Chapter 271: Sudden Attack (Part II)

Baobao's delicate face bore an icy, solemn expression; she peered ahead with the faint light, but saw no sign of Hu Xiaotian, her look growing ever more bewildered as she feigned alarm: "Eunuch Hu, where are you? I'm so scared……"

Hu Xiaotian hid behind the wine barrel and saw clearly, silently cursing the palace maid's wicked deceit—just now she struck from behind my back, hoping to knock me out, yet now she pretends innocence; if I hadn't sensed it beforehand, you might have already harmed me by now.

Baobao trembled: "Eunuch Hu, don't scare me……" She spoke while cautiously feeling her way toward Hu Xiaotian's hiding place.

Hu Xiaotian secretly resolved: Since you're unkind to me, don't blame me for being unjust—ruining flowers is your doing. Baobao drew ever closer, nearly within arm's reach of Hu Xiaotian's hiding spot, yet her voice suddenly turned coy: "Eunuch Hu, you're so bad, deliberately frightening me……"

Through a crack in the wine barrel, Hu Xiaotian saw a dark shadow silently approaching Baobao from behind; in an instant, the shadow raised a gleaming dagger and stabbed fiercely at her back.

Hu Xiaotian never expected a third person to be in the wine cellar besides himself and Baobao; when he entered, he had been watching the surroundings, and outside the door Xiao Zhuozi and others stood guard, so logically no one should have followed—unless that person had been hiding in the cellar all along. The shadow struck swiftly and cleanly; as the blade fell, the dagger seemed about to pierce Baobao's heart. Sensing danger at the last moment, Baobao twisted her lithe body like a serpent to the right, but still couldn't evade the attack—the dagger sliced her left shoulder, and the fire striker she held was flung away. A full 360-degree somersault put distance between her and the attacker.

The fire striker arced through the air toward the stack of wine barrels where Hu Xiaotian hid; seeing this, he knew it would be disastrous if the flame landed on the barrels, setting the cellar ablaze, so he wrapped his right hand in his sleeve and firmly seized the fire striker.

In a flash, Baobao seized a wine barrel weighing over a hundred catties and hurled it with all her might at the assassin who had ambushed her.

The assassin ducked aside; the wine barrel flew over his head, hit the ground with a loud "Boom!", splashing bright red wine everywhere, and a rich wine aroma filled the cellar. Hu Xiaotian had already extinguished the fire striker; its faint light vanished instantly, plunging the cellar back into darkness.

Baobao's shoulder wound was serious; blood stained half of her collar. In the flurry she couldn't see who it was, assuming Hu Xiaotian lurked in the dark to ambush her, she sighed softly: "Eunuch Hu, you dare conceal a weapon and harm me—believe it or not, I'll report this to the Emperor, and you'll surely meet a death of a thousand cuts." Hu Xiaotian silently cursed, "None of my business." You screwed me over first; who'd have thought the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind? Now that you're hurt, serves you right—I haven't even settled the score with you, yet you dare spout nonsense about me. He resolved to stay hidden and watch developments.

Baobao's true aim in speaking was to draw Hu Xiaotian's attention; although he didn't fall for it, the potential assassin had already crept silently toward her, following the sound.

Baobao listened intently; though the opponent's footsteps were faint, they didn't escape her ears. When the foe was about a zhang away, she suddenly struck, raising her right hand—whoosh! whoosh! whoosh! —and fired three sleeve arrows in succession.

In the darkness the assassin, using wind‑listening technique, blocked the dagger repeatedly, clanging twice; he actually deflected all three sleeve arrows. But Baobao's arrows were merely meant to distract him; as she fired, she lunged forward, palm striking his chest with a "Thud!" that elicited a grunt. The assassin then slashed a knife into her abdomen; though she sucked in her belly in time, the dagger still wounded her. She grabbed his wrist to stop the blade from going deeper, while his right hand locked tightly around her throat.

The powerful grip threatened to choke Baobao into unconsciousness as he lifted his arm, raising her body off the ground.

At that life‑or‑death juncture, Hu Xiaotian burst from the darkness, hoisted the wine barrel and smashed it hard into the assassin's back of the head. The assassin and Baobao were locked in struggle, unable to spare a hand for Hu Xiaotian behind them; the barrel struck true, sending the assassin crashing down, with Baobao falling alongside him. Had Hu Xiaotian emerged a moment later, she likely would have lost her life.

Hu Xiaotian produced a candle from his bosom, took the earlier fire striker, gave it a puff to light the candle, and saw two people lying on the ground—a man in black with a covered face, the very one he had just knocked unconscious with the wine barrel.

Hu Xiaotian tore off the black cloth covering the man's face; upon seeing his features he started—yet never imagined that the man lurking in the cellar to launch the attack was Wang Desheng.

