Chapter 146: Oh, for Valiant Warriors to Guard the Lord

The wind howled like howling wolves, and the blades gleamed like snow.

Facing at least ten assassins rushing toward him, Wuguli felt his knees tremble for a single split second.

He was gentle and honest by nature. Although built like a giant ox, he was not one for fierce competition or violence. Even after learning martial arts from Shanzhi, his first reaction was not to execute the counter-attack techniques Shanzhi had taught him, but to revert to the instincts of his homeland.

He felt as though he had returned to his native place, standing alone on the vast grasslands facing a pack of hyenas.

He parted his lips to bare his white teeth, emitting a low, rumbling growl like a prairie lion forced into a last stand against hyenas to protect its territory and kin.

His growls failed to frighten the assassins away. These assassins were resolute individuals hardened by extreme risk, determined to kill Ye Chang first and then sow chaos to secure their escape. Thus, they lunged forward fiercely, striking with speed and urgency.

To avoid detection, their weapons were short arms like daggers and short sabers. Yet in close quarters, every inch shorter meant an inch deadlier; if they managed to close the distance, life and death would be decided in a fraction of a second.

Wuguli felt fear and wanted to retreat, but hearing Ye Chang’s shout from behind hardened his resolve once more.

He could not retreat.

Because a single step back meant...

Brought to the Great Tang from his native grasslands and traded through several hands along the way, he had served numerous masters even after arriving in Tang territory. Among those masters, some were harsh, while others were kind.

Yet harsh or kind, Wuguli always felt something was missing in their presence.

It was only after following Ye Chang that he realized what those former masters had lacked.

"Respect."

The respect that treated him as a human being rather than a mere object or livestock.

It was not because Ye Chang had promised to help him start a family when the time was right, nor because of the daily food and clothing provided, nor even because Ye Chang taught him to read and count.

It was the sum of all these things.

By Ye Chang's side, for the first time in the twenty years since he was sold into captivity, he felt an unprecedented sense of ease.

This ease was something he would fight to the death to claim, and equally, something he would die to protect.

Therefore, instead of retreating, Wuguli stepped forward, swinging his blade straight at an approaching assassin.

Although Shanzhi had taught him combat techniques for nearly a year, and despite being over thirty years old, Wuguli still possessed formidable explosive power, so his strike carried considerable force.

However, the assassin moved with extraordinary agility, executing a forward somersault to evade the blade and closing in on him instantly.

Wuguli was startled inwardly: This band of assassins was far from a mob of rabble!

The fierce combat erupted with lightning speed and ended just as quickly.

With his sword drawn, Ye Chang prepared to fight a retreating battle under Wuguli's protection, while Shanzhi flew back to reinforce them, only to be desperately entangled by five assassins risking their lives.

The number of soldiers assigned to guard the porridge station was not small. With over two thousand disaster victims gathered here, Yang Weiming feared trouble and had dispatched a squad of about one hundred and fifty soldiers. However, Luoyang lay deep within the heartland of the Great Tang and had enjoyed prolonged peace; not only the ordinary citizens, but even these soldiers had long since forgotten the sound of clashing swords. At this moment, many of them stood gaping like commoners, terrified and shrieking at the top of their lungs. The few who regained their senses did not draw their weapons to rescue Ye Chang, but instead struck defensive postures to protect themselves.

In contrast, Ye Chang's personal retainers demonstrated the fruits of their training. Following months of intensive drills, after a brief moment of panic and led by Jia Mao'er, they quickly rushed to the rescue.

Ye Chang assessed the situation in a flash: if he could hold out for just a few seconds, Shanzhi would arrive; a few seconds more, and Jia Mao'er and the others would reach him. By then, once they formed up in formation, the assassins, armed only with short blades, would no longer pose a threat to him.

The crucial point was surviving those few seconds.

He too had learned martial arts from Shanzhi, but his meager skills were only good for keeping fit, hardly adequate for life-and-death combat against enemies.

Wuguli kicked away an approaching assassin with a heavy boot and prepared to pursue him, but out of the corner of his eye, he spotted more assassins bypassing him and lunging directly toward Ye Chang.

Panic gripped his heart. In his desperation, he hurled his saber fiercely through the air.

The blade missed its mark, and the closest assassin was now merely a few paces away from Ye Chang!

Disregarding his own opponent entirely, Wuguli threw open his arms and charged after the assassin. Tall and long-legged, he closed the distance in two strides, reached out, and grabbed the assassin's back collar. Just as he was filled with triumphant joy at hoisting the man into the air, a series of dull thuds sounded from behind.

Simultaneously, Wuguli felt a chill in his back, followed instantly by agonizing pain.

With a furious roar, bearing two short blades embedded in his body, Wuguli whirled around while clutching the captive assassin, using the man as a living weapon to smash fiercely into the head of the attacker who had stabbed him. Their skulls collided with a sickening crunch, bursting like crushed peach blossoms.

"Run!" Wuguli roared.

This was the first time he had ever shouted at Ye Chang; in the past, his words were always spoken in low, gentle tones.

Instead of turning to flee as instructed, Ye Chang rushed forward, his sword slicing across the neck of another assassin who was drawing a short blade for a secondary strike.

When fighting for his life, Ye Chang had no habit of running away. This was not his first time killing; thus, as blood gushed wildly from the severed artery of the slain assassin, Ye Chang’s face remained fierce and unmoving.

