In a chaotic and famine-stricken era, I picked up an empress to be my wife.

"Run now? Too late! None of you will leave here alive tonight."

As Shen An spoke, he pulled the trigger again.

The crossbow bolts shot through the air.

Feng Guaizi used all his strength to rush out of the courtyard, but no matter how fast his legs were, they couldn't outrun an arrow. He hadn't run more than a few steps when he was shot in the chest and fell to the ground.

The remaining henchmen were terrified when they saw this, and dared not delay any longer. They turned around and tried to scatter and escape.

But Shen Xiaoqi was already blocking their way, holding a crossbow in her hand, pointing it directly at them.

"No, please don't kill us! We were just following orders from Feng Guaizi and Liu Laowu, it has nothing to do with us! We are truly innocent!"

Seeing that things were going badly, they immediately begged for mercy.

"innocent?"

Shen An sneered: "You bunch of bastards, following Feng Guaizi to do evil, and now you're saying you're innocent?"

If I didn't have the upper hand right now, it would be me and Xiaoqi lying on the ground.

"You're all like Feng the Cripple, none of you will survive tonight."

The murderous intent in Shen An's tone grew stronger.

As soon as he finished speaking, he and Shen Xiaoqi pulled the trigger at the same time, and bolts were fired one after another.

Screams rose and fell, and several people collapsed to the ground.

Shen Xiaoqi shouted excitedly, "Awesome! So awesome!"

Shen An felt relieved.

These guys may look like pitiful corpse carriers, but they're actually just like that Chief Wang, only they're not as capable.

Dugu Meng stood aside, looking at the corpses scattered on the ground, feeling nothing but shock.

A few days ago, when Constable Ma came, Shen Xiaoqi said that their weapons could kill Constable Ma and his men, but she didn't believe it at the time.

Now that I've seen it with my own eyes, I know that what they said wasn't an exaggeration at all.

Such weapons, if equipped in the military, would greatly enhance their combat effectiveness!

Who exactly is this Shen An? How did he manage to create such a powerful weapon?

She became increasingly curious about him.

"Feng the Cripple, are you still alive?"

Shen An's words brought Dugu Meng back to reality.

She looked down and saw Feng Guaizi clutching his chest, desperately crawling out of the yard, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

Shen An walked up and stepped on his back.

Feng Guai Zi coughed up blood from the pain. The man who had been so defiant just moments before had now gone limp, panting and begging for mercy: "Shen An... don't kill me, okay? Let's talk this out! I promise I won't reveal a single word about Liu Xiao Si's identity!"

Dugu Meng's heart tightened, fearing that Shen An would agree to his request.

"It's no use, you're going to die."

Shen An's tone was cold and flat.

Seeing that begging for mercy was useless, Feng the Cripple immediately changed his tune, gritting his teeth and threatening, "Shen An, the Feng family is not to be trifled with! I've fallen to this state today simply because of bad luck! If you dare to kill me, the Feng family will not let you off!"

"The Feng family?" Dugu Meng stepped forward. "Our Great Liang Kingdom has the Northern Liang Feng family and the Southern Ling Feng family. Which branch are you from?"

"Hmph! I am from the Feng clan of Northern Liang!" Feng Guaizi puffed out his chest, a hint of arrogance appearing on his face. "My clan has countless military generals! If it weren't for the misfortune that befell my family, I would already be an official of the imperial court!"

Shen An, if you know what's good for you, let me go, or you won't be able to bear the consequences!

"Shen An, if he really brings up the Feng family to cause you trouble, I'll stop him. He must die," Dugu Meng said firmly.

Shen An's lips curled slightly.

Even if Dugu Meng hadn't said those words, he would still have killed Feng Guaizi.

If this guy really has some kind of background, then he absolutely cannot be allowed to live!

Are we supposed to wait for him to come back and get reinforcements before we deal with him?

However, the fact that Dugu Meng took the initiative to stand up and made such a promise shows that she is slowly moving towards him, which means that all the efforts he made for her before were not in vain.

"Who do you think you are, taking the blame for him?!" Feng Guaizi's face flushed red with anger. "Shen An, don't believe her nonsense!"

"Believe it or not, you won't survive."

Shen An didn't waste any more words with him, and killed him with a single arrow to the throat.

Seeing that Feng Guaizi had completely breathed his last, Dugu Meng finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

Before they could finish tidying up, they heard hurried footsteps outside the yard.

The corpse carriers heard the commotion and are rushing over here.

