Chapter 11: An ambush at Youquan, thoughts at night

The night is like ink, splashing on the intricate roofs of the capital.

Unlike the suffocating silence of Prince Ning's Mansion, the existence of Tianji Pavilion is another kind of extreme silence. It seems to exist in no corner of this world, yet it is everywhere.

Deep underground, in a heart-wrenchingly empty stone chamber, there were no candles or lights. The only source of light came from dozens of night-shining pearls of varying sizes embedded in the walls. They emitted a cold and tranquil glow, illuminating the stone chamber like a deep-sea dragon's palace, magnificent yet cold.

A massive screen stood in the center of the stone chamber, embroidered with an intricate and abstract pattern of star paths, a mysterious presence. Behind it sat a shadowy figure. It was the master of the Tianji Pavilion—codenamed "Tianji." No one had ever seen his true appearance, and no one knew his origins. He himself was the Pavilion's greatest secret.

Chen Ye knelt on one knee before the screen, his dark, dark attire making him blend in with the shadows around him. He had just returned from the ruined temple, and the chill of the night still lingered on him.

"Is the matter settled?"

A specially processed voice came from behind the screen. It was difficult to tell whether it was male or female, and it was erratic. It seemed to come from all directions, knocking on people's souls.

"The traitor has been eliminated and the intelligence has been recovered." Shen Ye's voice was as flat as ever, without a trace of emotion.

He didn't mention Su Qinghan's existence. This was the first time in his assassin career that he had concealed something from the Pavilion Master. This decision was almost instinctive, and he himself hadn't even considered why. Simply in that moment, he didn't want the name "Fei Yue" to appear in the cold files of the Tianji Pavilion.

"Very good." The Pavilion Master's voice was emotionless. "'Zhuying', you have never let me down. However, clearing the door is only a small matter. Next, there is a more interesting drama about to unfold."

The Pavilion Master waved his hand lightly, and a long, slender bamboo scroll flew out silently from behind the screen and hovered precisely in front of Shen Ye.

"Ning Wang Zhao Shuo is about to take action against his stray dog," the Pavilion Master said with a hint of mockery in his voice. "He's set up a trap in Broken Soul Valley, using valuable treasures and secret account books as bait, intending to capture the entire 'Youquan' organization in one fell swoop. This includes the female assassin 'Feiyue' who has been quite active in 'Youquan' recently."

Hearing the name "Fei Yue", Chen Ye's calm heart suddenly trembled.

A hint of fierceness flashed across his lowered eyes, a look he hadn't even noticed. He thought he had gotten rid of her, but he hadn't expected that fate had already spun its web, and she was still trapped in it, a dead end.

The Pavilion Master seemed to be able to see through people's minds and continued, "Prince Ning wants to use this to clear all traces of Su Zhenting's past case. At the same time, he is also flexing his muscles to certain people. His appetite is growing."

Chen Ye didn't look up, but just waited quietly for orders. He knew that the Pavilion Master told him so much, not just to tell him a story.

"Your mission," the Pavilion Master's voice finally took on a hint of true "instruction," "is to go to the Valley of Broken Souls. But you are not a chess player, nor a chess piece; you are merely a spectator."

"Observe the entire massacre in secret. This court needs to know the true caliber of the assassins raised by Prince Ning's Mansion. We also need to confirm with our own eyes whether the dog 'Youquan' has been dealt with thoroughly and whether it will leave any trouble. Remember, your mission is simply to 'observe' and 'evaluate'. No matter what happens, you must not intervene."

No intervention is allowed.

These four words, like four cold steel needles, pierced into Shen Ye's sea of ​​consciousness.

This means that he will have to watch with his own eyes the woman, the woman with eyes as stubborn as fire in the dilapidated temple, die under the butcher knife of King Ning.

An unprecedented sense of irritability and resentment rose uncontrollably from the depths of his heart. He frantically spun the Lightless Heart Sutra, attempting to suppress and smooth out this excess emotion, but this time, the effect was far less pronounced than before. The restlessness was like a red-hot iron being dropped into ice water; while temporarily suppressed, it made the entire pool of water lose its purity.

"yes."

Chen Ye squeezed out this word from between his teeth and reached out to take the bamboo slips.

