About half an hour later, Yang Yi, the leader of the black crows, looked at the manor under the night in the distance and whispered.
"seem?"
Zhang Qigong glanced at Yang Yi coldly, and his calm tone was slightly trembling, perhaps because he had not fully recovered from the nameless anger just now.
Seeing this, Yang Ji had a look of embarrassment on his face. Suddenly, he saw the manor house in the distance, as if someone was holding a torch and shaking it a few times.
This is obviously the secret code of the black crows in the manor.
Seeing this, Yang Yi reminded Zhang Qigong firmly: "It's over."
"..."
Zhang Qigong took a deep look at Yang Yi, and then sighed melancholy. His originally indifferent tone also took on a hint of sleepiness: "Let's go, let me go and take a look."
"yes!"
After a while, Zhang Qigong, Yang Yi, Gao Xianhou Lu Xin and Crow Five, surrounded by nearly a hundred Black Crows, walked out of the small forest and walked towards the manor courtyard under the night cover in the distance.
Yang Yi was right, the battle in the distant courtyard was indeed over. No, four or five black crows had been sent out and were standing at the main entrance of the courtyard holding torches, waiting for Zhang Qigong and others.
arrival.
After stopping for a moment at the main entrance of the villa, Zhang Qigong looked at the open main entrance and let out a slight breath.
This main door was not opened after the battle, but was opened as soon as Ghost and the Black Crows sneaked into the manor. At that time, Zhang Qigong vaguely heard the sound of the door opening.
"...Growing up, this is the first time I saw an assassin sneaking in through the front door."
After taking a look at the four or five black crows with faint traces of blood on their bodies, Zhang Qigong reached out and took a torch from Yang Yi's hand, and walked into the manor without saying a word.
On the other hand, Lu Xin, the Marquis of Gao Xian, asked incredulously: "Could it be that the minions trapped by Gong Zheng in this manor's courtyard..."
"They should all be killed." Yang Yi handed a torch to Gao Xianhou Lu Xin.
"There are at least two to three hundred people in this villa, and there are only about 20 ghosts and others..."
Lu Xin, the Marquis of Gao Xian, swallowed his saliva, feeling a little numb on his scalp, and quickly followed Zhang Qigong.
At this time, Zhang Qigong had already walked into the courtyard of the village and stopped near two corpses not far away.
He knelt down and inspected the two corpses, and found that the two corpses had their eyes wide open, as if they were dead.
When Zhang Qigong held up the torch in his hand and inspected the fatal wounds on the corpses, he found that both of them had their throats cut and their hearts stabbed, which were standard assassin killing techniques.
"I'm afraid these two people were really assassinated by the ghosts and other black crows..."
Zhang Qigong said secretly.
At this time, Gao Xianhou Lu Xin's slightly trembling words came from the side: "There is another corpse here..."
After Zhang Qigong heard this, he walked up to take a look, and sure enough he found a body lying at the entrance of the courtyard corridor about ten steps away.
The death condition of this corpse was much more miserable than the two corpses just now. It seemed that something sharp had been stabbed into the eye, so that the left eye was stained with blood, but the fatal wound was still on the heart.
.
"When I was killing those two people, I was discovered by a third person. Well, from a distance of about ten steps, I casually threw out a short blade and pierced the third person's left eye. Then I quickly stepped forward and covered the other person's mouth and nose. At the same time,
Quickly stabbing the opponent's heart to death...it's kind of interesting.』
Ya Wu, who was following Zhang Qigong, raised his eyebrows slightly.
Like most of the Green Crows, although Crow Five also looked down on the Black Crows from the bottom of his heart, he had never underestimated the personal strength of the Black Crows. He had to admit that this gang of murderers had no power under the leadership of Black Spider, the leader of the Black Crows.
Under the brutal training, he has developed superb assassination skills.
Even if he is one of the leaders of the Blue Crows, if he meets "Ghost", the captain of the Black Crows who is qualified to have a code name, he will probably have to fight hard.
The ranking method of the Blue Crows is based on the order of comprehensive ability evaluation, that is, the comprehensive abilities of stealth, Qiaozhuang, and intelligence gathering. Starting from "Crow Eleven", the Blue Crow with the highest comprehensive ability score will be ranked higher.
