The World's Number One Medical Hall

Chapter 191 Zhang Zhan Dies at the Mountain Guard Post

Mountain Guard.

The lights were on full display on a rainy night.

The soldiers standing guard at the gate stood ramrod straight in the rain, holding their muskets and keeping their eyes wide open, alert to any movement in their surroundings.

Every person entering or leaving must undergo their most thorough inspection, and can only pass through after everything is confirmed to be correct.

In the courtyard, a huge searchlight swayed, occasionally illuminating the rows of soldiers below, dressed in raincoats and holding muskets, patrolling seamlessly.

It is clear that the security measures tonight are much tighter than usual.

In fact, this didn't just happen tonight; the defenses here have been upgraded ever since the fighting that took place during the day.

The barbarians were not just recklessly arrogant; they were also well aware of the consequences of their actions and were making thorough preparations for possible retaliation.

In reality, no one would be foolish enough to come to the mountain garrison to their death, but who can say for sure?

Just as no one had thought before that in Mingzhu today, anyone would dare to attack their soldiers in broad daylight, but what was the result? Their heads were displayed like a mound of skulls, and the word "kill" was left on the ground in the blood of their people.

Even the most arrogant barbarians dare not be careless when faced with such ruthless bandits and have to make as many thorough preparations as possible.

Of course, the staff at the mountain garrison were not too worried about safety here; they were more concerned about the outside world.

From the moment that massacre began, they kept a close watch on every corner of Mingzhu, waiting for those rats hiding in the shadows to emerge so they could strike them with lightning speed.

The real preparations aren't being made here, but rather in those places outside that are more likely to invite retaliation.

It has been a full week, and everyone at the mountain garrison is extremely eager to capture those ruthless bandits who dared to oppose their Great Banner Empire. This is not only to avenge their humiliation, but also because they feel that their safety is threatened.

If we've expended so much energy and still can't deal with these people, who knows if we'll be the next one to have our head chopped off if these extremely dangerous rebels commit another crime?

So tonight, everyone is on high alert.

With the trap secured, we eagerly awaited the arrival of these damned rebels.

Han Zaikou, the commander of the mountain garrison, was also waiting, and he was even more eager than his subordinates.

It has been a week since the incident, and he is under a lot of pressure. Not only does he have to give an explanation to the soldiers who were killed, but he also has to ensure the safety of the people of the Banner Kingdom living in Pearl City.

Otherwise, he would face endless political pressure.

At this moment, everyone, including Han Zaikou, was waiting, even hoping that the group of rebels would be scared out of their wits.

As expected, just as night fell, they finally got the commotion they were looking for.

A shop in the southern district, run by people from the Manchu people, was attacked. Under the cover of night, several figures suddenly appeared, wielding sharp blades, and rushed into the shop, swiftly killing everyone inside. They then arrogantly set the shop on fire.

The heavy rain couldn't extinguish the fire that had been set ablaze by kerosene. The commotion was quickly reported to the mountain garrison.

Upon receiving the news, Han Zaikou felt not anger, but joy. He was not afraid of Han Zaikou coming; he was afraid Han Zaikou wouldn't dare to come.

He immediately gave the order, and the barbarian soldiers, who had been fully prepared in various places, rushed forward to meet the group of targets who had already fallen into the pit.

Han Zaikou knew this wasn't over yet, and there was absolutely no way things would be quiet tonight. However, he was looking forward to it; the more traces they revealed, the better. The more clues they showed, the more likely he was to dig them all out and leave no one alive.

Sometimes, happiness just comes too suddenly.

"Sir, at the Changting Street outpost in the South District, ten of our patrol soldiers were surrounded and killed by over a hundred men. Our reinforcements have arrived. In the end, we suffered seven casualties, while the enemy killed twenty-three on the spot. The rest fled and are in pursuit..."

"In the East District, Mr. Changyu's villa was suddenly attacked by hundreds of men in black wielding sharp weapons. At the time of the incident, Mr. Changyu was holding a birthday banquet for his son, and dozens of people from the Qi Kingdom were there to offer their congratulations..."

"In the North District, a fire has broken out at the Yuanmao Garment Factory, which is invested by Qiguo. Four Qiguo citizens are trapped inside. Our troops are currently involved in firefighting efforts..."

"An intelligence officer's home was raided by armed robbers, and his wife and children were kidnapped..."

