Chapter 180 Xuanyuan will not let a single one go.
Guan Ye… Ajiu’s heart clenched. If she were also in Xingguo Ward… how would Cui Jin treat her? The Eagle Guards were encircling and suppressing them, and those who disobeyed would die. If anyone in Xingguo Ward resisted, they would all die… Ajiu recalled the day the treasure ship landed on the island. Pei Bi summoned the swordsmen and asked them, “If someone were to destroy the peace of Canglang Island, what would you do?”
Lou Cangyu was the first to draw his sword, pointing it to the sky and saying, "Then kill him."
"Kill them!" the swordsmen shouted in unison. "Kill them!"
Cang Yu betrayed them, and Xiao Ma disappeared, but Ji Fang and Feng Shisan were still there… A Jiu secretly calculated the time. If everyone went to Shi Ya Ge as promised, perhaps they could still escape… But Cui Jin had one eye like a torch, and nothing could escape his eyes… A Jiu looked up at the sky. He had never longed for dawn so much, yet he also hoped… that time would stand still at this moment, that everything was just a dream, and that he would still be lying at the foot of Cang Mountain. When he woke up and opened his eyes, he could see Yu Xian Palace, its soaring eaves appearing and disappearing in the clouds.
Midnight had passed, and the guests at Shiya Pavilion were gradually leaving. Mu Chenbi gazed at Guan Ye's clear facial features, everything so beautiful it felt like a dream. Mu Chenbi reached out to Guan Ye, longing to touch her smooth, jade-like cheeks, hoping she would smile at him, her captivating dimples shimmering. But in an instant, Mu Chenbi stopped abruptly. A dream must end, and Mu Chenbi didn't want to shatter it with his own hands. Even a moment longer, half a moment, would be good.
Ji Fang, having had his fill of food and sleep, sat up, rubbed his eyes, and watched the guests get up and leave. He shook Feng Shisan, who was snoring beside him, and said, "Young Master Shisan, wake up. If you don't leave now, we'll have to kick the guests out."
"What the hell? He wouldn't dare!" Feng Shisan struggled to lift his head, took out his money pouch from his pocket, untied the drawstring, and reached for the silver inside. "Hey, check, please."
Mu Chenbi pressed down on Feng Shisan's money pouch, "I also brought some silver, this meal is on me."
"Bullshit." Feng Shisan slapped his hand away, his dark face contorted like a maddened leopard. "We agreed that if it's me, it's me. A bet is a bet. Do you look down on me, Young Master Shisan, after being in the palace so many times? If you dare to compete with me, we can't even be brothers anymore."
Mu Chenbi looked awkwardly at Guan Ye, "It's my fault, Thirteenth Young Master... please."
Ji Fang yawned halfway through, "Ah Jiu is acting a bit strange, Thirteenth Young Master? You never call him that."
Mu Chenbi stood up, sword in hand, and turned his back, saying, "A heroic demeanor, worthy of the title Thirteenth Young Master. It's getting late, let's go."
Ji Fang and Feng Shisan strolled down the street arm in arm. Ji Fang brandished his sword and howled a few times at the empty market, “What a fragrant Daughter’s Red wine! If only I could keep drinking it until I’m old and die… how wonderful that would be.”
Feng Shisan picked up Ji Fang's sword, his broad body nimbly spinning around a few times. "They have their own ways. Only you and I are left. I'll drink with you until we're old and die. But Ji Fang, didn't you say you wanted to go back to Canglang Island? How can you stay with me until we're old and die?"
Ji Fang somersaulted and flashed away with his sword, elegantly waving it and scattering fallen leaves everywhere. "Even though we're not in the same place, we still look up at the same bright moon. I'll think of you when I drink, and I'll never forget you, Thirteenth Young Master, even when I'm old."
"Hahahaha." Feng Shisan pointed at Ji Fang and laughed heartily, then suddenly tilted his head and said, "How about... you bring Ji Yuan here and say she'll be my wife?"
Ji Fang laughed so hard he bent over, pointing his sword at Feng Shisan and saying, "You'd better think this through. A Yuan is my sister. What, you don't want to be the Thirteenth Young Master, but you want to be my brother-in-law?"
Feng Shisan suddenly realized he had been wronged, drew his sword and chased after Ji Fang. Laughter and commotion filled the empty street, interspersed with sporadic firecracker sounds, each one touching the heart.
