The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 227 Counterattack! After escaping death, Liu Shuyi reveals everything!
Hearing the words of the powerful and aloof woman in front of them, Xiao Liu and the others were somewhat stunned.

They couldn't understand how two such frail women dared to stand openly in front of them and say such ridiculous things!

Although it was unclear how the fifth brother had fallen into their trap, they were now on guard and outnumbered, so from any perspective, it was impossible for these two women to stop them.

Xiao Liu gripped the hilt of his knife, sneered at the two stunningly beautiful women in front of him, licked his lips, and said, "Boss, hand them over to me. I want to see how they'll help Liu Shuyi stop us!"

As he spoke, he handed the fifth brother over to the others and cautiously moved forward.

Although he spoke with great confidence, Xiao Liu was not careless at all. On the contrary, after seeing Lao Wu's miserable state, he knew that there must be something strange about these two women. Therefore, he volunteered this time not to deal with them, but to force out the two women's methods for the boss... He made a mistake when dealing with Cao Rui, which left a bad impression on the boss. He had to seize the opportunity to make amends.

Guan Feng understood what Xiao Liu meant. He didn't stop him, but instead looked at the two people beside him and said, "You two go together."

Knowing Guan Feng's cautious nature, the two men did not hesitate at all. They gripped their sword hilts tightly, grinned maliciously, and followed Xiao Liu forward.

Seeing the three burly men approaching with murderous intent on their faces, Qingqing couldn't help but swallow hard and unconsciously tightened her grip on Du Ying's hand.

Although she had experienced a lot in her life, and even personally killed her enemies to avenge her family, this was the first time she had faced an enemy attack so openly and honestly.

Moreover, these enemies were not completely unaware of the situation; they had been drugged by Jiang Rui and had little ability to resist. They were clearly not to be trifled with.

Even so, Qingqing did not abandon Du Ying and run away alone. The moment she decided to leave Xingzhou with Liu Shuyi, she was already prepared to live and die together.

Du Ying could sense the tension of the courtesan behind her, but she did not say anything to comfort her.

She casually shifted her body, completely shielding Qingqing behind her. Then, her cold eyes looked down at Xiao Liu and the other two who were getting closer and closer. She saw the fierce expressions on their faces, yet their movements were extremely vigilant. She also saw Guan Feng and the others with their arms crossed, looking confident and relaxed, but in reality, they were not truly relaxed for a moment. A faint, cold smile appeared on her lips.

"He was right after all; you are even more cunning than foxes."

"However, you are still one step behind. No matter how cunning you are, it is too late."

Xiao Liu frowned: "What do you mean?"

Du Ying's companion looked at her coldly, spat, and said in a cold voice, "Who cares what she means? As long as we arrest them, we'll know everything."

"That's right! Don't be fooled by her words. Be careful, she might be using words to lure us in and then launch a sneak attack!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Liu tensed up. After experiencing Liu Shuyi's terrifying reasoning, he felt inexplicably afraid of Liu Shuyi and his ilk, always feeling that these guys were exceptionally insidious and that he could never trust anything they said.

He took a deep breath, seeing that he was not far from Du Ying and the other two women, close enough to launch a sprint.

He whispered, "Watch my hand gestures. Attack together. Even if they have hidden weapons, they absolutely cannot take down all three of us at this distance. Whoever gets in front of them, don't show any mercy. Kill them if you can!"

“Such a beautiful woman, there are only a few in the whole world. It’s a pity to kill her like this.” The tall companion next to him licked his lips, but his eyes were filled with a chilling killing intent, showing no sign of lust.

The other companion didn't say anything unnecessary, just held his breath, preparing to go all out.

They were all elites who had fought their way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood; they knew very well what to do in this situation.

Xiao Liu gripped the knife handle tightly, slowly raised his left hand, and then pressed down hard!
"kill!"

Almost simultaneously, the three of them shot up like arrows released from a bow.

At the same time, the knife in his hand, illuminated by the lantern light in the narrow, dark passage, reflected a chilling glint as he slashed towards the two women.

When Guan Feng and the others saw this scene, they all looked hopeful, anticipating the sight of the two women's heads falling to the ground.

