Chapter 405 Harm others and yourself
When the gunfire stopped, the air was filled with the smell of burning gunpowder.
As Shen Yuexi fell, she protected her lower abdomen with both hands. Although her elbow hurt, she didn't care. She grabbed Xiao Zhuo's chest with her backhand and asked anxiously, "Husband, are you hurt? Are you hurt?"
When everyone was suddenly attacked, the first thing she reacted to was not herself, but Xiao Zhuo who was standing in front of her.
Xiao Zhuo patted the back of her hand and said, "It's okay." Then he stood up, drew his sword and jumped into the bushes beside him.
Hidden behind the dense brush beside the road were more than a dozen gunmen, frantically loading their muskets. Seeing Xiao Zhuo charging, they panicked. Some were slow to react, backing away while using cleaning rods to poke the powder cartridges into the smoking barrels. Xiao Zhuo had already rushed over and struck down with his sword, instantly killing the man.
The people nearby saw their companions' fate and realized that in this close combat, there was no time to reload the muskets, so they were useless. They threw away their muskets, drew the swords at their waists, and rushed towards Xiao Zhuo shouting.
Xiao Zhuo was about to charge at the enemy, sword in hand, when Xiao Beiheng burst through the bushes and, with a flying kick, sent the enemy charging towards him from his left somersaulting. He thrust his Yanque sword downwards into the man's chest and said, "Brother, are you okay?"
"Nothing." Xiao Zhuo's eyes flashed coldly, and he swept his sword across, knocking down the enemy rushing towards him from the right. He said to Xiao Beiheng, "Leave one."
The two of them charged into the bushes like tigers among sheep, their swords flashing and blood splattering everywhere, accompanied by screams of agony. Shen Yuexi, who was on the roadside, heard everything clearly and knew that with their martial arts skills, they could easily defeat these enemies. She quickly stood up, ran to Su Mo, knelt down on her knees, and helped Su Mo up.
"Sister-in-law, are you okay?" She shouted while looking front and back at Su Mo's chest and back to see if there were any bullet marks.
Su Mo opened her eyes, her face turned pale, her body trembling slightly, and she whispered, "Sister-in-law, my legs... hurt so much."
Shen Yuexi was startled and looked at Su Mo's legs. Only then did she see that a bullet had hit Su Mo's left thigh, and blood was quickly staining her pants red.
"Sister-in-law, you were shot in the leg. But don't be afraid, I'm here. I'll help you stop the bleeding first."
She had experienced a lot and was no longer panic-stricken. She first observed the bleeding speed of Su Mo's wound, then pulled out the dagger from Su Mo's waist, cut a long strip of cloth from her clothes, and tied it tightly around Su Mo's thigh. This would delay the bleeding.
"Does it hurt anywhere else?" she asked.
"My back hurts too," Su Mo said with a forced smile, "It's like someone punched me hard."
Shen Yuexi reached out and touched Su Mo's back. Sure enough, she felt a warm iron lump on the back. She picked it off and placed it in front of Su Mo's eyes and said, "Look here, it didn't penetrate."
"Sister-in-law's bulletproof vest... is really amazing. It can really block musket bullets." Su Mo held Shen Yuexi's bloody hand. "It's a pity that there are no bulletproof pants."
Shen Yuexi was at a loss for words, so she threw away the bullet and said, "Sister-in-law, you've been shot, and you still have the mind to joke around."
After she encountered a musket while interrogating Jiao Yong, she made a pistol for self-defense, but felt it wasn't safe enough, so she asked Da Xiong to make four more bulletproof vests, which really came in handy here. Ancient muskets didn't have strong penetrating power, but without the bulletproof vests, Su Mo would have certainly died.
But when she thought about the incident again, she realized that Pei Jingyun's men knew Xiao Beiheng and Su Mo were there, yet they still opened fire. Could it be that they no longer had any scruples? If that happened, it would be difficult for them to continue relying on Xiao Beiheng and Su Mo's cover to see Pei Jingyun.
