Yes, home is good, but what about home?

Lin Hai didn't give anyone time to think, and continued loudly, "We are all from Qinghe County, isn't that right? Then, as the younger brother, I would like to ask you brothers, where is Qinghe County?"

"Qinghe County was originally located south of Changshan and north of Yecheng. We have lived here for generations and grew up here. There's my eldest brother's blacksmith shop, my nineteenth brother's carrying pole, my forty-second brother's widow, and my thirty-third brother's cloth shop. There's a saying that goes, 'A thousand days at home is good, but leaving home is difficult.' The empire finally stopped fighting, and everyone has received some kind of relief. To be honest, I don't want to leave Qinghe County myself."

At this point, Lin Hai could clearly feel everyone's emotions were falling, but it was not enough. Lin Hai knew that in order to break through and then stand up again, he had to uncover some scars.

"But now, Qinghe County is gone. Big brother, you and my adoptive father were the first group to rush back to reinforce. Tell me what you saw at that time."

In fact, the scene at that time has been mentioned many times. Before each desperate charge, the old captain would recall the scene with the death squad members. Even those who were not the first to go back to reinforce are familiar with it. But it still needs to be said that some things cannot be casually mentioned just because you know them.

Wang Liang looked up, and Lin Hai could clearly see his bloodshot eyes. "They are beasts! To be honest, we are not good people when we fight. We can do anything when we are red-eyed with killing. But Qinghe County, the garrison of Qinghe County has been withdrawn. When the Chen Dynasty people arrived, the county magistrate hanged himself in the county government office and left an order to open the gates and surrender. Just like that, without firing a single arrow, the city gates were opened. According to our previous practice, for a city like this, we can just plunder the treasury to replenish military supplies. Even if they just came back from the front line, we can just loot them. We all understand these things. If we lose a war, we can't blame anyone."

"But they, they are a bunch of beasts." Wang Liang suddenly burst into tears, crying and shouting,

"Before they arrived, the county magistrate was worried that the villages would resist on their own. However, there were almost no troops stationed in the county town, which would anger them. So he moved everyone from the villages to the city to escape. Now, these beasts, on the surface, claim to be surrendering, but then they say they are worried about the villagers' resistance. They tied the villagers up with ropes, strung them together in a long line, and said they would go to the city for screening."

Wang Liang shouted at the top of his lungs, "They drove people into the canal like that. The people in front drowned, and the people behind didn't know what was happening and kept moving forward. By the time they realized it was too late. And at the city gate, when we walked past it, the ground felt soft and we thought it might be a trap, so we dug it up and saw it was full of children, all of them. The youngest was only a few days old, and they were all buried alive."

Wang Liang burst into tears, leading the entire team into tears. Seeing that Wang Liang couldn't continue, Lin Hai clenched his fists behind his back, but he didn't wipe away the tears that streamed down his face. He continued, "Everyone knows what happened next. My adoptive father got the news that these beasts had retreated to Gaotang City, so most of our brothers died on the way to attack Gaotang. But we in Qinghe were short of soldiers, and the Empire couldn't send any reinforcements. Hundreds of my adoptive father's brothers died under Gaotang City, and even their bodies weren't recovered."

"Xiao Linzi, what do you think? Should we rest here for a while, then gather strength to go to Gaotang for revenge?"

"Revenge must be exacted, of course. But not in Gaotang, as that would be too far for us to travel to the southwest. After the war, I went to the Ministry of War under the guise of a Qinghe County soldier and a Qinghe orphan. They'd actually investigated this matter back when the war was still going on, and the Chen Dynasty claimed it wasn't their people who did it. Later, when the two countries signed a peace treaty after the war, the Ministry of War asked again, and the Chen Dynasty even said they had never sent troops to attack Qinghe County."

"They lied and dared not take responsibility for their actions. These old dogs are nothing."

"No, I don't think they need to lie. The four kingdoms have been fighting for decades. What can't be said? Even if they did, the Empire couldn't use this as an excuse to continue the war against Chen. And the people of Chen, bah, it wasn't them who died. They will only think that their soldiers did a good job."

"Then tell me, then tell me what's going on."

"Brother, and the brothers who went to reinforce us, think carefully. Even if the enemy massacred the city, there was no need to burn it down. Qinghe is not a strategic location, so there was no need to attack it. Even if they did, they would not have been willing to occupy it. Instead, they killed people and looted things, and then let our own people tear down the city walls and finally burn the city down. What were they trying to do? And when you arrived, you didn't see a single living person, nor did you find any weapons left behind by the enemy, but you saw a raging fire. Don't you think it's abnormal?"

"Xiao Linzi, you're the smartest. Tell me straight away, what's going on?"

"Father and eldest brother have examined the traces of the incident and know that there were at least three thousand soldiers attacking Qinghe. This means they couldn't have been bandits. Only four countries in the world can muster three thousand regular troops, so the murderer must be one of these four, although I don't know who it is."

After Lin Hai finished speaking, everyone in the team even stopped crying. Four countries, could it be that their own Liang Kingdom was also a suspect? Could it be that a part of the Liang army had really looted and massacred their own city? But why?

Seeing everyone's confusion, Lin Hai affirmed, "Yes, Liang Kingdom is also a suspect. At most, it is the least suspicious and can be put last. We must investigate this matter and we must not let go of any suspicion."

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!