Chapter 202
Because of this accident, the streets quickly transformed from sparsely populated to teeming with people. The crowds packed the area, with everyone coming to see what was happening.
Yin Qiu jumped off her horse and looked at Duan Ning with a mixture of surprise and delight, saying, "Miss Duan... why have you come to Shangyuan City as well?"
Duan Ning had no time to pay attention to her. He only saw that the girl by the wall had blood all over her face and her eyes were closed. Ji Wanshu was still pinching her philtrum. Duan Ning's heart sank.
"It's all over, I've killed someone! My family may be the richest in Yaodingcheng, but money can't bring someone back to life... I'm going to jail!"
Ji Wanshu had already had enough of Duan Ning's exaggerated and nonsensical rants during their travels these past few days, so she said impatiently, "The person is not dead."
Duan Ning said weakly, "I'm so young and I'm going to jail. I killed someone before I even met Meng Jing. I... Ah? I'm not dead?!"
Wen Chaoyu bent down and glanced at the girl. Although she had been hit so hard that her nose was bleeding profusely and she looked terrible, she hadn't fainted yet. She just hadn't caught her breath. Wen Chaoyu then gestured to Duan Ning and said, "Don't worry, she's still alive. We won't send you to see the authorities."
Duan Ning was immediately relieved, as if granted a pardon. He dismounted and asked Yin Qiu, "Who is she? Why did you two want to jump off the building?"
“She’s in cahoots with the secret guards,” Yin Qiu said. “She tried to capture me alive just now.”
Duan Ning immediately looked at her with a complicated expression and said, "Why are you so hated? First someone wanted to kill you, and now someone wants to capture you alive. Just how many enemies do you have?"
Ji Wanshu, who was wiping the blood off the girl's face, threw down the handkerchief upon hearing Yin Qiu's words and said coldly, "What a coincidence. I was just worried about not having a direction to investigate this group, and now they've shown themselves." She turned around and asked, "Do you need something?"
Yin Qiu said with a hint of smugness, "I'm fine. I took on several of them by myself, and they didn't get the slightest advantage."
To her surprise, she suddenly felt dizzy after saying that. Wen Chaoyu quickly helped her up and asked, "You just said you were fine, but you can't stand up right away. Where are you hurt?"
Yin Qiu leaned against her arm, rubbing her temples, and said, "Oh no, I feel so dizzy, I think I'm going to faint..."
"What's that on your face?" Wen Chaoyu leaned closer to sniff it. "It doesn't smell like much."
Yin Qiu couldn't answer; everything went black before her eyes, and she lost consciousness.
"She really fainted!" Duan Ning exclaimed. "Quick, let her smell your medicine! The one you made me smell at Mingyue Tower that night!"
Without her saying anything, Wen Chaoyu had already taken out a medicine bottle from her bosom and quickly brought it to Yin Qiu's nose. Yin Qiu inhaled the smell of the medicine and soon woke up with trembling eyelashes.
Yin Qiu said, "Ah... this must be a sleeping potion."
Wen Chaoyu said with a wry smile, "I can tell. Luckily you didn't inhale much, otherwise I would have had to carry you back."
Duan Ning used his handkerchief to wipe Yin Qiu's face clean, and Ji Wanshu pressed the girl's acupoint against the wall, saying in a deep voice, "Don't play dead, who's behind you? Speak up!"
The girl scoffed, "You think I'd tell you?" As she spoke, she whistled loudly and continued, "We anticipated that Yin Qiu might not be so easy to capture alive, so I arranged for one of my men to hide nearby. As soon as he hears my signal, he'll immediately return to the palace to deliver the message. Even if you rush back now, it'll be too late. My master will leave before you. You won't be able to catch him!"
“That’s not necessarily true,” Yin Qiu said. “Don’t be so arrogant. I’ve been down the mountain for so long, and my martial aunt hasn’t come to Shangyuan City yet. She might have seen through your scheme and didn’t even come down the mountain to look for me. Your people might not be able to get here as fast as my martial aunt.”
"Then we'll just have to wait and see," the girl said arrogantly, unconcerned by Yin Qiu's words. "As soon as Man Jiangxue hears that you've been lured out of the palace, she'll definitely come looking for you. The reason she hasn't shown up yet is probably because my master has other plans to stop her. In short, all of you should give up, including Meng Wugui and Nangong Min. None of you will find him!"
Before Ji Wanshu could even make a move, Duan Ning was already furious. He whipped the man unconscious on the spot and yelled, "Why are you wasting your breath talking to her! Tie her up, tie her up!"
