30 Assassins at Nigh (1/2)
”Erh?” Ye Xiao was shocked. When he opened his eyes, Su Yeyue was no longer around. He could only hear a shy voice, ”Little Soya [1]! Let's go! Let's get out of the house of the man who speaks honeyed words...”
She had managed to escape from his clutches.
He heard the guards talk, but he couldn't make out what they were talking about, and then they stopped.
”Yes of course... This has nothing to do with her... I never said that it did...” Ye Xiao rubbed his head and murmured, ”Why did she suddenly become shy and run away... What's wrong with her?”
He was confused and murmured, ”Oh girls... Their thoughts are truly baffling...”
The steward came over in a hurry and noticed that Su Yeyue had left. He felt relieved and grabbed onto Ye Xiao's arm, ”My lord! People from the Mu Clan have reached the entrance of the capital! They are now doing the blood sacrifice outside the south gate. It is said that... They are holding 77 white flags and 22 blood flags in total!”
Ye Xiao was confused, ”Blood sacrifice? White flags? Blood flags? What the hell are those?”
The steward was in such a hurry that he stomped his foot out of frustration before answering, ”You don't know? It is a 'ninety-nine'! The 77 white flags mean mourning, and the 22 blood flags mean that they are unwilling to give up! There are 99 flags in total, and that means they will never consider any compromise! No matter how long it will take, they are unwilling to give up!”
Ye Xiao rolled his eyelids, ”So what?”
Hearing Ye Xiao's words, the steward became dumbfounded.
Ye Xiao stretched himself leisurely, ”Time for bed... Words like 'unwilling to give up' sound really horrible. I am so scared and it makes me feel sleepy... I am so terrified... So I think I need to sleep so as to hide from reality.”
The steward was shocked as he watched his young master leisurely leave. He was rendered speechless and felt like there was a storm howling in his mind. When he was just considering forgetting about their relationship and beating Ye Xiao up, Ye Xiao had already closed the door in his face. After a while, snoring sounds resounded throughout the mansion...
”I am truly...” The steward couldn't find the words to complete this sentence. He was extremely worried, but he couldn't do a thing about it. As such, he finally stomped his feet on the floor and then left.
...
It was deep into the night.
The steward had stayed awake the entire time.
The capital was enshrouded in a tense atmosphere at this moment.
However, nobody knew that in a vast bamboo forest, there was a man with a clear sight quietly observing the capital.
It seemed that all the birds in the capital were arriving at this forest to set up their nests. The birds flew to the bamboo forest from all directions one after another. The silent bamboo forest had turned unusually noisy.
The man in white quietly waved his hand, and all those birds gathered in the sky over his head.
They didn't just keep flying. Instead, they stopped on his hand one after another. It was truly a marvelous spectacle. The birds left small wax beads in his hand one after another.
”Master, you should get some rest. Just let Xiu-Er and me do this job.” A girl in white lightly walked over and spoke softly.
”It's better I do it myself when I am able to.” The man in white smiled softly, ”Wan-Er, you two must be tired after all these years. You should relax sometimes. Don't worry. Such an easy job won't exhaust me. Besides, to do some works is a way for me to practice. It is good for me.”
Wan-Er smiled, ”As long as you stay with us, we won't feel tired. I understand that you want to practice more, but your legs... We are worried about you.”
The man in white smiled peacefully, ”It is my unavoidable fate. Everything will be okay and I just need to get over it. This period of time is actually the perfect time for me to improve myself. It affects my ultimate mission which I have to complete in the future. Don't worry. I will be fine. I have gotten over it long ago... really!”
”Okay.” Wan-Er replied with a sweet smile, and then she covered him in the pure white cotton cloak which she had brought.
As she was preparing to leave, the man in white spoke to her in a low voice, ”Wan-Er, do you notice that the name 'Ye Xiao' sounds odd?”
”Odd?” Wan-Er frowned.
She thought that his question was weird. The word was especially weird - 'odd'!
”You may not know about it, but this name is very interesting.” The man in white smiled peacefully and spoke as if he was deep in his thoughts, ”What a pity...”
His eyes slightly rolled up and he looked into the distant sky through the bamboo trees. After a long time, he sighed, ”What a pity!”
”A pity?” Wan-Er was confused and her crystal-like eyes were wide-open.
But the man stopped his daydreaming so that he could read the information attentively.
”The first storm will soon reach the capital... and it will also be the first storm of my life...” The man in white murmured, ”Who could experience the storms of the world with me and stay by my side?”
He looked really lonely, as if the loneliness was extracted from the bottom of his heart. A sense of coldness had formed within him.
It was the kind of coldness felt when one was at the top of the world; a coldness that nobody else could ever withstand.
He said to Wan-Er, ”Let the Nine Black-dressers [2] stay focused on every movement in the General's House. If something goes wrong, make sure they do any - and everything necessary!”
Wan-Er quickly agreed and left.
...
The city was meant to be bustling tonight.
A lot of people entered Chen-Xing City through every entrance!
People from the martial sects, the unattached cultivators and the tyrants from everywhere were all quietly making their way to the city.
The security in the house of Ye was strengthened.