Chapter 45
A brutal fight had just taken place on the outskirts of Tongcheng.
Yang Yan sat slumped under a tree, clutching his shoulder wound, gasping for breath. Before him lay a dozen corpses, all dressed as secret guards. Blood stained the ground red, and the cold air was thick with a strong, fishy odor. Even after years as a killer, Yang Yan couldn't help but feel nauseous.
The mute who caused all this was now squatting on the side of the road, covered in blood, chewing the packaged braised meat in big mouthfuls.
Yang Yan felt a chill down his spine. While feeling terrified, he was secretly glad that this person was on his side, not the enemy he was about to face.
No one would want to face such an opponent - he saw with his own eyes that the mute broke the necks of two people with his bare hands, while the sword that was inserted into his body was broken effortlessly like a toy.
It's like a powerful beast...
When Lord Fan initially arranged for him to lead the mute to intercept and kill Zhao Congyun along the way, he had no hope, believing it was an impossible task. Not to mention Dong Shu and the secret guards who always accompanied Zhao Congyun, he wasn't even sure he could handle Wei Zhi, who was in the escort team.
Until he saw the dumb man's skills... and killing style, he felt a little sorry for Zhao Congyun. He had been spoiled and raised in luxury since childhood. If he saw this scene, he would be scared to death!
Yang Yan began to look forward to this scene.
The mute finished eating quickly, burped, stood up, glanced at Yang Yan, and then walked towards the corpse alone.
Yang Yan wanted to get up, but saw the mute waving at him, indicating that he should not worry about it. He began to move the corpse and carefully erased the traces of the fight.
Although he acted ruthlessly, he was extremely meticulous in the aftermath. In a short while, the snow was as white as before, as if nothing had happened.
Yang Yan had seen him deal with several groups of secret guards in this way before, so he was not surprised. He bandaged himself and asked the mute to go back to the inn to rest.
The mute stared at him intently, without moving.
Yang Yan was startled: "What's wrong?"
The mute picked up a piece of dead branch, wrote the three words "Zhao Congyun" on the snow, and then crossed it out.
"You mean... you want to take action?" Yang Yan pursed his lips and said, "But we just went through a fierce battle. Why don't we rest well first and then make plans!"
The mute shook his head and wrote two more words: Tomorrow morning.
It was already past three in the morning. Yang Yan looked down at the wound on his body and hesitated for a moment.
"Are you... sure?"
The mute's eyes were determined, so Yang Yan nodded. He decided to trust the mute's judgment: "I'll listen to you! Let's get started tomorrow morning!"
What he didn't know was that as danger approached, the hunter and the beast had the same instinct. The time for Zhao Congyun and the mute to take action coincided, and the confrontation between the two had quietly begun at this moment.
*
Yue Mingming suddenly opened his eyes.
The villa was exceptionally quiet at night. The moonlight shone through the window lattices, and the area in front of the bed looked like it was covered with frost.
In order to prevent herself from missing Zhao Congyun, Anian and others, Yue Mingming went to bed early, but in her half-asleep state, she always felt something was wrong.
At this moment, she suddenly realized that it was a system task!
Help Prince Jia regain his position——
The task bar that had been hanging in front of her eyes, reminding her, disappeared inexplicably!
Yue Mingming anxiously asked, "System, where is my mission? Why is it gone?"
The system happily replied: "Congratulations, player. This game error has been fixed for you. We apologize for the inconvenience caused you previously. Your character has now successfully exited the main storyline, and we have topped up 1,000 taels of gold for you as compensation. You do not need to complete any tasks from now on. You can choose to enjoy the sightseeing mode or the farming and business mode. You can exit safely after the specified time. I wish you a happy game!"
Yue Mingming: ……………
Only then did she notice that the inconspicuous string of numbers in the upper right corner had many more zeros.
Surprised? Unexpected?
Just when she was finally starting to immerse herself in the experience, the game kicked her out of the main storyline!
From now on, everything in the game has nothing to do with her.
Yue Mingming was not as happy as he had imagined. Instead, he felt confused, as if he had lost something important and could never find it again. He felt empty and angry as if he had been fooled.
"Is my kung fu still there?" Yue Mingming asked.
System: "Of course, the achievements you unlocked previously are still valid."
Yue Mingming felt more at ease. Although this set of kung fu would probably never be useful again, she just couldn't bear to give it up.
She suddenly remembered, "Oh, right? If the mission 'Restoring Prince Jia' doesn't require my help, there will still be someone else to complete it, right?"
The system replied truthfully, "After the game bug was fixed, the main storyline has deleted the plot of 'Prince Jia's Restoration'. This quest will no longer exist."
Yue Mingming froze. "What do you mean? What about him... I mean, Prince Jia... What happened to Zhao Congyun? He wanted to help the emperor eliminate the rebels... Did he succeed?"
The system paused for two seconds, seemingly unsure how to answer her, and then offered a businesslike explanation: "If you're asking about the plot, our game is set in troubled times. Players can support different characters and form their own armies to fight for the throne. The ultimate goal is to unify the world."
Yue Mingming's heart suddenly sank.