.
But the Black Crows are different. There is no ranking in the Black Crows. There are only two ways of distinguishing "with codenames" and "without codenames." Ordinary "crows (ordinary members)" are not even qualified to have codenames.
Only those Black Crows like "Ghost" who are qualified to have code names are the real backbone and elite of the Black Crows.
As for what method should be used to determine whether one is qualified or not, it is very simple, that is, a competition with real swords and guns.
Only those black crows with the most exquisite killing methods are qualified to have code names and stand out from the crowd of crows.
It cannot be denied that the promotion method of the Black Crows is much more cruel than that of the Green Crows.
At this time, Zhang Qigong led Gao Xianhou Lu Xin towards the inner courtyard. However, on the path near the backyard, Zhang Qigong suddenly stopped because there were corpses lying on the ground on the road.
A rough estimate is that there are about ten of them.
"……sharp."
Suddenly, Zhang Qigong vaguely heard a faint sound of praise coming from behind him. He turned his head and realized that it seemed to be the praise coming from Ya Wu.
Out of curiosity, Zhang Qigong made a gesture to Ya Wu, hoping that the latter would explain on his behalf.
Crow Five glanced at the left side, where there were several black crows participating in the operation, either standing or sitting on the railings of the corridor, looking at him with half-smiling smiles.
Seeing this, Yawu snorted secretly. After nodding towards Zhang Qigong, he illuminated the ground with a torch and whispered: "The one who took action... should be three black crows, and the leader of the black crows took the lead.
Taking action, this person first killed one of the thieves at this position, then used the three-edged thorn in his hand to remove the weapon cut by the second thief. When he passed by, he crushed the opponent's throat, and then threw it at this position.
He shot the three-edged thorn in his hand and killed the third thief. At the same time, he dodged the blade of the fourth thief sideways and quickly broke the opponent's neck..."
As he slowly stated, Zhang Qigong and Gao Xianhou Lu Xin opened their eyes wide and couldn't believe it.
However, the black crows in the left corridor started laughing strangely.
Seeing this, Ya Wu frowned and said with a bit of displeasure: "What? Am I right?"
After hearing this, one of the Black Crows laughed strangely twice, raised a finger, and said in a mocking tone: "The only one who takes action here is the ghost boss."
"This is impossible!" Ya Wu said with a frown.
As soon as he finished speaking, another Black Crow member said calmly: "At that time, the ghost boss said that whoever dared to rob would be killed together with that person, so I just stood aside and watched...
"As he spoke, he curled his lips, bumped his companion with his shoulder, and mocked: "Look at how confident this kid looked just now."
"Hehehehe..." The other black crows also looked at the five crow monsters and laughed.
Listening to this harsh laughter, a pale color flashed across Yaowu's face, and at the same time, deep down in his heart, he raised his evaluation of Ghost to a higher level.
He had to admit that the Black Crows with code names like Ghost could really crush the Blue Crows of the same level in terms of strength alone.
Beside, Zhang Qigong and Gao Xianhou Lu Xin couldn't believe their ears.
What? All the dozen or so people here were killed by that ghost? And this ghost only spent a dozen breaths of work?
"...Awesome! It's really awesome!"
Even if it was Zhang Qigong, his breathing could not help but become slightly heavier at this time.
On the way to the inner courtyard, Zhang Qigong and others could encounter corpses from time to time. Sometimes they could see one or two black crows recycling their weapons next to the corpses, or shooting arrows from their sleeves, looking at the gang.
Zhang Qigong's calm expression made Zhang Qigong even more shocked: Aren't these people even the slightest bit nervous?
Suddenly, the front suddenly opened up, and it turned out that we were in the inner courtyard.
However, just as Zhang Qigong was about to walk into the courtyard, he suddenly heard the Gao Xianhou Lu Xin beside him scream in surprise.
"how?"
Zhang Qigong, who was startled, glanced at Gao Xianhou Lu Xin with some dissatisfaction, but saw the latter swallowing his saliva and pointing in the direction of the courtyard.
Seeing this, Zhang Qigong turned to look at the courtyard. Only then did he see in shock that there were corpses strewn all over the courtyard. Even with a cursory glance, there were at least about a hundred people here.
