Warm blood spattered all over Lu Tong's face.
The surroundings were noisy.
In the chaos, Lu Dashan evaded to the side, the flower needle failed to pierce his eyes, and pierced his left cheek instead.
Lu Tong struck with immense force, the silver needle almost half buried into his opponent's cheek and viciously torn open, immediately revealing a bloody and fleshy wound.
Lu Dashan, in pain and extreme fury, disregarded Lei Yuan and charged straight at Lu Tong with his blade, "Bitch, I'll kill you!"
However, Lu Tong had already broken free of her bonds the moment he dodged, and immediately ran forward. The fierce murderous intent brought by the approaching blade from the side was too swift for her to evade, as the glint of silver was about to strike her face.
"Miss, be careful!" Yin Zheng's heart leaped to her throat, knowing that if the blade landed, even if it didn't kill, it would certainly ruin her features.
Meanwhile, Lei Yuan on horseback narrowed his eyes and with a wave of his hand, his subordinates fired arrows straight at Lu Dashan.
Lu Tong felt the cold blade nearly in front of her eyes and couldn't help but clench her teeth.
She didn't care about her appearance, if she could exchange her looks for her life, she would not hesitate to do so.
But not now.
In the nick of time, a whizzing sound came from afar. Before anyone could make out what it was, they saw a streak of golden light pierce through the crowd, grazing past the knife blade in front of Lu Tong's eyes, and jolting the blade to the side.
Lu Tong was startled, and the next moment, a figure suddenly appeared before her, seizing Lu Dashan's knife-wielding hand. A "crack" sound was heard, as if bones were being crushed, and Lu Dashan cried out in pain, "Let go!"
His next words were never uttered, as he was kicked flying away. The knife in his hand, however, fell into the hands of the other party, blocking the arrow that flew toward his chest.
With a "clang,"
the arrow fell to the ground, making a clear sound.
Silence fell around them.
The sequence of movements was smooth as flowing water, without a moment's delay, yet every move was executed perfectly; a moment earlier or later, and the outcome would not have been the same.
Lu Tong looked at the golden arrow on the ground, realizing that it had been the arrow that had knocked Lu Dashan's knife away from her.
She lifted her eyes to look ahead.
The long street was in disarray with overturned stalls, amidst the chaos stood a young man holding a curved bow, dressed in a rich red brocade robe with inlaid fox arrows.
Surrounded by so many soldiers, he remained calm and undiminished in spirit. He casually stowed his bow and, looking at Lei Yuan, smiled and said, "Catching a person, yet Lei Head Arrest has quite the entourage."
Lei Yuan's expression turned unsightly. After a moment, he said, "Marshal Pei."
A thought struck Lu Tong—Marshal?
At the head of the group, Du Changqing said in a low voice to Yin Zheng, "He's the current Commander Pei Yunmeng of Tianwu Right Army of the Palace Front Office. It looks like Lei Yuan has kicked an iron plate this time."
Lu Dashan curled up in a corner, groaning in pain. His wrist was broken, and after being violently kicked, his bones were shattered, and he was unarmed, struggling in vain.
Lei Yuan turned to Pei Yunmeng, forcing a smile on his face, "Marshal, we are following orders to capture a fugitive. Now that the fugitive is in custody, please stand aside."
Pei Yunmeng clicked his tongue, "Head Arrest Lei captures people with lethal arrows from the start. If it weren't for Pei's timely action, the fugitive would have nearly died just now." He laughed vaguely, "This concerns a case of the Department of Military Affairs. The criminal should be taken by the Department of Criminal & Justice to the Trial Court for processing. Head Arrest Lei is so eager to kill, it wouldn't be to silence someone, would it?"
Lei Yuan's face turned pale as he said coldly, "Marshal, you can eat your food in any way you like, but you can't speak recklessly."
The young man laughed again, "It's just a joke. Why so nervous, Head Arrest Lei? Anyone who didn't know better would think you have something to hide."
"You!"
He turned his head and called, "Duan Xiaoyan."
From the crowd emerged a youngster clad in green, with a round face and round eyes, "My lord."
