dognovel Chapter 476 Meng Feng
Chapter 476 Meng Feng
They held short blades in their hands, the edges gleaming coldly, their eyes fierce, and lunged straight at Cui Zhihao and Shi Wanxia—clearly, their target was well-defined.
Upon seeing this, Cui Jiu disregarded his wounds and swiftly drew the short knife from his waist, standing in front of Shi Wanxia and Cui Yu'an.
As soon as he steadied himself, an assassin swung his knife at him. Cui Jiu gritted his teeth and raised his hand to block. With a crisp "clang," the short knife almost slipped from his hand.
The wound under his ribs was aggravated, and excruciating pain instantly spread throughout his body. Cold sweat streamed down his forehead, but he gritted his teeth and refused to take a single step back: "Miss Shi, Young Master, you must quickly step back!"
Cui Yu'an is the young master of the Cui family. He only knows how to study and has mediocre martial arts skills.
Seeing this, he quickly drew his longsword from his waist, wanting to go forward to help, but was kicked in the chest by an assassin, falling backward and the longsword clattering to the ground.
He struggled to get up, but felt a sharp pain in his chest. He coughed a few times and coughed up blood.
Looking at the chaos before her, Shi Wanxia's heart was in her throat.
She tried to step forward, but Cui Jiu held her tightly behind her.
He wanted to call out to Cui Zhihao, but saw that he was fighting with two assassins. He was wielding his long sword with great skill, but there were too many assassins and he was gradually struggling. A cut had been made on his arm and blood was dripping down his sleeve.
While dealing with the assassin, Lin Yiyu kept an eye on the situation.
Seeing that Cui Jiu was about to collapse and Cui Yu'an was injured, he knew that they could not delay any longer.
Taking advantage of an assassin's momentary lapse in attention, he kicked him away and then pulled a red signal tube from his pocket—it was a signal flare his father had given him to contact Meng Feng when he left Beijing, with the agreement that the red light would be used as a signal, and he could light it to call for help if he encountered danger.
He quickly pulled off the cap, lit the fuse with a tinderbox, and with a "whoosh," a column of red smoke shot into the sky, standing out conspicuously in the twilight.
Upon seeing the signal go into the air, the assassins' expressions changed, and their attacks became even more ferocious, clearly intending to eliminate several people before reinforcements arrived.
An assassin circled behind Cui Jiu, thrusting a short blade straight at his back. Cui Jiu was locked in combat with the assassin in front of him and had no time to react.
"Watch out!" Shi Wanxia exclaimed.
Just at this critical moment, a series of orderly hoofbeats suddenly came from outside the temple, accompanied by the clanging of armor—Meng Feng had arrived!
"kill!"
Meng Feng's voice was like thunder. Immediately afterwards, dozens of soldiers in iron armor rushed into the temple, bows drawn and spears unsheathed, instantly surrounding the assassins.
Seeing this, the assassins knew that the situation was hopeless and tried to break through, but they were blocked by the soldiers. Before long, more than half of them were killed or wounded. The remaining few saw that the situation was not good and turned to run away, but Meng Feng shot an arrow through their knees and they fell heavily to the ground.
Meng Feng strode into the temple, wearing a suit of black iron armor, his face showing anxiety.
He first looked at Cui Yu'an and Shi Wanxia, and seeing that although they were unharmed, they had suffered some minor injuries, he breathed a sigh of relief. Then his gaze fell on Lin Yiyu, and seeing the blood on his arm, his face darkened: "Your Highness! Why haven't you gone to the military camp yet? I received a message and thought..."
"I need to go back to the government office." Lin Yiyu wiped the sweat from his face, his voice a little hoarse. "Military Advisor Zhang and the important evidence are still inside."
"what?"
Meng Feng was shocked and quickly stepped forward, lowering his voice to say, "Young Master, the government office is now completely surrounded by Rongyang Prince's men. If you go there, you'll be like a lamb entering a tiger's den!"
He glanced at the assassin's corpse on the ground and said, "These people are assassins from the Shadow Pavilion under the command of Prince Rongyang. Since they have found this place, it means that the prince's whereabouts have been exposed. You must not enter the city again!"
