Chapter 293: Chapter 293: Heading to the Capital for the Fourth Time

“Yun No. 20, should we question these two first?” Wuqing asked, holding a captive.

“You can do it first,” Yun No. 20 said, nodding as he tossed away the unknown piece of dried grass he had been chewing.

“You do it,” Wuqing retorted. Interrogation was an arduous task. Given her explosive temper, if she didn’t get anything out of them in two or three sentences, she’d undoubtedly cut them down.

Yun No. 20 pondered for a moment. He wasn’t an expert at this either. He glanced at Wuyou. It would be best to leave it to her; a dose of poison would surely make them spill everything faster than pouring beans.

So he said, “Then let’s entrust this difficult task to Wuyou.”

Wuyou was leaning against a stone wall, resting. She had no desire to undertake such a wearisome task. However, realizing it wasn’t wise to keep the two captives with them indefinitely, she rose, took one of them, and headed toward a secluded spot.

She had already removed the poison hidden in the captive’s mouth and dislocated his jaw. She then administered a sleeping drug into his mouth before resetting his jaw and unblocking his mute acupoint.

“Are you from the Xichen Kingdom or the Fengli Kingdom?” Wuyou asked, getting straight to the point. She only needed to know whether they were from the Xichen Kingdom or the Fengli Kingdom. Other details were unimportant; assassins were trained to reveal nothing more.

The assassin rolled his eyes. “We’re assassins and death warriors. Do you think we’d tell you anything? Kill us or torture us, do as you please.”

“Quite a hard mouth,” Wuyou said ominously. “Let’s see if you can maintain that toughness in a moment.”

No sooner had Wuyou spoken than the man’s eyes began to glaze over. Only then did Wuyou ask, “Which kingdom sent you?”

The muscles on the assassin’s face twitched. He was unable to resist the effects of the drug and finally stammered, “Fengli… Kingdom.”

“Was it the Emperor of the Fengli Kingdom?” Wuyou asked again.

“No, it was the King of Qin.”

“Oh? The King of Qin?” Wuyou was taken aback. It wasn’t the Emperor of the Fengli Kingdom, but this King of Qin. What was going on?

It was fortunate she’d asked that extra question, otherwise she wouldn’t have known a King of Qin was involved. She had to report this to the Young Master immediately.

Once the man could offer no more information, Wuyou killed him and scattered Corpse-Dissolving Powder over the body. Soon, it vanished completely.

Wuyou used the same method on the other captive. This one had been sent by the royal family of the Fengli Kingdom. Wuyou was slightly disappointed that no one from the Xichen Kingdom was involved.

After disposing of the second body, she immediately sent a carrier pigeon to inform Xiao Yunjing.

In the evening, Gu Qingli emerged from the Space. Once matters were settled, the group resumed their journey.

After that, they faced no more major ambushes. Minor skirmishes still occurred, but for the members of the Secret Sect, these were child’s play, dealt with effortlessly.

The Capital City was now in sight; they were only half a day’s journey from its gates.

They decided to rest in a stretch of desolate wilderness. After this break, they would reach their destination.

Everyone finally relaxed a little. Yun No. 20 instructed the group to rest, posted several guards, and then returned to his carriage to take a nap.

Just then, one of the lookouts rushed to Yun No. 20 and whispered in his ear. Yun No. 20’s brow furrowed. He leaped from the carriage, alerted those nearby, and with a wave of his hand, the Secret Sect members instantly formed a defensive perimeter around the three carriages.

Gu Qingli, who had been dozing, noticed their heightened vigilance. Someone must be trying to assassinate them again.

They were almost at the gates of the Capital City. Who would still be trying to ambush them now?

Gu Qingli instructed nanny and the others to get into the carriages. Once they were all inside, she moved all three carriages into the Space and entered it herself.

Observing the tense expressions of Yun No. 20 and the others, Gu Qingli realized this ambush was different.

Indeed, shortly after Gu Qingli’s group entered the Space, volleys of arrows rained down on the Secret Sect members. Lines of men then charged forward. Their leader, without a word, waved his hand, and a second volley of arrows flew towards them.

The attackers gave Yun No. 20 and his men no chance to breathe.

Yun No. 20’s eyes narrowed. Fending off the arrow storm, he yelled for everyone to close ranks.

Everyone stood back-to-back, the only way to defend against arrows coming from all directions.

There were too many assailants this time; they had to fight together to repel them. There appeared to be over a thousand, not counting those concealed in the shadows.

Though dressed as bandits, their coordinated movements clearly indicated they were not. The Secret Sect had dealt with enough bandits to recognize these men as well-trained soldiers.

Yun No. 20 was shocked by the sheer scale of the military force sent to assassinate them.

As far as they knew, all of Qingchen’s troops had been captured and were still detained. The only other significant force was the several hundred thousand soldiers under the Emperor, but those were now under Xiao Yunjing’s command. Troops from Yanshan Pass and Beijing were unlikely, leaving only the southern armies. Sending such a large force to eliminate their small group of a few dozen people seemed like overkill. If they were going to assassinate someone, it should be Xiao Yunjing in the Imperial Palace. Why target the Young Master’s wife? Who could Madam Gu have offended? This matter had to be investigated thoroughly to prevent future complications for the Young Master.

Seeing they were completely surrounded with no escape route, Yun No. 20 and Wuqing exchanged a look. Wordlessly and simultaneously, they broke out of the encirclement, charging towards the attackers.

Both were already struck by several arrows, but they had to break through to have any chance of survival.

Witnessing the duo’s desperate charge, the attackers abandoned their bows and arrows, drew their swords, and moved to ensnare them.

The enemy numbers were overwhelming. For every group they cut down, another surged forward, relentless in their intent to kill them all.

Despite their superior martial skills and the many enemies they slew, they couldn’t hold out against such numbers. An hour later, everyone had sustained injuries of varying severity.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yunjing was waiting at the city gate. He waited for a long time, but Gu Qingli’s party did not arrive. The two scouts he had dispatched earlier also hadn’t returned. Worry gnawed at him; something must have happened.

Xiao Yunjing summoned twenty members of the Secret Sect. They mounted swift horses and immediately galloped out of the city gates.

The two Secret Sect scouts Xiao Yunjing had sent earlier finally reached the scene of the battle. One immediately turned back to report, while the other stayed to join the fight.

Xiao Yunjing spurred his horse onward, but still felt it was too slow. He left one man to tend to the horses while he and the others used their lightness skill to race ahead.

About half an hour later, the returning scout spotted Xiao Yunjing approaching and flew swiftly towards him. “Young Master! Yun No. 20… they… they’re surrounded by many… many men! Quick… quick!”

Having delivered his message, the scout collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted.

“Faster!” Xiao Yunjing exclaimed, saying nothing more as he accelerated towards the battle.

Even before reaching the site, he could see figures clashing chaotically on the desolate hillside in the distance.

“Faster!” Xiao Yunjing yelled again, channeling all his internal energy to propel himself towards the hill like an arrow.

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