Chapter 182 Fight your way out! Fight your way out!
"Ji Fang, it's Ji Fang!" Lou Cangyu leaped forward and grabbed Ji Fang's hand. "Ji Fang? You..."
In the corner, Ji Fang was curled up, his body covered in crimson blood. At first glance, it was impossible to tell whether it was his own blood or someone else's. He gripped the hilt of his sword tightly with his right hand, as if it were wrapped around his flesh. He suddenly lunged at Lou Cangyu, who could not dodge in time and could only let him hug her. Her eyes darted around warily, as if afraid that the steward would come back after leaving.
In the woodshed, Ji Fang, who had recovered for a while, was still shivering. He held the bowl of water that Lou Cangyu handed him, spilling it all over the floor. Lou Cangyu squatted down and examined Ji Fang. His black clothes were covered in sword marks, and blood was still seeping from the exposed wounds. Fortunately, the wounds weren't very deep, and in the dead of winter, the cold wind helped to stop the bleeding. Ji Fang was seriously injured, but not fatally. The blood on his body... was probably mostly... from the Eagle Guards.
Lou Cangyu's body swayed slightly—fighting the Eagle Guard meant certain death, yet Ji Fang dared to resist them?
"Are you feeling better?" Lou Cangyu leaned closer to look at Ji Fang's face. "Have some water."
Ji Fang had already spilled most of the water in his bowl. When Lou Cangyu called him, Ji Fang tremblingly brought the rim of the bowl to his lips. As soon as he touched it, he seemed to recall some terrible scene, and his whole body shuddered, causing his wrist to tremble and slip off the bowl.
“Cangyu…I’m so sorry…” Ji Fang’s voice trembled. “I…I didn’t…I didn’t mean to.”
"What kind of nonsense is this?" Lou Cangyu picked up the water bowl, got up to refill Ji Fang's bowl, and said, "You rest..."
"Cangyu, don't go!" Ji Fang pleaded, tugging at Lou Cangyu's clothes. "Don't go."
Lou Cangyu simply sat cross-legged opposite him, turned the water bowl upside down, and said, "I heard about it early this morning. What exactly happened in Xingguo Ward? The ward was raided and people were arrested? The blood on you... did you kill the Eagle Guard? Who else in the ward died? And you... how did you escape? Did anyone see you come here?"
Hearing Lou Cangyu rattle off a barrage of questions, Ji Fang's head buzzed. Suddenly, he pressed his hands to his temples, his blood-stained face contorted with terror. "I don't know... I don't know..." Ji Fang cried out, burying his head in his hands. "Cangyu... I don't know anything..."
Ji Fang was timid, and Lou Cangyu knew that he was still in shock and wouldn't be able to get anything out of him right away, so he patted his shoulder with his large hand and said, "Rest first, calm down and then talk to me."
“Cangyu…” Ji Fang raised his head, “Something happened… They’ve all been arrested, everyone has been arrested. Yin Bo is dead, killed by a single sword. Yin Bo did nothing, he just…” Ji Fang recalled the scene at the time, reaching out to grab empty air, “He just… was killed, bled a lot… died, died.”
Lou Cangyu asked again in a low voice, "Where are the others? You... the only one who escaped?"
Ji Fang gasped for breath. "Thirteenth Young Master... I fought my way out... Steward Pei shouted at us, telling us to fight our way out... to escape... not to look back... I did as he said... and fought my way out. Thirteenth Young Master... yes, where is Thirteenth Young Master..." Ji Fang stared around like a madman. "Thirteenth Young Master didn't escape? Where is he? Cang Yu... have you seen him, have you seen Thirteenth Young Master?"
Lou Cangyu shook his head, "It's just you. I didn't see Feng Shisan." Lou Cangyu tentatively asked again, "Ajiu, and Guan Ye... were they arrested too?"
“No.” Ji Fang blurted out, then fell into thought again. “No… I don’t know… A-Jiu?” Ji Fang’s mind was in a daze. Last night, he got drunk in Ya Ge. A-Jiu, that was A-Jiu, but it seemed like… it wasn’t him… Who was that person… Who was he?
—The firelight flickered, and the man had a face just like Ajiu's, but he was not Ajiu; he was Crown Prince Chenbi.
It was him. Ji Fang swallowed his name and didn't tell Lou Cangyu.
Lou Cangyu scrutinized Ji Fang's terrified face. "Why would you think of coming to me? Aren't you afraid of the imperial inner court...?"
Seeing that Lou Cangyu's expression was not quite right, Ji Fang felt even colder. "Where... can I go? Cangyu... are you blaming me... for coming to the inner quarters? Are you afraid that I will implicate you?"
Lou Cangyu turned his face away, afraid that Ji Fang would see through him. "Of course not. You and I are the best of brothers, since we were kids. You managed to escape and still thought of finding me. Even though the blood alliance is broken, you still consider me a brother. I'm overjoyed, how could I blame you?" Lou Cangyu said, turning his face away. "Few people come to the woodshed. You can settle down here for now. I'll bring you food later. The storeroom is not far away, and sword slaves often come and go there. Don't step out of the woodshed even once."
Seeing that Lou Cangyu had not forgotten their past friendship, Ji Fang's dark circles glistened with tears. "Cangyu... thank you."
Lou Cangyu stood up and dusted himself off. “There’s no need for thanks between brothers. The woodshed is cramped, and I was afraid you’d be wronged.”
Seeing Cang Yu about to leave, Ji Fang hurriedly got up and said, "Cang Yu, could you please inquire about this? What exactly happened in Xingguo Ward? And... Thirteenth Young Master... was he also arrested? And what about Ajiu and... Guan Ye..."
