Chapter 28 (1/2)

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Dread appeared in the very depths of Mu Boxiu's eyes ”Y-You…”

Fu Shen gave an auous smile ”You are, as a matter of fact, still alive and well If you don't believe h and see if it hurts”

Theand turning and not getting to the meat of the matter, the hollower Mu Boxiu felt For a second, he wished he could just straight-up die, as that'd be better than falling into Fu Shen's hands to suffer his persecution

”Why do I get the sense that you seem to be very afraid of me, General Mu?” Fu Shen asked, fully spirited ”You fear death even h, Fu Shen was not of the Flying Dragon Guard thattheir nahim act like this

Mu Boxiu clenched his teeth hard, putting on a show of looking tough as he shouted ”So the grand Marquis of Jing Ning has illegally imprisoned a na Dragon Guard will trace it back to your head, General Fu?!”

Yu Qiaoting and Xiao Xun: ”……”

Fu Shen laughed, giving him a few claps in applause ”Allow et that you've since become 'dead', with your corpse parked in the Shuntian Office Orout of here alive?

As for the Flying Dragon Guard, their Royal Inspector Envoy is already mine And if they trace it toforward to that”

Yu Qiaoting coughed, urging hiet on with his business, not show off so horribly

Mu Boxiu finally realized that Fu Shen was actually toying with hiht a rat and was in no hurry to eat it, about to play with it half to death before he'd keep talking ”What do you want?” he asked, unable to take it anymore

”You're a smart person This Marquis has appeared before you in a wheelchair; are you still not able to guess what I want?”

Mu Boxiu gritted his teeth ”I don't know”

Fu Shen's smile swiftly iced over ”You don't have to uphold your reputation,” he said gently ”I'll ask only once Will you talk?”

”I don't know,” theout when Fu Shen sprang into action, the sound of wind cleaving followed by a sudden flash of cold light – a crossbow bolt whizzed through the air and stuck itself into Mu Boxiu's left shoulder

Sharp pain exploded froht coroan

Fu Shen held an elaborate crossbow Its second arroas pointed away, at his right shoulder ”Do you still not want to talk?”

Mu Boxiu broke into a cold sweat fro to answer

Fu Shen gave hi, he let the arrow loose

This arrow used even h Mu Boxiu's shoulder and nailed him firmly to the wall

Fu Shen unhurriedly placed a new arrow in ”It doesn't ht now There'll be plenty of time for you slowly rethink that before you're fully turned into a sieve,” he said softly ”A deadone… would I still be afraid that you wouldn't open your”Don't worry,to hit your right leg, I definitely won't accidentally hurt your left one

Here's three”

The third arro out, and Mu Boxiu gave a horrid screa froround What a shame that the three before him were all iron-hearted Generals that could kill without batting an eye; in the face of this torture, not a one called for it to stop, their gazes high-and- an insect It caused Mu Boxiu to feel a chill even htly parted his lips Just as the word 'four' was about to leave them, the captive in the iron cell finally abandoned his resolve, groaning in a feeble voice ”…I'll talk”

”Please do,” Fu Shen replied courteously

”You guessed right,” Mu Boxiu picked up ”The ambush at Blue Sand Pass e were ordered to carry out, and the arrow that didn't e to hit you was shot by me”

Fu Shen held one of his hands out, and Xiao Xun passed hi the inside to Mu Boxiu ”Was this the arrow?”

Mu Boxiu struggled to lift his head and give it a look ”It is”

The arrow's shaft was entirely black in color and about six cun long, and it had a triangular steel head with deep grooves carved on both sides At its tail end was the Arnature traditional character for 'ar part of the head and the body was a cursive character for 'leopard' that looked like an animal

Yan Xiaohan had once told Fu Shen that this leopard symbol represented the Leopard Scabbard Guard

The Leopards were one of the royal fa to the Ten Guards of the Southern Office, and it was a very low-key branch Its nomenclature referred to quivers ot its nah places in the i bows and arrows

The arrow in Fu Shen's hand was produced by the Ar Bureau He had ordered it to be investigated; several years ago, the Bureau hadbolts for crossbows and distributed them to the Imperial Guards and military depart too short a range and only being able to be shot one at a tie scale throughout the military The not-very-useful arroere then tossed into an unknown storehouse to collect dust

The arrow type was only a blip within the Imperial Guard Fu Shen had never seen it before, and with the extreh, no one remembered that they had once used that type, either

If that hinting piece of paper hadn't been wedged within that box before, and then underwent Yan Xiaohan's authentication, it was likely that Fu Shen's people wouldn't have had a clue about it at present

”I didn't expect that you'd find it… I thought it had been buried in Blue Sand Pass” Mu Boxiu laid onto the ground in despair, eyes empty and h crossbows developed by the Armament Supervision weren't very suited for use in cohtness, portability, and dexterity, with i it quite the weapon to avail oneself of for use in assassination

Yet that crossbow became Mu Boxiu's fatal mistake He had always had a post in the I transferred to Golden Crow All weapons used by the Imperial Guards came fro a bit of common sense out of habit; other areas of the army used ordinary crossbow bolts, and wouldn't have the Supervision's signature 'army' character

Fu Shen wasn't in the ht to his question ”Who was the mastermind behind the ambush at Blue Sand Pass?”

