◇ Chapter 22 Blocking the Knife

An Qin observed his expression, frowned suspiciously, picked up the teapot with one hand and sniffed it gently. The feeling of shame and anger disappeared immediately, and his face became solemn.

The hangover soup was mixed with sleeping pills.

The bitter smell of the sobering soup masks the unique aroma of the incense, which is so subtle that one can easily fall into the trap if one is not careful.

He was careless.

An Qin frowned and pursed his lips in self-reflection. His gaze slowly followed the porcelain cup to the back of Chen Yanheng's white hand holding the cup. His heart trembled, like a stone falling into a calm lake, causing ripples.

How could he smell...

As a civil servant, not only are his martial arts skills not weak, but his perception of danger is even sharper than that of ordinary people, even than that of an assassin like him.

At the age of 26, he was already ranked above the top three officials and even had access to the main account book of assassins and secret guards raised by Fengyue Villa... It was really unbelievable.

An Qin had inquired about this before. Before Chen Yanheng became the Grand Tutor, he was a counselor and retainer under Prince Xiang, the current Emperor Su Yingtian. He was not a graduate of the imperial examination system. It was precisely because of his meritorious service that he rose from a low-key retainer whose parents had both passed away to the current Grand Tutor of Daliang.

Now it seems that his true identity is far more than just a small retainer.

Who is he?

An Qin stared at Chen Yanheng closely, and pulled his hands out of the man's arms, grasping the soft sword wrapped around his waist imperceptibly.

Chen Yanheng blinked at him, smiled with his lips curved, then squinted his head and put the cup back on the table, then grabbed An Qin's wrist again and tried to pull him onto the bed.

You still have the mind to think about that at this time?! An Qin glared at him, exerting all his strength, looking at him with resistance and suspicion. The slight admiration for the strong man that had just arisen in his heart was instantly replaced by shame and anger.

You overestimate him. None of the famous heroes in the martial arts world or the masters in the secluded world would be so shameless and despicable!

Chen Yanheng did not let go. He opened his mouth and gestured with his lips: Use the opponent's trick against you.

An Qin was stunned.

Any plan would require going to bed. An Qin had been cheated too many times before. He still stared at him hesitantly. After all, this shameless guy was willing to commit suicide by taking poison just to trick him into bed.

While An Qin was hesitating, Chen Yanheng pulled him up.

His slender fingertips pressed against the young man's soft lips, and he leaned in and whispered, "Shh." Then he took the opportunity to pull the man onto the bed.

Everything was silent except for the flickering candlelight, which created ripples of light and shadow through the bed curtains.

The two men lay face to face on the bed, their bodies very close. An Qin felt uncomfortable all over and was about to move back a few inches, but the man held his butt and molested him instead.

"you--"

"Shh..."

His eyes glared angrily, and the other party put a finger to his lips to signal him to be silent and not to say anything.

An Qin's blood was boiling. Although Chen Yanheng didn't care about his life, he had to be careful. He took a deep breath, closed his mouth, and was alert to the movements around him.

Chen Yanheng propped up his head, half of his face facing away from the candlelight, blending into the darkness. His fox-like, affectionate eyes were glued to An Qin, sweeping from head to toe. His scorching gaze seemed to burn a hole in him.

The clothes on his body seemed to have become nothingness, and his whole body was exposed to the other person's eyes.

Unconsciously, the index finger that was erected on An Qin's lips began to scratch, stroking the curve of the corner of his lips, and moving along his Adam's apple to his chest.

An Qin took another deep breath, grabbed the hand that was taking advantage of him, and turned away with an expressionless face.

I twisted my body, at least thinking that I didn't have to face this shameless guy face to face. Out of sight, out of mind.

Suddenly, someone pinched his buttocks in an extremely obscene manner. The young man, who had just turned his face to the side, happened to turn his ear in front of Shen Yanheng. Shen Yanheng then put his tongue close to his ear and licked it, biting his ear and whispered in a voice so low that only the two of them could hear: "Good~"

Before he could finish the word "Qiao", something cold pressed against his neck. The refracted candlelight flashed a cold light before his eyes.

Chen Yanheng's smile froze: "..."

An Qin turned his face back again. In the dim light, his face was as black as the bottom of a pot, his eyes were like torches, his back teeth were tightly clenched together, and his jawline was as sharp as a short-bladed dagger against Shen Yanheng's neck.

Chen Yanheng looked at him innocently, his hands moving without slowing down, holding a semicircle in his palms and closing them together, deftly sliding his hands into his pants waistband and continuing to fondle him twice against his skin.

