jdhmnovel Chapter 308: Night of Terror
Chapter 308: Night of Terror
Afu looked at the children surrounding him, a gentle smile spreading across his face.
"Okay, okay, be good, be good!"
He paused and then asked, "Did you all listen to the adults last night?"
"Yes!" the children immediately answered in unison.
The children immediately started talking all at once again.
"We all obeyed!"
"Brother Afu, the bed was so soft last night. The blankets were so warm too. I haven't slept so comfortably in ages!"
"Yeah, yeah! I haven't had such a good night's sleep in ages!"
The children chatted amongst themselves, recounting how peaceful the previous night had been.
Their little faces were full of joy, and Afu was truly happy to see them like this.
But the noisy commotion was something he couldn't handle.
He could only smile and raise his hand in a gesture of quiet: "Alright, alright, everyone be quiet. I have something to give you."
Ah Fu raised both hands as if to press down: "Alright, alright, everyone stop for a moment!"
Afu raised his hands and gently pressed them down: "Alright, alright, stop for a moment."
The children immediately quieted down and blinked at him.
Afu pointed to the woman and servants beside him.
"Today, your aunts and uncles have brought you new clothes."
"You'll each get two pieces later, so you can take turns wearing them, understand?"
"We know!" the children responded in unison, their eyes shining with anticipation.
“And another thing,” Afu continued, “you can stay here and live here in peace from now on.”
These aunties will take care of your daily needs from now on. You must behave well, understand?
The child replied again, "We know!"
"In the future, we will teach you to read and write, or learn some skills to support yourselves."
You all need to study hard and not be lazy, understand?
"Wow! Can we really read?" a little boy couldn't help but exclaim, his eyes wide open.
"Can I learn a trade? Like an embroiderer?" another girl asked timidly.
The courtyard immediately became lively again, with children chattering excitedly.
Afu smiled at them, and after they calmed down a bit, he nodded and said, "Of course it's true, as long as you study hard."
Afu spent almost the entire day among the children.
Watching their excitement as they received their new clothes, and listening to them pestering me with questions like, "What stories are in the book?"
I played with them in the yard until the sun began to set, and then it finally got a little quiet.
At night, Afu sat on a stone chair in the courtyard.
Hearing the sounds of children and aunts laughing and talking, I couldn't help but sigh.
"If I had known that taking care of a child would be so tiring, I would have preferred to go with Sister Qin Lingxing and the others yesterday."
Although he said that, he knew the truth in his heart.
He ultimately couldn't let go of these children.
He also knew that if he left, Lord Li Cong would certainly not dare to mistreat them.
But if I weren't here, Lord Li might not be so thoughtful and considerate.
After all, there are many things to do in officialdom, so how can one always take care of the trivial matters of a group of children?
After having dinner with the children, Afu invited the dozen or so aunties he had brought into the room to chat with them.
He stood outside the window listening to the laughter gradually rising from inside the house, knowing that they were slowly getting to know each other, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Let's get along well; from now on, we'll be family."
He muttered something under his breath, turned and left the compound, heading towards his residence.
After finishing the remaining matters tomorrow, it will be time to set off to catch up with Qin Lingxing and the others.
Afu walked out of the courtyard where the children lived and headed towards his own place in the city.
The streets were silent at night, with only the glow of lanterns casting dappled shadows on the ground.
He had just turned a street corner when he caught a glimpse of two dark figures flashing across the rooftops ahead and speeding away into the distance.
His heart skipped a beat, and he shouted, "It's not exactly respectable for two people to be sneaking around on the roof in the middle of the night!"
Upon hearing the shout, the two dark figures paused, then immediately increased their speed, clearly wanting to get rid of the sound as soon as possible.
Ah Fu's shout was made using the sonic technique from the Linglong Divine Skill.
It immediately appears exceptionally bright in the quiet night.
Not only did the guards in the courtyard hear it clearly, but many people in the city who were still awake were also disturbed.
"Soldiers inside the city, guard the city gates and protect the people!"
Ah Fu left those words behind, then leaped forward and used his lightness skill to chase after them.
Inside the yamen, Li Cong was still processing official documents.
When Afu shouted for the first time, the pen in his hand trembled immediately, and the ink splattered on the paper.
"Guards!" He stood up in surprise, and a guard immediately rushed in.
Before Li Cong could even ask a question, Afu gave him a second instruction.
He hurriedly said, "Go and see what the situation is inside the city, and send more men to guard the city gates!"
The guards obeyed and left. Li Cong stared at the pitch-black night outside the window, his brows furrowed in worry.
Meanwhile, Afu kept chasing after the two dark figures.
The two were very agile and soon arrived at the north gate of Jiaxian County.
This is the first pass leading to the Gu Xuan Dynasty. The city wall is over ten zhang high, making it extremely difficult for ordinary people to cross.
But the two dark figures arrived at the wall without any hesitation.
The two of them leaped lightly into the air, and when they reached mid-air, they touched the wall with their feet to gain momentum and ascend again.
After only three steps, it landed steadily on the city wall.
Afu, watching from a distance, was secretly astonished: "What superb lightness skill!"
Upon seeing this, the soldiers on guard duty on the city wall shouted sternly, "Who goes there?!"
The soldier on guard said this and thrust his gun forward.
Hearing the noise, the other soldiers quickly surrounded them, all thrusting their spears at the two men.
The two dark figures did not answer, their movements as swift as lightning as their knives flashing.
With a few loud "bangs," the soldiers at the forefront were sent flying.
Even the other soldiers who had just run over were pinned to the ground by these soldiers.
Taking advantage of the chaos, the two leaped off the city wall and disappeared into the night outside the city.
At this moment, Afu had also reached the foot of the wall. He used his lightness skill and leaped up like a swallow.
He climbed onto the city wall by using the wall for leverage only twice.
On both sides of the city wall, a large number of soldiers lay dead.
He saw that the people were still shouting and figured that their injuries weren't too serious.
He didn't have time to investigate further, so he rushed to the city wall and looked down outside the city.
The two dark figures had already landed on the ground outside the city and were continuing to run forward.
"You all guard the city walls!" Afu shouted.
He then leaped off the city wall and continued the pursuit.
Those two dark figures were indeed skilled in light-footed movements.
As soon as Afu landed, they pulled a large distance ahead of him.
He dared not be negligent in the slightest and circulated his internal energy to its maximum.
Dust billowed from their feet as they relentlessly pursued the two.