deltrittennovels #177 - Burning Sheep Demon
#177 - Burning Sheep Demon
Qingzhou City.
A crossroads.
A group of constables were gathered here, stomping their feet around a brazier, chatting.
"In three days, it will be the thirtieth of the year."
"Brothers, have you all taken care of your New Year's goods?"
Head Constable Yan asked the constables.
The constables smiled slightly when they heard this.
These days, the Yang family was distributing money everywhere. The officials were eating meat, and they, the small ones, were also getting a sip of the soup.
At least in their pockets, they had some money to spend for the New Year.
Head Constable Yan saw this and pointed to the brazier, saying:
"Warm your hands well, and then check if your knives are frozen and whether you can still pull them out."
"In a while, when Lord Tongzhi's order is issued, it will be time for us to take action."
The constables heard this and hurriedly stretched their hands towards the brazier to warm themselves.
Tonight, Qingzhou City has already implemented a curfew.
Now the streets are empty, and not a single person can be seen.
The crossroads where they were standing led to two places.
One was the Yang family.
The other was the branch altar of the Taiping Dao in Qingzhou City.
The constables of the Prefectural and County Yamen had already dispersed to various intersections in the city, ready to make arrangements.
Once the order was issued, they would go straight to the Taiping Dao branch altar and arrest the people of the Taiping Dao.
The superiors had finally reached an agreement with the Yang family to deal with the Taiping Dao together.
The team of constables led by Head Constable Yan were all elites among the constables.
By guarding this intersection, they could not only support the brothers who were carrying out the arrest mission at any time, but also support and protect the Yang family at any time, to avoid accidents.
Head Constable Yan looked around and whispered:
"Remember, be quick and efficient when you strike later."
"If anyone dares to resist, show no mercy and kill them."
"The Yang family has secretly revealed to me that for every Taiping Dao person killed, the Yang family will give five taels of silver as a reward."
"Don't think the money is too little, the Yang family said there is no upper limit!"
"There are at least several hundred Taiping Dao people in this city, and at least several thousand unruly commoner believers following the Taiping Dao."
"How much money you can earn depends on how fast your hands are."
The constables couldn't help but look at each other when they heard this.
A constable's annual salary is only a dozen taels of silver, which is not much.
Is a human life only worth five taels of silver?
The constables were silent.
They work for the yamen, eat the emperor's grain, and are responsible for the security of the area.
But now, they are asked to work for the Yang family, take the Yang family's reward money, and do the dirty work of killing people.
This makes them feel uncomfortable no matter what.
Especially these constables, who used to be bullied by the evil servants of the Yang family.
Even when they go out to handle a case, it is not easy to catch a criminal, but when they investigate, they find that the person is related to the Yang family, and they can only swallow their anger and let the criminal go.
They, the constables, know best about the dirty things that the Yang family does in Qingzhou City.
Now that the Yang family needs them, they directly use money to ask them to sign a request, and now they want them to kill people.
What is this all about?
As for the Taiping Dao, the constables actually admire them in their hearts.
The Taiping Dao distributes food to relieve the poor, uses talisman water to treat patients, and is the only force that dares to openly fight against the Yang family.
Usually, when the constables encounter the Taiping Dao while handling a case, they will also be polite.
But tonight, the two sides will inevitably have to turn against each other.
Head Constable Yan saw that everyone was silent and couldn't help but put on a cold face:
"What's wrong? Are you all mute!"
"Do you think this silver is dirty?"
"I'm telling you, there is no dirty silver in this world. If you don't earn this money, someone else will!"
"You bunch of brats, you haven't taken less black money on weekdays. What are you pretending to be noble in front of me?"
Head Constable Yan's scolding made the constables lower their heads even more.
After a while, Head Constable Yan's tone softened:
"Alright, alright, everyone cheer up."
"We are all just small people and can't make any decisions."
"We will do whatever the superiors order."
"Brothers who want to earn money should put in more effort later. Brothers who don't want to earn money should stay behind later. I won't embarrass anyone."
These words finally made some constables feel a lot more comfortable.
But some constables still looked tangled.
They finally mustered up their courage and opened their mouths:
"But what about the plague?"
"Only the Taiping Dao can cure the plague now. I still have my family…"
"We don't want to die!"
Everyone was silent again.
These days, the plague is raging, and many people in the city have fallen ill.
If this continues, who knows how many people will die.
The appearance of the Taiping Dao has allowed everyone to see hope.
But is this hope going to be snuffed out again?
Head Constable Yan said angrily:
"What if you get the plague? You won't die for a while. Maybe you'll get better slowly."
"But if you offend the Yang family, aren't you worried about not seeing the sun tomorrow?"
The constables looked indignant.
Although Head Constable Yan's words were harsh, they were also true.
Now, who in the yamen, from top to bottom, is not a person of the Yang family?
There are many people who have sued the Yang family in the yamen, but which of these people has a good end?
At this time.
Suddenly, a burst of noise came from the distance.
The noise was so intense that everyone squatting by the brazier couldn't help but stand up and look over in confusion.
Head Constable Yan also said in surprise:
"What's going on?"
"Isn't there a curfew? Why are there so many people arguing?"