An Qin's body tensed up, he was furious. The dagger was getting closer and closer, and he could smell a faint smell of blood.

"It's not the first time my husband has touched me, why is my temper still so fierce?"

Chen Yanheng felt a sharp pain in his neck and pulled his hand out of the young man's pants with a wronged look. He then touched the other's butt and pinched the back of An Qin's hand holding the dagger, moved the blade away, narrowed his eyes slightly, and looked back calmly.

An Qin paused, and suppressed the embarrassment and annoyance that the man had provoked. His gaze followed the man's expression and fell on the bed curtains where the candlelight was swaying.

Someone is coming!

He was shocked again, and couldn't believe that Shen Yanheng would be more vigilant than him, an assassin. It was really strange!

Every assassination attempt failed. Perhaps this person discovered his whereabouts when he entered the Taifu Mansion as if it were flat ground for the first time?

Without time to think, the two of them held their breath at the same time. When a dark and twisted figure gradually emerged from the bed curtain, An Qin and Shen Yanheng looked at each other tacitly and rolled inside.

Chen Yanheng took the dagger from An Qin's hand and walked aside. An Qin drew the soft sword from his waist, turned over and jumped up, kicking the black shadow in the chest and kicking him away.

"Bang!"

The masked killer fell backwards, hit the table, and fell into the rubble.

An Qin took a few steps back to protect Shen Yanheng, looked coldly at the killer who overestimated his own abilities, and rushed forward with his sword.

The killer's pupils suddenly shrank, and he barely avoided the fatal move. He rolled to the corner, curled up his index finger, put it to his lips and blew a short whistle. In an instant, more than a dozen people jumped down from the eaves, chopped open the windows and doors with knives, and rushed in.

It is unbelievable that a dozen masked killers could break into the prefectural government office.

But they no longer had time to think about whether Yuan Xiaomiao had betrayed the court and accepted bribes to deliberately let people in, or whether he really had never been in cahoots with them. The numb and silent gazes of the men in black all fell on Chen Yanheng, exchanged glances, and rushed forward.

An Qin shook the sword in his hand and rushed forward. He glanced at the nearest doors and windows and said sternly, "You go first!"

"Husband and wife are birds of the same forest..." With his life hanging by a thread, Chen Yanheng, while dodging swords and knives, even managed to flirt, "How could I abandon my wife and children and run away alone?"

An Qin glared at him in embarrassment.

"Let's go together. Or—" Chen Yanheng retreated behind him, smiling: "Let's die together."

An Qin's eyes suddenly widened, and a strange and indescribable emotion rose in his heart again, as if a pair of hands were gripping his internal organs together, leaving him with a mixture of emotions that had nowhere to be released.

The dozen killers glanced at each other, not giving the two men a chance to flirt or express their feelings, and attacked again with their knives raised.

In the small house, there were constant sounds of swords and weapons clashing.

After An Qin killed three people, he turned sideways to the window and called Shen Yanheng to run together. Two killers appeared out of nowhere and chopped at him with knives.

There was no way to avoid this position. An Qin's pupils contracted. Seeing the sharp blade about to fall, he had to turn around and use his arm to block it in order to avoid hurting his heart.

The blade did not leave, but instead there was a heavy sound behind him. With the sound of the blade cutting through flesh, the man hit his back and let out a muffled groan in his throat.

A strong smell of blood hit An Qin's face. He instantly understood what had happened. His pupils trembled with shock. He supported Shen Yanheng, kicked the killer away, carried Shen Yanheng on his back, and jumped out of the window.

No one has ever been able to surpass An Qin in terms of lightness skills, but he still can't run fast while carrying an injured person.

Seven or eight killers were chasing him relentlessly. An Qin jumped over several roofs by stepping on the eaves. His sharp eyes kept scanning in the moonlight, and finally he saw a horse tied in front of an inn.

The soft sword was swung out and cut the rope that tied the horse. A pill was shot out from the hand and hit the white horse's butt. The horse was frightened and in pain, neighed, and ran away along the alley.

Even the prefectural government office is not safe. This city is probably full of members of the Dragon Slaying Church.

An Qin saw the right moment, jumped down from the eaves, took Shen Yanheng on horseback, and galloped out of the city.

The number of assassins following him increased at some point, and they all rode on horses. Perhaps they had been lying in ambush outside Jiangzhou City. It was obvious that they had been prepared for a long time and were just waiting for the imperial envoy to enter Jiangzhou.

