This was an entirely unreasonable request. The waiter was about to make an excuse, but then he thought this lady might be connected to Xiao Jin and didn’t dare to refuse. He then said, “Okay. Let me go ask the innkeeper for leave.”
The waiter left the room and went downstairs to ask the innkeeper for permission. Bing Zhi stood in the hallway, observing this way of asking for leave. Her martial arts were not practiced in vain; while she couldn’t discern Xiao Jin’s whereabouts, she could easily hear an ordinary person like the waiter.
“It’s Master Xiao,” the waiter simply said, and the innkeeper’s face immediately became panic-stricken. He hurriedly nodded, agreed to the waiter’s request, and urged him to be quick.
After seeing this scene, a strange smile appeared at the corner of Bing Zhi’s mouth. So, your influence in the Central Plains and even the capital is this great. Just who are you?
Bing Zhi walked into the courtyard, beginning to carefully examine the residence she had just purchased.
It could barely be considered a large courtyard. There were three wing rooms, facing south, west, and east, with the main gate facing north. Bing Zhi was currently living in the west wing room.
Chapter 4: Assassination (4)
There were two plum trees in the courtyard.
She had chosen this yard because it had plum trees like the island, and although there were only two, they at least gave her a sense of belonging.
The New Year had just passed, and the plum blossoms had just fallen!
The nearest opportunity was tonight, and if she were to wait, it would be nearly a year. What should she do? She absolutely could not wait until winter.
Bing Zhi turned to the south, looking up at the majestic imperial palace. She did not understand what was inside those deep walls and grand courtyards. So, why not seize the moment and take a chance.
Suddenly, Bing Zhi revealed an unusual smile. This time, the meaning was: mutual destruction.
As night fell, a black shadow flew out of the house towards the imperial palace.
Because it was a celebration banquet tonight, there were many people coming and going. Bing Zhi hid to the side, observing. The guards initially checked the people in the carriages carefully but later became impatient, merely waving through any high-status carriages.
What an opportunity! Bing Zhi seized the moment, leaping several zhang away. The guards did not notice her; it seemed the palace guards’ martial arts were not that high.
Perhaps she would succeed today.
She targeted a carriage with the weakest defense, not to alert others. Quickly dealing with a few martial arts practitioners, when she lifted the carriage curtain, the noble ladies had already fainted. Bing Zhi laughed coldly, roughly throwing them out of the carriage.
Bing Zhi chose a small-statured man who was still alive, sealed his martial arts, and stuffed a pill into his mouth – a top-quality antidote that could treat internal and external injuries. It pained her to give it to him, but she needed him.
Seeing the small man awake, she removed her veil and spoke coldly: “No matter what method you use, ensure the carriage passes through the palace gate smoothly.”
Bing Zhi frowned, quickly blocking his speech meridian when he began to shout. The small man immediately couldn’t speak.
“Don’t shout!” This was her last patience. If people were attracted, it would be troublesome. Bing Zhi saw him nod before releasing the pressure point.
“Master, you’re so powerful! Will you take me as your disciple?” By the end, he was even coaxing her.
“We’ll talk about that later. If I’m still alive.” Bing Zhi didn’t know why she agreed, perhaps to encourage herself to survive.
“Okay! Don’t worry, leave it to me.” The small man pat his chest in guarantee.
“Let’s go.”
Bing Zhi remained expressionless as she entered the carriage.
A thin, sharp voice attracted her: “Your Majesty, it’s time for the banquet.”
“朕 (zhen, an imperial first-person pronoun) knows,” the Emperor said, waving his hand to signal the person to leave. Then he walked out alone.
Bing Zhi watched the eunuch walk away, carefully following the Emperor. Sure enough, as the short one said, the Emperor took that small path. Bing Zhi hid behind a rockery, waiting for her prey to approach.
No one was around, and the light was dim.
What a chance! Bing Zhi made an instant decision, aiming carefully, “Taste my sword!”
Immediately, the sword was unsheathed, a cold light flashing by, the sword tip directly piercing the Emperor’s chest. In an unguarded moment, even a high-level martial artist would be unable to dodge. This was her years of assassination practice.
Just as Xiao An was lost in thought, a sharp sword suddenly flew towards him.
Xiao An repeatedly retreated to dodge, while Bing Zhi pressed her attack step by step.
Bing Zhi made a backhand strike, causing Xiao An to lose balance while avoiding, then immediately captured his defensive opening, attacking from left and right. Xiao An became increasingly exhausted in his evasion, narrowly brushing past the sword’s edge multiple times, with a hint of blood spreading in the air.
Xiao An, who had long abandoned martial arts for scholarly pursuits, was naturally no match for Bing Zhi, who had trained extensively.
As the sword drew closer, Xiao An almost gave up on surviving.
Bing Zhi knew she was about to succeed. In less than a second, with just a bit more force, she would strike the Emperor’s heart. But why did she feel somewhat uneasy?
No! She was about to succeed! She should try a bit harder – once he died, she would definitely be happy!
Driven by this psychology, Bing Zhi gathered her final strength and thrust towards Xiao An.
“Ah!” But it wasn’t Xiao An’s cry of being struck – it was Bing Zhi’s right arm holding the sword being shot by an arrow.
The sword was also shaken out of her hand by the sudden powerful force. Bing Zhi retreated in panic, blood trickling from her mouth. The internal energy she had just gathered was dispersed by that force; she now suffered both external and internal injuries.
In her hasty glance, she saw a masked person standing on the rockery, dressed in black, holding an arrow without a bow, with a fan in the other hand, looking down at her.
It was him again, that black fan she could never forget – the black-clothed person who had caused her entire plan to fail. Could he have shot the arrow bare-handed? It was terrifying; she was absolutely no match for him.
Bing Zhi cast a final unwilling glance at her enemy, gathered her qi, jumped onto the roof, and escaped the imperial palace.
She had ultimately failed, even when so close.
Wind, who had been hiding in the darkness, spoke up. “Master, shall I call Rain?” Wind had been following Xiao Jin for years and was one of the four guardians known as “Wind, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning.” The four guardians had different specialties. Wind was skilled in assassination, hidden weapons, and swift swordsmanship. Rain was the only woman among them, with average martial arts skills but medical expertise far superior to the imperial physicians. Thunder was quick-tempered, excelling in palm techniques with powerful strikes. Lightning specialized in toxicology, an expert in both poisoning and antidotes.
The fact that such extraordinary individuals would submit to him spoke volumes about Xiao Jin’s martial prowess and character.
Chapter 5: Escape (2)
“How long?” Xiao Jin took a rough pulse reading of Bing Zhi, able to sense from her breath that she was no longer on the brink of death after receiving his true qi support. She should be able to hold on until Rain arrives.
Upon hearing his master’s words, Wind immediately vanished into thin air. Xiao Jin’s question about duration was already implicitly approved; otherwise, he wouldn’t have asked at all.
