The assassin had not come forth to ambush them on their way, but had chosen to lay in wait right at the entrance of the Lu Mansion.
It was a bold move indeed, a desperate gamble.
The horse, struck by an arrow, had gone mad, and the Jinyiwei, protecting Lu Yunqi, fell back while two of them simultaneously swung their swords and slew the crazed horse on the spot.
At the same time, a scream rang out in the dark night and then was abruptly silenced.
Quiet returned to the front of the mansion, with no desperate thugs swarming forward or feathered arrows rushing forth.
"Sir, just one," reported the Jinyiwei who returned from making the kill, dragging a corpse with them.
The corpse had been hacked beyond recognition.
They would not have brought it before Lu Yunqi without confirming it was dead beyond any possibility of a doubt.
Lu Yunqi, without even a glance at the corpse on the ground, swayed and started towards his front door, but then there was another disturbance from afar.
It was the hidden Jinyiwei who had detected some unusual movement.
The Jinyiwei on this side immediately sprang into action, while one of them hurried to Lu Yunqi's side, ready to lend a supporting hand or use his body as a shield if necessary.
This was a movement everyone was accustomed to.
The Jinyiwei was about to steady a swaying Lu Yunqi when a dagger suddenly appeared in his hand, its cold light stabbing straight at Lu Yunqi's heart.
This sudden turn of events happened in an instant, the surrounding Jinyiwei seeing it but unable to act in time.
"Sir!"
Shouts of alarm rose, but the next moment did not reveal Lu Yunqi falling to the ground, stabbed.
Instead, he stood firm, the dagger halted in front of him, pressed against his robe but not advancing further.
Lu Yunqi had seized the Jinyiwei by the neck.
His robust body was lifted off the ground by Lu Yunqi's iron-grip hand, instantly turning his face a ghastly shade of blue as he choked out gurgling noises.
The suffocating pain did not last long, as Lu Yunqi's other hand reached for his head and fiercely jerked it.
The Jinyiwei was thrown to the ground like a broken sack, dead without a sound.
His neck and skull deformed, blood spraying from his nose and mouth and staining the ground, also splashing Lu Yunqi's foot.
The force of this twist and throw was immense.
Because Lu Yunqi seldom went out, and when he did, he was always surrounded by numerous guards, everyone assumed he was vulnerable and thus needed heavy protection, but this was not the case.
No matter how many barriers were in front, the last and most important barrier was himself; depending on others was never quite reliable.
The Jinyiwei gathered around, one of them glanced at the body on the ground.
"He's not one of ours," he said, and knelt down with a thud before Lu Yunqi, "It's my dereliction, sir, letting an outsider slip in."
Lu Yunqi looked at him and took the Jinyiwei's knife from his hand, then raised his arm and chopped down.
The Jinyiwei stood stiff but did not move, resolute in his readiness to die.
The knife's wind swept by his side and struck the corpse on the ground.
It was a chop without any technique, not like that of a knife-wielder but akin to a butcher at a meat market.
Facing a dead pig and an unresisting corpse, he vented brutally and mercilessly, quickly turning the corpse on the ground into an indistinguishable mess of flesh and blood, like a pile of mud.
The smell of blood dispersed in the night air, dense and horrifying.
Lu Yunqi threw down the knife, his expression still indifferent, as if what lay before him was merely a lump of rotten pork.
"I just want to go home, I need to go home, whoever dares block my way," he said, then proceeded to his home drenched in blood.
The maidservants who met him showed a touch of fear as they looked at him splattered with blood and flesh.
"Hurry, tell the princess the master is back," they whispered.
Lu Yunqi had reached the courtyard of Princess Jiuli but, hearing this, stopped and turned away.
The maidservants who came out to meet him were instantly stunned, exchanging confused glances.
In the dimly lit night garden, Lu Yunqi, after wandering for what felt like a long time, finally sat down on the ground exhausted, then lay back, spreading out his arms and legs, gazing into the pitch-black night sky.