I just don’t know why they went after Shen Yanheng without even asking. Maybe Shen Yanheng was willing to conspire with them to rebel?

This doubt flashed through An Qin's mind, but before he could think about it carefully, it was interrupted and disappeared by the killer chasing him from behind.

An Qin rode the horse with one hand, and with the other hand, he had to hold Shen Yanheng's hands in front of his chest to prevent him from falling off the horse accidentally.

"Hiss...they want to kill me. If you leave me and run, maybe you can...live."

An Qin frowned, ignoring Chen Yanheng's words, and just silently held the other's hand tightly.

Chen Yanheng's lips and teeth turned white, his breath was weak, and he forced a smile: "Is it because you have a secret crush on me, and even when death is imminent, you can't bear to leave me alone, and want to be buried with me...?"

An Qin's hands trembled and he almost threw the person out.

"Shut up!"

It's just a provocation, he won't fall for it.

The mission to escort Chen Yanheng this time was sent by the manor owner's confidant. Even if he didn't consider the fact that this guy had just blocked for him, since it was the manor owner's mission, he should protect Chen Yanheng until the last moment!

The position of the secret guard beside the manor owner is none other than him!

An Qin cursed angrily, pulled the reins, circled the village with faint starlight in front of him, and flew into the pitch-black forest, so as to avoid killing people behind him and bringing disaster to innocent people.

It was difficult for a horse to bear the weight of two adult men. After running for only an hour, the white horse slowed down.

As we drove out of the dark forest, we saw a cliff in front of us. It was bottomless and looked like a huge abyss that was ready to eat people. A crescent moon hung on the cliff, mostly covered by dark clouds, visible but unreachable.

An Qin hurriedly reined in his horse and fell to the ground with Shen Yanheng. The gravel rolled down the cliff and there was no sound for a long time. The cliff was at least ten feet high. Even if a person with extraordinary martial arts skills jumped from here, he would be smashed to pieces.

"Ouch—" The man gasped in pain as his wound tore open. His white clothes were stained crimson, and his gray sleeves made him look extremely disheveled.

An Qin gripped the dagger tightly, half-crouched in front of Shen Yanheng, and blocked his figure firmly.

"kill!"

The leading killer moved his veil and uttered a cold word. As soon as he finished speaking, the remaining killers jumped off their horses and approached step by step with machetes in their hands.

An Qin fought with them again, but two fists were no match for four hands. In addition, he also had to take care of Chen Yanheng beside him to prevent him from being killed. In less than an incense stick of time, he was defeated. He helped Chen Yanheng up with one hand and took a few steps back.

My heels had touched the edge of the cliff, and a lot of gravel had rolled down. I had no way to retreat.

An Qin looked back at the terrifying cliff, his face gloomy to the extreme.

Chen Yanheng said weakly, "Their target is me. You go first and get some reinforcements."

By the time he finds reinforcements and returns, Chen Yanheng's body will probably be completely cold.

An Qin remained indifferent. He used his peripheral vision to observe the shape of the cliff behind him with the help of the little moonlight, while holding Chen Yanheng and protecting him behind him.

"Let's go together!"

The leading killer spoke again, and the others raised their weapons again and chopped straight at Shen Yanheng and An Qin.

An Qin waved his hand to block the oncoming blade, not caring about the injury on Shen Yanheng's back. He pulled his arm around his shoulder, whispered "Hold tight", then grabbed Shen Yanheng's waist, turned around and jumped off the cliff.

It was pitch black under the cliff, and nothing could be seen at all. Fortunately, An Qin was falling along the cliff wall. His palms slid across the exposed gravel and finally touched a few wet vines. He did not show any expression on his face, but he was relieved in his heart. He quickly tightened his palms, ignoring the burning pain in his palms, grabbed a few vines and wrapped them around his wrists. Finally, he stopped falling and took the opportunity to climb to the edge of the steep cliff and took a deep breath.

The killers on the cliff looked at the bottomless abyss and stopped moving forward. The leading man seemed to be thinking about something. He threw a few pieces of gravel against the cliff, but heard no response. He rode away with his men and ambushed in the dark.

The owner of Fengyue Villa was quite powerful, and he had a group of highly skilled secret guards and assassins who could kill people without them even being seen. It was impossible for him to die so easily.

They had retreated a short distance, without even stopping their horses, when suddenly, ten masked men in black emerged silently from the darkness behind them.

