The sound of neighing horses filled the air, the night wind howled chillingly, and on the long street, a nightmarish battle raged.
Amid the chaos, the wind of the sword sliced through the air, a galloping warhorse suddenly lost its front legs to a devastating blow, blood gushing into the night. As the horse rolled over, the blood and flesh of another guard flew backward, while the rest charged forward, their steel blades ripping through flesh and bone.
The woman darted forward at incredible speed, effortlessly bypassing five or six guards who tried to block her path. Her seemingly unwieldy long sword sought gaps among the flashing blades, leaving trails of blood in its wake. With each anguished scream, she pushed relentlessly toward her target, Song Xian, who was trying to escape toward the end of the street.
Both sides moved with astonishing speed, the guards desperately attempting to impede the woman's pursuit. Just as Song Xian fled, a guard lunged in front, trying to halt her advance. In the next moment, the woman's sword swept down from his left shoulder to his right abdomen, sending him flying like a cannonball, blood erupting in a massive bloom.
Blades slashed at her from the sides, but she ducked low, slicing into the thigh of one attacker. In a swift motion, she grabbed the back of his head and slammed it into the approaching guard, before seizing a steel knife and hurling it forward.
Song Xian had already run several meters away, reaching for the reins of a galloping warhorse. The spinning knife sliced across his side, embedding itself in the horse's leg. In a flash of blood, both he and the horse tumbled forward, while the chaos of battle erupted behind him. Just as he managed to rise, the woman's silhouette, framed in a violent spray of blood, closed in on him once more.
"You crazy bastard—"
Bang—
Fire erupted, and Song Xian was flung once more, his back colliding with a wall. The guards around him failed to stop the woman, and as he lifted his head, the ancient sword blade was already descending toward him. He turned his head just in time, but the sword carved a deep gouge into the wall, sending dust and debris flying. Before he could even feel the fear rising in his chest, the woman's right fist loomed larger than life.
With a resounding thud, his head rang as it smashed against the wall behind him. His vision blurred, blood spraying from his mouth as time seemed to slow down. The sounds of battle faded into the background, and the woman spun around, her sword cleaving through another approaching guard. In instinctive response, he raised his knife, but her gaze returned to him, cold and deadly.
His arm swung out, but the blade that should have struck her was gone, his severed wrist spraying blood as the stump flailed in the air, hurtling toward the other guards behind him. The woman's elbow crashed into his face with the force of her entire body, engulfing him in darkness.
Boom, boom, boom—
He had no idea what happened next; suddenly, the wall behind him vanished from his awareness, and he was launched into the air…
The carriage halted at a corner of the road. Ning Yi arrived shortly, standing in the shadows beneath a tree, watching the scene unfold at the end of the street.
He didn't witness the entire battle, but the carnage on the long street spoke volumes: the wreckage of two carriages, bodies littered everywhere, blood soaking the ground. Horses lay with their legs severed, struggling and whinnying in agony. The evidence of battle stretched along the entire street, but the most shocking was the final act of violence.
Song Xian had initially joined the fray, but the pressure from the woman was overwhelming. By the time Ning Yi arrived, Song Xian was already attempting to flee. But escape was impossible. Most horses were injured, and the guards fighting on foot were giving their all to block her pursuit. The battle unfolded at a dizzying speed, but they still couldn't stop her. Blood flew as she struck again and again, the injured and dying guards charging in only to be flung away, until Song Xian was cornered at the end of the street.
With a series of loud crashes, the entire wall at the far end of the street collapsed in his line of sight… A brick flew through the air, smashing into someone's head and turning to dust, and the fight raged on.
"That's it… that's it…"
In the darkness, Ning Yi muttered to himself, taking a moment to breathe deeply before exhaling slowly.
"This is exactly what I wanted…"
With this moment of watching the battle, there was no need to linger any longer. The reinforcements might soon arrive, so Ning Yi turned and walked back to the carriage. He glanced at a horse standing alone at the boundary between light and darkness; its rider lay dead, blood trickling down. Ning Yi approached, reaching into the rider's embrace to retrieve a bamboo tube used for fireworks, then looked around. There were likely scattered houses on the other side of the long street, but none here. Surely no one would see him here. He returned to the carriage, quietly turned, and hurried away.
"...This is the final struggle. Unite for tomorrow, the Internationale shall be…"(Ning Yi hummed the sentence in English)
His fingers tapped quickly and lightly on the carriage, calculating the nearby streets in his mind and the possible ambush layouts, casually humming a song he recalled. The flickering light of the flames illuminated his face, revealing a smile distinct from his usual demeanor—beneath the veneer of humility, an indescribable wildness emerged.
He didn't know how many opportunities there would be; too many changes had occurred, which might lead to unforeseen troubles. But he had already made up his mind; he wanted that something, desired to obtain it…
If he didn't make an effort, he might not be able to sleep tonight.
Fireworks rose into the night sky over the city streets, but more often, there were the urgent sounds of gongs.
It was a chaotic night.