Pei Yunmeng glanced at Lu Dashan, "Take him back and hand him over to the Department of Criminal & Justice."
"Yes."
Lei Yuan, with a cold tone, looked at Pei Yunmeng, "Marshal, Lu Dashan is the man our Department of Military Affairs intends to capture."
"The case involves the army's inspectorate, and it is somewhat related to the Tianwu Right Army, so my sending him is the same. Besides, when Lei the Captain catches someone, doesn't he also have to send them to the Department of Criminal & Justice?" Pei Yunmeng began with apparent interest, "Unless Captain Lei has some other private punishment in mind?"
These words were accusatory. If they were to reach the ears of the Tian family, it would certainly bring another baseless calamity.
Lei Yuan stared at him fixedly, while Pei Yunmeng's look was half-mocking, half-smiling.
After a tense standoff, perhaps realizing there was no more room to maneuver in today's affair, Lei Yuan did not persist. He only looked at Pei Yunmeng meaningfully, "Then I'll have to trouble Marshal for his efforts. When I return to the Department of Military Affairs, I will report today's event to my superiors and thank Marshal for his kindness."
Pei Yunmeng replied lazily, "It's hard work."
Lei Yuan gave Lu Dashan, who was in the corner, another fierce glance before ordering his subordinates to leave.
The street was suddenly half-empty of troops. The remaining half belonged to Pei Yunmeng.
Lu Tong had just witnessed the undercurrents in the rivalry between these two officials when she suddenly felt something wet on her shoulder. She reached up to touch it and discovered that the wound scratched by Lu Dashan's knife tip had dyed her collar red.
Yin Zheng rushed over, staring anxiously at her face, "Miss, you've lost a lot of blood..."
Lu Tong wiped the bloodstains off her face with her hand, unconcerned, "Don't worry, it's not my blood." As soon as she finished speaking, she heard a flustered shout coming from above, "Is the young lady all right?"
Lu Tong looked up and saw the same Grand Preceptor's daughter from before, sitting amongst the flowers on the second floor, surrounded and consoled by several people.
When Lu Dashan appeared, the young lady was protected by her guards and retreated into Baoxiang Tower; now that Lu Dashan was taken away, she seemed frightened. Her headdress had been removed, and through the crowd, one could just make out half of her soft and delicate face, her voice still trembling with panic. Around her, whether they were Lei Yuan's or Pei Yunmeng's men, numbering seven or eight, were all showing their concern, offering drinks and serving tea.
"Miss Qi need not worry, we have already sent someone to inform the Grand Preceptor's Mansion."
"The protection here is strict; today's incident was sudden, and it frightened Miss, which is the fault of the Department of Military Affairs."
"Would Miss like some Calming Aromatic Tea first?"
These considerate words drifted on the wind to the ears of the crowd while on Lu Tong's side, no one took notice and she stood there quite alone and pitiful.
Yin Zheng also saw the stark contrast between the two sides and said in a low voice, "The wound on Miss's neck..."
Lu Tong's gaze returned, and not far from Baoxiang Tower was a Rouge Shop. She said, "Let's go clean up over there."
Yin Zheng helped her to stand and they walked towards the Rouge Shop. Some of the officers on this side saw their movement and called out, "Hey, wait, you two over there, we haven't taken your statements yet!"
Du Changqing hurried forward with a smile, "I'll do it, I'll help them write it! The young lady is Doctor Lu from our Renxin Medical Hall! And I'm the owner!"
This commotion caught the ear of Pei Yunmeng; he glanced at Du Changqing and withdrew his gaze, walking forward with an expressionless face. After taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped, turned, and looked back.
In the place he had just passed by, amidst the chaos, lay a Blue Jay Velvet Flower.
Half the petals of the velvet flower were soaked in blood, giving off a mottled, wet look,
He bent down, picked up the flower from the ground, and upon a closer look at its back, a flash of something odd crossed his face.
The pin behind the flower was sharp and pointed, smeared with ghastly red blood.
There were three Silver Needles in total.