Chapter 46: Lure the snake out of its hole and use yourself as bait
Six Gates Headquarters, meeting room.
The atmosphere was oppressive, as if a rainstorm was about to come.
Su Qinghan was dressed in a tight suit and stood quietly in the hall. Opposite her was Tie Wuqing, the chief constable of the Six Gates, and several of the most experienced and top constables.
On the table before them lay a massive map of the capital and its surroundings. Several locations were circled in red ink. These were the possible contact points or bases of the Tianji Pavilion that the Six Gates had deduced after several days of investigation.
However, next to each stronghold, there is a large cross marked with ink.
"The antique shop is completely deserted, with only a few worthless fakes left," a top detective reported gravely. "When our men arrived, there wasn't a single useful clue left."
"We suspected that the Cao Gang branch in the south of the city was a funding transit station for them. But after it was sealed off, the accounts were as clean as if they had been washed with water, and there was no sign of any problems at all." Another person took over, his tone full of frustration.
"And the charity cemetery in the western suburbs was completely burned to the ground. By the time our men put out the fire, there was nothing left except a few charred corpses that were unrecognizable."
When the clues were traced to the key nodes, they were all cut off in the same way - cleanly and neatly.
The Tianji Pavilion is like a giant spider entwined in the darkness. You can only see its intricate web, but you can never find the spider itself. Every time you touch a strand of silk, it will unhesitatingly discard that thread and its prey, and quickly spin a new, more hidden web.
The Tianji Pavilion is heavily guarded, like an iron barrel, and a forceful attack is like hitting a rock with an egg.
"It's not a 'place,' but a 'system,'" Tie Wuqing finally spoke, his voice hoarse and heavy. He pointed at the red circles marked with crosses on the map, "These are just its tentacles, ready to be severed and regenerated at any time. Every time we move, we alert them, and they will only hide deeper."
He looked at Su Qinghan with a complicated gaze, a mixture of the worry of an elder and the helplessness of a superior. "Qinghan, I understand how you feel. But we can't be impatient when dealing with the Tianji Pavilion. This will be a long war that requires patience, planning, and waiting until they reveal their fatal flaws."
This is the safest and most correct approach. By mobilizing the power of the state apparatus, like peeling an onion, we can gradually weaken the Tianji Pavilion's peripheral forces, and eventually reach its core.
But Su Qinghan couldn't wait.
She is afraid.
She was afraid that time would dull her hatred, that waiting day after day would gradually extinguish the fire in her heart. She relied on this hatred to survive to this day, and if even hatred became tepid, then what would she have left?
What's more, her enemy is not the entire Tianji Pavilion.
What she was looking for was the ghost named "Candle Shadow" who was carrying out the mission.
"Godfather," Su Qinghan finally spoke, his voice calm and without a trace of emotion, "I don't agree."
Everyone in the room was shocked. No one in the Six Gates dared to speak to Tie Wuqing in such a tone.
Tie Wuqing frowned: "Reason."
"Our opponent isn't the Tianji Pavilion, it's 'Zhu Ying.'" Su Qinghan glanced across the map. "The Tianji Pavilion is an organization whose goal is profit. We can slowly wear it down. But 'Zhu Ying' is a person, an assassin. Assassins have the pride of assassins."
"What do you want to say?" An ominous premonition arose in Tie Wuqing's heart.
"We can't find him because he's hiding in the dark, while we're in the light." Su Qinghan's voice was low, but every word was clearly heard by everyone. "In that case, let him come out on his own."
"Ridiculous!" a captain couldn't help but scold. "Who is 'Zhuying'? He comes and goes without a trace, and kills without leaving a trace. Why would he come out for you?"
Su Qinghan ignored him and just stared at Tie Wuqing, saying word by word: "Because I am Su Zhenting's daughter. Because he killed my father."
There was deathly silence in the meeting room.
Everyone understood what she meant.
Tie Wuqing's body trembled violently, and for the first time, a look of near-horror crossed his usually iron-hard face. He rushed over to Su Qinghan and roared in a low voice, "Are you crazy?! You're using yourself as bait?!"
