Chapter 27: Qin Xu Kills Someone (Part 2)

  "What fault is it of these villagers? Why does General Cao want to kill them?" Upon learning that the culprit responsible for this heinous crime was none other than Cao Hong, the man who had given his horse to Cao Cao and uttered those famous words "The world can be without a Hong, but not without a Gong", earning him the nickname "White Swan" from Cao Cao.

  Not far from Tongguan, it can be inferred from the words of that little head that when Dong Zhuo retreated and ambushed Cao Cao, it was probably this place.

  This is the sorrowful place of Cao Cao, previously Qin Xu was also lamenting for Cao Cao's failure this time and applauding Cao Hong's "great righteousness".

  Did Cao Cao allow Cao Hong to avenge? It's probably another thing covered up by history. How the situation was at that time, nobody knows, but looking at how ruthlessly Cao Hong treated those villagers, it's likely that there were things in between that are hard for the people involved to explain clearly.

  However, it is possible that Cao Hong would avenge his death and if written this way, Qin Xu might even praise Cao Cao for being good at buying people's hearts.

  But this is what Qin Xu saw with his own eyes! Living people, unarmed villagers. Without any resistance, they died under the knives of Cao Hong and others.

  "Who are you, kid? How do you know all this?" Cao Hong's hand had already loosened its grip on the hilt of his sword. Cao Hong wasn't a fool, and from Qin Xu's questions, he could sense that Qin Xu seemed to know more than he should.

  "Qin Zhubu, this time we've made a big haul! A total of fifty war horses, and Master Qin... uh? Are there any survivors?"

  Just as Qin Xu and Cao Hong were about to clash, Sima Mao's excited voice suddenly came from the ruins of the village behind Cao Hong, causing Cao Hong to immediately draw his sword and turn around to defend himself.

  "Hmm!" Qin Xu was now in a state of utter confusion, and upon seeing Sima Mou's sudden outburst, he couldn't help but let out a cold hum.

  "So it was you?" Cao Hong also reacted, his eyes filled with anger staring at Qin Xu, asking in a tone that was hard to believe.

  "It wasn't us!" Qin Xu said calmly, having made a decision in his heart, as if the whole person had become much lighter. He glared at Cao Hong and said, "It's the vengeful spirit of the wrongly killed villagers in this village!"

  "Fart!" Cao Hong's hand holding the knife trembled slightly after hearing Qin Xu's words, and he immediately reacted, glaring at Qin Xu with anger: "We are soldiers under the command of the governor of Dongjun, you have a big nerve, if you can surrender and plead guilty, maybe..."

  "Qin Xu be careful!" Lu Lingyi shouted in a tender voice.

  "Crack!"

  Cao Hong's steel knife swung towards Qin Xu, colliding with the wooden spear extended by Lü Linggui. The blade cut off a small branch of the wooden spear and sank deeply into the spearhead.

  "Scoundrel! How dare you!" Xu Huan kicked Cao Hong to the ground with one foot. Xu Huan's large axe was hung on the horse's wing ring, and he had just seen Cao Hong suddenly draw his sword. With no weapon in hand, Xu Huan actually used his own body to block Qin Yu's front, and now seeing Cao Hong lose his blade, Xu Huan's anger burst out and instantly turned Cao Hong into a mess with three or two moves.

  It's no wonder that Cao Hong is so unlucky. After being frightened, his body was already weak and he easily found an opportunity to capture Qin Xu, who seemed to be the leader of this group. He thought he could catch or kill Qin Xu in one move, but unexpectedly, his knife got stuck, and then he was kicked down by a strong man who had just blocked Qin Xu and captured.

  "Qin Zhubao, are you okay?" Lü Linggui tossed the wooden spear with only one stick left aside, asking Qin Xu a sentence in a disdainful tone, but instead muttered to herself: "Wooden spears are useless, it's all dad's fault, he never lets me touch his Fang Tianhua spear, ugh, how annoying..."

