Chapter 141: The Bastard Lied to Me!

City Defender Lin was on tenterhooks the entire way, escorting the Young Master back to the Gao Family Old Residence.

What was comforting was that they did not encounter any other interference on the road. Upon learning that the people from the Patrol Guard Division had handled it in advance, City Defender Lin felt slightly relieved.

The people from the Patrol Guard Division were still quite capable of smoothing things over.

As Zhao Shaozhu's base of operations in Shuo City, the Gao Family Old Residence always had people guarding it inside. Out of caution, City Defender Lin patrolled the perimeter of the residence once more, and finding no breaches in the defenses, he then departed.

The defensive battle outside the city had still not ended, and the disturbances in various places within the city could not be quelled for the time being as there were not enough troops to suppress them.

Zhao Shaozhu stayed in the study where he worked, bringing Wen Gu along with him.

With the chaos outside not yet settled, it was better not to be too far apart.

Inside the room, Zhao Shaozhu handled official business, while Wen Gu flipped through a map of Shuo City on the side. In truth, he still felt somewhat uneasy, having a rather ominous premonition.

He turned his body to look outside the window.

Inside the residence, Zhao Shaozhu's security team circled around, and outside the residence, people from the Patrol Guard Division ran about on patrol. The number of people was not large, but given the current situation, this level of defense should be without major issues.

In the sky, Falcons flew past from time to time, rapidly transmitting information from various places.

A short while later, a guard came over to report: "Many suspicious individuals within the city intend to approach this side. The Patrol Guard Division has done its best to intercept them, but—to prevent any from slipping through the net—Young Master, hidden Arrows are hard to guard against!"

At a time like this, if the opponent coated their hidden Arrows with Evil Poison, one would be finished if even a little skin was grazed.

The guards were all wearing armor, remaining fully armed despite the sweltering heat.

Zhao Shaozhu was not fully armored, but he wore a soft armor woven from metal wire underneath.

Wen Gu also wore a similar piece of soft armor, which Lady Shen had prepared for him.

Realistically speaking, the protection this thing offered was limited.

After weighing the pros and cons, someone suggested: "Young Master, why not enter the Cellar to take shelter for a moment?"

Zhao Shaozhu considered it and agreed.

"That will do."

Staying here might instead make the guards feel constrained; it would be better to withdraw first, allowing the guards and the people from the Patrol Guard Division to have fewer concerns.

When it came to avoiding disaster, Zhao Shaozhu certainly would not forget Wen Gu.

Wen Gu stood up silently to follow, touching the items he kept for self-preservation. It was a habit formed over his past and present lives: even in places considered safe, one must remain vigilant.

Arriving at the entrance of the Cellar, a personal guard went in first to quickly check before signaling for the others to follow him down.

Several personal guards followed, and outside the Cellar entrance, there were also guards standing watch to prevent anyone from breaking in.

The Storage Cellar of the Gao Family Old Residence was like a small underground palace.

The basement had been renovated; the concealed skylights used for lighting were sealed with Glass, and lenses were installed to reflect the light.

But all in all, it was still somewhat dim.

To see more clearly, they still lit a few torches.

They were heading to the stone chamber where the master of the house rested and worked.

Not long after walking forward, a guard holding a torch in front suddenly stopped.

Not only him, but the others also stopped in succession, and Zhao Shaozhu's personal guards even assumed a defensive formation.

To be a personal guard for the Young Master, one's perception of danger had to be extremely keen.

In fact, there was no need for them to explain; Wen Gu had also sensed it.

"Who lit a heating flue in here?"

It was already summer, and logically speaking, the Cellar should be cooler than the space above.

But at this moment, everyone could feel a slight heat inside the passageway. At first, it might not have been obvious, but as they walked, there was warmth under their feet, and the feeling of warm air brushing against their faces in the passageway became apparent.

This heat was not brought by the torches, but a large-scale rise in temperature!

All of a sudden, sweat began to seep out of them.

Heating the floor?

It might be possible in winter, but now, people only used the Cellar to escape the heat; no one would heat a kang in the Cellar during the sweltering heat!

Wen Gu's heart sank abruptly, and at this moment, he couldn't help but curse inwardly, popping out countless "what the f*ck"s.

No way!

It couldn't be that bad, could it?

He hadn't come to the Cellar many times before, and not for long, but he knew the general layout.

Another path at the fork ahead led downward, where the Ice Cellar was built. There was more than one ice room there, and the capacity of each ice room was not small.

Before Zhao Shaozhu arrived, these ice rooms were all locked; only on the day Zhao Shaozhu arrived was one opened to provide ice for the Young Master.

That opened ice room was fine, but what about the other locked ice rooms?

Was there ice inside, or—

Almost everyone began to break out in a sweat; it might not have been from the heat, but possibly from fear.

The lead personal guard made a prompt decision: "Retreat!"

At the same time, from the passageway ahead leading to the Ice Cellar, came a familiar, hair-raising muttering sound.

It was only a faint movement, but to everyone's ears, it sounded like a thunderous roar, and the air was filled with a chilling aura.

"The Ice Cellar!"

"There's an ambush!"

"Protect the Young Master and get out!"

Corresponding to the anxious and furious voices of the guards, bloodthirsty roars also came from the direction of the Ice Cellar.

At some unknown time, the doors of the previously locked ice rooms had all been opened, and one strange figure after another crawled out from within.

