He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye did not want to stay here any longer, so they ran towards the Imperial Palace of Southern Frontier in the rain.
If everything went smoothly, they would be able to leave this ghost place tomorrow.
This heavy rain was more or less a boost for both of them.
Although there were still soldiers everywhere on the streets, they were also dressed like the People of Southern Frontier. Besides, the People of Southern Frontier had no habit of using rain gear. Wherever there were passersby, they would walk ahead in the rain.
He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye also learned from the Southern Frontier people by covering their foreheads with their hands and ran in the rainy night, trying their best not to blur their vision.
The searching soldiers saw only the Southern Frontier people running past. Besides, they were not comfortable being drenched in the rain either. Naturally, they would not search very carefully.
When He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye ran past those officials, it was like an uninhabited place.
Mo Jiuye was not unfamiliar with the capital city of Southern Frontier. He had specifically checked the route during the day.
Therefore, they arrived near the palace very smoothly.
Mo Jiuye pointed to the west side of the palace wall and said, "I've checked it out. The guards there are a little weaker. Let's go in from there."
He Zhiran nodded. The two held hands again and ran towards the west side of the palace.
Just after they turned a corner, they saw a group of people running towards them.
It was said to be a group of people, only the one leading them was riding a horse, while the rest were running behind the horse.
Mo Jiuye hurriedly hugged He Zhiran and leapt up a big tree. The two held their breath and looked down.
This group had about thirty people. Whether it was the general on horseback or the soldiers running, they all wore a crescent-shaped half mask.
What was most unexpected was that these people looked just like modern well-trained soldiers marching in formation.
This was not unfamiliar at all to He Zhiran, who was a soldier in his previous life.
Although such a formation was not unfamiliar to He Zhiran, its appearance in this alley at night was quite puzzling. What was their purpose?
This made He Zhiran think deeply.
Looking closely at their postures, each of them was holding a shining big knife, raised uniformly to their chests, with the blade pointing forward.
No matter how they ran, that action would not change. The attentive Mo Jiuye even noticed that their hands did not even tremble.
Likewise, the general on horseback was holding a pair of copper hammers in one hand and the rein in the other, looking straight ahead.
It was already dark night and the heavy rain severely affected their vision. They could not see the appearance and expressions of those who showed half of their faces at all.
But seeing that pair of copper hammers, Mo Jiuye felt a strange sense of familiarity.
Among the nine brothers of the Mo Family, only the sixth brother liked to use hammers. He had also used a pair of copper hammers before, simply because the sixth brother was very strong, and his martial arts skills were not as good as his other brothers.
When he went to the battlefield to kill enemies, he mostly took advantage of his great strength.
Although the person in front was also holding a pair of copper hammers, they looked a size bigger than the ones the sixth brother had used.
Mo Jiuye still remembered that the last time he was with the sixth brother, the sixth brother said that his strength seemed to have increased again. After the war was over, he would go back and forge a heavier pair of copper hammers.
Seeing that Mo Jiuye had stared for so long without any reaction, He Zhiran reminded him, "They are gone. Should we go into the palace, or do you think there is something wrong with these people and want to follow them to see?"
The reason she said this was that she realized these people were different.
First of all, she could not think of their motive for behaving like this in the alley at night.
Secondly, they walked in exactly the same posture. She did not believe that Southern Frontier could train people like this. Think about the soldiers participating in the parade in modern times, they could not do the same either.
Finally, although she could not see the expressions and faces of these people, she noticed one detail that their chests did not have the kind of rhythmic breathing...
That is to say, He Zhiran suspected that these people might not be alive, or they might be people who lost consciousness controlled by some Gu worm.
The Master Si Meng they were looking for must be a master of Gu techniques. Gu masters usually raised many kinds of Gu worms. Therefore, she was somewhat suspicious that these people might be related to Master Si Meng.
That was why she asked Mo Jiuye.
She knew Mo Jiuye was worried about the safety of his fourth and seventh brothers and did not want to stay outside for too long. Whether to follow them or not depended on his decision.
Although Mo Jiuye did not think as much as He Zhiran did, after seeing the copper hammers of the man on horseback, he inexplicably wanted to take a closer look. To him, this sense of familiarity grew stronger and stronger.
"Well, let's go take a look."
With that said, she hugged Mo Jiuye's waist. Using Qinggong, they secretly followed those people, keeping a distance.
Those people headed straight for the city gate, which was the road they must take when they came to the capital.
Supposedly, when they reached the city gate where there were guards, they would stop to show some kind of token. After all, the capital was under high alert now. It was impossible for people to come and go freely.
However, they did not do that, but continued to move forward in their original posture, without any intention of stopping at all.
At first, some guards at the gate tried to go up and inspect them. Who knew, as soon as they got close, they were hammered to death by the man on horseback.
The guards at the gate were so frightened that they fled everywhere. When faced with such a tough situation, keeping themselves alive was the most important thing.
The group thus left the city unhindered. Taking advantage of the chaos, Mo Jiuye carried He Zhiran and leapt out of the city wall using Qinggong.
When those people were on the official road and there were no soldiers or commoners around, Mo Jiuye gradually caught up with the team.
Logically, when such a rampaging team heard footsteps behind, they should look back. However, they did not, but kept walking forward.
The scene was extremely weird.
Mo Jiuye whispered to He Zhiran, "Ranran, do you think they are also controlled by puppet Gu?"
He Zhiran gently shook her head, "I can't be sure without checking."
What she thought was that people controlled by puppet Gu would be manipulated by the caster. There were thirty-one people in this group, including the one riding the horse.
According to the book, puppet Gu was very difficult to raise. Even for masters, at most one mother Gu could only control five people.
And each Gu master could only raise three to four mother Gu at most.
Based on these numbers, a Gu master could control up to twenty people at most.
However, the actions and behavior of these people were exactly the same. Apart from being controlled by one person, it was impossible to be so synchronized.
Therefore, He Zhiran had basically ruled out the possibility that they were under the influence of puppet Gu in her mind.
Just as she was thinking, the man on horseback finally changed his move.
