Chapter 28 – Night Assassin
Midnight.
Fire was spreading within the Mayor’s Mansion, and the sound of crying and yelling filled the sky.
Little Meng City was now enwrapped in chaos. Many of the people in the city didn’t know what had happened, and were gathering on the streets, trying to figure out what was going on. While most people were filled with worry and trepidation, Wu Qi was dancing with joy as he led the rest of the City Guards, and over two thousand over new recruits, out to maintain the order of the city, not allowing any people to stay on the street.
The chaotic scene in the Mayor’s Mansion lasted for nearly fifteen minutes before the main door was finally pushed open and numerous shadowy figures sprinted out from within.
Wu Qi had stolen everything from Yi Yan and his siblings, but their servants, guards, and relatives still had some money with them, and if you put all that money together it was quite a huge sum.
Wu Qi had spread all sort of strange and odd rumors within the Mayor’s Mansion, but Yi Yan and his siblings had their minds dulled by previous events, so no one came out and clarified these rumors. They even didn’t send their right-hand men to supervise those guards they hired. Rumors could mess with one’s decisions easily, therefore, all of the over three thousand guards within the Mayor’s Mansion came to the same decision.
That night, the two thousand guards went on strike, setting fire to the Mayor’s Mansion, and robbing everything owned by those people who were close to Yi Yan, and kidnapping a few hundred beautiful servant ladies from within the Mansion. Then they opened up the front door of Mayor Mansion and sneaked out into Little Meng City.
Little Meng City was a land of anarchy. There were no other cities within a few hundred miles of it, as it was the most remote place in the Lu Kingdom. If not because the Meng Mountain produced a lot of precious products, not even a stray dog would want to be here. Because of this, the only people who came here were either tradesmen who are willing to risk their lives for a profit, those rogue barbarian hunters who were dancing on the edge of death, or outlaws, who had nowhere else they could go.
Since Yi Yan and his brothers came to Little Meng City and got rich, they had hired a lot of guards to protect themselves. The strongest people in Little Meng City were actually those rogue barbarian hunters and cruel outlaws.
These men were like a pack of bloodthirsty wolves. When Yi Yan could feed them, they would put their lives on the line for him. But, when he could no longer support these people they would turn their heads and bite at him fiercely. Therefore, these guys now struck out without thinking twice. They took away all the money and women they could, and then sneaked into Little Meng City without any feeling of guilt.
Wu Qi was giving orders to the City Guards and keeping order in Little Meng City, but they only focused on the civilians and traders, avoiding any conflict with those guards who had betrayed their master. Frankly speaking, these guards were pretty strong, and Wu Qi’s soldiers had no way to defeat them. Also, there’s no reason for Wu Qi to stand in their way because he was not so kind hearted to sacrifice his men for Yi Yan.
Leading a team of City Guards and patrolling along the main street, Wu Qi witnessed many of these guards, carrying big or small bags a dragging a few servant ladies, quickly crossing the street and disappearing into the dark.
The fire at the Mayor’s Mansion was soaring high into the air, but no one had gone to put it out. Wu Qi could barely hear the screaming of Yi Yan and his siblings, but who would go and help them now? Just let them scream and yell.
In just a few days, Wu Qi had put the Mayor of the city into such miserable state. He really felt proud of himself.
The fire lasted for the whole night. After all, an important place like a Mayor’s Mansion had to be built with fine stone. The courtyards which caught on fire were Yi Yan and his siblings’ backyard. The fire had burned down all the trees and buildings within, and finally went out. Black smoke was soaring high up into sky and the air was filled with the pungent smell of ash. Cries can heard everywhere as the servants and relatives of Yi Yan brothers were howling and crying their lungs out too, complaining the loss of their money, their wives, and their prettiest servants.
After a night of rioting, more than two thousand of the guards of the Mayor’s Mansion were gone. The rest of them had joined up with Lu Chengfeng.
These men didn’t mess around. They stripped out of their Mayor’s Mansion uniform in front of Yi Yan’s men, kneeled down in front of the General’s Office, and asked if they could join Lu Chenfeng as his personal guards.
Of course, Lu Chengfeng had to behave like a generous young master from an influential family. By his order, he had these few hundred Mayor’s Mansion guards change into the uniform of the City Guards, grouped them into the army and assigned them to stay guard in the General’s Office.
All of these guards were cultivating their inner energy, which made them stronger than ordinary soldiers. Although their loyalty might be a problem, as long as they got paid enough they could still be put to good use. A dog won’t bite the hand that feeds it. The good people of Little Meng City were pretty down to earth. As long as they were paid, there was nothing to complain about on their service.
Yi Yan, who heard the news, immediately came out from his burned down Mansion, witnessing the guards, who he had hired, joining Lu Chengfeng.
Almost all the guards had betrayed him and run away. The rest turned their backs on him and switched camps. This was like receiving two powerful slaps, making Yi Yan’s eyes turn green and had his layers of fat trembled. When he saw those guards changed into the black colored City Guards uniform, he couldn’t hold it anymore and spit out a mouthful of blood, his eyes rolling back, and he fainted on the spot.
Wu Qi hid both of his hands in his sleeves, and smiled in joy as he watched Yi Yan vomit blood and faint. He shouted with a lifeless and dragging voice, “The Mayor has just vomited blood and fainted again, somebody, go and get some physicians here, hurry, hurry!”
With a wave of his hand, ten bronze ‘knife coins’ [1] were thrown beside Yi Yan. The ‘kind-hearted’ Wu Qi looked at a few of the servants standing beside Yi Yan. They had pale faces as they stood there, shocked, “I thought you guys might be running out of money to hire a physician, so here, this is some of my pocket change, I presume you need it as you are out of money?”
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