chsdbacks Chapter 44 First-Time Kill
Chapter 44 First-Time Kill
The group walked along the long dike. The evening breeze was gentle, and the lake water was gurgling. They felt a sense of leisure, and even their hurried steps slowed down.
As they approached the town, more and more merchant ships were loading and unloading cargo at the lake wharf.
A few minutes later, Captain Zhang Yonghao led the villagers of Tianjia Village away via a side road.
About five minutes later, the group crossed a stone arch bridge and stepped onto the bluestone path into the town center.
A gray-blue city gate immediately came into view, with the two characters "Xianhu" (仙湖, meaning Fairy Lake) on the lintel in a lively and powerful manner.
Outside the city gate stood eight members of the security regiment, all dressed in identical blue uniforms. Each member was equipped with a saber, pistol, and rifle, and they looked quite elite.
A light machine gun was also mounted on the city gate tower.
Zhao Tianming walked ahead, and the security team members immediately saluted him, and then saluted Zhao Guanghua.
Passing through the gate of the city gate, two- or three-story buildings, mainly of brick and wood structure, stand side by side, with carved wooden lattice windows and majestic, ancient horse-head walls.
The area was filled with signs for various businesses, including tobacco and liquor stores, blacksmith shops, gold and silver shops, charcoal and candle shops, tin foil shops, bamboo repair shops, tailor shops, pig markets, restaurants, teahouses, and herbal medicine shops.
The air was filled with the aroma of layered cakes, food, and medicinal herbs.
Because of its well-developed waterways, the area is bustling with people and quite prosperous.
Occasionally, security team members can be seen patrolling in pairs.
In front of the Hongyun Inn, Zhao Tianming and all the bronze-level members and gunmen stayed behind.
He will settle accounts with them for this mission and then treat them to a nice meal.
After all, these bronze-level members and their gunmen are also talented, and Zhao Guanghua is happy to make friends with them.
What he didn't know was that someone had been watching their team on the lake all along.
After the rest of the group crossed the main street, they came to a typical two-story Jiangnan water town house facing south, covering an area of four or five hundred square meters.
This lakeside mansion features white walls, black tiles, and gable walls, and has three courtyards.
The layout is meticulous, featuring exquisite wood carvings, brick carvings, and stone carvings.
The ground floor is a brick structure with a covered walkway; the upper floor is a wooden structure with a covered walkway.
Zhang Fubao, Zhang Wanxin, Zhao Huibao, and Zhao Guanghua were all paying close attention to Dong Guanfei's expression and reaction. They found that he was completely unmoved and seemed to be used to such a grand mansion, which made them even more convinced that he came from a wealthy family.
In fact, if any other time traveler were to come here, they would probably have a similar reaction.
This is a sense of pride unique to time travelers. Dong Guanfei felt that he had already shown good manners by not showing any disdain for a bunch of bumpkins.
This is the home of Zhao Guanghua and his family of five.
However, the woman of the house did not appear at all.
Dong Guanfei was assigned to a guest room on the second floor. The room had a separate shower area separated by a screen and a large wooden bathtub.
This earned Dong Guanfei's sincere praise.
A sumptuous feast of Jiangnan cuisine was prepared for dinner, but only Zhang Wanxin, Zhao Huibao, Dong Guanfei, Wang Anyue, Zhang Fubao, and Zhao Guanghua dined in the restaurant on the first floor.
Zhao Guanghua's female relatives followed traditional etiquette and dined with their children in a side room.
Although the dishes were a bit too sweet, the chef's skills were excellent, and Dong Guanfei enjoyed the meal immensely.
This sense of relaxation made Zhang Fubao and Zhao Guanghua think even more highly of him.
Especially regarding the spoils of war, Dong Guanfei only kept two swords belonging to Itano Akio, while letting Zhao Guanghua take the rest and negotiate the price, seemingly without any concern that the items would be sold off cheaply.
Meanwhile, the banquet at Hongyun Inn had ended, and more than half of the bronze-level gunners simply rested at the inn, as the conditions there were quite good, and it was Zhao Guanghua's property, which gave them a 20% discount.
Alcohol is a catalyst for lust, and most of those who take on jobs as hired guns are the type to live for the moment.
Eight people immediately left the house and headed straight for the brothels.
Today was their lucky day; soon someone approached them and they struck a lucrative intelligence deal.
Around 7 p.m., at the Skull Team camp of the Japanese Concession Navy.
Battalion Commander Sanada Takehide received a very detailed telegram.
At noon, he broke away from the group and returned to the camp around 3 p.m. He then sent two telegrams to the intelligence agents in Xianhu Town and Xianqiao Town respectively.
Now, the report from Xianhu Town has arrived.
After reading the telegram, Sanada Takehide lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and fell into deep thought.
The group consisted of only three unfamiliar faces; the two women were young ladies they had picked up from the Golden Eagle Federation Concession who had returned from overseas.
Was there only one young man around twenty years old who actually made a move?
How is that possible?!
Even the strongest of the younger generation in the empire couldn't achieve that.
How could there be such a young person on this continent?
Sanada Takehide really couldn't believe it.
But the intelligence agents couldn't believe it either, so they questioned all eight bronze-level gunmen who had gone out, and the results were completely consistent.
Therefore, this young man must be from one of the six strongest sects or families, and be one of the best among them.
Sanada Ken'ei felt inexplicably better.
If Sanada Mitsuki were to die at the hands of an ordinary man, it would be a great disgrace to the Sanada family.
In this situation, it can only be described as a clash of geniuses, so Sanada Mitsutsuki's death wasn't entirely unjust.
It's all because Guangyi was too unlucky.
This prodigy registering as a Silver Member of the Shadow Alliance is clearly for the purpose of gaining experience in the martial arts world.
Without a doubt, the Empire must nip this kind of guy in the bud immediately.
Unfortunately, the Empire is temporarily unable to obtain his identity information from the Shadow Alliance.
However, this guy was incomparably handsome and had outstanding combat skills, so he couldn't hide his whereabouts at all.
Therefore, the Skull Team has many opportunities to attack him.
Furthermore, the core members of that team left more than two hours before dawn, and their target was likely the reason for the demise of the academic travel team and the special cultural relics team.
With this in mind, Sanada Ken'ei sent a telegram to the people of Senhu Town.
Meanwhile, at the mansion in Xianhu Town.
As the banquet drew to a close, the others also stopped drinking because Dong Guanfei refused to drink, and the banquet progressed quickly.
Everyone had been busy all day, so they all went back to their rooms to rest early.
Dong Guanfei took a nice hot bath and didn't go to bed until almost 10 p.m.
At the same time, Sanada Takehide received a reply telegram from the intelligence agents in Senko Town.
The telegram contained two core points:
First, Miss Qian Huibao and Miss Zhang Wanxin will return to Xicheng on the Zhang family's painted boat early the day after tomorrow, and Qian Guanghua and Wang Anyue will most likely accompany and escort them.
Second, the "ruthless" one's mission is to protect Qian Huibao until she reaches Xianhu Town. The mission deadline is six days, and there are four days left.
Third, "Ruthless" and Qian Huibao have a relatively close relationship.
Sanada Ken'ei thought that "Ruthless" would most likely continue to escort Qian Huibao to Xicheng, because there were countless river bandits in Jiangdong.
He immediately sent another telegram.
Soon, in a grand waterside mansion on the shore of Wuhu Lake, a glamorous young woman emerged from her room with a telegram in her hand.