Chapter 172

Xiao Heng took only a day or so to deal with the matter in Hezhou County. The captured bandits could not last more than a few hours in Xiao Heng's hands and confessed everything.

In front of Yu Wan'an, the magistrate of Hezhou County, he used all his tricks to force a confession, which frightened Yu Wan'an so much that he wet his pants and dared not hide a word.

The involvement was indeed very wide.

But Xiao Heng handed all the things that needed to be investigated to Luo Shang.

Luo Shang lost his left arm and could not go to the battlefield in the future. If this matter could be completed successfully, he would be able to seek an official position in the court in the future.

Even staying in Hezhou as a county magistrate would be better than dragging his body back home to farm.

And Xiao Heng rode away in a hurry without even drinking a sip of water.

His heart was too panicked.

The back of Qiao Nian leaving when she picked him up kept appearing in his mind, making him so panicked that he could not wait any longer.

He rode his horse almost without sleep, but when he caught up, he found that the people he sent to protect her were all dead.

There were corpses all over the ground outside the forest, and he recognized them at a glance. Some of them were the bandits who escaped!

Jing Yan's coffin lid was half opened, but fortunately the body was intact and the other party did not touch him.

But Qiao Nian was gone.

He was shocked and thought that Qiao Nian must have been captured by the bandits.

In his mind, Jing Yan's last words seemed to be still ringing in his ears, but, in just a few days, he actually let her fall into the hands of the bandits!

A huge sense of uneasiness and guilt surged up, and Xiao Heng forced himself to calm down and search for clues on the ground.

The bodies were still warm, proving that these people had died not long ago.

So as long as he chased them now, he could still catch up with Qiao Nian.

As long as he knew which direction the other party took Qiao Nian.

Xiao Heng squatted on the ground, carefully checking the footprints on the ground, trying to find Qiao Nian's trace.

After all, women's footprints are always different from men's.

Unexpectedly, a muffled sound suddenly came from the forest.

"Bang."

"Bang."

Very regular.

His heart was lifted instantly, and he immediately drew his sword and walked into the forest.

Although the moonlight was bright tonight, the visibility in the forest was not very good.

Fortunately, the sound kept coming, and Xiao Heng quickly found Qiao Nian.

Unexpectedly, he saw such a scene.

I saw that not far from Qiao Nian, there were two bodies of bandits lying.

Qiao Nian was riding on the body of the third bandit, holding a big stone, and smashing it expressionlessly.

The bandit's face had been smashed and bloody.

He didn't know what she had experienced, but he knew that she must have been scared.

He was about to step forward, but unexpectedly stepped on a dead branch, and the noise made startled her.

She fell off the bandit's body and fumbled around in fear like a frightened deer.

She didn't stand up until she touched the long sword on the ground, holding the long sword tightly in one hand and wiping the blood on her face with the other hand.

She looked panicked, but she had no intention of giving in.

Seeing her like this, Xiao Heng felt very distressed.

He didn't know what she had experienced that night.

After biting his teeth hard, Xiao Heng spoke, "Nian Nian."

A soft call with a little hoarseness.

Qiao Nian didn't hear the voice for a while, but she knew that the person who came should not be a bandit.

She was stunned for a moment, and then asked vigilantly, "Who is it?"

Xiao Heng didn't expect that she couldn't hear his voice.

A tearing pain spread in his heart, and he took a deep breath before continuing to move forward.

"It's me..."

Me?

Who is it?

Qiao Nian raised her hand and rubbed her eyes again, but she didn't expect the dust on her hand to rub into her eyes instead, and it hurt so much that she couldn't open them.

She heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

Qiao Nian stepped back subconsciously and called out vigilantly, "Don't come over!"

But the footsteps didn't stop, and Qiao Nian swung the long sword in her hand in panic.

Xiao Heng didn't expect Qiao Nian to attack him, so he stepped back.

The long sword barely scratched his sleeve.

Qiao Nian realized that she didn't hurt the other party, so she swung forward again.

Unexpectedly, the other party grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms before she could react.

"Don't be afraid, it's me."

The voice from above made Qiao Nian, who was still trying to struggle, suddenly stop.

Her body was extremely stiff, and she only asked tentatively, "Xiao, Heng?"

"Yes, it's me."

The low voice said, "It's okay."

It's okay?

Qiao Nian's tense body relaxed for a moment, but it was only for a moment.

She used Xiao Heng's clothes to wipe the blood in front of her eyes, then pushed him away and hurriedly walked out of the woods.

The coffin lid was opened!

Qiao Nian was shocked and climbed onto the carriage. When she saw Jing Yan's body lying intact inside, she really relaxed.

She couldn't even stand steadily.

She knelt down along the coffin. Before she had time to catch her breath, her eyes fell on the body not far away. She was stunned, and then looked forward. As far as her eyes could see, they were all the bodies of the soldiers.

They accompanied her for two days, but in the end they all died here... The tense heartstrings broke at this moment, and tears burst out.

If it weren't for escorting her back to Beijing, these young soldiers would not have died here...

Just like Jing Yan, if he hadn't met her, he wouldn't have died...

An unprecedented feeling of guilt came over me, like thousands of hands tearing at my heart.

Qiao Nian cried loudly, until she couldn't breathe. At the end of her crying, her eyesight went black and she passed out.

When she woke up, the sun was already high.

The dazzling light made her try several times before she could completely open her eyes.

The carriage was still parked where it was last night, but the bodies of the soldiers were gone.

Qiao Nian couldn't help being surprised and quickly stood up, only to find that even the coffin lid had been closed!

Who did it?

Suddenly, a figure came to mind. Qiao Nian couldn't help but search around, and saw that figure in front of him, dealing with the stones blocking the road.

It's Xiao Heng.

Most of the road has been cleared.

Except for the largest stone that couldn't be pushed, almost everything else had been cleared.

The carriage could barely pass.

Xiao Heng clapped his hands with satisfaction and walked back.

Perhaps he didn't expect Qiao Nian to wake up.

His steps paused slightly before continuing to walk over.

"A passer-by has already passed by this morning and will pass the news to Luo Shang for us. Luo Shang will send someone to handle the remaining matters." Xiao Heng said indifferently, maybe a little tired, and his always cold voice was full of emotion. A hint of exhaustion.

Qiao Nian said nothing, but her eyes fell on his arm with his sleeves rolled up.

There was a long, slender wound that was still bloody, as if it had just been injured.

Sensing Qiao Nian's gaze, Xiao Heng said again, "It wasn't you who hurt him." Last night, her sword didn't hurt him.

Qiao Nian then lowered his eyes. Thinking of the soldiers who died in the battle last night, his eye circles turned red unconsciously.

But Xiao Heng's voice sounded again, "The group of bandits who escaped from Hezhou last night should have recognized me, so they attacked you. This matter... is my fault."

At this point, he paused and then said, "It has nothing to do with you."