Chapter 94 Arrest (1) The last time he played the escape game with me...

The elite force dispatched by the Imperial Dragon Camp numbered approximately five hundred men, armed with pistols and sniper rifles, capable of both close combat and long-range sniping. These new weapons were highly lethal and did not require excessive physical exertion. They shielded Feng Tan at the front, their eyes fixed on Xiao Yinshi like hawks, ready to unleash a hail of bullets at the slightest provocation.

Seeing his silence, Feng Tan knew his apprehension and contemplation, and said, "Two paths: one, Peach Blossom Village, thirty miles outside the city; two, the Imperial Palace in the capital."

Both locations chosen by Feng Tan were places where Xiao Yin's forces were weak. Needless to say, the Raksha Army in the capital was engaged in fierce fighting in the outer city, while the forces in Peach Blossom Village were also weak. Moreover, the cavalry of Sotaha behind the palace would definitely arrive to provide support within half an hour. If the Raksha Army wanted to break into the palace, they would have to fight them first.

Xiao Yinshi glanced at Ban Huayun. She had never survived here before, but now she was standing here alive. The situation was different from her previous lives. Variables brought about variables, which made him somewhat hopeful about the dull imperial path ahead. He looked at Feng Tan for a moment and said, "You saved my mother, so you can take the antidote. Thirty miles is too far. Release her at the palace."

Feng Tan and Shan Qi exchanged a glance. According to their plan from last night, evacuating from the palace was actually more likely to succeed than from Peach Blossom Village. After all, Peach Blossom Village had become deserted due to the war, and they were the only living target. The imperial city alone had more than 500,000 people. With the presence of Sotaha's cavalry and the imperial city guards, the war between the two sides would not be short. They had the people as cover and a long time to evacuate.

The Rakshasa Army had completely invaded the imperial city. Behind Xiao Yinshi, only the flames and corpses remained. He stood alone in front of the Imperial Dragon Camp, playing with a brown pill in his hand. He handed it to Feng Tan with his palm facing up and said, "Here you go."

Feng Tan turned her head and gestured to the soldier behind her to fetch it. Her action made Xiao Yinshi smile indifferently, "Feng Tan, are you so afraid of me?"

"How can you not fear unforeseen changes when you're dealing with a tiger for its skin?" Feng Tan had clashed with Xiao Yinshi too many times and knew that he was utterly despicable and had no bottom line. If it weren't for the fact that he had exchanged his mother's life for Meng Henabul's life, and the bargaining chip was not important enough, she would never have believed that he would hand over the antidote so easily. "Your mother will be settled in an hour... Don't follow me, or I'd rather die than live in dishonor."

The ruthlessness in her eyes was undisguised; she seemed to be thoroughly enraged by his actions against those around her. Her threatening words were met with a faint smile from Xiao Yinshi. He looked up and watched as they led Ban Huayun into the capital city gates, the last rays of the setting sun disappearing into the mountains, and night falling.

As the two armies clashed, the defenses of the Kyoto Imperial Palace were much looser than usual. Emperor Jingde was in a hurry to escape, and when he saw the army attacking the city in the afternoon, he led a group of imperial relatives and left Kyoto through a secret passage. Therefore, Feng Tan easily brought Ban Huayun to the agreed location. The twenty Rakshasa soldiers who came with her were responsible for protecting Ban Huayun's safety after she released her. They stood guard outside the palace.

Ban Huayun had no martial arts skills. After Feng Tan untied the ropes binding her, she bowed slightly and prepared to leave. Ban Huayun called out to her, saying, "Please wait a moment, young lady."

After Xiao Yinshi recognized her as a woman, Feng Tan stopped trying to keep her voice down. So even though she was dressed as a man, Ban Huayun could tell she was a woman. She stopped walking, turned around and looked at Ban Huayun, saying, "What advice do you have for me, Madam?"

