54 Sneak Attack
On the fifth day of the city’s fall, the Green Mountain Army had basically taken control of the situation and had the prefecture city firmly in their hands.
The Shi family also shed all pretenses and announced that they would join the Green Mountain Army. Their status rose rapidly, and they entered the mayor’s mansion. The Shi family head would also serve as the mayor, directly surpassing the aristocratic Wang family.
As night fell, in the dim woodshed, Jiang Ming circulated his blood Qi to his ears and listened to the conversation of the owner of the house next door.
“Today, the Green Mountain Army came again and asked us to donate ten more sacks of white rice. Didn’t they say that they don’t hurt the people?” the man of the house sighed.
“I can only hope that they leave quickly. There’s not a single good person in the government,” the mistress sighed as well.
“The Green Mountain Army is still okay,” the master muttered. “Right now, they only want food. They rob the big forces that were involved in the defense of the city. Even the Wang family has been extorted. The most troublesome thing in the city now is the bandits. They take advantage of the chaos to rob and kill people. I even saw people from Guo Laohu’s family pretending to be thieves and rushing into the shops on the street to rob money and valuables. That man has been in the rice and flour business with us for a long time. I recognized him at a glance. He’s shameless.”
Jiang Ming’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Jiang Ming had heard of Guo Laohu in Tiger Hunting Village. Guo Laohu also learned the Leather Tiger Bone Technique there. Later, he established his own sect after he had mastered martial arts. His blood Qi was as strong as a tiger’s, and he was a famous second-class martial artist in the prefecture.
However, that was more than a decade ago. When Guo Laohu became a second-class martial artist, he was already in his forties. Later on, he was busy with his business and could no longer make any progress. Now that he was old and weak, he probably did not have much of his skill left.
However, the Guo family had found themselves a good backer. The two bootlickers who followed Jiang Ming to kill Shi Junhong at Qinghe Tower were from the Guo family as well.
Moreover, Master Zhou’s plot of land was also awarded to the Guo family by Shi Junhong. Now, it was where the Guo family’s branch in Peace Town was located.
“Guo Laohu should be around seventy. Although he still has some power, I’m afraid he won’t be able to fight,” Jiang Ming thought, “On the contrary, the Old Snake Gang hasn’t made any moves so far. No one knows if the Old Snake Gang’s leader has broken through to first class. I still have to wait quietly and continue to observe.”
Late at night, Jiang Ming listened to the loud snoring next door. He quietly jumped out of the woodshed, jumped on the roof, and ran away.
The Green Mountain Army’s patrol swaggered through the city. Occasionally, there were local ruffians and rogues causing trouble, but they quickly took care of them.
It would take some time to completely calm things down.
* * *
With his impressive martial arts skills, his ruthless methods, and the Shi family’s support, Guo Laohu managed to amass a considerable amount of land and wealth.
In a study room in the Guo family’s backyard, Guo Laohu was explaining things to his eldest son. “Wei, there’s something wrong with the Green Mountain Army’s actions these past few days. They’ve killed several family heads. The Shi family may be spared, but the Guo family may not. Tomorrow morning, you will bring your wife and children, and we will disguise ourselves and hide. We will let the servants take care of the house first. When the city gate opens in a few days, we’ll leave the city and go to the Cloudy Dream Mountain Forest in Peace Town.”
“I know, Father. I’ll make preparations.”
A moment later, a young man hurriedly walked out of the room and left.
In the room, Guo Laohu patted the package on the table, quietly wondering if he had missed anything.
At this moment, there was another urgent knock on the door.
“Father!”
His eldest son, Guo Wei’s anxious voice came through.
“What’s wrong? Did you run into some trouble?” Guo Laohu was shocked and quickly got up to open the door.
The door opened, and the night wind blew in, but Guo Laohu felt a little dizzy.
Guo Laohu looked at his son.
“Huh?!” His expression changed, and his body swayed slightly.
“Knockout powder…!” As soon as this thought flashed through Guo Laohu’s mind, he tried to gather his blood Qi to force out the powder.
In front of him, his son suddenly charged forward and swung his fist toward Guo Laohu’s chest.
“You!”
Guo Laohu’s expression changed drastically. He subconsciously wanted to block the attack, but his blood Qi was already weak. In addition, the knockout powder had slowed him down. He could only watch as the attack rushed toward him.
“I’m finished…” This was the only thought that flashed through Guo Laohu’s mind. His entire body was sent flying like a piece of straw, and blood spurted out of his mouth as he crashed into a table.
“W-Who are you? Why are you sneakily attacking an old man?”
He was lying on the ground with blood flowing out of his mouth and nose. His chest was a bloody mess, and his sternum was shattered. It seemed that he was not going to live, but he still looked at the man wearing his son’s face. He panted and said, “You would have won against me in a fair fight. Why are you resorting to such despicable methods?”
“It’s my first time killing a second-class martial artist, so of course I have to be careful.” Jiang Ming took him in. “The body of a second-class martial artist is terrifyingly strong. If your blood Qi had been a little stronger, I might have been the one to die!”
“Of course, this is under the premise that I don’t use the Blood-Burning Saber Technique,” Jiang Ming added internally.
Guo Laohu rolled his eyes in anger. Then, before he could even catch his breath, he died.
At this moment, there was the sound of panicked footsteps outside, accompanied by shouting.
Jiang Ming ignored them. He picked up the package on Guo Laohu’s table, jumped out of the window, and left the house.
Guo Laohu was old and weak. In recent years, there were no new second-class martial artists in the Guo family.
Now that Guo Laohu was dead, the Guo family was like a tiger without teeth. Countless people were eyeing them covetously, wanting to seize their assets. The Green Mountain Army would also not let go of their assets.
From now on, the Guo family would no longer exist.
“The Green Mountain King hasn’t even become the emperor yet, and the Shi family has already started to lord over everyone. I really can’t stand them. Let’s see who will have the last laugh.”