Wen Chaoyu pulled a ball of hemp rope from under the saddle, and Duan Ning swiftly tied the girl up tightly before throwing her onto the horse. Just as the four were about to head towards the palace, they suddenly heard someone shout from the edge of the crowd, "Why are you gathering here! Get out of the way!"
The onlookers immediately made way, and a group of government officials arrived, along with several Yunhua disciples. Upon seeing Yin Qiu and the others, the disciples quickly turned around and called out, "Senior Sister Lu! Come here quickly!"
The officials shouted and dispersed the people to both sides of the street. Lu Huaiwei hurried over from the back of the crowd. She was delighted to see Ji Wanshu and Wen Chaoyu, but was surprised when she saw Yin Qiu.
"Xiao Qiu... what are you doing here?"
Yin Qiu looked behind her and asked, "Senior Sister has already gone down the mountain, has Martial Uncle come yet?"
“I also want to ask you, why did you come to the city without saying a word?” Lu Huaiwei said, “When I came down the mountain, I asked my martial aunt where you were. She said you went to Wenxin Peak to visit Meng Jing. When we parted, my martial aunt said she would come to find you. Your departure from the palace so quietly, my martial aunt must be worried!”
Yin Qiu said, "I did go to Wenxin Peak, but Bai Ling came to find me around noon. She said that my martial uncle had instructed me to come to the city with her to patrol, so I came."
"Nonsense! My martial uncle never gave such an explanation," Lu Huaiwei's eyes changed several times, "Then what's going on...who is the person tied up on horseback?"
Yin Qiu then briefly recounted everything that had happened. Lu Huaiwei grew increasingly alarmed as she listened, never expecting that Yin Qiu had been tricked into coming here and enduring such danger alone. Lu Huaiwei, not bothering to ask why Ji Wanshu had returned so quickly, said, "I've arranged everything my master aunt instructed according to the blueprints, but she hasn't come down the mountain yet. Could she have been ambushed and stopped on her way?" She immediately turned to a disciple beside her and said, "Return to the palace immediately! Don't worry about my master aunt; no one can harm her. You set off now, and once you're back, make sure to secure every part of the palace as soon as possible. Don't let anyone leave easily!"
The disciple received the order, quickly mounted his horse, and rode away in a cloud of dust, while the other disciples took the girl into custody. The defenses in the mountains had been arranged, and only the people in the city had not yet been evacuated. The officials and Yunhua disciples worked together to evacuate the crowd in an orderly manner.
When the group arrived at the city gate, Bai Ling was still standing on the city wall. Upon seeing them, she leaped down and exclaimed joyfully, "Senior Sister Ji is back?" Perhaps noticing the unfriendly looks in their eyes, Bai Ling paused for a moment and asked, "You all look strange. Has something happened?"
Lu Huaiwei was the first to ask, "Did you send Xiao Qiu down the mountain?"
“Yes,” Bai Ling looked left and right, puzzled, “That’s what my martial uncle instructed, is there a problem?”
"When did your martial aunt give the order?" Lu Huaiwei said. "She spent the whole morning on Jingyue Peak, and then went to Mingguang Hall to discuss matters with me. You were arranged to go down the mountain before she even arrived at Mingguang Hall, so you didn't even meet. What did your martial aunt instruct you to do?"
Seeing her solemn expression and tone that was not as gentle as usual, Bai Ling said seriously, "It wasn't my master who gave the order. When I went down the mountain, a female disciple ran over and told me that my master wanted me to bring Xiao Qiu to patrol the city to see if Meng Wugui had sent anyone. After hearing that, I went directly to Wenxin Peak to find Xiao Qiu."
Lu Huaiwei quickly asked, "Who is that female disciple?"
“This… I don’t recognize her,” Bai Ling said. “There are so many people in the palace, you can’t recognize every face, but she was wearing our Liuli Peak’s waist tag, so I assumed she was some unfamiliar junior sister and didn’t think much of it. Didn’t you see Xiao Qiu before? She even delivered clothes to you for your master when we were at the palace gate.”
Yin Qiu glanced at her and said, "That's right. If she hadn't brought the clothes, I was planning to go to Mingguang Hall to tell my uncle before I left."
Bai Ling could tell they were interrogating her, and she reacted quickly, protesting, "I didn't do anything wrong! Someone used me to spread lies!"