Despite enduring years of hardship under Emperor Jingde, Ban Huayun remained calm and composed, saying, "I don't know what specific deal you made with my son, but from what you just said, I know you are very important to him. He must have used some despicable means to force you... Judging from your expression, I think I guessed right."

Feng Tan remained silent. Ban Huayun smiled indifferently and said, "I know I'm speaking too frankly because we're not close, but I have no way to repay your life-saving grace. Time is of the essence, so I'll get straight to the point. He's been adept at disguise since childhood. He can fake all the emotions a normal person should have with his expressions and demeanor. Everyone in the capital says he's very filial, but when his father and brothers were slaughtered, when he left me, his mother, for Dahuang, he didn't even bother with pretense in front of me. He simply made Emperor Jingde believe that with me in his hands, he could restrain him. But in reality, I'm insignificant to him. So, young lady, he deceived Emperor Jingde for over a decade, giving him the opportunity to attack the city and turn the tables. Similarly, he also deceived you..."

Feng Tan's pupils shrank sharply. She and the entire Imperial Dragon Camp were considering the whole matter with the thinking of ordinary people, so they believed that Xiao Yinshi's deal to exchange his mother for Menghe Nabul was highly credible. If what Ban Huayun said was true, then Xiao Yinshi's real purpose was just to trick her into coming to Dahua!

The sounds of fighting outside the city grew increasingly fierce. Ban Huayun looked at the Rakshasa Army stationed outside the palace and spoke to Feng Tan with increased speed, “Child, he didn’t even cry when he was born. He didn’t care when his loved ones were slaughtered. He has never smiled since he was a child. But just now I saw him smile at you as soon as we met. That’s not a good sign. It can only mean that you are special to him… He probably wants you. He is preparing to hunt you down. As a woman myself, I know what it’s like to be imprisoned and at the mercy of others. After leaving this palace, walk southwest until you see a vermilion corner gate. Behind it is a dilapidated cold palace. There is a secret passage there that allows you to leave the palace unnoticed.”

If, as Ban Huayun said, Feng Tan now has zero bargaining chips, and Xiao Yinshi doesn't care about his mother and only allowed Feng Tan not to surrender immediately because the Imperial Dragon Camp possesses extremely powerful weapons, then his next step will definitely be to mobilize troops to hunt down Feng Tan.

Feng Tan bowed deeply to bid farewell to Ban Huayun, and then followed the directions given to her as she ran out of the palace.

The two armies were still fighting in the outer city, while the streets and alleys in the inner city were deserted. Everyone in the neighborhood kept their doors tightly shut and dared not go out. They quickly entered Jing'er Hutong, located on the east side of the southwest archway. Inside was an abandoned mansion with no one living there. The three courtyards, screen walls, and rattan windows showed that it belonged to a once-powerful family that had been defeated and had its property confiscated.

The group stood in the courtyard. Feng Tan handed Meng He Nabuer's antidote to Shan Qi and said to her, "Now we will split into two groups. You just need to lead your men to break through the encirclement and return to Da Huang. His target is me, and he will not interfere with you too much."

Shan Qi frowned and asked sternly, "And what about you?"

Feng Tan said, “I will also strive to return to my homeland. Don’t forget, Emperor Jingde’s support is also my support. Sotaha’s cavalry has arrived. Xiao Yinshi can cooperate with the traitors in the city from the inside and outside. I can also cooperate with them from the inside and outside. Menghe Nabul’s poison has entered his bones and blood. Before he catches up, you should leave quickly.”

As they were talking, the sounds of fighting broke out in the inner city; the rebels were attacking faster than expected.

Shan Qi knew that Feng Tan's lightness skill was superb, and if she wanted to escape, even a ninth-rank master like Xiao Yinshi might not be able to catch her. She left a group of people for Feng Tan and led the rest of the group to disappear into the depths of the streets and alleys.

Feng Tan looked back at the depths of the abandoned mansion, sent people in to set up ammunition, and then signaled them to withdraw as well. She then took a pre-prepared signal flare and launched it into the night sky. Once everything was ready, the sound of heavy, orderly footsteps could be heard as the Luosha Army surrounded the mansion like an iron barrel.

