Chapter 24: Hesitation

  In his disappointment, he used the tip of his foot to turn over each black-clad person's body, face up, and then carefully observed them one by one. Finally, he seemed to think of some difficult questions, furrowed his brow, and began to ponder with his head lowered.

  Yang Jirui and Shan Yaoyu also walked over and took a closer look, but didn't find any valuable clues.

  Cai Bingxiao looked at them for just a moment before hesitantly saying, "These people are all from the Feathered race."

  Yang Shuang's eyebrows jumped lightly, and his eyes stared at Cai Bingxiao: "Are you sure?"

  Cai Bingxi didn't dare meet her gaze and naturally lowered his head, but her response was affirmative: "These are indeed the people of Yu Zhen."

  Yang Shuangfen nodded and said softly: "Thank you."

  Dan Ya twisted her head and looked carefully for a long time, couldn't figure it out, and asked in confusion: "Bing Xia sister, how can you be certain?"

  Cai Bingxiao lowered her head and said: "These people are the real deal."

  Xian Ya Xuan said curiously: "How did you distinguish them? They don't seem to have any special marks on their bodies!"

  Yang Shuangfeng also became curious and couldn't help but ask: "Yes, how did you determine that?"

  Her face turned red with shame, and she lowered her head even more, but though her face was red, she didn't say a word.

  Cai Xianxian suddenly said: "My Ice Lotus said that they are the Feathered True People, they are indeed the Feathered True People, she absolutely won't be mistaken."

  Dan Ya said: "That also needs a reason! I'm not saying she's wrong, let her tell us the reason so we can understand!"

  Yang Shuang said expectantly: "Exactly. I can only see that they are not Tang people, but I don't dare to confirm that they are Yu Zhen people."

  She looked even more embarrassed, her head bowed deeply, pinching the hem of her clothes, but her mouth was tightly closed, and she didn't say anything.

  The slender and anxious one hastily said: "Don't force Yīn Jiǎo, she won't speak, but what she says is definitely correct!"

  Yan Ya said disappointedly: "Why can't you say it? It's really strange."

  Her face turned even redder as she pursed her lips, but still didn't say a word, and her cheeks were as red as the rosy clouds at sunset.

  Yang Shuangfen could only wave her hand and say: "Alright alright, if you don't want to talk about it then let's just drop it."

  It so happened that a lone rider, named Hua Yingfeng, was riding his horse from behind and caught up with them. Shan Yayu waved her hand and called out: "Brother Hua, come over and take a look, who are these people in black?"

  Hua Feng rode his horse over, saw the five black-clad corpses, and was apparently stunned for a moment, disbelievingly looking around at everything, his eyes wide with wonder, almost continuously asking: "Who killed these people? Who killed these people?"

  Dan Ya was about to speak, but was stopped by Yang Shuangfeng's hand gesture, indicating that she shouldn't say anything. Yang Shuangfeng said calmly: "Don't worry about who killed these people, just help us identify their identities."

  Huā Yǐng Fēng carefully dismounted from the horse, his astonished expression growing thicker. He circled around the five black-clad men, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper. After a long time, he slowly raised his head and said: "These people are all Yuè Zhēn Ren, and they're all top-notch martial artists of the Yuè Zhēn Sect. If I'm not mistaken, they're members of the Seven-Colored Rainbow Law Enforcement Team of the Captor's Hand... I truly can't imagine which one of you could have used a fire arrow to kill them. That's really..."

  His throat rolled several times, but he couldn't find the right words to describe it.

  Shan Ya said with a pleased smile: "That's Yang..."

  The words had barely left his lips when he was stopped by Yang Shuangfeng's stern gaze.

  He looked up and down at Yang Shuofeng, clearly not daring to believe it. He shook his head vigorously, patted his own head and said: "Impossible, impossible! He's just a Navy Lieutenant General, how could he have such good marksmanship? And these Winged Ones are flying in the sky, even if they were the most skilled godly gunner, they might not be able to hit them. You know how fast they move! Being able to take down the Seven-Colored Rainbow Execution Squad with a Türgesh rifle, he's absolutely unprecedented!"

