Chapter 26 Assassination in the Woods
The nights in Xishan Weichang are much wilder than those in Beijing.
A huge bonfire roared across the open ground, sparks crackling and shooting into the night sky. The air was filled with the aroma of roasting meat and the spiciness of strong liquor.
Jiang Mianmian sat next to Shen Jin, holding a freshly roasted rabbit leg in her hands, eating it with gusto.
Mmm! This rabbit leg is amazing! The skin is crispy and the inside is bursting with juice. Sprinkled with cumin and chili powder, it's simply divine!
Looks like this ordeal wasn't for nothing. As long as there's meat to eat, I'd rather crawl here than ride a tractor... well, crawling is out of the question.
Shen Jin held a handkerchief and occasionally wiped the grease from the corners of her mouth, his movements so practiced it seemed he had done it a thousand times. The noble ladies around them, who had originally wanted to see a spectacle, suddenly lost their appetite for the roasted meat they were holding, their teeth chattering with sourness at the sight.
“Your Highness,” Jiang Mianmian said, having finished gnawing on a rabbit leg, she looked longingly at the remaining half of the rabbit on the fire stand, “Um… could I have the rabbit head? I want to eat spicy rabbit head.”
Shen Jin raised an eyebrow: "Rabbit head? That's all bones, what's so delicious about it?"
“You don’t understand, that’s the soul!” Jiang Mianmian said with a serious expression.
Just as the two were discussing "the art of rabbit heads," Chen Jin's ears suddenly twitched slightly.
The wind has changed.
The howling mountain wind was mixed with an extremely subtle, almost imperceptible sound of something cutting through the air. It was the sound of a sharp blade slicing through the air, perfectly masked by the crackling of the campfire, but it couldn't escape the ears of a top expert.
Almost at the same time, Jiang Mianmian, who was craving spicy rabbit head, suddenly tensed up.
[Killing intent!]
[At the three o'clock position, fifty meters away, there is a metallic reflection! And there's more than one!]
As a superhuman who survived the apocalypse, her intuition for danger is sharper than that of wild animals.
"careful!"
Shen Jin gave a low shout, stretched out his long arm, grabbed Jiang Mianmian's waist, and pulled her backward, where they quickly rolled over on the ground.
"Seize! Seize! Seize!"
Three jet-black arrows, lingering near the afterimages of the two men, were firmly embedded in the cushion where they had just been sitting. The arrow fletchings were still trembling violently, the arrows having penetrated deep into the wood.
The entire scene erupted into chaos instantly.
"Assassins! Protect the Emperor! Quickly, protect the Emperor!"
Screams and the sound of tables and chairs overturning filled the air.
Dozens of men in black emerged like ghosts from the surrounding dense forest, wielding steel blades and hacking at anyone in their path. Although the Imperial Guards reacted swiftly, the assassins were overwhelming and their target was crystal clear—they were heading straight for the Regent and the Emperor!
Shen Jin shielded Jiang Mianmian behind him, casually drew the soft sword from his waist, and with a sword light like a rainbow, instantly reaped the lives of two assassins who rushed up.
"Shadow One! Protect the Emperor!"
Shen Jin gave a stern order, then turned to look at Jiang Mianmian, "Hide well! Don't run around!"
Jiang Mianmian huddled behind a big tree, clutching tightly in her hand the half-eaten rabbit bone she hadn't finished eating...
[Holy crap! Are they serious? Such a huge operation? In a post-apocalyptic world, this would just be a small zombie horde, but in ancient times, this would be a coup!]
[Chen Jin is pretty fierce! His swordsmanship, wow, so fluid, even more swift than slicing vegetables. But… to his left! That old man on the left is going to ambush him!]
Jiang Mianmian hid behind a tree, her body trembling (pretending), but her eyes were frighteningly calm as she stared intently at the battlefield.
She saw a man in black, under the cover of darkness, silently circle around to Shen Jin's side and behind, his poisoned dart already raised, aimed directly at Shen Jin's back.
Shen Jin was entangled with the three experts in front of him and seemed unaware of this.
[You're asking for it!]
Jiang Mianmian's eyes sharpened, her body reacting faster than her brain. She quickly picked up a sharp-edged pebble from the ground, flicked her wrist, and her muscle memory instantly kicked in.
[20 meters away, wind speed level 3, target: temple! Let's go!]
"Whoosh—"
The stone shot out like a bullet leaving the barrel, accompanied by a slight whooshing sound.
Although Shen Jin was fighting the enemy, his mind-reading ability allowed him to constantly "listen" to Jiang Mianmian's movements.
The moment she mentally shouted "Go!", Shen Jin was terrified.
Is she going to make a move?
No! There are too many people here, and if someone sees the frail princess throwing stones to kill someone, she won't be able to hide it!
In a flash, Chen Jin made an extremely bold decision.
He whirled around, his soft sword flashing as if to parry an attack from the front, but in reality, the sword energy swept backward, perfectly covering the direction of the attacker.
"puff!"
A muffled thud.
The man in black who was about to launch a sneak attack suddenly had a bloody hole in his temple, and he fell straight down without even having time to scream.
The blood-stained stone, upon striking its target, was instantly pulverized by the follow-up sword energy and dissipated into dust in the wind.
To outsiders, it seemed as if the Regent had eyes in the back of his head, and that a single sword strike killed the attacker.
Only Shen Jin knew that the man had been killed by the stones first.