Torches illuminated the deep, abandoned courtyard. When Xiao Yinshi entered, Feng Tan stood alone in the courtyard, holding a loaded sniper rifle. Behind her, the buildings were pitch black, and the rooftops were overgrown with weeds.

His interest deepened. Siege warfare was meaningless, being emperor was meaningless, only clashing with her was truly interesting. Seeing that her guards had all withdrawn, he raised an eyebrow and asked, "Afraid I'll kill them?"

If the team of a few hundred people is not supplied with ammunition, given the amount of ammunition they brought on this trip, they can at most kill twenty or thirty thousand people, which is not enough to shake the hundreds of thousands. In the end, they will definitely be slaughtered by Xiao Yinshi, and it will not help Feng Tan leave Dahua. It is better to let them go first.

Before coming to Dahua, Feng Tan had considered all possible scenarios. She had also considered the possibility that Xiao Yinshi would go back on his word and take the opportunity to retaliate against her for losing money and gold in Huanyan Liuguang City. She wanted to find a way out among all these scenarios.

Xiao Yinshi used to toy with her like a cat playing with a mouse. After using the same trick too many times, he now revealed his true colors and personally came to capture her. "Tonight is the last time you'll play the escape game with me. Want me to give you a quarter of an hour?"

He set the rules of the game, and Feng Tan was utterly disgusted by his arrogant attitude of treating people like ants. She slightly twitched her fingers holding the rifle, and from a distance of about ten feet, she fired a bullet at him with a bang.

Having been shot once by Feng Tan in the City of Joyful Flowing Light, Xiao Yinshi's skill in dodging bullets became even more refined. In the process of dodging, he approached Feng Tan more and more methodically, but Feng Tan suddenly put away his gun and retreated to a deserted room where it was pitch black.

After she slammed the wooden door shut, Xiao Yinshi flung it open again. He walked into the dark room and smelled sulfur. Then he saw the fuse hidden under the table burning rapidly onto the explosives.

The fuse of the indoor explosives burned very quickly, but Feng Tan timed it perfectly, quickly slipping out through the hidden door after Xiao Yin entered, avoiding the blast radius.

A thunderous explosion came from behind, and flames engulfed the abandoned house. The immense power even blasted away several nearby Rakshasa soldiers. No one could survive such a powerful explosion.

The signal flare had attracted the Sotaha cavalry, who had arrived. Feng Tan looked at the leader, who was dressed in nomadic armor, with a wide belt inlaid with red and green gems around his waist and black leather boots on his feet. He rode a tall horse in front of her, and his slightly lowered face showed a primitive wildness in the backlight.

He is Arslan, the third prince of Sotaha, who came as an ally of Emperor Jingde on his father's orders. On the way, he received a message from Yu Ruxi, whom he had fought before, asking him to cooperate with a young man to repel the fierce rebel army of Huachao.

The Emperor of Hua Kingdom offered good terms, and Arslan had no reason to refuse. He glanced at Feng Tan, then squinted at the raging fire behind her, and asked in broken Central Plains dialect, "What a capable kid, you blew him up?"

The raging flames illuminated half the sky, turning the night as bright as day. Feng Tan mounted the air steed beside him. She was certain that Xiao Yinshi was still in the hall when the explosion occurred, and he couldn't possibly have had the chance to get away from the source of the explosion in less than a breath. She nodded and said, "He didn't have a chance to survive."

“Then you’ll be disappointed,” Xiao Yinshi emerged slowly from the scorching, broken sea of ​​fire, his body untouched by a single spark. His expression was no longer as gentle as when he first met Feng Tan that afternoon; it had returned to its unapproachable demeanor, which was quite terrifying. “The only one who has killed me three times is you… Feng Tan, you’ve gone too far.”

Arslan sensed the man's still-powerful inner energy, glanced at Feng Tan's pale face, and said, "It seems you know nothing about the strength of high-level martial artists."