"Go." The Pavilion Master's voice had returned to its hollow, emotionless tone. "Remember your identity, 'Zhuying'. You are the sharpest sword of the Tianji Pavilion. Swords should not have emotions. Anything that attempts to dull the sword should be considered impurities and eliminated without hesitation."

This sentence is both an order and a warning.

Chen Ye clenched the bamboo slips tightly in his hand, his knuckles turning slightly white from the strain. Without another word, he stood up, saluted, and then quietly retreated from the stone chamber like a puff of smoke.

Darkness enveloped him again, but this time, he felt that this darkness, which he had long been accustomed to and felt like his home, was so cold and biting.

Three days later, at midnight, in the outskirts of the capital, there was an abandoned charity cemetery.

The cold wind howled, blowing up the paper money and dead leaves on the ground, making a rustling sound that sounded like the whisper of a ghost in the silent night.

Nearly a hundred figures gathered within the charity cemetery. Each of them exuded a fierce aura, fierce eyes, and carried a strong scent of blood. They were the core force of the "Youquan" organization in the capital, and at this moment, they were gathered here for the legendary "divine gift of wealth."

Su Qinghan was dressed in black and had her face covered with a veil. She stood quietly in an inconspicuous corner, like a lonely winter plum blossom, completely out of tune with the vulgar and greedy atmosphere around her.

She watched coldly.

Some of these people were loudly boasting about their past "achievements", some were whispering about how to divide the spoils after they succeeded, and more of them had fanatical and greedy expressions on their faces, as if they had already seen the mountain of gold and silver right before their eyes.

The burly man called "Leopard" was huddled beside her, his mouth spitting with excitement: "Sister Feiyue, did you see that? Our 'Youquan' family is so wealthy! After tonight, we will be a formidable force in the martial arts world!"

Su Qinghan ignored him and just cast his gaze towards the center of the charity cemetery.

There stood a tall, thin, sullen middle-aged man. He wore an elegant silk gown, which seemed out of place among the bloodthirsty crowd around him. But his hands were particularly striking—those with thick joints, unusually long fingers, and neatly trimmed nails, yet they had an unhealthy dark blue hue, as if they had been immersed in poison for years.

He is the leader of "Youquan" in the capital area, Chang San, nicknamed "Ghost Hand".

“Brothers!”

Chang San finally spoke, his unpleasant voice like a drake drowning out the noise in the room.

Everyone fell silent, their eyes fixed on him.

"I'm sure everyone is aware of the magnitude of tonight's mission!" Chang San's eyes flashed with a morbid enthusiasm. "A black account book that could turn the imperial court upside down! A mountain of gold that could keep Youquan from worrying about food and drink for ten years! Wealth and prosperity are right before our eyes! Of course, there are risks too! But what are we for? We are wolves licking blood on the edge of a knife! Anyone who fears death is not a brother of Youquan!"

"Don't be afraid!"

"Fuck him!"

Wild roars erupted from the crowd, and morale was instantly ignited.

Chang San nodded with satisfaction, his eyes swept across the entire audience, and finally lingered on Su Qinghan for a meaningful moment.

Su Qinghan's heart trembled. She could sense that in Chang San's gaze, besides reliance, there was also a subtle scrutiny and suspicion. Although she had managed to cover up the Luoyang incident with a set of rhetoric, the seeds of suspicion had clearly been sown.

Tonight, she not only has to face unknown enemies, but also has to be wary of the "companions" around her.

"The journey to Broken Soul Valley is long. Qian Song, that old fox, is very cunning and must have guards around him." Chang San continued, "Everyone, listen to my command. In this battle, we must kill them with one strike and leave no one alive! 'Fei Yue'!"

He suddenly raised his voice.

Su Qinghan took a step forward and said in a cold voice, "Here."

"You have the fastest sword and the best Qinggong skills," Chang San said sinisterly. "You will be the vanguard, responsible for eliminating the secret sentries surrounding Qian Song and the first wave of guards. We will follow closely behind and launch the general attack. Is there any problem?"

This was the most dangerous and uncertain mission entrusted to her. If the intelligence was wrong, she would be the first to hit the wall and die without a burial place.

Su Qingtan sneered in his heart, but his face remained calm: "No problem."

"Excellent! You are worthy of being the fastest swordsman in Youquan!" Chang San laughed heartily. "After the deed is accomplished, I will personally commend you for the achievement! Let's go!"