  Qin Xu's gaze remained complex as he stared at Cao Hong, who was curled up on the ground. Upon hearing Lü Linggui's words, he couldn't help but laugh and said to Lü Linggui, who had been complaining about her weapon with a pouted mouth: "Miss Lü, don't worry, when we meet our lord, I'll think of a way for you, no matter what, to get you a weapon that you like."

  "I want Father's Fang Tianhua halberd!" Lü Ling exclaimed excitedly, her starry eyes shining brightly.

  “……”

  "Father? Fang Tianhua's halberd? You... you are..." Cao Hong, who was being beaten by Xu Huang, suddenly heard the conversation between Qin Yu and Lü Lingqi and exclaimed: "You are people of Lü Bu's army?"

  "You know too much!" Qin Xu's tone also became more relaxed as he had already made a major decision in his mind.

  Cao Cao truly trusted and relied on his own clan, the Cao family and the Xiahou family. These people were capable and loyal, making Cao Cao feel at ease. Now that Qin Xu had become irreconcilable with Cao Hong, and Cao Cao allowed Cao Hong to take revenge this time, it also made Qin Xu give up any thoughts of surrendering to Old Cao.

  What are you doing? Being an executioner? Although human life was cheaper than a dog's during the Three Kingdoms period, as a person from a later generation, it is still hard to accept no matter how I adjust my mindset.

  Old Cao, you want to buy people's hearts, then just buy them, why do you need to use the lives of some unrelated people to comfort your important officials? But it seems like Cao Cao is indeed this kind of person. Thinking about it, not long after, Old Cao's big move in Xuzhou wasn't those dozens of innocent villagers who died at Cao Hong's hands, but rather four or five entire cities that were turned into desolate lands with no people within a hundred miles after Old Cao issued the order to slaughter them. Qin Xu furrowed his brow, and after experiencing Cao Cao condoning Cao Hong's killing of good people, some things that Cao Cao had done in the past, which had been intentionally downplayed, made Qin Xu feel more and more disgusted.

  "Qin Xu, what's wrong?" Cai Yan appeared at Qin Xu's side, who had been frowning since he subdued Cao Hong. She didn't address him by his title, but instead patted his shoulder in a familiar gesture and asked softly.

  "It's nothing, just thinking about how to deal with these people." Qin Xu pointed at the five-flower-bound Cao Hong and others, and asked: "Do you have any good ideas?"

  "What's the point of thinking? Just kill them directly!" Lü Linggui squeezed to Cai Yan and Qin Xu's side, looking at the four people on the ground with disdain.

  "Lord Qin's steward must not!" Xu Huang hastily stopped him, saying: "If this matter is known to Lord Cao, it will be unseemly."

  Xu Huang's words were not motivated by any personal gain. Although Cao Cao was of humble origin, he had earned great prestige for his role in the assassination of Dong Zhuo and for being the first to propose that the eighteen lords wage war against him. At this time, his reputation among the people was almost on a par with that of Lü Bu. Moreover, Cao Cao had troops, territory, and the wealth of the wealthy merchant Wei Tzu as backing, so his actual power far surpassed that of Lü Bu.

  "Miss Cai, you tell me, should this scoundrel be killed?" Lü Linggui pouted and looked around for support.

  "Miss is absolutely right!" Sima Mou hastily chimed in, but the recent events had been fiercely stared at by Qin Xu, which actually made this elite of the Zhenyuan Camp break out in a cold sweat. He really suspected that just now he was too nervous, how did Qin Zhu's eyes suddenly become so aggressive? Even now it still makes Sima Mou feel somewhat uneasy.

  "Cai Yan's beautiful eyes sized up Qin Xu, seemingly trying to see through his thoughts, without drawing a conclusion."

  "It doesn't matter!" Qin Xu smiled slightly, closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. Under the astonished gaze of the crowd, he drew out the short blade from Sima Mao's waist that was usually used for roasting.

