As soon as he entered the inn, Yue Fei smelled a faint scent of blood in the air.
He understood almost immediately that something had happened inside.
After listening carefully to the commotion nearby and confirming there was no one around, he cautiously dropped from the rooftop to the ground.
Following the faint scent of blood, it didn't take him long to find two bodies lying on the ground.
Judging by the clothes they were wearing, they seemed to be workers from the inn.
Yue Fei cautiously stepped forward to check their breathing, then quickly moved towards other rooms.
As he had expected, except for the assassins who were keeping watch outside, everyone else in the inn was gone.
"Damn it, where are the people inside?"
Furious, Yue Fei charged out without a second thought. With a few swift movements, he knocked all the watching assassins to the ground.
He fiercely grabbed one of them by the neck and gritted his teeth, asking,
"What happened?"
Seeing Yue Fei take action, Jiang Yan and the others wasted no time.
In just a few breaths, the group of thirteen had subdued all the remaining assassins.
"Everyone inside is dead, and apart from these few guys, the rest are gone!"
"Where did your people go? When did they leave!"
Looking at the furious expression on Jiang Yan's face, the assassins' eyes were filled with endless mockery.
"Be careful, don't let them die!"
Just as they were about to bite the poison sacs in their mouths, Jiang Yan threw a punch, smashing into their jaws.
With his reminder, his companions also did not hesitate.
In a flash, they had confiscated all the suicide pills from these assassins.
"You think you can play these tricks in front of me? You're still too green!"
After emptying the assassin of anything he could use to commit suicide, Jiang Yan then kicked him hard in the stomach.
"Boss, they're all 'Mao Kouzi' (Cat's Claw), no new tricks at all!"
Someone examined the poison in the sacs and immediately identified the poison's name.
"Which battalion of the Kong He Army are you from? Who is your leader?"
Hearing the name 'Mao Kouzi', Jiang Yan had a rough idea of their origins.
"We won't say anything. Kill us or torture us if you can!"
To Jiang Yan's surprise, this fellow was quite tough.
"Tie them up. This is an adult's order. You, take this order and send them back to Neihuang County day and night. Remember, you must hand them over to the adult personally!"
Seeing their current state, Jiang Yan knew that extracting information from them would be a long and arduous process.
This was Juxian after all, and the enemy's main force was now unaccounted for. He didn't have time to waste with them any longer.
"Yes!"
"What do we do now?"
Watching those men lead the assassins away, Yue Fei quickly asked.
"If I'm not mistaken, they should be heading for the Changping Granary. I guess we can only go there and try our luck!"
Despite his carefulness, he was still a step behind, which left Jiang Yan somewhat dejected.
However, fortunately, the enemy's objective seemed to be clear, and they should still make it in time if they rushed there now.
"Boss, look!"
As soon as Jiang Yan finished speaking, a sharp-eyed subordinate pointed towards the west of the city.
Although they were still some distance from the Changping Granary to the west of the city, they could already see the sky ablaze in that direction.
"Damn it! Let's go!"
Fiercely kicking and breaking a small tree by the roadside, Jiang Yan immediately grabbed a water bucket from the inn and headed towards the Changping Granary in the west.
"Fire! Fire!"
The Changping Granary was on fire. With such a large blaze, it was impossible to contain it.
Under normal circumstances, it would be difficult to approach the Changping Granary, but now, by blending in with the people fighting the fire, it would be much easier to get in.
"Those people's heights are different from ordinary people. Keep a close eye on those tall individuals who are gathered together!"
More and more people were joining the firefighting effort, and the scene was becoming increasingly chaotic. However, Jiang Yan had no other options at the moment. This method, though a bit crude, seemed to be the only viable one.
Facial features could be altered, and clothes could be changed, but height was not easy to conceal.
However, the scene was too chaotic, and finding such a small group of people in this mixed crowd was no easy feat.
After struggling for nearly half an hour, just as Jiang Yan was losing hope, Yue Fei, standing beside him, suddenly nudged his arm.
"Look over there, don't those people look familiar?"
As Yue Fei spoke, he pointed at the cart drivers who were constantly transporting grain.
Prompted by him, Jiang Yan immediately noticed the difference in those cart drivers.
Although they were trying their best to disguise themselves, their robust demeanor was still recognizable to Jiang Yan from a distance.
"Damn it, these guys are really brave! After doing such a big thing, they don't try to escape but dare to hang around here!"
At this point, even Jiang Yan had to admire the audacity of these fellows.
With such a major incident, the area around the Changping Granary had already been sealed off by the arriving government troops.
It was easy to get in, but much harder to get out.
With their strong martial skills and their unusually tall stature, they would stand out in this chaotic environment.
If they were to try to escape amidst the chaos now, they would likely be intercepted by the arriving government troops.
But if they stayed and helped with the firefighting, and then evacuated with the civilian laborers assisting in the fire suppression, the situation would be entirely different...
As Jiang Yan spotted them, the leader of the cart drivers suddenly gave a strange smile.
Not good!
Jiang Yan immediately realized that something was wrong. How could he have forgotten such an important detail?
Wasn't the reason they rushed to the Changping Granary precisely because the enemy had set a trap to lure them here?