“It’s obvious,” Ji Wanshu said, “but we don’t know if our master has come down the mountain yet. We need to hurry back to the palace. You should come with us. You are still a suspect. I will keep an eye on you. Don’t even think about escaping.”
Bai Ling was completely bewildered, never expecting to be taken advantage of like this. But she still said respectfully, "I understand. I'm not going anywhere. I'll follow wherever my senior sisters go."
The city was evacuating its inhabitants, and Lu Huaiwei couldn't leave yet; she had to stay and keep watch. The others immediately headed towards the north gate leading to Yunhua Palace.
However, another unexpected event occurred. The group had not gone far when a loud crash came from behind them. The two city gates had been slammed shut by someone, instantly trapping the civilians and officials who had not yet managed to escape. At the same time, a large group of men in black suddenly leaped out from the buildings on both sides of the street, drawing their swords without warning and surrounding Yin Qiu and his companions.
"They really did have a backup plan!" Wen Chaoyu immediately pulled out a throwing knife and stood back-to-back with Ji Wanshu. "They don't want us to rush back!"
Bai Ling, unaware of Yin Qiu's ordeal at the perfume shop, was astonished by the scene and exclaimed, "What's going on? Who are these people?!"
Duan Ning chimed in, "Nonsense! Of course I'm going to kill your people!" She only carried a whip, no swords or other weapons. After saying that, she hid behind Yin Qiu, "My kung fu is not as good as yours, so you have to protect me!"
Yin Qiu remained silent, holding Zhu Bing and standing in front of Duan Ning. Wen Chaoyu's throwing knife could slit throats from a distance, killing without close combat. Hearing Duan Ning's words, she said, "Miss, follow me! Yin Qiu and Wan Shu will lead the way, Bai Ling will watch the rear, go!"
After saying that, Yin Qiu and Ji Wanshu went to meet the swarming men in black and started fighting them. Bai Ling provided cover for them, preventing the men in black from getting close easily, and cutting them down one by one. Although Duan Ning did not carry a sword, she was skilled with a whip. She seized the opportunity to hook someone's neck, and Wen Chaoyu took the opportunity to throw a flying knife to kill the person. The teamwork was quite perfect.
"See! I'm still useful!" Duan Ning beamed and shouted to Wen Chaoyu, "I'll hook whoever you want, and you'll kill them. We're the perfect team!"
Wen Chaoyu said, "Shut up!"
Meanwhile, Lu Huaiwei had also led her disciples to join the battle. Although there were many of these men in black, there were also quite a few Yunhua disciples in the city, plus the help of the government officials. As a result, the two sides were evenly matched in terms of numbers.
The city descended into chaos in an instant. Innocent civilians fled in panic, screaming in terror. While the Yunhua disciples were locked in combat with the men in black, the officials opened the city gates and hurriedly escorted the civilians out of the city.
Thunder roared, the sky was so dark it seemed about to collapse, swords flashed all around, blood splattered, and figures fell one after another; death and injury quickly spread.
Ji Wanshu used his sword intent to force back the people around him, killing them one by one. He then turned his head and shouted, "Yin Qiu! Go back to the palace!"
Yin Qiu moved through the crowd to the edge, about to fight his way out, when he saw the men in black suddenly stop without warning and surge towards the city gates. Yin Qiu paused, realizing that they were attacking innocent civilians after leaving the city, and then followed Ji Wanshu in pursuit.
"How do we get out of here?" Yin Qiu asked anxiously. "I can't just stand by and watch someone die!"
"These beasts!" Bai Ling shouted angrily, "They're trying to use the lives of the people to force us to stay. It's utterly despicable!"
The crowd then fought their way from inside the city to outside. The men in black clearly knew that Yin Qiu and Ji Wanshu would eventually be unable to hold out, so they turned around and began killing the unarmed civilians. Seeing the people suffering such a calamity, who could stand by and watch them die? Yin Qiu had no choice but to abandon his plan to return to the palace and rush out of the city to rescue the people, saving as many as he could.
In the blink of an eye, Shangyuan City was deserted, with only blood and corpses scattered on the ground. Outside the city, however, fighting and battle raged. Lu Huaiwei had intended to lead a team of archers to the city walls to kill the enemy with stray arrows, but the battle was too chaotic. Everyone was in the same boat, making it impossible to aim accurately; every shot risked friendly fire. Lu Huaiwei had no choice but to abandon this plan. Instead, she guided her disciples to bring the rescued civilians back into the city, hastily locking them in the cellars of nearby houses. She then stationed disciples at the entrances to guard them closely, thus saving many lives.
