Chapter 34. They will all pay the price. ...
The inn provided lodging for each official, and Hengbo, as Shen Guitang's servant "Xiao Cui", naturally stayed in the outer room where he was staying.
In the stillness of the night, a man and a woman were alone in a room. Hengbo, fully clothed, had already fallen asleep. Shen Guitang, whose lamp was still lit in the inner room, listened to her even and deep breathing. He put down the drawings in his hand, bent down to blow out the oil lamp, took off his outer robe, and got into bed.
However, since he had become aware of the difference between men and women, he had never been so intimate with any woman at night. The rooms in the inn were not very spacious to begin with, and the outer room was only separated from the inner room by a screen. With his eyes closed and his mind focused, he could even feel the woman's breath faintly brushing against his cheek.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes and realized it wasn't a hallucination. The woman was squatting in front of his bed, staring at him with her cold, star-like eyes.
Shen Guitang raised an eyebrow in surprise, about to ask a question, when she saw Hengbo solemnly put two fingers together in front of his lips.
He understood Hengbo's meaning almost instantly. He turned to the side and pressed his ear against the bed board, and sure enough, he heard a slight vibration. However, the sound was extremely faint, and it must have come from a group of well-trained people.
Shen Guitang immediately got up and put on his outer robe, while Hengbo walked to the door and peered out through the crack in the long-neglected door.
A group of men in black had already gone up the stairs to the second floor, while another group went upstairs separately. However, they blocked the corner but did not move, as if waiting for some order.
Hengbo hurriedly returned to the inner room to find Shen Guitang, but before she could tell him about her discovery, she saw dazzling fireworks in the dark sky not far away through the window.
At the same time, a commotion erupted outside the door, with the sounds of breaking down the door and screams mingling together, assaulting one's senses. Fortunately, their room was located at the far end, so they wouldn't be the first to be assaulted, but they couldn't delay any longer.
Hengbo quickly walked to the window and leaned out. Outside was the backyard of the inn, and apart from the startled horses, there was no one in sight. She turned to Shen Guitang and nodded.
Shen Guitang hesitated for a moment, then finally said, "Alright."
Hengbo noticed his hesitation but mistakenly thought he was afraid to jump. She slung her sword behind her back and looked Shen Guitang up and down.
He was tall and well-proportioned, so the "pulling a radish" method of holding him was clearly not suitable. Suddenly, Hengbo had a flash of inspiration, stepped forward and put one arm around his thin, strong waist, while the other hand went under his knees.
While Shen Guitang was still struggling with how to notify Hei Feng, she saw a glint of light flash in Heng Bo's eyes. Before she could have any bad premonitions, she was suddenly lifted into the air. In her confusion, she was even lifted up by this girl who was much younger, thinner, and petite than her.
Shen Guitang: ? ? ?
As for why Hengbo weighed it, she honestly said it was just a casual gesture. But this casual gesture made her realize that although Shen Guitang looked thin, he was actually quite heavy, showing that he was not as weak as he appeared.
Thus, Hengbo, having made this discovery by chance, once again casually felt the muscles in Shen Guitang's legs, finding them indeed rock hard. Especially now, with his whole body tense due to stress, they appeared even more robust.
Shen Guitang was surprised that after so many years, the little princess still hadn't changed her habit of touching other people's thighs right away. He lowered his voice and gritted his teeth, saying, "Enough, stop touching me."
Yokobo could only reluctantly move his hand away, but now that both hands were occupied, he didn't even have a chance to praise him for his excellent physical skills.
She crouched low and leaped onto the windowsill, looked around to find a foothold, and then jumped down. Her light and graceful figure in the darkness resembled that of a nimble and agile big cat.
The landing was silent, but before she could put down the person in her arms, Shen Guitang leaned on her shoulder for support, and upon closer inspection, she saw a tall, elegant young man.
However, the young master looked slightly annoyed at the moment, and his lips were tightly pursed, making him quite unapproachable.
