Water Margin: Did we kill Zheng Tu today?

Chapter 9 The Unpleasant Person

Zheng Tu was suddenly startled.

Could it be that Wang San has betrayed us? Or did he leave his trail and attract people to follow us?

Then I wondered, why did Commander Lu come along at this moment?

The corpses in the courtyard were still warm; if they were discovered...

As the saying goes, a guilty conscience needs no accuser. Countless thoughts flashed through Zheng Tu's mind like lightning, and cold sweat instantly soaked through his inner garment.

He was about to step back when he suddenly remembered Li Zhong standing behind him.

This fellow is a江湖客 (jianghu ke, a wandering swordsman) summoned with money. If he sees that I am showing weakness, he will definitely abandon me and leave. At that time, I will be left to fend for myself.

He must not let him see through his guilty conscience! Zheng Tu then steadied himself as if nailed to the ground, waved his hand at Li Zhong, and then put a finger to his lips, signaling him not to make a sound.

Li Zhong understood and gripped the pole tightly, holding his breath.

Outside the door, Wang San received no answer, so he knocked twice more, his voice filled with anxiety: "Master? Is Master inside? It's extremely urgent! It concerns the whereabouts of that old man Jin and his daughter!"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Tu felt relieved and cursed inwardly: So this fellow has come to ask for a reward!

The original owner had instructed him to keep an eye on the escaped old man Jin and the singer Cuilian. After giving him a reward in the previous life, he completely forgot about him.

What kind of trouble could that father and daughter possibly cause? Why are they screaming like that?! I was almost scared to death by that monkey!

The room remained deathly silent for a long while.

Wang San knocked for a while longer, then left dejectedly, his footsteps fading into the distance.

Zheng Tu and Li Zhong exchanged a glance and both breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Zhong said in a low voice, "It was a false alarm..." Before he finished speaking, Zheng Tu leaned to the crack in the door, trying to peek at what was happening outside.

This one look was all it took; it brought them face to face with a strange, bell-shaped eye!

Even through the crack in the door, those eyes peered inside.

Zheng Tu felt his hair stand on end, as if he had fallen into an ice cave. He could no longer hold on and cried out "Ah!" as he stumbled back three steps and crashed into a pillar.

Li Zhong's expression changed upon seeing this, and he was about to ask...

"boom!"

A punch whistled through the air and punched a hole through the three-inch-thick door panel!

Amidst the flying sawdust, a second punch followed, accompanied by a sharp cracking sound. The thick doorpost snapped in two, and half of the gatehouse collapsed with a roar, sending dust billowing into the air.

A tall, strong man stood amidst the ruins.

The man was eight feet tall, with a waist ten spans wide, a round face, large ears, a straight nose, a square mouth, and a thick beard. Who else could he be but Commander Lu?

Lu Da slowly stepped across the threshold, his steps heavy as mountains, unhurried and leisurely, as if taking a stroll.

His tall figure cast a long, dark shadow, which directly illuminated Zheng Tu and his companion.

In the eyes of Zheng Tu and Li Zhong, he was like a demon descending to earth to claim their lives.

The main room was wide open, and the corpses of a man and a woman lay stiffly on the ground.

Lu Zhishen's gaze swept over them, and he slowly grinned, revealing gleaming white teeth: "I've come to the right place this time. Two truly ruthless killers!"

He first pointed at Zheng Tu and cursed, "You butcher who wields a knife and sells meat, you're as good as a dog, how dare you call yourself 'Zhen Guanxi'? I haven't even settled the score with you for swindling Jin Cuilian yet!"

He then pointed at Li Zhong: "You're a spineless scoundrel! A street vendor selling medicine in the martial world, I once thought highly of you, even sharing a meal and drinks with you, and now you've stooped to partnering with this butcher to murder for money?"

Zheng Tu was one thing, but after hearing him repeat the same thing a hundred times, he was too lazy to argue.

Li Zhong, his face turning purple from the scolding, was eager to defend himself, so he clasped his hands and said, "Commander, please forgive me, I was truly..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Da roared, "Who has the patience to listen to your bird chatter!"

