Chapter 265

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Protagonist:

Shaowei

Liu Qi

Eight days ago, when Shaowei first arrived at the Immortal Shrine and climbed high to gaze into the distance, she suddenly saw a dark banner descend to cover the sky; now that invisible banner descended once more, finally and inevitably covering Shaowei beneath it.

Shaowei watched the black banner grow ever larger, sensing it with every inch of her skin, hair, and breath, feeling that this banner was like a netherworld soul-capturing banner, bearing killing intent to seize her ghost.

A crossbow bolt flew out from the rocky crevices ahead, piercing through the dark green grass and trees, brushing aside the dancing talismans in the air, and confirming Shaowei's perception.

Shaowei clung to Shan Gu and retreated quickly to the side, gravel and ash flying beneath her feet, barely stopping at the narrow mountain path by the cliff wall; Shan Gu's face changed and he shouted loudly: "Assassin! Be on guard!"

As Shan Gu issued this order, a thunderclap suddenly split the vault of the sky, like another even greater shout.

In summer sudden thunderstorms are frequent, and under the gathering clouds in the mountains the weather is even more changeable; thunder split the sky darker still, another heavier black banner woven from dark clouds spread rapidly, and dense arrows spread before the mountain rain, this arrow rain from the front side, due to the mountain wind, came almost diagonally and wildly to slaughter.

Shaowei had walked this road just this dawn, and she paid attention to every section she had walked, then noticing no clues.

So these people must have taken advantage of the Heaven-Sealing Grand Sacrifice to set up an ambush; they even clearly knew the time of the sacrifice, the routes everywhere, and precisely avoided the layers of strict patrols below the mountain.

A meticulous assassination that had clearly lain in wait and plotted for a long time broke many days of peace, clouds of blood mist splattered in the wind, and two Imperial Guards were instantly struck by arrows and fell.

This section of road was too rugged and narrow; two more Imperial Guards were forced by dense arrows, lost their footing and plunged into the thorn bushes, screaming as they tumbled down the steep cliff wall; a third man was struck in the shoulder by an arrow and seemed about to retreat and fall backward, but Shaowei leaned out and grabbed him with one hand.

Zhan Zhan fell from Shaowei's shoulder, flowers and grass scattering from his tail feathers; he flapped and cried "Save me," shouting a few times before remembering he was originally a bird, then flapped his wings to restore his flight function.

Shaowei hauled that Imperial Guard up and stuffed him down behind a large rock.

Two sharp arrows hummed past above the rock; Shaowei immediately crouched down, and more sharp arrows whistled past over the rock above her head, some blocked by the stone body; Shaowei temporarily paid no attention, quickly took out from her bosom an object shaped like a long whistle, made of iron with holes inside; pulling the mechanism and throwing it would emit a sharp sound, louder than a Minghao.

When defense and evasion were impossible, one could only fight hard, but any preparation that could be made must not be lacking.

A Minghao needed to be installed on an arrow and shot with a bow, unable to be carried and used personally; Shaowei had previously, on a whim, asked Mo Li to develop such a long-distance signaling device; since it was difficult to make, everything was handcrafted, with extremely precise requirements for the mechanism holes; Mo Li, who had just grasped the trick before leaving the capital, had only barely produced five qualified items; Shaowei gave two to Liu Qi, carried two herself, and gave the other to a household slave.

The situation before her eyes was sudden; though perhaps she could handle it, she must not show off or be careless; with the situation unclear, she must give a warning at the first opportunity.

Shaowei decisively pulled the mechanism and threw the thing hard, but the sound had just been emitted when it was drowned out by deafening thunder; then a raindrop struck between Shaowei's tightly furrowed brows.

The raindrop was ice-cold, seeping into her skin; the thunder rumbled incessantly; before Shaowei could pull the second signal, a long knife slashed down from behind the rock!

Wind and rain raged, prey hid, and demons and monsters abandoned their bows and arrows to appear, beginning close-quarters tearing and biting.

Shaowei suddenly rose, deliberately delaying her sidestep by an instant, but her dodging movement was extremely fast, causing the person who had seemed certain to strike midway to exert force too late, his body lurching forward empty for an instant; just as he prepared to recover his stance, his lower leg and ankle were suddenly swept aside by a foot and tripped, falling onto the rock; before he could rise, a blade pierced his back, and he became a fish slapped against the rock, writhing and twitching in pain.