Baobao clutched her throat, pallid as she looked at Hu Xiaotian; her body was blotched with blood, her injury severe, and she still couldn't catch her breath, panting: "You…… you……"

Hu Xiaotian gave her a cold glance, then reached out to flip the prone Wang Desheng over, only to find a dagger embedded in his chest up to the hilt—apparently, when Hu Xiaotian had knocked him down, Wang Desheng still held the dagger, and as he fell it turned and pierced his own chest. Hu Xiaotian checked his pulse and breath; the man was clearly dead.

Baobao trembled: "You killed him……"

Hu Xiaotian lifted his eyes, coldly staring at Baobao, killing intent flickering in his gaze.

Baobao now realized the young eunuch before her was no ordinary person; despite the scene she remained composed. She whispered: "The Noble Consort knows I came to find you; almost all the eunuchs of the Imperial Gardens Bureau saw me enter the cellar with you." By saying this she revealed her inner fear, obviously afraid Hu Xiaotian would silence her.

Hu Xiaotian said: "So what? When you stabbed me from behind just now, did you consider this?" His gaze flicked to Wang Desheng's corpse as he added: "I was just saying Wang Desheng hid here to kill me, but he bungled it and ended up stabbing you instead."

Baobao bit her lip, secretly gathering strength for a final counter, but given her wounds it was doubtful she could prevail.

Hu Xiaotian said: "Tell me, what exactly is your purpose in coming here?"

Baobao said: "I……" She was about to strike Hu Xiaotian unawares, but seeing his vigilant guard left no opening. Just then footsteps sounded on the stairs—it was Shi Xuedong and Xiao Zhuozi, who had noticed the two entering the cellar long ago and not returning, worried something had happened, so they came down to check.

Hu Xiaotian also heard the footsteps, worried the two would see what was below, and hastily shouted: "What's the disturbance?"

Shi Xuedong and Xiao Zhuozi heard Hu Xiaotian's voice and immediately halted their steps: "Nothing, we just saw the eunuch go in and not come out for so long, so we were a bit worried."

Hu Xiaotian said: "No need to worry; I'm speaking with Miss Baobao. Wait outside and don't let anyone in."

"Yes!"

Hu Xiaotian had indeed originally planned to kill Baobao to silence her, but her words made sense; now that companions had arrived, he temporarily abandoned the idea, since too many people had seen him and Baobao enter the cellar together—killing her would surely invite investigation, and today's affair might not be concealable.

Baobao's gaze fell on Wang Desheng's corpse as she whispered: "Who exactly is he?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "Wang Desheng!"

Baobao's beautiful eyes showed puzzlement; the name seemed unfamiliar to her, suggesting she had never dealt with Wang Desheng before.

Hu Xiaotian suddenly recalled: "You might not know him, but his older brother is Wang Decai, a close aide of Empress Jian……"

Baobao only just learned that the dead assassin had such a background; her heart fluttered with anxiety—Wang Decai was indeed Empress Jian's trusted confidant, and if his brother's death were leaked by Zhang Yang, the man might not let it rest; should Empress Jian intervene on his behalf, the matter could blow up into a major uproar. Although she was already deep in this affair, since this was Hu Xiaotian's turf she offered no opinion, merely turning her gaze to him.

Hu Xiaotian paced back and forth twice, swiftly deciding: "The palace is huge; people go missing almost every day. If we keep quiet, no one will surely find out." He glanced at Baobao, awaiting her decision.

Baobao let out a soft sigh: "I don't like trouble either." The situation before her seemed increasingly unfavorable; Hu Xiaotian was certainly no easy opponent.

Hu Xiaotian said: "Although you don't want trouble, you've dumped this big mess on me—what are we to do with the corpse?"

Baobao said: "What's the difficulty? Just bury it deep in the wine cellar."

Hu Xiaotian slowly nodded: "If today's affair leaks out, you should know what the consequences will be."

Baobao said: "Rest assured, I will never leak it; I will definitely keep it secret for you."

Hu Xiaotian chuckled: "The one who needs secrecy is you yourself—you came under the Noble Consort's banner looking for whatever Yang Mei; what's your real purpose?"

Baobao said: "I've told you everything; now that we're in the same boat, why would I still deceive you?"

Hu Xiaotian doubted she'd spill the whole truth; she was surely still hiding something, and he didn't press further—Baobao had ulterior motives, likely wouldn't dare go out spouting nonsense; after painstakingly scheming to come to the cellar and still failing her goal this time, she certainly wouldn't just let it go, so letting her live for now was no problem.

Hu Xiaotian approached her, produced a pill from his bosom and handed it over: "Take this!"

Baobao eyed the brown pill in his hand, unsure for a moment whether Hu Xiaotian meant to poison her, and dared not take it.

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