Righteous Person? Scum?

With a BUG-like figure such as Sun Shaozong holding the line, wouldn't a complete victory for the guards be as easy as turning over one's hand?

In barely half a quarter of an hour, the bandits were either dead or wounded, all of them stripped of their ability to resist.

According to the subsequent count, roughly twenty-six bandits had joined the battle in succession. That number far exceeded the assassins who had fled from the Ruan Residence, so more than half of them had presumably been responsible for cover and reinforcement.

Five of those killed on the spot included the gatekeeper, while over half of the seventeen wounded captives had fallen to Sun Shaozong. Only four had given up resistance and surrendered outright, showing just how fierce and tough these men were—if they had not encountered a humanoid beast like Sun Shaozong, it was hard to say who would have won.

After the bandits had been swept up in one net, Sun Shaozong saw that the guards were only cheering in celebration, with no one stepping forward to handle the aftermath. He could only wipe the blood from the Gold Thread Great Ring Blade and order loudly, "Feng Xin, take two men and guard the main gate. Whether officials or bandits, no one is allowed in or out!"

"Understood!"

In just this half day, Sun Shaozong had already established absolute authority. How could Feng Xin dare slight him as he had at the beginning?

He hurriedly answered with respect, picked two familiar brothers, and rushed toward the residence gate.

Sun Shaozong continued, "The injured brothers should bandage one another. The rest of you, find whatever is handy and tie up all these rebels. Then split into two teams and search carefully to see whether any fish have slipped through the net!"

"Understood!"

The guards split up to carry out their tasks. Before long, someone brought over a pile of curtains and clothing, cut them into strips with knives, and bound the bandits up like rice dumplings.

What was more, Sun Shaozong noticed that many of them had bulging clothes stuffed with valuables. At first, he had wanted to rebuke them, but after thinking it over, he realized that in these times soldiers and bandits were practically one family. If he stepped in to stop them, they would probably obey, but they would surely resent him afterward—especially since he had only just arrived and still needed to rely on these men. There was no need to create a rift over a bit of stolen loot.

So Sun Shaozong turned a blind eye and pretended he had seen nothing.

Once the bandits had been tied up, the guards spontaneously divided into two teams and prepared to begin their search. He quickly added, "Everyone, be careful. If you run into anyone troublesome, don't try to be a hero. Find a way to notify me first!"

During the chaotic battle just now, thanks to Sun Shaozong's deliberate protection, only five or six of the nearly twenty guards had suffered superficial wounds. If they lost men after victory was already secured, wouldn't all his efforts have been wasted?

The guards answered in unison with a respectful acknowledgment before splitting up to carry out their duties.

After the guards had left, Sun Shaozong turned his attention to the captives. Just as he was about to interrogate them, he suddenly noticed that he was still clutching something soft and warm in his palm. Only then did he remember that he had been holding Ruan Rong's delicate hand all this time and had forgotten to let go.

He hurriedly released the Bear Paw, scratched his head, and smiled sheepishly. "Miss Rong, you weren't frightened just now, were you?"

Ruan Rong shook her head with a blush, not daring to look at Sun Shaozong even once. Yet in a soft, glutinous voice, she said, "Brother Sun, just call me Rong'er. That's what Father calls me."

Even a blockhead could hear the affection hidden in those words, let alone Sun Shaozong, who had been in several relationships in his previous modern life.

Still...

The young lady had developed feelings for him in only half a day. Wasn't that progressing a little too fast?

What he did not know was that well-born young ladies in this era rarely left their homes. Before marriage, the men they saw were either relatives and old acquaintances or servants and slaves. When they finally met an outstanding stranger, they were naturally more likely to fall in love at first sight.

After saying "Rong'er," Ruan Rong felt her face grow even hotter. Without waiting for Sun Shaozong to agree, she flusteredly said, "Brother Sun, I'll go help them bandage their wounds!"

With that, she hurried over to an injured guard, took some "bandages," and began wrapping him up in a panic. As for whether her method and placement were correct, she had no time to worry about that.

Sun Shaozong stood there in a daze for a few more seconds before finally remembering that he had business to attend to. Carrying the Gold Thread Great Ring Blade, he walked straight over to the assassin with the broad iron sword. Seeing that the man was still unconscious, he lightly stepped on his right shoulder.

"Aah~!!!"

