Chapter 75: Explosion

"Who's that? Grab him!"

The secret agents along Jīnzhu pointed in the direction they were looking, only to see a figure with a completely black face peeking out from behind the ridge of a tavern roof, quietly observing Hóngyī Alley.

A secret agent suddenly exclaimed, "Is it a person or a ghost?!"

Jīnzhu smiled, his eyes squinting as he gazed at Chén Zōng on the building above. "Playing ghost, surround him for me!"

The Secret Agent Division had come up empty-handed tonight. Jīnzhu's eyes smiled, but in his heart, anger burned.

An informant for the Jǐng Cháo thieves had infiltrated their ranks. If the other zodiac agents knew, they would definitely laugh their teeth out.

The next moment, Chén Zōng watched with wide eyes as dozens of secret agents surrounded him, completely sealing off the tavern where he was located.

Some people climbed the outer wall. Chén Zōng then picked up pieces of tiles and smashed them down, breaking the heads of the secret agents trying to climb up and making them bleed.

Other secret agents brought over two long ladders, intending to climb to the roof along the ladders.

Chén Zōng came to the ladder and forcefully flipped both the ladder and the secret agents on it. Every time the secret agents set up a ladder, he would flip one over.

But the number of secret agents was too large, and they brought more and more ladders. More and more people climbed the building. He alone simply couldn't guard everything; it was only a matter of time before he was defeated.

He was like defending an isolated city, facing an army attacking from all sides.

At this time, Lín Cháoqīng slowly asked Jīnzhu, "Do the Jiējūn Guards need to take action? If Lord Jīnzhu's secret agents cannot take him down, we Jiējūn Guards can solve your worries."

"With so many eyes watching, if we can't even deal with one Jǐng Cháo thief, it will spread and people will laugh that the Jílǐ Jiàn is unmanned."

Jīnzhu said with a smile, "No need for the Jiējūn Guards to take action, my Secret Agent Division can handle it ourselves."

Saying that, he took off his light armor and handed it to his subordinate, actually personally going to capture Chén Zōng.

Chén Zōng caught a glimpse of this scene from the corner of his eye, secretly thinking it was bad. If Jīnzhu personally went up the building to catch him, then he would truly be in trouble and unable to escape.

He untied the cloth bundle on his back and took out two bamboo tubes from inside!

The next moment, they only saw Jīnzhu rushing towards the tavern, each step covering several zhàng.

Arriving in front of the building, Jīnzhu leaped up. His fat body actually ascended to the second floor as if pulling an onion from dry land.

He used his foot to push off from the wooden railing on the second floor, and actually flew directly to the roof!

An official as high-ranking as Jīnzhu, ascending a building several meters high as if walking on flat ground, had already surpassed ordinary people.

However, just as he flew onto the roof, he saw the completely black figure opposite him, precisely holding a stick of burning fuse in one hand.

He held a bamboo tube in the other hand, and the fuse on the bamboo tube had already started burning.

But after lighting it, Chén Zōng did not immediately throw the bamboo tube.

He patiently waited for the fuse to be about to burn out, then threw it towards Jīnzhu, who had just landed on the roof.

Get down!

Chén Zōng lay on the roof and tightly covered both his ears.

Jīnzhu, who was still not stable, saw the bamboo tube flying towards him and subconsciously wanted to kick it away, but the bamboo tube exploded suddenly before it reached him!

With a bang, Jīnzhu lifted both his arms to protect his head, and his entire body was flipped out by the huge, powerful shockwave!

This sound was like ground thunder. The explosion and firelight illuminated the originally dim sky, as if a god had descended with angry fire, extremely strong and extremely yang.

Outside Hóngyī Alley, the thunderous sound of the explosion echoed far away. For a while, over a hundred watchdogs barked wildly, and the entire Lǔ City seemed to be awakened!

In Hóngyī Alley, the customers and singing girls were all scared stiff, and countless customers and singing girls lay on the ground screaming.

Not only them, even the Jiējūn Guards' horses were startled and neighed, seeing dozens of warhorses lifting their forelegs on the bluestone road, almost flipping the Jiējūn Guards to the ground.

The warhorse under Lín Cháoqīng also wanted to lift its hooves, but he held it down firmly.

This commander of the Main Xing Si had a solemn face. He calmly looked up at the sky, his sharp gaze like lightning shooting from under his bamboo hat.

They only saw Jīnzhu, who had just ascended to the roof, flying out like a kite with a broken string, falling directly from several meters high in the air.

Jīnzhu's originally exquisite crossing-collar robe had its sleeves exploded open at this time, and half of his pants were also missing. His entire body was tattered, like a broken sack.

A secret agent exclaimed, "Save the lord, don't let him fall to the ground!"

Saying that, over ten secret agents rushed towards the spot where Jīnzhu was falling, catching him before he hit the ground and holding him up with difficulty.

With several cracking sounds, several secret agents felt their arms pulled by the heavy Jīnzhu. Their arm bones broke directly, and their waists also couldn't bear the heavy load!

A group of people fell down with a bang, but finally they didn't let Jīnzhu smash onto the bluestone road.

"Lord!"

"Lord!"

These secret agents had followed Jīnzhu for many years and had a bond like brothers.

Not to mention how fierce Jīnzhu was towards the Jǐng Cháo thieves, just his care and ability to win the hearts of his subordinates were indeed extremely good.

But now, Jīnzhu's eyes were tightly closed, his face was pitch-black, and he had even stopped breathing.

