#964 - "warm up"
It was night.
Da Hui, Guyang Prefecture, Pingyun County.
“Big Brother, it’s here!”
The dark night sky was covered with dark clouds, and the moonlight was dim and cold.
The surroundings of a small courtyard were quiet, but if you looked closely, it was not difficult to find that there were hundreds of black shadows slowly sneaking towards the same direction.
These people were all dressed in night clothes, with their faces covered, and even the weapons in their hands did not have a trace of reflected light, they should have been painted with black ink.
Only the fierce tiger embroidered on the corner of their clothes swayed slightly in the moonlight.
Obviously, these hundred or so people came from the same sect, and their strength was not weak.
As for what they were going to do... Judging from such a posture, it was undoubtedly to take the life of the person in this courtyard.
“Do it!”
As the leader gave a low shout, hundreds of black shadows suddenly accelerated and quietly surrounded the small courtyard.
From the four directions of southeast, northwest, almost in the blink of an eye, dozens of people climbed over the courtyard wall and rushed into the wooden house lit with candlelight, holding long knives.
However, after a burst of noise from overturned tables and chairs, someone quickly ran out of the house.
He ran all the way to the masked man at the head, and whispered in the latter’s ear:
“Big Brother, no one is there.”
“…”
Frowning, the masked leader was silent for a while, then snorted coldly:
“Hmph, keep searching! He definitely can’t escape far!”
“Yes!”
“…”
Like a flock of scattered crows, in just a few breaths, hundreds of men in black swept away in all directions, and soon disappeared into the night.
At the same time, on a path in the woods not far from here, a man and a woman were hurrying along by the moonlight.
They were the targets these men in black were looking for, and also two people Wei Changtian was very familiar with—
Chu An and Qin He.
“Husband, what, what happened? Tell me...”
With a hint of crying in her voice, Qin He held Chu An’s clothes tightly, and had already asked this question for the tenth time tonight.
Chu An gave her a look with a heavy expression. After hesitating for a while, he still didn’t tell the truth, but said softly:
“Don’t ask, you just need to remember what I told you.”
“After leaving Pingyun County, we will separate for the time being, and after that, no matter who asks you, you must say that you don’t know me.”
“Remember?”
“I...”
Qin He bit her lip tightly, the unease in her heart becoming more and more intense.
She was about to ask something else while crying, but Chu An’s eyes suddenly changed at this moment, and he suddenly reached out and hit Qin He on the back of the head, and then carried the unconscious latter on his back, fleeing into the depths of the forest at a faster speed.
“Shua shua shua!”
A dozen breaths later, several masked men stopped where he had just stood.
Someone squatted down and checked the footprints on the ground, and then pointed to the direction Chu An was fleeing.
“He escaped that way.”
“Chase!”
“…”
“Eunuch Tang, did this old servant disturb your rest?”
Dajue, the capital.
Inside and outside a certain residence, dozens of Imperial Guards in golden armor stood. The old eunuch at the head squinted at Tang Chen, who looked blank, and explained with a fake smile:
“It’s just that His Majesty summoned you to the palace immediately to meet with him, and this old servant can’t help it.”
“I hope Colonel Tang will hurry up and pack up, and then go to the palace with this old servant.”
“…Eunuch Zhang, why did His Majesty summon me to the palace?”
“Well, this old servant will help Colonel Tang tidy up his sleeves, Colonel Tang shouldn’t mind, right?”
“…How could I? Then I’ll have to trouble you, Eunuch.”
“Colonel Tang is too polite…”
Turning his head and winking at the Imperial Guards, the old eunuch immediately followed Tang Chen into the inner room.
Obviously, he should be very confident in his own strength, thinking that Tang Chen would never be able to escape from his hands.
What’s more, it seemed that Tang Chen hadn’t heard the news outside, and didn’t seem to have any intention of escaping at the moment.
“…”
Standing at the door, coldly looking at Tang Chen, who was putting on his outer robe in front of the mirror not far away, a somewhat greedy smile appeared on the corner of the old eunuch’s mouth.
However, the next moment, when Tang Chen suddenly turned sideways, and his eyes met the old eunuch’s reflection in the bronze mirror, the latter’s body suddenly stiffened, and his eyes became extremely empty for a moment.
“You…”
A few breaths later, the old eunuch, whose movements were slightly sluggish, pushed open the door and ordered the Imperial Guards outside in a calm tone:
“Go back to the palace first.”
“Eunuch, this…”
The Imperial Guards were all stunned when they heard this. After looking at each other a few times, someone was about to speak, but was interrupted coldly by the old eunuch:
“This is the order that His Majesty just sent!”
“Ah! Yes! We will return to the palace now!”
No one dared to question him any further. Soon, the Imperial Guards left Tang Chen’s residence and headed back to the palace.
Not long after they left, Tang Chen, who was pale, also walked out of the house.
He walked to the old eunuch who was standing alone in place like a puppet, reached out and took out a golden token with the highest “peer permission” from the latter’s arms, and then walked out of the courtyard gate without hesitation.
After about a hundred breaths, the old eunuch, who was standing still like a puppet, slowly raised his right hand, and then suddenly slapped his chest…
“…”
“Bang!!”
“Bang bang bang!!”
Xinfeng, Fengyuan City.
The sound of fierce fighting came from a small alley, and painful shouts spread far away, causing the surrounding residents to close their doors and windows in panic.
“Ah!!! Murder!!!”
The watchman, who happened to be passing by, only glanced into the alley, and then ran away shouting and screaming, heading towards the yamen to report the crime.
The terrified cries pierced the night sky, but failed to stop the fighting in the alley.
It wasn’t until nearly an incense stick later, with the fall of the last desperate wail, that the surroundings returned to calm, with only a strong smell of blood lingering.
“Da, da, da…”
Slight footsteps came from far and near, and then stopped at the entrance of the alley.
Looking around, Shen Ran, who was covered in blood, had a gloomy face and extremely cold eyes.
He paused slightly at the entrance of the alley, and then disappeared into the spot with a flash.
Behind him, in the narrow alley, there were more than ten corpses lying in a pool of blood in a mess…
Chu An, Tang Chen, Shen Ran.
Dahui, Dajue, Xinfeng.
As if they had discussed it, the above three people were almost simultaneously attacked, plotted against, or besieged.
Obviously, the intention to take away their luck was not from the same group of people, nor was it under the instructions of the same person.
Then, this can only mean that there are three different forces that have already decided to “strike first.”
These forces not only found their locations in a very short period of time, but also organized a highly threatening “hunting operation.”
Of course, judging from the current results, the three of them have temporarily escaped the disaster.
But this does not mean that they can sit back and relax from now on.
Because this is not the end, it can’t even be considered the beginning, perhaps it can only be considered a “warm-up.”
After all, as time goes by, it is foreseeable that there will be more and more actions against them, and they will become more and more watertight and difficult to resist.
Not only Tang Chen and the other three.
The remaining seven who are still alive are the same.
These Sons of Heaven will live in a dangerous situation for a long time to come.
More importantly, this danger not only comes from the “outside,” but may also come from any of the relatives and friends they once trusted…
“Young Master…”
Da Qian, Xiling Prefecture.
Still that post station, now it was pitch black inside and out, with only a glimmer of candlelight in a certain room in the back house.
Beside the dim flame, Zhang San gently placed two envelopes in front of Wei Changtian and said softly:
“Secret letters that just arrived.”
“One is from Yan Huaiqing.”
“One is from Zhuang Zhiming.”
