Chapter 672: Criminals

In a small village five kilometers away from Deer Villa, the stench of blood silently permeated the air in the darkness. An old man guarding the well had collapsed in a wooden house nearby, along with a dog which was bleeding profusely.

The wooden house was newly-built as the well used to be unattended. But the atmosphere around the capital region had been tense lately as news about the pestilence brewed. Aside from arranging villagers to patrol the village during the day, The Zhao Clan also found some widowers in the village to guard the wells at night so that no one could tamper with them. Not only the Zhao Clan Village, but the wells in other cities within the capital regions were also guarded at night.

“Hurry up, bring the things over…!” There were two moving shadows beside the well. One of them was holding a knife while he whispered. “The dog barked a few times just now. We have to hurry, or else we’ll be seen…!”

“Got it…” The other shadow carried a large clay pot which was about half a meter tall. He snuck to the well and uncovered the lid of the clay pot. A disgusting stench immediately wafted out in the darkness.

The other figure with the knife rushed over. Both of them lifted the large clay pot and tipped it over the well…

SPLASH…! A pile of unrecognizable mush was poured out of the large clay pot and into the well.

As soon as they emptied the contents of the clay pot, one of the figures seemed to be startled as he shook something off his hand violently, then stomped on the ground.

“What’s wrong?” his companion asked.

“A maggot got onto my hand. Luckily I’m wearing gloves…” The black figure panted as he replied, looking as though he just had a fright.

“Let’s leave now and follow the same road…”

“Alright…”

The two shadows quickly made their way back, but they did not forget to bring the large clay pot with them before they left.

Less than half a minute after the two left, Yan Liqiang fell from the sky and landed beside the well. His eyes were burning. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on here.

Although it was very dark, Yan Liqiang could still see as clearly as he could in the daytime.

The dead bodies of the old man and dog were on the ground. They died from a knife stab and there was blood everywhere. As soon as Yan Liqiang neared the well, he was assaulted by an unpleasant fishy stench. Not only that, but there were also some red maggots crawling around the well too.

The White Lotus Society was really out of their mind!

The fire in Yan Liqiang’s eyes turned into murderous intent. He looked up at the sky again, then gave chase to the shadows. In just less than a minute, he spotted the two figures in a forest close to the village.

Both of them were dressed in black from head to toe and wore gloves. They were sprinting at a high speed, and one of them was actually carrying the large clay pot on his back. From the looks of it, one of them was a Martial Warrior while the other carrying the clay pot didn’t seem like he was anyone remarkable. In any case, they were scums to Yan Liqiang.

So these were the ones who dumped a bloody corpse into the well?

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Yan Liqiang was about to attack them but quickly changed his mind. These two were merely small fries. Yan Liqiang wanted to see if he could actually catch the big fish in the White Lotus Society by following them…

In just less than two minutes, the small fries from the White Lotus Society made it through the forest behind the village and arrived at a river. They took off all their clothes and gloves then threw all of them into the clay pot, including the knife that one of them was using. They added two more stones inside it, then sank the pot into the river. After that, both of them crossed the river, followed the dirt road in the field, and ran into the distance while covering up their tracks.

Of course, none of them would have expected Yan Liqiang to be following them and watching their every move. It was in the middle of the night, so there wasn’t anyone else in the wilderness. The two figures followed the small familiar road for about ten minutes before reaching another village, then climbed into a house near a fish pond through the window.

One of them shut the window quietly and drew the curtains. The other one made for the door as soon as he got in and peered through the crack in the door…

The sparks from fire steel were seen shortly before an oil lamp was lit. The light from the lamp exposed two relieved yet bitter faces.

One of the men seemed like he was in his fifties. He was an honest-looking man with wrinkles all over his tanned face and a gray beard. The other was a famished-looking man in his twenties. He had a long scar that ran across his forehead and high cheekbones. He appeared to be a little slow-witted, but his eyes were filled with bitterness…

The room was spacious. There were some wooden planks of various lengths, an unfinished cabinet, and a huge bed in the corner of the room. A hand planer, chisels, a saw, and other woodworking tools were strewn across a table. The room was slightly messy and seemed to be used by a carpenter.

The young man was panting heavily as he poured a cup of water for himself at the table. Just when he was about to drink it, the old man slapped him hard and hissed at him. “Don’t forget to wash your hands with wine first…!”

The young man was startled, then promptly set his cup down and picked up a jar of wine from the table. After he washed his hands with the wine, the old man took the jar and also rinsed his hands. Only after doing that did he relaxingly sit down on the chair again and let out a long sigh.

The young man gulped down his water, wiped his face, then whispered, “Master… W-Will anyone discover what we did tonight?”

The old man threw a glance at the young man, then picked up the tobacco pipe on the table. He leisurely stuffed some tobacco leaves into the pipe, lit it up with the oil lamp, then took a long drag on it and narrowed his eyes. “Of course not. If we keep it a secret, who else would know about it? Do you really think the imperial court’s lapdogs are omnipotent? Hehe, they are even more afraid than us right now. The Emperor is going to run and leave them behind to die in the capital regions…!”

“What if… what if an outbreak really happens?”

“We have been lurking in the Imperial Capital for seven years, and this is the only mission we received from the White Lotus Society in the past seven years. We’ll be leaving the capital region in another five or six days, so we have nothing to worry about even if there’s an outbreak. It would be best if it really happened. At least those scums in the imperial court will be wiped out and we’ll have fewer scourges…” The old man spoke ruthlessly while smoking his pipe.

“Ah, so the higher-ups have allowed us to leave?”

“Of course. Armies are to be maintained in the course of long years, but to be used in the nick of time. We stayed here for so many years as carpenters, only for the sake of this mission. We are allowed to leave after the Grandmaster handed us that pot. So in another few days when we reach Jinling, we’ll meet up with someone from the White Lotus Society. He will take us away from the capital region…”

“What a pity. I thought we could slay a few corrupt officials this time…” The young man spoke fiercely while touching the scar on his forehead. “I didn’t expect that old dog Xu would escape with his family already. I guess I can only get my revenge next time…”

“You’ll have many chances in the future. This Heavenly Tribulation will be brought about by His Holiness to exterminate the imperial court and force a change in the Great Han Empire…” The old man’s eyes shone with enthusiasm as he sucked on his pipe hard.

“With His Holiness’s remarkable abilities, I’m sure he’ll definitely be able to lead us in building the utopia where all those tyrants that oppress the commoners and those corrupt officials will be our slaves…!”

“Will that day ever come?”

“It definitely will!” The old man nodded confidently.

Yan Liqiang initially followed both of them to see if he could find some clues or sniff out an important figure from the White Lotus Society. After listening to the conversation between them and a quick tour outside around the house, Yan Liqiang was finally able to confirm that these two were merely the small fries that the White Lotus Society had assigned here.

This place wasn’t their stronghold, but these two people’s residence. It seemed like a carpenter’s workshop, so both of them were probably working as carpenters in this village. It didn’t seem like they were going to meet anyone else here either…

There was no point in wasting his time here, so Yan Liqiang figured he might as well get some answers directly from these two people. At the thought of that, Yan Liqiang immediately dashed to the front door of the house and barged into the room…