"...What a melee!"
Looking at the shocking scene that looked like a battlefield, Zhang Qigong saw several Black Crows in the courtyard wiping their weapons, so he asked with some anxiety: "How many of the Black Crows were killed or injured?"
"Deaths and injuries?" About a dozen steps away from Zhang Qigong, a Black Crow member looked at Zhang Qigong strangely, and then said disdainfully: "Captain Zhang, don't be ridiculous, just these people? How can they kill me, Black Crow?"
All the brothers?"
"...In other words, none of the twenty-odd black crows were harmed?"
Zhang Qigong felt his whole body's hair stand on end, and an inexplicable excitement surged into his heart.
"Too powerful! This group of black crows is really too powerful! ...Only a dozen or so black crows faced an estimated two to three hundred thieves in this manor, and in such a short period of time, they...
Just kill all the opponents... The Black Crows are truly worthy of being on par with the Blue Crows! No, in terms of strength alone, the Black Crows are stronger than the Blue Crows!』
Zhang Qigong clenched his fists excitedly.
For a long time, he suppressed the excitement in his heart, took a long breath, and showed a kind smile on his indifferent face: "Very good! Very good! After I go back, I will definitely reward you heavily!... Now, that Gong Zheng
Where are you now?"
"Gong Zheng?" The black crow member was a little confused: "What Gong Zheng?"
Zhang Qigong's heart skipped a beat, and he changed his expression and said, "It's that 'Mr. Gong'. Didn't I mention it to you in the inner courtyard today during the day?"
"It seems that something like this happened..." the black crow member recalled, stroking his chin.
"What does "it seems like something like this" mean?"
Zhang Qigong gritted his teeth bitterly and shouted angrily: "Where's the ghost? Didn't he tell you when he took action?"
"Explain?" The Black Crow member was stunned for a moment, and then said suddenly: "Oh - "Kill everyone here", right? I remember it."
"Fart!" Zhang Qigong angrily cursed with veins on his forehead, "Zhang told you to catch Gong Zheng! ... Where is the ghost? What is he doing now?"
Perhaps because he was worried about Zhang Qigong's official position as "Captain of the Crown Prince's Mansion", the Black Crow member curled his lips and said: "Boss Ghost and his brothers are looking for..."
"Searching? Are you looking for that Gong Zheng?...So it turns out that Gong Zheng is hiding? In this case, I wrongly blamed them..."
A series of thoughts flashed through his mind, and he realized that he might have mistakenly blamed You Gui and others. Zhang Qigong calmed down for a long time. After coughing, he said with a little embarrassment: "Ahem, are you looking for that Gong Zheng? He is hiding.
Is it done?”
However, the black crow member shook his head uncooperatively and said honestly: "No, the ghost boss and his brothers are just looking for a drink... After killing people happily, they drink alcohol happily.
Getting drunk is the tradition of my Black Crows..."
As he spoke, he stretched out his hand to make a drinking gesture.
"..."
Zhang Qigong opened his mouth and was stunned.
After five or six breaths, his face turned red with anger, and he cursed: "Fuck your mother's tradition! ...Call the ghost here! Go quickly!"
Beside, Gao Xianhou Lu Xin, Yang Yi, Ya Wu and others all looked at Zhang Qigong with amazed expressions. Maybe they were also surprised that this learned man could actually curse such ugly words.
Perhaps he noticed the strange looks in the eyes of Gao Xianhou Lu Xin, Yang Yi, Ya Wu and others. Zhang Qigong, who realized that he had lost his composure, took a long breath and calmed down.
Inadvertently seeing corpses all over the courtyard again, Zhang Qigong sighed quietly.
Tough, the Black Crows are really tough. Just a few dozen of them were able to kill all the at least two to three hundred desperadoes that Gong Zheng had trapped in this courtyard, and none of them died. Thanks to him this time.
Two hundred black crows were also mobilized, which was simply overkill.
but……
He raised his head and glanced ahead.
"Happy, happy."
With two happy sounds, the ghost came to Zhang Qigong with the smell of blood and wine mixed with his body, and greeted Zhang Qigong with a smile: "Ah, Captain Zhang, the mission is completed."