Mu Boxiu acted like he'd heard the biggest joke in the world, as he laughed hoarsely ”I'm already here, General Fu Do you still not knoants you to die?”

Fu Shen's expression didn't change ”I don't If I kneouldn't be asking you”

Did he really not know?

The proble across an ambush at Blue Sand Pass was that the route they used was soest suspicion at the ti with the eneuer suspicion was that he and Prince of Su's little movements had offended the Yuantai Emperor No matter how probable each was, there was a saboteur in the Northern Yan He had taken advantage of the opportunity his injury gave to step back from his position as Commander-in-Chief and had the mind to find that saboteur, but they hadn't even waited for Fu Shen to make his move when this arrow that could be considered a key piece of evidence was presented right to hient's eye and thorn in his flesh Even if Fu Shen had, like a lizard shedding its tail, handed overPrefectures and broke off relations with the Duke of Ying's Estate, being cautious of his words and actions as he lived in seclusion in a corner of Northern Xinjiang, he was still unable to escape the E, naive, and stupid – if he wasn't trying to kill hi his injured arm to point at area above hiet it? It's the Heavens that want you dead!”

Yu Qiaoting clenched his hands into fists Xiao Xun was breathing heavily Even if they had knoas going on for a long ti to the perpetrator identifying hi was different, in the end

Fu Shen was calmer than they were He was the one who experienced the dual strikes of the truth breaking out and the ettable, pervasive pain had passed It was fortunate that Yan Xiaohan had been keeping to his side at that juncture; Fu Shen hadn't revealed too much, but with Yan Xiaohan's keenness, he had about surmised the truth There wouldn't have been that nearly obedient attentiveness and consideration that could be have been called meticulous, otherwise

He couldn't help but admit that Yan Xiaohan was still quite skilled at that When Fu Shen recalled their past s of pain and hatred were very diluted, and what he could remember was all the trivial, everyday stuff between them

”Unfortunately, I'm not dead Very sorry” Fu Shen's face was blank ”Listen carefully I'll ask you these: who passed down the orders to you, who got the gunpowder and by what means, and which superior of yours plotted this ambush?”

The one who could et such an important and confidential assassination mission handed to him – that was crucial

Mu Boxiu, who had just been acting deranged, suddenly shut up and quieted down

”What, you don't want to talk?”

The three arrows stuck into his body were still bleeding Mu Boxiu couldn't forget the heartless lack of mercy under Fu Shen's calm tone, and those words caused hi and his rationale frantically pulling at his heart

Yet Fu Shen didn'tanother question, looking thoughtful ”Speaking of which, I reot proet transferred to Golden Crow?”

Having captured Mu Boxiu, he was naturally very clear on thethe Flying Dragon Guard, there were sixteen total Guards of the North and South, and none were harder to get into than the Golden Crow It ranked first of the ten Guards of the Southern Office, being the frontmost imperial attendants and distinct in its nobility, practically all of its entrants being the sons of the higher-class and round – even if his abilities stood out, accohest he could go How could he get into Golden Crow?

Mu Boxiu continued with his silence Fu Shen continued with his blind guessing ”Was it because someone pro to reht-lipped for him?”

Mu Boxiu seemed to be determined to play the part of a clamshell That reaction, on the contrary, further proved that Fu Shen's conjecture was probable He sneered frostily ”You've got so General Mu still probably doesn't know about,” Fu Shen boasted ”I've always been one to paydiplomacy before violence, and I've never killed an innocent at will My peopleyou for some time before this, but I'm positive they've never alerted you

For that reason; why, on the third of January, did you suddenly abandon your wife and fa someone else's corpse to take your place to vanish from this world without a trace from now on?”

Mu Boxiu immediately startled ”That wasn't you?” he asked doubtfully

”What are you hiding fro, but he still didn't yet dare believe Fu Shen ”You didn't hesitate to use your death to get away from this person, which illustrates that they want your life,” Fu Shen said after thinking it over ”Meanwhile, I have things to ask you, so ot to see you forof oppression honed fro down on Mu Boxiu's head until he couldn't lift it ”Who are they?”

