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nThree days later, in the city where Shi was staying, all the people on the list were eliminated.

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nShi didn’t participate in the action with Ying Feng and the others for the three days.

nAnd he spent all the three nights with Long.

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nLong cared about Shi’s body, so he didn’t want to do too much.

nHowever, thinking that Shi might go to kill people, Long thought it was good to keep him around in such a way!

nIn addition, Liu Suifeng’s pills had been ready, which made Long feel relieved.

nSince it could keep his lover from going out at night, Long was very happy.

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nThey wouldn’t need to stay there after three days anyway.

nHowever, what made Long feel a little strange was the murder case that he heard when he just arrived there.

nThe result of the investigation was that it was just a revengeful murder in the martial arts world.

nMoreover, Long still remembered what Shi said that day. “They deserve to die.”

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nLong felt a little strange, but his empress obviously didn’t want to talk about it.

nAt last, Shi still didn’t tell Long what exactly was going on.

nOriginally, Long thought that he’d just let it go since Shi didn’t want to tell him.

nBut this day, they found that a man was still alive in that house.

nAnd that man went straight to Long and Shi!

nAlthough that man was killed at last, he shouted before he died, “Shi Qingzhou! You’re a maniac! Go to hell!”

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nLong’s face darkened after he heard those words.

nCompared with Long, Shi looked much better.

nLong grabbed Shi’s hand and asked what on earth happened to that house.

nShi frowned and didn’t speak.

n“Qingzhou! You must tell me!” Long said seriously.

nShi pursed his lips. Finally, he said calmly, “Most of them were from Eastern Darkness.”

nLong was stunned. “Eastern Darkness?”

n“Yes. They were capable spies from Eastern Darkness. Fang Shuoyang sent me the message that that was a dangerous place.”

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n“This man was from Eastern Darkness, too?” Long asked.

n“I don’t think so,” Shi said coldly, “He’s local.”

n“He colluded with Eastern Darkness and slandered you. Damn it!” Long got angry.

nShi said calmly, “In order not to arouse suspicion, Eastern Darkness hired many common people.”

nLong finally understood. “The murder case… Qingzhou, those people were killed by the Shadow Guardians?”

n“Yes.” Shi nodded.

n“They also killed the innocent people?” Long was a little worried.

nShi was very indifferent. “Those people were not innocent from the very beginning.”

nLong didn’t know how to argue with him.

nShi stared at Long. “Do you think I’m cruel?”

n“No.” Long let a long breath out. “Qingzhou, you’re not cruel at all. I’m just worried that it will bring retribution.”

nThose words stunned Shi.

nLong suddenly held Shi into his arms. “Qingzhou, if there is really retribution, I just hope it won’t come to you. You belong to me. I will suffer that for you…”

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nShi was completely shocked.

nLong said softly, “We’ve killed so many people. Qingzhou, if someone must be punished, I hope that man is me. Qingzhou… I’m scared. I’m scared that something bad will happen to you… So, if someone needs to be killed in the future, let me do it.”

n“What nonsense are you talking about? We should share happiness and woe. What’s more, they just deserved to die,” Shi said coldly.

nLong smiled bitterly. “Alright. But Qingzhou, promise not to hide anything from me in the future. You said that we should share happiness and woe. I bet you know what that means.”

nShi stared at Long and nodded slowly.

nLong smiled. “So, don’t make any decision alone, especially when it’s about you. Qingzhou, you know what I’m saying, don’t you?”

nShi nodded gently. “I see.”

n“Okay. Where are we going next?” Long smiled.

nAfter thinking about it, Shi said, “Quanzhou. Let’s go there to have a look.”

nLong nodded. “Good. Let’s go to have a look. I’m also worried about that place.”

nShi smiled. “Then let’s go.”

n“Okay, let’s go!” Long held Shi’s hand.

nIt wouldn’t take long for them to get to Quanzhou because it was on the same route. Long went there by carriage and naturally, Shi was with him.

nLong asked Shi to close his eyes and have a rest in the carriage. Even though Shi didn’t feel tired, he didn’t refuse Long’s kindness.