In troubled times... fighting for the throne...
This can only mean that Emperor Zhaoming and Zhao Congyun failed, the dynasty collapsed, and the rebellious factions split up, which gave players the opportunity to take sides.
Is Xiao Anian... also one of these factions? Is he also a character for players to choose from?
She stood up suddenly, her mind clearer than ever before, and even a sarcastic sneer appeared at the corner of her mouth - she didn't know whether it was fate playing a trick on her, or this damn game played the role of fate, enjoying the pleasure of toying with her in the palm of its hand.
When she wanted to lie down, the plot tightened step by step, forcing her to work hard to complete the task. But when the game finally let her go, she insisted on getting back into the game to get the ending she wanted.
"You knew I couldn't stay out of this, didn't you?"
Yue Mingming smiled softly: "Since the game requires choosing a side, and the goal is to unify the world..."
She paused and said seriously to the system, "I'm also a player, so I have the right to choose! I choose Ah Nian!"
The system reminded: "I'm sorry, the character selected by the player does not exist. Our story takes place after the fall of this dynasty——"
Yue Mingming interrupted: "Then go and revise your storyline. Haven't you already revised it once?"
system:…………
"Sorry, if you were referring to the previous bug, we have fixed it and the game is now in normal condition."
Yue Mingming's lips curled up: "You're wrong, there's a bug in your game, and that's me!"
"I'm still here. I choose to help Prince Jia regain his throne and help Ah Nian unify the world! As long as I'm here, this game will only have one ending!"
The system fell silent.
Yue Mingming picked up the unopened bundle and tied it tightly around his body. He then pulled up the map, selected Tongcheng, and called out to the system, "Hey, stop playing dead. I have one more request! Regarding your compensation... I don't want gold. Can I get something else in exchange?"
The system is not as smooth as humans. Unless it crashes, it must answer the question diligently: "...What do you want?"
Yue Mingming blinked: "You know what I like!"
*
The morning light is dim.
A group of people were sleeping soundly in the post station. After Yang Yan and the mute jumped in, no one noticed them.
Strange... so quiet.
Yang Yan, relying on his killer instinct and his understanding of Zhao Congyun, felt a vague sense of unease. He exchanged glances with the mute, who was clearly even more vigilant than he was, moving cautiously but with the same confident gaze as always.
Yang Yan's heart gradually calmed down - yes, with the mute here, he can kill gods and Buddhas if they stand in his way! What's there to be afraid of an ambush?
The two went straight to the top room upstairs.
Even though Zhao Congyun was demoted and exiled, given his status, he still retained the highest dignity everywhere, because that represented the dignity of the royal family.
There is no one guarding the door!
Pushing the door open, he saw a figure lying faintly on the bed. Yang Yan raised his hand and swung his knife without hesitation. The bottom of the knife felt soft and definitely not like a human body. Yang Yan shook his wrist lightly, and a pillow rolled down. The bedding spread out, and the bed was empty!
Yang Yan was not surprised at all. If Zhao Congyun was so easy to be assassinated, Lord Fan would have done it in the capital long ago. How could he be the one to achieve such a great feat?
Before he could give any instructions, the mute had already searched the house thoroughly, but still found nothing. The two men turned to leave, but at that moment, the door suddenly closed!
Four incense burners emitting billowing white smoke were thrown in from the window, and a strange fragrance filled the air. Yang Yan cursed inwardly and began to feel dizzy. He covered his mouth and nose and was about to pick up his knife to kill, but he saw the mute stretch out a hand as big as a palm-leaf fan and slap him!
Yang Yan tried to dodge, but his movements were not as fast as the mute's. By the time he reacted, he was already in the mute's hands. The next second, the mute's tall body slammed into the wall.
The mute knocked a big hole in the room, bricks and tiles flew everywhere, and the two men fell down the stairs and landed in the yard in a mess, but because they fell in an unexpected place, they avoided the first wave of arrows.
Only then did Yang Yan understand the mute's intention.
He had years of experience as a killer, while the mute was born with a natural fighting instinct. If he had rushed out of the room at that time, he would have been ambushed, and the archers were already in place at the place where he broke through the window and went downstairs.
The only way to survive is to find another way. So the mute found a way out.
However, Zhao Congyun did not give them any time to breathe. As soon as they landed, the second wave of arrows came!
Unfortunately, without the poisonous smoke, how could Yang Yan take these methods seriously? The long sword whistled out, and arrows fell one after another. The mute took the opportunity to pounce among the archers and twisted off an arm.
Accompanied by shrill screams, the mute's one-sided slaughter began. He was like a hungry wolf charging into a flock of sheep, murderous intent and his methods were even more terrifying. The soldiers could not withstand a single move and were turned into a pile of scattered sand in the blink of an eye.
At this moment, dozens of black-clad, black-armored secret guards descended from the sky, forming a well-trained formation and retaking the battlefield. Behind them, a figure in white clothes whiter than snow stood on the stairs with his hands behind his back, looking down coldly at Yang Yan and the others.
Yang Yan's eyes lit up, and the mute also became excited. Zhao Congyun didn't hide, he showed up on his own initiative!
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