Chapter 228: Empty Zhai

"No, this matter is strange."

Wang Liang shook his head slightly and said, "Zhou Family Fort is nearly forty li away from us; if the cannon fire came from there, it shouldn't have such a massive impact."

"Ah?" Lu Guohao and the others were instantly startled.

In truth, some among them also felt the impact was far too great, with even the ground beneath their feet trembling; it was indeed somewhat wrong.

"Wang Liang, do you mean that this cannon fire might be nearby?"

"Yes." Wang Liang's expression was solemn, and he said with a grave face, "I estimate it's only ten or twenty li away."

"What! Ten or twenty li?" Upon hearing this, the crowd's faces were full of shock.

Zhou Family Fort was at least thirty or forty li from this place; how could the cannon fire be coming from only ten or twenty li away?

Wang Liang's brows were tightly knitted together.

He could not have heard wrong.

Back in the day at Yongan City, he had participated in defense battles many times and was more than familiar with the sound of artillery.

Upon hearing this sound, he knew it was from a 75 mm Howitzer, and judging by the noise, there should be two of them.

"Cannon fire ten or twenty li away..." Qin Hai frowned and pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, "Isn't that where we used to live?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the color drained from everyone's faces.

That's right, judging by the direction and distance the sound came from, it seemed to be exactly the location of Lu Family Stockade!

But how could there be cannon fire from Lu Family Stockade? Could someone be bombarding Lu Family Stockade with artillery?

"This is too suspicious; I must go and see what is happening," Wang Liang said. "Guohao, hurry and arrange for everyone to hide in the basement; be quick."

Lu Guohao hesitated slightly, then nodded and said, "Alright, I will go notify everyone now; you must be very careful yourself."

"Old Wang, shall we go with you?"

"Yes, more people means more help," the Liu Jia Xiong Di said hurriedly.

"No need." Wang Liang waved his hand. "I am just going to scout the situation; having too many people makes it easier to expose our target."

"Then you must be very careful."

"Stay safe."

Under the worried and nervous gazes of the crowd, Wang Liang held his Telescope and quickly ran toward the entrance of the Zhai.

At this moment, a strong sense of unease surged in his heart; this feeling was far more intense than the crisis he had experienced three years ago.

Could someone really be launching an artillery attack on Lu Family Stockade?

If that were the case, if they hadn't moved here in advance, what would their fate be right now?

He dared not continue thinking, only quickening his pace as he hurried forward.

With Lu Yu away, the heavy responsibility of guarding the Zhai fell upon his shoulders; he had once promised Lu Yu that he would surely protect Lu Family Fort well.

At this time, Lu Family Stockade had already been reduced to ruins.

As far as the eye could see, raging fires burned wantonly, and thick smoke billowed upward, blotting out the sky.

A hundred meters away, the barrels of the two cannons were as red as burning hot irons, emitting a terrifying high temperature that seemed capable of igniting the surrounding air.

The group of guards who had followed looked at the scene of devastation before them, their faces showing expressions of satisfaction.

"Lu Family Stockade, this is the price for opposing our Zhou Family Fort! Daring to kill Captain Wang, all of you must be buried along with him!"

Yet, not a hint of excitement could be seen on Zhou Chengsong's face; his brows were locked tight, and his expression was as gloomy as if a storm were about to descend, looking as though it could drip water.

Something is wrong; there must be a problem here.

The power of two cannons was indeed not to be underestimated; a few rounds of shells were enough to blast Lu Family Stockade into an unrecognizable state. But even so, shouldn't there be at least one survivor?

Even if everyone were buried under the ruins, there should at least be one or two screams, right?

Yet from beginning to end, the Zhai before him was terrifyingly quiet, without a single sound of human life.

"Cousin, have you also sensed that something is wrong?" Zhang Yun's voice sounded from the side.

"After the second round of artillery fire, I felt something was off. It's too quiet; there isn't a single human sound. During the subsequent rounds of shelling, until the cannon fire stopped, I didn't hear any movement in the Zhai."

Zhou Chengsong licked his lips and said in a low voice, "Could it be that this Zhai before us is empty?"

Zhang Yun remained silent.

If it were truly an empty Zhai, then this operation would not be as simple as returning empty-handed; after going back, they would have no way to explain it to Yongan City.

"Cousin, I will take some men in to search; perhaps they were all stunned by the blasts, which is why they didn't make a sound."

"Mm, be careful," Zhou Chengsong cautioned.

"Mm." Zhang Yun led three or four squads armed with loaded guns, crossed the collapsed wall, and walked cautiously into the Zhai.

"Crackle, crackle..." The surrounding flames burned fiercely, constantly emitting popping sounds, as if telling of the tragic fate of this land.

Zhang Yun sniffed the air hard; apart from the acrid smell of burning, there was no other strange odor, which made his brows knit even tighter.

Under such violent artillery fire, there would surely be casualties, so why was there not a trace of the smell of blood in the air?

Looking around, broken walls and ruins were everywhere, yet there were no severed limbs or remains to be seen, and not even a trace of a single drop of blood could be found.

"Could they have all hidden in the basement? No, that's impossible. Unless they could use Future Prediction, and in such a short time, there would be no way to hide in time."

Thinking of this, Zhang Yun shouted an order: "Everyone, search carefully for me; not a single corner is to be missed!"

"Yes!" the crowd answered in unison, then began to search carefully through the ruins.

"Captain, I found nothing here."

"Captain, I have nothing here either."

"Captain, I found a basement, but there is no one inside."

"I didn't find anything on my side either."

Soon, reports came in one after another from all directions.

With every report he heard, Zhang Yun's expression grew one degree uglier.

All sorts of signs indicated that his previous intuition was very likely correct; here... there really was no one!

"Captain, we've searched everywhere. Not to mention survivors, we haven't even found a single corpse. Furthermore, the walls and rubble are clean; there isn't a trace of blood." Three or four squads gathered around Zhang Yun, their eyes filled with confusion and panic.

Someone with a slightly bolder disposition plucked up the courage to ask: "Captain, could it be... that no one lived here at all?"

In an instant, the atmosphere all around seemed to solidify, becoming terrifyingly quiet.

Everyone cautiously observed Zhang Yun's expression.

This theory sounded truly too absurd, yet the facts seemed to point in this direction.

Otherwise, why had they found nothing after searching for so long?

"Let's get out of here first."

Zhang Yun glanced at the person who had spoken, and the latter was so frightened that he shuddered, wishing he could crawl into a crack in the ground.