Upx Chapter 156 (2/2)
“The soldiers from the capital barracks are here!” a few of the citizens shouted froui heard the sound of hooves and looked back to see a thousand-strong teaenerals uards, they were hard-pressed to face off against such a large party
Lou Zigui only glanced at the battalion behind the forward
“They’ve left,” one of the eneral, who exhaled in relief at the sight That’s for the best Their nuht be few, but it’s uncertain who’d win if we really got into a fight
“Put out the fires,” the general ordered loudly The capital barrack’s soldiers iht the flames
“You, go back,” the general told one of his bodyguards “The fire’s too big, we need more men Return to call for reinforcements”
The bodyguard alloped back to the barracks
—
“It’s this row of shops right here,” one of the iuards said as he stopped in a intersection with Lou Zigui to point at five buildings sed in flames “I remember those five ine shops”
“It’s useless,” one of the Black Frost Cavalry generals muttered “What could be left after a fire like that?”
“The capital barracks soldiers should be here to fight the fire,” another general said as he looked behind them
“These five buildings are all wine shops?” Lou Zigui asked again
The iuard replied, “I’ve never entered them myself The wine shops on this street are too expensive for me”
A woman’s sobs came from the direction of the flames Soh for theuards dismounted from their horses and doused the into the fla a child to her chest
“A refugee?” one of the civilians hbors as he surveyed the woman
The iuard placed his hand beneath the nose of the child in the woui “She’s not breathing”
The woround retched sobs Whether or not she was a refugee, the cries of a h to earn the syan to shed tears at the sight
Lou Zigui dis down to ask, “What happened?”
The woman’s face was completely black fro
“You’re refugees that live on the streets, so why didn’t you escape in tiui asked
The fire had burnt off half the woht now, she was draped in one of the soldier’s robes
“If you don’t say anything, wouldn’t he die discontent?” Lou Zigui reached out a hand to close the eyes of the dead little boy
“nobody lived,” the wole one They all died Everyone—everyone died”
“What?” Lou Zigui asked
“So hter, her expression groild and alarled noises that Lou Zigui couldn’t understand at all
“She said there were people cursing the Grand Preceptor,” a itated from the woman’s words He raised his voice and cried, “So the leader of the ave orders to trap them in the alley and burn them to death!”
Everyone stiffened at the words as the wo someone else?
“They’re all gone,” the wo caved in, sending up clouds of dust that choked the watchers They beat a hasty retreat fro, but he bent down slightly to shi+eld the wo smoke and dust
“It has to be the Grand Preceptor’s ed either It was one of theood-for-nothing bastards If they had the guts, they should fight like real men”
“Take her away,” Lou Zigui said as he stood up But the wo up to rush wildly back into the flames Her family was all dead now, so as the point if she lived on alone?
Lou Zigui had already turned to leave when he heard the woman’s footsteps By the time he turned to stop her, it was already too late Cries of alarm rose from four sides as she threw herself headfirst into the flames There was a flash of a hu shriek Soon after that, the shrieks stopped, leaving the thrashi+ng hu collapsed from the flames and buried the woman’s body beneath its rubble
A deathly silence fell upon the intersection
Gradually, sorew louder and more intense until others joined them Without a home, a person could build another But what could one build from lost lives?
Lou Zigui stared at the flames before him, his expression ice-cold At thisto his side
“Did you see theave the orders to kill those people?”
“It was Xie Anshi+,” the man replied softly
Lou Zigui nodded Compared with Xie Anyi and Xie Anji, Xie Anshi+’s personality rese he lacked was the brains to back it up Killing refugees at a tie into the palace, what made him think they wouldn’t attack the Grand Preceptor’s estate in the same way?
“Supreer pointed to one of the streets leading to the north “Xie Anshi+ went to his elder brother-in-law’s house—Tao Chen’s estate”
Lou Zigui looked towards the north as killing intent flashed through his eyes