Chapter 576: Losing One Mind While Gaining Advantage (I)

"The General's Office has agreed to our request and will gradually send more soldiers to the city to strengthen the guard starting tomorrow."

After waiting for an entire afternoon, Su Tang finally brought back good news for Liu Xunyi and others.

"What conditions do they have?"

"The condition is that each soldier will be given an additional 1 tael of silver per day." Su Tang said, "I requested to send 2,000 more soldiers. I just left them 10,000 taels of silver notes as a reward for the next five days."

"That's great! As long as there are enough people, no one will be left out in the city. If anyone causes trouble, they will be exposed." Xu Heng said excitedly.

"We just beheaded four villains outside the palace gate, and the reputation of the Xianwang Palace has finally been restored." Luo Qi pondered, "But the people are still in panic and suspicion, so we must not let any accidents happen again, otherwise all our efforts will be wasted."

"Mr. Luo is right." Su Tang nodded and said, "The soldiers from the General's Mansion will not be in place until tomorrow morning, so we still need to protect the peace of Luoyang City tonight."

Ling Qing pondered, "Those bastards have been causing trouble for two consecutive nights. Unless something unexpected happens, they won't be idle tonight."

Liu Xunyi listened carefully to everyone's opinions and said helplessly: "That being said, Luoyang City is vast and populated, and we have limited manpower after all..."

"Why not send more people?" Su Tang suggested, "Even... we shouldn't just sit there idle. We should all go out on patrol. At this critical moment, one more person means more safety."

"I agree!" Xu Heng said, "We can order all the disciples from the eight sects to come out. This way, we can have more people and troops."

"But..." Luo Qi was confused and hesitated, "If we send all the disciples out, who will guarantee the safety of the Xianwang Mansion?"

"Old Luo is worried that those thieves will take advantage of the situation and sneak in?" Lin Fang laughed scornfully. "Now, the Lord, the Second Master, the Fourth Master, the Fifth Master, the Sixth Master, the Seventh Master, and the Eighth Master are all in the mansion. Even if they are bold, they dare not act rashly. If they really dare to come, it will be a good thing. The Lord will make sure they never come back, and we don't have to chase them everywhere."

"Ha ha……"

Lin Fangda's words caused a burst of laughter.

"Right now, all the masters of the Xianwang Mansion have returned home. Let alone a few petty thieves who are hiding their heads and showing their tails, even if Qin Ming goes out in person, the result is a dead end." Su Tang said confidently, "Last night, Lin Fangda had already fought with them. They are just a group of low-class reckless men with only mediocre skills. They can bully ordinary people, but when they meet a real master, they can only run away in fear."

"Tonight is crucial. Luoyang City must not allow any accidents to happen." Ling Qing echoed, "What's more, there is only one night. When the General's Mansion sends troops to take over tomorrow morning, we can withdraw a large number of disciples. I believe there will be no accidents."

"I'm not afraid of a thousand things, I'm just afraid of one thing." Luo Qi said with difficulty, "There are many family members in the mansion, if something goes wrong..."

"But what should we do if innocent people suffer due to lack of manpower?" Su Tang argued.

"Su Zhishan is wrong." Luo Qi's face straightened and he said in a deep voice, "May I ask, which is more important, the safety of the family members in the mansion, or the life and death of the people of Luoyang?"

"Of course..." Su Tang stopped talking. He was in a dilemma and didn't know how to respond.

"Of course they are both important!" Liu Xunyi said, "We can't afford any failure on either side."

Having said that, in Liu Xunyi's heart, the people of Luoyang are still more important than his family members in the mansion.

After all, how can a family be compared to thousands of families? What's more, there is a group of masters in the mansion.

"How about..." Luo Qi had no intention of making things difficult for Su Tang, so he slowed down his tone and suggested, "Report this matter to the Palace Master and let him decide?"

Hearing this, Liu Xunyi couldn't help but recall the scenes in the backyard today. He waved his hand and said, "It's just a trivial matter. There's no need to alarm the Palace Master!"

"In that case, please give the order, Black Fan!"

"This……"

When the time came, Liu Xunyi was hesitant. He cast a hesitant look at Qin Ku, who remained silent, as if asking his opinion.

Qin Ku, however, avoided the question sincerely and did not make eye contact with Liu Xunyi, as if he was unwilling to get involved in this muddy water.

This move made Liu Xunyi feel helpless. After hesitating for a long time, he finally made up his mind and said in a serious tone: "Except for the guards in the mansion, everyone else, from the three fans to the eight disciples, will go to patrol the city tonight and defend the peace of Luoyang City to the death. Su Zhishan will lead the disciples of Sheng and Kai to patrol the east city. Luo Zhishan will lead the disciples of Zhong and Ping to patrol the west city. Xu Heng and Ling Qing will lead the disciples of Si and Shang to patrol the south city. Qin Wei and I will lead the disciples of Jing to patrol the north city. Lin Fangda will lead the disciples of Xiu to continue to monitor Qin Ming's residence. Tonight, everyone must be alert. If you find anyone suspicious, you don't have to report it. You can capture him first and question him after dawn."

"As ordered!"

"I'll be frank!" Liu Xunyi changed the subject and said in a deep voice, "Tonight, if any party encounters an accident and fails to resolve it in time, resulting in the death or injury of innocent people, I will come back tomorrow and start punishing them one by one with my fan. At the least, they will be torn to pieces, and at the worst, they will pay with blood. In short, I will never let them off easily!"

