Chapter 34 Returning to Youquan, surrounded by dangers
Hangzhou has been a prosperous city since ancient times. During the day, the pleasure boats on West Lake are bustling with singing and dancing, and the streets are bustling with merchants, creating a gentle scene of prosperity in the Jiangnan region.
However, as night falls, shadows hidden by the sun begin to grow. In a murky, chaotic area in southern city, a gambling house called "Wang Gui" stands as the darkest corner. The air here is stagnant, filled with the scent of sweat, alcohol, and despair. It is the secret base of the "Youquan" organization in Hangzhou.
After the siege in the valley, Youquan was severely weakened, and the surviving assassins were like dogs that had lost their homes, in a state of constant fear. At this moment, a dozen or so remnants of the defeated army gathered in a dark room in the backyard of the gambling house. The atmosphere was so oppressive that it seemed as if water could drip out.
A middle-aged man with a lean face and a rat-like mustache sat at the head of the group. He was Zhao Si, one of the three "Youquan" leaders who had managed to escape, and the intelligence officer in charge of intelligence. He had been a close confidant of the leader, Wang Sen, but now that Wang Sen's whereabouts were unknown, he had become the temporary backbone of the remaining group.
"Are you all speechless? Is our 'Youquan' finished like this? We were slaughtered like dogs and didn't even dare to fart?" Zhao Si slammed the table with a sharp voice, trying to arouse the bloodiness of the crowd, but all he got in response was deeper silence and fear.
At this moment, the door of the dark room creaked and was pushed open from the outside.
A cold wind blew in, causing the candle flame to flicker.
A tall figure stood quietly at the door against the light.
She was wearing a black outfit that was convenient for movement and had a slim figure. The most eye-catching thing was the almost transparent crimson veil covering her face and the pair of cold eyes without a trace of emotion behind the veil.
"Fei...Fei Yue?!" An assassin closest to the door saw who was coming and screamed in shock, as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight, his voice trembling.
"You...didn't you die in the valley?"
One stone can cause a thousand ripples.
Everyone in the dark room, including Zhao Si who was sitting in the main seat, stood up suddenly, their faces filled with shock, horror and vigilance.
Su Qinghan, no, at this moment, she is the cold-blooded and ruthless assassin "Feiyue".
Ignoring the horrified gazes of the crowd, she stepped into the dark room. Her pace wasn't fast, but it carried an invisible sense of oppression, as if every step was weighing on everyone's heartbeat. The despair in the air seemed to freeze with her arrival.
She walked to the center of the dark room, looked around, and her eyes finally fell on Zhao Si's face.
"Is it true that I'm not dead that makes some people... very disappointed?" Her voice was like ice cubes knocking against each other in the cold winter, crisp yet bone-chillingly cold.
Zhao Si's pupils shrank sharply. He quickly suppressed his shock, narrowed his eyes, and carefully examined the woman before him. Yes, it was Fei Yue's figure, and her unique gaze, which seemed to freeze the soul.
"Sister Feiyue, you're joking." Zhao Si laughed dryly twice, forcing out an expression uglier than crying. "It's a great blessing for us at Youquan that you're back alive! Brothers, why don't you give Sister Feiyue a seat!"
Although he said this, his hand under the table had already secretly grasped the dagger at his waist.
Su Qinghan didn't sit down. She just stood there quietly, letting everyone's gazes cut into her like knives.
After a moment, she slowly spoke. Her voice was not loud, but it was clearly heard in every corner of the dark room.
"Ninety percent of our people in the valley died."
"We work hard for those so-called 'nobles', and what's the result?"
"After they've used us up, they're just throwing us away like a useless dog. They even step on us again to make sure we're dead!"
Her voice suddenly rose, filled with resentment and hatred, like a poisoned blade, accurately piercing the most painful place in the hearts of every survivor present.
"Are you willing?"
"Are you willing to die like a dog, with no clear explanation?"
"Are you willing to see our 'Youquan's' century-long foundation destroyed in an instant?"
She asked three questions in a row, each one piercing her heart with tears. The assassins, initially filled with fear, gradually gave way to anger. Yes, they were assassins, desperate men who lived on the edge of a knife, but they were not pigs to be slaughtered!