However, Du Ying, who was closest to Xiao Liu and the other two, did not show the terrified expression they expected when facing the large sword that was about to strike her. Instead, she did not even frown. Her cold face was full of confidence and composure, as if everything was under control.

This expression...

Guan Feng frowned subconsciously; he had seen Liu Shuyi's face not long ago.

This gave him a strange, bad feeling.

then……

Bang bang bang!
Three consecutive impact sounds suddenly rang out.

Just moments before, Xiao Liu and his group, who had been charging forward like arrows ready to ruthlessly destroy the flowers, suddenly collapsed to the ground the instant they were about to charge forward.

His body slammed into the stone steps with a dull thud.

The weapons in their hands made a crisp sound when they came into contact with the steps.

In less than a breath, the three who had been filled with murderous intent were now motionless, their fate unknown.

This sudden turn of events left everyone completely stunned.

They stared blankly at the scene before them, at the cold and beautiful woman who hadn't moved an inch from beginning to end, yet had already declared victory, like an emperor. A sense of absurdity and fear of the unknown quickly rose in their hearts.

"what happened?"

"What did she do? Did she use some kind of hidden weapon?"

"No! I saw it clearly; they didn't move an inch from beginning to end."

"How did Xiao Liu and the others fall down?"

"I do not know!"

Guan Feng's companions couldn't help but swallow hard. Looking at Du Ying, they no longer underestimated him. They just couldn't understand how Du Ying had succeeded without even making a move.
At this moment, Du Ying finally moved.

She slowly walked down the steps.

In a few steps, she reached Xiao Liu and the others, but she didn't look down at them. Instead, she stepped on their bodies and continued downwards.

As this unpredictable woman approached, everyone instinctively took a step back.

Despite her seemingly delicate and slender appearance, Du Ying somehow managed to frighten more than ten burly men into retreating.

"What...what methods did you use?"

"Halt! If you go any further, don't blame us for being merciless!"

Du Ying listened to their meaningless nonsense, but kept walking. As she walked, she said in a cold voice, "Don't you guys feel that something is wrong with your bodies?"

"What? Something's wrong with your body?" Everyone was taken aback.

Du Ying said, "Didn't you feel yourself sweating uncontrollably, with a dry mouth and weak body?"

I'm sweating non-stop...

Dry mouth and throat...

Everyone checked their physical condition and their eyes widened in surprise.

The woman's prediction actually came true.

"You did this!?"

They thought they were sweating and had a dry mouth because they were too nervous.

Guan Feng's pupils contracted; he finally understood what was going on: "You poisoned us!?"

"Poisoning? How could that be?"

The group couldn't believe it, since they had been very careful all along. In the inn, they even drank their own water, except for the dinner.

Even the food at the inn was tested for poison with silver needles.

Furthermore, when Liu Shuyi and his group arrived at the inn, they had already finished eating, so they had no opportunity to poison the food! How could they have been poisoned?
To their surprise, Du Ying's cold voice rang out: "Indeed clever. No wonder he was willing to risk his life to ascertain your intentions."

"They really poisoned it!?"

Everyone was startled at first, and then suddenly felt as if all the strength in their bodies was receding like a flood, abruptly leaving them.

then……

Bang bang bang.

One by one, figures fell, crashing onto the steps with a thud.

"Oops!"

Some people have already collapsed and are not getting up; their fate is unknown.

Some were so weak that they could only support themselves against the wall with their arms and barely stand.

Even so, their strength is rapidly waning, and it won't be long before they can't hold on any longer.

Guan Feng's situation falls into this category. Leaning against the wall, barely able to support himself, he stared intently at Du Ying: "When? When did you poison me?"

He considered himself to be cautious enough that even when investigating cases with Liu Shuyi, and believing that he had completely deceived Liu Shuyi, he never actually had close contact with Liu Shuyi. Moreover, every time he approached Liu Shuyi, he would keep a close eye on Liu Shuyi's hands to prevent Liu Shuyi from attacking him.

There were other people hiding in the caravan... Liu Shuyi had been with him the whole time and had no chance to contact the caravan members. It was impossible for him to have managed to pull his people out of the caravan and poison them in such a short time...