Shaowei drew the Imperial Guard's knife, bringing out a cloud of blood mist, and without looking back quickly said to the injured Imperial Guard behind the rock: "His knife is for your self-defense; you block the rain with his corpse."

Shaowei emerged with her knife raised and consecutively slew two ferocious attackers, then quickly surveyed the situation.

This mountain path was winding; one side was a steep, inaccessible cliff, the other a relatively gentle slope of mixed trees and rocks; these assassins had lain in wait in advance on the grassy, rock-covered slope.

When they appeared, they had quickly blocked the front and rear escape routes; at a glance, the number of people appearing one after another was around fifty or sixty, most wearing blue-yellow bamboo hats and dark gray coarse cloth bound-sleeve robes similar in color to the rocks; at this moment half blocked the road to intercept, half wielded blades to encircle and kill, and the hilts of all blades were wrapped with chains convenient for moving through mountain forests and cliffs.

Shaowei had killed three people, and from this one glance could already determine that these assassins were of top quality, absolutely not a rabble gathered temporarily.

Indeed, if they were ordinary people, they could not possibly approach Mount Tai where the Son of Heaven was visiting!

The sky was still darkening; amidst horizontal wind and sudden rain, Shaowei swung her long knife, diagonally chopping off the arm of a man raising his knife; the severed limb flew out, the knife left his hand; Shaowei lifted her leg to kick the long knife and change its direction, lowered her body, held the knife hilt horizontally in her left hand to catch it in midair, while the blade in her right hand whistled and turned direction, bringing afterimages as she backhanded the knife toward the upper rear; the knife tip diagonally nailed into the chest of the ambush attacker behind her.

Enemies surged like locusts; Shaowei changed to holding the knife with both hands to block the blades slashing at her side, using the resisting force to support her upper body; her lower body suddenly swung a side leg and spun a kick, using a tricky and swift leg technique to kick an assassin behind her off the cliff; meanwhile, the blocking blades twisted and sparked; the opponent ultimately could not withstand her brute force, and while retreating after dissipating force, was urgently chased and kicked sideways in the solar plexus; the assassin instantly felt his heart and lungs split, vomited blood, and knocked down two companions.

The two knocked down had not yet risen when the shadow of Choose Zhu came like a fierce tiger, pouncing down with a knife; her knees pressed on their overlapping bodies, and the horizontally held long knife slashed open their raised necks, mercilessly harvesting their bright red lives.

The two blood-covered Imperial Guards were all surprised at the ferocity of the Wu God, for a moment almost suspecting that today's Heaven-Sealing Grand Sacrifice had summoned the War God Chi You to possess someone; the two staggered forward, appearing to still perform their escort duties, but actually like ducklings seeking protection.

Shan Gu had also led the remaining two Imperial Guards to kill their way to A Jie's side, just as they heard Shaowei order: "That person, kill him."

Following A Jie's gaze full of killing intent, Shan Gu saw a figure standing silently before a tall stone on the gentle slope, holding a knife and silently observing the battle.

That person was tall in stature, his face hidden in the dim sky and the shadow of the bamboo hat, but Shaowei could sense his killing intent and judge his identity—this man was the bandit chief.

Thunder rumbled without cease, heaven and earth noisy, as if isolating this place into a Yellow Springs Road where no one could see or hear; Shaowei had, during a moment without thunder, quickly released the second signal, but the wind was strong and the rain urgent, violently striking all things; gravel and broken branches flew wildly, people could hardly stand steadily; the signal, after being thrown, still could not make the sound it should, and Shaowei could no longer hold hope for it.

Moreover, the aftermath was just the aftermath; one had to survive the present before talking about later.

The assassins were nothing; the current evil and closed environment was even more like the death-date qi mechanism from her previous life acting up, like a destined evil curse flaring up; the heavens were not kind, waiting for an opportunity to do evil.

With a "ripping" sound of tearing silk, Shaowei, whose rebellious fighting spirit had been aroused, tore open the bothersome vermilion skirt hem with one hand and threw it into the mountain wind; she raised her knife and rushed forward, running and killing swiftly, with a clear target: to behead the prey.

No matter how outstanding the assassin or beast, as long as its head could be chopped off, its body would collapse and disintegrate.

The man standing to avoid the wind before the stone watched the figure in Choose zhu color, under the full protection of a brave youth, advance irresistibly all the way straight toward himself to kill.