He grabbed the broken door bolt, threw it with a mighty swing, and the bolt transformed into a black shadow, like a shooting star chasing the moon, heading straight for Li Zhong's heart with a sharp whistling sound.

With a "pfft".

Li Zhong couldn't dodge in time and was pierced through the chest. He was pinned to the hard brick floor, his eyes wide open, he made two gurgling sounds, his limbs twitched a few times, and then he remained still.

Zheng Tu had hoped that Li Zhong's martial arts skills would allow him to hold out for a while, but he was far from being so incompetent. He was killed in just one exchange!

He was terrified, yet a strange calm arose within him.

Seeing Lu Da turn and glare at him, he felt a deathly silence in his heart, and his fear dissipated by seven or eight parts.

His hands and feet stopped trembling, and he gently placed the bundle in his hands on the ground.

When Lu Zhishen saw that Zheng Tu neither hid nor fled, he was surprised and let out a soft "Eh".

He then sneered, "You scoundrel, you've got some guts even when you're about to die. Too bad I can't spare you!"

Zheng Tu did not answer, but suddenly sprang up, not to pounce on Lu Da, but to charge towards the east wall.

Lu Da thought he was going to escape and was about to give chase, but he saw that Zheng Tu was not climbing over the wall, but instead crashing headfirst into it!

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud, the skull shattered, like a drum breaking, and red and white substances splattered all over the wall.

The body slid softly down the wall, twitched a few times, and then remained still.

Lu Da stood there stunned for a long while before scratching his head and muttering, "This fellow... he's got quite the temper. Could it be that I've really wronged him?"

But then he caught a glimpse of the two corpses in the hall, their bloodstains still fresh.

Lu Da shook his head and muttered to himself, "These two bastards really did commit murder. The corpses are here, how could it be fake? I can tell the truth."

[Zheng Tu, died! 】

[Survival days: 0 days.]

.........

"Fool! There's at least two ounces of lean meat still stuck to this bone. Do you think you're going to give it to a stray dog ​​to gnaw on?"

Zheng Tu suddenly opened his eyes, feeling helpless.

"One wrong move, and the whole game is lost!"

He dared not delay any longer and stood up to greet him, "Brother Niu!"

Upon hearing his boss's voice, Niu Da quickly dropped what he was doing and rushed over. "Boss, you..."

Without waiting for him to say anything more, Zheng Tu directly ordered, "Go to the counter and get nine taels of silver."

Niu Da was taken aback upon hearing this, then said with a fawning smile, "What does the sir need money for? If you wish to buy something, I will take care of it..."

"Stop talking nonsense, go now!" Zheng Tu slapped Niu Da on the back of the neck. "Be careful, nine taels, not a penny less!"

After being hit, Niu Da didn't dare to say anything more and turned to go to the counter.

When he opened the money box to count the money, he was surprised: How strange! After removing a few loose copper coins, there were exactly nine taels left in the box, not a penny more or less.

Niu Da wrapped the silver in a bag and presented it to Zheng Tu.

Zheng Tu grabbed it without even checking it, stuffed it into his pocket, and whispered, "I have urgent business to attend to. You watch the shop carefully. If anyone you know comes looking for me, just say I'm not here."

After saying this, he thought for a moment, then whispered in someone's ear, "Remember carefully, if you see that waiter with the handkerchief covering his face, give him a full string of cash and tell him, 'Go to the east of the city.' Don't ask any other questions, and don't say anything more!"

The east side of the city runs in the opposite direction from his house, which is obviously his plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain.

Niu Da was bewildered by these nonsensical words and opened his mouth, "Boss, this..."

"Snapped!"

Another slap landed on the back of the neck. "Don't ask any more questions! If you ruin something important for someone, you'll regret it!"

Zheng Tu glared, and the fierce look that the original butcher always had reappeared.

Niu Da immediately fell silent, only nodding repeatedly while touching his burning neck.

Zheng Tu then slipped out of the back door of the butcher shop.