Chapter 463 – You Owe Me Your Life

That arrowhead pierced through the bustling crowd, slicing through the air to arrive before Ji Yunshu’s eyes in the blink of an eye. Before Ji Yunshu could respond, she was clumsily pushed aside. She fell to the floor with a thud, scratching her palms against the rough stone, causing a red hot blaze of pain.

It felt like an eternity had passed before Ji Yunshu managed to pull herself up, only to watch as the arrow hit squarely in the middle of Wei Yi’s chest, passed through his body and landed on a pile of rocks on the opposite riverbank.

“Wei Yi?” Ji Yunshu screamed in shock and panic, but nothing she did could stop the blood that was gushing out of Wei Yi’s chest and staining his green robes a terrifying bright red. The people around her became a blur; nothing else mattered but the blood trickling down Wei Yi’s pale lips,  his eyes slowly closing, and his body falling towards her.

“Wei Yi?” She caught him as he fell. Her mind went completely blank when she saw the gaping wound in his chest.

Jing Rong spotted this from the bridge; he wanted to rush to her side, but an arrow aimed at him stopped him from immediately leaping to where she was. That arrow was shot with eagle precision and deadly force. It pierced his palm as he caught the arrow and stopped it in its tracks, leaving a stream of blood dripping down its shaft!

The crowd exploded!

Thirty masked men in black appeared out of thin air — each one equipped with a long sword— and charged ferociously towards Ji Yunshu and Jing Rong.

Tang Si was the closest to Ji Yunshu when the commotion began. She pulled out her silver whip, flinging it at several of those masked men. “How dare you ambush us – this young miss will have your lives!” Her whip was as merciless as she was!

The Shi siblings and Lang Po, who had been escorting their masters in secret, leapt out from where they were concealed. Mo Ruo ran to the injured Wei Yi only after warding off several attackers. He pulled out a pill from his sleeves and forced it down Wei Yi’s throat.

“Save him, save him…” Ji Yunshu begged in a tiny, trembling voice. Her hands were still pressed down firmly on Wei Yi’s wound, but his blood kept running through her fingers and stained her hands bright red.

Wei Yi’s eyes were barely open and his breathing was shallow and laboured. He fought to look at Ji Yunshu with his clear eyes but only managed to whisper ‘Shu’er’ before he lost all consciousness, his eyelids finally giving way.

Several men-in-black had made their way over to them. Mo Ruo found some rocks left behind earlier by Tang Si and threw them at those assassins. He did not wait for their response, but picked up Wei Yi in his arms and escaped the chaotic mess without a backward glance.

Ji Yunshu froze, but quickly picked up her pace, chasing after the two!

Similarly, chaos had descended upon the bridge. Jing Rong was worried about Ji Yunshu’s safety, but Mu Jin was still next to him in the middle of this mess, so he pushed her gently into the crowd. “Quick, escape!”

“Young Master Jing!” Mu Jin was concerned, but she soon disappeared, melding into the escaping crowd.

Jing Rong leapt gracefully into the air, landing softly at the riverbank. He ordered Shi Ziran, “Go protect Teacher Ji.”

“But Your Highness, you…”

“Go!”

“Understood!” Shi Ziran nodded. He followed Ji Yunshu’s and Mo Ruo’s trail, but several of their attackers broke off from the pack and came after him as well. The Lantern Festival was a bloody mess and screams could be heard from all directions.

Ji Yunshu and the others took a turn out of the busy main street, but their path was immediately blocked by several of their assailants. Their killing intent overflowed into the darkness of the night, enveloping Ji Yunshu and the rest as they stopped abruptly, for their escape route was cordoned off.

“The boss has ordered that none of them must be left alive!” The masked man in the lead raised his sword above his head, as he bellowed, “Kill!”

In the next moment, twenty of his men charged fearlessly towards them!