"..." Zhang Qigong looked at Yougui intently, and asked with a slightly trembling voice: "Yougui, where is Gong Zheng? Where is Gong Zheng who I asked you to capture alive?"
"Huh?" The smile on Ghost's face froze, he took out a wrinkled portrait from his arms, reached out and scratched his head, tilting his head to recall.
Seeing this, Ya Wu explained with a slight sarcasm: "He was recalling whether he killed Gong Zheng as well."
Zhang Qigong paused when he heard the words, and asked with an ugly face: "Really, seriously? You..."
He really didn't know what words to use to describe his mood at this moment.
After careful planning and waiting for a full month, we set up bait to round up Gong Zheng, an important member of Xiao Ni. When things came to a close, you actually told me that you had killed the mission target as well?
Suddenly, Zhang Qigong felt his eyes go dark - how could he explain this to His Highness the Crown Prince?!
At this time, the ghost seemed to realize what mistake had been made here, and said sarcastically: "Captain Zhang, I remember, I didn't kill that palace official, I'll go ask the brothers..."
After saying that, he ran away.
Seeing that tall and thick guy running away in the blink of an eye, Zhang Qigong was filled with fatigue. He once again realized why Zongwei Gao Kuo would hand over the Black Crows to him so happily - this was obviously for relief!
At this moment, a member of the Green Crows appeared out of nowhere, walked quickly to Ya Wu's ear and whispered a few words.
Yawu nodded, and after waving his hand to dismiss the Green Crow, he turned to Zhang Qigong, who looked exhausted, and said with fists in his fists: "Captain Zhang, don't worry, that Gong Zheng has been captured alive by my Blue Crow."
Hearing this, Zhang Qigong felt as if he had experienced a sudden change and was as happy as seeing the sun through the clouds. He said in surprise: "Really, seriously?"
"Absolutely true."
Yawu smiled and said something that was very harsh to Yang Yi: "I have long guessed that the Black Crows are unreliable, so I sent people to sneak into the manor in advance and subdued the Gong Zheng... as a precaution
The night has been long and there have been many dreams. This person has been escorted back to Daliang by our Green Crows. After Master Zhang returns to the Prince's Mansion, we can see the palace official."
Hearing this, Zhang Qigong took a long breath and said with emotion: "Thank you very much! ... Otherwise, Zhang really doesn't know how to explain to His Highness the Crown Prince."
From the side, Yang Yi frowned and said to Ya Wu: "Yao Wu, you have crossed the line."
"It doesn't count." Ya Wu chuckled and said, "I was originally ordered by Master Gao Kuo to assist you."
"But you promised not to participate in this operation." Yang Yi said displeasedly.
Crow Five chuckled and said, "I'm sorry, His Highness the Crown Prince also attaches great importance to this operation. Forgive me that I can't just sit back and watch you Black Crows do whatever they want."
"What's wrong?" A hint of anger flashed through Yang Yi's eyes.
Seeing this scene, Zhang Qigong was very surprised.
Because according to what he saw, Yang Yi's status among the Black Crows was not high, even lower than that of the leader-level ghost. However, he did not expect that after listening to Yawu's scolding and teasing of the Black Crows, Yang Yi actually
would show such hostility.
In fact, murderous intent appeared in his eyes.
Realizing that something seemed amiss in the atmosphere, Zhang Qigong quickly smoothed things over and said, "Chief Yangji..."
However, before Zhang Qigong could finish speaking, he saw Yang Yi put his hand on Zhang Qigong's chest and pushed him aside with gentle force. Then, he took a step forward, looked at Ya Wu and said coldly.
: "Crow Five, I can tolerate the behavior of those bastards from Ghost Ghost sometimes, because they are my brothers and sisters, Black Crow, but you are not... It's time for you to leave. If you stay here any longer, I'm afraid I won't be able to bear it."
of."
After taking a deep look at Yang Yi, Ya Wu realized that the other party was not joking. He immediately stepped back, raised his hands and said with a smile: "The mission is completed, it's really time for me to leave... Also, I forgot to tell you that I
The Green Crows are assisting you this time and are also responsible for making a final assessment of you. This assessment will be sent to His Highness the Crown Prince for review by Lord Gao Kuo."
