jdhmnovel Chapter 146 The Northern Barbarians' Secrets Revealed
Chapter 146 The Northern Barbarians' Secrets Revealed
"Still pretending?" Xingluo said. "Your grass-turning skills are worse than mine, and you still dare to call yourself a peasant?"
The man touched him, then suddenly smiled, swung his iron fork at him, and roared, "Someone come quick! Take them down!"
Before he finished speaking, six burly men rushed in.
They were all dressed in villagers' clothes, but they all held guns and had fierce eyes.
Gu Liang caught a glimpse of their actions, her eyes flickered, and her gaze fell on the woman kneeling on the ground.
He told Jiang Zhi, "Be careful."
After saying that, he darted out of the house.
The two outside were outnumbered seven to one and were finding it a little difficult.
Gu Liang instantly joined the battle, and before he could react, a burly man coughed up blood and knelt on the ground.
"Kill them without mercy," Gu Liang ordered.
Xingluo and Jiaoyue didn't know who they were, and without Gu Liang's orders, they dared not kill them. So they immediately let loose.
They all came out with Gu Liang, and once they used their full strength, they could fight against many opponents without being at a disadvantage.
Upon seeing this, the man's eyes hardened. He threw away the iron fork in his hand, picked up a steel knife, and swung it at Gu Liang.
The way he swung his knife was rather strange; he raised it high and then swung it down suddenly, without any trace of any particular technique.
Gu Liang narrowed his eyes. "Northern Di people."
He had already guessed most of it, so he didn't show much surprise on his face.
Upon hearing this, the man yelled "Ah!" and chopped down on Gu Liang's head.
Gu Liang dodged the blade's wind by sidestepping it, then flashed to his side, bending her left arm and striking his acupoint below his shoulder blade with her elbow.
The man grunted, his body went slightly numb, and his sword strike slowed down. The steel blade was easily snatched away.
A sudden chill ran down his neck, the man's eyes widened, blood spurted from his mouth, and he collapsed to the ground.
The remaining five strong men saw that two of their companions had fallen in a short time.
They exchanged a glance, and one of them pulled out a cylindrical object from his person and tried to press it.
Before he could even raise his hand, a flash of cold light appeared before his eyes, and an arm flew out.
He was in so much pain that he knelt on the ground and screamed.
Gu Liang kicked the cylinder that had fallen to the ground aside, pointed the steel knife in his hand at him, and a string of blood dripped down.
His face held his usual inscrutable indifference, and his gaze was extremely chilling.
"Who exactly are you?" a burly man behind him couldn't help but ask.
That kind of ruthless and decisive swordsmanship can only be understood by those who have been to the battlefield.
Gu Liang curled her lips into a cold smile, "You son of a bitch."
The burly man was startled and unconsciously retreated.
But the two of them weren't about to let them off the hook, and gave them a good beating.
Their momentum was overwhelming, and Gu Liang glanced at the situation and did not make a move.
He turned back into the house, and just as he reached the door, he bumped into Jiang Zhi.
Gu Liang followed her gaze to the knife in her hand, which was covered in blood.
He tossed the knife aside and walked up the steps.
He glanced into the house; the woman was still sitting on the ground, her body trembling uncontrollably, her eyes filled with fear.
“I just asked her,” Jiang Zhi said, looking at Gu Liang. “She’s a little out of it and can’t say anything. She keeps saying that the water in the village is undrinkable.”
"It's alright, asking others will make a difference." Gu Liang nodded. "Are you alright?"
Jiang Zhi shook his head.
“This is a signal tube made of gunpowder. They have accomplices.” Gu Liang looked at Xing Luo and threw the circular tube he had just picked up over to him. “Everyone, search the entire village.”
As soon as the guards left, the woman who had been sitting in the room suddenly rushed out.
"My lord! My lord! I beg you, I beg you to save us!" Her eyes were red. "More than half of the people in our village are dead, and so are the soldiers."
"Soldier?"
Gu Liang frowned, and then heard Jiang Zhi speak: "What soldiers?"
Why did you drink that water...? Why did you drink it...?
She burst into tears, pounding her chest violently, appearing as if she had gone mad.
As Jiang Zhi listened to the snippets of words mixed in with her wailing, his expression grew colder and colder.
After searching the house, the guards came out from behind the house and whispered to Gu Liang, "Your Highness, we found several villagers' corpses in the cellar of this household. They were all killed with a single stab wound, and they looked like they had been dead for a day."
Bai Wuyou also came in from outside, saying, "The people next door were poisoned; the water in their bowls was poisoned."
A guard rushed over and said, "Your Highness, there are medicinal herbs, ironware, and corpses in the ancestral hall and on the road leading to the back mountain."
Gu Liang's gaze darkened, and she walked out.
He heard hurried footsteps behind him.
Jiang Zhi caught up and tugged at his sleeve, "I want to go too."
Gu Liang glanced at the corpse in the courtyard, scanned the surroundings, and replied, "Okay."
He strode forward, and Jiang Zhi jogged to keep up with him.
She had always harbored doubts; ever since the day Wei Zhuo proposed to Princess Zhaoyang, she had felt something was amiss.
In his previous life, he was not yet the new emperor, and now there are people pushing them forward.
Suddenly, her palm felt warm; Gu Liang had grasped her hand.
He didn't turn around to look at her, but simply took her hand and led her forward.
"Do not be afraid."
Perhaps sensing Jiang Zhi's nervousness, he spoke up to comfort him.
Jiang Zhi looked at his profile and saw that his lips were pursed into a line, clearly indicating that things were not as simple as he had said.
Jiang Zhi didn't speak, but Gu Liang moved his fingers and gripped her hand even tighter.
As soon as the two stepped into the ancestral hall, they saw that the courtyard was piled with medicinal herbs and ironware.
There were also about a dozen corpses that looked like soldiers scattered around.
“There are ten more corpses on the mountain road, eight of whom are soldiers, and two of whom are dressed as merchants,” the guard added. “The knives they were carrying are the same as those of the people in the village. There are also many footprints on the road, all leading into the mountains.”
Looking at the corpses, Gu Liang recalled the gunpowder-tipped arrows he had intercepted. "The other group of Northern Di people should be in the mountains."
They must have sensed something was wrong, which is why they hid in the mountains.
Xingluo gritted his teeth, "They actually dared to cross the border to make a move, how dare they?"
“Lvyang Village is only half a day’s journey from the border,” Gu Liang said. “If they disguise themselves and come in as merchants, the villagers here will not be on guard at all.”
Based on what they found out in the village.
Some villagers were killed with a single blow, but many more died from poisoning, indicating that the Northern Di people did not initially intend to reveal their identities.
"Are you going into the mountains?" Jiang Zhi asked.
Gu Liang glanced at her, "Yes."
He turned to the guards and ordered, "Pass down the word that everyone should complete the search as soon as possible and bring weapons to the ancestral hall within a quarter of an hour."
The guards withdrew.
Only Gu Liang and Jiang Zhi remained in the ancestral hall.
Gu Liang shook Jiang Zhi's hand and let go, "Let's go our separate ways, be careful."
Jiang Zhi pursed her lips and said, "Okay."
She knew that staying here without martial arts skills would only cause them trouble.