With eager anticipation in her heart, Yan'er cautiously stepped into the archway of the main gate of the west courtyard, only to be immediately silenced by a stern rebuke: "Who goes there? How dare you break into this courtyard at night?"
Startled, before she could see any movement, Yan'er's heart skipped a beat and she immediately stopped. She quickly blew out the lamp in her hand, and in her panic, a flash of inspiration struck her. She took a few quick steps forward in the dark and slipped into the courtyard behind the artificial hill and low bushes in the center of the courtyard. She crouched down and huddled tightly into a ball to hide.
Only then did she timidly peek through the branches of the bushes toward the direction from which the sound came. As soon as she looked up, she saw two tall guards in red robes in the dim starlight and moonlight. One of them held a lantern in one hand and a knife flashed in the other. They had already stood at the edge of the steps of the corridor in front of her. They stepped down the steps and strode quickly toward the archway where she had been standing.
Upon seeing this, Yan'er immediately held her breath, tightly covering her mouth. She felt as if she could hardly breathe, extremely nervous, and even her small body began to tremble involuntarily.
The two tall, red-clad guards split up as soon as they reached the archway, searching the area inside and out thoroughly.
A moment later, the two met up and gathered together. One of the guards said in a puzzled tone, "That's not right. I clearly saw a faint candlelight coming from here just now, but it disappeared in a flash?"
"Perhaps you're mistaken, or maybe someone from the east courtyard just happened to pass by. Alright, alright, let's go patrol other places. Let's go!" The other guard explained as he left the gate with the other guard, passing by the artificial hill where Yan'er had hidden once more.
Just as he was about to continue down the corridor to patrol the other courtyard, the guard who had been puzzled and first noticed the anomaly at the archway, still seemingly unwilling to give up, peered around with sharp eyes. Just as he stepped onto the stairs, he suddenly turned and caught sight of the artificial hill at his feet. He then raised his broadsword, held it horizontally in front of him, and quietly descended the stairs, slowly leaning towards him.
Seeing this, Yan'er felt as if she could hardly breathe. She quickly pulled her head back, clenched her two small fists tightly, and trembled with gritted teeth. In her heart, she kept repeating, "What should I do? What should I do? Miss, please bless Yan'er! Please save Yan'er!"
Just then, a hand suddenly reached out from the darkness and covered her mouth tightly. Before she could react, Yan'er felt herself completely enveloped in the icy, chilling pool water. It seemed as if someone was pressing down on her small body and immersing her in the water. Apart from feeling her own struggle, everything around her was pitch black, with no light in sight and no sound to be heard.
After a short while, for some reason, Yan'er suddenly quieted down, held her breath, and stopped struggling.
Behind the artificial hill, two tall guards in red cautiously approached, only to stare at each other in astonishment at the now empty ground: "How could there be a lamp here?"
A moment later, the two of them suddenly realized what was happening and hurriedly raised the candles in their hands to illuminate a pool of water next to the artificial hill. However, they were surprised to find that the surface of the water was as calm as a mirror, without the slightest ripple.
Immediately afterwards, the two split into two groups and circled the edge of the pool, slashing and stabbing wildly at the water with their gleaming broadswords at the edge of the pool. They seemed to see no abnormalities before finally stopping.
At that moment, someone put a few fingers to their lips, and immediately a loud and orderly whistle rang out throughout the courtyard. In an instant, countless men in red robes, holding bright torches, surged in from all directions and tightly surrounded the two of them.
As the whistle blew, the red-clad guard urgently shouted, "An assassin has infiltrated and left a lamp, but we haven't seen him. Everyone, quickly split up and find the suspicious person and bring him to see the gang leader."
Upon receiving the order, the crowd that had suddenly gathered scattered again, and then began to search carefully in every room, courtyard, and corner of the west courtyard.
Meanwhile, at the bottom of the pool, just as Yan'er felt time passing incredibly slowly, her chest felt heavy and her heart was growing increasingly tense, and she felt as if she was about to collapse, a man beside her, dressed differently from everyone else and not wearing red, saw the firelight on the water's surface gradually dissipate. He then slowly released his hands, which were tightly wrapped around Yan'er's shoulders and mouth, and then quickly slipped one hand under her armpit, pulling her up to the surface.
As soon as she emerged from the water, Yan'er blinked weakly and then lay down on the grass by the pool, panting heavily.