  Shan Ya Xuan was about to speak again, but was stopped by Yang Suo Fen's hand gesture. Yang Suo Fen shrugged her shoulders slightly and said indifferently: "We don't know what happened either, when we arrived, they were already dead on the ground."

  Shan Ya and Yang Ji Rui couldn't help but look at each other in confusion, not understanding why Yang Su Fen was telling such a blatant lie. Even Su Yun Feng, who had seemed to have lost consciousness, looked deeply at Yang Su Fen as if trying to see through his thoughts. Cai Mian Mian and Cai Xuan Xuan also looked at Yang Su Fen with suspicion, and even Cai Bing Xia couldn't help but lift her head, looking at him with some doubt.

  Yang Shuang seemed to be unaware of the strange gazes from the crowd, and said lightly: "Those who do evil will eventually perish, this is an eternal truth in the world. Although the Seven-Colored Execution Squad is formidable, he must also have his own enemies..."

  Huā Yǐng Fēng suddenly slapped his forehead and said with a sudden realization: "Now that you mention it, it must be the people of the Sun God Sect who did this! Or maybe it's the Manichaeans! They and the Captors are sworn enemies who will not rest until one of them is dead! Apart from them, there won't be anyone else!"

  He suddenly smiled bitterly and said vaguely: "But it doesn't make sense, the Manichaeans and the Solar Gods don't use firearms either! What's going on? It's really confusing!"

  Yang Shuangfen involuntarily let out a bitter smile, and in his heart, he really wasn't pleased. Damn it, he was actually mistaken for someone from the Manichaeism and Sun God cults, how unlucky! But on his face, he had to maintain a faint smile, saying casually: "Maybe!"

  Huā Yǐng Fēng said with a sigh: "Speaking of which, the Mani and Solar God cults are not good birds either. They're fighting among themselves, but now they've even made trouble near the capital. Alas, the empire's law and order is getting worse by the day. Rebels are killing people right at our doorstep, and no one is doing anything about it. Where have all the Divine Knife Guards gone?"

  Shaking his head, Huā Fēng Fēng seemed to be deeply grieved and galloped away on horseback. The crowd could still hear his sighs from afar.

  Yang Shuangfeng said in a low voice to Yang Jirui, "He seems to dislike the Mani and Solar God religions quite a bit! So his master..."

  Yang Ji Rui sneered: "This is the problem with the Lona Wanderers, in their eyes, apart from themselves, everyone else is not a good person."

  Yang Shuang's eyes widened uncontrollably as he stared, and he blurted out in surprise: "Huh?"

  Yang Ji Rui said coldly, "Don't you see? Whenever it involves catching hands, Yu Huan seems to not even want to take a glance. She's already gotten used to such things."

  Yang Shuangfen furrowed her brow, unsure of how to start the conversation, and finally could only weakly sigh before going over to comfort the Cai family.

  After this disaster, the people who were in charge of the household seemed to have no main idea. Under Yang Su's suggestion, the four of them temporarily followed the Yang family and waited until they arrived at Baojing Prefecture before making a decision. Baojing Prefecture was the first large prefecture on the Fragrance River Road, even more prosperous than Qinghe Prefecture where the Governor of Fragrance River Road was located. Once they arrived at Baojing Prefecture, there would naturally be official assistance to handle the matter.

  However, the handling of the bodies on site became a major problem. The dead guards were not a big deal and could be buried locally, but how to handle the body of General Cai Yanqi, the lord of the Cai family who had died in the disaster, became an unsolvable problem. Yang Shuangfeng, with his carefree attitude, thought that a man should die where he lies, and it was okay to bury him on the spot. However, the Cai family members refused to agree, saying they would not accept anything else. When Yang Shuangfeng made this suggestion, Madame Cai's widow, Su Yunruo, immediately turned pale as if she were about to cry, and refused to agree. The tragic and sorrowful expression on her face made people who didn't understand the situation think that Yang Shuangfeng had done something inhumane and beastly.

  Yang Ji Rui helplessly said: "Forget it, send someone ahead to Bao Ying Fu to spread the news and let them send people to handle it."

  Yang Songfen immediately requested Yu Xuanwen to send Hua Feng to the front to report the news and asked Mu Shunying, the prefect of Baojing Prefecture, to send someone to handle it. Mu Shunying had also served in the central government and had been a minister of the Ministry of Politics. He was later demoted for some reason and was said to be a very capable imperial official with a small reputation, so he should be able to properly handle this murder case.