Mo Ruo had run out of options; he placed Wei Yi down onto the ground, protecting Ji Yunshu and his poor Wei Yi alongside the Shi siblings. Those assassins’ every move was designed to kill — each one aimed for Ji Yunshu. Even the combined efforts of Mo Ruo and the Shi siblings were insufficient to keep them away.

They might have been powerful, but they weren’t omnipotent.

As one of the attackers pierced his sword towards Mo Ruo, a silver whip appeared out of nowhere, wrapping its tendrils around that incoming weapon. The sword was turned around in an instant, and the blade pierced right through the assailant’s throat, slaying him in one clean move. Tang Si retracted her whip. She raised her eyebrows haughtily at Mo Ruo, “You owe me your life.”

“Many thanks.”

“Your life’s now mine – don’t even think of dying on me.”

Jing Rong and his remaining shadow guards finally arrived. The tables turned in a second; those attackers were no match for his personal army and they fell, one by one. The remaining four were all captured alive by Jing Rong’s men and were awaiting their final judgement.

Mo Ruo’s priority was Wei Yi; he picked him up and notified, “I’ll take Wei Yi away first,” before hurrying to the yamen!

Ji Yunshu was about to follow when she noticed Jing Rong’s injured hand. Her heart clenched as she saw the blood dripping from the grooves of his palm. Jing Rong saw where her gaze had landed, and  quickly hid his wounded hand in his sleeves before turning to Shi Zijin, “Take her away!”

“Understood!” Shi Zijin complied, tearing away Ji Yunshu’s gaze from Jing Rong as she pulled her away.

Jing Rong only began interrogating those captured masked men once he had ascertained that Ji Yunshu had safely left the scene, “Who sent you here?”

None of them answered.

Jing Rong already had his suspicions; he picked up a fallen sword with his foot, tearing away at the black cloths covering those attackers’ faces. They were stubborn and unafraid, not even of what was to come. Mm, Jing Yi’s personal shadow guards were indeed well-trained!

Lang Po had run out of patience; he kicked them in their chests, shouting angrily, “Speak! Who was it that sent you here?”

But all he got in response was laughter. Each of the four men suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood before falling to the ground into lifeless heaps.

Lang Po rushed forwards, prying their mouths open as he took a closer look, and reported, “Your Highness, there was poison hidden in between their teeth.”

Jing Rong did not speak; he only stared at the twenty-odd corpses on the ground, lost in his own thoughts.

“Your Highness, what should we do now?”

“Since we only have corpses, then let’s bring them back to the Capital. Report to Imperial Father that this prince was ambushed as he passed through Anfu County. Make sure to let them know that we have escorted the culprits back to the Capital – remember, you must say that they were captured alive.”

“Alive?”

Jing Rong smirked, “These shadow guards that Jing Yi has trained might not all be as fearless as this lot; there’s bound to be a couple who value their lives above loyalty.”

“Your Highness is suggesting?”

Jing Rong flipped one of the swords up from the ground, grabbing it by the hilt. In one clean movement, he flung it forwards, embedding it into a wooden pillar not far off, “Didn’t he want to kill this Prince? Fine, then this Prince will beat him at his own game. Once he knows that this Prince has captured his men alive, then sent them to the Capital, he’s sure to send another batch to intercept us and finish what their predecessors could not. When that moment comes, we’ll capture those assassins and make sure they stay alive, before shipping them off to the Supreme Court.”

“But the Supreme Court Chancellor’s been bought over by Prince Yi.”

Jing Rong’s face contorted in rage, “Don’t forget, the Supreme Court Vice-Chancellor Lord Yu is this Prince’s subordinate. When the Crown Prince first ambushed the palace, it was Lord Yu who let this Prince into the palace. Since he wants this Prince to back him, then he needs to prove his worth. What’s more, this Prince’s intentions lie not in dealing Prince Yi a blow…but in warning Imperial Father.”

Their secret tug-of-war would soon commence…

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