"Young Miss, come here!" Wen Chaoyu grabbed Duan Ning's whip and pulled her behind her. "You're useless. The palace might be safer than here. Let's go up the mountain!"
Duan Ning wanted to retort, but then she remembered that Meng Jing was still in the palace, and her rudimentary skills were nothing here. However, she was more than capable of protecting Meng Jing, so she leaped up the city wall and circled around the crowd to leave first.
Once Wen Chaoyu saw her disappear from sight, she unleashed her full power and dashed into the crowd to fight alongside Ji Wanshu. Fortunately, after a fierce battle, the men in black had suffered heavy losses. Although the Yunhua disciples were also dead or wounded, with experts like Ji Wanshu, Yin Qiu, and Wen Chaoyu present, it was only a matter of time before the men in black were wiped out.
The situation gradually improved, and the officials and their disciples did their best to escort the surviving people into the city. Seeing that the situation was not good and their objective had been achieved, the men in black decided to retreat. They stopped their fierce attack and began to retreat into the forest while fighting.
“There’s no need for everyone to chase after them. Leave some people in the city!” Ji Wanshu stopped and said to Lu Huaiwei, “If we can’t kill them all, then forget it. It’s more important to go back to the palace first. Who knows what kind of chaos the palace is in now.”
Lu Huaiwei nodded: "I'll stay here to clean up the mess. You all go back to the palace. We've been delayed for so long, and we don't even know if that person has escaped yet. God help us... I hope my martial uncle can stop him."
One group chased after them into the depths of the forest, while the rest followed Lu Huaiwei into the city to clean up the mess. Bai Ling was wounded in the battle, with several cuts on her arm. Wen Chaoyu quickly washed them with some wine and said, "We can't worry about that now, just bear with it, let's go!"
Ji Wanshu and Wen Chaoyu entered the city at the same time, and Bai Ling naturally did not dare to fall behind, following closely behind. The three walked ahead for a while without hearing any movement from Yin Qiu. When they looked back, they saw that Yin Qiu had not even entered the city gate. She was lying on the ground, listening intently.
Upon seeing her posture, Bai Ling couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "No way? Don't tell me someone else is coming!"
Ji Wanshu followed Yin Qiu's example and listened to the sounds underground. Wen Chaoyu saw her brows furrow slightly and knew that Bai Ling was right.
“It’s not impossible that Meng Wugui was able to get back so quickly,” Wen Chaoyu said. “Her people set off before us. If they had found out about the commotion earlier and knew that there had been a fight here, Meng Wugui would definitely have brought people back at this time if she wasn’t out of her mind.”
Dark clouds loomed overhead, the rain slow to fall, only the occasional rumble of spring thunder. Yin Qiu stood up, her white dress no longer pristine, stained with blood and dust. Holding Zhu Bing, she stood at the city gate, gazing into the distance as a sudden gust of wind arose, scattering sand across the sky.
Soon, a vast army of people galloped up from the horizon.
The loud noise that gradually came from afar attracted the attention of the disciples, and everyone's expression changed upon seeing this scene.
"And who is that?"
"Could it be that Master Meng has attacked so quickly?!"
"Quickly! Assemble outside the city gates!"
...
The disciples had no time to rest and had to return to the city gates with their swords, firmly blocking the entrance.
“There are wolves in front and tigers behind,” Lu Huaiwei said. “Even though I knew this day would come, I still didn’t expect it to come so soon.”
Ji Wanshu gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, looked ahead, and coldly snorted, "It seems that today we're going to have a good fight."
Dust billowed, hooves thundered, and under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the men and horses, with their imposing presence, rapidly approached, their hooves pounding the horizon.
A familiar figure came into Yin Qiu's view.
The leader, holding the reins, was dressed in mourning clothes as white as joss paper, making him particularly conspicuous.
At that moment, Yin Qiu immediately noticed the purse at her waist.
Wen Chaoyu stood to the side and looked at her, then asked, "Are you going back to the palace, or are you staying to fight?"
Yin Qiu remained silent.
She turned around and looked past the crowded city gate at the distant, faintly visible Yunhua Mountain peak.
Where did my martial uncle go?
A moment later, Yin Qiu raised Zhu Bing and pointed it forward. At the other end of the sword tip, the young woman in mourning clothes slightly raised her hand, signaling the procession behind her to stop.
Their gazes collided across the raging sandstorm.
Yin Qiu declared firmly, "I will fight."
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