Mu Boxiu was not the sort of fool ould do a favor for so to hoodwink inforrasp on a bit of the fiber of it

”I advise you to accept this and move forward,” Fu Shen said ”You've fallen into oat”

The context of that was all but understood; even if Mu Boxiu didn't talk, as long as Fu Shen had the tih for hi to dilly-dally with Mu Boxiu here, showing that the latter still had worth Providing that he talked enough, he ht even be able to live a few ain Fu Shen didn't proave up resisting, opening his led mentally

”I was seventeen when I entered the Leopard Scabbard Guard and became a Colonel and official at twenty-two, but because I had unintentionally offended a superior, I went through repeated suppression until I was thirty and didn't advance a single cun rade archery by randome a reliable aide

The Northern and Southern Offices have never been on the same level, especially after Yan Xiaohan took the top seat The Flying Dragon Guard sits up high, and the Guards of the Northern Office press down on the heads of the Southern Thatoverlooked like that, so he used every possible method to entice people who stood out to coh-ranking officials for the E their breaths as they listened all felt cold

The litzy of the sixteen Guards, the eternally 'never thinking about going forward in life, only aboutaround until death”' Golden Crow, had actually silently transformed into an assassination corps for i

”In these past two years, the E more and more letters to Golden Crow After the battle of West Autumn Gate last year, he selected a few people from the Guard to set up an ambush plan at Blue Sand Pass

The Pass is at the shared northern border of Tong and Yuan Prefectures, and to bring the Eastern Tartar diplo into the capital, you had to pass through it That's why, before your Northern Yan Army arrived at Yuan Prefecture, soate The defending Generals of Yuan are the Emperor's people, so we unpowder around the Pass”

”Wait,” Fu Shen interrupted, ”where did your gunpowder come from?”

Gunpoas forcitizens could sell privately; all gunpowder that went in and out of the army had to be recorded down Yuan Prefecture was an encampment of the Northern Yan Iron Cavalry, and even if there were people acting together both inside and outside the arunpowder a secret Not only that, Fu Shen had ordered people to investigate the gunpowder transit for every Prefecture in the vicinity of the Pass, and no abnorrass road',” Mu Boxiu answered ”There's one between the border bandits and Tong Prefecture's defending arunpowder to the bandits; their gunpowder accounts are all phony We pretended to be Eastern Tartars and bought it from there”

Yuan Prefecture was under Fu Shen's direct conificent Commander of the Northern Yan didn't die on the battlefield, but was actually capsized into the gutter, planted there by his own people Fu Shen's lungs nearly exploded fro fury and nowhere to vent it ”Those backstabbing, leeching disgraces!” he squeezed out froer down, General,” Yu Qiaoting quickly soothed hi his e”

”According to plan, two people were in charge of lighting the fuse, and I was keeping watch up high If the rocks didn't stop you, I was to fix that with an arrow; in any case, you definitely couldn't be allowed to leave Blue Sand Pass alive

Who could've known that your fate would be stronger than rock? All that and you still didn't die, and not only that, but you ca on edge every single day Eventually, very late at night on the second of January, someone broke into ht the kids back to her parents' place that day, and I was the only one at home I wounded the man and assuht, I packed up my valuables and fled froot the sense that people were following me the whole time, so I stole a corpse from a coffin home, dressed hi on him that never left me, then cut off his head and threw the headless corpse into a dried-up well I buried his head in the woods behind the village, so it's probably decomposed into just bones by now That way, if so me doould know that I'd already died”

After Mu Boxiu faked his death, he wanted to keep running South, but to his surprise, he didn't get to leave the county town, as the Northern Yan'shim for a few day captured him back

The whole chain of events linked up and did indeed correspond to the facts he knew, but there was still so that Fu Shen didn't understand: if it was to silence a witness, why did that person not do it sooner and insist upon waiting until now? Maybe it was that he hadn't originally planned on doing so, but soer, so he consequently had no choice but to sacrifice the chariot to protect the commander? [1]

Or, was it not only Fu Shen and the Golden Crow Guard, but yet another person that wanted to kill Mu Boxiu? Apart from they who knew the truth, there was still the one who sent the poison to Fu Shen

Howinvolved in this pool ofweaker and weaker due to excessive blood loss He likely predicted a fatal conclusion to this, yet at this moment, he reached tranquility as he spoke to Fu Shen ”The person I' about is someone you should know very well, General Fu——

He's the Head General of the Left Golden Crow Guard, Yi Si”

”No need to say it,” Fu Shen replied ”I sussed as ood friend in his youth, a loyal brother illing to risk finding a place for the Jin family's descendent for him – and he ultimately became a behind-the-scenes villain that had the heart to set up the place of his deant to the extre with disdain for the Court lackey in former years, had, in order to pressure the Northern Office, turned the Golden Crow Guard into a group of assassins that had even less of a bottoon Guard

Fu Shen didn't kno he should be assessing Yi Si The emotions he felt were not as intense as when he had heard of the Tong ar accounts He couldn't even remember any interactions he'd had with him these years

The friendshi+p of youth was ephe with the rise of the sun, as all people would inevitably change from how they were before

It's just that soeneral shape, while sonition

The world was fickle, the whirasp

Fu Shen indicated for Xiao Xun to wheel hi a confession was hard work, and he needed tiest these truths