fictionpage #417 - How come all the money is gone?
#417 - How come all the money is gone?
The *dangtou*, upon hearing Liang Jin's threat, was both shocked and enraged. The muscles in his face twitched slightly with anger, and his eyes were wide open, as if about to spit fire.
He knew very well that even if he had committed a crime, according to the imperial court's rules, the Jishi Factory should be the one to deal with it.
When did it become the turn of the Six Doors to come and shout about killing him?
He was, after all, a person of some standing in the Jishi Factory. How could he be so easily manipulated?
The *dangtou* was absolutely unwilling to be captured without a fight. His right hand fiercely gripped the hilt of his saber. With a "*shua*!" sound, the long saber was unsheathed, its cold light flashing.
He struck a pose as if he were about to strike at any moment, exuding an aura of ruthlessness.
Just as the tension was at its peak, on the verge of erupting.
Zhao Chuxia's voice suddenly rang out, breaking the tense atmosphere:
"You want the disaster relief silver?"
"I'll take you there!"
These sudden words caused the *dangtou*, who was prepared to fight to the death, to abruptly freeze. His face was full of confusion, and he slowly turned his head to look at Zhao Chuxia.
He saw that Zhao Chuxia's usually delicate and charming face was now covered with deep fear. Her eyes were full of panic and unease, completely different from her usual arrogance and confidence.
Recalling the moment when Liang Jin had beheaded the Vice Magistrate, the anger in Zhao Chuxia's heart had reached its peak. She couldn't wait to tear Liang Jin into pieces to relieve her hatred.
But when Liang Jin, without hesitation and without batting an eye, publicly twisted the neck of the Imperial Envoy, Zhao Chuxia's inner defenses completely collapsed, and fear flooded her like a tidal wave.
That was the Imperial Envoy, representing the supreme imperial power!
No matter how bold Zhao Chuxia was, she dared to assassinate the County Magistrate and a group of commoners, but she would never dare to kill the Imperial Envoy.
But Liang Jin had killed him so decisively, completely disregarding the rules of the court and not caring about his future or his life. This kind of crazy behavior made Zhao Chuxia feel a chill down her spine.
Therefore, when Liang Jin said that the next person he was going to kill was her, Zhao Chuxia truly felt the threat of death.
She didn't want to die so inexplicably, and then watch this group of officials just criticize and scold from the sidelines.
She could also see that Liang Jin didn't care about these officials' attacks. He was like a killing god from hell, fearless.
"The disaster relief silver is in the army camp."
"I'll take you to see it now."
Zhao Chuxia's voice trembled slightly. After speaking, she turned and walked towards the outside of the camp.
Although she was terrified, she was willing to take Liang Jin to find the disaster relief silver, but this did not mean that she had given up on her hatred.
At this moment, her heart was still filled with hatred for Liang Jin. With every step she took, her hatred deepened.
Before leaving, she slightly tilted her head and secretly gave the *dangtou* a look out of the corner of her eye.
The *dangtou*, being so shrewd, instantly understood.
The most important thing now was to stall for time!
As long as they could stall until Prince Pingcheng and the experts from the Jishi Factory arrived, then even if Liang Jin was a celestial king, he would not be able to escape.
Thinking of this, the *dangtou* slowly sheathed his long saber, suppressing the unwillingness and anger in his heart, and followed Zhao Chuxia out together.
When Liang Jin saw this, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, revealing a faint, imperceptible sneer. He also followed unhurriedly.
When the group of officials saw this, they looked at each other, their faces full of doubt.
They really couldn't understand why the princess had so easily revealed the whereabouts of the disaster relief silver.
This Zhuying was clearly here to investigate the case. If there was no material evidence, everyone could continue to perfunctorily deceive him.
But once Zhuying found the disaster relief silver, then everyone present would be doomed and unable to deceive him any longer.
Driven by strong curiosity, the officials hurriedly followed. They also wanted to see what tricks the princess was playing.
The group left the largest tent and, led by Zhao Chuxia, headed to the side.
Bypassing the camp, several unique tents came into view.
They saw rows of raging furnaces placed here, with flames soaring into the sky and scorching heat waves rolling. A large number of craftsmen were working diligently inside, sweating profusely as they constantly hammered with the tools in their hands, making "*ding ding dang dang*" sounds.
Many guards patrolled back and forth outside, their expressions serious, keeping a close watch, making the atmosphere particularly tense.
"Lord Detective, the disaster relief silver you want is in here."
Liang Jin swept his gaze around and saw molten silver rolling in the furnaces, its light dazzling.
Inside the tent, boxes of silver were neatly stacked.
He walked forward, bent down, picked up a piece of silver ingot, and carefully examined it. It was indeed official silver, and the markings on it were clearly discernible.