After a while, she finally caught a glimpse of the man who had saved her life, lying on the ground with his back against the artificial hill, panting heavily. His arm had been stabbed by the sharp knife of the man on the shore, and the slightly gruesome wound was still oozing scarlet blood.
So Yan'er hurriedly crawled to his side, grabbed the man's injured arm, and asked anxiously with a frown, "Are you injured?"
The situation was urgent, and the man, disregarding his injuries, struggled to get up, saying weakly, "It's alright, let's get out of here quickly. They'll definitely come back later."
"Wait a minute, your wound is still bleeding. If it doesn't get bandaged soon, it will become infected and cause serious problems." Yan'er didn't know where she got the strength from, but she pressed the man back down again, leaned against the artificial hill, and deftly tore a strip of cloth from the hem of her skirt and carefully bandaged his wound.
Sure enough, as the saying goes, "Speak of the devil, and he appears." Just as the bandaging was about to be finished, a pair of people rushed in from outside. The two of them stumbled to their feet, and the man grabbed Yan'er's hand. They hurriedly stepped onto the steps of the corridor beside them and fled quickly towards another courtyard that the corridor led to.
Clearly, the commotion that was gradually spreading from the front yard of the west courtyard was growing louder and louder, and it also vaguely woke up the cold and stern man in the courtyard of Long Ye, the vice leader of the Xiaolong Society. He had just been relieved because the man who had fallen into the water had taken ginseng soup and his condition had improved a lot, and he was sleeping a little more soundly.
He leaned against the headboard with his arms crossed, and suddenly woke up. When he opened his eyes, he saw a set of red clothes from the Xiaolong Society neatly folded on the table beside him, illuminated by a dim lamp that swayed in the wind.
"Oh no!" With this exclamation, he grabbed his sword and rushed out the door.
As soon as he stepped outside, he ran into a guard passing by, so he quickly caught up with him, stopped him, and asked, "What's going on? Why are you making such a commotion?"
"It appears an assassin has broken into the front yard, and everyone is searching for him." The guard hurriedly finished answering his question before disappearing into the chaos amidst the flames.
"An assassin, could it be him..." Upon hearing this, the cold-faced man frowned deeply and murmured in a low voice.
As he was pondering, the main room in the courtyard suddenly burst into bright light, as if it too had been disturbed by the unusual brightness and noise outside. He yawned as he came out of the room and stood under the eaves, loudly demanding of the stern-faced man who stood there dumbfounded: "What's all this commotion in the middle of the night?"
Upon hearing this, the cold-faced man immediately came to his senses, stepped forward, cupped his hands, and reported: "It seems that some suspicious person has been found in the front yard. We have ordered people to search and arrest him. The deputy leader need not worry too much."
Upon hearing this, Long Ye's eyes widened instantly, as if he had finally come to his senses. He immediately roared angrily at him, "Who is so bold as to dare to break into my Xiaolong Society at night? Could it be... that the King of Qin's spies have been discovered... Once they are caught, I, the leader of the gang, will personally interrogate them."
Seeing Long Ye's extremely serious and earnest appearance, a hint of guilt flashed in the cold and stern man's eyes for a moment, and he didn't know how to answer.
There was no time to think. He had long heard that since its inception, no one had ever dared to trespass into the Xiaolong Society. It was clear that Long Ye was determined to intervene personally this time. It seemed that the only way forward was for him to find and hide the man who had fallen into the water before anyone else.
Upon realizing this, the cold-faced man immediately reported, "Vice Chief, there's no need to doubt. Perhaps someone has mistaken him for someone else. I will personally go and bring him back to see who he really is."
"Okay, go ahead. Don't let the tiger return to the mountain and the thief escape." Long Ye waved his hand at him, indicating.
At this point, the cold-faced man gripped the sword at his waist tightly, stepped onto the corridor steps, and hurried toward the front yard to check for any traces.
At this moment, Long Ye looked around warily before turning around to go back inside and wait for news.
Just as he turned around, he was surprised to hear a sound coming from the side of the corridor, like something like beads falling to the ground. With his excellent hearing, he did not turn around immediately, but instead, with his back to the corridor, he quietly took out something from his sleeve and threw it in the direction of the sound.
Immediately afterwards, accompanied by a loud clang, a woman screamed: "That's the apothecary bead bracelet that Miss left for me!"
Upon hearing this, the two guards beside Long Ye rushed forward and quickly dragged out the man and woman who were hiding in the shadows: "Stop hiding! Come out now! We've finally caught you, and there are two of you!"
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