[Nice! Headshot! Still feeling the action! Indeed, whether fighting zombies or assassins, physical attacks are always the most straightforward and effective!]
Hiding behind the tree, Jiang Mianmian clenched her fist secretly, giving herself a mental thumbs up.
Immediately, she switched modes, clutching her head and screaming, "Ah—! Murder! How terrifying!"
After dealing with the enemy in front of him, Shen Jin turned around and glanced at the woman who was still "trembling in fear," a helpless yet indulgent sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.
How scary?
That's enough force to smash through a skull!
If it weren't for his quick sword aura, that rock would probably have smashed the assassin's head like a watermelon.
This woman is even more ruthless than him.
"Keep alive!"
Shen Jin gave orders to Ying Yi and the others.
The battle came quickly and ended just as fast. Although this group of assassins was elite, they were ultimately no match for the Great God of War.
Soon, the remaining assassins, seeing that all was lost, were about to bite off the poison sacs in their mouths and commit suicide.
"Want to die?"
Shen Jin snorted coldly and was about to step forward and dislocate their jaws.
Suddenly, Jiang Mianmian's voice echoed in my mind again:
[The third one on the right! The one in the boots! He's hiding a lightning-powered grenade in his sleeve! He's going to self-destruct!]
Shen Jin's eyes narrowed, and the soft sword in his hand flew out instantly.
"Pfft!"
The longsword pierced the assassin's right arm with precision, pinning him to the ground.
A dark, round ball rolled out of his sleeve and landed right at Shen Jin's feet.
Chen Jin kicked the fireball away to an open space in the distance.
"boom--!"
A huge explosion rang out, flames shot into the sky, and dirt flew everywhere.
Everyone was stunned by this sudden turn of events. If the Regent hadn't reacted quickly, the consequences of the explosion would have been unimaginable!
Jiang Mianmian patted her chest:
[Phew...that was close. These ancient terrorists are so unethical, resorting to suicide bombings at the drop of a hat. Luckily, I have X-ray vision...oh wait, I mean, keen observation.]
Shen Jin pulled back his longsword and gave Jiang Mianmian a deep look.
Keen observation?
How could someone see the lightning and fire bomb hidden in a sleeve from such a distance, in the dark?
This is no longer a matter of observation skills, this is... a superpower, isn't it?
However, now is not the time to explore this.
"It's alright now."
Shen Jin strode over to the tree, pulled up the woman who was still "pretending to have weak legs," and casually patted the grass clippings off her skirt. "Your Highness has been frightened."
Jiang Mianmian leaned into his arms, sobbing, "Your Highness... I was so scared... that stone... oh no, that assassin suddenly collapsed, I thought it was a ghost..."
"It's a ghost."
Shen Jin went along with her and made up a lie, "He was scared to death by the princess's scream."
Jiang Mianmian: 【…Do you even know how to have a conversation?】
At this moment, the young emperor Shen Xingchen was also escorted over, his face pale, and he was still tightly clutching the toy bow in his hand.
"Royal Uncle! Royal Aunt! Are you alright?"
"It's alright." Shen Jin patted his head. "Good job, you didn't run around."
"Auntie!" Shen Xingchen's eyes reddened when he saw Jiang Mianmian. He rushed over and hugged her legs. "I was just... I was trying to shoot them with this bow, but it was too far away... Am I useless?"
Jiang Mianmian's heart softened completely, and she knelt down to wipe away his tears:
"Who said that? His Majesty remained calm under pressure just now, displaying true imperial demeanor. This bow may be small, but the intention behind it is great. I'll have your uncle teach you how to use the real thing later!"
"Really?" Shen Xingchen's eyes lit up.
“Really.” Shen Jin nodded, then coldly swept his gaze over the corpses on the ground. “But before that, I need to investigate where these ‘ghosts’ came from.”
These assassins were well-equipped and extremely familiar with the terrain of the hunting grounds, clearly indicating that they had an inside accomplice.
And this inside man...
His cautious gaze drifted almost imperceptibly to a tent not far away. That was the residence of several senior officials who had accompanied the entourage, including... the Empress Dowager's confidants.
"Back to camp."
Shen Jin picked up Jiang Mianmian and strode towards the main tent.
"Tonight, I'm afraid some people won't be able to sleep."
Jiang Mianmian nestled in his arms, inhaling the reassuring scent of blood, but her mind was preoccupied with something else:
[The assassin I just shot in the head, something seems to have fallen off his body? Something shiny...like a jade pendant?]
[It's a pity I didn't have time to pick it up. Oh well, Shen Jin is so smart, he'll definitely figure it out.]
[The most important thing right now is... I haven't finished my roasted rabbit leg yet! It's all cold! I want something hot! I want spicy rabbit head!]
Upon hearing the words "spicy rabbit head," my tense nerves completely relaxed.
fine.
No matter what happens, this salted fish's appetite will never change.
"Shadow One".
As Shen Jin walked, he gave instructions, "Go, reheat that rabbit and bring it to the tent. Also... have the kitchen make a spicy rabbit head."
Jiang Mianmian suddenly looked up, her eyes shining like searchlights:
"Long live the Prince! You are my god!"
Shen Jin looked down at her, a gentle smile curving his lips.
As long as you stay by his side so carefree, he'd be willing to be a god.
As for those demons and monsters lurking in the shadows...
A cold, bloodthirsty glint flashed in Chen Jin's eyes.
Since they dare to extend their claws, then chop them all up.
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