Chapter 530: Wealth and honor are sought in danger [Thanks! Bow again! 43k owed]

East of Beizhou city,

"Chirp~ Pop!"

The third firework flew straight into the sky, making a sound.

In the quiet morning, the sound traveled very far.

Inside the city,

not far from the Feng residence, in a dim alley,

Xu Zaijing, hearing the sound, tilted his head and looked in the direction of the fireworks.

"Zaijing, did the reinforcements arrive so quickly?"

Gu Tingye, carrying two long spears beside him, said in a low voice.

Xu Zaijing also had some doubts in his eyes, saying: "The signal we agreed upon with Brother He is exactly this! Could it be the garrison of some nearby military prefecture?"

Gao Puyu to the side nodded: "Fifth Young Master is right; the greatest possibility is the newly recruited cavalry stationed between Beizhou and Zhending."

"Why couldn't it be the old General Gan from the south?" Gu Tingye said.

Gao Puyu smiled: "Second Brother, infantry travel a hundred li a day! Under General Gan's command, if there were a strong army with such marching speed, he wouldn't be staying in Guantao behind the Marquis."

Gu Tingye looked somewhat proud and nodded: "Three cannon shots, that's reinforcements of three thousand people!"

As they spoke, the group continued to walk forward and soon arrived at the street entrance where the Feng residence was located.

Qingyun, walking at the very front, hiding by the wall with a bow in one hand and an arrow in the other, first looked to the right. Seeing no abnormality on the street, he shuffled forward a few steps, walked to the corner of the wall, and poked his head out to look to the left.

Then, Qingyun waved his hand backward.

"Clatter clatter clatter"

The sound of armor colliding rang out.

Xu Zaijing, holding a bow and arrow, ran forward very quickly; Gao Puyu and Gao Yunqing hurriedly followed, then Gu Tingye carrying the long spears, and finally Qingyun followed.

The reason Gu Tingye carried the spears instead of holding a bow and arrow was that he was the only "tender cucumber" among the five who had no "battle record" and still felt somewhat uncomfortable after seeing blood.

Arriving at the opposite alley,

before Gu Tingye could catch his breath, he heard the "thrum thrum" vibration of bowstrings from ahead.

"Thud!"

"Hah"

"Ding~ Pfft!"

"Clang~ Crack!"

Several sounds of weapons and armor colliding came, mixed with the sound of bones breaking and heavy objects hitting people.

The alley was somewhat dim,

and when Gu Tingye walked closer, he saw a person at the doorway, armor draped lazily on his body, his neck already pierced by an arrow, the sharp feathered arrow piercing through his neck and pinning him to the blood-stained door frame.

His companion next to him had an arrow in his eye socket and lay on the ground.

Walking further forward, he saw that in this courtyard, Xu Zaijing, a classmate from the Sheng family school, was shaking the red and white matter off the steel mace in his hand.

Gao Yunqing was using a short blade to deliver a finishing blow.

Gao Puyu, the team leader of his own personal guards, was strangling a thief soldier with one hand, who was sticking out his tongue; he also looked like he wouldn't live.

Besides the thieves' corpses, there were also several corpses of commoners in the courtyard.

Just as Gu Tingye was about to speak, he saw Xu Zaijing shake his head at him and point to the room where these thieves had come out.

Gu Tingye understood and threw one of the long spears on his shoulder to Xu Zaijing.

The moments Xu Zaijing killed the thieves were somewhat noisy.

Now that they stopped their hands, the courtyard fell into silence again.

Suddenly,

a sound,

something white ran out from the room.

Gu Tingye, holding the long spear, reflexively wanted to stab it, but as soon as he made the move, he felt his long spear being blocked outward by someone.

Then, Gu Tingye saw clearly that the person running out was a disheveled girl, unclothed, looking about the same age as his sister.

This girl had only run two steps before falling to the ground.

At this time, another figure appeared at the room doorway, before Gu Tingye could react.

"Whoosh!"

A feathered arrow shot out like lightning,

shooting down the figure at the doorway.

Gu Tingye looked back and saw Qingyun had already pulled out a second feathered arrow and placed it on the bow.

Gao Puyu reacted very quickly too. He walked to the fallen girl, looked at the scars on her body, furrowed his brows, and said in a low voice: "Miss, don't scream! We have already avenged you somewhat; don't scream!"

"Mmm mmm mmm."

The woman didn't scream, just looked at Gao Puyu, making an unintelligible sound.

Gao Puyu furrowed his brows, used a clever force to pinch open the woman's mouth with one hand, saw that her tongue was still there, and then breathed a sigh of relief, turned his head to look at Xu Zaijing and Gu Tingye, and said: "Seems to be a mute from birth."

Inside the room,

"Hiss! Uh, uh, you... are... come~"

The person just shot down by Qingyun made a sound.

Gu Tingye looked at the woman in front of him, then looked inside the room, and reached out toward Xu Zaijing:

"Zaijing, lend me your steel mace for a moment."

Xu Zaijing handed the steel mace to Gu Tingye and said: "Don't kill him in one blow; ask clearly why they were raping and looting."