At the command, nearly a hundred assassins rushed out of the dilapidated charity cemetery like a black torrent, silently blending into the vast night, and rushing towards the Valley of Broken Souls thirty miles outside the city.

The team marched along the rugged mountain road, all around them in complete silence, the only sound being the wind and the deliberately suppressed thud of footsteps. The moonlight was obscured by thick clouds, and the sky and earth were gloomy, with extremely low visibility.

Su Qinghan displayed her "Treading on Snow Without a Trace" skill, her figure flowing gracefully, always staying at the front of the team. However, her heart sank more and more as they got closer to the Valley of Broken Souls.

It's too quiet.

It was eerily quiet.

Not even a chirp of insects or a cry of birds could be heard along this road. This wasn't normal. This dead silence could only mean one thing: a more powerful predator, one that instilled fear in all living things, was lurking nearby.

Her mind was screaming at her frantically, telling her that this was a trap, a complete and utter death trap.

But she didn't look back, and she couldn't. The nearly one hundred pairs of eyes behind her were like nearly a hundred knives on her neck.

She could only move forward, observing her surroundings vigilantly while rapidly planning all possible retreat routes and response plans in her mind.

Finally, the outline of the Valley of Broken Souls, which looked like the mouth of a giant beast, appeared on the horizon.

It was an extremely narrow canyon, with steep cliffs dozens of feet high on either side, smooth as mirrors, with almost no footholds for climbing. The only passage was the valley mouth, which was no more than three feet wide.

As the name suggests, this is a natural killing place.

"stop!"

Chang San raised his hand, and the team stopped outside the valley entrance. He sent a few experienced veterans to sneak into the valley to explore.

Su Qinghan's gaze was fixed on the towering cliffs on either side of the valley entrance. Covered by the thick darkness, it seemed empty. But her keen intuition, honed through the rigorous training of the Six Gates, was aching.

She felt that there were countless pairs of cold eyes on the cliff, looking down at them, like a cat looking down at a mouse about to step into a mousetrap.

A moment later, the spies came back.

"Boss, there's no problem inside! There's only a small group of people, about a dozen or so, guarding a few large carts and resting in the valley. It seems they are waiting for someone to pick them up!" The spy reported excitedly.

"Great!" Chang San was overjoyed upon hearing this. All his doubts were overwhelmed by the wealth he was about to get. "God help me! That old man Qian Song really doesn't take us seriously!"

He waved his hand and issued a final command: "Everyone, follow me and charge in! Remember, the account books and treasure are ours. No one will be spared!"

"kill!"

Nearly a hundred killers could no longer hold back, and like a flood that had been released, they let out a suppressed roar and rushed madly into the narrow valley.

Only Su Qinghan subconsciously took half a step back when everyone else was rushing forward.

It was this half step that saved her life.

Just as the "Youquan" group rushed into the valley entrance a few dozen meters away, and their foothold was not stable at that moment -

“Swish, swish, swish, swish—!”

Something strange happened suddenly!

Countless rockets, dragging dazzling flames, poured down from the towering cliffs on both sides like a shower of meteors!

The firelight instantly illuminated the entire canyon and the cliffs, revealing the densely packed ambush troops dressed in black and armed with powerful bows and crossbows! Their movements were in perfect unison, their expressions as cold as ice, like a legion of death crawling out of hell.

"There's an ambush!!"

"ah--!"

"Retreat! Retreat!"

The shrill screams, terrified shrieks, and desperate roars instantly resounded throughout the Valley of Broken Souls.

The ragtag group of "Youquan" was completely vulnerable to such a well-prepared, commanding saturation attack. They were like lambs trapped in a slaughterhouse, with no room for resistance.

The dozens of people at the front were instantly blasted into prickles by the dense hail of arrows. Their bodies were ablaze with flames as they collapsed to the ground, writhing and wailing in agony. Those at the back tried to retreat, only to discover that the valley entrance had been completely blocked by several massive rolling stones!

There is no way forward and no way back.

This place has become a veritable death cage.

Because of that life-saving half-step, Su Qinghan happened to be just outside the ravine entrance, where the road was blocked by rolling rocks. She looked at the purgatory-like scene within the valley, watching those "companions" who had just been chatting and laughing with her turn into charred corpses in the blink of an eye, and felt a chill rising from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.