"Going home..." he murmured and closed his eyes.
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.............
The sunlight bathed the earth, and everywhere one looked was bustling with beautiful scenery. The capital in August was even more lively and bustling.
"We've arrived!" a person driving a carriage shouted joyfully, pointing ahead as he took off his woven bamboo hat, revealing a dusty face, almost dancing with excitement, "I see the capital now."
Fang Jinxiu poked her head out of the carriage, frowning at him.
"Seventh Chen, don't embarrass us. Sit properly," she said, also looking up, "It's still a long way from here to the capital."
So that's how it is, Seventh Chen thought, observing the passersby showing a subtly mocking smile typical of bumpkins, and then looking ahead at the city, he reluctantly sat down with an embarrassed smile.
"It looks close, but appearances can be deceiving," he said.
Fang Jinxiu didn't respond and didn't go back inside the carriage either.
"We've finally made it, I didn't think it would take this long, I'm absolutely exhausted," Seventh Chen said again, stretching and rubbing his shoulders.
"Who asked you to come? You can't even ride a horse," Fang Jinxiu said, "If I had come by horse alone, I would have arrived much earlier."
After deciding to leave Yangcheng for the capital, Fang Jinxiu went to say goodbye to Seventh Chen and his mother, since they had taken such good care of her. Surprisingly, the next day when she left, Seventh Chen had come along too.
"Take me to the capital to make my fortune," he pleaded, "I heard that even candy sellers can get rich there in the capital."
Fang Jinxiu couldn't dissuade him, so she had to agree to him coming along.
Since Seventh Chen couldn't ride a horse, Fang Jinxiu had no choice but to buy a carriage, and the two of them set off, making their journey day and night for over half a month until they finally reached the capital.
The capital, Fang Jinxiu thought as she looked at the city ahead, she never really thought they would truly make it.
Just like that, they had come from Yangcheng to the capital, a distance she never imagined before.
You have wings, even if you fall to the ground, you can fly.
Fang Jinxiu took a deep breath and took out a letter to look at.
The address on the letter was already deeply ingrained in her memory.
After an hour, they finally entered the capital, not expressing all the shock that came with the bustling city, Seventh Chen led the horse while dragging the carriage, directly inquiring about the street where Jiuling Hall was located, not the Jiuling Hall medical clinic itself.
"I wonder how Miss Jun's medical clinic is doing?" Seventh Chen turned around and asked, "Considering it's been less than two months since it opened here in this vast capital, and even with the support from De Sheng Chang, a medical clinic still stands on its medical skills, it's not something that can become famous overnight. I bet not many people know about Jiuling Hall yet."
Fang Jinxiu snorted.
"That's not necessarily true," she said, "You don't know her."
"I know, everyone in Yangcheng knows, Miss Jun is a divine doctor," Seventh Chen said, "But that also took a lot of effort and a lot of money to become well known, it's not that fast yet."
Fang Jinxiu snorted again.
You don't know how cunning this woman can be.
Every time, she pulls off something sensational.
If she decides to, she can do it.
The carriage reached the street where Jiuling Hall was located.
"This place is a bit out of the way," Seventh Chen said, looking around and frowning, "It should have been opened in a busier area, De Sheng Chang can afford the rent after all."
Fang Jinxiu spat.
"Whether you stay or not is another matter entirely, yet you already see yourself as the shopkeeper," she said.
Seventh Chen laughed loudly, leading the horse, shaking his head from side to side, and soon his eyes lit up.
"There it is," he said cheerfully, pointing.
Fang Jinxiu looked over, and the signboard of Jiuling Hall came into view, warming her heart.
After such a long and arduous journey, they finally arrived home.
This thought crossed her mind and she spat again.
Ridiculous, how she had started thinking of this place as home.
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The update time was delayed a bit because I wanted more people to see last night's summary posted in the free chapters, those who haven't seen it yet and are reading this can go check it out now, I really want you to see it with your own eyes.
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