Chapter 305: End of Late Afternoon (1)

Chapter 305: The Fall of the Shen Hour (Part 1)

"Well, those who should come out have come out, and those who shouldn't have appeared have emerged. In the Japanese quarters, the Imperial Guards have gathered so many reckless madmen who defy hierarchy and ignore rules. Today, this Thousand Commander must rectify the laws and cleanse the ranks!"

Lu Chengjiang's expression was cold and stern, and over a hundred Imperial Guards under the Thousand Commander raised their weapons again as his right hand lifted.

The same standard embroidered spring blades, the same standard flying fish robes—once sworn brothers in life and death, now locked in a standoff.

Qian Fengting watched the scene, his face suddenly pale as paper, glaring at this deputy Thousand Commander whose murderous intent was fully revealed.

"What do you intend to do? I warn you not to act recklessly!"

"What do I intend to do? This Thousand Commander will give the hundreds of dead Japanese quarter peasants and the innocent martyred Major Zheng Kui a proper reckoning!"

Lu Chengjiang's icy voice echoed through the underground passage, and the eyes of the Imperial Guards around him gradually turned cold, their breaths growing heavy. The veins on their clenched fists stood out like roots.

Li Jun swept his gaze horizontally, and having dealt with the enigmatic many times, he immediately realized these men had all been affected by the "Ba Ye."

His body slightly crouched, violent energy surged through his leg muscles, ready to explode at any moment.

Ma Wang Ye also sensed Li Jun's anomaly, silently beginning to warm up all his armored joints.

The armor plates on his back slowly opened and closed, exhaling faint transparent air currents that carried the scorching heat from the embroidered spring blade, spreading outward.

Dressed in ink armor, Li Jun, who had activated the "Gan Qi Shi Long" state, resembled a ferocious beast, viewing the blades and spears before him as nothing, his eyes locked onto Lu Chengjiang in the crowd.

To seize the leader and end the chaos—this was the true way of Wu Liu, and this was what Li Jun excelled at most.

Bullets gathered momentum in the gun barrel, long blades stirred in his palm, and the killing intent spread like tides with each heavy breath.

At this critical moment, Xie Bi'an suddenly stepped forward, raising a life box high.

"Inside is Hong Hu's brain, Gong Qinghong's brain. The memory fragments stored within can prove that the tragedy in the Dog Mountain City tent area was orchestrated by Hong Hu and the Heng Shi Group!"

Xie Bi'an shouted: "Moreover, Gong Qinghong's consciousness has been cast into the Imperial Prison. Any Imperial Guard may enter to interrogate him. These evidences are enough to prove that our Dog Mountain City guards are innocent!"

At these words, all eyes focused on the raised life box.

Click~~.

The box door slid open, revealing a brain soaked in green life-sustaining liquid, not yet fully dead.

In that instant, the tense atmosphere in the passage suddenly choked.

"Well done, Xie Bi'an!"

Standing beside Gui Wang Da, Qian Fengting, who had already rolled up his sleeves, saw the scene and grinned wildly, urgently shouting: "Deputy Thousand Commander Lu, the truth is now clear. The Dog Mountain City case was entirely a fabrication by Hong Hu to frame them. Gui Wang Da and the others are innocent!"

"So what?"

"What do you mean?"

Amid Qian Fengting's shocked and angry gaze, Lu Chengjiang slowly said: "Even if the Dog Mountain City guards were framed, Gui Wang Da killing Zheng Kui is an undeniable fact!"

"If this brain is real, and the Hong Hu cast into the Imperial Prison is real, then the Dog Mountain City Imperial Guards indeed have merit without fault. They should report to the Military Department for commendation. But one matter must be addressed: Gui Wang Da's unauthorized killing of Pao Ze is an unforgivable great crime! He must pay the price for his madness today!"

Qian Fengting continued to argue, "Gui Wang Da did kill Zheng Kui, but that was understandable. According to the Imperial Guard rules, he should be detained first and reported step by step to the Beizhen Mansion and the Ministry of Punishment to await judgment, not to fight within the same room and increase casualties!"

"Qian Fengting, have you read too many books and gone mad?"

Lu Chengjiang coldly snorted, "Open your eyes wide and look at these madmen around you. Do they look like they have any intention of surrendering or awaiting judgment?"

