Martial Arts World Assassin

Chapter 321 Eight Gangs and Ten Associations
All the boats on the river were burned.

Huang Sixi walked southward.

Zhai Jiao followed behind. When she saw that Huang Sixi did not use his martial arts to get rid of her, she thought that he must have tacitly agreed to let her go. So she quickly took care of all the mundane affairs along the way and stayed by Huang Sixi's side in an orderly manner.

However, after walking for only half a day and passing through several villages and towns, Zhai Jiao discovered that there was a furtive passerby behind her.

She warned Huang Sixi: "Brother Haohan, the man behind me looks cunning and doesn't seem like a good person. He might be sent by Li Mi to track me down!"

Huang Sixi did not look back, but just kept on going forward: "We are on the official road, everyone can pass through, as long as he does not attack you, just ignore him!"

Zhai Jiao nodded: "Then I won't care about him anymore!"

He then explained to Huang Sixi: "Brother Haohan, I followed you to repay you for saving my life. I definitely don't want to cause you any trouble."

Huang Sixi pointed to the city ahead and said, "Let's go into the city and buy some fast horses. We can ride on them tomorrow and we should be able to get rid of this trouble!"

Zhai Jiao immediately smiled innocently. She spread out her palm, revealing a gold ingot. "The city ahead is Lishui County. I know there is a Yunxianglou in the city. The rice wine there is very good. After we enter the city, I will treat Brother Haohan to wine and meat!"

"Such a large gold ingot, it seems you are worth a lot of money!"

"When I left Wagangzhai, I took a few gold bricks with me, which were more than I could spend in my lifetime. But they were robbed by the Turkic dogs, leaving only a small ingot. However, the gold is valuable, enough for me to treat the good man to food and drink for a year!"

"Yan Lihui and Tiexiong's luggage didn't make it off the boat in time, and your gold bricks should still be on that river boat. Why didn't you say anything and take back the gold bricks when I burned the boat?"

"Brother Haohan, you are burying the boatman, and those gold bricks are just for him to spend in the underworld, so naturally you can't take them back."

"How generous of you!"

"My father taught me to be generous and charitable since I was a child! But I gave my money to ghosts. I don't know if this counts as being generous or not?"

"..."

Huang Sixi and Zhai Jiao stayed overnight at an inn in the county town and set off on horseback the next day.

The two thought that if they rode their horses at full speed, no one would follow them. However, the sneaky passerby from yesterday also rode on a tall horse and followed them all the time.

Not only that, there were five or six more pursuers.

In order to confirm whether this group of people were tracking him or Zhai Jiao, Huang Sixi asked Zhai Jiao to stop where she was and he walked forward alone.

Several pursuers gave up on Zhai Jiao at the same time and only chased Huang Sixi.

Huang Sixi immediately deviated from the official road, sneaked into a dense forest, killed the pursuer, and only left the sneaky passerby.

He knocked the passerby down under a sycamore tree and tortured him, asking: "Who sent you to follow me?"

The passerby stammered, "No... no one sent me! I read the 'Jiang Huai Xi' and you look very similar to the target in the Xi'. I followed you for the bounty!"

Huang Sixi frowned: "What is the Jianghuai Edict?"

He guessed that it should be related to the Jianghuai rebel army.

At this time, Zhai Jiao had already caught up and introduced: "The Jianghuai Edict is a hunting order issued by the Jianghuai Righteous Army in the martial arts world, asking fellow martial artists to help track down clues about the murderer who assassinated Fu Gongju. The order only searches for clues and does not order the murderer to be killed. The reward is relatively low, and it seems to be only a thousand taels of silver."

The passerby saw that Zhai Jiao had a young face and a kind voice, so he quickly pleaded, "Please spare my life, sir. I have an 80-year-old mother and a one-year-old child. I only chased you to support my family. I would never dare to harm you!"

"Fuck your mother's fart!"

Zhai Jiao slapped the passerby, causing half of his face to turn red and swollen. "The hunting order is a reward for gangsters. If you dare to do this business, you must have done something dishonest in the past. If you dare to say anything nonsense again, I will dig out your eyes!"

The passerby's mouth twitched violently and he dared not say another word. He wondered why this short and fat boy suddenly became so fierce?

When Zhai Jiao turned her head and looked at Huang Sixi, she regained her friendly demeanor and said, "Brother Haohan, a month ago, the military advisor of the Jianghuai Volunteer Army, Fu Gongju, and the leader of the Donghai Volunteer Army, Li Zitong, were killed together. The murderer was the same person!

So in addition to the 'Jianghuai Edict', there is also a 'Donghai Order'. The Donghai Hunting Order specifically requires the murderer to be killed, with a reward of up to 10,000 taels of gold and 10,000 shi of grain. This money and grain is enough to support a thousand-man army for two or three years!"

The only person who died in the Jianghuai rebel army was the military advisor, and the bounty could not be compared with that of the leader of the Donghai rebel army.

However, in times of chaos, even the lowest bounty can still attract desperate criminals to take risks.

Huang Sixi didn't know much about the underworld forces in the underworld, so he went to Zhai Jiao to ask, "Who are the main people who receive the killing orders like this?"

