Chapter 59: We Were All Deceived

He Lingchuan sneered. "State Preceptor Sun previously told us to return to the Nanmen immediately after finishing, and he was both exhorting and threatening, and even set a two-hour limit. Don't you feel flattered? They only treat you as a beast of burden, when have they ever been so thoughtful?" Mao Tao immediately remembered the two "remember" of State Preceptor Sun's earnest words.

"But what if..."

"What if what?" Sudden concern is often accompanied by ulterior motives. "What if there is a change? What's the difference between being here and at the Nanmen? If we really need to rely on them, we can just rush over."

He also said earnestly: "Look at those two, do they look like they care about our life or death? Since that's the case, why should we care about theirs?"

Mao Tao thought about it and nodded: "You're right, I'll listen to you!"

￥￥￥￥￥

He Yue was writing furiously in the government office.

The weather in Qiansong County is much better than the Panlong Desert, but it's still hot to death at the end of August, and everyone is waiting for a thunderstorm to cool down Heishuicheng.

It was exceptionally stuffy and irritable today, and he was wiping sweat from his forehead while correcting official documents.

The errand runner behind him saw this and found a large cattail fan: "Second Young Master, let me."

After fanning a few times, news flew in from outside: the Panlong Desert is showing its power, and the sandstorm season has arrived early.

Plop, the brush in He Yue's hand fell on the table, dirtying several documents.

The sandstorm season has begun, but Father and Big Brother haven't returned yet.

A real bad news.

The errand runner called him several times in a low voice before He Yue came back to his senses, saying hoarsely: "Send more people to maintain order; it won't be peaceful in the city these few days."

Every time the sandstorm season arrives early, it leads to loss of life and property. Disputes between victims, victimized families, and merchant teams are rising in a straight line.

In previous years, He Chunhua also often handled cases of fighting and killing after the arrival of the sandstorm season.

Thinking of his father, He Yue felt a chill in his heart.

Madam Ying is waiting for news at home every day; should he send back the bad news? This afternoon, he stayed in the government office for several hours and couldn't handle even one more official document.

Until dark, the young man stood up listlessly, preparing to go home.

None of his returns home had ever been as resistant as this time.

However, a post messenger came at this time and presented eleven crumpled letters with fire lacquer to him:

"The east road is open; these are the letters accumulated at Jiaxin Pass, sent all at once."

He Yue saw so many letters and felt a thump in his heart: how many major events have happened in the east? Qiansong County is remote, and there is no waterway to reach directly from east to west. Letters from the capital must pass through Woling Pass and Jiaxin Pass to be delivered here.

The mountains along the way are steep and dangerous. If you take a detour, you have to walk for three more months, and the road conditions are particularly poor, so generally, no one does that.

Before He Chunhua went to the Panlong Desert, he was always concerned about the situation in the east. Even to fulfill his last wish, He Yue had to finish reading these letters.

He opened one casually, looked at it twice, frowned, and quickly opened another.

Then the next one.

"Unreasonable!" He Yue smashed his fist heavily on the table, a loud bang, scaring the nearby errand runners.

The Second Young Master He has always been gentle and elegant, just like a copy of the County Magistrate, why is he suddenly so angry? He Yue's eye sockets were red. For the first time in his life, he felt such grief and hatred.

"Father, Big Brother, you died in vain!" He gritted his teeth and said, "We were all deceived!"

The young man stood up and walked out.

Now, he has two bad news to pass on to his family.

￥￥￥￥￥

Nian Songyu moved the last box of crossbow arrows to the wall.

Every box of things here weighs several hundred jin. Even though he is a master of martial arts, after transporting forty boxes to the wall, he felt his arms sore and his feet heavy.

Sun Fuping was already standing on the wall, looking down: "Are they all transported up?" He is old and has a high status, so naturally, he wouldn't do such chores.

He Lingchuan and the two were not there, so these tasks fell to Nian Songyu.

"Hmm, gone." Nian Songyu panted. "Those two bastards don't know where they died; they are so slow!"

He rested for a while, then applied special grease to the weapons, also known as fire oil.

Whether it's a long crossbow or a catapult, its power doubles after being lit. And now, the two of them took a fancy to their ability to set fires and burn the city.

Nian Songyu opened a box casually, was startled first, then overjoyed: "Actually nail bombs!"

Cannons appeared in the human world long ago, but their power is ordinary, and the interval between firing is long. They are okay for hitting people, but at most they make a hole in the wall. Besides the loud sound, they are not as powerful as crossbow carts.

But this box of "nail bombs" is just adding small iron nails into the raw iron cannonballs. After landing, they explode with flames in all directions, not only killing people but also easily causing infection.

Nian Songyu loaded the nail bomb and dusted off the ash on his hands: "Has it been two hours?"

"Almost." Sun Fuping sat on the box and looked at the front. "The north side hasn't been burned yet."

"The north side was assigned to the sand bandit; did he escape?" Nian Songyu walked over and shielded his eyes with his hand. "Why don't we fire first."

"Wait a little longer."

The State Preceptor said to wait, so he must wait.

In the blink of an eye, another half an hour passed.

The main street under the city was empty.

Nian Songyu gulped down a few mouthfuls of water: "What do you think?"

"Give them a reminder?"

Nian Songyu shrugged and shouted with his energy: "He Lingchuan, return to the Nanmen immediately!" Also that sand bandit, but he didn't remember the name.

He shouted three times in a row, resounding through Panlong Nancheng.

Perhaps this place is too empty, there was actually an echo. If He Lingchuan was on his way, he should be able to hear it.

After waiting for a good while, it was still empty under the city.

He roared again: "Light the fire at the Nanmen, life and death are at your own risk!"

If the fire is lit later, let alone other accidents, it's not guaranteed that the big fire won't burn these two bastards to death!

After another half an hour, Sun Fuping finally stood up: "The sand bandit and He Lingchuan are together; they are on guard and won't come over."

The fire in the north never started. If that sand bandit didn't encounter an accident, he went to meet He Lingchuan.

"That He family brat has always been resentful of me." Nian Songyu asked him, "What now?"

"The houses in the east and west have all been burned, and there is no abnormality, so the key to breaking the situation is indeed in the south, which also matches my deduction. Those two boys, no, the He family boy is suspicious. He is not as reckless as we thought." The fire in the distance seemed to jump in Sun Fuping's eyes. "Think it's safe just like this? Naive! Light the fire."

The last three words, he said to Nian Songyu.

Nian Songyu hesitated: "Your original plan for the Heishuicheng army?"

"They are standing in my formation."

One sentence dispelled Nian Songyu's doubts, and he lit the crossbow.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 60 =====