Chapter 1403: Is There Really a Chance?

There's trouble brewing in his manor, and General Xue happens to be right here — why not borrow this ready-made help?

The two raced through the garden, the number of men gathering behind them growing larger. Xue Zongwu suddenly halted, looking into the garden.

Just then a gust of wind blew past; the few wind-lamps in the garden flickered bright and dim, carrying an inexplicable bleakness.

Qi Yunsheng also stopped, tilting his head to listen, but he heard only the whoosh of wind: "What is it?"

"Nothing." Xue Zongwu withdrew his gaze.

As they rushed past the old elm tree, he suddenly felt a faint palpitation in his heart, as if something ominous were drawing near.

But when he focused his senses and looked around, he discovered nothing.

The feeling vanished in a flash. Xue Zongwu trusted his intuition; he knew danger was approaching, yet did not know from where.

……

Moqi Feng and Wang Fubao stood planted before He Lingchuan's guest room, like a pair of door gods.

Whenever Wang Fubao moved a couple of steps, he would see palace guards at Fan Shuang's door across the corridor as well. After all, a large-scale robbery had occurred at the inn just last evening, and Commander Zhao had tightened security for the VIPs.

But this palace guard had dragged over a chair and was sitting quite slack, eyelids half-drooping.

The night was too quiet, and the rain sounded hypnotic; anyone sitting idle with nothing to do would grow drowsy.

Wang Fubao nevertheless said in a low voice to Moqi Feng: "You don't have to assign all the cushy jobs to me."

Guarding the lord's door might seem boring, but compared to Moqi Liang being assigned to the damp window below, it was already a plum posting. Tall grass grew thick there, snakes and insects roamed, yet the lord would return from that way later and a dedicated sentry had to be posted to watch and receive him.

Squatting there for several hours, Moqi Liang would certainly be uncomfortable.

Wang Fubao understood: Moqi Feng made this arrangement first to avoid suspicion, second to keep him from being disgruntled.

Moqi Feng smiled: "Fine, next time it's your turn."

The room was empty; the lord was out on an operation tonight and needed them to run cover, so Yang Shanren had to stay sharp in real time.

The night deepened; between heaven and earth only the sound of wind and rain remained.

The three guarded an empty room, wondering whether the lord's Mangzhou plan was proceeding smoothly.

Right then, Moqi Feng suddenly looked up; Wang Fubao also stepped forward two paces, craning his neck toward the wooden door across the corridor.

That was Fan Shuang's guest room.

Creak— the door opened from inside, and Fan Shuang came out.

He usually paid attention to his appearance, but now his hair bun was half-undone, his face flushed, and he walked unsteadily.

The palace guard at the door hurriedly stood and said: "Lord Fan, you're awake……"

Fan Shuang ignored him; one glance at the opposite doorway and he walked over this way. "Brother He, Brother He!"

Moqi Feng and Wang Fubao exchanged a look; the latter stood his ground, the former stepped forward to intercept: "Lord Fan, our lord has already gone to sleep."

Hearing this, Fan Shuang raised his voice instead: "Brother He! He Xiao! Get up, let's drink a few more cups!"

Moqi Feng's expression shifted slightly.

If he lets him carry on like this, how will it end? If the lord doesn't show, people will grow suspicious.

But Fan Shuang is a Yao envoy no matter what; he can't just knock him out with a hand-chop.

The palace guard at the side also tried to stop him: "Lord Fan, you're drunk……"

Hearing the word "drunk," Fan Shuang flew into a rage and let out a loud roar: "Who's drunk? You say who's drunk? Bring wine, I can still drink!"

His volume drowned out even the thunder and rain. Moqi Feng hurried forward to support him: "Lord Fan, the lord is coming right away! The wine's all in that room; you go wait there first!"

"He Xiao……" Fan Shuang never used to call He Lingchuan by his given name; now he had no inhibitions.

"He Xiao is arriving right now, right now he'll come drink with you." Coaxed like this, Fan Shuang no longer lunged forward, allowing Moqi Feng and the palace guard to help him back to his own room.

Inside, he sat on the bed and forced his eyes open: "Where's the wine? Where's He Xiao? I have something to tell him!"

"Wine's here." Moqi Feng took out his own liquor from his storage ring, shoved it into his hand, "You drink first; the lord…… He Xiao is coming right away."

Fan Shuang took it, gulped down several mouthfuls, then suddenly toppled straight backward.

Both were badly startled and hurriedly checked his breathing.

Good — breathing heavy and coarse, strong; turns out he'd just fallen asleep again.

Moqi Feng and the palace guard withdrew from the guest room, closed the door behind him, and returned to their posts.

Wang Fubao still stood there, not having moved a muscle.

"A-Liang." Taking advantage of the rain noise, Moqi Feng asked Moqi Liang through the eyeball spider, "No situation on your end, right?"

Mustn't be that he himself got lured away from the mountain.

"All normal." Moqi Liang replied steadily, "I just walked a circuit here; no one approached, and nothing slipped in through the door."

Through the eyeball spider he heard the commotion in front of He Lingchuan's room and immediately grew vigilant, checking the surroundings thoroughly.

Moqi Feng's attention was drawn away, so he had to cover the gap.

No abnormalities — not even a small creature crawling into the lord's window crack.

Moqi Feng let out a light breath.

Good thing it was just a false alarm.

This batch of youngsters the lord brought out are becoming more and more capable, more and more proactive.

Wang Fubao heard it too; he lifted his eyes to the rain curtain under the eaves.

Squatting in a wild field on a rainy day must be uncomfortable. Yet Moqi Liang stayed alert the whole time, not the slightest slackness.

He too had to pull his focus tight; he couldn't let Moqi Liang outdo him.

