Tragically assassinated
After leaving the pleasure boat, Tang Feng retraced his steps, wondering where he should go back to. With Zhang Mobai not around, he couldn't go back to the Zhang residence. If he went through the main gate of his own house, he would be questioned from top to bottom again. Ugh, he would have to climb over the wall again. Tang Feng had a headache. He didn't want to get caught again this time. Those two big sticks at home were no joke.
God help me! I hope Liu Yi goes to sleep soon and stays away from my life! Just as he was thinking this, Tang Feng had already left Wanchun Lane. Han Jiuhua was right. It was already very late, or rather, the night was getting deeper. The bustling street at noon was now deserted.
Tang Feng was walking down the street when he heard a rustling sound behind him. He wanted to turn around, but then he remembered it was late autumn and the wind was blowing fallen leaves, so he didn't think much of it and continued walking. After walking two blocks along the same route, just as he was about to turn around, Tang Feng heard a 'whoosh' sound as something brushed past his hair. Tang Feng looked around but didn't see anyone, so he went to look for the thing that had just brushed past him. Because it was too dark, Tang Feng searched for quite a while.
"Ouch! I'm exhausted. If this weren't for the money, my old back would be wasting its time." Tang Feng squatted on the ground, groping around for a while without finding anything, then plopped down on the ground, one hand supporting himself on the ground, the other fanning himself. "It's so hot!" After fanning for a short while, his hand ached, so he switched hands. Just as he switched, Tang Feng felt an iron rod-like object. He pulled it out with force and felt around in his hand. "What's this?!" He shone the moonlight on it, and it was an arrow shaft!
"Ah!" Tang Feng was so frightened that he threw the arrow away and took a few steps back, thinking, "Could this be the thing that just passed by me?" Tang Feng trembled and crawled back to retrieve the arrow shaft, stuffed it into his clothes, and ran back to the Tang residence. He hadn't run more than a few steps when he heard the sound of arrows falling from their strings again. Several arrows flew past him, scaring Tang Feng so much that he didn't dare to look back. His legs seemed to be running aimlessly, as if they wouldn't obey him. Looking around, Tang Feng saw a small alley not far away and thought that he was in the open while the murderer was in the shadows. He figured that if he hid in the alley, he might be safer.
Tang Feng sidestepped into the alley. Once inside, he breathed a sigh of relief and slowly sat down against the wall. Before he could even catch his breath, he heard something making a sound behind him.
"Damn, could there be an assassination attempt in the alley?" Tang Feng muttered, gripping the arrow tightly as he turned around. He saw a ragged old woman holding a child. The old woman looked at Tang Feng with terror and tremblingly pulled out a few coins from her bosom, tossing them to him. Tang Feng wanted to tell her to be quiet, so he approached and gestured for her to be still, but he forgot he was still holding the arrow. The old woman hugged the child tightly, backed away, shook her head, and suddenly screamed. Tang Feng quickly went over and covered her mouth, whispering in her ear, "I'm not a bad person, I'm just being chased. Don't speak, I won't hurt you." The old woman nodded, her trembling movements causing tears to stream down her cheeks and onto Tang Feng's hand. Tang Feng slowly released his grip.
"Young master, are you being chased by enemies?" the woman asked in a low voice.
Tang Feng shook his head, signaling her to be quiet, and then peered towards the alley entrance. The old woman grabbed Tang Feng, led him deeper into the alley, patted his shoulder to make him squat down, and handed him the sleeping child she was holding. "You hide here for a bit, I'll go get some dry grass, at least you can hide," she said. She then got up and walked out of the alley, returning shortly with a small pile of grass. The old woman sprinkled the grass on Tang Feng, saying as she did so, "That's much better, not so noticeable."