Qian Fengting was stunned, instinctively turning his eyes, which fell on Fan Wujiu's face, full of exhaustion yet still resolute. He felt as if a fishbone were stuck in his throat, unable to utter any words of persuasion.

In the past few hours, Gui Wang Da's subordinates had traveled countless roads and risked their lives to finally bring evidence proving their innocence to the Thousand Commander's office.

Unfortunately, the situation had developed far beyond expectations, already transforming from an external threat into internal chaos.

"Old Qian, I said, don't look at me like that. When I, Fan Wujiu, joined the underworld and entered the paradise, I was already charging forward with a gun, galloping in armor. How could I drop my blade at this moment?"

Fan Wujiu grinned recklessly, patting his stomach.

"Just happened to eat the mechanical heart of the Hojo sword ape, and now I'm bloated and uncomfortable. Perfect timing to spar with the gentlemen of the Thousand Commander's office."

Bang!

The sound of shattered glass in the silent passage was exceptionally piercing.

Qian Fengting stared in disbelief, only to see Xie Bi'an, expressionless, crushing the brain he had risked everything for, even nearly losing his life for it.

"Qian Commander." Xie Bi'an called softly.

"Hmm?"

"Old Gui is old. When the fight breaks out later, trouble you to take him away first. Leave the rest to us young men. Right, Brother Jun?"

Clang!

Li Jun flicked his wrist, trembling the blade, and smiled slightly, "Justified and reasonable."

Qian Fengting's lips opened and closed, unable to speak a word, his face turning from ashen to flushed red.

He suddenly turned to look at Gui Wang Da, his eyes red with rage as he cursed tremblingly: "Gui Wang Da, you bastard! Look at what you've done! Why did you have to kill Zheng Kui? Why couldn't you endure it? Now, why aren't you saying anything? Speak, damn it!"

"Old Qian."

After a long silence, Gui Wang Da finally spoke.

He raised his hand to wipe the saliva splashed on his cheekbone, and surprisingly spoke in an unusually relaxed tone: "Lu Chengjiang's dog mouth said a lot of nonsense today, but one thing was quite right. You really have read too many books and gone mad."

"When did you see me kill Zheng Kui?"

Qian Fengting opened his mouth wide, staring blankly at the broken body before him, feeling his brain had been mashed into a pulp.

"Old Gui, what did you say?"

Slap slap slap.

Lu Chengjiang clapped his hands, his face mocking.

"You've performed a touching drama of deep affection and righteousness. It seems the next act is to make wild excuses for your escape, seeking a justification for your conscience?"

Lu Chengjiang pointed at the corpse lying in the blood-soaked ground, mocking: "Gui Wang Da, if you didn't kill Zheng Kui, then whose corpse is this, dragged out from the penal laws?"

"Lu Chengjiang, who told you that someone covered in blood and breathless is necessarily dead?!"

Gui Wang Da placed his hand on Qian Fengting's shoulder, his voice resonating from his chest.

"Since the suicide attack in the Dog Mountain City tent area, you, Lu Chengjiang, sensed an opportunity. You immediately reported the incident to the Military Department and ordered me to go to the Thousand Commander's office for questioning. You had already decided not to give me time to investigate the truth, completely pouring this pot of dirty water on my Dog Mountain City guards."

"For this, you even colluded with Hong Hu, secretly leaking our movements to him, hoping to use Hong Hu's reputation to surround and attack me, completely destroying our chance to prove our innocence."

Gui Wang Da's words carried a faint contempt: "Unfortunately, this Hong Hu, Gong Qinghong, still lacks skill and courage. Or perhaps, Hong Hu didn't want to be your blade but merely wanted to watch the tiger fight from the mountain!"

"When you learned that Li Jun and the others had captured the mastermind and were heading to the Thousand Commander's office, you immediately collected some of their dangerous fragments, instructed Zheng Kui, who didn't agree with me, to come before me, hoping to further tear open my psychological defenses, making me completely fall into your Ba Ye, killing Zheng Kui in a fit of rage."

"As long as Zheng Kui died, even if I could clear the suspicion of 'massacring the peasants,' I couldn't escape the crime of 'unauthorized killing of a colleague.' From beginning to end, you never cared whether the Dog Mountain City guards were innocent. What you wanted was only the life of this Major who humiliated you and blocked your path!"