NABC Chapter 101 Night of the Snowstorm and Massacre
Chapter 101 Night of the Snowstorm and Massacre
Chapter 101 A Night of Slaughter in the Snow (Part 3)
When Zhou Ye and He Jing secretly saw the heavy cavalry roaring past the alleyway from the wall, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
This is one of the reasons they fled here. Heavy cavalry is extremely costly and difficult to train; even within an army, they are hard to come by. They are generally used to deal with high-value targets in battle. They can't afford to bother with these 100-odd small fry for now. As long as they don't do anything reckless and block the way, they won't bother with them.
Besides, heavy cavalry excels at group charges. Imagine dismounting and engaging in one-on-one combat in a narrow alley! That would be using a weaker weapon against a stronger one, and there's generally no such idiotic heavy cavalryman.
Anyway, we've escaped this ordeal for now, so we can catch our breath here for a bit.
"Xiao Tian, we owe you a lot this time." He Jing patted Zhou Ye on the shoulder, who was still a little shaken.
"By the way, Uncle Jing. Where did those heavy cavalrymen come from? Oh, and the crossbowmen from before?"
"How would I know that—huh? What did you say? They even have crossbows?"
"That's right! I stopped you because I heard the sound of crossbows firing."
"Damn it!" He Jing couldn't help but curse. "What the hell happened? Have we fallen into a trap? Is the army trying to ambush us?"
Everyone looked at each other, unsure what to say. Given the current situation, what exactly had happened inside the inner city? Only the devil knew.
"By the way, Uncle Jing, should we do a headcount? See if anyone has fallen behind?"
"Right, right! You guys hurry up and go check if anyone's missing?"
""
"Yes, Master Jing."
However, after the headcount was taken, everyone was slightly speechless.
Of He Jing's group, only three were missing. To be honest, in this unexpected situation, such a loss was negligible.
But there were more than a dozen other people? They were all from the Gu family.
"No, aren't you the ninth son of the Gu family?"
"Yes, Uncle Jing. Please greet me, and just call me Xiao Jiu!"
"Wait a minute, you can put your name aside for now. How did you end up here?"
"I just needed to pee, so I ran to the back. When I realized things were bad, I took my men and ran away. Did you think I followed you guys in here?"
"Oh, do you know what happened in the inner city?"
"Isn't it just the Crimson Xuan Army's heavy cavalry attacking?"
Why did they want to kill you? Don't you know why?
"Uncle Jing, if I, Xiao Jiu, were to find out the truth, would I still be alive to see you again?"
(—)(—)(—)·——
Alright! Turns out we saved a bunch of idiots. But Zhou Ye and He Jing weren't much better off.
In the end, no one could give a clear answer, because the situation tonight was just too bizarre.
Left with no other choice, He Jing had to resort to his last resort—a generous reward will surely attract brave men!
After continuously increasing the bounty, finally promising 100 taels of silver per person, two members of the He family volunteered, and the Gu family also selected one person. They needed to find a way to infiltrate the inner city and understand its situation at all costs. Ideally, they would also find the first members of the He and Gu families to enter the inner city and establish contact between them.
Before we knew it, more than an hour had passed.
Zhou Ye and He Jing sat chatting over a bowl of meat soup. The situation outside was completely unclear; they couldn't even distinguish friend from foe, so no one dared to venture out recklessly.
He Jing then used the He family's wealth to have the inn prepare some hot soup and water so that everyone could warm themselves up. Being able to drink a bowl of hot meat soup on a snowy night brought smiles to many faces; they had temporarily forgotten their troubles outside.
However, the He family was quite reasonable in this regard. They would actually pay for the hot soup and water. They valued their reputation in the county town.
"Xiaotian, you should be close to breaking through to the Mingjin stage, right? You seem to mainly focus on movement techniques, right? You almost couldn't even catch up with me just now?"
"Mmm." Zhou Ye nodded, then chuckled. "Uncle Jing, how much do Ming Jin (a type of martial arts) performers usually receive here?"
"I can make the decision for you. When you get back, I'll raise it to 10 taels. After you reach the Mingjin level, I'll have the family head grant you 40 taels. Our He family has always been honest and upright. Unlike the other families, they sometimes have a less respectable way of doing things. However, after you reach the Mingjin level, the amount of demon beast meat will also increase. You can either ask for a larger quantity or for high-quality demon beast meat."
However, Gu Jiu, who was standing nearby, immediately came over and said, "Oh, this must be Brother Xiao Tian, right? You must be Shan Ke? Actually, our Gu family is also an option. How about considering taking a position with us?"
"Go away! Go cool off somewhere else." He Jing glanced at him irritably.
"Uncle Jing, I understand the rule of first come, first served. But your He family head deals in furs, while our Gu family head deals in weapons. Like that shield you're holding, it should be made from materials from demonic beasts, right? And your leather armor is just ordinary cowhide. If it were made of demonic beast hide, it would not only be more defensive but also lighter—"
"Hey, Xiao Jiu, aren't you just stealing our fur business?"
"No, no, I was just using an example. Uncle Jing, our two families have always had a good relationship, so it's not like we'd have any unpleasantness over such a small business deal. Perhaps Brother Tian doesn't know, but many materials from demonic beasts are very useful and can be used to forge weapons, and they're relatively expensive. Wouldn't it be a waste to just throw them away? Since you often hunt demonic beasts, isn't that just a side benefit? Of course, if you can even squeeze out some demonic beast meat—"
"We don't have any monster meat!" He Jing refused flatly. "However, Xiao Tian, the Gu family's reputation is quite good. If you're interested, you can apply for a position there."
"Uh... Ninth Young Master." Zhou Ye thought about it and realized he was right; those things really couldn't be wasted. "Then could I ask which monster materials we could use?"
"That's easy. When we get back, I'll give you a book with all the information in it."
"Thank you so much!"
"You're welcome. Good mountain merchants are really hard to find these days. Good stuff has to go through those bastards in the woodcutting gang. Not only do they charge high prices, but sometimes you can't even buy it if you want to."
"By the way, why don't you powerful families grow your own power? Why do you give gangs the opportunity to pass things around?" Zhou Ye asked curiously.
"Isn't it just that the family size is limited? How many children can you have just by having your own? By the way, Brother Tian, are you married? Would you like me to introduce you to a woman from our Gu family?"
"Xiao Jiu, get out of the way. Do you think it's even a chance for your Gu family? But Xiao Tian, I do have several suitable ones in my family."
"Uh—thank you both for your kindness. I'm busy breaking through to the Mingjin stage right now, so I don't have the mind for that at all."
""
"Alright! You must consider it when the time comes!"
"Hehe. Okay!"