Just then, Tang Feng faintly heard the sound of an arrow being drawn. Alarm bells rang in his mind. "Could it be the scream from earlier that brought the killer here?" Tang Feng turned around and saw a man in black standing at the alley entrance, a bow fully drawn. "Watch out!" Tang Feng tried to pull the old woman away, but it was too late. The arrow flew swiftly from the bowstring, piercing the old woman's body. She fell to the ground before she could even scream. Seeing the old woman dead, the man in black took another arrow from the quiver on his back, nocked it, and aimed it at Tang Feng. Tang Feng was terrified and retreated repeatedly, but there was only a wall behind him, no way to escape. Tang Feng hugged the child tightly, trembling as he said, "It's okay, don't be afraid. He'll kill me, but not you. Don't be afraid." Then, as if resigned to his fate, he closed his eyes.
He hadn't expected to encounter this so soon after arriving in this world. Oh well, he'd already experienced life; he'd still be a hero eighteen years from now. He wondered if he'd be reborn into a wealthy family again. Just as Tang Feng was thinking this, he heard a "whoosh." Thinking it was an arrow leaving the bowstring, he cried out, "Ah!" But after a while, he didn't feel the expected pain. Tang Feng opened his eyes and saw a pair of darts stuck beside him. He looked towards the alley entrance and saw Liu Yiwan standing there with his hands on his hips. "Young Master, are you alright?"
Where is that person?
He ran away.
"Then hurry up and chase after him!" Tang Feng was getting anxious. If the murderer hadn't been found, he would definitely come back, and there would be no peace for him in this world. So he urged Liu Yiwan to hurry up and give chase.
“It’s too late, young master. That person must have run far away by now.” Liu Yiwan shook his head and went to help Tang Feng, but Tang Feng waved his hand and said, “I have other things to do. Wait for me at the alley entrance. Take this child with you, don’t let him look this way, and stand far away so he can’t hear you.” Liu Yiwan agreed and covered the child’s eyes with one hand while picking him up with the other.
Seeing Liu Yiwan walk away, Tang Feng quickly crawled to the old woman's side and said, "Are you alright? I'll take you back and get a doctor to come and take a look."
The old woman grabbed Tang Feng's clothes with her blood-stained hands. "Young master, please don't trouble yourself. I might not make it... Could you please take care of that child for me?"
Tang Feng was somewhat at a loss under the old woman's gaze. "This... I've never taken care of children before, I..."
"It's alright!" The old woman suddenly grabbed Tang Feng's hand excitedly. Perhaps due to excessive blood loss, the old woman was trembling all over, but her eyes were very firm. "Even if I have been a slave in your family for generations, it's better than starving to death on the streets with no one to claim my body. Please, please promise me."
"Well... okay."
The old woman, as if reassured, lay back down on the ground, panting heavily. She slowly pulled two jade pendants from her chest. "When my wife was alive, she left behind a son and a daughter. This child is my brother. He also has an older sister who was sold into prostitution when the family fell on hard times. It was my incompetence that prevented me from redeeming her... cough cough cough."
"Where is the girl? I'll redeem her and bring her back," Tang Feng quickly agreed, seeing that the old woman was having increasing difficulty speaking.
"Wanchun Lane, Yunhai Pavilion, Qin Jiujiu"
"Alright, Qin Jiujiu, right? I'll go redeem her tomorrow, you can rest assured."
"In that case, young master, I will repay your great kindness in my next life," the old woman said before passing away.
Tang Feng took the jade pendant from the old woman's hand and examined it in the moonlight. It was carved from translucent white jade and felt cool to the touch. Presumably, the family had been quite wealthy before their decline. Tang Feng stood up and also pulled out the throwing dart fixed to the wall, taking it with him.
Why are you here?
"Ah! This alley is quite close to the mansion. I was just about to get into bed when I heard a scream, so I came to check."
"Let's go." Tang Feng emerged from the alley, staring at the sleeping child in Liu Yiwan's arms. He scratched his head. "Hiss~ Tomorrow, have someone give the old lady a proper burial. After all, she's practically my savior. Also, take this child home. We'll talk about the rest later." With that, Tang Feng turned to leave, but stumbled and almost fell. "Young Master!" Liu Yiwan grabbed Tang Feng's arm.
