As the garrison commander led the way, he asked, “I wonder which prisoner from the Heavenly Prison you wish to extract, sir?”
The villainous-faced man said nothing.
The commander asked again, “When did General Duange return to the capital? His timing is quite opportune. Today is His Majesty’s grand wedding—he can join in the celebration.”
At this, he summoned a guard. “Go to the Heavenly Gate and check. Tell them not to slack off just because I’m not there. General Duange’s men have entered the palace, so I can’t leave for the moment.”
The guard acknowledged and was about to leave when he was blocked by the villainous-faced man’s subordinates.
The commander’s expression changed, his tone unfriendly. “What is the meaning of this?”
“Which minister did you want to tip off? Minister Kena, or Minister Maer?” Someone behind the villainous-faced man laughed darkly.
The commander was startled. His gaze swept over the hundred-man formation, unable to identify who had spoken, but he denied it. “Of course not. Today is unsettled—I’m merely having them strengthen the defenses.”
That voice didn’t respond again. The villainous-faced man said coldly, “Less talk. Move.”
The commander was actually one of Kena’s men and had received instructions beforehand—there would be an action at the temple opposing His Majesty’s marriage. Seeing Duange Shou’s men come to extract a prisoner, he wanted to quickly send word there. After all, Duange Shou returning to the capital at this time was truly intriguing. He controlled His Majesty’s direct troops and obeyed the King’s every command. The King had the most elite and mysterious shadow guards, plus Young Marquis Wu Yanle’s personal guard army—if Duange Shou were added, Minister Kena’s scheme today would likely fail. Song Mo Zi as Queen meant the nation’s downfall. This was the conclusion reached by Daqiu’s highest-ranking clan leaders. Though he was just a small palace garrison commander, he also didn’t want the King to abandon Daqiu’s ambition to rule the world because of one woman.
Thinking thus, uneasy and anxious, he led the way ahead, his instinct telling him things might not go well. Just as he was about to turn toward the Heavenly Prison, he suddenly heard the villainous-faced man say he’d gone the wrong way.
His heart suddenly pounded. He turned back with an awkward smile. “The Heavenly Prison is in this direction—how could it be wrong?”
“Who said I’m going to the Heavenly Prison?” Having said so, he wouldn’t admit otherwise. The villainous-faced man brazenly lied. “The serious criminal is held in West Moon Hall—naturally we must go there.” Even though the King of Daqiu had taken all his shadow guards for the grand wedding, the palace still had five hundred guards’ worth of fighting power—best not to alert them if possible. If they’d said from the start they wanted to go to West Moon Hall, even with Duange Shou’s palace gate token, entering the palace would have been difficult.
“Halt!”
The commander who could guard the royal palace wasn’t without real ability. He’d let them in earlier, first because they had the palace gate token, second because extracting someone from the Heavenly Prison was reasonable, and if he refused, it would make him look guilty. Later, thinking Duange Shou’s return to the capital at this time was too coincidental and fearing it would affect Minister Kena’s actions, he wanted to send someone with a message. It could be said his two judgments were correct.
Now these people were actually targeting West Moon Hall. He was confused. Because the King had instructed all rotation commanders that the people in West Moon Hall absolutely could not be touched unless he had His Majesty’s personal written decree.
“Do you have the King’s written decree?” The commander’s gaze was suspicious. Whether for Minister Kena or for the King, he had to ask clearly.
“The King is currently blocked at the temple by your Minister Kena—where would a written decree come from?” The voice that had laughed darkly earlier spoke again. “We follow General Duange’s orders to bring someone to the temple, otherwise this grand wedding will fall through.”
The commander finally located the voice’s owner, standing right behind the villainous-faced man—refined appearance, seemingly an army advisor type of official.
Best if it falls through. The commander’s expression showed some satisfaction. “Gentlemen, it’s not that I’m delaying important matters. The King told us personally—without his written decree, the people in West Moon Hall absolutely cannot be touched. Please return.” This was called dutiful loyalty—even if something happened, he couldn’t be blamed.
“Is that so?” That person laughed again. “There’s a saying—inviting guests is easy, sending them away is hard. Since we’ve already entered, we can’t possibly return empty-handed.”
When he finished speaking, the commander saw several extremely fast figures dart out, silently taking down his entire squad of subordinates, then quickly dragging the people away to hide them. When they reappeared, they’d already changed into palace guard uniforms.
“You… you have such audacity—” Before he finished speaking, a sinister blade appeared at his neck.
“Best to be obedient, otherwise you’ll meet your subordinates in the Yellow Springs.” The villainous-faced man’s voice wasn’t loud, but no one doubted his words.
“If you dare, kill me. Without me, even if you find West Moon Hall, you can’t enter.” The commander was shocked that their skills were so formidable—in the blink of an eye they’d taken down his entire squad, and thinking of such meticulous disguising, he couldn’t help but tremble.
“We know that, which is why we’re keeping you alive.” Approaching West Moon Hall required the garrison commander to personally lead them. The refined young man spoke casually. “Your death is easy, but your widowed mother and your newborn son will both lose their lives because of you—do you not care about that either?”
The commander was horrified. How did they know about his family matters?
“You have two choices. First, you die for dereliction of duty, incompetence, and conspiring with external ministers to stage a palace coup, your entire family implicated because of you, not a chicken or dog left alive. Second, you recognize the times, lead us to extract the person, and I’ll give you a large sum of silver so you can flee far away.” The refined man spoke while his feet didn’t pause, heading toward West Moon Hall.
The commander ultimately compromised and obediently led them to West Moon Hall.
