The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 79 The Scapegoat Arrives

The guards in the front yard were still putting up a stubborn resistance.

The men from Shitou Village had already entered the second courtyard through the side gate.

Before they arrived, they had reached an agreement with the strategist, the vagrant dog-head.

Apart from the tiger skin that the government troops extorted from them, they were not charged a single penny of other valuables.

Of course, they themselves will have to retrieve the treasured artifact from the mountain stronghold.

The compound of the Qianhu Office was not large, with only a dozen or so rooms in the second courtyard.

They ransacked the entire warehouse.

It's astonishing how such a small level can be used to amass wealth!
If it weren't for the fact that a hundred or so of them couldn't defeat tens of thousands of refugees, they would have easily taken half of all the gold, silver, jewelry, brocade, and fine clothes.

The warehouse was searched thoroughly.

The deputy centurion's quarters were thoroughly searched.

The two tiger skins are still nowhere to be found.

They had no choice but to expand the scope of their search.

Soon, someone discovered that the room, which was decorated like a bridal chamber, was filled with the corpses of soldiers.

"Come quick, look! There are dead people, lots of dead people!"

None of the men in Shitou Village are afraid of dying.

The clansmen, who were still searching in the surrounding back rooms, gathered upon hearing the noise.

The guy who had called everyone to come and watch the spectacle even touched the bodies of several of the dead.

From someone with a lot of experience:

"He died no more than a quarter of an hour ago; his body was still warm and there was no bleeding."

His people looked around the house, making a point of checking the doors and windows.

No signs of a struggle were found.

Apart from the fact that the deceased's eyes were wide open, it was impossible to tell what they had experienced before they died.

There was a guy who loved gossip, and his imagination ran wild:

"Could they be homosexuals, and because they're not accepted by society, they've agreed to commit suicide together after their wedding ceremony today?"

"Cough, don't listen to the nonsense from those storytellers in the tavern."

"Exactly! If it's a wedding ceremony, why aren't they wearing red and green? They're all wearing official robes!"

"It could not possibly be suicide. It's highly likely that he encountered a martial arts master and had his heart meridian shattered by their internal force!"

"Perhaps they had a dispute over the spoils and were poisoned by their own people. Their eyes were wide open, maybe they were trying to say: 'It was you?'"

"."

"Stop guessing! Whether they live or die is none of our business. That strategist only gave us two quarters of an hour to find the tiger skin!"

The men of Shitou Village then remembered their real purpose for coming here and scattered.

They ransacked the small, two-courtyard house.

Unfortunately, the tiger skin they longed for was still at General Huang's residence in Nanhe Prefecture.

When the time came, they returned empty-handed.

Gan Minglan watched them come and go:

These people from Stone Village are truly extraordinary! How did they manage to push refugees out of the pass without any travel permits? What were they looking for just now?
After the refugees in the first courtyard had completely dealt with the weak and incompetent government troops, they moved on to the second courtyard.

I was startled again by the corpses lying all over the floor of the back room.

The refugees started making a ruckus and discussing it:
"Who was the kind person who did this? They took care of the last few without us even lifting a finger." "Wow, these two look different from the ordinary soldiers. That one's even wearing black boots! These two must be officers!"

"I bet it was those guys from Stone Village! Didn't they say their family heirloom tiger skin was stolen by the head of this garrison? Can't they retaliate?"

"The strategist said that the people of Stone Village are not ordinary mountain folk; they are very likely a bandit den."

"The strategist also said that it's best not to get into a conflict with these people. Let's find out all that ill-gotten gains as soon as possible, since the brothers need money for food and drink every day."

"Tomorrow morning, let's throw these people and the corpses of those soldiers into the Sweetwater River! Digging a deep pit and burying them will take a lot of effort!"

"The strategist instructed us to stay overnight at the Thousand-Household Office. Tomorrow, we will spread the word of our righteous army in Sweetwater County and must unite the disaster-stricken people of Sweetwater County."

More than 10,000 refugees were lying in the two-courtyard house, with people even lying outside the courtyard.

Gan Minglan hung on a large tree outside the wall of the Qianhu Office for a long time.

With his amazing hearing, he finally heard the strategist among the refugees give his orders, and then sneaked back to the post station at 01:00 AM.

On the way back, she was still thinking about it.

What would be the attitude of the refugees towards these exiles?

Did they kill the escorting officials and persuade them to rebel together?

He's still like a thug, unable to walk past a woman!
In her opinion, this rabble would never amount to anything.

After much deliberation, I finally decided to avoid their sharp edge.

Back at the post station.

She then escorted each of the She family members and the children to the rooms that had been arranged for them at the post station.

Zuo Wenkang and his apprentices and cousins ​​were thrown onto the large communal bed in the largest empty room of the post station.

Everything took place silently in the night.

It did not alert anyone in the post station at all.

Gan Minglan, however, was unable to sleep due to her intense emotional fluctuations that evening.

In the latter half of the night, I would spend my time in the training room repeatedly tempering my body and absorbing wood elements to pass the time.

As for how to explain to the officials tomorrow when I returned?

She was also one of the people who were drugged, the main one being the unsuspecting one.
At 4 a.m., the Huang family leader and others were woken up by the postmaster.

"Sir, something terrible has happened! Bao Laoyao, the night soil collector, says that there are mountains of dead bodies outside the Thousand Household Office, and they are all soldiers who died!"
He said it was probably done by refugees. Our post station is so close; they should be here soon.
Upon hearing that the refugees had slaughtered an entire thousand-household garrison, the Huang family leaders and others were instantly wide awake.

He woke everyone up and ordered them to leave before dawn.

Suddenly, a series of knocks on the doors rang out from all around.

Upon hearing the sound, Gan Minglan also left the space.

It seems we won't be able to wait for the effects of the sleeping potion in everyone's bodies to dissipate on their own.

She carried the water pouch and went to the room where Zuo Wenkang and his cousins ​​lived, taking a sip of mulberry wood essence from each of them.

Back inside, the women each received a bite.

It's fine for children, but it's better to carry them on your back when traveling at night!
The toxicity of ordinary sleeping potions is really not that great.

One sip of mulberry wood essence woke up the people who had been taking traditional Chinese medicine the night before in less than five minutes.

When Mrs. She and the others woke up, they did not know where they were.

Everyone was a little confused.

Seeing everyone's stunned expressions, Gan Minglan shouted, "Everyone, get up quickly! The refugees have reached Tianshui County! Get up and run for your lives!"

The moment his empty mind caught the word "escape," he shuddered.

All I want to do is pack my things quickly, grab the kids, my wife, and my mother, and run away!
(End of this chapter)