After finishing, Xu Zaijing turned his head back and raised his chin toward Qingyun.

Qingyun, at the very back, put away his bow and arrow, pulled out the feathered arrow from the thief's neck at the doorway, and dragged the person into the courtyard.

Xu Zaijing walked into the room, and Gao Puyu followed behind him, holding the girl.

This courtyard had five main rooms,

in the central main hall, Gao Yunqing squatted beside Gu Tingye, pinching the thief's neck with one hand to keep him from making a sound, while teaching Gu Tingye how to interrogate "amicably" without harming his life.

Gao Puyu carried the girl into the innermost room to put on clothes,

Xu Zaijing stood in the side room between the main hall and the inner room,

he sighed, his gaze scanning the room unconsciously.

Suddenly,

Xu Zaijing's gaze stopped on a basket on a table by the window.

There was fabric in this basket, as well as several spools of thread; Xu Zaijing had excellent eyesight and could see sewing needles stuck in the spools.

There was also a half-sewn ear warmer in the basket.

Xu Zaijing walked closer and saw that the material for this ear warmer was exquisite, and on the half-sewn ear warmer, a cute cat pattern popular in Bianjing was embroidered.

It seemed the person who embroidered it was very clever.

Looking at the things in front of him,

Xu Zaijing took a deep breath.

Outside the room,

the sound of the steel mace hitting flesh came, along with the sound of someone in pain grinding their feet on the ground.

"Can you talk now?"

"Mmm mmm!"

"This, this, the men of these families, all... did not follow the Buddha's instructions, refused to... hiss... tattoo their faces and live and die with the Buddha, we, we then came..."

"Pfft!" Gu Tingye smashed down with another steel mace "Why didn't you say so earlier?!"

Xu Zaijing walked out,

"What is the situation with the Feng family, the military supervisor across the street?"

Watching Gu Tingye raise the steel mace again, the thief with the arrow in his shoulder shook his head in panic, struggling and saying: "Grandpa! Don't smash anymore! Grandpa, I'll talk! I'll talk!"

"The Feng family, the night before the day before yesterday, I don't know how, but a big fire started; when we went, there was no one left."

Gao Yunqing to the side held the arrow shaft in the thief's shoulder and said: "Was the fire set by you?"

"No, no, it burned by itself the night before the day before yesterday. The winter weather is dry... how would we dare to set a fire!"

"Afraid it would spread to the surroundings, the fire, the fire was all..."

"Hmm?" Gu Tingye asked suspiciously: "You would have such good intentions?"

"It was... we forced the surrounding commoners to put out the fire."

Gao Yunqing to the side raised his head to look at Xu Zaijing and said: "Fifth Young Master, I see that if these people don't go back by dawn, someone will definitely come to check."

Xu Zaijing nodded: "Hmm, let's go to the Feng residence and take a look; if it's really like this, we'll have to discuss it again."

"Where is the thief leader now?"

"Reporting to Grandpa, at, at the Prefectural government office, the government office..."

"What does this Buddha thief leader look like? Besides him, what other thief leaders are there?"

"Reporting, reporting to Grandpa, this Buddha... thief leader is a bearded... burly man, loves to wear armor inside and a cassock outside, has extremely high martial arts, there is one surnamed Bu, who is..."

After finishing,

Gao Yunqing said: "Fifth Young Master, it's about the same as what the thieves in the first house we raided said."

After Xu Zaijing nodded, he raised his chin toward Gu Tingye.

Gu Tingye: "Hmm?"

Seeing Xu Zaijing's action, the thief struggled violently.

Gu Tingye hadn't reacted yet, pressing down on the thief: "Don't move! Zaijing, what do you mean?"

Gao Yunqing said for Xu Zaijing: "Second Brother, give him a quick end!"

Gu Tingye was slightly stunned.

Seeing this scene, the thief begged for mercy in a low voice: "Grandpa, I've said everything, I beg you grandpas to spare this grandson's life! This grandson has a fifty-year-old mother above and a four- or five-year-old child below... I beg..."

At this time, in the innermost room, the girl who had just rushed out wearing clothes walked out.

Looking at that woman, Gu Tingye narrowed his eyes: "Beg your mother!"

Saying that, Gu Tingye smashed down with the mace.

Feng residence,

in the courtyard were patches of scorched buildings and broken walls, and there was still the smell of burnt things in the air.

Looking at the collapsed room and scorched walls, one could vaguely see the intensity of the previous fire.

Outside the courtyard,

the courtyard where the stables were located,

the stables were burnt and collapsed, the carriage was burnt, and the horses had already disappeared,

under the stone horse trough, half a blue brick moved slightly, and after being pulled away, an eye appeared behind it.

Then, the blue brick was stuffed back.

Under the horse trough, a person loosened the candle that was being blocked and walked downward by the light.

After walking a distance, this person arrived in a secret room the size of two rooms and said: "My Lord, it looks like dawn is coming."

With just this one candle, it vaguely illuminated the figures of Zhao Meifeng, Master Feng, and his family.