While she was thinking, the battle behind the bushes had ended. Xiao Zhuo pushed the bushes aside first, while Xiao Beiheng grabbed a gunman by the back of his neck and pushed him out with a sword against his neck.
"Fortunately, I was wearing the bulletproof vest my sister-in-law gave me..."
Xiao Beiheng was only halfway through his words when his eyes fell on Su Mo's bloody leg. He couldn't help but exclaimed, dragging the man closer and asking, "Momo was shot?"
Su Mo rolled her eyes at him, as if blaming him for leaving too quickly, and said, "I won't die. My sister-in-law has already bandaged me."
Xiao Beiheng's face twitched. He turned around and exerted force with his wrist, forcing the man to his knees. He raised the Yanque Sword and was about to chop it down. Xiao Zhuo grabbed his wrist and said, "Brother, hold him. I have something to ask you."
Xiao Beiheng was still furious. He pushed the gunman to the ground and said, "Answer whatever Big Brother asks you."
The gunman looked up and smiled. "Don't ask. I'll tell you now. The master sent us here. She said she had given the young master and young mistress many chances, but you still chose to betray her. So, you were killed together."
Xiao Beiheng said angrily: "What did you say?"
The gunman didn't answer but just sneered. After a while, his eyes rolled back, blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, and then he fell to the ground and died.
Xiao Zhuo stepped forward, opened the gunman's mouth, and took a look. He said, "There is poison in his mouth."
Xiao Beiheng stood there in a daze, saying, "Mother...she even wants to kill me and Momo."
Shen Yuexi said, "Brother, don't be dazed. Your sister-in-law was shot. This is just a temporary remedy for the bleeding. You must find a doctor immediately."
Xiao Beiheng handed the Yanque Sword to Xiao Zhuo, picked up Su Mo, looked around and said, "But where is the doctor?"
Xiao Zhuo said, "With so many people living on this island, someone is bound to get sick. Naturally, we need a doctor, who should be in the city."
Shen Yuexi looked toward the nearby city. The gates were open, and within was a bluestone-paved avenue stretching forward. Various shops lined the road, their lanterns and signs adorning them. But there were no pedestrians in sight. Compared to the residential areas halfway up the mountain, the entire city seemed deserted, a somewhat eerie sight.
A trace of uneasiness flashed through her heart. She held Xiao Zhuo's arm and asked, "Husband, why is there no one in this city?"
Xiao Zhuo said, "My sister-in-law is injured. Let's go into the city first. The Queen of Xiliang and my sister should be in the city as well."
Su Mo said: "Sister-in-law, my father must be in the city, let's go in quickly."
Seeing that everyone was determined to enter the city, Shen Yuexi followed Xiao Zhuo forward. When they reached the city gate, Liuli's voice suddenly rang out from the city wall, "Yuexi, good luck!"
Shen Yuexi looked up and saw the parrot Liuli standing on the top of the city wall, calling out. She had just been ambushed by muskets, and she hadn't cared about Liuli. She didn't know where the bird had flown off to, but it was hiding there.
She raised her hand and called out, "Liuli, come down."
Liuli screamed, and as if frightened, she spread her wings and flew into the sky, and two feathers floated down. Then, a row of heads and a row of muskets suddenly appeared on the city wall, and there were more than a hundred muskets pointed at them.
A sturdy old man leaned halfway out from the top of the city wall and said, "Don't move, or I'll have the soldiers shoot."
Shen Yuexi was stunned. With the enemy standing on the city wall, Xiao Zhuo and Xiao Beiheng couldn't rush in and kill them, no matter how powerful they were. With hundreds of muskets firing simultaneously, even if a bulletproof vest could stop the bullets, a single hit to the head would be enough to kill them.
Xiao Zhuo seemed to realize that the situation was not good. He handed the two swords to his left hand, looked up at the old man and said, "My name is Xiao Zhuo. May I ask your name, sir?"
The old man chuckled and said, "I recognize you, and I also recognize Shen Yuexi. You don't recognize me, but you have fought with me several times."
Shen Yuexi asked, "Have you fought several times?" Her mind raced with thought, and when she saw the muscular build of the old man's arms, she suddenly understood. She shouted, "You are the descendant of Master Xu, the master who forged the Black Light Armor."