“Could it be… the capture operation has begun? But why haven't I received any news!”
Just as the constables were still wondering, the clamor in the distance suddenly changed.
That clamor turned into a chorus of shouts.
“Slay the Sheep Demon!!!”
“End the Plague!!!”
“Slay the Sheep Demon!!!”
“End the Plague!!!”
… …
The shouts continued incessantly, echoing without end.
Hearing such shouts, the constables couldn't help but be greatly alarmed.
Recently, the Taiping Dao members in the city had been shouting like this quite a bit.
Constable Yan also cursed angrily:
“Damn it! Could it be the news leaked, and those贼 Taiping Dao bastards acted ahead of time?”
“But… something's not right!”
“Such loud shouts, how many people would it take to shout so loudly?”
“Do those Taiping Dao in the city have that many people?”
Just as everyone was still in shock, the shouts were getting closer and closer.
The constables even felt that the tiles near the street were shaking.
The shouts were too loud, too deafening!
It would take at least tens of thousands of people shouting to achieve such an effect.
At this moment.
The latest novels are first published on 6 9 Book Bar!
A constable hurried over from the distance in a panic.
Seeing this, Constable Yan couldn't help but scold:
“Didn't I tell you to guard the other end of the street? Why did you run over here?”
These constables were already out of breath from running.
They said慌张 in a panic:
“Constable, something bad has happened!”
“The city gates have been opened, and the main force of the Taiping Dao and the refugees from outside the city have entered!”
Hearing this, Constable Yan's mouth widened in shock:
“What?!”
The other constables were equally astonished.
However, they didn't have time to be surprised at all.
On the street, countless figures had already appeared.
Leading them were the people of the Taiping Dao, wearing yellow turbans, holding weapons in one hand and torches in the other.
Following behind them were countless refugees.
They shouted in unison as they walked towards this side.
There were too many people!
So many that the wide street was completely filled.
Seeing this scene, the constables asked nervously:
“Constable, what should we do now?”
Constable Yan glanced behind him, in the direction of the Yang family.
He gritted his teeth and pulled out his official saber from his waist:
“The superiors told us to guard here, so we must stick to our posts!”
“If these rebellious commoners dare to cause trouble, don't be polite with them!”
Hearing this, the constables could only draw out their long sabers and nervously watch the approaching crowd.
With so many people walking over, the constables felt as if the earth was trembling.
“Slay the Sheep Demon!!!”
“End the Plague!!!”
“Slay the Sheep Demon!!!”
“End the Plague!!!”
… …
Their shouts made the constables' eardrums buzz.
As the crowd approached, the pressure on the constables increased.
They looked out and it seemed as if the entire street was filled with people, shoulder to shoulder, too many to count.
It could be said that raising sleeves created clouds, and sweat poured like rain.
Constable Yan mustered his courage, took a step forward, pointed at the crowd, and roared:
“Everyone, stop!”
“Anyone who dares to—”
He didn't finish his words.
“Whoosh!”
Only a gust of wind could be heard.
The next moment, a spear was firmly stuck in front of him.
The spearhead was deeply embedded in the ground, only an inch away from his foot.
Constable Yan couldn't help but swallow, and a layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.
“This is at least… Sixth Rank strength!”
As a martial artist, and still a Seventh Rank Initial Stage martial artist, he could naturally see the weight of this spear.
It was also because the other party didn't strike to kill.
Otherwise, he would have been injured if not killed just now.
When Constable Yan raised his head.
Among the crowd, a heroic young girl said coldly:
“Those who don't want to die, get out of the way!”
“The Taiping Dao will slay the Sheep Demon and quell the plague.”
“Step aside early, and you can still get talisman water to cure diseases in the future.”
“If you don't get out of the way, leave your life behind!”
This young girl seemed to have a very high status in the Taiping Dao.
She led a group of yellow turban members and walked straight towards the group of constables without stopping.
Looking at the group of yellow turban members, each of them had a calm aura and an extraordinary aura, obviously all of them were martial artists.
This forced Constable Yan and the constables to retreat continuously.
“Constable, what do we do now?”
Someone couldn't help but ask.
A look of horror also appeared on Constable Yan's face.
He said in a bad mood:
“What else can we do?”
“There are so many of them, they could drown us with their spit!”
“Especially since the main force of the Taiping Dao has come, we can't beat those martial artists.”
“Of course, we run!”
After speaking, Constable Yan turned around and fled without hesitation.
He only worked for the Yang family because he took their money.
But now, it was obvious that this matter was beyond what he, a small constable, could handle, and the army had to be mobilized.
If he was still stubborn at this time, he wouldn't even be able to save his life.
When the constables saw Constable Yan running away, they were relieved and immediately turned around and fled without hesitation.
They could also get rid of this conflict without any burden.
The Taiping Dao and the refugees continued to advance, unimpeded all the way.
The Yang family's mansion soon appeared in front of them.
Lu Qiannan carried the spear and stared at the magnificent and luxurious mansion in front of her.
She waved her hand and ordered:
“Surround the Yang family for me!”
“And move all the firewood that has been prepared over here!”
“Tonight, we will burn these Sheep Demons to death!”