Therefore, he couldn't understand how this femme fatale had poisoned him, or when he had been poisoned.
To his surprise, this extremely beautiful woman did not answer his question at all.

She simply walked calmly in front of him, not even bothering to glance at him, and passed right past him before continuing downhill.

This blatant disregard for him made Guan Feng pause for a moment, then his face flushed red. He had never been insulted like this before.

"you--"

As soon as he finished speaking, all the power in his body seemed to have an outlet, and with his rage, it was suddenly withdrawn.

then……

boom!
Guan Feng could no longer hold on and fell to the ground.

"How could this be so..."

Guan Feng only uttered this one sentence before his eyelids felt as heavy as a thousand pounds and closed uncontrollably.

His world was plunged into darkness in an instant.

And so, an unknown amount of time passed.

wow——

Suddenly, a basin of icy water was poured onto his face, and his tightly closed eyes snapped open.

His pale face still showed the panic of having a nightmare about drowning, but when he saw the situation in front of him, his pupils shrank.

He had somehow already returned to the kitchen.

But... not only did he come back, but Liu Shuyi and the others also came back.

Moreover, he and his companions were all tightly bound by ropes, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not break free even a fraction of an inch.

"woke up?"

Seeing that Guan Feng tried to break free as soon as he woke up, Liu Shuyi smiled and said, "I heard from Qingqing that you were very curious about how you were poisoned and almost died with your eyes open?"

Guan Feng paused, his eyes fixed on Liu Shuyi: "The victor is king, the loser is villain. Falling into your hands is simply because I'm less skilled. There's nothing more to say. I just want to know, what exactly happened?"

"I've been careful enough, so why did I still fall for your tricks?"

Not only Guan Feng, but also Zhu Shan and the others were looking at Liu Shuyi with curiosity.

After Guan Feng and the others left, they were filled with despair and were prepared to bite their fingers and leave a suicide note, so that if someone found their remains one day, they could know their identities and what unfulfilled wishes they had.

To their surprise, just when they were in their most desperate moment, the stone door, which had been tightly closed, suddenly opened.

The people standing outside the stone gate were not those despicable fellows like Guan Feng, but rather two women with contrasting temperaments, both possessing stunning beauty.

They recognized the two women; they were the same two women who had come with Liu Shuyi.

Before they could even ask what had happened, Liu Shuyi waved for them to leave. With hope of survival, they didn't hesitate and quickly followed him outside.

Midway through, they saw Guan Feng and the others lying on the steps. Liu Shuyi asked them to lend a hand and carry Guan Feng and the others out. Although they didn't know what had happened, Liu Shuyi had become their pillar of support, so naturally they had no objections.

And so, they escaped unscathed, and incidentally tied up Guan Feng and the other instigators.

But why all this happened, and what exactly happened while they were trapped, they still don't know.

Seeing Guan Feng ask a question, their curiosity, which had been scratching like a cat's scratch, could no longer be contained. They all pricked up their ears, waiting for Liu Shuyi's answer.

Liu Shuyi glanced around at everyone, smiled, and said without keeping them in suspense, "Actually, I had already started planning when I noticed the gunpowder and dust on Xiao Liu's sleeve."

"Back then!?" Guan Feng's pupils dilated.

Xiao Liu, who had just woken up in a daze, also looked stunned.

Liu Shuyi stared at Guan Feng and said, "Although I already know that you are the murderers, I do not know your purpose."

"After all, besides killing people, you did two other things."

"One thing was hiding the other five people, and the other was decorating Cao Rui's room like the Spider Cave, and then making Cao Rui die in front of us in such a bizarre way..."

"This is clearly not something a normal person would do to kill someone. You must have a reason for doing this! But I can't figure it out right now."

“If it were an ordinary case, it would be fine. We would know you are the murderers and interrogate you slowly… But the situation is special right now. The torrential rain outside has trapped us here, and we cannot leave. If we cannot find out your true purpose, even if we arrest you, we may not be safe.”

"So, I made a decision then and there: I would follow your pace and see what you really wanted to do."