Guan Ye followed behind the two, chuckling. Seeing that Feng Shisan had the upper hand, she picked up a pebble and threw it at him. The pebble missed, and a slight look of annoyance appeared on Guan Ye's face. Mu Chenbi's phoenix-feather eyelashes followed her every move, his expression calm. He had drunk a lot of Daughter's Red wine tonight, even more than at Fulai Tavern. Mu Chenbi was also surprised that he wasn't drunk yet. It seemed that drinking capacity, like swordsmanship, was something that could be developed through practice. The more you drank, the less easily you would get drunk.
Before she knew it, she had reached the intersection of Xingguo Lane. Guan Ye suddenly stopped. Flames were shooting into the sky not far away, and something seemed amiss.
"What's wrong?" Ji Fang also noticed something. "It's so late at night, why are you making all that clanging and banging? You can't be waiting for us, can you?"
Mu Chenbi followed the light and saw that the Heavenly Furnace in Xingguo Ward burned year-round, but the flames before him did not seem to be from the furnace. Instead, they looked like many lit torches. Listening closely, he could faintly hear the sound of metal clashing, but it didn't sound like blacksmithing... more like... weapons clashing...
Feng Shisan looked down at the sword in his hand, then looked up blankly and met Mu Chenbi's gaze. "Oh no! Someone has broken into Xingguo Ward."
Before Guan Ye could react, Feng Shisan had already run towards Xingguo Ward. Ji Fang was stunned for a moment and then followed closely behind. The two of them, one in front of the other, looked just like the wild deer that rushed out of the prison cell on the day of the sacrificial furnace.
Guan Ye was about to follow when Mu Chenbi grabbed her wrist. "Wait, let's see first. You two stop too!" Mu Chenbi stopped Feng Shisan and Ji Fang. "Judging from the noise, it's quite a commotion. Under the Emperor's nose, what can you two mere swords do? Follow me... and see clearly before you speak."
Ji Fang found this reasonable and timidly peered at Feng Shisan's expression. Feng Shisan had sobered up considerably, gripped his sword tightly, and nodded to Mu Chenbi.
The group hid in a street corner and saw hundreds of soldiers with weapons surrounding Xingguo Ward. The gates of Xingguo Ward were wide open, and one after another, sword slave blacksmiths were brought out bound. They were all disheveled, their clothes were rumpled, and their faces were flushed from drinking too much wine. It was clear that they had just gotten out of bed. The leader was an old blacksmith with white hair. There were also twenty blacksmiths from the inner workshop. The tallest one, Huangpu Ying, looked terrified, clearly unaware of what was happening.
The Eagle Guards... are the Eagle Guards who serve the Emperor in the Imperial Palace. What's most terrifying is that sporadic sounds of fighting can be heard from the neighborhood. Mu Chenbi secretly thought that things were not good. The Eagle Guards are under the command of the Mu royal family. Seeing the Eagle Guards is like the Emperor himself. Anyone who dares to resist when the Eagle Guards make a move... is likely to die without a burial place.
"—Steward Pei!" Ji Fang recognized the sword style and called out in a low voice, "It's Steward Pei."
Guan Ye's eyes widened. Pei Bi was a swordsman by trade and was extremely loyal to the ward master. If someone broke into Xingguo Ward, he would risk his life to protect the ward master. The other swordsmen were not in the ward, so how could one person fight against hundreds of fully armed soldiers?
"Damn it!" Feng Shisan, his blood boiling, shot out of the street corner like an arrow, charging straight at the soldiers outside the neighborhood.
"Thirteenth Young Master, no!" Ji Fang grabbed at empty air.
"Release them!" Feng Shisan roared, untying the old blacksmith's ropes. "What did Xingguo Workshop do to deserve your rudeness!"
The Eagle Guards surrounded Feng Shisan in unison. The white-haired old blacksmith trembled as he tried to pull Feng Shisan away, but before he could even touch Feng Shisan's hand, the Eagle Guards assumed he was trying to escape. A sword light pierced the old blacksmith's heart. The sword was pulled out, and blood gushed out. Before the old blacksmith could even cry out, he had already collapsed stiffly onto the cold bluestone road. His aged body twitched a few times and then stopped moving.
Feng Shisan froze on the spot, his eyes bloodshot and filled with tears. He roared and swung his sword at the Eagle Guard who had killed him. The two swords clashed, and Feng Shisan severed the man's throat with one stroke. The Eagle Guard was intimidated by his murderous aura and looked at each other, not daring to step forward easily.