"Riot broke out at Wujiang Wharf; hundreds stormed the wharf..."

"An explosion occurred at a clubhouse in the foreign concession..."

"A money exchange in the western district was robbed..."

"Our mountain garrison's horse farm has been poisoned..."

"An explosion occurred near the garrison headquarters, and General Liang called..."

"Damn it!" Han Zaikou's composed expression finally changed. He slammed his hand on the table and roared at the people who kept rushing to him to report the situation, "What's going on? Huh? What's going on?"

Is this the news he's been waiting for?

Such a thing as poisoning at the Lianshanwei horse farm has come out?

"We've investigated, and the troublemakers are... the Youth Society!" Seeing his anger, someone turned pale and said tremblingly.

Does he even need to say it?

How could Han Zaikou not know that these people were from the Youth Society?

Besides the Youth Society, who else in Mingzhu has the power to turn this city into a battlefield in an instant?

"Bang!" Han Zaikou slammed his fist on the table again, then glared at someone and said fiercely, "Why weren't we warned when the Youth Society suddenly rioted?"

"This..." The man's forehead was covered in cold sweat, and he said tremblingly, "I just received news that this riot was a secret order directly given by Mr. Du of the Youth Society to the twelve hall masters of the Youth Society, and all twelve hall masters have been detained at the Youth Society headquarters..."

Judging from his words, it seems that they already have an inside agent among the twelve hall masters.

Even so, Han Zaikou's expression turned even uglier. Mr. Du's actions were undoubtedly premeditated, and he probably already knew that one of the twelve hall masters had run into trouble.

"Damn it, damn it!" Han Zaikou roared in anger, not sure if he was cursing the intelligence department or Mr. Du. He paced back and forth for a few steps, then suddenly looked up at Cui Chaoyuan: "Grandmaster, please come here. Du Juan is from Huangting Prefecture. If they do not immediately stop the Youth Society's riot and give us an explanation, we will consider their actions as a declaration of war by the Great Xia Daoist sect against our Great Qi Empire, and we will retaliate with the fiercest force, making them pay an unimaginable price."

Cui Chaoyuan's expression turned serious, but without hesitation, he immediately bowed and said, "Yes, sir, rest assured, I'll go right away!"

He knew very well that the reason why the adults had not been on guard against the Youth Society was because of the Daoist peace talks.

He never expected the Taoist sect to be so bold as to openly challenge him while negotiating. This matter was of great importance, and he dared not delay, so he immediately went to the conference room.

At this moment, a Grandmaster of a Daoist sect is in the conference room, negotiating matters that occurred during the day.

After Master Cui left, Han Zaikou's chest heaved, his eyes flashing with a fierce light. His anger was earth-shattering. If it weren't for the negotiations with the Taoist sect, how could he have been so careless as to commit such a massacre?

Now that the target he was supposed to target hadn't shown up, yet had caused such a huge mess, he could imagine how much this situation would affect him.

His murderous intent surged, and he wished he could immediately mobilize troops to wipe out all the Taoist disciples in Mingzhu to avenge his grievances, but in the end he took a deep breath and suppressed his anger.

In reality, the Daoist sects did not want to participate in the war, nor did they wish for the Daoist sects of the Great Xia Dynasty to participate.

He didn't dare to completely break with the Great Xia Daoist sect. However, he wouldn't reveal his thoughts and unhesitatingly sent Cui Chaoyuan to express his firm stance. He was confident that the Daoist sect wouldn't dare to turn against him, and the Youth Society would still need them to suppress the rebellion.

He lowered his head slightly, clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and muttered, "Youth Society, Azalea..."

This time, he was determined to kill Du Juan no matter what.

He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again, his face cold as he looked at his trembling subordinates and asked, "Where are Bai Changqing's men? Any movement?"

He hadn't forgotten his goal for tonight. With the intervention of the Dao Sect, the Youth Society should be resolved quickly. But he wouldn't forget Bai Changqing, who was threatening his life, nor would he give up halfway.

"So far, we haven't received any reports of their involvement. But with the situation in complete chaos outside, we can't be sure." The subordinate was sweating profusely, but had no choice but to tell the truth.

After all, Bai Changqing's men are all highly skilled, and their style of doing things is different from the Youth Society's approach of swarming in with a large number of people. This is also a factor used to determine whether they are involved. So far, almost all the reports received are about the Youth Society causing trouble.

