mtl008 Chapter 649 The Bloodbath at the Gate of the Northern Garrison
Chapter 649 The Bloodbath at the Gate of the Northern Garrison
Seeing Wei Zhong's panicked state, Liu Ye coughed a few times and said to him, "Well, you have a lot of men, but I have more. I'll give you two choices: surrender or I'll send you to meet the King of Hell. If you know what's good for you, lay down your weapons and surrender; you might still have a chance to live."
Wei Zhong had just said the same thing, but now it was his turn. He never imagined that what was supposed to be a sure thing—just a few blows to the head and kidnapping someone—would turn into such a huge scene. Judging from the crowd at the alley entrance, there were probably hundreds or even thousands more who couldn't get in. Now, it was his turn to be trapped, with no way to escape.
A fierce glint appeared in Wei Zhong's eyes as he fixed his gaze on Liu Ye, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly. He was, after all, a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard; how could he bow down to a group of soldiers! He made a decision instantly, shouting, "Brothers, charge! To catch the thief, catch the leader first! If we capture that Liu fellow, we can get out of here!" With Liu Ye in hand, these soldiers would be hesitant to act, forced to watch him leave. He no longer had time to consider whether he would offend this military leader.
The Embroidered Uniform Guards, after all, had their own pride. They had already been wronged by being masked and disguised, and now they were forced to lay down their weapons and surrender. How could they possibly swallow this insult? Wei Zhong took the lead, raising his sword and charging towards Liu Ye and the others. The rest of the guards followed suit, and the small encirclement on both sides shrank, trapping Liu Ye and the others in the middle.
Seeing the enemy make a move, the guards and special forces soldiers also moved. Because they were disguised as civilians, they couldn't carry their long rifles. The special forces had short pistols, but fearing they might accidentally injure Liu Ye, they dared not use them in the narrow alley. Instead, they drew short knives hidden in their boots and rushed towards the masked men, hoping to subdue them before they could take Liu Ye hostage. However, these men were closer to Liu Ye, making it difficult to stop them.
Chiyo Shimazu placed her hand on the hilt of her sword, poised to strike. She was confident she could handle the few people in front of her, but the masked men behind her were also closing in, making it difficult to defend both sides simultaneously. She didn't know which side to deal with first.
At this moment, Lin San took out the powerful bow that he had wrapped beforehand, leaped high into the air, and the two guards in front of him squatted down hand in hand, forming a human stepping stone. Lin San pushed off their arms and soared into the air, drawing his arrow and nocking it in mid-air.
With the crowd no longer an obstacle, Lin San's elevated position gave him a clear view of what lay ahead. In the brief moment of mid-air, he released his right hand, and an arrow shot through the air, passing over Wei Zhong's head, past Liu Ye and the others, and striking the masked man behind them. The two men, one in front and one behind, were pierced through by the arrow.
The powerful gust of wind from the arrow sent chills down Wei Zhong's spine. He instinctively ducked and slowed his pace. Then, screams erupted from the opposite side; he saw two of his men fall dead beneath the arrows.
This arrow stunned Wei Zhong and his men for a moment, throwing their opponents into chaos. With her rear temporarily free of worry, Shimazu Chiyo roared, drew her steel sword, and charged into Wei Zhong and his men like a nimble leopard.
A series of clanging metal sounds rang out as the masked men dropped their steel knives, long gashes appearing on their chests and abdomens. Shimazu Chiyo didn't linger; she retreated a few steps to Liu Ye's side, remaining vigilant.
"Thump," "thump," the masked men fell straight down like felled trees, motionless. The remaining men were stunned; this woman was incredibly fierce!
Wei Zhong clutched his right arm, his face pale as he stared at Liu Ye and Shimazu Chiyo beside him. In that brief moment, the other man had injured several people with a single strike. He was lucky; he hadn't been fatally wounded, only suffering a severed arm, but this had rendered him incapable of attacking. Although he was a commander of the Imperial Guard, the Imperial Guard relied on power, not skill, to solve cases, and his martial arts were only mediocre. Naturally, he was helpless against a monster like Shimazu Chiyo.
With Lin San and Shimazu Chiyo's intervention, the remaining crowd gained time. The soldiers swarmed forward, punching and kicking, and knocked down all the remaining masked men. The battle was decided in that instant.
All the masked men had their masks ripped off, their arms tied behind their backs, and were forced to kneel on the ground. Liu Ye slowly approached, looked them over, and ordered, "Take them all away. We'll deal with them slowly back home."
Upon hearing the word "processing," the men were all taken aback. They were used to finding all sorts of ways to torture prisoners, and had never imagined they would face such a fate themselves. The thought of potential torture sent shivers down their spines. One impatient man shouted, "Hey, you surnamed Liu, do you know who we are? How dare you arrest us? We're from the Imperial Guard..."
Before the word "Wei" could be uttered, Liu Ye pulled out a pistol and shoved it into the man's mouth, silencing him.
With a loud "boom," the man's mouth exploded open, and a bloody hole appeared on the back of his head, splattering blood and brain matter onto Wei Zhong's face. Wei Zhong couldn't hold it in and vomited on the spot.
"Sorry, I was too anxious and didn't hear anything." Liu Ye brushed the blood off his wrist, loaded a lead bullet, and pointed his pistol at a person next to him. "You tell me, who are you people?"
Witnessing his companion's horrific state, the man trembled with fear, his mind blank, and instinctively replied, "We are from the Imperial Guards..."
"Boom!" The man's head also exploded.
Liu Ye raised his pistol, scanning the kneeling crowd. "Tell me loudly, who are you?"
A series of metallic clanging sounds rang out as the special forces soldiers raised their pistols and pressed them against the heads of the group.
Although the Embroidered Uniform Guards were usually extremely ruthless in dealing with others, it was a different story when it came to themselves. Looking at their two comrades lying in pools of blood, feeling the coldness of the gun barrels on their heads, all their arrogance vanished, and they began to shout and yell.
"We're nothing, just a bunch of thugs, please spare our lives, grandpa!"
"That's good. I was scared just now. I thought I had killed some Imperial Guards!" Liu Ye wiped his pistol clean and put it back on his waist. "Since they're just petty thugs, then there's no problem. Take them all away. I'll settle this privately today, so I won't trouble the government."
The crowd withdrew from the alley in an orderly fashion, escorting the remaining Imperial Guards away, and even the corpses on the ground were taken away.
Several constables from Shuntian Prefecture heard the signal arrows and gunshots and rushed over, only to find bloodstains splattered everywhere in the alley, nothing else. They looked at each other, fear in each other's eyes—this alley led to the Northern Garrison Command, and a murder had occurred right under the noses of the Embroidered Uniform Guard; it seemed to be something these lowly officials shouldn't concern themselves with.
The constables retreated the way they came, and when the soldiers from the Five Cities Garrison arrived, they also quietly withdrew after seeing the scene. Apart from pools of blood, nothing seemed to have happened in the alley.