The girl who had changed knives and snatched knives several times knew no fear or retreat; the more she fought, the braver she became, carrying the determination to kill to the end and the stubbornness to investigate the enemy thoroughly; the enemy could not stop her steps, thorns and rocks could not trip her; even as her clothes were torn, she moved quickly through, dodged, leaped, and pounced like a monster born and raised in the mountains.

"Swish—"

The man could no longer suppress the hatred in his heart; he drew his knife from its sheath and leaped up to meet her.

On the high slope, stepping on rugged rocks, two long knives suddenly clashed in the rain mist accompanied by thunder; in the instant of deadlock, the man saw the girl's eyebrows and eyes, washed by the rain and exceptionally cold and sharp, like another sharp blade; while he believed his strength was superior, at this moment he even felt his tiger's mouth swell and go numb; the opponent's knife force came like a huge stone barbarically pressing down to crush.

However, the force that could be infused into the knife body itself was ultimately limited; Shaowei, unable to win with one strike, already knew that the knife she had snatched was not as solid as the opponent's thick-backed heavy knife; so before the knife body showed signs of breaking, she quickly turned her wrists to the right and suddenly lifted the knife upward to stab.

The man's face changed as he leaned back to dodge; his bamboo hat on top of his head was cut off, revealing a ferocious face.

This ferocity lay not only in his expression but in the face itself; half of this man's face was almost destroyed, the source being his blind and crippled eye; scars and burn marks intertwined, like messy sunken spider webs.

Shaowei stood still for an instant; her eyelids narrowed slightly from the rain: "You didn't die."

"The great vengeance is unavenged; how could I die?" Du Shulin gritted his teeth; raindrops struck his face, like countless hatreds surging out from between the scar patterns.

Enemies meeting; he had a chest full of resentment accumulated for too long to vent; however, the girl in his sight had already waved her knife to slash through the rain again, briefly saying: "Then die today."

Shaowei was not used to talking much with people she was not familiar with.

Moreover, Shan Gu was risking danger to block the pursuers behind; she had even less reason to waste time exchanging pleasantries with someone who wanted to kill her.

Shaowei's knife style was brutal and fierce as she killed, wanting to force Du Shulin toward the mountain depression below; first, to make him fall into an uncertain downward terrain, forcing him to stabilize his body and thus be distracted into passive defense; second, to expand and lengthen the battle line, dispersing his pursuers behind and also reducing the pressure and crisis on Shan Gu.

Compared to the previous fierce battle at Zhuzhuang, Shan Gu today was undoubtedly more agile and mature; not only in the improvement of strength and moves, but also in the killing experience honed on the battlefield; at this moment he led the three remaining Imperial Guards to follow Shaowei, the four forming a formation, cooperating to fight the enemy, fighting while moving.

The enemy was numerous and we were few; injuries were unavoidable; but who taught whom, Shan Gu had pain but no fear, and additionally, compared to the battlefield, there was a natural loyalty almost like protecting a master; in his red eyes was a stubborn killing savagery to crush all enemies.

Du Shulin's sole remaining eye held the same murderous intent, every blade stroke clashing with full force, yet still unable to vent even one ten-thousandth of his hatred.

Was it merely one eye that had been destroyed?!

That day he had clearly already led his army to Shanglin Park; he, Du Shulin, ought to have held the new emperor and controlled all power under heaven!

It was her, she who brought the Iron Cavalry that ought not to have appeared, she who shot down his power, glory, and even his nine clans with a single arrow!

As for indirectly causing him to bear other crimes that did not belong to him, that was but the most insignificant small matter; yet it was also thanks to this one wrongful charge that he could come kill her today!

Thinking of the Du clansmen who died wrongfully, Du Shulin's hatred became unstoppable; looking at the girl pressing in with every move before him, his eyes were already blood-red, he too had a daughter of such an age, fond of wearing vermilion, fearing pain and hardship, willful and adorable, yet now...

Du Shulin, grief-stricken and furious, planted his feet, his heels bracing against a pile of rocks, both hands gripping his knife as he gathered strength for a single chop, shouting angrily: "Merely a bastard brat, what right do you have to obstruct and destroy my great matter! What right!"

"Just this..." Shaowei blocked with her knife, gritting her teeth: "Because I wish it."

Hearing this, Du Shulin's eyes nearly split; Shaowei had deliberately provoked him, now watching him, relying on her higher position underfoot, instead pressing down on her knife bit by bit to counter, while speaking softly: "I've heard your skill surpasses Zhu Zhi's; killing him on Yundang Mountain tired me out too much, today killing you should be just right."

