Chapter 233: The Comers

Zhang Dalang, who was taken away, was interrogated personally by Patrol Lieutenant Yang.

On the surface, Patrol Lieutenant Yang is the highest decision-maker for the Patrol Guard Division's branch in Shenyi Gu.

Since this matter concerns his own future and interests, Patrol Lieutenant Yang is naturally taking it seriously.

Those who hold real power in the Patrol Guard Division are not lacking in methods.

Zhang Dalang did not deliberate for long and soon opened his mouth.

However, Zhang Dalang also has his own suspicious and cautious nature; fearing the other party might give him fake medicine, he only provided a portion of the information first.

He is very clear that what the people of the Patrol Guard Division want is that batch of medicinal materials. In these chaotic times, the importance of medicinal materials goes without saying.

Therefore, he can use this information to fight for more chances of survival for himself.

The Patrol Guard Division has methods to verify the truth of information, and Zhang Dalang, constrained by his own situation, dared not be perfunctory in the slightest.

Once the biggest secret was dug out, he was truly frightened by the people from the Xinzhou Xunweis!

Frightened or not, what must be fought for must be fought for!

He would only speak the remaining information after swallowing the antidote.

After a moment of stalemate, Zhang Dalang successfully obtained a pill and hurriedly swallowed it.

But he did not immediately reveal the remaining information; he wanted to ensure that the medicine he swallowed could truly save his life.

He endured the night in anxiety and suspicion.

Zhang Dalang counted the time and carefully examined his body to see if there was any trend of turning into a Plague Ghost. He also took out the sachet he wore on his person and sniffed it.

The sachet contained an Exorcism Incense Pill, and upon confirming he felt no rejection or discomfort, Zhang Dalang finally set his mind at ease.

Hesitating, he still spoke the information the Patrol Guard Division wanted to know and spat out quite a few names.

Even if Zhang Dalang held something back, he dared not hide too much; the Patrol Guard Division would truly dare to give him another dose!

Although he felt extreme unwillingness in his heart, living meant more opportunities—there would be plenty of time in the future!

Zhang Dalang bitterly made a note of it in his heart, especially regarding that person surnamed Rong!

The information revealed by Zhang Dalang was quickly delivered to Wen Gu.

It was roughly the same as what Wen Gu had speculated.

At the beginning of the chaotic times, the caravan of the Su Family, medicinal merchants of Shenyi Gu, was returning home to seek refuge when disaster struck overnight.

Su Niangzi, the wife of Shopkeeper Wu, was taking her children back to her maiden home when she also lost her life.

The world was chaotic at that time, and rumors were flying everywhere; the Su Family's affair triggered huge public opinion locally, with some saying the Su Family had provoked something unclean outside, which led to such a disaster.

At that time, everyone avoided people and matters related to the Su Family.

No one dared to take care of the two-year-old child who was the sole survivor of the Su Family.

Before Shopkeeper Wu came to Shenyi Gu, Zhang Dalang, who had served as a guard in the Su Family, had been raising the child.

Precisely because of this, Zhang Dalang's reputation in the Town was quite good, and everyone said he was a nostalgic and righteous man, a kind-hearted person.

"Looking at it now, Zhang Dalang keeping only this two-year-old child had a very strong ulterior motive," Patrol Lieutenant Yang said.

A child of this age neither remembers things nor understands the world, making them easy to fool; keeping one by his side was beneficial for Zhang Dalang to build a persona and polish his reputation.

Patrol Lieutenant Yang did not have many thoughts about the encounter of the medicinal merchant Su Family and Shopkeeper Wu's family back then; he had seen too many such things in chaotic times.

At this very moment, Patrol Lieutenant Yang's emotions were stirred, his mind entirely occupied with thoughts of performing a meritorious service—this was what truly concerned his personal interests!

He rubbed his hands together, eager to try: "Must quickly seize—find that batch of medicinal materials back!"

The sky outside had faint light; the sleeping Town was about to wake up, and they had to act as quickly as possible.

There were not many people from the Patrol Guard Division stationed in Shenyi Valley, and they needed to borrow troops from the Beishou Army.

