Chapter 191: I Know Where the Vault Is

"N-no... Master Zhao also hesitated repeatedly, not wanting to provoke the people of Qin Family Village... but he couldn't resist the second young master's pleading, which is why he made the decision..."

After questioning him for all useful information, he directly snapped his neck.

Time ticked away second by second, and in the blink of an eye, it was eight o'clock at night.

The moon quietly climbed to the treetops, and a few thin clouds drifted by, obscuring the half-moon in a hazy glow.

There was no sign of pedestrians on the road anymore, so He Yuzhu ordered the soldiers to return to the trucks to rest.

Throughout this entire day, the six batches of messengers sent out by the Zhao family had all fallen into their hands.

He Yuzhu arranged for the soldiers to eat and rest in the trucks, while he himself crouched in a water channel covered with thin ice, waiting for the Zhao family's next group of men.

The north wind howled, whipping up snow flurries, and before long, a thin layer had covered his body. Even though he was wearing two thick cotton-padded jackets, the cold still burrowed into his bones.

He Yuzhu gritted his teeth and held on.

Just then, the sound of horse hooves, "da-da-da...", came from afar.

Two fast horses galloped through the moonlight, the sound of their hooves exceptionally clear in the silent night.

As the horses reached close range, He Yuzhu directly threw two stones; after the horses' legs were struck, they tumbled onto the ground and rolled several times.

The two people on the horses suffered immediately; one was crushed to death by the horse's body, while the other was better off, having jumped off the horse, though he was still dazed and disoriented, but he had no major injuries and could still stand and walk.

Seeing that the horse was uninjured, He Yuzhu directly collected it into his space.

He tied up the living one tightly, brought him directly to the truck, and pulled Xiao Wang aside to give him a few instructions.

Xiao Wang smiled in understanding: "Understood."

He Yuzhu flashed behind a tree, secretly observing Xiao Wang's interrogation.

Time ticked away second by second, until eleven-thirty at night, when dense footsteps finally echoed on the main road.

Unexpectedly, it was Regimental Commander Yang leading the team himself, bringing a full eight hundred men.

He Yuzhu hurried up to meet him and reported the situation exactly as it was, naturally adding some embellishments, as he wanted Regimental Commander Yang to feel that this landlord absolutely had to be dealt with.

After hearing the report, Regimental Commander Yang asked: "How do you intend to fight this battle?"

He Yuzhu explained his plan in detail.

Regimental Commander Yang pondered for a moment and nodded: "Do as you say. I will have Xiao Wang release the prisoner once I receive your signal. However, you are only taking thirty men; isn't that a bit too few?"

"No problem! I will do my best to keep every brother safe."

He immediately selected thirty elite soldiers and headed straight for Zhao Jia Zhuang by truck.

More than a mile away from the village, He Yuzhu left two men to guard the vehicles and took the remaining twenty-eight to change into the uniforms of the Bald Party.

Everyone waited in the woods, and He Yuzhu instructed, "When you see my flashlight blink three times, come into the village to provide support immediately."

He went toward the village entrance alone and stealthily.

He stopped a few dozen meters from the village and raised his Telescope to observe carefully.

There were ten straw stacks at the village entrance, yet there were no guards; this did not seem to fit the Zhao family's style.

He Yuzhu did not act rashly but took out his Telescope and observed quietly.

After watching for a long time, he suddenly discovered white mist continuously rising from inside one of the straw stacks.

He stared fixedly at this straw stack, and after watching for quite a while, he realized there were actually people inside.

They had poked two fist-sized observation holes in the straw stack and were vigilantly watching the movement outside.

He Yuzhu quietly retreated from the village entrance, knowing in his heart that there was nothing in front of the village, just a bare expanse; charging in would make them live targets, so he had to use strategy.

He changed into the clothes of the horse-riding messenger, recalled the name and vocal characteristics noted during Xiao Wang's interrogation, then released a horse, waited a moment, mounted it, and charged toward the village entrance.

"Who goes there?" A man quickly darted out from the straw stack, the Rifle in his hand glinting coldly in the moonlight.

"It's me, Wang Qiang!" He Yuzhu kept his head down, imitating the man's accent, "I've brought a reply for the Master."

"Why are you only back now? The Master is nearly frantic with worry!"

"The eldest young master went to Si Jiu Cheng for a meeting and only returned at night, which caused a delay. He is currently mobilizing troops, so he sent me back to report first."

"What about the others?"

"How would I know!" Before the words had even faded, He Yuzhu had already rushed to within three meters of the straw stack, and with a thought, he collected all of them into his space.

He also collected the horse into his space and then crawled into the straw stack himself.

It must be said, it was quite spacious inside, enough to hold a dozen people.