Seeing Hengbo's nonchalant expression, he felt an even greater chill. However, given the urgency of the situation, he did not want to lash out and instead headed towards the small gate in the backyard of the inn.
Two men in black were guarding the backyard, one wielding a large knife and the other carrying two axes. Upon seeing the two men appear, they came forward to take their lives.
Hengbo pushed Shen Guitang behind him. Seeing the broadsword about to fall on his face, he did not dodge. Instead, he lightly struck the inside of Shen Guitang's wrist with the hilt of his sword. Shen Guitang felt a numbness in his hand and almost lost his grip on the sword.
At that moment, another person's double axes cleaved towards her shoulder blades. Hengbo slightly lowered her center of gravity, and with a whirling motion, the jade-white longsword in her hand pressed against the man's throat, forcing him to make no further progress.
The black-clad man wielding the knife, his hand still numb and throbbing, saw his companion also being subdued and tried to shout for help. Unfortunately, before he could even open his mouth, a tiny, silvery dart pierced his throat, and he collapsed to the ground, unable to rise again.
It's unclear what was coated on the hidden weapon, but the black-clad man's exposed eyes instantly became bloodshot, and even as he breathed his last, he still had a terrifying, painful look in his eyes.
Hengbo naturally saw that the hidden weapon was launched from Shen Guitang's fingertips, and his gaze back at him was slightly stunned.
Seeing his companion die so tragically, the other man in black, who was also being held hostage, knew that he would not fare any better. He decided to fight desperately, thinking that if he could take one of them with him, it would be worth it. He took advantage of Hengbo's distraction and charged straight into Hengbo's sword. As the sword pierced his neck, he hurled his double axes forward with all his might.
Hengbo sensed the movement behind him, frowned, and pushed off with his feet, preparing to retreat quickly. However, he suddenly caught a glimpse of the double axes flying towards Shen Guitang.
She didn't have time to draw her sword, and her retreating steps came to an abrupt halt. With a light touch of her toes, she quickly rushed towards Shen Guitang.
However, by the time she reached Shen Guitang, the pair of iron axes were less than three feet away from him. Hengbo had no choice but to kick one away, and as for the other, she used the force of the iron axe under her foot to twist her body in mid-air and knock it away with her shoulder.
The force of the iron axe was immense; even though Hengbo had avoided a fatal blow, he still staggered upon landing. Fortunately, the other man in black was now completely dead and wouldn't cause any more trouble.
She rubbed her shoulders, about to stand up, when her expression instantly turned ferocious. Shen Guitang quickly stepped forward to support her, but his face was ashen, and his tone was sterner than ever before: "Since you know I have methods, why did you protect me with your life?"
Hengbo gasped in pain, but ignored the pain in her shoulder and immediately retaliated with bared teeth and claws after being yelled at like that: Who knew you could dodge that? I thought you could only throw small knives.
Looking at her pitiful, grimacing face, Shen Guitang couldn't bring himself to say anything more to blame her. After all, he had been hiding something and had implicated her.
He helped her up and gently stroked along the veins of her shoulder, soothing her in a soft voice: "No bones are broken. Is there anything else that's bothering you?"
Hengbo stood against the wind, supporting herself on his forearm, her face filled with indescribable bitterness. Hearing his question, she finally sighed heavily: I sprained my ankle.
Shen Guitang: ...
A moment later... Hengbo, who had just been looking sullen, was now comfortably hanging on Shen Guitang's back, her other uninjured foot swinging happily in the air.
As a child, Hengbo loved to jump onto Ji Jin's back when he wasn't paying attention, and once she was on his back, she would never let go.
Every time Ji Jin heard her triumphant laughter, although she would say that she was naughty, she would carry her to the yard to play for a while. At this time, her mother, who stood aside watching the father and daughter playing wildly, would always laugh and say that she should be born in the Year of the Monkey.
