Chapter 23 Cannon Fodder Bai Yueguang 22 He Just Wants He Zhiyan to Die
Ali woke up in a strange house.
She was completely limp, her hands and feet were tightly tied, a cloth was stuffed in her mouth, and she was lying on her side on the bed.
Ali tried to move his fingers, but he couldn't muster any strength.
This is a very elegantly decorated room. There are traces of people living in it everywhere. It looks like the garden of a wealthy family.
Ali tilted his head with difficulty. The light coming through the window was dim. Recalling the situation before he lost consciousness, he realized that it should not be morning yet.
Where on earth was this? Who had brought her here?
You could hear a pin drop, but no one was around.
With messy hair sticking to her cheeks, Ali closed her eyes and lay on the bed. After an unknown amount of time, she finally regained some strength. She gritted her teeth and sat up, leaning against the headboard in a cold sweat.
Suddenly, some images flashed through her mind.
Ali calmed himself down, scanned every corner of the room carefully, and then widened his eyes slightly.
She seemed to have been to this place before, after she married Pei Miao.
This is a farm owned by the Pei family in the suburbs of Beijing. It is surrounded by mountains on three sides and is covered with greenery. There is also a lake in the farm, making it a perfect place to escape the summer heat and cool down.
It is said that this farm was the dowry of the prime minister's original wife. After He Li married into the Pei family, Pei Miao brought her here once. She was very happy at that time, but Pei Miao only showed up for a short while on the first day and disappeared for several days. He only appeared again when she was returning and returned home with her.
With a "creak", the door was pushed open and the sunlight rushed in. Ali couldn't help but close his eyes, and tears of rationality flowed from the corners of his eyes.
Someone slowly walked up to her and suddenly pinched her chin: "Miss He, how are you?"
Ah Li opened his eyes in pain, the look of surprise on his face gradually growing: "...Mr. Pei?"
The matter of Prime Minister Pei has not been resolved yet. The Pei family should all be imprisoned in the Prime Minister's Mansion and not allowed to enter or leave. What's more, the person in charge of guarding him is someone under the Duke of Fuguo, so there is no way he will be released.
"What are you thinking about, Miss He?" Pei Miao's cold fingertips brushed across Ali's face. She subconsciously turned her head away, and disgust flashed in her eyes.
Pei Miao chuckled softly and wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes with his hands. A swollen red mark instantly appeared on her fair skin, and she looked extremely pitiful: "I didn't expect Miss He to be such a good actor. What a pity..."
Ali's eyes were filled with tears, and his lips were tightly pursed: "What a pity?"
Pei Miao loosened his hand, and Ali fell exhausted on the bed. He took a few steps back, and Ali noticed that although Pei Miao had tried his best to cover it up, his injured leg was still abnormal when he walked.
Pei Miao immediately noticed her gaze, and his expression suddenly changed. He stood still, staring down at A Li, his face full of gloom. "My brother's life and my leg, I need your lives as a sacrifice."
He had gone to great lengths to escape from the clutches of the Duke of Fuguo, all for this day. Days of hiding had made this noble young man, who had been pampered since childhood, look haggard. But when he thought that he could put these two men to death today, a strange light flashed in his eyes, and his originally handsome face was slightly distorted.
Ali saw his instantaneous change clearly. Her pupils dilated rapidly, and her clothes were soaked with cold sweat in an instant. She almost couldn't breathe.
Everything in front of me is so similar to He Li’s last memory in the book.
That was the sixth month since she married Pei Miao. Although Pei Miao was not as attentive to her as before after their marriage, she still loved him deeply and did her best to be a good wife.
Just after the New Year, according to the customs of this dynasty, the newly married couple should return to their parents' home together on the second day of the New Year to pay their respects to the bride's elders.
But He Li noticed that Pei Miao always had an indescribable strangeness in his attitude towards his family. She couldn't guess the reason. Although Pei Miao had said long ago that he would not go back with her today, He Li still did not give up and went to the study with tea and snacks.
Originally, she was not allowed to approach Pei Miao's study, but one day, He Li didn't know what happened, and it seemed as if a voice in her heart told her that she must go.
There was no one outside the study. He Li couldn't help but frown when he saw this. He didn't know where the servants had gone to.
She walked quietly to the study door and was about to knock when she heard voices from inside and stopped for some unknown reason.
After a moment, her face turned pale and she could hardly hold the tea tray in her hands.
He Li hugged the tea tray tightly in his arms, trying hard not to make any sound. Tears were already streaming down his face, and he was heartbroken beyond words.
It seemed like an eternity had passed before He Li wiped away his tears and pushed open the door in front of him. His usually weak and timid gaze fell directly on He Zhiyan behind the desk: "What are you going to do to my father and brother?"
