Chapter 653
Escape
When the two guards heard this, although they were still looking for Ouchi Hiromi, they were not so anxious anymore. They asked for directions and then went to look for him leisurely.
At this time, Xue Shao and his companions were already pushing the mule cart closer to the city gate.
The city of Yamaguchikan is considered prosperous in Japan, but it is still not very big.
The outer city includes the inner city, which is surrounded by a group of houses and two streets of shops. The straight-line distance is very short.
With the rise of the samurai class and the decentralization of power of the Muromachi shogunate, the curfew system in large castles of the Heian period was abolished. At least, there was no curfew in Yamaguchi-kan. Kenjin Ichijo specifically mentioned that they could leave the city at any time, but leaving the city at night would be particularly conspicuous and they might be checked by soldiers.
Fortunately, it was not very late at this time, and there were only a few people leaving the city who were late or drunk.
Xue Shao and Wang Cong were both drunk. As soon as they approached the city gate, Xue Shao took out a handful of copper coins and threw them at the soldiers who surrounded them. He waved his hand arrogantly and said, "We rewarded you with these coins."
The soldier only saw the scattered money and heard Xue Shao's Japanese with a Yamaguchi accent. He didn't even look at his face. He just raised the torch to illuminate the money on the ground and competed with his companions in hand speed.
By the time they picked up all the money on the ground, the mule cart had gone a long way away. In the dim moonlight, they could only see a blurry shadow of the cart.
The soldiers didn't care. They counted their money happily and felt that it was worth working tonight.
The trees on both sides of the road gradually became denser, and the moonlight was blocked by the trees, leaving a faint shadow on the ground.
Xue Shao approached with the mule cart, and a man carrying a bag slowly walked out of the darkness and came towards them.
As soon as she got closer, Pan Yun couldn't help but complain: "Their box craftsmanship is not good, and the sealing is not good. I have wrapped it with a curtain, but it still bleeds out of the box."
A good box should be like a bucket, able to hold water without leaking.
Xue Shao glanced at the curtain in her hand and looked away, asking, "Where's the box?"
Pan Yun pointed to a box lying on the ground not far away.
The box was bloody and a lot of blood was seeping out of it.
Xue Shao glanced at the curtain that was still dripping with blood, and knew that she didn't want to put the human head in her space, so he stepped forward and picked up the box. He casually broke off a branch from the side and spread it on the shaft of the cart, put the box on it, raised his chin, and motioned Pan Yun to put the head in.
Wang Cong took the initiative to take the curtain and put it inside, then covered the box. "Junior Master, Hero Gao and Junior Brother Qu haven't come out yet."
Pan Yun: "They know the way, we go first."
Song Xuan shook the reins and patted the mule's butt to make it run.
Pan Yun and the other two followed them using their lightness skills, and soon they ran away in the night.
Gao Zhiming and Qu Le ran out of the city, and the entire Yamaguchi Pavilion was in turmoil.
The Naito family finally discovered that Naito Mitsuo had been murdered. From inside the house to outside the house, and from the inner city to the outer city, the city that had gradually quieted down became noisy.
Qu Le and Gao Zhiming looked back at Yamaguchi Hall together. Perhaps they had sensed the danger, as people were running out of the city one after another.
The soldiers guarding the gate pretended to try their best to stop the people, while loudly asking whether the city gate needed to be closed.
During the Muromachi period, samurai were highly respected, but they had bad tempers and were so proud and arrogant that if they drew their swords and killed someone, their deaths would be in vain.
Therefore, the soldiers were already used to flexible enforcement. Soon, the order came down from above to close the city gates and send two teams of warriors to assist in guarding.
The two of them looked away and were thankful: "Fortunately we ran fast, otherwise we would have been locked in."
Qu Le looked around and asked, "Where are they?"
Gao Zhiming glanced around and quickly found the dripping blood: "They must have gone ahead. Let's catch up with them."
Gao Zhiming accepted it well, but Qu Le was new to the world and was at the peak of his loyalty. He kept muttering along the way: "How could you leave us behind?"
The main thing was that they ran very fast. Gao Zhiming and Qu Le used Qinggong to chase them, and they only saw them after they were out of breath.
The two of them sped up, and by the time they caught up with the team, they had used up a lot of their internal energy.
Before Qu Le could complain, Pan Yun had already praised the two of them: "You did a good job, you held the man back. You didn't get discovered when you left the city, did you?"
Qu Le paused and replied, "No, there was chaos in the city, and many people ran out after us. They will definitely not be able to find us for a while."
"But we can't stop. There are many of us and our pace is slow. It will be very tiring tonight. Let's walk for another two hours before stopping to rest." However, seeing that Qu Le and Gao Zhiming were out of breath, Pan Yun asked the two to get on the mule cart to rest.
Qu Le: "You guys don't want to sit down?"
Pan Yun: "Take turns."
Qu Le got on the car and saw the person lying on the car. He lifted the curtain and asked Pan Yun who was walking beside the car: "I have always wanted to ask, why did you kill Naito Mitsuo? He did not participate in the massacre of the village."
Qu Le said: "Capture Ouchi Hiroki and I know that you want to find the rest of the people. In my opinion, there is no need to go through so much trouble. This matter must be related to the head of the Ouchi clan. Even if it was not his instigation, he has done it. He has to bear half of the responsibility for what the clan members did. Just kill the head of the Ouchi clan and a few powerful retainers. The entire Ouchi clan will have other forces to deal with it. We can not only quickly settle the grudge, but also be safer."
Pan Yun couldn't help but look at him in amazement: "Great, you can actually come up with such a solution."
To be honest, Pan Jun thought the same thing before coming out.
If the head of the Ouchi clan and several outstanding retainers and children were killed, other forces would naturally compete for the Ouchi clan's territory, and then they could take this opportunity to rob the Ouchi clan's ships and take them back, thus achieving both revenge and obtaining ships for maritime trade.
But doesn’t she want the silver mine now?
As for Mr. Ouchi, she can't just kill him. She needs to use Mr. Ouchi as bait to lure out the knives and fish she needs.
However, revenge must be taken and the original intention must never be forgotten.
Pan Yun said: "This matter is confidential, I can't tell you for now, you will understand it naturally after a while."
Qu Le was about to speak, but Pan Yun put his finger to his lips and said, "Brother Li said before we set out that this team will obey me completely, and you, who ran away privately, must obey me even more!"
Qu Le swallowed his words silently: "Oh."
Qu Le dropped the curtain, sat depressed in the car, and tapped the person lying on the car floor with his toes: "Stop pretending, your breathing has changed."
Ouchi Hiroshi saw that his body was slightly stiff, but he remained motionless, with his eyes closed and not saying a word.
Gao Zhiming looked at Qu Le speechlessly, leaned over and slapped Ouchi Hiromi on the neck. The other's head drooped and he fainted again.
Qu Le: "...Why did you hit him?" (End of this chapter)