As the majority of the crowd returning from Bailuzhou entered Jiangning City, the turmoil here had already affected half the town. The arriving soldiers from the Wulie army and government officials were bustling about, chasing the female assassin darting through the city. A few skirmishes broke out, resulting in several casualties. When the returning residents spread toward the commotion, the female assassin seemed to be trying to escape into the throng, but the elite troops that had followed Chen Yong also cut through from that direction, forcing her to retreat toward a quieter part of the city.
The woman must have sustained serious injuries, yet her combat ability remained fierce. If it weren't for someone overly confident, few would dare engage her; most officials simply followed along, banging gongs and drumming. Though many pursued her, she zigzagged, never completely disappearing from sight.
This night was different from the Lantern Festival. The streets of the urban area were now mostly deserted. The woman was being excessively stubborn tonight; unlike on the night of Yuanxiao, when she immediately fled after being injured. Having risked everything to kill Song Xian while already badly hurt, she found it hard to find an ideal hiding spot here. The Wu Dynasty had no curfew; although most people, seeing the fireworks and hearing the gongs, simply locked their doors, some idlers still roamed at night. Ning Yi, driving his carriage at the edge of the unfolding situation, actually held an advantage. Occasionally encountering soldiers or officials, he exchanged a few words or hurried past without drawing their attention.
As he hummed a tune, he meandered through several blocks, observing the chaos in the distance. His fingers calculated the potential directions of each group he saw, estimating the overall situation, the woman's position, and her possible escape routes. Establishing a connection was very challenging. If he drove the carriage over now, encountering her would be simple, but pointless. If he offered to help her in such a clumsy way, the most likely outcome would be that she'd kill him on the spot. These matters couldn't be initiated by himself; he could only create a specific environment, letting her take the initiative, allowing him to express his intentions.
The calculations of human emotions were always quite complex. Even with a retinue similar to his past life, he couldn't claim certainty at this moment. Right now, he was alone and could only proceed with a trial-and-error mindset. There were several blocks in the city that seemed ideal, but during this brief moment, he miscalculated the woman's fleeing direction twice. One of those miscalculations presented a usable opportunity, but he missed it. After about ten minutes, amidst the occasional sounds of turmoil, he finally spotted a possibility.
The carriage sped down the long street toward the western part of the city, arriving at a secluded alley where the urgent sounds of gongs echoed from afar, followed by the sounds of fighting. The woman was pushing through the chaos, heading this way. At some point, the visible turmoil faded once again. Ning Yi calculated the time, took out the firework bamboo tube, removed the cap, and launched a signal firework into the sky, lighting up the night. Then, with a flick of the whip, he urged the carriage to speed away toward a nearby block.
Theoretically, the direction the female assassin was fleeing had been temporarily narrowed down. As long as he could arrive there first, his carriage might serve as an ideal bait. Perhaps he had a thirty percent chance of getting her to board, which would open up possibilities for negotiation… After rushing through two blocks, he suddenly found himself confronted by a group of officials charging from ahead.
This is bad...
If the fighting in the distance were still ongoing, these officials would likely ignore him. But with the woman's whereabouts now temporarily vanished, Ning Yi had no choice but to stop the carriage and allow them to conduct a search. The carriage bore the insignia of the imperial son-in-law's residence, so the officials certainly wouldn't make things difficult. After a brief inspection, they quickly let him go with some kind words, but by then, a significant amount of time had passed. When Ning Yi continued forward, the woman's location had already surpassed his expectations.
Unexpected situations often arise; Ning Yi understood that well, but the current development left him feeling quite regretful. Having already used the firework tube, he had lost the chance to control the woman's fleeing direction. Soon, she continued moving eastward, and Ning Yi slowly steered the carriage away from the dangerous central area. Continuing in that direction would be meaningless; even if he could save the woman, he might not escape the checks by the Wulie soldiers and officials. The ratio of risk to reward had tilted drastically, making it not worth the gamble.
What a pity. I wonder if I'll ever encounter someone as formidable as her again...
With this thought in mind, he made his way back toward the Su residence. The chaos behind him had been silent for a while. When the signal of fireworks and gongs drew his attention again, he suddenly noticed that the chaos seemed to have surged back…
On a relatively secluded lakeshore in the western part of the city, Ning Yi drove his carriage along the lakeside road, with the calm waters and trees on one side and high-walled courtyards adorned with lanterns on the other. Occasionally, he spotted one or two passersby, likely returning from the flower festival.
In the distance behind the carriage, a squad of Wulie soldiers was circling the road, seemingly approaching this way. Ahead, on the branching path, officials were patrolling toward this intersection. Recalling the location of the earlier skirmish, Ning Yi quietly brought the carriage to a stop near the roadside as they neared the junction and stepped down to stretch his limbs.
On the dark lakeshore, the woman was wrapped in a black cloth, quietly lying in wait beneath the trees in a deep thicket, adjusting her breathing and trying to ensure that her blood left as few traces as possible. She patiently awaited several groups of searchers to pass by.
The carriage stopped not far from her hiding spot, and she saw the driver dismount, stretch lazily, and walk toward the lakeside, humming a peculiar and leisurely tune while bending down to search for something in the grass...