The batch of medicinal materials the Su Family hid back then was not in Shenyi Gu, and to successfully drag the materials back, they could not have too few people.

Supplies are scarce these days, and everyone covets medicinal materials; medicinal materials smuggled from overseas are even more extremely scarce, and they had to guard against interception by other forces.

Wen Gu wrote a letter, and Patrol Lieutenant Yang took the letter and the Token to make a trip to Commandant Gu, who was stationed in Shenyi Gu.

Taking advantage of the pre-dawn darkness, they quickly assembled their men and left the valley.

Although the winter's cold wind was not as piercing to the bone as in the north, it was still uncomfortable enough.

Yet at this moment, Patrol Lieutenant Yang not only felt no cold, but instead felt a burning heat in his heart, feeling his blood boiling all over.

Hahaha!

It's my turn!

It's finally my turn!!

At the same time, inside Shenyi Gu, the operation in the Town also unfolded rapidly.

Compared to Patrol Lieutenant Yang's style of hiding in the dark night, the operation in the Town, while not done with great fanfare, was not deliberately concealed either.

As the sky turned faintly bright, the dormant Town gradually woke up.

Two young townspeople yawned, hurrying along by the dim light of dawn.

Shenyi Gu had expanded rapidly over the past two or three years; the newly built houses were relatively crude, but the streets looked much more orderly.

The ground was not so luxurious as to be paved with stone slabs, but was instead rammed earth, relatively flat, to facilitate the passage of vehicles.

They had walked this road countless times; the two could have walked it with their eyes closed.

Only today, as they walked, they suddenly discovered a few figures had appeared silently ahead.

The two, slightly sleepy, were suddenly alert.

"Shi Ersuo?" a voice asked from ahead.

The thinner of the two men had flickering eyes; noticing the gaze cast from the front, he saw the situation was bad and wanted to run, but upon turning around, he discovered that people had blocked the way behind them at some unknown time.

These people who appeared did not say a word of nonsense and quickly bound the target and took him away.

The other person accompanying Shi Ersuo stood frozen in place; faced with the formation before him, he did not even dare to ask a question, only wishing to minimize his presence as much as possible, wishing he could disappear on the spot!

Only after those people left did he finally come to his senses.

Confirming that those people's target was not himself, he still did not feel entirely at ease. Listening carefully to the movements, he hid behind a certain house to look, discovering that it seemed people on the next street over were also being taken away.

Not far away, from a newly built blue-brick tiled house, came the sound of a door being kicked open.

Someone was shouting, cursing, and crying out.

Very quickly, it quieted down again.

During this time, the surrounding neighbors kept their doors and windows tightly shut, and the slight rustling movements from waking up in the morning all quietly faded away.

"Should I go home and hide? Or go find the Yu Shao Tang Zhu to ask for help?"

After hesitating, he still decided to go find the Yu Shao Tang Zhu first.

He had to figure out exactly what had happened; who were those people who appeared just now? What was their purpose?

East of the Town, at the foot of a certain mountain.

Anxiang Hall had two warehouses built here.

Anxiang Hall had an agreement with the cooperating mountain folk to collect medicinal herbs here every once in a while.

The mountain folk would harvest the herbs and come here to trade on the agreed-upon date.

Early this morning, before the sky had even brightened, the Yu Shao Tang Zhu of Anxiang Hall came here to keep watch.

This Yu Shao Tang Zhu was neither the eldest nor the legitimate heir; he was not the only son of Hall Master Yu, but he was the eldest and most capable son to have survived after the chaotic times began.

There were people specifically responsible for collecting the herbs, and the old masters had sharper eyes. The Yu Shao Tang Zhu only needed to keep watch here.

With people around to serve him food and drink, Hall Master Yu picked his teeth nonchalantly and shared his insights with the lackeys beside him: "People, you know, you still have to be able to live! As long as you live long enough, anything can happen!"

Before the chaotic times, how could he have dared to dream of the family wealth of Anxiang Hall? He only hoped his legitimate older brother and his own father wouldn't starve him to death.

Who could have predicted that once the chaotic times started, everyone ahead of him would be gone!

The title of Yu Shao Tang Zhu truly fell upon him!