The secret agents immediately felt sorrow from their hearts.

"Cough cough cough cough, what are you crying about, what are you howling about, this old man isn't dead yet,"

Jīnzhu slowly opened his eyes, sat up, and said in surprise and uncertainty, "How did this damn gunpowder have such power? The things in our Gōngsī might not be this fierce!"

Earlier, when Jīnzhu saw the bamboo tube and fuse, he had already prepared himself psychologically.

He guessed that there must be gunpowder inside the bamboo tube, and once it exploded, he would definitely be injured.

But he simply didn't think that the power of this firecracker was far greater than he had imagined!

This thing was simply not the same kind of thing as the gunpowder he had seen before!

Jīnzhu lowered his head and looked at his tattered clothes. His whole body was burning with pain, his bones felt like they were falling apart, and all his internal organs had shifted.

If his realm hadn't been high, he probably would have been blown to death on the spot.

Strange, could it be that someone in the Gōngsī had researched new things but secretly didn't report them, quietly selling them to the Jǐng Cháo thieves?

Not good, if the Jǐng Cháo get this thing, the Níng Cháo is in danger!

Jīnzhu struggled to stand up. "Quick, quick, quick, grab that person! If this person runs away under my eyes, how can I still have the face to go back and see Lord Nèichén!"

But, when he looked up again at this time, Chén Zōng's figure on the roof was long gone, having already jumped to other roofs and run away.

Lín Cháoqīng sat on his horse and glanced at him. "Lord Jīnzhu, a great disaster not dying means you will have blessings later. Just next time, if you don't have full certainty, then don't come to Mèngjīn camp to call my Jiējūn Guards. Go back to camp!"

Hóngyī Alley quieted down.

Jīnzhu sent half of his secret agents out, trying to track the movements of the person in black with a black face from earlier... but in his heart, he understood that it probably wouldn't be easy to find him.

He led his close subordinates to the backyard of the tavern, quietly looking at his six subordinates who had died in the yard.

"They are all knife wounds. Xīfēng, you are the most skilled with knives, examine them once."

Jīnzhu said expressionlessly.

The secret agent named Xīfēng squatted down. He said sorry in his heart, and then stripped off the clothes of his dead colleagues.

The secret agent brought water to wash the wounds of the corpses clean and carefully observed. "The opponent used a short knife. The edge of the knife is a bit strange, it doesn't seem sharp, it doesn't even look like a knife specially made for killing."

"What kind of knife was used?"

"Lord, there are too many types of knives. It seems the assassin just casually picked up a knife and used it."

"This assassin used the knife extremely fiercely and cunningly. The wounds are all at vital points, very precise."

"The opponent is a veteran knife user."

"If not for years of hard training, it's impossible to be so straightforward."

"Moreover, this person is very cautious. He is very clear that after one stab, the person stabbed usually doesn't die immediately, so he adds several more stabs to other vital points every time he kills a person."

The secret agent sucked in a cold breath. "Such a ruthless mind."

Jīnzhu frowned and looked around. He suddenly looked at the scattered long knives of the secret agents on the ground. "Eh, why are all these knives broken!"

The examining secret agent stood up and looked. He suddenly discovered that out of the six knives in this yard, five were broken!

He picked up a piece of broken knife body, then found the matching knife handle. Holding the two segments of the knife together, everyone then saw a clear notch where the long knife broke.

The secret agent was somewhat unbelievable. "Lord, these knives were chopped broken by one strike."

"The long knives used by our Secret Agent Division are all made of hundred-forged steel. The opponent merely casually picked up a short knife, and could chop our knives broken with one strike..."

Jīnzhu looked at the secret agent. "Have you seen this kind of knife technique before?"

The secret agent shook his head. "Never seen it. Could it be Liáng Ěr?"

Jīnzhu sneered. "Not Liáng Ěr. If Liáng Ěr were here, why would he still need to put in effort to break their knives? Moreover, Liáng Ěr's spine is broken, he wouldn't dare oppose my Secret Agent Division. Who could it be, such a powerful knife user? He can't just jump out of a stone crack, can he?"

He stood in the quiet yard, looking at the bloodstains and corpses on the ground.

The opponent killed six secret agents with the strength of one person. It must be an official, without a doubt.

But Jīnzhu had seen many officials, and not many with such exquisite knife techniques.

Wait, wasn't there a Sì Cáo in the Jǐng Cháo Military Intelligence Division who was skilled in using short knives?

Earlier, Bǎo Hóu led a team to capture the opponent in Jīn líng, but after the opponent fought and killed over ten people, he jumped into the Qínhuái River and escaped.

At that time, that Sì Cáo used precisely a short knife!

Jīnzhu's entire body was burning with pain, and countless iron fragments were still embedded under his skin.

Every step he took now was torment, his bones felt like they were falling apart.

According to reason, he should go for treatment as soon as possible, but when he thought that such powerful gunpowder had fallen into the hands of the Jǐng Cháo thieves and would be used on the Níng Cháo border army in the future, he no longer cared about his own injuries.

Jīnzhu said fiercely, "Xīfēng, take my waist token and go find the Lǔ City Military Affairs Division. Tell him to seal all the city gates of Lǔ City."

"Dōngfēng, go intercept the Jiējūn Guards. Tell them to go to the transport dock now, and do not allow any ships to leave within three days!"

He said sinisterly, "Find him for me! Even if you dig three feet into the ground, turn Lǔ City upside down, you must find this person for me!"