At this time, the craftsmen were recasting these official silver ingots in the furnace, sparks flying everywhere. As the silver ingots melted, the markings on the official silver gradually disappeared.
The recast silver ingots were in the shape of round bars, which were carefully placed by the craftsmen into the hollowed-out center of the nearby logs.
Using the camouflage of the logs, these recast silver ingots could be transported away without anyone knowing.
Liang Jin looked at these disaster relief silver ingots, secretly estimating the quantity in his heart.
Zhao Chuxia suddenly spoke:
"Lord Detective doesn't need to count. The total amount of silver here is six million taels."
"All the disaster relief silver is here."
"I wonder, Lord Detective, how do you plan to deal with it?"
After speaking, she looked at Liang Jin with a smile that was not a smile, a hint of triumph flashing in her eyes.
This was several million taels of silver, which a single person could not carry away.
Even if he hired a group of people to transport it, it would take half a day of work.
And in less than two hours, reinforcements from the Jishi Factory and Prince Pingcheng would arrive.
By then, this Liang Jin would be in deep trouble!
The group of officials seemed to understand Zhao Chuxia's idea, and they all looked at Liang Jin with mockery on their faces.
Liang Jin glanced at the crowd, his expression calm, and replied:
"I want all of this silver!"
Upon hearing this, the crowd was stunned at first.
Then they frowned, their faces showing dissatisfaction and disdain.
They had originally thought that Zhuying was so upright and incorruptible, so extraordinary, but in the end, what he wanted was still silver.
This was no different from them.
No!
He was even more greedy than them!
He actually dared to try to swallow it all alone!
Zhao Chuxia sneered, her voice sharp:
"You can't swallow all this silver by yourself!"
"If you dare to swallow it all alone, it means you will offend everyone. I can guarantee that you will only die faster!"
A group of officials also sneered repeatedly. They were afraid that Zhuying would hand over the disaster relief silver to the imperial court, but they were not afraid that Zhuying would embezzle the silver for himself.
In their opinion, if Zhuying dared to do this, he would force everyone to stand against him, and even the Six Doors and the God Catcher would not protect him.
Thus, he would die without a burial place!
Liang Jin smiled, without refuting, and reached out to gently stroke the official silver, sighing:
"Changzhou has suffered years of drought, famine is rampant, and starving corpses are everywhere."
"Have you ever heard the cries of starving children?"
As soon as he finished speaking, an entire box of silver ingots suddenly disappeared out of thin air under his hand, as if swallowed by darkness, without a trace.
The crowd widened their eyes, their faces full of shock, and thought they were seeing things.
Liang Jin put his hand on other boxes filled with silver ingots and continued to say:
"How much blood and tears of the common people are stained on this disaster relief silver? Have you, the fat rats, ever felt uneasy when you gouge out the people's fat to fill your own pockets?"
As his voice fell, the box also disappeared without a trace in an instant.
The crowd was completely stunned, looking at each other, at a loss.
"Is this... a magic trick?"
Someone couldn't help but mutter in a low voice.
At first, they thought that Liang Jin was playing a trick.
After all, the Mechanism Department in the Six Doors was good at creating some magical tools, which might be their means of performing tasks.
However, as boxes of silver continued to disappear, the crowd finally realized that something was wrong.
No matter how magical the trick was, it was impossible to make several million taels of silver disappear, right?
Some officials couldn't help but run to the place where the silver had disappeared, lying on the ground, carefully checking, trying to figure out where the silver had gone.
But apart from the empty ground, they found nothing.
Liang Jin ignored everyone else and continued to bury his head in making the silver disappear.
The so-called "disappearance" was actually Liang Jin putting the silver into the [Item Bar].
While making the silver disappear, he continued to say:
"They all say that natural disasters are inevitable, but it is clearly you jackals who are taking advantage of the situation to create man-made disasters."
"What you are drinking is not wine, but clearly devouring the bones and blood of thousands of disaster victims alive."
Soon, Liang Jin had taken away all these millions of taels of silver.
Now, the officials were completely dumbfounded.
They were like headless flies, circling around Liang Jin, searching again and again, but still couldn't find out where the silver had been turned into.
"Where's the silver? Where's our silver?"
"Where did you turn our silver to? Turn it back for us!"
"I'm telling you! If anything goes wrong with this silver, everyone will be out of luck!"
… …
Several officials couldn't help but point at Liang Jin, questioning him sternly, their faces full of anxiety and anger.
Zhao Chuxia and the *dangtou* on the side were also obviously confused.
They prided themselves on being intelligent and knowledgeable, but they still couldn't see through Liang Jin's trick of making the silver disappear, and their hearts were full of doubt and unease.
After Liang Jin had collected the silver, a faint smile appeared on the corner of his mouth as he looked at the officials around him who were constantly accusing him.
