*Clatter, clatter…*
The horses and carriages were like a long dragon, and Xuansheng Street was teeming with people.
Gu Wangchen sat in a private room on the third floor of a roadside tavern, pushing open the window to carefully observe every carriage passing below.
“Minister Gu, it is now 2:00 PM. Those attackers still haven’t arrived. At the same time, according to the liaison officers at the five other locations, they haven’t encountered any carriages carrying black fire oil either,” Nie Ling reported, glancing at the sun outside the window.
“There is no hurry. Those guys are probably more anxious than we are,” Gu Wangchen said calmly, pouring himself a cup of tea and taking a small sip. “I suspect they are waiting for the right moment.”
“Waiting for a moment?”
“They are waiting for the officials to leave the Imperial City after work,” Gu Wangchen replied.
“Their targets are the officials?” Nie Ling frowned, her tone turning grave.
“Oh, I haven’t told you yet, have I? The Anxi soldiers carrying out this attack intend to avenge the 30,000 soldiers who were trapped and died in Xiangling within the Western Regions three years ago. They believe it was caused by the army supervisors sent by my father, so they want to retaliate against the Imperial Court.”
Nie Ling did not respond. She had always made it a point not to comment on matters regarding the Imperial Court.
She understood the principle that trouble comes from the mouth, especially when the person sitting across from her was the son of one of the parties involved.
“So, there is no need to rush. They will likely show up between 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM.”
Nie Ling stood up and nodded. “Minister Gu, please allow me to check the personnel arrangements once more.”
“Go ahead.”
***
Si Kongyue sat bored at the tea stall downstairs. The teapot on her table had already been refilled three times.
She felt bloated now and really needed to use the restroom.
‘Bad move. I shouldn’t have drunk so much if I’d known!’
But she didn’t dare leave to relieve herself. It was possible that during that brief interval, the target carriage would slip past her and head toward Anfu Gate.
If things went wrong on her end, she could imagine how Gu Wangchen would deal with her.
At that thought, she subconsciously pressed her legs together and kept tapping her feet, her gaze drifting toward the sun in the west.
As the end of the workday approached, the pedestrians on Xuansheng Street became increasingly dense. Countless people from all walks of life, dressed in either plain cloth or brocade robes, traversed both sides of the street. Freshly made flatbreads emitted a tempting aroma, while the sounds of hawking and bargaining filled the air.
There were even young children breaking free from their mothers’ grasp, chasing a large yellow dog in groups of two or three while laughing and playing.
Looking at this scene of bustling prosperity, Si Kongyue subconsciously clenched her fist.
Although she didn’t know a single one of these people, wasn’t the reason she followed her master to practice Cultivation and the way of the sword to ensure this peaceful sunset scene wouldn’t be destroyed by villains or demons?
As for that so-called quest for immortality?
She didn’t actually care about those things. She only wanted to resolve her obsession and return to the Sword Sect. She would buy a small cottage at the foot of the mountain near the sect and marry several beautiful wives — no, find several like-minded confidants to live with and grow old together…
“Hyah!”
*Clop, clop, clop.*
The sound of hoofbeats approaching from a distance interrupted her wandering thoughts. Si Kongyue immediately stood up and walked to the edge of the street, circulating her technique to carefully sense the True Qi characteristics of the driver.
‘Not this one either…’
‘No, wait!’
The moment she retracted her technique, she felt a faint, familiar sensation coming from the rear compartment of the carriage.
It was highly similar to Wei Yang’s technique characteristics!
With no time to overthink, she immediately pulled a signal pouch from her robe and slammed it onto the ground with a loud *crack*.
In an instant, numerous undercover Jing Ting Wei hidden on both sides of the street stood up simultaneously, fixing their gazes on the carriage in the middle of the road.
“Ouch!”
Two of the undercover Jing Ting Wei began brawling by the roadside according to plan, naturally tumbling into the center of the street.
“Get out of the way!”
