Qin Qizhao stood in front of his house, took a deep breath, suppressed the pain in his heart, and held back his tears.
The tear stains on his face had already been wiped dry, and he regained his usual calm and silent appearance.
He pushed the door open and walked in.
Qin Qimu was sitting on the bed, looking at something. When he heard the sound of the door opening, he quickly stuffed the thing in his hand into the quilt to hide it. When he turned his head and saw that it was his elder brother, he let out a sigh of relief.
"Brother, you scared me to death." Qin Qimu patted his chest and exhaled.
"What are you doing?" Qin Qizhao walked forward and asked, pretending not to know anything.
Qin Qimu's eyes lit up immediately. He took out the thing from the quilt and showed it to Qin Qizhao, looking like a puppy that had fetched a bone.
But seeing his younger brother so excited, Qin Qizhao felt a pang in his heart. He saw the words "Account Book" written on the book, and immediately understood, but still pretended to be confused:
"What is this..."
Qin Qimu looked around to make sure no third person could hear, and then lowered his voice and said, "This is the account book of Liudu City. As long as we have it, we can live a good life outside! We don't have to be afraid and do hard labor anymore!"
Qin Qizhao felt even more pain in his heart. He wished Qin Qimu wouldn't be so honest with him, making him so soft-hearted. He grabbed Qin Qimu's wrist that was holding the account book, frowned, and asked him seriously:
"Why did you steal the account book?"
"Ah?" Qin Qimu was stunned by his elder brother's questioning and said blankly, "Of course it's for our wealth and honor!"
"Wealth and honor, what..." Qin Qizhao was also stunned for a moment. Then he thought of the mysterious man who suddenly appeared in front of the two brothers that day and told them about Liudu City. Qin Qizhao widened his eyes and looked at Qin QimuUnbelievably, questioning: "Have you contacted that man? You listened to his nonsense and did such a thing?!"
"Yes! It's stupid not to make money!" Qin Qimu shouted, but felt that Qin Qizhao's grip on his wrist was even stronger, and he gasped in pain, "Brother! You're hurting me!"
But Qin Qizhao still didn't let go. His heart was cold, and his fingers trembled. He didn't even notice that his younger brother had been in private contact with others, nor did he notice his younger brother's true thoughts.
He failed to stop...
"How did you contact that person?" Qin Qizhao frowned and asked.
"That person said, meet under the banyan tree in the north, and I went to meet him! He told me that as long as I could get information from Liudu City, we could live a good life!" Qin Qimu held the account book in his hand tightly, as if grasping a lifeline, and poured all his hopes into the account book, "That person said that Liudu City is not a good place. What I'm doing is also to get rid of a harm for the people!"
"Why do you believe him!" Qin Qizhao's eyes turned red. He didn't know whether he should be angry or sad at this moment, "We've been in Liudu City for so long. Have you seen the people in the city do evil deeds?!"
"But that day in the dungeon, you also saw it!" Qin Qimu also became excited. He recalled the day when he was covered in blood and couldn't help feeling nauseous, "I killed someone! He made me kill someone!"
"The ones in the dungeon are the villains! They slandered and betrayed Liudu City. Now, you are the same as them! And you will have the sameEnding! Don't you know!" Qin Qizhao's roar carried a hint of crying. He didn't want to see his younger brother become like those people in the dungeon, but at this moment, he deeply felt what it meant to be powerless.
It was his failure to take good care of his younger brother.
It was him who allowed his younger brother to be used.
His younger brother's sin was also his sin.
Qin Qimu was stunned by his roar and trembled with fear when he thought of those dying people in the dungeon. The sweat in his palm moistened the account book, and his eyes were confused: "Then what should we do... I don't want... I don't want to become like that... I have no way out, brother. We must escape! We have to escape with the account book! That mysterious person will wait for us in the old place. As long as I give the account book to him..."
Qin Qimu mumbled in a daze and pulled Qin Qizhao to go outside.
Qin Qizhao grabbed him and also felt powerless: "Escape? How to escape? How can the two of us escape? Otherwise, why are there so many people locked in the dungeon? Qi Mu, put down the account book and follow me to apologize to City Lord Feng. He didn't catch you immediately, and there must be room for maneuver..."
But when Qin Qizhao said this, his tone gradually lost its confidence.
They wanted to live, and wasn't Feng Tingliu the same?
How could a traitor still be able to live and get out?
"No! Brother, if you don't leave, I will leave by myself! Don't stop me! Since you are so loyal to the city lord, just stay by yourself!" Qin Qimu didn't understand why his elder brother was so persistent. He gritted his teeth and struggled hard, trying to escape the restraint.
"Qi Mu... But, brother doesn't want to see you become like that... And... I also want to live..."
Qin Qizhao's eyes were empty as he looked at his younger brother in front of him and clenched his fist.
Let him bear his younger brother's fault alone...
The sky was overcast, and a storm was approaching.
Feng Tingliu stood by the window, watching the dark clouds approaching and feeling the low air pressure. Every old scar on his body became itchy and painful due to the cloudy and rainy weather, and even the Gu worm in his head became restless.
