Nine-layer armor-breaking

Chapter 96: Qizhou City with Closed Gates
People were talking about it on the streets of Qizhou City.

The content of the discussion is nothing more than the series of inconveniences caused by the city lockdown.

"Have you heard? I heard that the city gates are closed tightly and no one can leave the city."

"Do I need to hear about this? I ran over to take a look. A huge group of soldiers came and guarded the city gates so tightly that not even a fly could get out. I heard that something big happened in our Qizhou City."

"Which city gate did you go to? Are you sure you went to the city gate to check?"

Someone raised a question to him. The voice came from the crowd, and everyone turned their heads and headed towards the voice.

"How to say?"

"Do you know anything? Don't pay attention to him. He's always talking big."

"Yes, tell me!"

……

Voices calling for him to speak echoed from all directions. He leaned forward slightly and said, "I just came back from the north city gate. Unlike what he said, there wasn't a huge crowd of soldiers. The soldiers guarding the city gate are still the warriors from our official martial arts school who rotate in. The number is still the same as usual. There's no change at all."

After that, he continued, "The only change is..."

At this point, everyone became even more interested, and they quickly pricked up their ears and came over. Even the crowd in the distance came towards him.

Seeing this, he was slightly startled. As everyone approached, he cleared his throat again, changed his tone to a slightly mysterious one, and started over and continued speaking.

"The only change is that there are more guards from the City Lord's Mansion at the city gate."

After these words were spoken, everyone finally moved their bodies back a little, no longer stretching their necks and leaning forward with their bodies drooped.

But as soon as these words were spoken, the crowd that had been listening to the man in silence suddenly became excited, and the area where they were immediately became noisy.

The man who spoke was immediately hit in the ear so hard that he couldn't bear it and took several steps back in fear.

"What? Guards?"

"You're not seeing things, are you? What if the guards are dispatched?"

"That's right, did you see it clearly?"

The people who were speaking became more and more excited, and their voices became louder and louder.

……

"When was the city sealed off?"

Another person in the crowd asked a question to the person who had spoken to the crowd before.

When the man heard the question, he pressed his palms against his ears and rubbed them respectively. He waited until everyone gradually quieted down before he slowly spoke.

"I don't know exactly when. I just got back. I only know that when I arrived at the city gate, it was already sealed."

"How many guards are there?"

Another person in the crowd asked that man a question.

"I didn't notice that." The man scratched his head and thought about it, then said.

Without hearing a definite answer, the crowd began to discuss the matter in small circles again. However, unlike last time, there was no uproar this time.

"You asked me, I also went to the city gate today to queue up to leave the city."

This time, the person who spoke was not the one who had previously told everyone that he had gone to the north gate, but a middle-aged man who seemed to be a bit talkative.

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone immediately shifted their attention to...

"Listen to me!" The middle-aged man's voice was quite loud, attracting everyone over.

Seeing that everyone's eyes were turned to him, he put his clenched fist to his mouth, coughed twice, and spoke to everyone in a leisurely tone.

"I went to the west city gate today. A team of personal guards from the city lord's mansion first arrived at the west city gate. Later, some of them left, and only two were left to guard the gate together with the original guards." After saying this, he smiled indifferently, his face full of pride.

"How do you know so clearly?"

"Yes, if you said you went to the city gate and happened to see some guards being added, removed, and rotated, that's normal, but you know too much."

"That's right!"

……

Discussions arose, with some expressing their doubts about the middle-aged man, and naturally others echoed the same doubts. Meanwhile, the middle-aged man remained unfazed by the doubts he heard. Although he was a bit talkative, he seemed to be in control of the situation, with the aura of someone who could remain calm even with a knife at his neck.

"Hahahaha!" The middle-aged man laughed indifferently a few times.

"Do you want to know? Why do I know so much?" The middle-aged man leaned forward and said softly.

There were a few well-behaved children in the crowd who nodded with wide eyes. Naturally, some of them were impatient and snapped back directly, "Don't keep us in suspense! If you want to say it, just say it. If not, forget it! You're wasting everyone's time!"

……

The middle-aged man looked over at the violent voice without any expression, and met a pair of eyes that looked extremely angry, with a face full of impatience.

The irritable man became even angrier when he saw the middle-aged man looking at him.

Judging from his expression, he was very dissatisfied with the middle-aged man's behavior and looked impatient.

The two looked at each other, speechless.

After a long time, everyone saw that the atmosphere was not right, and in their hearts, they really wanted to hear the middle-aged man explain why he knew so much about the city gate and what happened next at the west city gate. So someone spoke up and persuaded the irritable man with a few words, which eased the atmosphere between the two.

The irritable man was very pleased with the words of the person who persuaded him, so he lowered his head and adjusted his mood. After a while, his expression became much more relaxed.

Seeing this, the middle-aged man no longer bothered with the irritable man. He sighed lightly and put the smile on his face again.

"Let me tell you, the reason I know more than others is because I spent the entire day at the west city gate. I was the first to arrive and the last to leave."

When everyone heard this, they became even more confused.

Before anyone could speak, he began, "I know what you are thinking. You want to ask me what I did at the West City Gate, why I was the first to go there and the last to leave?" He waved his arms back and forth, acting mysteriously.

Seeing everyone nodding eagerly, he added, "Don't worry. If you want to hear it, I'll tell you now."

"Do you want to listen?" the middle-aged man said loudly again.

When these words were spoken, some in the crowd nodded slightly, some were obviously impatient, but the majority listened with great interest.

A small discussion started among the crowd, and everyone commented on the middle-aged man with great interest.

"You know what, this guy speaks better than that old man Zhang from the east of the city."

"Yes, don't say it, don't say it, I mean that."

……

Obviously, some people at the scene agreed with what these people said. Although some people did not speak, they nodded along with their words. It was clear that those words resonated with some people.

……

"Come on, come on, keep listening to me!"

The middle-aged man waved his hand and gathered the crowd towards him.

He pinched his throat and tightened his voice a bit, making his voice thin and deliberately dragging out the last word, making it sound quite suspenseful.

"Listen! The reason I went so early... was because... was because..." His tone rose, pushing the atmosphere to an unprecedented level.

"I'm going to go out of town with my unmarried wife. As a young couple, it's natural for us to spend some time together. We should delay it as long as possible. You should understand, right?"

After saying that, he pointed to a few men who were accompanied by women and looked like they had families early on.

Several men glanced at the female companions beside them. Although they nodded cooperatively when he pointed at them, they were a little shy and their faces turned red.

"Hey! Can you see me?" A teenage boy waved his hands and jumped twice.

"Go tell a story, you have great potential."

Another person looked around, looked at the small groups of people gathered on the street, sighed, and said, "Looking at the situation, it's such a big thing in Qizhou City, we ordinary people can't handle it. It's better to listen to your idle chatter and kill time."

"Lying around at the city gate? No one's watching?"

"No, at this age... your wife hasn't married yet?"

……

"It's boring. I thought there was something new. Who wants to hear about his family affairs?"

"Such a show-off! Who doesn't have a wife?"

(End of this chapter)