Chapter 417

Zhu Di sat at the table, unable to resist opening his mouth to mock.

Su Qiao was actually a bit speechless — he'd already given them a chance, and this was the result?

Was this deliberately trying to kill someone?

It looked very dangerous, but in truth the intensity couldn't even compare to the previous water-bandit attack.

"Since they're putting on a show for us and have no ideas of their own, let's just go with the flow and leave."

Su Qiao stood up, intending to leave with Zhu Di.

Clap, clap, clap…

Just at that moment, in the dock that had originally been bustling — or rather, one that already had hardly anyone left — a great many people suddenly sprang up from who knows where.

They were dressed head to toe in gold, steel sabers in hand, faces full of vicious menace.

Su Qiao and Zhu Di roughly counted them — no fewer than three hundred!

Good lord, earlier he'd thought their numbers were small; he hadn't expected so many to pop out all at once.

Simply too much.

From among the crowd stepped out a white-haired, sinister-faced old man.

He had been the one clapping just now.

Seeing so many people appear so suddenly, Ma Kui and the rest of the Embroidered Uniform Guard grew extremely wary, a thick wariness flashing in their eyes; they formed a ring, placing Su Qiao and Zhu Di under their protection at the very center.

The sinister old man's gaze passed over the Embroidered Uniform Guard in front and landed directly on Su Qiao.

He said very crisply, "Lord Su, Mr. Su, you should come with us now, shouldn't you?"

"Who are you? Where's Xu Chunming?"

"The military advisor isn't in Fuzhou at the moment. If Mr. Su comes with me for a trip, you'll probably run into the military advisor."

"Oh, so Xu Chunming has run off again. Then you think that with all these people, you've got me cornered?"

Su Qiao narrowed his eyes, looked at the old man before him, and asked.

Hearing this, the old man looked at Su Qiao in puzzlement and countered, "Could it be that even now Mr. Su can still turn the tables? This lowly one specifically waited until Mr. Su had no more trump cards before showing myself."

When he said this, the old man rather smugly clapped his hands, ordering his men to bring out the wooden shields they had prepared.

Clearly he was also worried about the danger of the hand crossbows.

"Looks like you really are a small-time nobody. Talking to you is dragging down my IQ. Let the result tell you the answer!"

Su Qiao turned his head and nodded to Sun Youxu.

Sun Youxu pulled a thick firecracker from his bosom.

Then he quickly lit it and aimed it at the sky.

The old man's face changed when he saw it.

"Quick, stop him!"

Blindly shouting — it's dozens of steps away, you think it can fly over?!

So he could only watch helplessly as the signal flare rose into the sky.

Then not far away came the sound of battle cries.

Now even if the sinister old man were a fool, he knew clearly that he had walked into an ambush.

Su Qiao had long prepared a trap for him to fall into.

Seeing they were only dozens of steps apart, he hesitated for a moment, then still decided to risk everything and fight!

"Everyone, don't panic. Su Qiao is right before our eyes. If we seize him before the government troops arrive, we'll have a slim chance of survival — not only completing the mission but also escaping!"

The sinister old man began to beguile his band of subordinates.

The originally somewhat panicked bandits really were swayed in considerable numbers.

270, arriving at Fuzhou!

Because they felt the sinister old man's words made sense.

If they just ran like this, they probably wouldn't get far before the government troops caught up and killed them.

But if they captured Su Qiao, they could use Su Qiao's status and position as leverage.

Then they'd have a path to survival!

So immediately these men's gazes toward Su Qiao grew fervent; they drew their weapons and charged toward Su Qiao's side.

Su Qiao was not at all alarmed; he turned his head and ordered Ma Kui, "Where are the things I told you to bring?"

"Mr. Su, here!"

Ma Kui pointed at a wooden box under a nearby table.

Su Qiao nodded and asked, "Everyone knows how to use them?"

"We do!"

"Light them and throw them out!"

"Yes, sir!"

The bandits and Su Qiao's group were separated by only a few dozen steps; if they charged without any obstruction, it would take only a few breaths of time.

This time really was a bit tight.

But they still had hand crossbows, which could temporarily suppress the bandits' speed.

Although the bandits had wooden boards as shields, their speed couldn't pick up either.

Even though the sinister old man's reach was even more formidable, he didn't dare charge with his head exposed without the wooden board.

And at this moment Ma Kui had already opened the wooden box, pulled out a tightly wrapped small ceramic jar, found the fuse, and quickly lit it.

By the time the fuse was almost burned out, the bandits had also charged up before them, about to engage in close combat.

Ma Kui swiftly hurled the jar in his hand out.

The sinister old man suddenly felt his scalp prickle; that jar seemed to hold great peril and great terror.

They say an old man who refuses to die is a thief!

Without a second thought, he turned his head and fled immediately.

He ran, but the other bandits, not understanding why, charged forward.

Boom!

The explosives specially configured by Su Qiao detonated.

Ceramic shards, iron nails, crushed stones, and other debris inside sprayed outward.

The bandits who had swarmed forward in a frenzy were instantly blown into a rain of blood, while the ceramic shards, iron nails, and similar objects inflicted severe wounds on those standing nearby.

Even Su Qiao and his companions hurriedly overturned tables and hid behind the wonton stall's tables and cooking counters, only then managing to evade this wave of danger.

After the explosion, thick smoke lingered alongside severed limbs and broken bodies.

Some who had not yet died lay on the ground wailing, mortally wounded.

Now everyone understood what Ma Kui had just thrown out.

Explosives!

It was too terrifying!

The sinister old man, who had been the first to sense the danger and take cover, even though he had been mentally prepared, still failed to escape.

Extremely unlucky, a fragment of iron pierced his right arm.

His combat power was instantly halved!

Covering the wound on his right arm with his left hand, he looked at Su Qiao with a cold face and said, "Very good, very good! Mr. Su is indeed formidable; no wonder the Strategist has failed time and again. We truly underestimated Mr. Su's capabilities."

"You flatter me. But what good does saying this do now? Do you not think I will let you go?"

Su Qiao had no real interest in this old man.

First, he was merely a pawn; second, he was not intelligent.

Look at Xu Chunming, who planned so many times and reacted faster than anyone else, fleeing long ago.

Instead, someone like this fool died first, having lived in vain for so many years.

"Of course not. This humble one does not believe Mr. Su will let me go. Furthermore, since we have failed, I never intended to live. I only wished to remind Mr. Su one last time before dying: things will not be so easy for you next time!"

Having finished speaking, he immediately bit down and shattered the poison tooth in his mouth, committing suicide cleanly and decisively right before Su Qiao's eyes.

Thud!

Watching this old fellow die just like that, Su Qiao felt it was somewhat wasteful.

He had wanted to capture and interrogate him, yet who would have thought he would commit suicide so readily.