"Damn it!" Han Zaikou grabbed a teacup from the table and smashed it hard at the person who had spoken.

"Yes!" The man was hit on the head by the teacup, and blood immediately flowed out, but he dared not resist in the slightest. Instead, he immediately bowed and apologized.

Han Zaikou closed his eyes again to calm himself before speaking again: "Any movement from the intelligence agency?"

"We haven't received any reports yet. We remain on high alert. As soon as they appear, we will immediately surround and annihilate them!" the man who had been hit said firmly again.

"Hoo..." Han Zaikou's eyes were filled with anger. The intelligence agency was the cage he had prepared for Bai Changqing and his gang.

On that street, he arrested many people, but instead of bringing them to the mountain garrison, he detained them in the intelligence station for interrogation, thus giving the group an opportunity to rescue them.

Han Zaikou sat down irritably, feeling extremely depressed.

"Report..." Suddenly, another request came from the doorway.

Han Zaikou looked up: "Go in!"

"Sir, a large number of the bodies of my patrol soldiers have been found in the western district..." the man said nervously.

"Huh?" Han Zaikou's eyes widened immediately, and his voice instantly turned angry: "What do you mean by 'a lot'?"

"According to statistics, more than eighty bodies have been found so far!" The fear in the man's voice continued.

"What?"

"Eighty people?"

"You bastard!"

Eighty barbarian soldiers, what does that mean?

No one here could accept that eighty soldiers had died so silently.

"What did you say?" Han Zaikou's voice was extremely deep.

"Just a short while ago, the soldiers on rotation discovered that a patrol had been killed..."

The process was simple. The patrol team was already rotating shifts frequently tonight, with one shift every hour, and they were even alternating shifts.

Generally speaking, even if something happens, they can use whistles as a form of emergency call for help.

Adding to the fact that it was raining heavily tonight and already cold, the soldiers who were supposed to be relieved of their duties did so only when the time came, and did not wander around.

No one would have imagined that so many people would die so quietly.

When the replacements arrived and discovered that their original squad was gone, they immediately became alert. Upon seeing the bodies, they were shocked and immediately sounded the horn. An investigation revealed that more than eighty soldiers had disappeared in just one hour.

"An urgent reconnaissance along the route of the missing soldiers revealed that all twenty-six of our soldiers, who were lying in ambush at that street corner, had perished, all wounded in the neck, fatally struck by a sharp weapon..."

The office fell silent.

Everyone's breathing was rapid and heaving, and Han Zaikou's voice trembled: "All were one-hit kills, and not a single person resisted?"

"No, we checked everyone's guns, and no one fired. They were all killed instantly, and most of them died with their eyes open." The newcomer's voice began to betray a sense of fear.

"It's them, it's them!" Han Zaikou's face flushed instantly as he looked up. "They've appeared. Bai Changqing's men have indeed come out."

Without a doubt, he confirmed this guess almost immediately.

But now he felt no joy. The lives of eighty Qiguo soldiers, who were capable of fighting against hundreds of Xia soldiers on the battlefield and expanding the territory, were now dead, dead without a sound.

Han Zaikou's heart clenched; the price he paid chilled him to the bone.

"Report..."

Before he could calm his inner turmoil, another urgent report came from the doorway. Everyone in the office trembled almost instantly, all looking up. Han Zaikou stammered, "Come in!"

"Report: In the eastern district of our banner country, seven ruthless bandits have infiltrated and are frantically attacking our Xia people. The enemy is highly skilled in martial arts. Our troops surrounded them, but they still resisted fiercely and were eventually annihilated by us."

"Total annihilation?" Han Zaikou's expression immediately changed. "Were there any survivors?"

Everyone present immediately tensed up, finally hearing the good news.

"No, the military reported that these seven bandits were extremely fierce. They slaughtered 91 of our civilians in an instant. Even after being surrounded, they still fought to the death to break through. They were highly skilled in martial arts and killed more than 60 of our soldiers when they were surrounded by heavy troops..."

Han Zaikou and the others turned pale again. More than a hundred people: "You're saying... there are only seven of them?"

"Yes, seven men. They were all wiped out by our army, and their bodies are being transported here."

Han Zaikou's body trembled slightly, and the exhilaration he had felt just moments before vanished without a trace.

With casualties of one to twenty, can he still be motivated?

His hands and feet began to feel cold, his beard trembled, and his heart tightened.

