At this time, the warships on both sides also docked, and hundreds of soldiers landed on the island on both sides. This Iron Island was smaller than Haifeng Island, and the terrain was much simpler. After the soldiers landed on the island, they surrounded the Iron Island. They were surrounded, and warships were still swimming around the Iron Island. The entire Iron Island could be said to be completely surrounded.
Qi Ning ordered Kong Sheng and others to be taken down, and then ordered Wu Dalin to lead the sailors to search for the entrance.
Wu Dalin was the deputy commander of the Royal Yulin Battalion not long ago, and he had the talent to lead. He immediately ordered the soldiers to search for the entrance. Although the entrance to Iron Island was secretive, it could not withstand the large number of officers and soldiers. It didn't take long to find the entrance, and the officers and soldiers swarmed around it. After entering, Qi Ning waited outside. Within an hour, Wu Dalin came out from the entrance and reported to Qi Ning: "Master Marquis, the island has been completely controlled. This island is a place used for forging weapons. There are several warehouses inside, please check them with the Marquis."
Before Qining landed on the island, he knew that this island must be the place where weapons were forged. Now that he was sure, he felt a little relieved. After all, if he guessed wrong, he would have to find a place where weapons were forged again.
A group of people surrounded Qi Ning and entered the stone path. Compared with the criss-crossing stone paths in Haifeng Island, the stone paths in Iron Island were much simpler, with jagged rocks, but the space was extremely spacious.
The officers and soldiers took control of Iron Island almost without a fight, and sentries were already set up inside. Wu Dalin led the way, turned a few roads, and arrived at an extremely empty place. Qining saw that there was already a group of people here. Most of the people looked extremely slovenly. There were no less than two or three hundred people in total, and more than half of them were Nanyang people with very dark skin. A group of people were squatting on the ground, and they all showed fear when they saw Qining approaching. color.
Qi Ning frowned, and Wu Dalin came closer and said: "Master Marquis, these are the strong men who forge weapons here. Those Nanyang people were transported from Nanyang by the Jiang family's fleet and work here as coolies. The Chu people here are all They are making weapons, while the Nanyang people are opening iron ore warehouses and transporting ore." He raised his hand and pointed around, saying: "This place has been hollowed out by them little by little, and the warehouse is over there."
"Are these strong men hired?" Qining asked.
Wu Dalin didn't answer immediately. He glanced at one of them and said, "You, come here and answer me!"
He was a strong man in his early thirties, with a dark face and rough skin. He was a little scared when he heard the call, but he still got up and walked over, kneeling on the ground. Qining asked: "Where are you from?"
"The villain... The villain is from Dongyang County...!"
"Dongyang County?" Qi Ning was startled and turned to Wu Dalin. Wu Dalin understood Qin Ning's meaning, nodded slightly, and asked the man directly: "Tell Mr. Marquis, how did you get here?"
The man said: "The villain... The villain originally had a wife and children, and lived honestly by farming. But one night when he went out, he was hit on the back of the head. He fainted... After he fainted, he didn't know who he was. When he woke up, When he was young, he was locked in a cage, blindfolded, and not allowed to speak. After several days of tossing and tossing, he ended up here."
"Master Hou, do you still remember those cases in Dongyang County?" Wu Dalin lowered his voice and said: "Similar cases have occurred in various counties in the East China Sea. Farmers disappeared inexplicably. There are also rumors of ghosts and gods. It turns out that those people were not caught by ghosts and gods. Go and get caught here instead.”
Qi Ning had already figured out the truth of the matter at this time.
In the past, many young men disappeared, and some individual cases were reported to the government, but the government did not have any clues to pursue them, and they were unable to do anything. However, more villages regarded the matter as the work of ghosts and gods. Instead of reporting it to the government, they tried their best to conceal it. So what happened? It is really difficult to count how many people are missing.
At this time, Qi Ning was surprised to see a group of people in darkness. From this point of view, there were at least hundreds of missing cases.
Wu Dalin said softly: "Master Marquis, these people were caught here to build weapons, but this matter is extremely secretive. If the Jiang family recruits workers openly, the news will naturally leak out, so they can only secretly capture the strong men and send them here. They have arrived. After you get here, you will be taught how to forge weapons from the beginning. Whoever forges better weapons will be treated better. If he fails to learn it, he will be starved to death."
"How many people are here?"
"There are nearly two hundred Nanyang people, and in addition there are about a hundred blacksmiths who make weapons." Wu Dalin replied: "According to them, the Jiang family treats these people very harshly, and dozens of them have died in the past few years. Number one."
Qi Ning ordered: "Send someone to register, ask them about their origins, and then pay them travel expenses and let them return to their hometown."
"Master Hou, those Nanyang people...?"
"Take them back first and let Master Chen settle down. The next time the fleet goes to Nanyang, we will send them back to their hometown." Qining said, "Yes, there are some girls from Nanyang on Haifeng Island. We will send them together when the time comes. go back."