  "General Cao Hong, do you know? Qin Xu whispered in the ear of Cao Hong, who was curled up on the ground, using a voice that only two people could hear: "Originally, we might have become colleagues, become friends. Unfortunately, you're too unscrupulous! Old Cao is also too unscrupulous, no matter what he'll do in the future, but for this matter, I, Qin Xu, truly can't bear it for two lifetimes!"

  "Plop!"

  It was as if the sound of a knife cutting through bone, Qin Xu took a deep breath and used all his strength to stab the short knife into Cao Hong's exposed neck.

  An arrow of blood spurted onto Qin Xu's head and face, and at this moment, it was dripping down from his face drop by drop.

  "Farewell, General Cao Hong who kills the good and claims credit for it!"

  "Farewell, the future of Cao GRD's wife."

  "Goodbye, my dear Director Qin!"

  "I am Qin Xu, the chief accountant!!!"

  Qin Xu pulled out the short knife stuck in Cao Hong's neck with force, and under the puzzled gaze of the crowd, he used all his strength to loudly shout unintelligible words.

  "Qin Xu!"

  "Qin Zhubu!"

  In the midst of everyone's cheers, Qin Xu finally calmed down, only to feel that his entire body seemed to have lost all its strength, and his legs went limp, coincidentally leaning against Lü Linggui who was standing on his right side.

  "Hey, Qin Xu, are you okay? Qin Xu? Qin Xu?" Lü Linggui didn't care about whether Qin Xu's actions were rude or not at this time, she hastily hugged Qin Xu tightly and kept asking him questions. His body was as soft as noodles but he was panting heavily.

  "Miss Lü can rest assured, Qin Zhubu is just mentally exhausted and has lost some strength. After a good rest, he will be fine." Xuhuang hastily said with an expression that seemed to say "I knew it all along".

  "Hurry and help Qin Xu back, Qin Xu got himself into this state, General Gao is probably anxious too." Cai Yun said while helping Lü Lingxue support Qin Xu.

  "Right! Big sister, Miss Cai, let's go and carry Qin Zhubu on our backs." said Kong Er Daren stupidly.

  "Have fun!"

  Before Cai Yan and Lü Linggui could respond, Sima Mao pushed away Kong Er Dangzi who was leaning forward, and glared at the three Cao army soldiers who were shivering on the ground. He nodded his head, gave Kong Er Dangzi a reproachful look, and said loudly: "Dirty work is your job, don't meddle in other people's business for no reason."

  Gao Shun had been asked by the Shi family and Diao Chan countless times, but there was still no news of Lü Linggui's return after such a long time. Qin Xu also didn't come back for a long while, and even Xu Huan and several soldiers from the trapped camp went out to search, but there was no response. It was really worrying. Cai Yong, that old man, could still pretend to be calm, but he would occasionally face the direction where they should return and hum a tune, revealing his anxious thoughts.

  Until the southeast fire rose, Gao Shun only told Lv Linggui and Sima Mao about what happened to a few people. How Gao Shun and Lü Bu's true relationship is, Yan Furen and Diao Chan naturally know, it's not convenient to blame Gao Shun, but rather Cai Yong has no scruples, after listening to understand that it was Qin Xu's plan, he was even more furious, shouting "竖子竖子" (idiom for scolding someone), and before seeing Qin Xu, he had already scolded him until his face was covered in blood.

  "Back again."

  Looking from afar at Xu Huan's light cavalry slowly approaching, even Gao Shun stood up, looking with concern at the gradually clearer figure. However, after really seeing clearly who it was, Yan Furen and Diao Chan, as well as Gao Shun, all had strange expressions on their faces. The bloody figure in front of Lü Lingji's horse, tightly held in Lü's arms, wasn't Qin Xu, then who was it?

  After hearing what Cai Yan and Sima Miao said, even Old Man Cai snorted in anger, but at least he didn't continue scolding Qin Xu.

  Gao Shun's face changed several times after listening, and a rare smile appeared on his calm face: "It's okay if nothing's wrong!"

  "It doesn't matter!"