"I'm unwilling to accept this!" A big man with a face full of flesh roared angrily. His best brother died in that valley.
"Yes! I won't accept it!"
"Damn it! Fight them!"
The crowd was excited.
This was exactly the effect Su Qinghan was aiming for. She watched everything coldly, waiting until everyone's emotions had reached a peak before she spoke again, her voice returning to its previous icy tone.
"Fight? How can we fight?" She poured cold water on him mercilessly. "We are now a group of homeless ghosts. Our leader is missing, our second-in-command was killed in battle, and Abacus is nowhere to be found. We don't even know who our enemy is, so how can we fight?"
Everyone fell silent again, and the fire that had just been ignited was extinguished in an instant.
Zhao Si's eyes flickered, and he finally spoke, his voice tentative: "Then according to Sister Feiyue's opinion, what should we do?"
Su Qinghan was waiting for this sentence from him.
She slowly raised her hand and lifted the sleeve of her left arm.
A hideous scar stretched from her forearm to her elbow, like an ugly centipede entwined there. The wound had scabbed over, but the surrounding flesh still had a bluish-purple hue, giving one an idea of how severe the injury had been.
"I was hit on the arm by a knife, fell off the cliff, and was washed into the river. I was lucky enough to survive." She began to tell the story she had already woven, and every detail had been repeatedly deliberated with Shen Ye.
"I was rescued by a country bumpkin. After a full month of nursing, I was barely able to move. I returned here not to survive, but for revenge!"
She lowered her sleeves, her eyes like lightning piercing Zhao Si.
"We've been betrayed. That employer, the man who was able to get the people from Prince Ning's Mansion to personally set up this scheme, wants all of us who knew about it dead! I'm afraid Brother Wang Sen is in great danger!"
The words "Prince Ning's Mansion" uttered, and the entire room was filled with shock. Zhao Si's face instantly turned pale. This name was something that low-level assassins like them couldn't even imagine, and it also explained why the siege was so brutal.
Su Qinghan took everything in, and she knew that her first move was the right one.
"So," she said word by word, "the first thing we must do is not to die, but to survive! We must regroup, uncover the truth, and then, using our 'Youquan' way, make those high-ranking figures pay with blood!"
These words were well-reasoned, inspiring, and had a clear purpose. They gave this group of frightened birds a reason to rally together.
Zhao Si looked at Su Qinghan, his heart awash with anxiety. He had to admit, this woman was more terrifying than he'd imagined. Not only had she returned alive, but she also brought with her aura that could turn the tide. His original desire to replace her had to be temporarily suppressed.
"Alright!" Zhao Si slapped his thigh and stood up. "Let's do as Sister Feiyue says! From today on, you and I will jointly manage 'Youquan', gather our old subordinates, and avenge our fallen brothers!"
He said this in a high-sounding manner, but in fact he was establishing his status as equal to Su Qinghan.
Su Qinghan sneered in his heart, but nodded calmly: "Okay."
She knew this was just the beginning. The real test was only now beginning.
Zhao Si placed Su Qinghan in the most secluded and "safest" room in the backyard of the gambling house, under the pretext of letting her recuperate, but in reality, he was placing her under the strictest surveillance.
Late at night, when everyone was asleep, Zhao Si personally walked into Su Qinghan's room carrying a pot of wine and a few side dishes.
"Sister Feiyue, you've worked hard today. Let me welcome you home." He put down the food and wine with a smile, but his eyes were like a poisonous snake, wandering around every corner of her room.
"Brother Zhao, you're too polite." Su Qinghan sat at the table with a calm expression.
"Alas," Zhao Si poured himself two glasses of wine and sighed, "Speaking of which, sister, you are really lucky. I remember the flashing of swords and sabers in the valley. How did you evade the pursuit of those masters from Prince Ning's Mansion, and how did you survive from such a high cliff? I saw you get stabbed with my own eyes..."
The temptation began.
Su Qinghan picked up the wine glass, but did not drink it. He just played with it on his fingertips.