Yundang Mountain, killing Zhu Zhi? — That one-armed man?

Du Shulin was momentarily confused, immediately recalling the strange scene of Zhu Zhi going mad and possessed at the Third Day of the Third Month Great Sacrifice, then instantly realizing it was the killing trick used by the person before him — what ghosts, spirits, and heavenly secrets were surely all man-made!

By now in the fight, he had also understood that the so-called arrow of heavenly fate and divine execution shot at him that night at Shanglin Park was ultimately nothing more than her hiding her skill before people; there was never any power of spirit descent!

"Arrogant brat, playing tricks and pretending to be divine, falsifying heavenly mandate, destroying my great enterprise!"

Du Shulin roared furiously with great unwillingness, his voice splitting the rain curtain, pouring all his strength into the great knife, suddenly pressing down, seeing cracks gradually appear on the blade the girl used to block, a look of revengeful pleasure rising in his eyes: "Aren't you the one claiming heavenly mandate? Why doesn't heaven help you? I saw you send out your token early, yet it was like a stone sinking into the sea... See? Heaven also wants you to die today!"

The days of hiding in shameful darkness had been too grinding; the suppressed hatred made Du Shulin unable to stop his venting words for even a moment:

"But even if the token was sent out successfully, it would be useless; this place is the perilous region of Taishan, no one can come in time to find you and save you! This is a struggle for life against mountain, heaven, and time!"

"I, Du Shulin, failed to kill the emperor; today I shall try killing a 'god'!"

"Kill you, this false heavenly mandate, and perhaps heaven will reward me!"

Cracks spread along the blade edge; Shaowei's eyes were reddened by the rain.

Yes, she was never any heavenly mandate; she was merely a ghost, and Jiang Fu wove lies, forging her into an auspicious heavenly mandate.

The blade edge finally snapped; the sound of the break falling into Du Shulin's ears was like the collapse and end of the heavenly mandate lie.

In the rain, the broken knife hilt slipped from the girl's hand and flew out, tracing an arc like the Bridge of Helplessness toward death.

And in the instant before the blade snapped, Shaowei had already fallen backward; Du Shulin's long knife in his hand maintained its straight chopping posture as it fell, she had already predicted the position where the blade would land, and by falling a step faster she avoided the vital parts of her skull at the critical moment; the blade edge struck Shaowei's left shoulder collarbone area, yet at the same instant she swiftly raised her right hand, backhand stabbing toward Du Shulin's right ribs.

The broken knife was discarded, and was not enough to pierce armor; during the exchange Shaowei had already judged that this person wore armor beneath.

Du Shulin, angered several times, also reacted quickly, not giving Shaowei another chance to strike; he held his knife and retreated, one hand covering his bleeding wound, seeing the girl grasp a bright short knife and rise, her left shoulder clothes tearing layer by layer, revealing similarly ruined fine armor.

When the blade fell just now, Du Shulin immediately knew she also wore armor, and extremely fine and rare armor at that; his heavy chop only broke her armor, not injuring her body.

And her short knife was also a rare good knife, breaking his armor, injuring his body...

Du Shulin, who had once held the high position of Grand Commandant and prided himself on broad knowledge, felt it was absurd to the extreme: "Fengtian Great Sacrifice, as a witch god you actually wear armor and hide a knife, aren't you afraid of being discovered..."

Once such a thing is discovered it is a capital crime of treason, and also great disrespect to the spirits; even if she is a heavenly secret, she cannot escape being attacked and punished.

"Rude." The round-faced girl with her hair bun fallen had no expression, but her words were wild: "Who dares to search my body."

Du Shulin, not knowing who was ultimately being rude, gritted his teeth and let out an absurd laugh, feeling more and more that the girl before him, as if always ready to cut down the whole world, though not a heavenly mandate, was truly a real monster!

Shaowei walked closer holding her short knife: "Not being a heavenly mandate means you can't be killed?"

Du Shulin tightly covered his wound that bled without stopping, subconsciously retreated a step, but the next moment he gritted his teeth and raised his knife again, furiously fighting to the death, his fierce voice carrying a certain certainty: "No matter, today heaven wants you to die!"

?? How many chapters should "today" in the title span? It's the final main plot; everyone should save up a few chapters to read for better continuity.

? (No update on the 29th, see you on the 30th)