

The blade reflected the morning sun from the east, stinging Qian Yu so that he subconsciously turned his head: "Take him down, take him down!"

Where did this madman come from? Bad luck, such bad luck early in the morning! Two guards rushed up to block him.

The madman's strength was astonishingly great; the guards didn't bother to subdue him, just intending to hack him to death directly. Anyway, there were countless lowly people in this Shuangtian; if one or two were missing, who would dare to haggle with them?

Who knew that before the blade could touch the madman's neck, the other side suddenly dodged sideways, followed by a hook punch to the guard's waist and abdomen.

The angle and strength were impeccable; it was just right.

The kidneys in this place were not protected by bones, and the opponent's strength was strangely great; the guard was sent flying straight away, feeling dark before his eyes in mid-air, and couldn't climb up for a long time.

Another guard wanted to slash the madman's lower back, but he didn't know why the world spun, and he was thrown upside down by the opponent instead; the last scene before his eyes was the cold light of the big blade like snow...

With a "shhh" sound, neck blood sprayed three feet high.

The madman killed like slaughtering a chicken, and regardless of the two drops of fresh blood splashed on his face, he climbed up and rushed toward Qian Yu. The latter was just an account manager with no strength to truss a chicken; how had he ever seen such a battle? The opponent came aggressively, and his legs were stiff on the spot, and his body was petrified; he didn't even know how to run backward.

It was the guards who dragged him back with all their might.

He heard the crowd on the side shouting: "Stop him, protect Manager Qian!"

"Back to the hall, hurry back to the post house!"

Then came two screams, very close.

"Shoot arrows, hurry!"

Qian Yu suddenly came to his senses; without the guards dragging him again, he actively ran toward the post house himself.

At the critical moment, he ran faster than anyone else.

There were many pedestrians on the road, most of them full of astonishment; if they couldn't dodge, they would be bumped away by the guards.

But before running two steps, Qian Yu heard the guard exclaim: "Don't, come back!"

Should he come back, or not come back? He subconsciously complained in his heart, only to see the guard directly in front suddenly fly away.

He was bumped away.

Another guard bent down, with a trembling hand fork stuck in his belly.

The three-pronged tip pierced through his back, flashing a wisp of cold light in the blood red.

Qian Yu glanced at it, and his scalp almost exploded: another man in black appeared in front of him, also wearing a mask! This man in black stepped forward and grabbed Qian Yu's lapel, scaring him into screaming: "Wronged, I didn't do it..."

Before the words fell, the man in black threw him away.

Whether it was the guards behind or the pedestrians, they all saw Manager Qian flying through the clouds and riding the mist, drawing a perfect parabola in the air, and then falling into the river three yards away.

"Splash."

The two men in black exchanged glances, flashed a few times, abandoned the guards, and also jumped into the river.

Fast and neat.

Qian Yu finally poked his head out of the water and shouted "Help."

But he only shouted once, and the two men in black poked their heads out of the water and pressed him back into the river! Everyone gathered at the riverbank to look, but the river water was very muddy, a turbid yellow, and they couldn't see the people underneath at all.

Two guards knew how to swim and hurriedly jumped into the river to search.

However, the visibility at the bottom of the river was really too poor; they saw two shadows, pulled hard, but it was just water grass.

They poked their heads out of the river again, looking frustrated.

It's over, lost the trail.

"Go to the government office! Let the officials help find the person!"

There was some noise in the distance, and He Lingchuan woke up.

He had just sat up and hadn't had time to stretch when Dong Rui pushed the door in: "Get up quickly, something happened outside."

He Lingchuan had slept in his clothes last night; hearing this, he turned over and got out of bed, tidying his hair and crown as he asked: "What's wrong?"

"I went out to buy breakfast, and heard someone shouting 'Murder, someone fell into the water' over at Willow Street. I rushed over and saw a few corpses on the ground, bloody, and a fishy smell with every gust of wind, very fresh. Many people gathered by the river, stretching their necks to look into the water. In the end, two people climbed out of the river, soaking wet; they were actually Qian Yu's guards!"

Qian Yu? He Lingchuan's heart skipped a beat. Qian Yu's guards climbed out of the water, "And Qian Yu himself?"

They had been following Qian Yu's party for ten hours to handle things here, so of course they knew what the target looked like.

"Didn't see him." Dong Rui answered truthfully, "His guards were shouting to go to the government office and asking the local officials to help find the person quickly."

Clearly, Qian Yu had fallen into the water.

"I found several people on the side, only to know that a few men in black had blocked the road and killed people, threw the person into the river, and then jumped in themselves."

"Blocked Qian Yu, killed his guards, and threw him into the water to kidnap him? What could be the background of these people?" He Lingchuan walked toward the outside of the inn with big strides, his brain turning fast.

"Eyewitnesses heard them shouting, something about corruption and breaking the law, something about forcing good people into prostitution, something about deserving to die..."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1382 =====