  But Yang Jirui was not optimistic, he said with a heavy heart: "Mu Shunying's greed is also somewhat famous."

  However, Yu Huan-yu disagreed with waiting here. Firstly, the heavy rain showed no signs of stopping, and everyone had not prepared any rain gear before setting off. Waiting for too long would not only make people fall ill from getting soaked, but also damage the goods on the carriage, most of which were water-sensitive items that would lose their effectiveness if they got wet. Moreover, in this desolate place with no village or shop in sight, safety was also a concern. The prolonged drought had left many ordinary people struggling to make ends meet, and some bolder ones had turned to banditry. They would seize opportunities to plunder, causing the national security situation to deteriorate rapidly, with bandits everywhere and alarms sounding all around. No one could be sure if there were any bandits lurking nearby, watching and waiting.

  Yang Shuang said helplessly: "Yu boss, since it's like this, we'll part ways here."

  Yu Huan-yu smiled and said: "General Yang, we will stay in Baojing Prefecture for a while to purchase supplies. We'll wait for you there, until we meet again."

  Yang Shuang nodded and said: "That's great, thank you for your kindness."

  Yu Huanjuan smiled slightly and lowered the carriage curtain.

  Tang Bingna walked past Shan Ya's side, coldly mocking and saying: "Take good care of yourself, don't let someone sneak up on you again."

  Shan Ya's face suddenly turned red, but the fact was in front of her, and she had no words to refute it. She could only stomp her foot in anger and turn her head sharply to the other side. Tang Bingna chuckled and got into the carriage, leaving together.

  The heavy rain continued unabated, and the sky was a vast expanse of grayness.

  Yang Shuang said: "You four, go to the carriage first and avoid the rain."

  Under Dan Ya's persuasion, Cai Bingxiao, Cai Mianmian and Cai Xianxian hesitated for a moment before getting on the carriage one after another. However, Su Qingyun remained motionless beside her deceased husband, refusing to budge no matter how others tried to persuade her. As she was soaked from head to toe, her thin lips turned increasingly pale, and her slender body trembled slightly in the cold wind, clearly frozen stiff. Although others were anxious, they couldn't find a way to move her.

  Yang Xuan's helpless sigh, pretending to be unintentional, passed by her side, suddenly raised his hand, and forcefully cut her neck with a slap on her white and tender neck. Su Yunru's whole body shook, and then she softly fell into Yang Xuan's arms.

  "Miss Su, I've wronged you." Yang Shuangfeng said in a low voice, then carried her onto the horse carriage and handed her over to Cai Bingyun and others. The three women on the horse carriage quickly lowered the curtains and helped her change out of her wet clothes inside. Yang Shuangfeng took out a medicine bottle from his pocket and threw it to Cai Bingyun, saying: "Give her two pills." Those were the medicines he had casually snatched from Yu Huanjuan, which could dispel wind and dampness and prevent colds.

  Unfortunately, Michiru had to get out of the carriage and got rained on, but his body was obviously not good, and after being drenched in the heavy rain, he immediately started to catch a cold and fever. Although he took medicine, there was no sign of improvement at all, and his forehead was hot as if it could fry an egg. Shuang Yanruo was anxious, but she couldn't do anything about it, and her eyes were so anxious that they were about to shed tears.

  Yang Shuang said: "You first send your elder brother to the front Baojing House to find a doctor to treat his illness, I'm fine here."

  Dan Ya said with a worried tone: "But what if there are still bandits who sneak up and attack you?"

  Yang Shuangfeng waved the Tokarev pistol in his hand and said casually, "If there's a third assassination attempt in the same place, then the Empire's security is really hopeless. Don't worry, I won't be that unlucky."

  Dan Ya Xuan hesitated for a moment, Michir's condition was getting worse and worse, even starting to become delirious. Yang Shuang Feng also became anxious, saying: "You quickly take him to Bao Ying Fu to find a good doctor to treat his illness, your brother is not only important to you, but also very important to me, I spent 500 gold coins to buy his invention after all!"

  Dan Ya Xiu then hastily took Michiru and left.