Wu Dalin said: "Master Marquis, the Jiang family's caravan has been wiped out this time. It will not be easy to organize another fleet to go to Nanyang. I'm afraid it won't be navigable again in a year or two."
Qi Ning smiled lightly and said: "I know what you mean, but don't worry about it for now. Just follow my instructions and make arrangements."
Wu Dalin held up his hands and turned around to order: "For those who are coming, register them in the register, ask them where they are from, and arrange for their return home later."
Naturally, this group of people understood Qi Ning's instructions, and they were all very excited. They knelt down and said gratefully: "Thank you, sir, thank you, sir!"
Wu Dalin said loudly: "This is Lord Jinyi. It is Lord Jinyi who saved you. After returning to your hometown, live a good life."
Everyone is very grateful. Many people have been trapped here for many years and thought they would never be able to leave until they die. Who knows that today, when the gods descended to earth, Jin Yihou actually led officers and soldiers to come to the rescue. Thinking that they could still see their families, many people were excited. It was tears streaming down my face.
Those Nanyang people didn't know why and looked at each other in confusion.
Qining saw dozens of people squatting in the corner. Their clothes were much cleaner than those of these hard workers, and the materials were obviously better. He asked, "Are these the supervisors of the Jiang family?"
"Exactly." Wu Dalin sneered: "When we rushed in, these guys were still preparing to resist and killed a few of them. They saw that there were many people here, so they abandoned their weapons and surrendered. Lord Marquis, what should we do with these people? ?”
Qi Ning walked over slowly. Some of the people in the group lowered their heads, while others looked at Qi Ning. Seeing Qi Ning approaching, someone already said loudly: "Master Hou, we are all forced. It is the Jiang family who forced us." Supervisor here, if... we don't obey, he will throw us into the sea to feed the fish...!"
As soon as this man spoke, other people started shouting, all saying they were forced by the Jiang family and had no choice. There was a sudden noise, and Wu Dalin screamed from the side: "Shut up!"
Almost at this moment, several cold stars shot out from the crowd like lightning, hitting Qining directly.
This incident was extremely unexpected. Wu Dalin was just a step behind Qi Ning, but he reacted very quickly and said sternly: "Master Marquis, be careful." The light of the sword flashed, and he stepped forward, swinging the sword in front of Qi Ning. , wanting to block those few cold stars.
Many people had not yet reacted. Among the crowd, two figures jumped up with great dexterity. They were in mid-air, each holding a rope in their hands. The ropes all stretched out, heading towards Qining Juan. come over.
"Ding ding ding" sounded several times. Wu Dalin opened a few cold stars with his knife. When he saw the two ropes curling towards Qining, he raised his knife to block them again.
The rope seemed to be alive. A rope suddenly spun and rolled towards Wu Dalin's wrist. The speed was extremely fast. Wu Dalin opened several hidden weapons. This sudden lifting of the knife was also a helpless change. The rope was too fast. Wu Dalin wanted to It was too late to dodge. The rope wrapped around Wu Dalin's wrist like a poisonous snake. The moment it wrapped around his wrist, Wu Dalin felt a stinging pain on his wrist and knew something was wrong.
However, the other rope continued to wrap around Qining's neck. Seeing that he was so close, Qining's figure suddenly flashed and disappeared instantly. The man's face showed surprise, but he suddenly saw a figure. As if there were springs under his feet, he suddenly jumped up and was in front of him in an instant. The man's figure was falling, but his opponent was rising upwards. During the staggered time, his opponent had already stretched out his hand, simple but yet powerful. He grabbed the man's neck extremely quickly.
At this time, the soldiers around found out that there was an assassin, and they all rushed over quickly.
The person who jumped up suddenly was naturally Qi Ning. He had profound internal energy. When he saw the rope being rolled towards him, he immediately took a step, jumped up, reached out with his hand, and grabbed the assassin's throat accurately. The assassin had no idea at all. Before he had time to react, Qi Ning used a force on his hand and had already broken the assassin's throat bone. He then let go. The assassin's body fell down. Others around him screamed and ran away. His body hit the ground with a bang and twitched twice. , then it doesn’t move.
Wu Dalin's wrist was entangled, and the stinging pain was excruciating, but he forced himself to hold it back. His left hand quickly came over, took the big knife from the entangled right hand, and then slashed it along the rope. This knife was very sharp, and the big knife was extremely sharp. , cut off the rope with one knife. At the moment when the rope was cut off, the opponent raised his left hand, and two cold stars hit Wu Dalin's head. The two were very close. Although Wu Dalin reacted quickly, but at this time There was no time to dodge, and when he saw that the hidden weapon was about to hit Wu Dalin on the head, Wu Dalin felt his eyes blur, and a figure blocked him.
It was Qi Ning who stepped forward to block. When he moved over, the two cold stars were already close at hand. Qi Ning raised his arms to block, and the two cold stars had already hit Qi Ning's arms, but Qi Ning His expression remained unchanged, and he drifted down. The person opposite saw that Qining's expression remained unchanged after being hit by a hidden weapon. He was even more horrified, his pupils shrank, and he exclaimed: "Nani!"