The officials were accusing him when they suddenly felt a strange aura, a terrifying killing intent, actually spreading rapidly in the tent, like a dark cloud, shrouding everyone's hearts.
This killing intent was so strong that it was suffocating, as if it came from the depths of hell, making people feel a chill down their spines.
All the officials felt their hearts pounding wildly, as if they were about to leap out of their throats. Even their accusations involuntarily ceased, their faces filled with terror.
The Changzhou garrison commander couldn't help but exclaim:
"What heavy killing intent!"
He couldn't help but look at Liang Jin in surprise, secretly marveling in his heart.
As expected of one of the Four Great Constables, such a dense killing intent was rarely seen even by the garrison commander in the army.
At this moment, Liang Jin slowly walked into the group of officials, his steps steady, each one seeming to tread on their hearts.
Amidst the officials' bewildered gazes, a long sword appeared out of nowhere in Liang Jin's hand, its blade slender, its cold light piercing, exuding an icy aura.
"I wandered Changzhou and saw the city full of white banners. I saw a three-year-old child clutching half a piece of Guanyin clay, swallowing his last breath. I heard the sounds of bones crunching as people exchanged children for food."
Liang Jin's voice was low, each word squeezed out as if from between his teeth:
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"I wondered why officials were so slow to come and rescue the disaster victims? But I never expected that so many officials in Changzhou would gather here to discuss how to divide and embezzle the disaster relief silver."
Then, Liang Jin brandished his sword, his movements clean and swift, like a bolt of lightning across the night sky.
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
Several officials' heads rolled to the ground, blood splattering, blooming into strange blood flowers on the ground.
Now, everyone felt deep horror, their hearts filled with fear and despair.
Why did this Shadow Chaser want to kill people after taking the silver?
Could it be that he planned to double-cross them?!
The captain couldn't help but shout sternly:
"Shadow Chaser! What do you want to do?"
"How many more court officials do you want to kill? Even the Six Doors can't protect you now!"
Even now, everyone still held onto a glimmer of hope, feeling that Shadow Chaser, one of the Four Great Constables, couldn't have completely lost his mind and made such a crazy move.
After all, constables were also court officials. If he disregarded everything and overturned the table, he would undoubtedly lose everything that his official position had brought him.
Liang Jin brandished the long sword in his hand again, the sword energy crisscrossing, like sharp blades cutting through the air.
The heads of several nearby officials also fell to the ground, blood gurgling out, gathering into pools of blood on the ground.
He held his sword and said helplessly:
"Am I killing court officials? No, just a bunch of vermin that even dogs won't eat."
"You won't listen to my words, let alone the weeping cries of the disaster victims."
"Since you don't understand words, then I can only use my sword to take the heads on your necks to offer as sacrifices to the unjustly dead!"
Liang Jin brandished the long sword in his hand again, a cold light flashed, and the heads of one official after another fell to the ground, their bodies slowly collapsing, the scene a bloody mess.
The rich smell of blood immediately filled the tent, making people nauseous.
"He's crazy!"
"This Shadow Chaser is really crazy!"
The remaining officials woke up as if from a dream, screaming and fleeing towards the outside.
Zhao Chuxia retreated in horror, her face bloodless, muttering incessantly:
"Could it be that he really wants to kill us all to silence us in order to swallow the disaster relief silver alone?"
"How could he be so stupid? He must be crazy!"
Even now, Zhao Chuxia still thought that Liang Jin wanted to swallow the disaster relief silver alone.
As for Liang Jin's words, she didn't believe them at all.
In her mind, once people reached a certain high position, ordinary people were just a string of numbers in their eyes.
For example, her own family was granted an estate with three thousand households, which meant that these three thousand households, totaling tens of thousands of people, had to work hard from morning till night to support her family.
How could she possibly care about the situation of each of these tens of thousands of people?
These tens of thousands of people were really just a string of numbers to her.
Every day when she woke up, it was normal for the number of tens of thousands to increase or decrease a little, and she could turn a blind eye to it.
Only when the number of these tens of thousands suddenly and sharply decreased for several consecutive days, even halved, would she ask her subordinates if there was an epidemic or disease outbreak in her fief recently, or if there was a large-scale escape.
After she understood the general situation, she would then let her subordinates handle everything.
She had to pay attention, after all, her family spent money like water, and everything they ate, wore, lived, and traveled depended on these tens of thousands of numbers to create. The mission of these numbers was to work a lifetime to earn wealth for her family.
Even the descendants of these numbers, that is, those newly added numbers, would continue to support her family.
Generation after generation, endlessly.
Then she would continue to stare at this string of numbers, and only when the downward trend stabilized, and even began to show an upward trend, would she be satisfied.