Zhao Meifeng nodded.

Master Feng to the side sighed and said:

"Brother Zhao, it's useless for us to say these things! Although that Xu family boy achieved merit in the Northwest! But Beizhou at this time is an extremely dangerous dragon's den and tiger's lair! Will he... come in? How will he come in?"

Zhao Meifeng shook his head slightly and said softly: "Brother Feng, you don't know how strong Zaijing's abilities are! If there is a chance, he will definitely enter the city to rescue us."

"Sigh!" Master Feng looked at the secret room in the darkness and said: "This secret room left by the previous dynasty, I don't know how long it can protect us."

Zhao Meifeng said: "Brother Feng, even if Zaijing doesn't come, in a few days when the main army gathers and starts attacking the city, we will find a chance to either leave the city or die for the country."

Master Feng was just about to respond,

"Thud."

A barely audible heavy impact sound came.

The secret room immediately fell silent.

"Thud."

Another impact sound.

In the candlelight, Zhao Meifeng pointed upward and said in an extremely low voice: "Someone is climbing over the wall."

Master Feng nodded, pulled Zhao Meifeng's sleeve, and the two walked lightly to the side.

Stopping at a place where light was vaguely shining in, Master Feng carefully pulled out a small blue brick.

Looking from here, it seemed to be under the shadow wall of the side gate, and one could vaguely see the direction of the stables.

Suddenly,

"Thud!"

Another sound, a black shadow wearing thief armor jumped to the ground not far from the shadow wall, with his back to the two.

Master Feng seemed to be frightened, his breathing became rapid, Zhao Meifeng's breathing didn't become rapid, he just widened his eyes.

Then,

he saw that black shadow turn his head and look over.

Master Feng and Zhao Meifeng hurriedly covered their mouths and noses and squatted down.

Master Feng looked at Zhao Meifeng with panic and surprise in his eyes: that black shadow, he only breathed rapidly for a moment, how did he attract this person's attention?

Footsteps sounded,

the black shadow walked to the shadow wall,

"Zaijing, what's wrong?"

A black shadow further away asked.

"Nothing!"

Hearing the conversation, Zhao Meifeng and Master Feng's eyes widened at the same time.

"Thud."

A fourth person jumped down.

"Fifth Young Master, what's wrong?" Gao Yunqing's voice sounded.

Zhao Meifeng hurriedly stood up: "Zaijing, Yunqing, we are here!"

Near the Feng residence, the mute girl rescued by Xu Zaijing and the others had already entered the secret room.

In the courtyard,

Xu Zaijing and the others were preparing armor, long spears, and bows and arrows.

Master Feng to the side said with full confusion: "Zaijing, are you going to directly find that thief leader?"

"The thief leader has thousands of thief soldiers under him, and an unknown number of Maitreya followers; wouldn't you be sending yourselves to death if you go?"

Gu Tingye said, "Jing Ge'er, is that woman crazy?"

Gao Yunqing, standing to the side, said softly, "It's better if she's crazy; if she's crazy, she won't have to remember these tragic events."

Gu Tingye looked at the corpses in the courtyard with an ugly expression and nodded.

Two quarters of an hour later,

Xu Zaijing and the others prepared a rough, hot meal for themselves.

The others all left the courtyard, incidentally tossing the thieves' corpses elsewhere.

Xu Zaijing remained until the end.

Before leaving, Xu Zaijing carried a bowl of hot porridge and a flatbread into the room where the woman was.

Glancing at the woman in the corner who was still terrified,

Xu Zaijing placed the items on the bed and said, "We have taken the few ginseng roots! Also... let the children in the chest eat something."

Ignoring the woman, who suddenly tensed up, her expression becoming clear and her eyes turning into those of a mother wolf, Xu Zaijing turned and walked outside: "If it's not enough, there's more outside! But, whatever you do, don't leave the courtyard!"

Xu Zaijing's figure disappeared at the doorway, and only then did the woman relax.

After glancing at the porridge and bread, the woman, her hands and feet feeling weak, pulled the bedding by the wall aside, opened the large wooden chest beneath it, and looked at the two children sleeping inside; her eyes, which had already run dry, filled with tears once again.

Just as she was about to reach for the flatbread,

footsteps sounded outside the house again, which made the woman close the wooden chest and stack the bedding back up with extreme speed.

Xu Zaijing, dressed in the thieves' armor, appeared in the room once more. After forcing a friendly smile, he placed a sheathed dagger on the edge of the kang and said, "Keep this for self-defense, Madam."

After speaking, Xu Zaijing was about to step outside again.

"Benefactor! May I ask your noble name!"

The woman's hoarse voice rang out.

Xu Zaijing stopped, turned his head, and nodded slightly: "Take care, Madam."

After speaking, Xu Zaijing walked outside.

Outside Beizhou City,

the morning light was just beginning to dawn,

and nearly a thousand cavalry were arrayed here.

Several cavalry commanders, dusty and tired, reined in their horses under banners marked with "Zhang," "Huang," and other characters, looking at the towering Beizhou city walls; their expressions were extremely grim.