"Dugu Yue, go back to your room and hide. When you see people again, smear your face with more ash," Shen An instructed in a low voice.

Having been recognized by Feng Guaizi today, Dugu Meng is well aware of her upcoming predicament.

She had to act more like a man, or she would be exposed sooner or later. She turned and went inside.

Old Zhao arrived quickly with his men. Shen An calmly explained, "Feng Guaizi and his gang rushed over to kill me, and Shen Xiaoqi and I killed them to protect ourselves!"

Apart from Old Zhao, everyone else's expression changed, and when they looked at Shen An, their eyes were filled with fear.

Shen An didn't intend to explain anything further.

The reason Feng Guaizi dared to cause trouble was simply because he didn't know Feng Guaizi's strength. Letting these people know his power would make them more obedient in the future.

"Squad Leader Shen," Old Zhao said, "since they started this, they deserve to die."

However, if we were to report it to higher authorities, we should say that he died from the plague.

"Shall we dispose of the body now?"

Shen An was somewhat surprised.

The fact that Old Zhao could think of this so quickly shows that he is a smart man.

It seems that entrusting him with the leadership of the mass grave was the right choice.

"Do as you say. Everyone, lend a hand and clean up the body," Shen An instructed.

"Okay!"

Zhao Feng, Old Zhao's granddaughter, was very perceptive and was the first to step forward.

The others dared not refuse either.

On the one hand, following Shen An did provide them with food and drink; on the other hand, they were also stunned by his methods just now.

After cleaning up the traces, Shen An took out some food and distributed it to the corpse carriers.

After everyone had left, Dugu Meng came out of the house and stood beside him.

This man saved her once again.

That solid and reliable sense of security welled up in my heart once again.

She wanted to say thank you, but the words stuck in her throat.

A simple thank you is too little for a life-saving favor.

She was silent for a moment, then finally spoke and made a promise to him: "Shen An, if I can leave here alive, I will make you feel that everything you did was worth it."

Shen An's heart skipped a beat.

He had actually been waiting for her to say those words.

But he simply said calmly, "I'm not asking for anything in return. I'm helping you because we're in the same boat."

"You've already said 'we share the same fate' twice. Are you also a victim of Li Huaiyi?"

"Yes, he killed my parents, and those he hunts down are naturally on the same path as me."

"Could you tell me exactly what happened?"

"No need."

Shen An stopped there, said no more, and turned to go back to his room.

As Dugu Meng watched his retreating figure, she could feel the weight of blood feud pressing down on his shoulders.

She secretly changed her mind.

Shen An, if you can escape this danger, I will avenge you.

At noon the next day, Officer Ma came to the mass grave again.

He pulled Shen An aside, took a leak, and then patted him on the shoulder: "Not bad, kid. You took care of Feng Guaizi and his gang last night?"

Shen An's heart sank.

How did Officer Ma find out about this?

That means either someone among the corpse carriers betrayed him, or there was a spy for Constable Ma hidden all along.

Is Constable Ma here to interrogate someone?

"Hehe, don't be nervous, I didn't mean anything by it."

Officer Ma patted him on the shoulder again, then changed the subject: "But I'm quite curious, what do you need all that dead people's hair for? Did you use the money to buy your position as squad leader to earn that money by selling hair?"

Shen An immediately understood why Officer Ma had come.

It seems that his hair-gathering incident has indeed attracted attention.

"Hey, Officer Ma, you must be joking. Dead people's hair isn't worth much, is it? I just collect some and plan to sell it in winter to make a profit. The money I used to buy the official position was pure luck; I found some silver while stripping a dead person's clothes." Shen An put on a lucky look.

"hehe."

Officer Ma gave him a half-smile: "Oh, I see."

You've really hit the jackpot, kid.

However, killing someone is a serious matter, so I'll keep it quiet for you for now.

The threat in those words couldn't be clearer.

If they don't listen to him, he can take this matter to the authorities at any time.

A surge of murderous intent rose within Shen An, but he smiled and said, "Thank you, Officer Ma! Thank you, Officer Ma!"

"No need to thank me, just do a good job for me."

Officer Ma gave him a meaningful look, then turned and left.

Shen An stood there, feeling a real threat.

Putting aside the murder, Officer Ma has informants here who want to investigate the purpose of the hair. It's unclear how long he can keep this a secret.

Even Dugu Meng's identity might be brought up again.

Should we... just kill this constable Ma too?

Shen An's gaze slowly swept over the departing figure of Constable Ma!