"There are all kinds of people here. They do things for money, and they dare to kill anyone for money!" Zhai Jiao said:

"In the past six months, the highest bounty on the wanted list issued by the martial arts world is for tracking down Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling! From ordinary killers and street thugs to gang leaders and rebel leaders, everyone is looking for them!"

"What hornet's nest did they stir up?"

"They were originally small hooligans in Yangzhou City. They stole the ancient treasure book "The Secret of Immortality" and seemed to know the location of the "Yang Gong Treasure". That's why they were hunted down by the whole martial arts world! In order to find them, the Dongming Sect took out the sect's treasure, the Dongming Sword, as a reward!"

"What is the ranking of the murderer's bounty in the Jianghuai Order and the Donghai Order?"

“Currently ranked third!”

"Who's second?"

"It's a Turkic dog named 'Ba Fenghan'. This dog doesn't stay on the grassland to herd horses and sheep. He ran to the Middle-earth to challenge people everywhere. He has defeated dozens of famous masters in a row! Several major martial arts sects have joined forces to besiege him several times, but he was defeated in the end. So these sects issued a hunting order and asked underworld killers to assassinate him!"

No matter Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling, or Ba Fenghan, they are all top masters who have emerged recently. It is difficult to defeat them in a head-on confrontation, so we can only try the insidious method of sneak attack.

Whenever a hunting order is issued in the underworld, all means will be used to kill the target, including poisoning, burning, kidnapping, threatening, disguising as a relative or friend, and backstabbing, etc.

After Zhai Jiao finished talking about the Jianghuai Edict and the Donghai Order, she turned around and asked the passers-by, "You want to track down the murderers who assassinated Fu Gongju and Li Zitong. Why are you chasing my good brother?"

The passerby replied nervously, "According to the description on the wanted order, the murderer is a burly man, eight feet three inches tall, with a blade on his back and a sword in his hand. He might be lurking along the Yangtze River. It's just that the hero's outfit is too similar to the murderer, so the fellow gangsters who were squatting on the river bank chased after him!"

After hearing this, Zhai Jiao was stunned.

Although passers-by could not confirm that Huang Sixi was the murderer who assassinated Fu Gongju and Li Zitong, Zhai Jiao had already determined in her heart that only Huang Sixi had the ability to kill the leader of the rebel army.

After she recovered from her shock, she hastily suggested, "Brother Haohan, this evil thief is outspoken, we must not let him live, otherwise he will definitely spread the news all over the world."

Huang Sixi stood up and walked away without saying anything. Zhai Jiao immediately stretched out a finger and pressed the passerby's weak spot.

After Zhai Jiao destroyed the bodies of several pursuers and caught up with Huang Sixi, she heard Huang Sixi ask her, "How can we revoke the Jianghuai Edict and the Donghai Order?"

Zhai Jiao has been involved in gangs since she was young. Even though she is still young, she can still provide advice to Huang Sixi.

She answered cautiously, "The hunting order was issued by Du Fuwei, the leader of the Jianghuai Volunteer Army, and Li Ziyun, the new leader of the Donghai Volunteer Army. The one who died in the Jianghuai Volunteer Army was Fu Gongju, his right-hand man. Du Fuwei wanted to give an explanation to his brothers, but he didn't want to force the murderer too much, so his hunting order was only to find clues about the murderer. If the murderer commits crimes again in the future and kills stronger masters, Du Fuwei should take the initiative to revoke the hunting order after evaluating the murderer's strength."

Huang Sixi listened attentively and did not express his opinion.

Zhai Jiao continued, "The situation of the East Sea Righteous Army is somewhat special. When Li Zitong was alive, he treated his subordinates well. The leader of the East Sea Righteous Army is very loyal to the Li family. They elected Li Zitong's younger brother, Li Ziyun, as the new leader. Li Ziyun once vowed to avenge his brother. Even if he died for some reason, his relatives would likely continue the hunting order after they took power. This is also the unanimous attitude within the East Sea Righteous Army."

After she finished speaking, a look of sadness appeared on her face.

Huang Sixi glanced at her and said, "According to what you said, only if all the people in the Li family who have the potential to take power are killed, will the hunting order be revoked?"

Zhai Jiao said: "Now is a time of chaos. Maybe tomorrow the East Sea Volunteer Army will be wiped out by the government soldiers, and the Li family will also be defeated. By then, we don't have to do anything, and the hunting order will be automatically eliminated."

Zhai Jiao knew that Huang Sixi really had the ability to kill all the members of the Li family.

She thought that if the hero decided to turn back north and attack the East China Sea righteous army's camp, she would definitely follow him. But if she killed any members of the Li family and the news got to Wagangzhai, it would be a stab in the back.

But then again, as long as the Sui court has not been destroyed, the rebel armies in various places will maintain superficial harmony and will not attack each other, but will first jointly fight against the Sui army.

But after the Sui Dynasty is overthrown, the rebel armies will surely become enemies as fierce as fire and water in their fight for supremacy over the world, and there will be no room for any mercy at that time.

