Chapter 75 Murderous Intent

At noon, Xiao Xia returned to Jiangdu City on a skinny horse.

This skinny horse was found by Third Master Xiao Yu specifically for Xiao Xia. Although it is skinny and its coat is not pretty, it is an absolutely good horse. It was disliked just because of its poor appearance, but it was bought for a hundred strings of coins.

However, the head of the family, Xiao Cong, promised to give him a good horse when he left Jiangdu, and this skinny horse was only a temporary means of transportation.

Xiao Xia still lived in the Warrior Court, but he was now treated as a first-class warrior and had his own courtyard. Xiao Zhurong was also promoted to a first-class warrior and lived next door to him.

The two of them usually go out to eat together.

Xiao Xia went to deposit the horse first, then came to the food store, took a meal and sat down. At this time, a large group of third-level warriors came in, at least forty or fifty people.

Xiao Zhurong clapped his hands and said, "Everyone, hurry up and eat. Once you're full, go and beat those bastards!"

As soon as Xiao Zhurong saw Xiao Xia, he quickly took the food and sat down in front of Xiao Xia, smiling and said, "Brother Xiaoqi, go and help hold the line!"

Xiao Xia's name was also upgraded, from Xiao Qilang to Qi Ge, and only Xiao Zhurong dared to call him Xiao Qi Ge.

His feat of cutting off the wrist of Chen Pan, the top master of Jiangning Xiao family, in a single encounter had spread throughout Jiangdu Xiao family, making everyone in the Xiao family admire him.

Xiao Xia smiled slightly and said, "Why, are you going to fight with the Chen family again?"

Xiao Zhurong said angrily, "Those bastards went too far this time. They actually ran to the Xiao family's dock and injured the laborers. They also sank one of our Xiao family's grain transport ships. Two hundred bags of flour were lost. We must fight back and destroy their ship."

Actually running to the Xiao family dock to cause trouble was indeed too much. Xiao Xia nodded, "I'll go and help you hold the line!"

...........
After lunch, a group of warriors rushed towards the north of the city.

The Xiao family wharf and the Chen family wharf are actually next to each other. The Chen family wharf occupies an area about half the size of a football field. There are many broken ships and dozens of logs piled up on the side.

Normally, hundreds of dock workers sit on logs and chat while waiting for cargo ships to dock. Of course, Chenjia Wharf is not exclusively for the Chen family, but also has more than a dozen small businesses affiliated with it.

But it was strange today, there was not a single worker on the dock.

Xiao Zhurong said viciously: "It's not surprising at all. The workers knew we were coming to fight, so they all ran away!"

"Myna, there are three ships on the dock. They seem to be the Chen family's ships."

There are three thousand-ton cargo ships docked at the dock, and each ship has a large black shed on it to protect the cargo from wind and rain.

Xiao Zhurong waved his hand and said, "Go ahead, destroy one of their ships!"

Forty or fifty warriors drew their swords and shouted as they rushed towards the three large ships.

Xiao Xia suddenly felt something was wrong. There were people on the boat, but quite a few. He heard the sound of a loom turning, which sounded a bit like a loom, but it was definitely not a loom.

At this moment, Xiao Xia suddenly felt a strong murderous aura coming from the boat.

He was horrified, this was a trap, he ran away and shouted: "There is an ambush, everyone retreat quickly!"

The warriors were so frightened that they stopped in their tracks. At that moment, dense and long crossbow arrows were shot out from the three large ships at such a fast speed that the warriors screamed and fell down one after another.

Xiao Xia's blood rushed to his head, and he rushed forward as fast as lightning, kicked Xiao Zhurong to the ground, and swung his sword left and right to chop away more than twenty crossbow arrows.

At this moment, he heard another subtle "click! click!" sound, and he suddenly realized that it was the sound of the crossbow, and the second round of shooting was coming.

Xiao Xia reacted very quickly and shouted, "Everyone get down!"

He rolled over and lay on the ground. The remaining warriors were also frightened and fell to the ground. The second round of dense crossbow arrows shot over their heads like a rainstorm.