"Perhaps the King of Hell refused to take my life," she replied nonchalantly. "I fell off a cliff and was swept away by the turbulent river. When I woke up, I was already on a dilapidated fishing boat. I was rescued by an old, deaf and blind fisherman. He mistook me for his lost granddaughter and took care of me for a long time. By the time I recovered from my injuries, he had passed away."
This story is perfect. An old fisherman is dead and there is no evidence to prove his mistake.
A gleam of light flashed in Zhao Si's eyes, and he asked again: "What about your injuries?"
Su Qinghan sneered, "I'm from Youquan, so I do have some life-saving skills. The golden wound medicine I carry with me, combined with some of my own folk remedies, is what keeps me alive. Look at me now, don't I still look half-dead?"
As she spoke, she coughed twice deliberately, and her face looked even paler, perfectly playing the role of a person who had been seriously injured and had not yet recovered.
Zhao Si stared at her for a long while, seemingly unable to find any flaws. He then laughed heartily and raised his wine glass: "Brother, I was overthinking it! Come, sister, let's drink this glass. From now on, we brothers and sisters will work together and achieve great things!"
Su Qinghan raised his glass, clinked it lightly with his, and drank the wine in the glass in one gulp.
The wine was good, but it had been spiked with something else: a kind of "muscle softener" that could relax the mind and make one speak the truth. The dose was so small that it would be unnoticeable to a martial arts expert, but for someone still recovering from a serious injury, it was enough to work.
The moment the wine entered his throat, Su Qinghan used his internal force to force it down, pressing it against a corner of his dantian. However, an abnormal blush appeared on his face, and his eyes began to become a little blurry.
Seeing her like this, Zhao Si felt relieved.
Next, he asked many questions indirectly about the details of the bloody battle in the valley, and Su Qinghan answered them all fluently, sometimes angry, sometimes sad, and sometimes confused, which was exactly the reaction of a survivor.
After three rounds of drinking, Zhao Si finally showed his true colors.
"Sister, we are short of manpower and our financial resources are also cut off. I heard that Mr. Wang from the west of the city owes us three thousand taels of silver. Look..."
Su Qinghan's heart trembled, knowing that the real test was coming.
This wasn't just a simple debt collection. It was a test to see how much of her strength had recovered, and also to see if she was still as ruthless as before. Perhaps even Mr. Wang himself was a trap.
She forced herself to stay drunk and looked at Zhao Si with hazy eyes: "Brother Zhao... don't you trust me?"
"No, no!" Zhao Si waved his hands quickly. "Brother, I just think we need to establish our authority as soon as possible and let everyone in Hangzhou know that we, Youquan, are still here!"
"Alright..." Su Qinghan stood up shakily, a glint of the fierceness of "Fei Yue" flashing in his eyes. "Leave this mere official to me. Tomorrow at this time, I will bring you his head and the silver."
After saying that, she fell on the bed, "too drunk to handle".
Zhao Si looked at her, a satisfied smile on his face. He retreated quietly and whispered to the two confidants guarding the door, "Keep a close eye on her tomorrow. If she dares to play tricks or makes a mistake... you know what to do."
After Zhao Si left, Su Qinghan on the bed suddenly opened his eyes.
There was no trace of drunkenness in her eyes, only a cold clarity. She sat up silently, walked to the window, and scratched a mark with her fingernail in an inconspicuous corner of the window frame.
This was one of the signals she and Shen Ye agreed upon, meaning "there is a mission and investigation is required."
After doing all this, she returned to bed, regulating her breathing to force out the alcohol poison in her body, while rapidly calculating every step for tomorrow in her mind. She knew that tomorrow, the mansion of Mr. Wang would be a den of dragons and tigers, the stage set by Zhao Si for her, and also the place of execution.
The next day, Su Qinghan selected a few assassins from "Youquan" and went straight to the palace in the west of the city.
She knew that Zhao Si's men were following not far away.
What she didn't know was that, on a rooftop higher up and farther away, a dark blue figure, like a shadow blending into the night, had already taken it all in.
After seeing the signal left by Su Qinghan, Chen Ye arrived near the palace first.