Guan Feng's eyelids twitched violently as he stared intently at Liu Shuyi: "So that's how it is! This is why you chose to open the mechanism and follow it down the secret passage, even though you had already confirmed our identities as the murderers!?"

Liu Shuyi said, "When I saw the bloodstains on the kitchen wall, I understood why you hid those five corpses... because you wanted to use them as a lead to guide us to the secret room."

“The secret room was filled with all sorts of bloodstained torture instruments. As soon as we discover the secret room, we will definitely think that the shopkeeper and his gang are the murderers.”

"That way, you'll have a chance to continue leading us to the mechanism that leads to the underground passage..."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Chumo suddenly recalled what had happened before. He said, "No wonder Guan Feng and the others said that the shopkeeper and the others were the murderers when they were in Cao Rui's room. They saw that after you questioned the shopkeeper, they didn't directly convict him, and even had Xiao Liu mock you because of it... It turns out that they did that not only because they felt that you didn't trust them and were dissatisfied, but also because they were afraid that you would ruin their plans!"

Xiao Liu's face turned pale. Their meticulously planned scheme, which they thought was extremely well-concealed, turned out to be as blinding as the blazing sun in Liu Shuyi's eyes.

Guan Feng's face was also very ugly.

Liu Shuyi continued, "But at that time I hadn't figured out why you led us underground, so I pretended to be stupid and continued to follow the path you had designed."

"After that, we went to the underground secret room, where we found evidence of the shopkeeper and his gang's daily murders and robberies... to be honest."

He looked at Guan Feng and said, "At that time, I once thought that the shopkeeper and his gang had killed your relatives or friends. You led us there to expose the true colors of the shopkeeper and his gang, who have committed all sorts of evil deeds over the years."

"But, right then..."

Liu Shuyi turned his head to look at Deng Hui and the others, and said, "You've come down!"

Deng Hui hugged the child tightly and said, "We came down because Guan Feng's men told us to go down and say that there is the truth down there, and we should go and witness it."

Liu Shuyi nodded: "I think so too. Otherwise, no matter how curious you are, you shouldn't have all gone down without our permission."

Zhu Shan nodded quickly: "Of course, we're not stupid. We know how serious this is, so we wouldn't dare to wander around."

Liu Shuyi withdrew his gaze and looked at Guan Feng again: "After they all came down, I realized something was wrong... because they couldn't all have come down for no reason. I didn't have anyone call them, so it could only have been you who did it."

"And as they came down, I finally understood what you wanted to do..."

Guan Feng stared at Liu Shuyi with bloodshot eyes, and then heard Liu Shuyi say, "Those blood-written words you left at the crime scene weren't just to scare us! They were real!"

"You really want to kill us all!"

"In other words, you went to great lengths to lure us all into the underground chamber, just to take this opportunity to wipe us all out!"

Zhu Shan's pupils dilated sharply: "This... they went through all this trouble just to kill us all? They're quite capable, why go to such lengths?"

"Killing people is not difficult, but killing them all... is not easy."

Liu Shuyi said, "Even if we exclude those who are hiding in the caravan, there are still more than a hundred people left. How easy is it for them to kill more than a hundred people in one go?"

"As the saying goes, even a rabbit will bite when cornered, let alone a person who is pushed to the limit. They will fight desperately. In such situations, some of them may be injured or even killed."

"Not to mention, their goal is to kill everyone, leaving no one alive... If even one person manages to escape the inn in the chaos, it will be very difficult for them to find them again in this dark and torrential rain."

"Therefore, starting from the goal, there is no better way than the previous method of leading us all into a sealed room with only one exit and then trapping us to death."

Zhu Shan thought for a moment and finally nodded: "Now that you mention it, I understand. That was indeed their best option... But why would they kill us all? We don't know them at all, we shouldn't have such a deep grudge, right?"

Liu Shuyi's gaze fell on Guan Feng: "You'll have to ask them about that."

Guan Feng frowned, but didn't answer. He just snorted coldly, "You still haven't told me about that woman!"

"Don't rush, I'm about to tell you," Liu Shuyi said unhurriedly.

(End of this chapter)