"It's okay, my legs are just a little weak."
"Are you really alright?" Liu Yiwan asked worriedly, noticing Tang Feng's unsteady gait and the bloodstains on his body—she couldn't tell if it was Tang Feng's blood or the old woman's.
"It's alright, it's alright, let's go," Tang Feng waved his hand. He couldn't very well tell Liu Yiwan that he was so scared his legs felt like lead and he couldn't move.
Back at the manor, Liu Yiwan carefully examined Tang Feng. Seeing that he was unharmed, she breathed a sigh of relief, then went to the well to fetch some water and gently wiped Tang Feng clean. "Young Master, when did you make enemies?"
"How would I know? If I had known, would I still be sitting there waiting to die? I would have sent that bastard to meet the King of Hell long ago." Tang Feng took off his blood-stained clothes and put them aside, then sat down at the table and poured himself a cup of tea.
"Young master, the tea has gone cold. Let me make you a hot cup."
"What's so hot about it? I'm already burning up! I'm lucky to even have something to drink, humph! The tea's cold... I almost died of thirst!" Tang Feng was somewhat seething with anger. It was bad enough that everything had gone wrong since he came to this world, but now he'd been caught in an unexpected disaster, surviving an assassination attempt. "Before I lost my memory, did I offend anyone?"
"Hmm..." Liu Yiwan touched her chin and thought for a while before saying, "Really, no. You used to be someone who rarely left the house, and you could count your friends on one hand. To be honest, I can't think of anyone you've offended right now."
"That's really strange. Oh, right, I brought the murder weapon back. Take a look." With that, Tang Feng pulled an arrow and several darts from the cloth bag.
Liu Yiwan picked up the arrow and examined it carefully. "Young Master, this arrow is nothing special. It's a very normal arrow. There are plenty of blacksmiths in the South City who can make this kind of arrow. I don't know where to start!"
"What about this one?" Tang Feng held up the darts. "I see this one has carved patterns on it."
"Um... Young Master, this is my dart." Liu Yiwan rubbed his hands together and took the dart back from Tang Feng. "Look, my surname is engraved on it." As if to prove something to Tang Feng, he pointed to the crookedly engraved character 'Liu' on the dart.
"Your dart? Your dart almost hit me on the head! I almost died, you know that?" Tang Feng nearly fainted from choking.
"My little darling, if it weren't for my two darts, that man's arrow would have hit you right between the eyebrows."
"You... I'm so lucky to have you! Get out of here, don't get in my way." After saying that, Tang Feng shooed Liu Yiwan out the door. "Take good care of the kid I brought back today. If anything happens to him, he'll be kneeling in front of me and castrating himself to atone for his sins." After saying that, he slammed the door shut.
Tang Feng chased Liu Yi away and went to bed. Lying in bed, his mind kept replaying the image of the dead old woman and the man in black standing at the alley entrance. The man in black seemed strangely familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before, but he couldn't quite place him. Tang Feng rubbed his throbbing temples, sighed, and tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. He finally managed to drift off to sleep as dawn broke outside the window.
Tang Feng's sleep was restless. In his dream, he passed through one vermilion-walled courtyard after another, lined with crabapple trees. He didn't know how long he walked, but finally stopped in front of a door. Through the paper window, he saw a man and a woman sitting upright in a main hall, their backs to him, seemingly talking. Tang Feng tried hard to listen, but he couldn't make out a single word. Suddenly, everything went black, and a sword thrust towards him from the window. "Ah!" Tang Feng sat up abruptly, panting heavily. He looked out the window; the sky was just beginning to brighten. Leaning against the headboard, he carefully considered his dream. It felt more like a real dream than a dream. Tang Feng threw off the covers, put on a robe, and decided to go out to see the child from yesterday.
As soon as he stepped outside, he saw Liu Yiwan running over. "Young Master, the child has woken up. Would you like to go and see him?"
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