"I'm the only 'survivor' of his mission career, a 'evidence' of revenge that shouldn't exist." Su Qinghan's eyes burned with a fire that bordered on madness. "For an assassin who strives for perfection, this is a 'flaw.' Now, this 'flaw' is challenging him by name. What do you think he will choose?"
"He'll kill you as easily as crushing an ant, using the simplest and most covert method possible, rather than foolishly accepting any challenge!" Tie Wuqing sternly said, "Qinghan, this isn't a martial arts competition! This is a fight to the death!"
"Then I bet he has the arrogance of a top assassin. If he can't even face the revenge of an orphan girl head-on, then his 'legend' is nothing but a joke." Su Qinghan's attitude was resolute, leaving no room for turning back.
"I will never allow it!" Tie Wuqing slammed the table with his palm, and the thick wooden table let out a painful groan.
"Foster father, you are the chief constable of the Six Gates. You are primarily responsible for the law and the court. I understand." Su Qinghan slowly took a step back, putting some distance between him and Tie Wuqing. This action was full of symbolic meaning. "So, this matter has nothing to do with the Six Gates. This is my personal matter, Su Qinghan."
She bowed deeply to Tie Wuqing.
This bow is both a farewell and a farewell.
She bid farewell to his kindness in raising her, and to herself as a Constable of the Six Gates. From this moment on, she would shed her official identity and become the orphan who lived only for revenge.
She wanted to let "Zhuying" come out on her own. As "Su Zhenting's daughter," she wanted to launch a life-or-death challenge against this legendary assassin.
Returning to his room, Su Qinghan closed the door, blocking out all the noise from the outside world.
She didn't act immediately, but sat quietly at the table, placing the "Hanjiangxue" sword across her knees. The cold scabbard seemed to calm her heart, which was beating wildly with excitement.
Use yourself as bait to lure the snake out of its hole.
She spoke decisively, but she knew the risks better than anyone else.
She was gambling.
Betting on the pride of "Candle Shadow". Betting on whether this ghost living in legend still has a trace of "human" paranoia.
If she lost the bet, she might not be able to wait for the agreed day, and would be pierced through the throat by a silent dagger in some unknown corner.
But she had no choice.
A figure flashed through her mind again uncontrollably. The man in the courtyard, clumsily making porridge and changing her medicine. Deep night.
She had naively thought that after she killed Zhuying and avenged her father, she would go to Yangzhou to find him and tell him that everything was over and that she could... could try to live a new life.
This thought was once a ray of light in her endless darkness.
But now, this ray of light has become her biggest weakness.
Su Qinghan closed her eyes, as if she could smell the faint scent of herbs and sunshine on him that morning. That warmth was so real that it made her heart ache.
No.
Can't think about it anymore.
Before challenging "Zhuying", she must first kill the weak and warmth-craving Su Qinghan in her heart.
Her enemy is a pure, cold-blooded killing machine, so she must also become a pure sword that exists only for revenge.
A sword doesn't need emotions.
Su Qinghan slowly opened his eyes, and the last trace of hesitation and tenderness in his eyes was replaced by bone-chilling coldness.
She took out a piece of plain white rice paper from her bag and spread it flat on the table. She also took out an inkstone, but she didn't grind ink for a long time.
Ink, too light.
It couldn't bear the blood feud she had endured for the past five years.
Moonlight streamed through the window lattice, silently falling on her resolute face. She raised her right hand, placed it to her lips, and without hesitation, bit her fingertip!
A sharp pain was felt, and a drop of bright red blood quickly seeped out from the wound, looking particularly shocking on the white fingertips.
The blood beads grew larger and larger, carrying the warmth of her body and the weight of her soul.
She stretched out her bleeding finger, hovering over the rice paper.
She wants to write this declaration of war with her own blood.
She wanted to let the devil smell how hot and sweet the hatred he created with his own hands was.
The fingertips fell, and bloodstains spread on the paper.
Revenge for the murder of my father,
As she wrote the first word, that bloody afternoon five years ago resurfaced like a nightmare. Her father's fallen form, the shock and reluctance in his eyes, the unspoken words of advice. Every image transformed into a piercing pain, flowing through her fingertips and merging into the bloody words.
Irreconcilable.