Zhai Jiao then thought that even if she killed the East China Sea rebels, it would not be a big deal.

She was ready to go to war with the East China Sea rebels.

Huang Sixi had no intention of turning back. He led his horse back to the official road and asked Zhai Jiao, "If we go over the mountains and take the small road to Suian County, can you lead the way?"

Suian County is located near Chun'an County in western Zhejiang, and the Qianligang Mountains that Huang Sixi wanted to find are located in the southern part of Suian.

Zhai Jiao was ashamed: "The farthest I've been to the south is Xuancheng County, which is at least three or four hundred miles away from Suian County! If I take the official road, it's no problem, but if I take the mountain road, I will definitely get lost!"

When Huang Sixi heard that she didn't know the way, he immediately jumped on his horse and said, "Let's continue on the official road!"

When she got on the horse and was about to ride forward together, she suddenly saw a herbalist carrying a bamboo basket running out of the mountain pass by the road in panic. Due to excessive fright, the herbalist was tripped by a rock and fell to the ground, with a bruised face and nose.

Zhai Jiao asked curiously, "Hey, what did you see? Look at you, you look like you've lost your soul!"

The herbalist was so excited that he blurted out the truth without thinking: "There are hundreds of dead people in the mountains over there. There are only corpses!"

Huang Sixi interjected, "Has there been a war nearby recently?"

The herbalist trembled as he answered, "There is unrest in Jiangxi, not in Jiangdong. I don't know who killed them. I'm going to report it to the authorities!"

The herbalist left in a hurry, but he may not have reported it to the authorities. He now regrets revealing the tragedy he saw to outsiders.

Huang Sixi did not keep the herbalist. He took out the Feng Shui compass and saw that the central needle pointed to "water", which was the abnormal aura emitted by the rotting corpse.

He did not calculate the location of the corpse, but rode directly into the mountain pass.

If it is true as the herbalist said, that there are hundreds of corpses abandoned in the mountain, then the smell must be very strong, and he can accurately find the source just by the corpse odor.

When Zhai Jiao saw Huang Sixi going into the mountains, she hurriedly followed.

As expected.

After Huang Sixi went around several hills, a foul odor already wafted towards him.

Until they entered a valley, they found hundreds of rotting corpses lying all over the place. Judging from the degree of decay of the corpses, they had been dead for at least half a month.

Zhai Jiao took a look and sighed slightly: "I have seen tens of thousands of corpses, covering the mountains and plains with no end in sight. This is how the world is. There is no difference between a dead person and a dead ant."

When Zhai Jiao saw Huang Sixi fall off his horse, she walked among the crowd of corpses to check the situation.

She followed suit, analyzing, "These people should be a large family fleeing from war. They were carrying a lot of gold and silver treasures. When they passed through here, they were targeted by nearby bandits, who killed them and robbed them, then killed them all!"

Huang Sixi shook his head and said, "Not all of them were killed. More than a hundred children among them are missing!"

"what?"

Zhai Jiao asked suspiciously, "Brother Haohan, how do you know there are children among them? Do you know them?"

"We met once!"

The corpse at Huang Sixi's feet was Du Silang's father. He had recognized the origins of this group of people. They were the refugees he met by chance in Jiangbei a month ago.

The situation he least wanted to see happened right before him.

The rage in his heart could not be suppressed.

After he suppressed his restless mood, he turned around and pointed outside the mountain, asking Zhai Jiao: "What bandit forces are entrenched around here?"

Seeing his strange expression, Zhai Jiao couldn't help but panic, and quickly replied: "There are eight gangs and ten associations in the underworld, all of which are secretly doing murder and robbery! Among them, the Baling Gang and the Iron Cavalry Association are the most brutal. The Baling Gang kidnaps women from refugees all over the country, and then sells them to the brothels they run, forcing the women to receive customers!"

Zhai Jiao looked around at the corpses and said, "Most of the women here were killed, not abducted. This doesn't seem like the style of the Baling Gang."

Huang Sixi asked again in a deep voice: "Is that something the Iron Cavalry would do?"

Zhai Jiao changed her tone to one of confidence: "The leader of this gang is called Ren Shaoming. My father said that Ren Shaoming has Tiele blood and is very likely a spy planted by the Tiele in Jiangnan. The cavalry around him are all children abducted from various places. They have been trained to be death warriors since childhood and follow him to kill and burn people! Brother Haohan, if any child in this refugee group is lost, there is a high probability that they were abducted by the Tiele Cavalry!"

She pointed eastward and said, "Dozens of miles away are Tao Lake and Shazi Lake. The area between the two lakes was turned into a horse farm by the Iron Cavalry Society. That's where the Iron Cavalry Society's lair is. The possibility that they committed the crime is very high!"

How can the Iron Cavalry cultivate the children's loyalty to death if they kill the children's loved ones?
In fact, when they robbed the children, they were all masked bandits. After they killed all the people and took the children away, they would sell the children to the Iron Cavalry Society in the name of merchants.

These children will not know who killed their loved ones. Even if they do know, the cruel training process of being assassins will make them lose their nature and turn them into tools that only know how to kill.

(End of this chapter)