She guessed it was a trap, but she didn't expect the other party's methods to be so cruel and so... leaving no room for maneuver.

Chang San, the "Ghost Hand," possessed the highest martial arts skill. He waved his palms, stirring up waves of foul-smelling poisonous mist, barely creating a safe zone around him and knocking away most of the arrows. But as he watched his men fall one after another, his face filled with disbelief, horror, and rage.

"Who is it?! Who on earth wants to fight to the death with me, 'Youquan'?!" He roared to the sky.

In response, he was met with a second, even more intense wave of arrows and a cold command from the cliff.

"put!"

This voice, cold and efficient, was none other than the dark sword of Prince Ning's Mansion—Lin Chuan.

At this moment, several sharp sounds of breaking through the air suddenly came from behind Su Qinghan!

It turned out that an ambush was also set up outside the valley entrance, specifically to deal with any fish that slipped through the net!

Su Qinghan's heart rang with alarm, and she instinctively rolled on the ground, barely dodging the deadly crossbow bolts. Before she could even get up, she flicked her wrist and unsheathed her "Hanjiangxue" longsword. With a backhand sweep, the sword's light flashed like a pool of autumn water, cold and resolute.

“Ding Ding!”

With two crisp sounds, she accurately blocked two long knives that stabbed from the shadows.

Four black-clad assassins, wearing the same attire as those on the cliff, silently surrounded her. Their eyes were empty, devoid of any emotion, as if they were just four killing machines precisely executing orders.

Without further ado, without probing, the four launched their attacks simultaneously. Blade flashes intertwined into a web of death, blocking Su Qinghan's escape from four different angles. Their coordination was seamless, clearly a combination of skill honed through countless trials and tribulations.

Su Qinghan's expression was extremely solemn.

Each of these assassins was no less powerful than the "Leopard", and their combined attacking skills increased the threat exponentially.

She took a deep breath, clearing her mind of all fear and distracting thoughts. Unleashing her inner strength from the Canglang Jue technique to its fullest potential, she unleashed her "Treading on Snow Without a Trace" footwork, transforming into a white phantom, rapidly weaving and darting between the four long swords.

She unleashed her "Cold River Snow" sword technique to its fullest potential. The sword's light was like falling snow, seemingly soft and ethereal, yet with each collision with the blade, it unleashed astonishing power. She was like a small boat in a raging sea, seemingly on the verge of capsizing at any moment, yet always able to find a glimmer of hope at the most dangerous moment.

On the top of another mountain a thousand meters away from the battlefield, Shen Ye stood quietly on a huge rock like a lifeless statue.

The mountain breeze blew the corners of his clothes, but he didn't move at all.

His deep eyes gazed coldly at everything in the Valley of Broken Souls. The carnage, the screams, the raging fire, the blood... none of this stirred the slightest ripple in his heart. As the head of the Tianji Pavilion, he had witnessed hells a hundred times more horrific than this.

His eyes were precisely fixed on Su Qinghan who was surrounded by four assassins.

"His swordsmanship is exquisite, his movements are agile, and his responses are incredibly quick... Even in desperate situations, he remains calm and seeks out weaknesses." Like a professional examiner, he mentally assessed Su Qinghan's performance, "He's a natural assassin. Unfortunately, his internal strength is somewhat lacking, and a prolonged battle will inevitably lead to defeat."

He saw that during a dangerous block, Su Qinghan's left arm was cut by the blade of a assassin, and blood instantly dyed her sleeve red.

There was a slight delay in her movements.

The assassins who were besieging her immediately seized this flaw and their attack became more fierce and fierce.

Chen Ye's brows wrinkled slightly.

The Pavilion Master’s order is “Do not interfere.”

Reason told him that her death would be in the best interests of the Tianji Pavilion. The death of someone who was connected to Su Zhenting's old case and might have set her sights on the Tianji Pavilion could eliminate a huge potential threat.

He should just watch quietly as she turned into a cold corpse like those people in the valley.

Then, he returned with the assessment report. Mission accomplished, flawlessly.

But……

His eyes fell on her bloody left arm.

Without warning, the image of her eyes in the dilapidated temple, still as bright as fire through the veil, suddenly appeared in his mind.

In those eyes, there was hatred, pain, and unwillingness, but there was no despair.