Ji Jin would also support her legs with his reliable and strong hands, just like Shen Guitang, to prevent her from falling. Because of this sense of security, she would swing her toes freely in the air. In this way, all the sorrows of the world could be shaken off with her movements.
She had thought that the happy times of her childhood had been forever extinguished with the fire that ignited the snowy night, and with the soul she had personally torn away. But now, she was completely overwhelmed by that small figure trapped deep in her memory. That childlike figure, who had wandered among the ruins year after year, slowly grew into a young girl, hugging her tightly from behind, "I've waited for you."
Perhaps because there were only a few thin layers of clothing between them, the joy in her heart was transmitted to Shen Guitang's chest without any hindrance, flowing through his limbs and bones with his blood, and finally climbing up to the corners of his eyes and eyebrows.
He instinctively lifted her restless body slightly higher on his back, afraid that she might accidentally drop him.
After enjoying the pleasure of being carried on someone else's back, Hengbo finally calmed down a bit and then remembered to ask Shen Guitang and the others where they were going.
To avoid falling, Hengbo could only hold Shen Guitang's neck with his elbows and struggle to gesture with his hands in front of him.
Shen Guitang slightly dodged the finger that almost poked her face, "Let's go to the imperial mausoleum to take refuge first."
Hengbo gestured again: Maybe there are people in the imperial tomb too?
Shen Guitang replied, "The imperial tombs are probably not their target."
"Them? Could it be that Shen Guitang knows who sent those men in black?"
However, before she could ask any further questions, Shen Guitang answered as if he had foreseen it: "I don't know, but it's just a few. Also, Xiao Cui, if you keep causing trouble like this, I'm going to be repaid with ingratitude."
Hengbo then realized that Shen Guitang had been "choked" by her for quite a while, and she awkwardly lowered her hand, obediently hanging on his back as a quiet burden.
After walking for about fifteen minutes, the two finally arrived at the mausoleum area. However, none of the guards who should have been patrolling the perimeter of the mausoleum area were to be seen.
They then went to check the camp where the tomb keepers were stationed. Even though it was late at night, the tents where the night shifts were supposed to be changed shouldn't be so deserted. Before they even got close, a bad feeling began to creep into their hearts.
Sure enough, after walking a little further, the two smelled a pungent stench of blood.
Hengbo stopped Shen Guitang's momentum, and Shen Guitang knew that she was worried that there were still assassins lying in ambush inside.
“It’s alright. There are no lights in the tent, so we must have been slaughtered shortly after we left. There’s no one here now.” However, even though he spoke with certainty, he still first placed Hengbo in a hidden corner.
Hengbo wanted to go with him, but she also knew that he would be safer alone at this time. After waiting anxiously for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Shen Guitang finally returned, but his expression was rather unpleasant.
"There are no living people left."
He picked Hengbo up again and walked out step by step. Sensing Hengbo's silence, he turned his head slightly, only to see Hengbo still staring intently at the camp that was getting farther and farther away behind him.
He sighed, "Don't look anymore."
Hengbo finally turned his head back, his empty eyes meeting his directly.
Shen Guitang stopped in his tracks, and for the first time, his eyes, which seemed to have been sharpened by blood, revealed the fierce light hidden within them in front of Hengbo. He looked directly at her, but also looked beyond her into the distance, his words seemingly directed at someone else: "They will all pay the price."
Hengbo was taken aback, but Shen Guitang had already turned around.
"Let's go down to the imperial tomb."
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A note from the author:
Mini-theater:
Shen Guitang (eyelashes tremble slightly, GIF): I have never been so close to any woman at night since I was a child.
Hengbo (unclear, JPG): What's the big deal? I once had such a small room on a ship, and the young master was lying naked under my bed, and I didn't think anything of it.
Shen Guitang (smirking): So, when is he going to come to Yujing to die?
Jinjiang has launched a paragraph review feature, and I, as a young author, would like to solicit opinions from my readers. I'm still debating whether to implement it.
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