The driver shouted at the top of his lungs, instinctively steering the horse to one side.
As the horse let out a long neigh, one Jing Ting Wei was “thrown” into the rear carriage compartment at the perfect moment.
“Reveal yourselves!”
Following a furious roar from inside the compartment, the Jing Ting Wei on both sides of the road immediately shed their civilian clothes, revealing the black Feiyu Uniforms embroidered with Bi’an patterns underneath.
“Jing Ting Wei conducting official business! Civilians, stand back!”
A Jing Ting Wei Baihu pulled a signal gun from his belt and fired a flare into the sky.
*Sizzle… boom!*
The firework exploded in the air. All the Jing Ting Wei pulled standard-issue long sabers from beneath door panels and tables along the street.
*Clang —*
Blades were unsheathed, their cold light reflecting the sun.
Seeing this, the commoners who had originally intended to watch the commotion all fled into the buildings. The flow of people on the street vanished instantly.
Si Kongyue took the lead. She drew her sword, stepped lightly onto a folding stool, and lunged through the air toward the horse’s joints.
*Whinny — !*
A graceful shadow flashed, the sword light reflecting like snow. Blood blossomed from the horse’s leg joint. The horse let out a long cry of pain and immediately collapsed uncontrollably to one side.
*Crash!*
At that moment, the cloth canopy of the rear compartment was completely shredded by the two people fighting inside. A black-clad Jing Ting Wei, his clothes torn and his body a bloody mess, was thrown out and went rolling across the ground.
Inside the compartment, an armored soldier holding a war hammer was clutching his spurting neck. He resolutely pressed a fire starter against the black cloth beside him.
*Rattle…*
As the horse fell, the compartment flipped onto its side. The black cloth slipped away, revealing numerous wooden barrels filled with black fire oil spilling onto the ground.
The sparks instantly raced down the fuse.
“Get back, it’s going to explode!”
Someone shouted a warning. The Jing Ting Wei who had been closing in on the center of the street reacted and leaped away in all directions.
*BOOM — !!!*
Flames surged upward, and a deafening roar filled everyone’s ears.
A small mushroom cloud rose from the center of the street. Black smoke filled the air as the shockwave swept out like a wave, slamming most of the Jing Ting Wei into the ground like ragdolls.
Even Si Kongyue was not spared. Sizzling sparks ignited her wolf-cut hair. The young woman clutched her chest, feeling her internal organs churning. Even the tea she had just finished drinking threatened to surge up her throat.
‘Damn it! I was careless; I didn’t dodge!’ she cursed inwardly, turning her head to look at the center of the road as the smoke cleared.
Aside from a few fragments of armor and bits of flesh, there was no sign of any intact structure left of the armored soldier who had ignited the black fire oil.
“Lady Si Kongyue,” Nie Ling called out, leaping over the rooftops from behind. she hurried over to support Si Kongyue and asked with concern, “How are your injuries? Do you need medical attention?”
“I’m fine,” Si Kongyue said, waving her hand. She forcibly swallowed back the tea that now tasted of rust and forced a smile. “I can still hold on… you should go check on your subordinates.”
“Alright, take care!” Once she confirmed that the young woman her temporary superior favored was mostly alright, Nie Ling finally had the chance to worry about her own subordinates.
The street was littered with Jing Ting Wei. Almost all of them had shredded clothes, and the smell of charred meat filled the air.
Seeing this tragic sight, the reprimand she had prepared died in her throat. She sighed softly and hurried to pick up the heavily injured Jing Ting Wei one by one, placing them in the corners of the street.
After finishing this, she walked to the center of the street and frowned at the crater left by the explosion.
After a brief assessment, she looked up at Gu Wangchen in the third-floor tavern and nodded, signaling that the matter was over.
However, Gu Wangchen’s reaction exceeded her expectations.
Seeing his hand gesture for “continue the lookout,” she whirled around to look behind her. Two carriages were racing toward them side by side.
Were there… two more suicide carriages?
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