Chapter 102: Killing to silence witnesses
Liu Yuan was at the border, interrogating spies and insiders for years, and he had his own methods of knowing people. He could still tell whether those killers really couldn't stand the torture and told everything, or did it on purpose.
However, the whereabouts of half of the treasure were unknown at that time. Even though he guessed that there was collusion between officials and bandits, he still made this trip.
"Why did you come here knowing there was danger?" the little girl suddenly asked.
Liu Yuan didn't notice anything and subconsciously replied, "It's my duty."
As an official appointed by the court, one should serve the emperor and the people. If everyone is afraid of death, who will shoulder this responsibility?
"Then why not try hard on yourself for once?"
The room was silent and no one spoke for a while.
Xu Qingcheng stared at the person not far away, his eyes wandering.
In fact, he hadn't seen Liu Yuan for a long time, but the image of that person in red was always in the depths of his memory.
I still remember that year when they were still young. Because they didn't want to go to school, they caught a lot of insects to scare the teacher. As a result, the teacher turned around and told the Duke of Zhenguo, and he was severely beaten at that time.
Liu Yuan suddenly smiled and said, "Because I'm lazy~"
Xihe: "..."
Xiao Mingxuan: "..."
Xu Qingcheng: "..."
Liu Yuan obviously didn't want to say it, and everyone tacitly stopped asking.
Time passed minute by minute, and there were a few more noises outside.
Xu Qingcheng, who had been dozing with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them and pressed the long sword beside him with one hand, "Here it comes."
During the half hour of waiting, Xihe had already fallen asleep in Xiao Mingxuan's arms. Hearing this, he flipped over and said, "What's coming? The food is here?"
Liu Yuan laughed out loud, not giving any face. "Is the meal here? The person who wants to chop you into meat sauce to go with the meal is here."
Xihe rubbed his eyes, his consciousness becoming hazy.
As she moved, Xiao Mingxuan behind her also moved. He pinched his brows to sober himself up a bit, then took out a piece of cake from his arms and handed it to the little girl. "This is the last piece. Fill your stomach first and we'll eat it when we get back."
They didn't dare touch anything here, because who knew if it was poisonous.
Xihe carefully divided the cake into two halves, stuffed one half into Xiao Mingxuan's mouth, grinned, "Little brother, you eat too~"
The sweetness of the pastry exploded in Xiao Mingxuan's taste buds. He didn't refuse and swallowed the pastry in two bites.
He was indeed hungry.
Only then did Xihe eat slowly and in small bites.
Liu Yuan looked at him with a smile, it was rare that he didn't bully anyone again.
After working all day, they didn't eat a single grain of rice. It was okay for the adults, as it was common for them to go hungry during the march. But it was not easy for two half-grown children to hold on until now without crying.
Liu Yuan's expression suddenly changed. "I didn't expect Ning Jiang's men to arrive first. It seems a fierce battle is unavoidable."
They had thought that the reinforcements would arrive first and they could just leave quietly, but they didn't expect that they were one step too late.
Xu Qingcheng had already raised his sword and was blocking the doorway, saying, "Stay inside and don't come out. I'll handle this."
"Be careful, don't fight hard. If you can't win, run away. Do you hear me?" The smile on Liu Yuan's face disappeared, and instead a hint of worry appeared between his brows.
Xu Qingcheng's hand paused as he opened the door, and after a long pause he said, "I won't run away."
Liu Yuan was about to scold this big fool, but his next sentence stopped him in his tracks.
"I'm going to take all of you back with me, without missing a single one."
After saying that, he walked out without looking back.
The moment the door opened, they saw the killer who had been prepared in the courtyard. With just one glance, Xu Qingcheng closed the door, blocking their sight.
Soon, a series of solemn and murderous sounds were heard in the courtyard, and blood splattered on the window paper, which was shocking.
Liu Yuan opened the window and threw a signal bomb into the air.
Suddenly, yellow fireworks bloomed in the sky.
"Xiao Mingxuan, if we can't hold on in a while, take the little princess and run to the main gate. Someone will be there to pick you up. Do you hear me?" Liu Yuan looked at the dark night, feeling anxious.
Surprisingly, Xiao Mingxuan did not respond immediately. Instead, he asked a question that even frightened himself, "Then what will you do?"
"Why do you care about me? Just run out."
He wondered how long it would take for the reinforcements to arrive, and whether they would be ambushed along the way. Liu Yuan wasn't completely sure, but if anything happened, he had to get the two little guys out.
He brought the person here, so naturally he must bring the person back safely.
Xiao Mingxuan was rarely silent.
"Oh, what's the point of life and death separation? The reinforcements will arrive in half a cup of tea at most." Xihe was caught in the middle, looking at Liu Yuan and Xiao Mingxuan from time to time. Finally, she couldn't help but interrupt the scene that was supposed to be a scene of crying.
"How did you know it would come in half a cup of tea?" Liu Yuan crossed his arms and asked with amusement, "When did you evolve into a clairvoyant and a superb ear, little brat? Are you not a human, but a god?"
The speaker may not mean it, but the listener may take it seriously.
Xihe shuddered subconsciously, pretending to be calm and said, "If I were a god, I would beat you up first! You weird uncle, you're scaring me!"
Liu Yuan was such a meticulous person that he could see the girl's reluctance at a glance, but he didn't mean to ask her any more questions. He just joked with her and let it go.
The lights outside suddenly became brighter, and the shadows were cast on the window paper. The flickering candlelight swept across Liu Yuan's face, revealing the coldness on his face.
"Let's go out and meet someone."
Xiao Mingxuan habitually wanted to hold the little girl in his arms, but was rejected unexpectedly.
"Little brother, I'll walk by myself. You're tired too."
Xihe looked at Xiao Mingxuan's pale face with worry. Xiao Mingxuan had been holding Xihe for most of the time on the way. After a long time, coupled with not having eaten, he was extremely weak at this moment.
After a moment of silence, Xiao Mingxuan nodded, "Then you hide behind me, understand?"
Xihe nodded quickly, "I will."
The three of them opened the door and faced Ning Jiang, who was in the lead.
The ground was littered with corpses, and Xu Qingcheng had some blood on him, but it didn't seem to be his.
Liu Yuan took a look and felt relieved.
Turning around, he said, "What is Master Ning doing? If you don't want to give it, then don't give it. Why bother killing people to silence them?"
Ning Jiang took off his gentle and elegant mask and changed into a black suit. He blended into the night, adding a bit of mystery. "General Liu is in good spirits and seems to want to continue this drama."
As soon as the word "General Liu" came out, Liu Yuan's face suddenly fell and he sneered, "You are really Jiang Zhongguo's dog. I'm just curious, what benefits did Jiang Zhongguo give you to make you work so hard for him."
This is also the only thing that Liu Yuan has doubts about.
Although the collusion between officials and bandits is usually over gold and silver, there is an unwritten rule among bandits, which is not to touch people belonging to officials to avoid getting into trouble.
But Ning Jiang not only provoked them, but also wanted to kill people in a high-profile manner, which was not in line with the rules of bandits.
Ning Jiang was stunned for a moment and slowly exhaled.
The night in the mountains was still freezing cold, and the white mist exhaled from the breath was blurred in front of my eyes.
"I remember that the Jiang family seemed to have a son?" Xiao Mingxuan, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke, waking the dreamer up with a startling word.
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