As she wrote those four words, her eyes grew fierce. Over the past five years, she had transformed from a naive young lady from an official family into an assassin dancing on the edge of a knife. She had witnessed so much darkness and filth. She had disguised herself, endured, shed blood, and killed... All of it stemmed from that one assassination attempt. This hatred had long since become part of her being, a relentless pursuit.
I heard that your swordsmanship is superb and your name is "Zhuying".
Stroke by stroke, she wrote down the name that tormented her day and night. It felt as if each stroke carved a scar into her heart. "Candlelight, candlelight..." she muttered silently, binding this name to the cold, ruthless image of the devil on the dossier, tightly, leaving no gap.
Three days later, on the night of the full moon,
She chose this time. A full moon, a night of reunion, meant nothing but murderous intent beneath its radiant light. She wanted the full moon to witness the end of this fate.
Outside the city, there is a bamboo forest.
Her fingertips trembled slightly. That was where her father had been murdered. That was where her nightmare began. She had chosen that place, the land that had buried all her happiness, to dig up her enemy's grave with her own hands.
The place where my late father was murdered,
She emphasized her tone, each word seeming to exhaust all her strength, and the color of her words became particularly intense. She wanted to remind him, to remind herself, that this was not only a challenge, but also a trial.
I am looking forward to your arrival.
As she wrote her name, her mind cleared. Feiyue, the Six Gates Divine Constable… all her identities were stripped away at that moment. She was simply Su Qinghan, Su Zhenting's daughter. An avenger.
A letter written in blood, every word was written with tears and every sentence was filled with hatred.
After finishing, Su Qinghan looked at the declaration of war written with her own blood, and a feeling of exhaustion came over her. It was as if all the heat in her body had drained away, leaving only a cold shell.
But that’s not enough.
She had to make sure that "Candle Shadow" would come.
She raised her bloody fingertips and added another line of words at the end of the letter of challenge.
If you don't dare to come, you won't have to use a sword in this life.
After writing the last word, the blood on my fingertips had just run out. That bright red mark, like a fatal seal, was branded on the plain white paper.
This is the most vicious curse and the most deadly provocation.
For a legend at the pinnacle of swordsmanship and assassination, this was undoubtedly the greatest provocation. If "Zhuying" flinched, the foundation of his existence—his unwavering pride and confidence—would crumble in an instant. His sword would be shrouded in an indelible dust.
Su Qinghan carefully folded the letter of challenge and sealed it in an ordinary envelope.
She didn't go through the Six Gates channel. She knew that Tie Wuqing would stop the letter at all costs.
It's late at night.
She changed into a modest nightgown and quietly left the Six Gates compound. Like a cat accustomed to the darkness, she expertly avoided all visible and hidden sentries and navigated the intricate streets and alleys of the capital.
Finally, she stopped at the end of a dead end that smelled of rotten water.
She imitated the way the gangsters in her memory acted and knocked on a dilapidated wooden door in a specific rhythm.
"Three long and two short."
The door opened a crack, and a greasy face poked out, looking at her warily.
"The King of Heaven and the Tiger of Earth." Su Qinghan lowered his voice and said the long-abandoned black market code he had heard from "Youquan".
The other party was stunned for a moment, then laughed obscenely: "Hey, where did you come from, little lady, and you still understand the old rules? Tell me, what do you want to buy or sell?"
Su Qinghan didn't waste any words and stuffed the letter and a heavy ingot of silver through the crack in the door.
"Send this to a place where the Tianji Pavilion can receive it." Her voice was cold and decisive. "Without asking where it came from or where it's going, can you do it?"
The man weighed the silver, his eyes lighting up. He glanced at the unmarked letter again, his smile growing even more flattering. "Don't worry, young lady. We have our own rules. As long as the money is in place, we can even pass on a letter to the Heavenly Secret Pavilion or even the Hell King's Palace."
"I just want it to be where it's supposed to be before tomorrow morning."
"no problem!"
The wooden door closed and the alley returned to silence.
Su Qinghan turned around and merged into the deeper darkness.
The wind blew, bringing a hint of coolness. She raised her head and looked at the moon that was not yet full in the sky.
The letter has been sent.
Once the chess piece is placed, there is no possibility of regret.
From this moment on, all she could do was wait.
Waiting for the coming of judgment.
Whether it's judging him, or... judging myself.
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