Later on, the memory became fuzzy again. It seemed that there were two people arguing, and then there was a heart-wrenching pain, an overwhelming feeling of suffocation, and my hands and feet lost strength.
In the end, all that remained was Pei Miao's cold and twisted face.
Ali fell on the edge of the bed, gasping for breath, his forehead covered with cold sweat, as if he had just died once.
She immediately stopped Pei Miao who was about to leave and asked, "Master Pei, are you going to kill us here?"
Pei Miao wanted to use her to lure his brother over and ambush and kill him.
In order to lure her brother, it would be impossible for the place where she was imprisoned and the place where she was ambush and kill to be different. Pei Miao is still here now, so this Zhuangzi must be the place where Pei Miao designed the ambush.
She already had the answer to this question, and she asked it to delay as much time as possible.
Pei Miao paused, not even bothering to give a perfunctory look: "Miss He, just stay here and be good. There's no point in saying anything more."
Ali thought quickly, "This manor was left to Master Pei by his mother. It's not on the official register, so the Pei family's closure of their manor didn't affect this place. Am I right?"
Pei Miao turned around suddenly: "How do you know all this?!"
"Mr. Pei doesn't need to know how I know this," Ali breathed a sigh of relief, no longer as anxious as before. "Mr. Pei only needs to know that your plan isn't perfect."
She suddenly smiled, her words seeming to be fearless: "Master Pei, are you so sure that you can take our lives today?"
Pei Miao slowly raised his eyes, a cloud covering his face.
At this moment, there was a sudden noise outside the house, and someone knocked on the door: "Sir."
Pei Miao's expression changed several times, and a sneer appeared on his lips: "Look, he's here."
Ali's face instantly lost color, fear surged over him like a tide, and he began to tremble uncontrollably.
*
In front of Changjing Manor.
He Zhiyan kicked open the gate with bloodshot eyes and flew in.
After discovering that Ali was missing, he stayed up all night and searched every place he could, and finally found Pei Miao's trace.
The manor was as silent as a grave, and it was obvious that there had been an ambush. However, He Zhiyan seemed unaware of it and rushed in with the black sword in hand.
Pei Miao watched He Zhiyan's figure getting closer and closer, his eyes shining with excitement, without dodging or avoiding: "You are finally here, Master He."
In an instant, thousands of arrows were fired from behind him. The whistling sound of arrows tearing through the air resounded through the sky, and each arrow emitted a cold blue light.
He Zhiyan's gaze, filled with murderous intent, did not shift at all. The black sword in his hand swung out countless flowers, and dense rain of arrows hit the sword body like an explosion, making his arms numb. The sound of breaking "crackling" was endless, and the broken arrow shafts turned into powder in an instant.
Pei Miao seemed to have anticipated this. He raised his hand slightly, and a group of men in black jumped out like ghosts and attacked He Zhiyan.
These are the death warriors raised by the Pei family for generations. They are highly skilled in martial arts and extremely loyal. Now that his father is imprisoned, he is the only master of these people.
Pei Miao stared at He Zhiyan who was surrounded. He saw that the sword in his hand was swinging faster and faster, and the madness in his eyes became more and more intense. He just wanted He Zhiyan to die.
There were more and more corpses piling up in the village. These assassins seemed to be endless and kept coming at him again and again. He Zhiyan inevitably had many wounds on his body. His eyes gradually turned red and his gaze was cold and piercing.
He Zhiyan blocked the fatal blow horizontally, pretending to be injured and falling backwards. When the remaining assassins approached him again, the black sword in his hand flew out suddenly, flashing across the throats of several people in front of him. The next second, these people fell to the ground in disbelief, bleeding profusely, and could only make "ho ho" sounds.
Large amounts of thick blood dripped from the arm holding the sword. He Zhiyan stood expressionlessly in a pile of corpses, turning his head to look in the direction of Pei Miao, but there was no one there.
He narrowed his eyes and walked towards the courtyard in the middle of the manor.
As soon as he stepped into the yard, He Zhiyan smelled the smell of saltpeter. His eyes sank slightly, but he did not stop.
Pei Miao sat in the main hall with an indifferent expression, looking down at the painting unfolded on the table.
"Where is Ali?" He Zhiyan stood in front of the door. The sunlight shining from behind him stretched his figure very long, covering Pei Miao's pale face.
Pei Miao did not answer him, but continued, "This is a painting by my brother. He was such a good man, it's a pity that he passed away so early."
He raised his eyes to look at He Zhiyan, his gaze as if filled with poison: "Do you know how he died?"
"I was indeed responsible for what happened back then," He Zhiyan met his gaze with a cold expression, "If you want revenge, just come to me. I won't say anything."
"But you shouldn't try to hurt the people around me."
