Chapter 124
After about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, He Zhiyuan finally stopped moving.
He licked the blood on his fingers, then carefully folded the piece of clothes and tucked it into his bosom.
Mo Jiuye looked around and saw that everyone else was resting. The two officers in charge of keeping watch were dozing off.
He quickly leapt down from the tree, chopped He Zhiyuan unconscious with a knifehand strike, grabbed him by the collar and swiftly disappeared from the spot.
After running for some distance, Mo Jiuye tossed He Zhiyuan onto the ground and took the piece of clothing from his embrace at the same time.
He lit a pile of hay with a firesteel and by the firelight, the words written in blood on the clothes were clearly visible.
The content was indeed as he and He Zhiran had expected.
It was nothing more than saying that he had discovered Mo Jiuye's abnormal behavior today, and had rescued an old woman who seemed familiar. The old woman did not look like an ordinary person.
If Prince Rui wanted to know more, he should rescue him from water and fire as soon as possible...
After reading the blood letter, Mo Jiuye decisively threw it into the fire to burn it up.
He had originally wanted to spare He Zhiyuan's life, but he was so ungrateful instead.
For his own selfish desires, he even wanted to sell him out.
Fortunately, he and He Zhiran were vigilant and had noticed something amiss early on, otherwise if this blood letter had reached Nan Rui’s hands, it would have been big trouble again.
Thinking of this, he might as well not use the poison He Zhiran gave him. Mo Jiuye directly drew his blade and took He Zhiyuan's life.
After doing all this, Mo Jiuye stealthily returned He Zhiyuan’s corpse to its original place.
In order not to arouse suspicion, he carefully went back and cleaned up the blood stains on the ground before returning to the tent.
The next morning at daybreak, a woman’s tragic wails rang out from the camp.
"Officer, my master is dead..."
The officer came over to take a look very impatiently and found that He Zhiyuan was indeed dead. He hurriedly ran to report to Peng Wang.
After looking at He Zhiyuan’s corpse, Peng Wang turned his head and glanced in the direction of Mo’s family. He waved his hand at several officers: "The man is dead, bury him!"
He’s family disagreed and gathered around Peng Wang.
"Officer, my master was obviously stabbed to death. He can't just be buried without knowing why!"
Peng Wang looked coldly at He’s several women: "According to what you mean, you expect me, an escort officer for exiles, to find out the murderer?"
Speaking of the murderer, the first person Peng Wang thought of was Mo Jiuye.
Apart from Mo Jiuye, he couldn't think of anyone else who would make a move against He Zhiyuan.
However, this was just his guess and he could not completely determine that it was Mo Jiuye who did it.
Moreover, even if Mo Jiuye did it, he would not say it out...
Peng Wang just cursed inwardly: This guy, only knows how to stir up trouble for himself!
Seeing that Peng Wang was glowering, He’s family did not dare say anything more about justice for He Zhiyuan. They could only watch as the officers carried away his corpse.
With He Zhiyuan dead, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran were no longer worried about the incident with Fe Mama being exposed.
Right now, the only thing they needed to guard against was Nan Rui’s assassination attempts.
However, the convoy had traveled smoothly for ten days and Nan Rui still did not show any movement.
Even so, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran did not dare to be careless in the slightest.
It was already September, and the temperature difference between day and night was gradually increasing.
Especially at midnight, even under cotton quilts in the tent, one did not feel very warm.
In the morning when He Zhiran was folding quilts in the tent, she suddenly sensed Mo Jiuye’s figure flash by the tent entrance as he quickly disappeared on the spot.
He Zhiran stopped minding her business at hand and rushed out swiftly.
She saw that Mo Jiuye had casually grabbed a ladle to block a few feathered arrows that were shot towards them.
Without hesitation, He Zhiran immediately took out a Swiss army knife from her space and threw it towards Mo Jiuye.
"Catch it."
Mo Jiuye steadily caught the army knife and continued to block the arrows.
He Zhiran quickly hid behind a big tree and looked in the direction where the arrows were coming from.
She saw that in a slightly concealed place ahead, a few men in black were shooting arrows at Mo Jiuye.
Seeing that those people kept aiming at Mo Jiuye alone, He Zhiran quickly climbed up the tree, took out her sleeve arrows, and shot them at those men. At the same time, the officers and other prisoners also noticed something wrong here.
The sisters-in-law had already warily grasped their mini pistols. If not for Jiu Ge and Jiu Mei telling them not to let these things see the light unless absolutely necessary, they would have already fired projectiles in the direction where the arrows came from...
Peng Wang’s side also shouted loudly that there were assassins and everyone should be careful.
Encountering such a situation, the first thing Peng Wang thought of was the two brothers who had died recently at Niujiao Mountain.
They couldn’t afford to have another accident happen after two officers had died.
The Fang’s and Xie’s men also found some things that could be used as weapons, intending to come over to help.
But the attackers only targeted Mo Jiuye alone, and they were also keeping their distance. The ‘weapons’ like ladles and bricks in these people’s hands were simply useless.
Liang Hao on his side also noticed something wrong. He came over with Xu Qingfeng and Li Mingrui to protect Mo Jiuye.
On the tree, He Zhiran had already shot three men in black dead with her sleeve arrows.
However, the number of men in black was replenished instantly.
This tactic was completely different from the people Nan Heng had previously sent. They did not even show their faces at all, always hiding from afar to shoot sneak arrows.
Not until Liang Hao and the other two joined in and continuously shot down many men in black with the bows on their backs did they change their tactics.
Seeing too many losses on their side, the men in black no longer shot arrows. Wielding sabers, they charged straight at Mo Jiuye to attack.
Seeing the large number of men in black, Mo Jiuye was worried that it would implicate his family, so he utilized lightness skill to run towards the distance.
The men in black chased relentlessly.
He Zhiran still followed behind, shooting arrows at the men in black.
Those men in black ignored the people behind them. They even automatically ignored He Zhiran’s attacks, only intent on taking Mo Jiuye’s life.
After running out several hundred meters in one breath, Mo Jiuye stopped. He raised his army knife to fight with the men in black.
Liang Hao and the others arrived right after Mo Jiuye. They quickly joined the melee.
When He Zhiran caught up, those men in black had been killed off a number already by them. At present, she estimated there were still twenty to thirty people left.
She saw that Mo Jiuye and the others were not struggling too much against them. He Zhiran then continued shooting arrows at the men in black from behind.
The remaining dozen men in black saw that things were not going well. They feigned a few moves and then fled towards one direction.
Liang Hao brought Xu Qingfeng and Li Mingrui to quickly chase.
Only one person still relentlessly unleashed moves at Mo Jiuye. From the looks of their fight, Mo Jiuye was already at a slight disadvantage.
He Zhiran hurriedly aimed her crossbow arrow at the back of that man in black’s head, preparing for a fatal blow.
Seeing her posture, Mo Jiuye shouted loudly: "Don’t hurt him!"