At daybreak, Yan Liqiang, Gu Zexuan, and Zhao Huipeng dragged their exhausted bodies through the devastated roads, collapsed houses and ruins, and amidst wailing and crying all the way, they returned to the yard where the Sihai Escort Agency's team had stayed last night, ready to meet up with the people from the Sihai Escort Agency first.
In such a huge change, the power of three people is like an ant in a torrent, too insignificant.
After working all night, the three men only managed to rescue more than a dozen people from the ruins and the river. Several of them died soon after being rescued because of their severe injuries. Even those who survived were more or less injured. Yan Liqiang and the other two could only find some medicines from the ruins of a collapsed pharmacy, distribute them to the surviving wounded, bandage them, and leave after doing their part. At this moment, Yan Liqiang and the other two could only do this much.
Walking along the road, there was chaos everywhere. Many places were still burning. Thick smoke was billowing in the sky. Outside the entire Jinling city, there was complete loss of order. Yan Liqiang did not see any bailiffs in the yamen, nor did he see any soldiers. Those who survived were all in despair, wailing and crying. What he saw was like the end of the world.
Yan Liqiang's spirit was also greatly stimulated and shocked last night, because the number of corpses he saw in his two lives combined was not as many as what he saw last night. Especially after dawn, in the Qinhuai River, corpses could be seen soaked in water along the river, including men and women, old and young. The scene was like hell.
When Yan Liqiang and the other two returned to the yard, the entire yard was in chaos. All the houses in the yard had collapsed, and two yards had caught fire, burning the contents of several warehouses.
"Oh God, why do you do this to me..." The yard owner who I met last night was kneeling in front of a collapsed house in the yard, beating his chest and crying loudly. In front of him were several twisted corpses. Among those corpses were the yard owner's wife, two sons and a daughter. The once happy and beautiful family was shattered overnight, and only one person was left alive in this world.
The three people had witnessed more than one such tragedy on their way back to the yard.
…
The wall of the Sihai Escort Agency's yard and the two rows of houses and warehouses in the yard also collapsed. More than 30 people from the Sihai Escort Agency were now gathered in the yard, cleaning up the ruins and moving the agency's goods out of the collapsed warehouses.
The escorts of the escort agency were very vigilant. When they heard the first noise outside last night, several escorts who stayed in the yard had already run out of the room to investigate the situation. Therefore, when the house in the backyard collapsed, none of the people from the Sihai Escort Agency were buried under the rubble. The same went for the horses in the stable, because the stable was just a straw shed. When the stable collapsed, except for a few horses that ran away in fear, most of the horses were still there and were not seriously injured.
However, among the escorts who went out last night, only a few have returned by this time.
"Have you three seen Leader Feng?" When a bodyguard from the Sihai Escort Agency saw Yan Liqiang and his two companions coming back, he immediately came up and asked anxiously.
Yan Liqiang and the others also knew this escort. His name was Wang Hui. Like Chen Hu, he was also a capable subordinate of Leader Feng. It was Wang Hui who stayed here last night.
Yan Liqiang shook his head, "We didn't see the escort leader?"
Wang Hui immediately showed a look of disappointment on his face. "What about the other brothers in the escort agency? Did you see them?"
"The three of us were not with the other people in the escort agency last night, so..."
Before Yan Liqiang could finish, Wang Hui waved his hand impatiently, losing interest in talking to the three people. "The three of you, don't just stand there. Go over and help clean out the things in the warehouse..."
In the escort team, Yan Liqiang and the other two were just insignificant little people. In the face of such a big change, Wang Hui didn't care where the three had gone last night, whether they were injured, or even whether they were dead or alive...
Yan Liqiang looked at Wang Hui calmly and did not move. Gu Zexuan and Zhao Huipeng originally wanted to move, but when they saw that Yan Liqiang did not move, they also stood there.
"What? Didn't you hear what I said?" Seeing Yan Liqiang not listening, Wang Hui suddenly became furious and pointed at Yan Liqiang's nose and cursed, "Are you itching for trouble? Why don't you go to work?"
When Wang Hui cursed, all the people from the Sihai Escort Agency who were working stopped what they were doing and looked over here in surprise.
Yan Liqiang looked at Wang Hui with sympathy. Perhaps Wang Hui was a competent bodyguard. However, a competent bodyguard would definitely not be able to cope with the situation at this time, because Wang Hui obviously did not have enough brains and did not have a sense of the overall situation.
Yan Liqiang glanced at the people from the Sihai Escort Agency who had stopped in the yard. Their faces were filled with fear and confusion. Faced with such a catastrophe, and the fact that the escort agency was suddenly leaderless, these people who were used to following orders did not know what to do. So, they did whatever Wang Hui said.
"I think we should not rush to move those goods out of the ruins at this moment, but should first send people to Jinling City to find out the situation, to see whether the government offices in Jinling City are still operating, to see how many defenders are left in Jinling City, and whether they can still maintain the situation!" Yan Liqiang said calmly.
Wang Hui was so angry that he laughed, "Oh, you are a pretty boy, and you want to teach me how to do things?"
Yan Liqiang was not angry, and continued to speak calmly, "Captain Feng is the leader of this team. He is experienced, strict with himself and considerate. When he left the yard yesterday, he took a few people with him, saying that he was going to visit some friends in Jinling City. Now we are facing such a big change in Jinling. If Captain Feng was okay, he would have returned to the yard last night to stabilize the situation here, or at least sent someone to inform us and let us know, instead of waiting until this time today without showing up and without any news. Although I also hope that Captain Feng is okay and can come back safely, the current situation shows that Captain Feng is most likely in trouble last night and cannot come back. It is very likely that he has died. I am afraid we have to prepare for the worst..."
"Nonsense..." Wang Hui immediately cursed, his face full of anger, "How dare you curse here that something bad will happen to Feng Biaotou? Believe it or not, I will cut off your tongue..."
"Master Wang, you are not qualified to cut off my tongue?" At this time, Yan Liqiang had completely calmed down.
"What?" Wang Hui's face turned pale, and he pressed the spring clip on his waist. With a clang, the goose-feather knife hanging on Wang Hui's waist was unsheathed in an instant, and the sharp white blade was suddenly placed across Yan Liqiang's neck, "I'm going to chop off your pretty face today..."
Yan Liqiang was still smiling, with no fear on his face. He even signaled with his eyes to Gu Zexuan and Zhao Huipeng, asking them not to act rashly. However, the look in his eyes when he looked at Wang Hui suddenly became stern. "It's true that I am a gigolo, but I am not a gigolo from Sihai Escort Agency, or even Sihai Court. You have to understand that I am a formal disciple of the Sword God Sect. I came to the Sword God Sect with the key of repaying the favor from Elder Shi of the Sword God Sect. It was Elder Jiang of the Sword God Sect who allowed me to join the sect. It was the Sect Master Su of Tianqiao Hall who personally promoted and appointed me as a disciple of the Sword God Sect. "I am a disciple of Tianqiao Hall. According to the rules of the Sword God Sect, who else but the Discipline Court has the right to cut my tongue, chop off my head, and impose punishment on me? When did a bodyguard from the Sihai Escort Agency under the Sihai Court override the Discipline Court of the Sword God Sect? How could he disregard the rules of the Sword God Sect and dare to punish a disciple of Tianqiao Hall at will? If you dare to touch me today, do you know what the consequences will be? Even if you can flee to the ends of the earth without fear of being hunted down by the people of the Discipline Court of the Sword God Sect, aren't you afraid of implicating your family and children?"
Hearing Yan Liqiang's words, Wang Hui's face suddenly changed, and cold sweat broke out...
(End of this chapter)