Being frozen in "hibernation" had left them weak and hungry. As the surrounding environment warmed up, their bodies began to recover rapidly.

At such times, they were extremely ferocious; the craving for food made them as irritable as wild beasts, and following their predatory instincts, they rushed desperately toward the direction where the scent of food was coming from, their aggression reaching its peak!

This group of monsters had just emerged from the Ice Cellar; even though the ice had melted and the temperature was rising all around, in the guards' view, there was still a buffer period.

There was still a chance!

The newly revived Plague Ghosts were actually still a bit stiff in their movements and were not difficult to deal with.

The guards responded quickly.

Before this group of Plague Ghosts fully revived, they would do their best to slay them!

Regardless of their age, the guards were veterans in this regard and knew how to efficiently dispose of these monsters.

As the lead guard was slaying a Plague Ghost, he relied on his instinct for danger to block a flash of cold light.

Clang!

It was a thin blade that had probed over silently.

He looked over quickly.

It was actually a figure dressed in black, their whole body seemingly shrouded in darkness, making it impossible to see their face clearly. But from the slight tremor in the opponent's hand holding the blade and the distinct medicinal scent wafting over, the guard could tell their origin.

This was definitely not a Plague Ghost!

The guard shouted in alarm: "Death Warrior!"

Searching with his gaze, there appeared to be another Death Warrior further back!

When did they sneak in?

How did they sneak in?!

If it were only that group of weak Plague Ghosts just revived from their frozen state, they would have the confidence to resolve it. But with Death Warriors appearing here, everything became unpredictable.

These were suicidal professional killers!

And professional killers who had come prepared!

The guard who had already been wounded in the front did not hesitate to adjust his blade, not to slash at the opponent, but to draw it across his own throat.

Blood sprayed out.

The surrounding Plague Ghosts were attracted by the scent of fresh blood and gathered toward this spot.

The Death Warrior nearby took out a rattan ball wrapped in medicinal herbs, unhurriedly lit it, and threw it over.

The smoke, carrying a thick medicinal scent, irritated the Plague Ghosts' sense of smell, making them loathe and reject it. After struggling, they finally abandoned the food here and continued to pursue toward the front.

A personal guard quickly assessed the situation before him and said to his companions: "You all quickly protect the Young Master and leave; I will hold them off—"

Pfft!

His eyes suddenly widened, filled with disbelief.

The words he hadn't finished were stopped in his throat.

What caused all this was a blade stabbed in from behind.

Without warning, and without mercy.

The fighting inside the Cellar passage continued; before long, everyone holding torches fell, and the last bit of firelight was extinguished.

On the other side, Zhao Shaozhu and Wen Gu were running toward the entrance of the passage.

At first, there were personal guards following to protect them, but soon, in order to block the menacing Plague Ghosts and the Death Warriors who had long been lying in ambush there, they left one after another to intercept them.

Before long, only Zhao Shaozhu and Wen Gu remained.

Zhao Shaozhu's heart was churning at this moment, with all kinds of intense, negative emotions piling up in his heart.

He did not know what the situation in the passage behind was, but he knew that not being able to hear the guards' shouts at this time meant a bad outcome.

He knew even more that as long as he lived, those guards would not have died in vain!

Fortunately, they were not far from the gate of the Cellar.

"Young Master!"

Someone was coming over quickly from behind.

The voice was a familiar one; Zhao Shaozhu could even precisely match it to the person.

He looked over.

In the passage, under the interlacing dim light and shadows, a young figure ran over covered in blood and wounds, tears seemingly flashing in his eyes.

"Xiaotian?" Zhao Shaozhu stopped.

"Young Master, I will protect you as you leave!"

While speaking, Xiaotian had already approached.

A flash of blade light carried killing intent—extremely fast! Extremely sharp!

It pointed straight at Zhao Shaozhu!

In that brief moment, the person holding the blade stared fixedly at the target, the confidence of success flashing in his eyes.

But outside of all his focus, another dark shadow suddenly jumped out.

In an instant, metal clashed!

It was silent yet swift as lightning!

It was also a ruthlessness that prioritized efficiency and left no room for error!

Unexpected, and by the moment the edge was seen, life and death had already been decided!

The lagging senses were caught off guard.

Zhao Shaozhu looked at the blade less than half a palm's width from his throat and retreated a step quickly to prevent the opponent from attacking again.

He looked at Xiaotian with a face full of shock.

He completely could not understand, and did not want to believe, that Xiaotian would actually betray him!

This was the first time he had seen this expression on Xiaotian's face—there were no other emotions, only anger twisted by surprise, and the unwillingness of a failed mission.

The situation Xiaotian had planned for others had fallen upon himself.

A sword pierced the throat.

There were no fancy moves, just direct and clean.

In a life-or-death clash, there is only one chance; miss it, and it is missed forever.

Had the sword-wielder hesitated even a fraction, the outcome would have been completely reversed.

A hair's breadth of difference is the divide between success and failure!

At the very last moment, Xiaotian did not even look at Zhao Shaozhu again, but instead, filled with intense resentment, stared fixedly at the person holding the sword before him.

The surrounding light was dim, and from Xiaotian's angle, he could not see the sword-wielder's expression, only vaguely making out the two characters "Centai" engraved on the blade.

Before losing consciousness completely, what surfaced in his mind was the hypocritical face of Wen Gu, speaking with a straight face—"Gentleman Sword Technique."

Gentleman your mother's sword technique!

That dog thing lied to me!

Fuck!!!

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