"Yes."

They all received the order in unison, their blood boiling and their fighting spirit high.

……

At the beginning of the night, the city of Luoyang was silent and hushed, as if dead.

Su Tang led twenty disciples through the streets and alleys in the east of the city, inquiring about the situation at various sentry posts.

"Reporting to Bai Zhishan, every household has turned off the lights and gone to bed, everything is as usual."

"Yes." Su Tang looked around at the quiet houses with satisfaction and said, "Keep your eyes open and your ears alert. Don't make any mistakes. Work hard for another night, and you will all be rewarded tomorrow."

"Thank you, Bai Zhishan..."

"what!"

A sudden female scream instantly broke the tranquility of the east city, and at the same time, Su Tang's eyes suddenly changed. "Not good!"

Before he finished speaking, Su Tang had already flown up and quickly jumped onto a loft. He looked around, and suddenly his eyes narrowed. He pointed southeast and urged, "Quick! It's over there!"

It happened so fast that a disheveled young woman was seen fleeing from a house in panic, followed closely by three men with ferocious faces and grinning faces.

Behind them was an old man in his sixties with panic-stricken eyes. He kept shouting and urging his granddaughter to escape from the clutches of the evil spirit as soon as possible.

"It's really like searching for something without any effort! Where did this bastard come from? How dare he run wild in Luoyang City?"

With a loud shout, Su Tang descended from the sky. With a flash of silver light, he waved his hand and immediately cut off the leading man's right arm.

In an instant, blood gushed out like a fountain, and the man let out a heart-wrenching scream. At the same time, the other two men were frightened so much that their legs went weak and they fell to the ground one after another.

"Don't be afraid, young lady! We are from the Xianwang Mansion!"

When Su Tang captured the three men in a lightning speed, other disciples arrived one after another. They protected the frightened woman behind them, and then rushed forward, beating the three daring thieves until they were black and blue, and tied them up in a hurry.

From the time the woman cried for help to the time the thief was captured, it took only half a cup of tea, which shows how fast Su Tang and others were.

"Bai Zhishan, how should we deal with them?"

"Tie him up first, and escort him back home after daybreak."

"Help!"

However, the current trouble had not yet been resolved when a cry for help was heard again from an alley in the distance.

"Are there any accomplices?"

Su Tang looked surprised, but did not give it much time to think. He stepped on the ground, flew up again, and led his men straight to the place where the cry for help came from.

……

At midnight, the east side of the city was already extremely busy.

At the same time, the situation in the west, south and north of the city was not optimistic either, with cries for help and noises continuing one after another.

No one expected that the dog thieves they had been searching for in vain would appear in large numbers like mushrooms after rain tonight.

"What's going on?"

Qin Ku handed the two thieves he had just captured to Liao Chuan and Liao Hai who came to pick him up. He turned around and looked at the other streets where flames were shooting up into the sky. He was surprised and said, "Are these people crazy? They know we are watching them closely, but they still don't care about life and death and keep rushing forward."

"Who knows?" Liao Chuan said breathlessly, "In just one hour, seven or eight accidents have occurred in the north of the city, and more than twenty people have been captured. Jingmen only has three hundred disciples. If the trouble continues endlessly, I'm afraid we won't have enough manpower."

"Yes!" Liao Hai waved his sleeves to wipe the sweat off his face and said anxiously, "Deputy Fan, think of a solution quickly! The brothers are exhausted from tossing around back and forth."

"Have you captured more than 20 people?" Qin Ku raised his eyebrows, a cold light flashed in his eyes, and sneered, "It's enough for us to interrogate the mastermind behind the scenes. From now on, tell the brothers not to capture anyone alive, just let go, and kill anyone who resists without mercy."

"Yes!" Liao Chuan and Liao Hai were overjoyed and gladly accepted the order.

……

After a night of hustle and bustle, the disciples of the Xianwang Mansion walked through almost every street and every corner of Luoyang City.

That night, there were no less than a hundred riots in the city. More than eighty rioters were captured alive, more than a hundred were beheaded on the spot, and countless others were injured or fled.

This grand "hunt" gradually came to an end when the sky began to brighten.

At this point, all the disciples of the Xianwang Mansion were exhausted and tired.

Even so, they were still very excited. After all, they had fought hard all night and gained a lot.

However, when Liu Xunyi, covered in blood and with great achievements, led his men back to Prince Xian's Mansion, the scene before him shocked him so much that he lost his balance and almost fell to the ground.

At this moment, the guards in front of the Xianwang Mansion had turned into cold corpses, and bloodstained swords were scattered on the ground. The door of the mansion was wide open, and the steps, the dragon and tiger stone carvings, and the gate were all splattered with shocking blood.

It seemed that the Xianwang Mansion must have experienced a fierce battle with swords and sabers last night.

"Hurry up!"

In a trance, Liu Xunyi suddenly woke up from his shock and ran towards the mansion in panic.

At this moment, his whole body was shaking, his steps were staggering, and he fell five or six times on the thirteen steps.

He hit his head hard with his fists, unable to express his self-blame with words, and bursts of unbelievable roars and growls came from his throat.

"You bastard! I knew it! I knew it! Something must be fishy when things are out of the ordinary. Something really happened in the mansion..."

……

(End of this chapter)