Guarding West Moon Hall were originally shadow guards. If not for today’s main event being at the temple, replaced with palace guards, the commander wouldn’t even be allowed to approach. He didn’t even know who exactly was imprisoned inside.
“How many guards?” When West Moon Hall appeared in the distance, the villainous-faced man asked.
“Seventy-eight people. Ten on each side of the hall, ten on the roof, and twenty-eight hidden stakes buried in the garden.” The commander had by now revealed everything.
“Call all the people out to talk.” The blade had long since moved from the commander’s neck—the villainous-faced man was using a silver needle to press his death point.
The commander followed instructions and called all the guards to the front of the hall. As a result, he watched helplessly as they were killed with lightning speed that gave no time to react. Though he’d never been on a battlefield, he was also an extremely excellent Black Armor warrior of the capital. But in his eyes, this was the most exquisite killing technique he’d ever seen. Soundless and formless lightness skill landing behind people, either twisting necks with hands or covering mouths and slitting throats with blades—utterly unhesitating, each move ruthless and precise.
He watched the villainous-faced man and the refined young man walk into the hall, suddenly guessing these might not be Duange Shou’s people, because this was clearly the assassin kungfu of the Han people. But how to explain that palace gate token? He’d examined it very carefully—it was absolutely genuine.
The commander waited outside, uneasy and anxious, while inside the hall the atmosphere was quite cheerful.
“You came slowly enough. Did you deliberately let me suffer a bit more?” Thinner by a size, face injured, bloodstains on his clothes, but spirits still decent—it was the captured Jin Yin.
The refined man, who was Yuan Cheng, tossed him a set of ordinary soldier’s clothing. “That I came personally gives enough face to Young Master Jin. Change quickly—there’s still a long road to walk.”
The villainous-faced Huayi checked the vital energy circulation of One Hundred Two and One Thousand Two Hundred, then came over to say, “Sir, they’ve taken some kind of energy-dispersing drug. Their internal power is completely lost, but otherwise they’re fine.”
Hearing this, Bai Liang and Qian Liang’s faces fell. They pulled at Yuan Cheng’s sleeves from left and right. “Young Master, our internal power won’t fail to recover, will it?”
Yuan Cheng smiled. “If it truly can’t recover, I’ll definitely help you take revenge.”
Seeing the twins always getting along well with Yuan Cheng, Jin Yin felt annoyed. “Your master here isn’t dead yet, and you’re already cozying up to this corrupt official.”
“What about Ba Liang?” He wanted to stand up, but his tortured body wouldn’t obey.
Yuan Cheng extended his hand.
Jin Yin grasped it and struggled to rise. Qian Liang and Bai Liang stepped forward to help him change clothes.
Yuan Cheng shook his head. “I sent people to search, but there’s no news of him. I estimate he either left the city to seek help but missed me, or he met with misfortune.”
“Leaving the city for help is possible, but meeting misfortune is impossible.” Jin Yin firmly denied it.
“Right! Uncle Ba Liang’s kungfu is so good. Those bald monks at the temple only use low and dirty conspiracies. If not for us, Uncle Ba Liang wouldn’t have been injured.” Bai Liang was talkative.
“For now, we can only leave here first before discussing further.” Yuan Cheng said.
“What about Mo Zi? What about Dou Lu?” But Jin Yin wasn’t one to be obedient.
“Dou Lu is at her own home. As for Mo Zi—” Yuan Cheng smiled. “The King of Daqiu is currently forcing her to have a grand wedding at Eagle God Temple.”
“What?!” Qian Liang and Bai Liang were shocked. “If Third Young Master gets married, what will you do, Young Master?”
“Snatch her back.” Yuan Cheng spoke leisurely.
Jin Yin snorted. He’d wanted to argue, but suddenly had an epiphany. “She doesn’t think we’re still imprisoned in that ghost temple, does she?”
“Wu Yan is very smart—he temporarily moved you to another place for imprisonment. But he’s also very arrogant. What makes him think we would throw eggs at rocks? He hasn’t even convinced those clan leaders, yet in his anxiety to marry his bride, he must mobilize all available forces in the city to protect the temple while also wanting to catch all of Mo Zi’s backup in one net. So rescuing you really had no difficulty at all.” Yuan Cheng spoke lightly.
“You’re using Mo Zi as bait?” Jin Yin seemed to have caught his weakness, smiling improperly. “I’ll tell her.”
“Tell her then. Best also tell her that if she doesn’t become Daqiu’s wanted criminal under imperial decree, I’ll always have an inferiority complex about not being worthy of her. With everyone calling for her head, Wu Yan can never marry her as Queen unless he doesn’t want the throne.” It was he who deliberately muddied this pool, dropped in the large stone, stirred up huge waves.
Jin Yin looked at him for a long while, then sighed. “Yuan Cheng, I truly am inferior to you—in wickedness. One arrow to shoot how many eagles?”
“Thanks for the compliment. But if you drag your feet any longer, I won’t care if you live or die—I still need to go receive her.” Yuan Cheng walked out.
The group safely exited the palace using the commander.
The commander, clutching silver notes, hurriedly got a horse and escaped through a small gate, completely failing to notice that the dozen or so men who’d changed into guard uniforms hadn’t left the palace.
And at this time at Eagle God Temple, just as Mo Zi was about to completely lose all hearts and minds, Duange Erfeng suddenly said loudly, “Minister Maer, the people were brought by you—clearly they were tortured into confession. What credibility does a forced confession have? Moreover, you were so hasty to kill them without waiting for His Majesty to personally question them—could it be to silence them?”
Once again, Duange Erfeng, representing his clansmen, firmly stood on Wu Yan’s side.