Chapter 332: Charging and killing

Let us talk about this Prefect Luo.

Although he looked calm and composed, ever since he saw the corpse of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, his heart had been thumping against his ribs, and the hands inside his sleeves were sweating profusely.

He could barely stop himself from spitting out a "Tsk" from between his teeth!

Before being kicked to this Guangxin Prefecture, he was a Vice Director in the Ministry of Personnel! Controlling the selection and appointment of officials, he was an official among officials in the capital.

Although he had been kicked out of Shuntian Prefecture, the connections and insights he had accumulated in Shuntian Prefecture over the years would not disappear. He knew very well what the Embroidered Uniform Guard was like now.

At the end of last year, for some reason, the Emperor suddenly held a Great Ancestral Sacrifice that was strange in every way.

No one knew what happened at the Imperial Mausoleum that night, but from that night on, almost all officials in the capital felt a change radiating from the Emperor himself, beginning to gradually change everything in the Great Ming court.

The most obvious point was that the Great Ming imperial clan, which had been suppressed since the Jianwen Emperor, began to return to the center of power with the Emperor's own support.

The most prominent among them was the Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander—Zhu Zai. This old imperial clansman, who was considered to be "retiring" just last year, had suddenly gained the Emperor's full trust and unconditional support.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard, which had gradually handed over the power of monitoring the court to the eunuchs and was only responsible for monitoring the Jianghu, purged almost the entire palace overnight, using hundreds of eunuch heads to declare one thing—

The Embroidered Uniform Guard was no longer a "knife in the hand," but the "wielder of the knife."

The imperial clansmen who had been kept to eat and wait for death swarmed in under the Emperor's decree, filling these vacancies and replacing the eunuchs.

He, this Vice Director of the Ministry of Personnel, was driven out of the capital with a promotion in name but a demotion in reality precisely because he was involved in the struggle between the civil official group and the imperial clan.

And just at this critical juncture, a Embroidered Uniform Guard Platoon Leader died in his jurisdiction.

What would Zhu Zai think if he found out? What would the imperial clansmen, who were fighting the civil official group to the death, think?

Did you do it on purpose, or was it an accident?

And he was actually colluding with the Kongming Sect, so he couldn't withstand an investigation at all!

So he made a choice after just one glance—he had to distance the Kongming Sect immediately and steer this matter toward the direction of a Jianghu vendetta. It didn't matter who the murderer was, but it couldn't have anything to do with him!

These three Jianghu ruffians standing in front of him with no background were the only choice!

"Kill!"

His wide sleeves dropped suddenly, creating a crisp sound.

Armor, long sabers, and sharp swords surged forward like a tide!

Blood appeared!

"Brother Cao, I'll open the path! You take Uncle Li and follow!"

Gao Anyu snatched a long saber, stabbed it into the chest of the person in front of him, flipped over to avoid the weapons stabbing from all sides, and kicked the saber hilt in mid-air, stringing two people together and bringing down a whole row.

Following the gap smashed open, Gao Anyu charged left and right, using his fists to force open a narrow path through the crowd!

Simple numbers were useless! In fact, these garrison troops and the Kongming Sect disciples were not familiar with each other and got in each other's way, making it even easier for Gao Anyu to kill than before.

But Gao Anyu knew that the murderous intent surrounding him had already appeared.

Right there—in front of him!

A cold light drilled out from under the armpit of a garrison soldier, and in an instant, it was in front of him!

It was Hua Zhiqiu!

Although Gao Anyu had been prepared, he was ultimately outnumbered, and after tilting his head to barely avoid the sword edge, he was still left with a bloody scratch.

He laughed out of extreme anger, raised his fist, and prepared to use his own inheritance to smash Hua Zhiqiu's long sword.

A smug smile appeared on Hua Zhiqiu's face, and his other hand reached behind his back, pulling out Gao Anyu's black ruler and holding it horizontally in front of Gao Anyu's fist.

*Dang! *—

Gao Anyu staggered back several steps, his face flushed.

"You!"

Hua Zhiqiu threw his own sword to the ground, handed the black ruler to his right hand, and performed a sword flower as if showing off.

"You really didn't know? No wonder you dared to throw this weapon on the ground so carelessly and let me pick it up."

"You can break weapons, you can break flesh and bone, but you cannot break this black ruler. This weapon is the most suitable for your inheritance, but it is also the weapon that suppresses your inheritance the most in the world!"

At this point, Hua Zhiqiu looked at Gao Anyu carefully and gave a light "Oh."

"You are the madman who has been wandering around Guangxin Prefecture recently, asking about your origins?"

"So that's it, so that's it, you really don't know anything! You have no sect brothers, and killing you will have no future consequences!"

"It's a pity that the two companions you dragged into this will also die because of you—truly a pity, yet a joy!"

"Hahahaha!"

Gao Anyu wanted to retort, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the Kongming Sect disciples and garrison troops surrounded him.

Taking advantage of the time Hua Zhiqiu was holding him up, the two groups had divided the work. The garrison troops formed a formation to force Gao Anyu's space for movement; the Kongming Sect disciples interspersed among them, taking the opportunity to sneak attack.

Even Kongming Sect elders with a realm no lower than Gao Anyu's and Hua Zhiqiu had all killed their way up!

This was the imperial court's standard method for strangling Jianghu experts—experts contain them, the military formation constantly presses in, and finally, all the opponent's room for maneuver is exhausted, and they are trapped and killed!

Gao Anyu's plan to kill his way out had completely failed; he looked anxious, but his peripheral vision swept toward his back.

There was still a way to break the situation—that was for him to contain the opponent's experts while Cao Hanyan took the opportunity to hold the Prefect hostage.

As long as this Grade Four official was in hand, not to mention whether the Kongming Sect would be afraid of harming the rat, the garrison troops would definitely stop. Having their top official die under their protection was a capital offense.

Although the two did not communicate, Gao Anyu believed that with Cao Hanyan's brain, he would definitely think of this.

"I suppose Brother Cao has already charged to—Hmm!?"

Gao Anyu's eyes widened suddenly.

Cao Hanyan was indeed charging toward the Prefect as he had thought, and his progress was extremely rapid; just in this short time, he had already forced his way to within ten zhang.

But the strange thing was, he shouldn't be able to charge so fast.

The two had similar realms and similar Wu Gong, and had sparred many times during this period. What Gao Anyu couldn't do, Cao Hanyan shouldn't be able to do either.

Gao Anyu focused his eyes again and finally discovered the clue.

Cao Hanyan was not so much killing people as he was trying hard to slash his saber onto the corpses.

The opponents in front of him had already become corpses before he made his move.

Gao Anyu shifted his gaze behind Cao Hanyan.

That "Uncle Li who doesn't know Wu Gong" was walking with his hands behind his back, leisurely stepping over a corpse, following Cao Hanyan like he was strolling, walking toward the Prefect.

Seeming to notice his gaze, "Uncle Li" turned his head and gave him a playful smile.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 333 =====