He Yuzhu entered his space, tied up the man who had just spoken and gagged him, then released him.

Once that man was out of the space, he was still dazed.

He Yuzhu pressed his cold Dagger against the man's throat and lowered his voice: "Lead us into the Zhao residence, and I will spare your life. If you try any tricks..." The blade pressed down slightly, drawing a trace of blood.

The man trembled all over in fear and nodded repeatedly.

He Yuzhu carefully questioned him again about the defense layout and security arrangements within the courtyard. After obtaining the intelligence, He Yuzhu signaled toward the small woods.

Twenty-eight soldiers gathered silently, and He Yuzhu explained the defense layout of the courtyard in detail and assigned tasks to each person.

The group, led by the man, walked swaggeringly toward the Zhao family courtyard.

Just as they reached the courtyard gate, they were stopped by a fat-eared servant: "Zhao Xiaofei, who are these people?"

The man in black, addressed as Zhao Xiaofei, hurriedly replied: "These are the brothers sent by the eldest young master to guard the village."

"Wasn't the eldest young master supposed to go wipe out Qin Family Village? Why did you come to our village?" The servant was full of suspicion.

He Yuzhu stepped forward and slapped him, cursing: "Who do you think you are? Regimental Commander Zhao sent us here to assist in the defense; the brothers haven't eaten yet, hurry up and prepare some food!"

The servant clutched his face, wanting to argue, but seeing He Yuzhu's fierce expression, he could only mutter: "This job... it's really impossible to do..."

As soon as they entered the courtyard, He Yuzhu immediately gave a hand signal.

The soldiers, following the prior division of labor, quickly pounced on their respective targets.

It was the dead of night, the time when people were tired and horses were weary, and they cleared out the enemies one courtyard at a time.

After He Yuzhu dealt with the fat-eared servant and Zhao Xiaofei, he went to deal with the Dark Bunker in the front courtyard.

Having already entered the main gate, the Dark Bunker set up in the courtyard lost its defensive function; he silently crept to the outer side of the Dark Bunker, saw no one around, and with a thought, directly collected all the guards inside into his space.

Another twenty-plus soldiers went to deal with the Security Team.

Those fellows were all fast asleep in their rooms, and the soldiers, holding bayonets, dealt with them quite easily.

After clearing the front courtyard, the group immediately pushed toward the Houyuan.

They did not expect to encounter stubborn resistance in the Zhongyuan.

Several Bodyguards relied on the house walls to keep poking their heads out and firing, and five soldiers were wounded.

Seeing this situation, He Yuzhu quickly vaulted onto the roof, took out his Sniper Rifle, and waited specifically for the opponents to poke their heads out to land a headshot.

After finishing off these Bodyguards, he sent men to annihilate the people in the Houyuan Dark Bunker, and before long, someone came to report that the people in the Houyuan had already run away.

He Yuzhu and the soldiers began searching room by room for Master Zhao and Zhao Laizi.

When three soldiers searched one wing room, they happened to run into two people who were struggling to move a large amount of debris.

Two soldiers stepped forward quickly and tied the two people up.

They saw a bluestone slab on the ground, immediately pried it open, and actually discovered a tunnel.

The two people were brought to the main hall and handed over to He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu laughed as soon as he saw them: "Yo! Isn't this Zhao Laizi who was quite arrogant during the day? You didn't expect to end up like this, did you?"

"Little bastard—no, sir, I didn't provoke you during the day, did I? Why make things difficult for us?" Zhao Laizi was truly quick to cave in.

"You didn't provoke me, but you kept sending waves of people to the county seat to fetch reinforcements; does that count as not provoking me?"

"Since it's all out in the open, I'll give you all the grain; can you spare our lives?" Master Zhao asked.

He Yuzhu shook his head.

"You, why are you going against our Zhao Family?" Zhao Laizi asked, puzzled.

"Your whole family ended up in this state all because of your big mouth. If you hadn't said that Qin Family Village was colluding with bandits, I wouldn't know who you were, and you wouldn't have tonight's outcome," He Yuzhu sneered.

Zhao Congzhou fell to his knees with a thud, his forehead hitting the floor with a loud *bang*: "Hero, spare my life! Spare me! I'll give you all the grain and money. Spare us..."

"Spare your life? That's impossible. Your crimes are monstrous; if I spare you, the common people won't," He Yuzhu's Dagger glinted coldly in the moonlight, "tell me where the vault is, and I'll give you a quick death."

Upon hearing this, a flash of despair crossed Zhao Congzhou's eyes; he suddenly bit down on his collar, and before long, he spat out blood and died.

Zhao Laizi was scared out of his wits, his crotch already soaked, and he begged for mercy repeatedly: "Sir, spare me! My father won't say it, but I'll tell you everything! I know where the vault is!"