At this point, he smiled with a bit of contempt and continued: "Unqualified!... Black Crow did nothing outstanding in this operation."
With that said, before Yang Yi could attack, he took a few steps back, turned over and jumped onto the wall, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"Asshole!" Yang Yi cursed secretly, and then apologized and said to Zhang Qigong: "Master Zhang, what I did just now has offended me a lot..."
Zhang Qigong nodded slightly.
For some reason, he could also feel the anger in Yang Yi's heart. Perhaps this was because he was now the direct superior of the Black Crows.
Afterwards, the Black Crows cleaned up the corpses in the farmyard.
After counting, there were a total of 216 corpses in the village courtyard. Seeing the pile of firewood burning these 216 corpses, Zhang Qigong couldn't help but feel a little emotional.
In terms of strength alone, the Black Crows are really strong. Even if they are facing these desperadoes that Gongzheng has snared, one against ten is not a problem. But in other aspects, the Black Crows are really in a mess.
But for some reason, Zhang Qigong has a good impression of these people. It may be because these black crows are all pure murderers.
Just like when he was in Song County, when he asked Sang Ya to massacre the entire Chang clan, Sang Ya didn't hesitate and fulfilled Zhang Qigong's instructions thoroughly, without asking the reason from the beginning to the end.
"...It matches me surprisingly well."
I don’t know what he thought of, Zhang Qigong smiled and said.
"But...the temperament of these guys is really random. We should really find a way to control it..."
Zhang Qigong turned his head and glanced at the ghosts smelling of alcohol and the other twenty or so black crows not far away, and said secretly in his heart.
After finishing the work, Zhang Qigong took Yang Yi and other black crows back to Daliang. As for the rest of the black crows, he sent them to Xiaohuang. After all, Zhang Qigong did not dare to let these guys enter Daliang.
Firstly, he was afraid that these bastards would cause trouble in Daliang. Secondly, many of them had actually been on the court's arrest list, and Zhang Qigong didn't want to go to the prison of the Ministry of Punishment to arrest them.
Having said that, this is actually a good thing. The worst thing is that these bastards killed the criminal officials who came to arrest them. This is the most troublesome.
After returning to Daliang, Zhang Qigong first returned to the Prince's Mansion. After confirming that the palace official had indeed been brought to the Prince's Mansion by the Green Crows, he breathed a sigh of relief and went to the palace to report back to Prince Zhao Run.
When Zhang Qigong arrived at the East Palace, Prince Zhao Run was writing something in the side hall of the East Palace. When he saw Zhang Qigong leading Yang Yi to return, Zhao Hongrun raised his head and asked with a smile: "Raw Wu's assessment, this king."
I’ve seen it... Regarding this, Qi Gong and Yang Ji, what do you two want to say?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Yi knelt on the ground with one knee and said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, Your Highness, you are not strict with me because of your humble position. Please punish me, Your Highness."
Zhao Hongrun chuckled and said nothing, turning to look at Zhang Qigong.
Zhang Qigong thought for a while and said: "I believe that the Black Crows have many malleable talents, but they need to be restrained..."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Hongrun put down the brush in his hand.
He didn't mean to blame the Black Crows. After all, at first, he wanted to make the Black Crows into assassins who cooperated with the army. The leader of the Black Crows, Black Spider, also fulfilled Zhao Hongrun's original instructions and turned the Black Crows into assassins.
Together they made an extremely sharp blade.
For him, if Zhang Qigong could not restrain the Black Crows, it would not be a big deal for him to transfer the Black Crows to the army.
It's just a pity to do this. After all, the training of the Black Crows is far more cruel than the way the Wei Kingdom trains its soldiers.
"Forget it, regarding the matter of the Black Crows, Qi Gong and Yang Yi, you two should just worry more about it. As for Gong Zheng..." Zhao Hongrun paused and said in a deep voice: "Be sure to pry open his mouth and torture him.
Find out the whereabouts of Xiao Luan!"
"My lord, I obey!"
Zhang Qigong accepted the order with his hands in hand, a hint of cruelty flashing in his eyes.