The assassin threw back his head and let out a miserable scream that echoed endlessly through the surroundings.

Sun Shaozong had intended to question him after he finished screaming, but after a few cries, the fellow rolled his eyes and passed out from the pain again.

Sun Shaozong was left speechless, though he knew the man was not putting on an act—the fellow's shoulder blade had been smashed to pieces, with bone fragments piercing into his muscles, blood vessels, and tendons like countless steel needles and iron files. Combined with the severe subcutaneous bleeding, half his shoulder had swollen like a red-hot Kirin Arm. It was enough pain to make anyone wish for death!

After hesitating for a moment, Sun Shaozong simply turned to one of the captives who had surrendered with his hands tied. He held the Gold Thread Great Ring Blade before the man's eyes and casually asked, "Which one of you is the leader?"

To his surprise, the fellow looked utterly bewildered. He stared wide-eyed at Sun Shaozong for quite a while without uttering a single word.

"Our leader is Brother Ba Song!"

Someone beside him cried out in an odd accent, "He's the one you stepped on just now!"

Tsk.

So that fellow did not speak Han at all.

It seemed the task of promoting "Mandarin" in Zhen Country would be a difficult one indeed.

Sun Shaozong turned to the bandit who spoke the Shuntian Prefecture dialect and pressed, "Then who ordered you to assassinate Lord Ma?"

"Brother Ba Song brought us here!"

The captive had rushed to answer earlier, so he was naturally no tough bone. On top of that, Sun Shaozong's martial prowess had scared the courage out of him. Not only did he reveal everything he knew, he had even learned to answer first. "Brother Ba Song said that as long as we killed that Zhou Country dog... official, Zhen Country could catch its breath and dominate the southern frontier again! So more than a dozen of us brothers came over from Zhen Country in batches. As for the people in this residence, I heard Brother Ba Song had prepared them two years ago. Like the Qianxiang People, they all spoke fluent Han."

The moment he finished speaking, he drew denunciations and curses from his comrades. But the guards quickly suppressed those minor disturbances with fists and kicks—in these times, there was no such thing as preferential treatment for prisoners. Beatings and curses were mild; when tempers flared, hacking someone down with a blade was commonplace.

Sun Shaozong questioned him further and learned that this so-called Brother Ba Song was actually a fairly famous Roving Swordsman in the Zhen Country Capital. He was known for his boldness and generosity, and had thus gathered quite a few "heroes" beneath him.

Ba Song had two great passions in life. First, lust. He had often "helped" young maidens and married women satisfy their physical needs, and it was not uncommon for him to "care for" chaste women until they hanged themselves. Second, fame. The assassins he admired most were people like Zhuan Zhu and Jing Ke, assassins whose names had endured through the ages. He had always dreamed of doing something for Zhen Country through his own strength, which was why he had spared no expense, endured humiliation and hardship, and carried out this assassination attempt.

Hearing this, Sun Shaozong did not know how to judge the man. Call him utterly depraved, and yet he possessed the heroic resolve to die for his country. Call him a Righteous Person, and he was also scum through and through!

Fortunately, Sun Shaozong was a Military Attache, not a historian, so he had no need to agonize over such questions.

After questioning the captive repeatedly and confirming that the coward had not deceived him, Sun Shaozong returned to Ba Song's side and lightly tapped his shoulder with the tip of his foot.

"Aah~!!!"

Another miserable scream rang out, but this time Ba Song did not faint. He merely glared at Sun Shaozong with a twisted expression. From the intense pain, his bloodshot eyes bulged outward as if they might leap from their sockets at any moment.

"Ba Song, right?"

Though Ba Song's face was somewhat terrifying, frightening Sun Shaozong was still wishful thinking. Smiling as if nothing had happened, he said, "Your men have already confessed most of it. Now it's your turn—tell me, who ordered you to carry out the assassination?"

When Sun Shaozong spoke his name, the muscles in Ba Song's face twitched strangely. Just as Sun Shaozong expected him to start cursing, Ba Song's left cheek suddenly puffed out, then sank deeply inward.

Not good!

Realizing something was wrong, Sun Shaozong hurriedly reached out and gripped Ba Song's jaw. But he was still too late. Ba Song let out several muffled groans, white foam trickled from his mouth, and in the blink of an eye, he stopped breathing.

The man had clearly hidden poison in his mouth long ago, ready to kill himself at any moment!