He Zhiyan loosened his sword-holding hand. He didn't have time to waste any more time with him.
The deadly sword move was in front of him in the blink of an eye. Pei Miao had no time to react. He Zhiyan's full sword energy shattered his lungs. He flew backwards like a kite with a broken string and fell heavily to the ground.
Bright red blood flowed from his mouth and nose, his already broken body twitched slightly, and his eyes were almost dazed.
"Ahem...Kill me, and you'll never know He Li's whereabouts!"
Pei Miao's sinister voice came intermittently, filled with immense hatred.
He Zhiyan's face grew darker, and he stepped forward slowly: "Tell me, where is she? Otherwise, I will make you sadder than death."
Pei Miao was lying on the ground, unable to move. When he saw him coming, his eyes, which were filled with cold light, moved slightly, and he pressed his hand.
The mechanism under their feet suddenly opened, and both of them fell down. At the critical moment, He Zhiyan grabbed the edge of the mechanism. He turned around suddenly and saw Pei Miao, who was falling straight down, suddenly a strange smile broke out on his face, and there was a faint flicker of fire on his body.
As Pei Miao fell, all the gunpowder buried under the entire manor was detonated. There were loud noises one after another. He Zhiyan had no time to dodge and his figure was engulfed in flames and ashes.
The area within a radius of several miles was razed to the ground in the blink of an eye. In an instant, flames shot up into the sky, and even a corner of the sky was burned red.
*
There were still people coming and going in front of the Fuyuan Inn, and no one noticed that there was a green cloth carriage parked nearby.
Ali had changed into a peasant woman's outfit, with a gray cloth scarf covering her face. She looked towards the city gate with an anxious look in her eyes.
Bian Ye, dressed in black, loaded the remaining items into the car. Seeing Ah Li's appearance, he suppressed his worry and said comfortingly, "Don't worry, Miss He. There's still half a quarter of an hour until the evening hour. Zhiyan will definitely return safely. I believe in him."
Shortly after Pei Miao left, Bian Ye found her, rescued her and brought her here.
He and He Zhiyan split up into two groups and entered Changjing Manor. Unexpectedly, Bian Ye found Ali first. They agreed to meet at Fuyuan Inn after rescuing Ali. If He Zhiyan did not show up by the hour of You, Bian Ye would take Ali away and go south to find He's father.
Ali nodded reluctantly, but the next moment, several loud noises coming from the direction of the capital shook the ground.
Bian Ye hurriedly protected Ali, but she pushed Bian Ye away and ran a few steps towards the direction of the loud noise, her hands shaking uncontrollably.
"...Is this the direction of Zhuangzi?"
She fell to the ground without looking back and could not see the ugly expression on Bian Ye's face.
He desperately tried to stop Ali from rushing out, and whispered, "It's the evening hour, Miss He, we have to go!"
Ali's eyes sparkled with tears, and he kept shaking his head: "Brother hasn't arrived yet, we can't leave!"
"I promised Zhiyan that I would ensure your safety no matter what!" Bian Ye stared into her eyes with a sad look on his face.
Ah Li turned a blind eye and kept prying Bian Ye's hands apart, muttering, "I want to go find him, I want to go find him..."
Bian Ye was unable to stop her for a moment and was able to break free from her. Seeing that Ali was becoming more and more agitated, Bian Ye muttered to himself, "I'm sorry," and struck Ali on the back of the neck with a palm.
Ali's eyes went dark and her body went limp. At the last moment, she heard a long-lost voice.
[Prepare to leave the world]
*
Just before Pei Miao fell, He Zhiyan used all his strength to fly out of the room, but was still blown away by the impact of the gunpowder explosion behind him.
After an unknown amount of time, he woke up in the ruins, his body covered with shocking wounds, unable to even move a finger.
He curled up in pain, his breath was weaker than ever, the wounds on his body were bleeding profusely, and his eyes became empty and lifeless, revealing the coldness and eeriness of death.
There were flames shooting up into the sky all around, and He Zhiyan felt his body suddenly hot and cold. In a trance, he looked towards the direction of the city gate, as if someone was waiting for him there.
He Zhiyan's eyes trembled and he couldn't help but groan in pain. He inserted his fingers into the scorched earth and dragged his bruised body in that direction.
One step, two steps.
He kept his head raised, his eyes fixed on the direction of the city gate.
But the blood on his body kept flowing, and He Zhiyan gradually lost sight, and even his thoughts slowly stopped.
He fell on the ruins, his eyes always looking towards the city gate, a scarred hand stretched out in front of him, trying to grab something, but in the end it could only hang down helplessly.
A tear slid down from the corner of her eye and disappeared into the surrounding smoke and dust, silently.
He eventually broke his promise.
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