……

West of Little Peach Villa, a dwarf forest.

Wo Chan lay quietly here, disguised as a giant boulder. Dong Rui hid inside its shell, drinking wine while patting it: "No sneaking bites!"

Today's Wo Chan was no longer the half-finished product from Lingxu City; its diet had expanded very widely.

With a pat from its master, the snail toad's antennae retracted, and it no longer dared to sneak bites of the tender grass leaves on the ground.

However, the very next second, Dong Rui startled upright with a "Fuck?"

The explosion in the mountain villa was deafening, and naturally reached him here. Even the snail toad could feel the trembling of the ground surface.

No matter who did it, this blast packed quite a punch.

Then, through the eyeball spiders, Dong Rui sensed He Lingchuan's trouble.

"Hey, what are you still waiting for?" he urgently asked He Lingchuan, "Retreat or not?"

……

As Xue Zongwu's gaze swept across the garden, He Lingchuan happened to close his eyes. This General Xue lived up to his reputation; his spiritual sense was extraordinarily keen. He Lingchuan had merely stared at him covertly for a moment, and Xue Zongwu had already detected it.

The Soul-Capturing Mirror in He Lingchuan's embrace cursed loudly: "Holy shit! What kind of idiot would set off an explosion!"

Until the explosion, the master's plan had clearly been proceeding perfectly:

Deliver the problematic account books to Qi Yunsheng and Xue Zongwu, lure them into a private conversation, and reduce the extraneous people around Xue Zongwu.

He Lingchuan, wearing Lord Boshan's skin, vaulted into the Qi residence; found Steward Yu the Second, used the Heart-Shadow Image Transmission technique to turn him into a puppet whose words and actions were entirely controlled by He Lingchuan, then used him to lure Qi Yunsheng away.

At this step, Xue Zongwu would very likely be left alone in the Yangxin Hall.

And this would be the perfect opportunity for He Lingchuan to strike! The mirror was heartsick with frustration:

Every step of the master's had succeeded. Qi Yunsheng was just about to leave, Xue Zongwu would soon be alone, He Lingchuan was just about to vault over the garden and infiltrate the Yangxin Hall, to complete a lightning-fast kill!

But right at this moment, Little Peach Mountain Villa exploded!

Watching the billowing thick smoke rise into the sky, the mirror also felt its vision go black.

Qi Yunsheng came running back as if flying, master and disciple reunited, and He Lingchuan's prior efforts were all wasted! Could there still be a chance to strike?

After creatively cursing the idiot thieves who had secretly set off the explosion, it asked He Lingchuan: "What now? Call it off?"

Coincidentally, Dong Rui also asked the exact same question through the eyeball spiders.

The situation changed suddenly; should He Lingchuan leave or stay? The plan disrupted midway, now not only Xue Zongwu but even Qi Yunsheng was on highest alert. The wisest course should be to abandon it on the spot and retreat immediately. Turning back now, there was still time.

In the flash of a spark, dozens of thoughts flashed through He Lingchuan's mind, weighing back and forth.

He didn't hesitate long before silently intoning: "Continue!"

"Continue?" the mirror and Dong Rui cried out together, "How can this continue?"

Force a kill?

"Change the approach; fishing in troubled waters is actually a good method too." He Lingchuan quietly vaulted the wall, tailing the two men, Qi and Xue.

He didn't dare get close; both men were too sharp.

"The villa explosion shows another force has infiltrated. Qi and Xue's target is them; I'll just follow along and adapt as things develop."

Plans don't change as fast as circumstances; his plans indeed always have surprises, Hui, yet never fail.

"This is too dangerous!" the mirror fretted, "Their numbers keep growing! Xue Zongwu's two hundred elite soldiers will soon charge in too."

The master originally planned to isolate Xue Zongwu alone; now that's gone perfectly, isolated a whole lot of nothing! "A quarter-hour!" He Lingchuan gave a time limit. Little Peach Mountain Villa was huge; for Xue Zongwu's elite soldiers to rush from the Resting Horse Pavilion to his side would take at least a quarter-hour. "If we can't succeed within a quarter-hour, we withdraw!"

This trip to Mangzhou was time-critical and heavy with tasks; after killing, he still had to rush back within a limited time to find Fan Shuang.

Dong Rui added: "Even if the Mangzhou assassination fails, don't you still have one last fallback location?"

"Having the Black Armor Army appear in Tianshui City to assassinate a famous general of Yao — the risk is more than double that in Mangzhou." He Lingchuan said seriously, "This game today, no matter what, we must strive for one more chance."

He was adept at judging the situation; although unexpected events arose, in just a few breaths he reassessed the circumstances and instead felt there might not be no opportunity.

Dong Rui asked: "Where's the opportunity?"

"Not enough manpower."

"Huh?" This villa was teeming with people.

"With the recent influx of guests, the Qi residence must have strengthened security, but to handle a sudden outbreak like this, manpower is likely far insufficient. That is our opportunity."

"Qi Yunsheng is the villa's master; he wants to catch the troublemakers and appease the noble guests inside — he's at his wit's end right now, he cannot help but borrow Xue Zongwu's strength." He Lingchuan analyzed, "Conversely the same: Xue Zongwu is a border-garrison high official, a Wang Ting heavy general, and Qi Yunsheng's son-in-law; at a time like this he cannot just stay shrunk behind Qi Yunsheng. So, they will immediately have a division of labor!"

Both these men can hold their own.

"Also—" his voice fine as a mosquito gnat, "Those who triggered the explosion went to such trouble to create such a huge commotion; it's impossible they'd just let the target hear a noise and call it a day. They definitely have a follow-up move."

(End of Chapter)