140 Who is the Assassin? (1/2)

Chapter 140: Who is the Assassin?

Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

He didn't know whether the palace maid from before had gone to raise the alarm, or if the female fighting master who had died by his hand had been a distraction, but Fan Xian knew that this fight—although he had not allowed the female master to make a single sound—would have alerted the real masters of the palace, so he did not bother to deal with the body. With the tip of his foot on the paving stones, he made his whole body an arrow, and flew upward toward the palace wall as he had planned.

The wall was still very high, and Fan Xian was frustrated by his speed. Once he had climbed the wall with great difficulty, he heard a humming sound behind his head, as if the space behind him had begun to vibrate.

He turned his head, stunned, then saw a space in a distant corner of the palace walls where a commander was drawing a bowstring pointed at him.

An arrow flew through the night like a ravenous ghost, headed straight for his face!

In one breath, the arrow was on the horizon; one breath later, it was within range of his vision.

The arrow seemed fierce and confident. Fan Xian howled, the black cloth surrounding his face ripped to tatters by the sound. The unnamed and powerful zhenqi that he had quietly cultivated for 16 years wildly and ruthlessly rushed into his hands at this life-or-death moment.

Filling the air with his fists, he managed to strike the shaft of the arrow!

In an instant, the powerful zhenqi in his fists clashed violently with the formidable power of the arrow. The arrow shaft broke into dust, and the dangerous arrowhead glanced Fan Xian's hair as it whooshed past, puncturing the distant night sky!

A loud noise reverberated throughout the night sky of the palace, awaking the sleeping people inside. They were astonished, as if there had been a thunderclap within the palace walls.

The arrow had been too ferocious; there was no way it could have been launched by any ordinary person. After he had blocked it with his fists, Fan Xian's body had been emptied of zhenqi and sapped of his strength. He fell down the palace wall. His black clothing fluttered in the night breeze, and he looked thoroughly miserable.

Palace commander Yan Xiaoyi, in a distant corner of the palace walls, saw this murderer fall down along the wall and squinted. His face took on a valiant expression. ”He isn't dead,” he said coldly. ”Capture him.”

”Yes sir!” His subordinates followed his order and went.

Below the palace wall, Fan Xian, clad in black, fell powerlessly. He was about to smash face-first into the ground. He forced his body to twist, supporting himself on one knee, one foot and one hand, and hit the floor with a groan. The powerful impact made him spit up blood, moistening the remaining tatters of the black cloth. Soon after, with a low roar, he ran into the woods outside of the palace walls. Just one moment before the guards appeared, he disappeared into the dark city night.

The next day, in an unremarkable room beneath the palace grounds, Eunuch Hong seemed out of sorts. His eyes half-closed, he sat in his chair, with two officers also resting with their eyes closed, none of the men seemingly wishing to speak.

Some time later, vice commander Gong Dian, who had been resting at home the night before, spoke gently. ”His majesty is shocked.”

Yan Xiaoyi, the commander who had launched the arrow at Fan Xian the night before, slowly opened his eyes. ”A lady-in-waiting of the Eldest Princess was killed last night,” he said coldly. ”She is very angry.”

After the two men had spoken, Eunuch Hong finaly opened his eyes. ”Last night I met with a plot to lure me away from the palace,” he said, his voice sounding aged. ”The Empress Dowager is very unhappy.”

”Who was it?” asked Gong Dian. Of course, he knew in his heart that even if they had lured him away—whoever it was—they would not have escaped from the gaze of Eunuch Hong, a unique master who had a tiger's strength even in sickness.

”I do not know.” Eunuch Hong smiled. ”He appeared to only be of an intermediate ninth-level, but he was extremely familiar with the capital's buildings. On such a dark night, I was lured into the city and pursued him for a long time, but I finally lost track of him. He was... thoroughly remarkable.”

To make Eunuch Hong say such a thing, that person must have been remarkable indeed.

Yan Xiaoyi was 35 years old, and at the peak of his strength. He was a commander of the palace guards, and was responsible for the security of the entire palace. He looked at Eunuch Hong coldly. ”Where did you follow him to last, Eunuch?”

”An alleyway not far from the Dongyi diplomatic mission.”

”Today's investigation has brought about a result,” said Gong Dian. ”Eunuch Hong's chopsticks tore through an assassin's clothing; after the Overwatch Council performed a comparison, they determined that it was Tianxiang satin.”