Ying Shijiu glanced at the direction they were retreating and said coldly, "The owner of the manor has ordered that no one be left alive."

A massacre took place quietly on the cliff, and at the edge of the cliff, An Qin heard the sound of horse hooves in the distance, but his heart was still hanging in the air.

His intuition as an assassin for many years told him that he couldn't go up yet. The killer wanted to see the body either alive or dead. If he couldn't find the body at the bottom of the cliff, he would definitely send someone to ambush on the cliff.

At least, it will be safe until tomorrow morning.

He groped with his toes on the uneven rocks on the cliff, looking for a stable foothold. Suddenly, he stepped on a flat ground. Several rocks rolled away, and then fell into a puddle with two "ticks" and stopped.

This is……

An Qin narrowed his eyes seriously and probed with his feet. It was indeed a cliff cave. He estimated with his feet that there were two people at the entrance of the cave. A light flashed in his dark and deep eyes.

There is always a way out!

"Chen Yanheng, hold on tight."

After giving Chen Yanheng a hoarse warning, An Qin released his arms from the man's waist, grabbed the vines with both hands, found the entrance to the cave, and jumped in.

After struggling to climb the cliff for quite some time, carrying a wounded man who was much taller than him, even his martial arts skills were limited. The moment An Qin jumped in, his body uncontrollably lunged forward. Hastily turning around, he embraced Shen Yanheng, letting him fall on him to prevent his wounds from getting worse. Instead of dying at the hands of the assassins, he would die here.

“Hmm!”

The two men groaned in pain at the same time. An Qin supported himself on the ground, and Shen Yanheng fell on him, so he didn't roll out and get injured again.

Chen Yanheng lay on top of An Qin, his back numb from the pain, feeling extremely cold. He shrank against the heaving chest beneath him, hugged the person tightly, took a deep breath, and felt an unstoppable joy: "I told you to leave, but you didn't. You like me so much that you have to be buried with me?"

An Qin: “…”

You have to gasp for breath just to talk, and you still have the mind to talk nonsense!

Chen Yanheng raised his hand with difficulty, and covered the young man's chest with his palm, where his heart was beating.

An Qin frowned and grabbed the big hand on his chest, trying to slap away the dishonest paw.

But before he could exert any force, Shen Yanheng spoke in a hoarse voice, "It hurts... Am I... going to die?"

It sounds so pitiful.

An Qin pursed his lips: "......"

After all, the knife wound was taken for him. An Qin withdrew his hand and said coldly: "No, I will bandage it for you."

Chen Yanheng rubbed his neck and let out two uncomfortable groans from his nose.

An Qin was a little at a loss for a moment. His neck was filled with the other person's warm and rapid breath, and he felt a little itchy. The strange feeling rose in his heart again and gradually spread to his entire heart. It was rare that he did not feel disgusted with Shen Yanheng's intimate gesture. Instead, he felt that he was a little... obedient.

It really is like seeing a ghost.

"Bandage it first." An Qin stopped his wandering thoughts in time, licked his dry lips, and spoke dryly.

The hand that was holding Chen Yanheng's wrist changed to a gentle push, but the other party did not cooperate at all. An Qin took care of his wound and restrained his strength, and was unable to knock him over.

As they remained in the embraced position, the smell of blood in the cave became stronger.

An Qin had no choice but to use his legs to rub off his boots. He struggled to empty the contents of the boot with one hand, touched the cylindrical object, put it to his lips, blew out the fire starter, and stuck it in the crack of the stone wall.

Although the light from the tinderbox was not bright, it was enough to illuminate the surroundings in the pitch-black cliff cave where one could not see one's hand in front of one's face.

An Qin surveyed the small cliffside cave. The entrance was just wide enough for two people to enter, and no more. The space inside was ample, enough for three or five people to take shelter simultaneously. The cave's walls were smooth, and the exposed rocks were patchy and fragmented, not looking naturally formed but rather like they had been dug later.

A trace of suspicion flashed through his mind, but his attention was quickly drawn away by the pale-faced Shen Yanheng.

There was no trace of blood on the man's fair face, his eyes were hazy, and his white robe was stained red with blood. A hideous knife wound was exposed in the torn clothes on his back, with the flesh turned inside out, so deep that the bones could almost be seen, and blood was still oozing out.

"Chen Yanheng!"

"Um……?"

An Qin's pupils shrank, and he picked up the dagger and tore the man's clothes on his back. The already hideous scar almost spanned from the man's left shoulder to his waist, tearing the delicate skin into two bloody halves.