Lou Cangyu seemed not to hear him and walked away without hesitation. Ji Fang's voice gradually lowered as he watched Lou Cangyu's resolute back with tears in his eyes, but in the end, he did not dare to call out to him.
In a deserted old alley in the southern suburbs, a shadowy figure moved with difficulty. The man had a youthful appearance, but his steps were even more unsteady than an old woman's. He dragged a sheathed iron sword, the scabbard nowhere to be seen. He supported himself against the wall with one hand and dragged the sword with the other. His footprints on the ancient rock path were marked with bone-white marks by the blade. He bent over and panted heavily for a long time, then pounded his chest and forced himself to continue forward. When he moved his hand away, a horrifying bloody handprint was visible on the lime wall.
Feng Shisan took another half step, then suddenly turned his head to look at the bloody palm print he had left behind. He gritted his teeth, picked up his sword, and scraped it inch by inch. No bloodstains were left on the lime wall, only desolate mottled marks.
"Feng Shisan, go! Go! Fight your way out! Fight your way out! Don't look back! Go! Go!"
Feng Shisan didn't know how he managed to fight his way out. In the end, even he felt hopeless. A large number of Eagle Guards were like locusts that could not be eradicated, swarming towards him. He was like... the last lonely ear of wheat in the wilderness of his hometown village, facing the thirsty and frenzied locusts, not wanting to escape, but unable to escape.
Furthermore, there was Cui Jin's curved sword, a strange weapon that Feng Shisan had never seen before. The hilt was jet black, and the blade was silver-white. Feng Shisan saw the runes carved on the hilt. He had seen similar runes on Cui Jin's face. Feng Shisan did not know the meaning of these runes. The moment Cui Jin swung the sword, Feng Shisan finally understood the essence of these runes. It must be the lament of the underworld, humming to welcome his arrival.
The blade flashed like a moonlit shadow, Cui Jin's moves were as swift as a ghost, the blade light flickering like a serpent's dance. Cui Jin's feet touched the ground lightly, his single eye sinister, as if an evil spirit had appeared. He raised his curved blade high and slashed down at Feng Shisan's head. Feng Shisan's ears were ringing, his cheeks stinging from the blade's wind. He was exhausted, and the killing intent he had been holding onto was as thin as paper in front of Cui Jin. Feng Shisan was powerless to resist. He only hoped to die the most heroic death, so that many years later, when people recalled this night's battle, Feng Shisan would not be the coward in their mouths.
"Feng Shisan, fight your way out! Fight your way out! Go, go, fight your way out!"
Pei Bi's roar startled the exhausted Feng Shisan. He couldn't just die like this. Tonight's battle would only be forgotten in the long river of history, never to be remembered by anyone. Future generations would never know that there was a swordsman named Feng Shisan. He would only be seen as a traitor who stubbornly resisted, bearing the same infamy as his father for generations to come, unable to hold his head up even in the underworld.
Feng Shisan cannot die like this, absolutely not.
Feng Shisan dodged and weaved with all his might, narrowly avoiding the seemingly impossible strike. Cui Jin smiled and suddenly flashed forward, his curved blade arcing strangely, its realness hard to discern, aiming straight for Feng Shisan's vitals. Feng Shisan swung his sword to block, and with that one move, he knew he was no match for Cui Jin. If he couldn't kill him, he could only flee.
Feng Shisan swept and chopped wildly, suddenly seizing an opening in the Eagle Guard's encirclement. With a leap, he broke through the wall of men, his face covered in the gleam of swords and blood splattering everywhere, making it impossible to tell whether it was his own blood or someone else's...
As he ran, he turned his head for one last look behind him. Cui Jin was not chasing after him. His unfathomable single eye was like the most terrifying vortex, swirling around people and making it hard to breathe. He held a curved sword, and his whole body exuded a chilling aura. Seeing that Feng Shisan had escaped far away, he gently stroked the hilt of the sword engraved with runes. Suddenly, the blade was aimed at the fleeing Feng Shisan again, as if holding a bow and arrow, the bowstring taut and ready to be released.
Feng Shisan turned away in shock, refusing to look at him again. He could do nothing but run away.
In the past twenty years, the bustling city of Rongdu has shifted from the south to the west. The western streets have been built and have become more and more lively. Officials and wealthy families have built mansions in the west, and ordinary people have followed suit and moved there. Gradually, the southern alley has become desolate. Today, when you come here, weeds line the way, the deep alleys are dilapidated, and the ancient trees that no one cares for block out the sun. Under the trees, weeds grow wildly. The old houses along the way are in ruins. Looking around, all you can see is desolation. The deep alleys stretch for miles, but there is not a trace of people.
"Six, seven, eight..." Feng Shisan counted in his throat, "Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen..."
—This is the seventeenth house in the south alley, with its green-tiled roofs and facing north. Exhausted, Feng Shisan mustered his last bit of strength to push open the wooden door. The old house was covered in cobwebs, and the interior walls were covered in old marks. The sudden movement startled rats and ants, and flies swarmed around. Feng Shisan brushed away the dust that hit his face, coughing a few times from the choking. Looking sadly at the few remaining, crooked objects in the house, Feng Shisan was filled with sorrow. He was not well-educated and only knew a few characters. The saying "at the end of the road" perfectly described his current state.
A sudden, sharp pain shot through Feng Shisan's body, as if a sharp blade was cutting through his muscles and flesh, ripping away his will. Feng Shisan curled up and collapsed to the ground, watching as blood seeped from his wounds, seeping into the moss-covered brick cracks and staining the green moss a moist, deep red. Feng Shisan softly released his sword, glancing at the blood blisters covering his fingertips, his weary breathing growing increasingly labored.
"That's enough..." Feng Shisan smiled contentedly, then tilted his head and fainted.
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