This time no one was hurt, and someone on the boat shouted in a low voice, "Retreat!"

Dozens of men in black wearing water jackets jumped into the river and disappeared in an instant.

More than 20 people were lying on the ground wailing, nearly half of them were shot by arrows, but a few were already motionless. Xiao Zhurong slowly sat up, he was so scared that he was stunned. Xiao Xia rushed into the boat, which was empty, with nothing in it. He stood at the bow and looked around. The river in this area was very wide and the water was very deep. Although he entered the barrier-breaking state, he still did not find any trace of crossbowmen.

…………

The Xiao family suffered heavy losses in the attack on the dock. Twenty-three people were shot and six died.

The head of the family, Xiao Cong, was extremely angry and immediately went to the Chen family to ask for an explanation, but he soon returned with a serious expression.

"Brother, what happened?" Xiao Yu walked up to him and asked.

"The Chen family fleet was attacked at the mouth of the Yangtze River. All fourteen warriors guarding the ship were shot dead. I happened to see the bodies they brought back. It was the same time we were attacked."

Xiao Yu frowned, "But we were attacked at the Chen family's dock. Shouldn't the Chen family give us an explanation?"

Xiao Cong said slowly: "I specifically questioned Chen Zhongnian, and he firmly denied it, saying that it was definitely not the Chen family's doing, including the sinking of our grain transport ship this morning, which was not done by the Chen family either."

"Humph! Of course he won't admit it."

Xiao Yu was extremely angry. His son Xiao Zhurong was in the middle. If Xiao Xia hadn't kicked him down in time, his son would have been pierced through the heart by the arrows.

"Third brother, calm down. This is a bit strange. Fourteen people from the Chen family were also killed. Someone must have attacked us."

"Brother, who could it be?"

"I don't know, but I have a feeling it might have something to do with the new dock."

Xiao Yu also understood. He clenched his fists and cursed, "This bunch of Xianbei bastards!"

At this moment, the housekeeper came to report, "Master, County Magistrate Yuan is here!"

This matter actually alarmed the government. But think about it, twenty warriors from the Xiao and Chen families died, how could it not alarm the government?
Xiao Cong and Xiao Yu hurried out to greet them.

.......
In the room, Xiao Zhurong paced back and forth, still feeling resentful.

"Does the Chen family think they can kill people at will just because they have a backer? The Xiao family is not someone you can easily mess with. They will definitely make the Chen family pay with blood!"

Xiao Xia was lying on the bed, with his legs crossed and his hands under his head. He was recalling the scene in his mind. The other party actually used a crossbow. Xiao Xia had heard from Zhang Jue that the imperial court strictly prohibited civilians from using crossbows and long weapons.

"What's the backing of the Chen family?"

"Isn't the newly appointed Yuan County Lieutenant the backer of the Chen family?"

Xiao Xia raised an eyebrow, "The backer of the Jiangdu Chen family turned out to be the Yuan family in Beijing?"

“Always!”

Xiao Xia laughed, "Don't be angry, could it be that the Chen family attacked us?"

"Why?" Xiao Zhurong looked back at Xiao Xia.

"In the first round, more than sixty arrows were fired, which means there were more than sixty crossbows on board. Just imagine what would happen if the Chen family secretly kept more than sixty crossbows?
Even if the Chen family wanted to rebel and secretly hid more than 60 crossbows, would they take them out and expose themselves? Risking the entire clan being implicated just to have a group fight with us, not even to rob the dock, do you think it's possible?"

Xiao Zhurong thought about it and it made sense. "What you said makes sense. Who do you think did it?"

Xiao Xia shook his head. "I don't know. Jiangdu was originally a clear water, but the emperor is coming, so the water in Jiangdu has become muddy and bottomless."

At this time, the voice of Butler Liu came from the yard, "Is Xiao Qilang here?"

Xiao Zhurong hurriedly opened the door, and Butler Liu smiled and said, "Zhu Balang is here too! It's just right, you and Xiao Qilang should go to the main residence together, the master of the family is looking for you!"

(End of this chapter)

previouscatalognext