"Master, ambushes have been set around the city. If they are found, they will be caught immediately." Yu Chi Feng pushed the door open and stood beside Feng Tingliu, saying in a low voice.
"Well, but it's not necessary. They won't escape." Feng Tingliu knocked the pipe on the table next to him to make the dark fire burn more vigorously.
"Master, I still don't understand. Why didn't we catch Qin Qimu immediately but instead told Qin Qizhao about this?" Yu Chi Feng asked his confusion, "When I went to find Qin Qizhao, he seemed to know nothing and didn't seem to be Qin Qimu's accomplice."
"Yes. How could such a stupid move of an ignorant mouse involve others?" Feng Tingliu sneered, took a puff of the pipe, "But if I directly punished Qin Qimu - just like those people in the dungeon, what do you think Qin Qizhao would do?"
Yu Chi Feng thought for a while and replied, "He would hate you. Even if he knew it was Qin Qimu's fault, it would plant a seed in his heart."
"That's right." Feng Tingliu nodded, "It's a pity for a great talent. I don't want to see that either. His younger brother is vain and short-sighted. I really don't know how he, as an elder brother, taught him."
"Master seems to be very optimistic about Qin Qizhao?" Yu Chi Feng was stunned.
Feng Tingliu just smiled and didn't speak. He looked up at Yu Chi Feng's eyes, recalled Qin Qizhao's similar wolf cub-like eyes, and tapped the pipe.
"Yes -"
Just as the words fell, there was a sudden thunder among the dark clouds, followed by a lightning bolt that fell, deafening.
Before long, big raindrops fell hurriedly, wetting the yard and covering the dust.
"What a heavy rain." Yu Chi Feng looked out the window. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he seemed to faintly smell a bloody smell. He turned to look at Feng Tingliu and asked, "Then, what will happen to Qin Qizhao and Qin Qimu?"
"Ha..." Feng Tingliu just smiled and didn't speak. He looked out the window and suddenly, whispered: "They're here."
Yu Chi Feng looked up and saw Xie Zicun hurrying over. He didn't hold an umbrella, and the heavy rain soaked him completely. He looked flustered and hurried in.
Feng Tingliu stood up and walked towards the door.
Yu Chi Feng immediately understood and quickly picked up an oil-paper umbrella and held it over Feng Tingliu's head.
The umbrella surface of that oil-paper umbrella was a bright red with black patterns painted on it. Looking at it in the rain, it looked like a withered ghost hand extending from hell.
"Feng Tingliu!" Xie Zicun saw him appear and hurriedly called him.
"I know. Let's go." Feng Tingliu seemed to have expected everything and walked into the rain.
Yu Chi Feng followed closely, shielding him from the cold raindrops. Looking at Feng Tingliu's back, for some reason, he could even read a trace of sadness and tension from it.
Tension?
Yu Chi Feng's gaze moved down and saw that Feng Tingliu's hand hidden in his sleeve was actually clenched into a fist.
What is the master nervous about?
"How do you know! How do you know everything!" Xie Zicun saw that he was so calm on the surface and was quite exasperated. But he naturally didn't notice Feng Tingliu's clenched hand and thought that the person in front of him was just so cold-blooded and heartless.
"I naturally know. Just lead the way."
"You...!" Xie Zicun didn't know what else to say. He stomped his foot angrily and led the two towards the street.
The air was oppressive, making Yu Chi Feng feel breathless.
He had a bad guess.
Soon, his guess was confirmed.
The three of them came to a small yard, and the bloody smell was even more obvious. If the smell he smelled earlier was just Yu Chi Feng's imagination, then the smell now completely shocked him on the spot.
Xie Zicun pushed open the door of the hut. Even though he had been in the Jianghu for many years, he found it difficult to accept the scene in front of him. He clenched his fist and hit the door hard.
Feng Tingliu and Yu Chi Feng entered the room. Yu Chi Feng put away the umbrella and took a closer look. He was also shocked by the scene in the room and widened his eyes.
Qin Qizhao was kneeling on the ground, holding a short knife that should have been used for carving, covered in blood.
His eyes were empty as he stared at Qin Qimu in his arms.
And Qin Qimu's eyes, filled with a dead air, were still not closed. It was not difficult to imagine how unbelievable things had happened before he stopped breathing.
His elder brother's knife had pierced his chest.
"How could this be..." Yu Chi Feng looked at the scene in shock, immediately sobered up, and then turned to look at Feng Tingliu. He saw that Feng Tingliu's expression remained unchanged. Obviously, he had already expected everything!
Qin Qizhao heard their voices and raised his head. When he saw Feng Tingliu, tears mixed with the blood on his face couldn't stop flowing.
He suppressed his voice and said:
"City Lord... Please allow me to bury my younger brother myself."
Feng Tingliu met those empty eyes, but turned his head away and closed his eyes.
He didn't say that the bodies of traitors in Liudu City would all be rolled up in straw mats and thrown to the mass grave in the back mountain.
He also didn't say that ambushes had already been set up outside the city. As long as one person escaped, both of them would be locked in the dungeon to be tortured or killed on the spot.
He just agreed to Qin Qizhao's final request as an elder brother.
"Okay."