The business of Anxiang Hall was also better than ever before!

The family property was even more massive, and he had become the first-choice successor; because of this, in the even more difficult world of today, this Yu Shao Tang Zhu was instead even more high-spirited.

He wasn't just sitting here doing nothing; he still had to do his own share of the work.

Collecting herbs, keeping records, carrying and transporting goods—all required people. As the Yu Shao Tang Zhu, he naturally had his own base of support and people he was used to using.

Checking the time and sweeping his gaze over the people present, the Yu Shao Tang Zhu spat out the toothpick in his mouth and said with a gloomy, dissatisfied face: "There are quite a few people missing today!"

He, the Yu Shao Tang Zhu, was sitting here working in the cold wind early in the morning; were these latecomers still hiding under their covers enjoying themselves? Or were they too arrogant and had completely forgotten today's important business?

They had already started collecting herbs, yet there were actually several people who hadn't arrived?

"Where are the people?! Don't tell me they went to see their great-grandmothers in their dreams?"

The Yu Shao Tang Zhu was just about to say something sarcastic when he suddenly heard someone shouting and running toward him: "Something happened!"

"Yu Shao Tang Zhu, something big has happened!"

Several people ran over in succession, quickly informing him of what had happened in the Town.

The few were panicked and distraught.

Upon hearing this, the Yu Shao Tang Zhu was shocked and angry; his first suspicion was other medicine halls.

Today was the day for their Anxiang Hall to collect herbs; hearing suddenly at this time that someone was tripping them up and grabbing his subordinates, how could he not be suspicious?

Several kinds of suspicions flashed through the Yu Shao Tang Zhu's mind; he pulled a long face and asked in a deep voice: "Which way did they go?"

One of them said in a low voice: "The little one followed them for a stretch just now, it seems to be—towards the side of Anxiang Hall—"

Hearing this, the Yu Shao Tang Zhu was even angrier and sneered: "Heh! Grabbing people on our turf without even saying a word?"

Someone nearby echoed him repeatedly: "This is completely showing no respect to the Yu Shao Tang Zhu!"

"Is there anyone on East Third Street more reckless than us?"

This was said arrogantly, but it wasn't too much of an exaggeration.

On East Third Street, Anxiang Hall was the largest medicine hall and had the greatest influence on this street; whoever came had to give them some face.

Now that someone had come to stir up trouble, the Yu Shao Tang Zhu only felt like he was being ridden over and humiliated; how could he endure it?

Handing the herb collection matters over to the old masters, Hall Master Yu waved his arm: "Gather the men, let's go!"

Over at the warehouse, those carrying and transporting goods were all a group of young and strong men.

At this moment, having received the order from the Yu Shao Tang Zhu, they picked up knives, axes, and long weapons, and headed toward East Third Street with a menacing aura.

They were very fast, and before long, they arrived at the territory of Anxiang Hall.

Usually at this time, the small vendors on both sides of the street would have already started preparing to sell goods, but at this moment, the people on the whole street seemed to have completely disappeared, and the shops and houses on both sides had their doors and windows tightly shut.

From far away, one could feel the eerie atmosphere over at Anxiang Hall.

The Yu Shao Tang Zhu led his men; before they arrived, his voice arrived first: "Those who come—"

—are who?

He looked up.

The familiar street, the familiar group of Armored Soldiers at the entrance of Anxiang Hall!

A group!

Fully armed, Armored Soldiers!!

Especially when they all looked over in unison, that extremely oppressive aura—

The Yu Shao Tang Zhu led his men, his pace getting slower and slower, his anger getting lower and lower.

The laborers who had followed the Yu Shao Tang Zhu saw their fierce gazes quickly become innocent, and the axes in their hands were timidly hidden behind their backs.

The Yu Shao Tang Zhu: "—"

There was a moment of blankness in his expression, but those who could survive in chaotic times had extraordinary mental fortitude.

He quickly adjusted his expression: "Those who come are guests! In this freezing weather, why don't I invite you all inside to drink a few cups of hot tea to warm your stomachs?"

He didn't know if it was an illusion, but after he finished saying "drink a few cups of hot tea," the atmosphere seemed to become even heavier.

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