"Uncle Yin..." Ji Fang cried out the old blacksmith's name, his knuckles bulging as he gripped the sword, ready to charge out and avenge the old blacksmith.
"No!" Mu Chenbi pressed down hard on Ji Fang's trembling body. "You are outnumbered; going out will only be a pointless death..."
"You?" Ji Fang raised his sorrowful eyes. The firelight flickered, and the face of the person in front of him was familiar. He had a face exactly like A Jiu's. He held the sword of Xingguo Fang and was drinking with him at the same table. But there was no scar on his clean brow bone. He was... Crown Prince Chen Bi.
“It’s you…” Ji Fang’s lips were half open, his teeth stuck in his throat. He suddenly put down his sword and knelt on the ground. “Please, please help Xingguo Fang. What crime has Xingguo Fang committed? What crime has Yin Bo committed? Your Highness… Ji Fang, I beg you.”
Before Mu Chenbi could speak, Guan Ye suddenly straightened up, "Cui Jin, it's Cui Jin."
In the darkness, Cui Jin wiped the blood-dripping scimitar in his hand, tilting his thin face up. The tattoos covering his face were horrifying to see. The blood-dripping knife… Pei Bi, the fight just now… it was Pei Bi… and Cui Jin…
Behind Cui Jin, several eagle guards were pressing down on a man in black. Even from several feet away, Guan Ye could clearly see the knife wounds on the man's body. The flesh was torn open and the bone was visible. With each step he took, a large amount of blood seeped out. The man forced himself to turn around to look. Who else could that high-profile face be but Pei Bi? Guan Ye's eyes welled up with tears, and she clenched her hands to hold back her sobs.
Next to be dragged out of the ward was Pei Yuan. His satin robe was half-draped, and it was clear that he had been pulled up from his bedroom. His messy red hair covered his panicked face. He looked around haphazardly, scratching his hair with his withered hands, imagining that it was all a dream. When he woke up, everything in front of him would disappear. He was still lying on the bed in his bedroom, or perhaps they were still on Canglang Island, and nothing had ever happened.
"Grand Preceptor..." Pei Yuan called after Cui Jin, but stumbled a few steps before the Eagle Guards forcefully pressed him to his knees. "Grand Preceptor Cui... may I ask what crime Xingguo Ward has committed? Why... why..."
What crime have you committed? Cui Jin's face was cold and sinister; he didn't even turn to look at Pei Yuan. "Master Pei doesn't know?"
"This old man..." Pei Yuan wanted to speak but dared not. His pale eyes caught sight of the old blacksmith's tragically dead body, and his lips trembled as he could no longer utter a word.
"Feng Shisan..." Pei Bi struggled to lift his eyes and see Feng Shisan's face clearly. "Go...go..."
"Master Pei," Cui Jin raised his black robe, scrutinizing the young swordsman fighting to the death, "you have five swordsmen, yet not a single one was seen in the workshop today. One finally returned just before leaving. His skill shows he's truly inherited the skills of your steward. A young man with the spirit of ten can take on one; I wonder if he can withstand my curved blade…"
Seeing Cui Jin raise his curved sword, Pei Bi struggled to shout at Feng Shisan, "Feng Shisan, go, go! Fight your way out, go as far as you can, go!"
Feng Shisan paused mid-air with his sword raised, grinned at Pei Bi, and then swung his sword at Cui Jin, who was wielding a curved blade.
"Thirteenth Young Master..." Ji Fang glanced at the deep scar on his palm, roared, and leaped forward, "Thirteenth Young Master!"
Hearing the commotion, Cui Jin glanced sideways with his single eye. In the deep of night, he met Guan Ye's eyes, which were as bright as cold stars, and... A-Jiu.
"There are still people there!" The Eagle Guard leader pointed his sword at the street corner. "Chase them, don't let any of them escape."
Ji Fang pounced out like a leopard, and Mu Chenbi grabbed empty air. Seeing the Eagle Guards charging towards them in a dark mass, Mu Chenbi couldn't care less about anything else. He grabbed Guan Ye's hand and quickly retreated, saying, "Let's go first."
“Ji Fang…” Guan Ye kept turning back to look. She saw Ji Fang locked in combat with the charging Eagle Guards. Their weapons clashed, sparks flying. In the blink of an eye, Ji Fang’s pale face turned red. He seemed to hear Guan Ye’s cries and was desperately holding off the pursuers’ weapons, leaving Guan Ye with only a resilient silhouette.
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