Fortunately, he always brought a lot of healing medicine every time he went on a mission. He was afraid that he would lose his life and leave An Xiner alone and helpless in the world. Now it really came in handy.

Chen Yanheng felt a chill on his back, and his hazy consciousness regained clarity for a moment. In the dim light of the tinder, he saw An Qin's expression, which was always cold and frowning. However, his deep eyes revealed concern and anxiety, which made him feel moved.

This blow to him was totally worth it.

Fortunately, he had practiced Kung Fu, otherwise, in a split second, the killer's knife would have fallen before he could pounce, and he would have had no chance to attack.

Chen Yanheng felt like he had gotten a great bargain. He squinted his head, glanced down at his tattered clothes and shoulders exposed to the air, and said with his dying breath: "...I was fine, why did you suddenly...rip off my clothes?"

An Qin's solar plexus jumped twice, veins popped out on his forehead, he took a deep breath, ignored the other party's teasing of taking advantage of him when he was about to die, and sprinkled the golden wound medicine on the man's back.

But the wound was so deep that applying medicine alone would not work.

An Qin squeezed out a needle from the stopper of the golden wound medicine bottle, and was once again thankful that needles and thread were hidden in the bottles and jars of Fengyue Villa just to deal with emergencies.

"Get up, I need stitches."

Chen Yanheng teased in a hoarse voice: "You are so reluctant to let me die?"

An Qin: “…”

Chen Yanheng still held An Qin, drawing warmth from him, and groaned in a daze, "Even if I'm cured, you'll still come to take my life someday. Why not take this opportunity... take this opportunity to bring me back and report to you, so that I won't die in your hands in the future..."

An Qin frowned, as if a huge stone had suddenly pressed down on his heart, making his whole heart numb.

Killing Chen Yanheng was inevitable, but now...

Looking at the wound on the other's back and his heavy and painful breathing, the scene of the man resolutely blocking the knife for him was still vivid in his mind. An Qin was not a person who would repay kindness with enmity, otherwise he would not have obeyed the owner's orders just because of the favor of taking him in.

Shen Yanheng saved him once.

In fact, it happened more than once. If Shen Yanheng had not been merciful in the previous assassination attempts, he would have died countless times.

His brows furrowed even tighter as he said calmly, "I won't kill you."

We can talk about future tasks later. There are still twenty days left before the one-month deadline. In short, the owner’s current task is to protect the imperial envoy.

Saving Chen Yanheng was the manor owner's order, he would never let Chen Yanheng die in Jiangzhou!

Chen Yanheng curled his lips: "Are you reluctant to let me die, or are you unable to let me die now?"

What difference could this make? An Qin pursed his lips. Nothing must happen to the imperial envoy on his trip to Jiangzhou, otherwise he would not be able to report back. He was about to say this when he lowered his head to glance at the pitiful and pale face of the man lying on his chest. Somehow he thought of the extreme measures this man had taken to risk his life several times in order to trap him, and swallowed his words back.

It's just to coax him to behave himself.

Ensuring the safety of the imperial envoy from Jiangzhou is the mission in the manor owner's letter, and Shen Yanheng must not be in any danger.

An Qin turned his head away and said in a muffled voice, "I can't bear to leave."

Chen Yanheng was stunned for a moment, then looked up and saw a blush on the young man's face, which was difficult to detect in the dim light. Suddenly, he smiled, feeling very satisfied.

He said one thing and meant another, and it was clear that he didn't want him to die from the bottom of his heart.

Chen Yanheng felt more and more that the knife attack was a bloody victory. His mind was in a muddle. An Qin felt the weight on his body lighten. He didn't care about his embarrassment and supported Chen Yanheng, making him sit up cross-legged.

After this movement on the back, the wound that had just stopped bleeding began to bleed again.

An Qin tore off the clean fabric from his inner garment, wiped the wound clean, took a fire stick to heat the needle, and began to sew carefully.

“Hmm—”

Chen Yanheng clenched his fists fiercely and gritted his teeth to hold on. Beads of sweat kept appearing on his forehead and soaked through his clothes along his face. Finally, he could not withstand the severe pain in his back. His eyes went dark and he fainted completely.

It was unknown how long it had been before An Qin bit through the cotton thread, checked Shen Yanheng's breath, carefully helped him down, lay down beside him, and fell into a deep sleep.

【Author’s words】

Chen Yanheng: Who says this knife is bad? It's worth it.

An Qin: ...