nIt took them two and a half days to reach the boundary of Quanzhou.

n“Is it here?” Long lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked out.

nShi also took a look and nodded. “Yes, that’s it.”

nLong frowned at once. “The atmosphere here…”

nThat was outside of the city, but many people were gathered there.

nThose people gathered there and none of them looked good.

n“Why did they drive us out of the town?”

n“Yeah. We should stay in the town. Why can’t we go in?”

n“That’s our home. Let us in!”

n“Yes, let us in!”

n“Stop yelling.” A man looking like an officer shouted in front. “You know why you were sent here. The doctor has confirmed that all of you are fine. There is an outbreak of plague in town and almost every family is suffering. The doctor is trying to find a way. In order not to let you be infected, you were sent there. It’s good for you to stay outside of the city. I know, your family members are in there. You feel sad and you’re even willing to die with them. But they’re still alive, aren’t they? The doctor is trying his best. We should believe him!”

n“That doctor has been here for several days. If he was capable, he would’ve already figured out a way.”

n“Yes, what if he has no way? We won’t see our family members at the end of the day?”

n“I’m going in. No matter what you say, I’m going in!”

n“My son is still in there. Let me in! I need to take care of my son!”

nThat officer was a little angry.

n“What’s the use of you going there? You’ll get infected and increase the doctor’s burden. What do you think you can do? Your family members are in there. So are ours. Your family members may have the chance to receive treatment now. But if you go there and get infected, the number of patients will be increased. Because of your recklessness, your family members may die. Do you want that to happen?”

nThat officer shouted loudly and the crowd finally quieted down.

nLong and Shi heard that clearly in the carriage.

nIt seemed that the situation in the city was very tense…

nShi commanded, “Ask the person in charge to come here.”

nThe Shadow Guardian did his bidding.

nSoon after, the person in charge arrived.

n“Greetings, Your Grace. Long live Your Grace.” That was a fat middle-aged man.

n“Tell me what’s going on.”

n“Yes.”

nIt turned out that the plague had already started a month ago, but only a few people were infected at that time.

nLater, it became more and more serious.

nHowever, a so-called “miracle-working doctor” went there over ten days ago.

nThat doctor gave prescriptions and some people who were sick got better after taking the medicine, which brought hope for all the people.

nBecause the situation was under control, the officials in the city didn’t report it to the imperial court.

nUnexpectedly, seven days ago, the people who were getting better suddenly became extremely ill.

nThen, the people who got infected doubled.

nAnd that doctor… went missing.

nLater, the right prime minister also fell ill and it was quite serious.

nTherefore, the officials reported it to the imperial court quickly and imperial doctors were sent there. But… there was nothing they could do for the moment.

nThree days ago, Doctor Liu Suifeng arrived at this place.

nLiu could be really called a miracle worker. His arrival stopped the disease from spreading.

nBut the plague was so horrible. If healthy people stayed with the sick or even breathed the air of the same place, they would be infected.

nSo, some people who had been confirmed to be healthy were driven out of the city.

nThere were four gates in total in the four directions. Shi and Long were at the east gate. In fact, the situation at all the four gates was the same.

nNobody knew whether Doctor Liu had come up with a solution.

nBut the officers and soldiers were ordered to tell the common people that the government could solve the problem and they couldn’t make things worse.

nTherefore, a lot of officers and soldiers were sent there to pacify the crowd.

nThe official in charge told Shi the whole story. After asking several more questions, Shi let that official go.

nLong knitted his brows. “I didn’t expect it to be so serious.”

n“Mhmm.” Shi nodded. “Shall we go in?”

nLong also asked Shi. “What do you think?”

nShi said, “I must go to have a look, but you…”

n“I’ll be with you wherever you are,” Long said firmly.

nAfter a pause, Shi smiled. “Alright, let’s go in together.”

nLong was very happy that Shi agreed. “Okay, let’s go in…”

nShi nodded. “Let’s go.”

nAs the curtain of the carriage was closed, they slowly went toward the city gate…

nLooking at the flustered crowd outside, Long clenched his fists in the carriage. All of them… were his people…

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