Chapter 157: The Blood of a Brother

A long strip of white paper was pasted onto the back of the front passenger seat. It looked exactly like the soul-summoning banners used in rural villages during a funeral, and bearing the name of Ye Xiaoxuan right on it.

Little Yu'er turned pale and said, "How could this thing be here? Didn't you lock the car and step out when you went to pump gas just now?"

Chen Ergou looked aggrieved as he replied, "Sister-in-law, I didn't step out at all! I stayed in the car the whole time!"

Jiaoran said in astonishment, "You didn't go out? Then did this thing fly in all by itself?"

Ye Xiaoxuan had already ripped the soul-summoning banner off and flung his hand in fury, cursing, "Damn it all! Who is so disgusting? They used chewed-up gum to stick this thing up! Ergou, clean up the back seat!"

Hearing this, Little Yu'er asked Chen Ergou, "Were your rear windows open just then?"

Chen Ergou nodded and said, "I rolled them down for some fresh air. The air conditioning smells stuffy if it runs the whole time!"

Upon hearing this, the Old Shepherd took the soul-summoning banner, inspected the back of it, nodded to the others, and said, "Fine technique. This kid has pretty good hand skills. He managed to bring a paper this large inside using just a piece of chewing gum, and stuck it on with such precision. He's probably an advanced martial guard!"

Ye Xiaoxuan curled his lip in disdain and said, "I don't care what kind of guard he is. Can you figure out whose style this is?"

The Old Shepherd shook his head and said, "At the very least, I've never heard of any assassin leaving a soul-summoning banner before making a move. Yama's Decrees, yes, but never this."

Little Yu'er asked him in shock, "Grandpa Shepherd, are you talking about the Yama's Fear from the Qingtian Group?"

Ye Xiaoxuan asked her quizzically, "Yama's Fear? What's that?"

Little Yu'er explained, "It's one of the assassin squads under the Qingtian Group. The other two are the Five Elements Assassin Unit and the Wolf Team. Then there's Yama's Fear."

The Old Shepherd looked at the soul-summoning banner in his hand and said, "Yama leaves a black Yama's Decree before killing someone, but I've never heard of them posting such a ghostly thing! I doubt this is him!"

Ye Xiaoxuan furrowed his brow and asked him, "How many assassin organizations does the Qingtian Group have in total? Which one is the strongest?"

The Old Shepherd pondered and said, "As far as I know, there are only these three! Lass, how many did your father mention to you?"

Little Yu'er also knitted her brows slightly and said to Ye Xiaoxuan, "I only know of these three as well! It seems there really are only three. The weakest is the Five Elements Assassin Unit. The other two are about on par with each other. However, the Wolf Team has the most members, while Yama's Fear seems to consist of only a single person!"

Ye Xiaoxuan snatched the soul-summoning banner from the Old Shepherd's hand, crumpled it into a ball, hurled it far away into the distance, and gave a cold smile. "Alright, I pretty much get the picture now. If they want my life, then bring it on!"

The Old Shepherd frowned and said, "What they want isn't just your life, but Dajun's and Liuzhi's as well!"

Ye Xiaoxuan burst out laughing, looked at Ye Dajun beside him, and said, "My eldest brother is right here. If they want his life, they'll have to get past me first! Liuzhi... Oh no, Liuzhi is still in the city!"

Ye Xiaoxuan suddenly thought of a crucial issue: Hao Liuzhi was still at the People's Hospital in the city! Although Iron Head and Chen Tianfeng were staying with him in the hospital, three wounded patients could easily be dealt with by a single intermediate martial guard—let alone the fact that the person who delivered the soul-summoning banner was definitely an advanced martial guard!

"Old Shepherd, take them back in the three-wheeler. I'm heading to the city!" Fearing that Hao Liuzhi might be in danger, Ye Xiaoxuan couldn't sit still and immediately gave instructions to the Old Shepherd.