"Report, sir, multiple patrols in the southern district have been ambushed by martial arts experts. The number of the enemy is unknown. Currently, nearly a hundred of our patrols have been killed almost simultaneously..."

"Report..."

The messages came in a chilling manner, sending shivers down everyone's spine in the office.

The news of the Youth Society's disturbance was now forgotten.

It's not that the Youth Society's antics weren't terrifying, but rather that their terror wasn't so directly manifested. Their assassinations, kidnappings, and riots were far less stimulating than the lives of these barbarian soldiers.

In such a short time, hundreds of lives have been reported. How many civilians have they killed today?

How could such direct and terrifying retaliation not unsettle the instigators?

"How many of them are there?" Han Zaikou rubbed his numb face, his eyes already red. At this moment, he felt not only anger, but also shock.

It seems that these people's power far exceeds my imagination. Just like the Youth Society, they are also able to spread everywhere.

And it's even more terrifying than the Youth Society. It's as if I've provoked not an ant, but an elephant!

"Enemy attack..."

"Bang bang bang!"

In the office, which had been eerily silent, everyone suddenly jumped in surprise and looked out the window.

Han Zaikou shuddered instinctively: "What happened?"

Several subordinates immediately rushed out, shouting, "Guards! Guards! Protect the commander!"

Several elite soldiers rushed in immediately and stood in front of Han Zaikou to protect him.

In a split second, Cui Chaoyuan darted in and arrived beside Han Zaikou, his voice urgent: "Sir, someone has broken into the mountain garrison! Please be careful!"

No need for him to say it, gunshots rang out one after another outside the door.

Han Zaikou's already pale face became even more ashen. At this moment, the threat from the letter that had been delivered to him kept echoing in his mind.

"They really dare..." Han Zaikou's lips trembled as he muttered silently.

Indeed, the gunshots downstairs proved that they really dared to come and take his head.

Soon, the gunfire stopped.

A commotion erupted: "Quick, bring him here!"

Footsteps rose loudly, and the situation remained chaotic.

Cui Chaoyuan stepped forward and stood at the window, gazing out. He immediately turned back and reported, "Sir, the battle is over. The attackers have been killed!"

"How many people have come? Quickly, bring them over!" Han Zaikou immediately looked up and said urgently.

How many people came?

soon.

A row of corpses was laid out in front of him.

Accompanied by Choi Cho-won, Han Jae-ko clenched his fists and looked at the corpses.

After a long while, he finally raised his head, his gaze sweeping across the faces of everyone before finally settling on Cui Chaoyuan's face.

Cui Chaoyuan's expression was equally unpleasant, but he had no choice but to nod to Han Zaikou.

Han Zaikou swayed, lowered his head again, gritted his teeth, and his eyes were filled with a mixture of fear and uncertainty.

What did he see?

There was a row of more than ten corpses, but only one man in black.

The others were all his soldiers.

one person!

There was only one person!

There was only one person who broke into the garrison in the mountains, and even under the heavy siege, more than ten soldiers were still killed.

Han Zaikou stared at the still-youthful face for a long time, then finally waved his hand: "Take him away, verify his identity!"

The man in black on the ground had no face covering, so the people from the mountain garrison couldn't yet recognize him. His name was Zhang Zhan!

Zhang Zhan kowtowed three times to Mo Bai and then resolutely left.

He was on that street when the barbarians were massacring people; he was lying on the ground, offering no resistance.

At that moment, he fought his way to the mountain garrison alone, and ultimately died there.

"The intelligence agency must reinforce its troops immediately!" Han Zaikou exhaled heavily and said in a deep voice to his subordinates who were waiting for orders.

"Intelligence Agency?" a subordinate repeated.

These people have scattered in all directions and are not heading towards the intelligence gathering point. They are seeking revenge, not trying to save people.

But in the end, no one dared to disobey Han Zaikou's orders.

After the subordinates left, only Han Zaikou and Cui Chaoyuan remained in the room.

"My lord, the Daoist sect says that Huang Tingfu expelled Du Juan from the sect this afternoon, and that her actions have nothing to do with the Daoist sect," Cui Chaoyuan finally said, looking at the pale and silent Han Zaikou.

"Expelled from the sect? Unrelated?" Han Zaikou's bloodshot eyes widened suddenly. "You've cleaned yourself up so easily. Fine, fine, I'd like to see how unrelated you are!"