Just as Lin Yiyu was about to retort, Meng Feng preemptively said, "Your Highness, rest assured, I will send people to investigate the whereabouts of Military Advisor Zhang, and I will also secretly inquire about the matter of the secret letter."
"Your safety is of utmost importance right now. If anything were to happen to you, I would have no way to explain it to the Duke!"
He paused, his tone growing increasingly urgent: "I have already had carriages prepared. Now, I ask Your Highness to give the order so that I can send men to escort you, Young Master Cui, Lord Shi, and Young Master Cui back to the military camp. I will lead a troop into the city right away. Even if we have to turn Chuzhou City upside down, we must find Military Advisor Zhang and retrieve the secret letter!"
Looking at Meng Feng's determined eyes, and then at Cui Jiu and Shi Wanxia, who were pale-faced, Lin Yiyu knew that he was right.
He took a deep breath and nodded: "Alright, we'll do it your way. Be careful once we enter the city. The Prince of Rongyang has many spies. If things don't look good, retreat immediately. There's no need to fight head-on."
Meng Feng bowed and replied, "Understood!"
With that, he turned and ordered the guards behind him: "You few, immediately escort the young master, Lord Cui, Lord Shi, and Young Master Cui back to the military camp. Be careful on the way. If you encounter any suspicious persons, kill them without mercy!"
"Yes!" Several guards responded in unison, stepped forward to help Cui Jiu and Cui Yu'an up, and then gestured for Shi Wanxia to enter.
Shi Wanxia looked at Cui Zhihao with worry in her eyes: "Young Master Cui, you must take care of yourself. We will wait for you to come back in the military camp."
Cui Zhihao nodded, watching her being protected by her personal guards as she walked out of the temple gate step by step until her figure disappeared into the twilight. Only then did he turn to Lin Yiyu and say, "Fang Wen, it's time for us to set off too."
“Meng Feng’s men have attracted most of the attention. If we enter the city through the back gate, we might be able to avoid being seen.”
Lin Yiyu nodded, tucked the jade thumb ring from his waist into his robes, and drew the soft sword hidden in his sleeve: "Alright, Brother Cui, tonight we'll take on Chuzhou City."
The two walked out of the dilapidated temple side by side. Night had fallen, and the faint sound of drums could be heard from the direction of Chuzhou City, as if it were a prelude to the impending danger.
Meanwhile, in the military camp, Shi Wanxia was standing outside her tent, gazing in the direction of Chuzhou City, her hands clasped together, silently praying—may Young Master Cui be safe, may Chuzhou be safe.
The night was as dark as ink, and the streets and alleys of Chuzhou City were eerily quiet.
Cui Zhihao and Lin Yiyu moved swiftly along the wall, their figures in black and moon white appearing and disappearing in the shadows. Only the occasional soft clinking of their longswords at their waists was particularly clear in the deathly silence.
Just as I turned the corner of a narrow alley, I suddenly heard a rustling sound overhead.
Lin Yiyu's eyes narrowed, and he suddenly grabbed Cui Zhihao's wrist, hiding in the dilapidated shop next door. Three poisoned crossbow bolts "whooshed" into the wall where the two had just stood, the fletchings still trembling slightly, the tips gleaming with an eerie bluish-black color.
"They're lookouts from the photo studio."
Lin Yiyu lowered his voice, his fingertips gripping the soft sword hidden in his sleeve, "They've placed men on the rooftops. It seems the Prince of Rongyang is determined to trap us to death in the city."
Choi Jiho nodded, raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, and the wound on his arm that had been cut earlier started to bleed again, sticking to his sleeve and causing pain with every movement.
He gripped his longsword tightly, his gaze sweeping across the rooftops: "We can't afford to linger. Meng Feng's men are drawing attention outside the city; we need to get to the government office as soon as possible."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than five men in black leaped down from the rooftop, their short blades gleaming coldly in the moonlight, lunging straight at the two men.
Cui Zhihao was the first to meet the attack, drawing his longsword and blocking the oncoming short blade with a clang. He lowered his wrist, suppressing the assassin's momentum, and then sidestepped, the blade grazing the assassin's neck, drawing a line of blood.