He didn't approach, but instead observed the palace's aura from afar using the secret "Qi-Observing Technique" of the Tianji Pavilion. He discovered that while the palace appeared peaceful, the energy and blood of the servants and guards were far more vigorous than those of ordinary people, forming a subtle formation. At least ten skilled fighters were lurking within the palace.
This is not an ordinary mansion, it is a trap.
Chen Ye's eyes turned cold. He didn't remind Su Qinghan because he knew that Su Qinghan would definitely notice it. What he had to do was not to help her solve the problem, but to clear the obstacles for her.
His gaze fell on a private room on the second floor of a teahouse across from the palace. There, there were two auras, none other than the monitors sent by Zhao Si.
Chen Ye's figure disappeared from the roof like a wisp of green smoke.
A moment later, Su Qinghan led his men to the gate of the palace.
She did not choose to sneak in, but instead asked her men to kick the door open.
"Youquan is doing business, all idlers should leave!"
This arrogant behavior is completely in line with the style of "Fei Yue".
The guards from the mansion swarmed out, surrounding them. Su Qinghan looked at the guards' positions and demeanor, and the last shred of hope in his heart vanished. Zhao Si, indeed, was trying to kill someone with a borrowed knife.
"Get started!" Su Qinghan shouted coldly and rushed into the crowd first.
She used her "Cold River Snow" sword technique with full force, each move ruthless yet deftly avoiding all vital points. She wanted to establish her authority, but she didn't want to cause any more bloodshed.
Just as the two sides were fighting fiercely, two poisoned sleeve arrows were shot silently at Su Qinghan's back from the window of the opposite teahouse!
This was Zhao Si's backup plan! If Su Qinghan could take care of the palace guards, they would use hidden arrows to finish her off!
However, just when the sleeve arrows were about to hit the body, two stones shot out from an unnoticed corner at a speed faster than the arrows and hit the tails of the two sleeve arrows accurately.
Ding! Ding!
With two crisp sounds, the sleeve arrow deviated from its direction, brushed against the corner of Su Qinghan's clothes, and got nailed to the pillar next to him.
Su Qinghan's heart moved, knowing that he was coming.
She attacked more fiercely, forcing the guards in front of her to retreat with one sword. She turned around, and the sword in her hand turned into a white rainbow, heading straight for Wang Yuanwai.
In horror, Mr. Wang took out a firework from his pocket and was about to light it.
But Su Qinghan was faster, and the tip of the sword was against his throat before he set off the fireworks.
"Money or life," she said coldly.
Half an hour later, Su Qinghan walked out of the palace carrying a cash box filled with banknotes. Behind her, the guards stumbled here and there, all suffering only minor injuries.
She returned to the gambling house and threw the cash box heavily in front of Zhao Si, splashing a cloud of dust.
"Three thousand taels, not a cent less. Mr. Wang is very cooperative, so I'll spare his life." She looked at Zhao Si with a provocative look in her eyes. "Brother Zhao, now you should believe my sincerity, right?"
Zhao Si's face paled. The person he had sent to monitor her hadn't returned yet. He knew his plan had failed. This "Fei Yue" was even more troublesome than he had imagined. There might even be someone else behind her.
But at this moment, he could only force a smile and stepped forward to hold the cash box: "Sister Feiyue is indeed still as skilled as ever! How could I not believe you, brother? Come on, come on, please take a seat!"
He appeared more enthusiastic than before, but Su Qinghan knew that beneath this enthusiasm lay deeper suspicion and murderous intent.
Late at night, Su Qinghan sat alone in the room, wiping his sword.
Outside the window, the moonlight is like water.
She recalled the two precise stones she had hit during the day, and a warm feeling welled up in her heart.
This scene was so exhausting to act out. Every word I said, every step I took, felt like dancing on the edge of a knife. The slightest mistake would lead to eternal damnation.
However, the leader was suspicious by nature and never stopped testing her. Every step was like walking on thin ice, but Su Qinghan knew she was not fighting alone. In those invisible corners, there was another pair of eyes watching over her.
This gave her the courage to continue.
She placed the cold sword blade against her cheek, feeling the biting chill, but her eyes grew more determined.
Wang Sen, it's time for you to come out.
Your "Youquan" now has a new owner.
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