It wasn't just her who had this idea, including her father, and even all the high officials she knew, all the people with big pictures were the same.
The number of people in Changzhou had indeed decreased.
Then just find a way to increase the number.
What exactly was this Shadow Chaser going crazy for these numbers? Zhao Chuxia was full of incomprehension.
But this didn't affect her feeling scared, fear followed her like a shadow.
"Don't just stand there, go and stop him!"
"If he continues to go crazy, I'm afraid we will all be killed by him!"
Zhao Chuxia shouted at everyone, her voice shrill and desperate.
And a large number of guards and attendants outside, hearing the shouts, rushed over.
At this time, the captain and garrison commander with the highest martial arts had no choice but to stand up.
The two could also see that this Shadow Chaser had been blinded by the killing, completely lost his mind, his thinking was no longer normal, and he was completely disregarding the overall situation.
Dealing with this kind of madman, not taking action was no longer an option!
The two had not yet taken action when a burst of fierce fighting and killing sounds rang out outside, the shouts of killing and the sounds of weapons colliding intertwined, as if a storm was about to come.
Hearing the fierce fighting sounds outside, the captain and garrison commander's hearts tightened, and they subconsciously looked slightly towards the outside.
With just this one glance, the two were greatly surprised:
"He has helpers?!"
Outside, a tall figure like a demon was shuttling through the crowd, ruthlessly beheading those officials who were fleeing in panic from the tent.
This figure wore a pointed helmet with horns, a metal skull mask, shoulder armor, and a gray-black robe.
He held a heavy sword in one hand and a steel-made blood droplet in the other, like a death envoy from hell. Wherever he went, there was a bloody mess.
This person was exactly the battle puppet Desolate Walker that Liang Jin had just released.
The battle puppet Desolate Walker was like a tireless killing machine, not only beheading the remaining officials one by one, but also acting as an indestructible barrier, preventing the attendants and guards outside from approaching.
His attacks were fierce and ruthless, each move aimed directly at vital points. The attendants and guards were powerless in front of him, screaming and dying miserably under his sword, blood staining the ground red, and broken limbs scattered everywhere.
"Madman!"
The captain and garrison commander were both shocked and angry, and couldn't help but shout loudly.
The one they were scolding was naturally Liang Jin.
That battle puppet Desolate Walker was only at the sixth-rank realm, not enough to catch their eye. Only Liang Jin was the biggest threat.
They knew very well that there was no retreat at this moment. If they didn't join forces to fight, they would surely lose their lives.
"Attack together!"
The two looked at each other, a trace of determination flashed in their eyes, and they exerted their strength together, attacking Liang Jin.
Facing a third-rank expert like a constable, only by joining forces might these two fourth-rank warriors have a chance of winning.
Their figures were as fast as lightning, the weapons in their hands flashing with cold light, carrying the momentum of breaking the wind, directly approaching Liang Jin.
Seeing the two attacking, Liang Jin's eyes sharpened.
He was not afraid at all, raised his hand, and punched the two without hesitation.
This punch carried the sound of whistling wind, as if it contained endless power.
"Bang!!!!"
After a brief probing attack, the two sides quickly separated.
The collision of the fist and the weapon erupted in a loud noise, shaking the surrounding air.
After separating, the captain and garrison commander both showed surprised expressions.
What surprised them was not that Liang Jin was too strong, but... Liang Jin was actually weaker than they had imagined!
"What's going on? Why do I feel like I'm fighting a fifth-rank warrior?"
The garrison commander in the fourth-rank realm, with a face full of doubt, his brows tightly furrowed into a "川" shape, his eyes full of incomprehension.
In his mind, each of the Four Great Constables was a third-rank warrior, and among the third-rank, they were top-notch experts with extraordinary strength.
But the person in front of him, the strength he showed in the attack just now, why was it only fifth-rank?
The captain had already vaguely understood, his eyes instantly became sharp like an eagle, he held the long knife horizontally, pointed the knife at Liang Jin, and shouted sharply:
"You are not Shadow Chaser!"
"Speak! Who exactly are you?!"
His voice was full of anger and questioning, as if he wanted to completely reveal Liang Jin's secret.
Zhao Chuxia, who was hiding behind the captain and garrison commander, also looked incredulous when she heard this.
"What? He's not Shadow Chaser?!"
"No wonder... no wonder he actually wanted to kill us all!"
At this moment, Zhao Chuxia suddenly realized.
No wonder she couldn't figure out why Shadow Chaser would do this no matter what.
It turned out that the person in front of her was not Shadow Chaser at all!
At this time, Liang Jin couldn't help but laugh loudly:
"It's too late to know now."
"Today, none of you will survive!"
As he spoke, a strange change actually occurred on Liang Jin's face...