The old man looked pleased and said, "That's right, I'm Xu Yan."
Xiao Beiheng interrupted, "Xu Yan, are you also here to intercept us on your mother's orders?"
Xu Yan smiled and said, "Of course. It's already good enough that you guys can get through so many checkpoints and reach the gate of Guiyun City. But I am following the master's orders and will kill you here, so don't think of any tricks."
Seeing blood oozing from Su Mo's legs, Xiao Beiheng felt anxious and angry, and shouted, "If you want to kill me, why are you still talking so much?"
Xu Yan said, "Young Master, you have repeatedly disobeyed the Master's orders. The Master has already stated that you are an enemy. The reason I didn't order my men to shoot was not because of you."
Shen Yuexi said, "Mr. Xu, since you won't shoot, can you let us into the city? My sister-in-law was shot in the leg and is bleeding profusely. We need to find a doctor as soon as possible."
"Doctor? The doctor is in the clinic in the city," Xu Yan said, "but the master said you can't enter the city."
Shen Yuexi said: "That's strange. You don't plan to shoot, but you won't allow us to enter the city?"
"Let me tell you the truth. I'm very interested in the crossbow you made," Xu Yan raised the crossbow in his hand, "Did you really make this crossbow?"
As a master forger, he loved all kinds of ironware the most in his life. After getting the repeating crossbow made by Shen Yuexi, he liked it more and more. Unfortunately, he and Pei Jingyun had an agreement that he could not leave the island for the rest of his life.
Now that he finally met Shen Yuexi in person, he was so happy that he had long forgotten Pei Jingyun's order. Although he said verbally that he wanted to kill these people, he was reluctant to do so. He wanted to first exchange forging experiences with Shen Yuexi and ask about the doubts in his heart.
Shen Yuexi pondered, "It's obvious this old man is obsessed with forging. If I say it wasn't made by me, he'll probably shoot me in frustration. But if I say it was made by me, I'll definitely be lying based on my physique. I have to be careful."
She hurriedly thought of an excuse and said to Xu Yan, "Master Xu, I'm just a woman, how could I have the strength to forge this? Forging is naturally done by skilled craftsmen, all of whom are... my elders. The structure of this repeating crossbow was designed by... my ancestors."
Xu Yan nodded. "That's true. There have been no women working as blacksmiths since ancient times. But you said your ancestors designed this repeating crossbow. That's completely wrong."
After saying this, he pulled out a book from his bosom and shook it: "Do you think I haven't read this book?"
Chen Yuexi took a closer look. The title was "Tian Gong Wu Shu" (Stories of Heavenly Creations), and she couldn't help but sigh. The downside of lying in haste is that it's easy to let something slip. And once you let something slip, you have to tell even bigger lies to cover it up, and the more you tell, the more outrageous it becomes.
"Master Xu, you may not know that this book was originally written by our ancestors."
Xu Yan opened his eyes wide and asked, "The author of this book is obviously surnamed Feng. What is his relationship with your Shen family?"
"That's a long story," Shen Yuexi blushed, and continued to make up stories, "My grandfather's grandfather and this Mr. Feng were good friends..."
"Your grandfather's grandfather?" Xu Yan frowned and counted on his fingers. "Your grandfather is Duke Shen. His grandfather is only a hundred years old at most. But this book was written a hundred and fifty years ago, when your grandfather's grandfather wasn't even born yet."
Shen Yuexi thought to herself that lying was a bad habit and she must never lie again. It hurts both herself and others.
Su Mo's leg was bleeding profusely. Rather than hiding the secret of the universal manufacturing machine, she valued Su Mo's life more, so she decided to tell Xu Yan frankly that this was the power of high technology.
But before she could even open her mouth, Xu Yan sneered and said, "I can see that you're full of lies, girl. I guess this crossbow has nothing to do with you, so there's no need to keep you."
He raised his hand and said, "Aim."
Upon hearing the order, the muskets on the city wall immediately aimed at the four people below the city.
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