Little Yu'er and Jiaoran both cried out simultaneously, "I'm going with you!"

Ye Xiaoxuan flatly refused, "No! The enemy's target is me, not you! The soul-summoning banner is his challenge letter. As long as you don't follow me, you'll be safe!"

The Old Shepherd tightened his grip on his Immortal Sheep Ruyi Whip and said to him, "How about I accompany you on this trip?"

Ye Xiaoxuan gave him a sidelong glance and said, "Spare me the theatrics! Just get my two wives safely back to the village. Whatever you spend on alcohol today, you can get reimbursed by me!"

The Old Shepherd's mustache twitched all the way up, baring his mouthful of big yellow teeth as he patted Ye Xiaoxuan's shoulder and said, "Good boy! Don't worry, I won't fail the mission. Go ahead, I'll bless you on behalf of the Buddha!"

Ye Xiaoxuan rolled his eyes at him and cursed, "Go play with yourself! With that reek of mutton all over you, how could you possibly represent the Buddha? Ergou, let's go, to the city!"

Chen Ergou acknowledged the order and climbed into the driver's seat. Just as he was about to start the engine, the front passenger door opened. Ye Dajun, who had been standing off to the side looking lost and silent the whole time, climbed in and said to the two of them, "I'm coming with you!"

Ye Xiaoxuan frowned and said, "You should go home with your master and take care of Jiaoran and Yu'er!"

Ye Dajun shook his head and said, "What they want are the three of us. Once we split up, it will only make it easier for them to pick us off one by one! Besides, I suspect this guy might be the Tu Yixiao that Yaya mentioned. I need to go meet him."

Thinking it over, Ye Xiaoxuan realized that made sense. He told Chen Ergou, "Fine, let's go together. Drive!"

It was already approaching noon, and the three of them didn't even have time for a proper lunch, so they simply bought some snacks to eat along the way. By three o'clock in the afternoon, they finally rushed to the Xianhu City People's Hospital.

Hao Liuzhi and the other two were staying in the Department of Surgery Ward on the eighth floor. Chen Ergou knew which room it was, so he led Ye Xiaoxuan and Ye Dajun straight upstairs and arrived at the ward door.

There were originally six hospital beds inside, and Hao Liuzhi and his companions had all been staying in this room. At this moment, however, it was completely empty, and even the mattresses on the opposite three beds had brand-new sheets freshly put on.

A young nurse was changing the sheets on the innermost bed, muttering to herself, "How did I run into something like this while I'm on shift? So much blood!"

Chen Ergou said in a trembling voice in Ye Xiaoxuan's ear, "That's Brother Liuzhi's bed!"

Ye Xiaoxuan's heart sank. Could it be that he had arrived a step too late?

Ye Dajun walked over to the linen cart, picked up a newly replaced bedsheet, and saw a large, soaked stain of blood already seeped into it!

The nurse turned her head, spotted someone standing behind her, and jumped in fright. She snatched the bedsheet right out of Ye Dajun's hands and snapped irritably, "Aren't you afraid of infection? Why are you so curious about such dirty things?"

Ye Dajun's eyes were bloodshot, and with tears welling in them, he shouted at her, "This is my brother's blood! Every single drop of his blood is clean, and it won't be shed in vain!"

Stunned by his fierce appearance, the nurse shrank back timidly and asked, "Mister, are... are you alright?"

Ye Dajun took a deep breath and asked her in a trembling voice, "When did this happen?"

The nurse blinked her eyes, which were visible above her mask, as if she didn't understand.

Ye Dajun slowly picked up the blood-stained bedsheet, pressed it against his chest, and asked word for word, "When was this blood shed?"

This time the nurse understood, and she quickly told him, "Ten minutes ago!"

Ye Xiaoxuan asked her from the side, "Then where is he?"

The nurse replied, "He probably went to the restroom? He asked me to change the sheets, so I did. He might have gone to take a shower!"