Instead, his gaze locked onto yet another assassin lunging toward him.

Thud!

That assassin’s short blade drove deep into the shoulder of his dead comrade's corpse. Using the corpse as a shield, Wuguli had blocked the blow for Ye Chang. Seizing the opportunity, Ye Chang lunged forward once more, thrusting his sword into the assassin's waist.

In this brief flurry of violence, Wuguli was grievously wounded, yet four assassins lay dead!

Yet for Ye Chang, the crisis was far from over.

Just as Wuguli could lay down his life, among the assassins there were also suicide operatives. A monk was grabbed by an assassin willing to die with him, leaving the monk to watch helplessly as seven or eight assassins simultaneously pounced upon Ye Chang, thrusting seven or eight daggers and short swords at him all at once. Let alone Ye Chang, even the monk himself would have been utterly helpless in such a situation.

Wuguli let out another furious roar.

This time, it was the final, desperate bellow of a lion cornered with nowhere left to turn.

Then, his massive body lunged directly in front of Ye Chang.

He spread his limbs to the utmost, making his frame appear as tall and imposing as possible, absorbing every single deadly blade aimed at Ye Chang with his own flesh!

Ye Chang screamed aloud: "Wuguli!"

Even so, Ye Chang did not waste the opportunity Wuguli had bought with his life. He stabbed down yet another assassin, finally broke free from the encircling ring, and plunged into the ranks of Jia Mao'er and the others.

Upon reaching Jia Mao'er's side, Ye Chang suddenly felt completely sapped of strength; his knees went weak, and he nearly collapsed to the ground. Fortunately, his retainers and followers grabbed him from all directions, dragging him into the safety of their formation and closing ranks to shield him.

The assassins, who had intended to press their attack, now found themselves facing the wrath of Shanzhi.

Wielding a Buddhist ring-blade in one hand and grasping the corpse of an assassin in the other, Shanzhi charged into the enemy ranks like a raging pillar of fire, invincible and unstoppable. Realizing that their objective of assassinating Ye Chang was now impossible to achieve, and having suffered such devastating casualties, the assassins had only one choice left: retreat.

Leaving a single fanatic behind to desperately stall Shanzhi, the remaining assassins withdrew en masse, scattering among the refugees. To create confusion, they ruthlessly slashed several refugees before tossing away their short blades and fleeing alongside the fleeing crowds.

"Eleventh Young Master, are you alright...?" Jia Mao'er grabbed Ye Chang, asking anxiously.

Ye Chang shoved him aside violently: "Never mind me! Do not let the assassins escape!"

With that, he lunged toward the timid squad leader of the regular soldiers standing nearby: "Order your men to catch the assassins!"

Having lost his wits entirely and not knowing what to do, the squad leader flinched under Ye Chang's ferocious, blood-red glare and obeyed almost by instinct: "Catch the assassins! Catch the assassins!"

"Hurry! Bar all exits, block the trenches, and execute without mercy anyone who tries to cross!" Ye Chang bellowed. "Repeat after me: Anyone who crosses the trench shall be executed without mercy!"

In Ye Chang’s *Strategies and Dialogues on Post-Disaster Emergency Response*, to maintain order among disaster victims, prevent criminals from wreaking havoc, and curb the spread of disease, the refugees were divided and restrained by trenches that restricted their movements. Before Ye Chang's arrival, the clerical official in charge of the refugees had strictly adhered to these guidelines, leaving several interconnected trenches surrounding the porridge station.

If the refugees wanted to flee, they first had to climb across the trenches.

Seeing several refugees already scrambling through the trenches, Ye Chang's expression hardened further.

He was not a sentimental man; thus, he did not linger to cradle Wuguli's body or even check whether he was dead or alive. At this moment, capturing the assassins was the greatest tribute he could offer Wuguli.

Spotting a squad of archers nearby, he rushed over and barked an order: "Shoot and kill anyone who crosses the trench!"

The archers stood bewildered and at a loss. Ye Chang shouted sternly, "If you let the assassins escape because you fail to kill them, I will personally ask Prefect Yang to execute the lot of you!"

Startled by the harsh threat, one archer reluctantly raised his bow and loosed an arrow at a refugee climbing out of the trench. The arrow flew wildly off course and missed entirely. Ye Chang raged, "Just wait for Prefect Yang to settle accounts with you!"

"There is no need for Prefect Yang to seek us out," retorted another archer coldly at that very moment. He drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and loosed a swift shot that struck the right leg of a refugee preparing to flee. The refugee cried out in pain, tumbled to the ground, and began wailing.

Ye Chang looked over in surprise. The archer kept his lips pursed, repeatedly drawing his bow with unerring precision; every arrow he loosed found its mark. In the blink of an eye, he downed five men, striking every single one in the thigh. Though incapacitated, none of the injuries were fatal.

With this master archer at work, the situation instantly stabilized. Ye Chang cast another glance at the archer, though in the frantic rush he had no time to converse. Seeing that order was returning, the refugees stopped running, and the soldiers began sealing off all exits of the trenches.

Ye Chang finally had a moment to look at Wuguli.

Wuguli lay upon the ground, his eyes wide open, pupils dilating. Ye Chang walked to his side, knelt down with a heavy heart, and lifted his upper torso.

"Do you have any unfulfilled wishes, Wuguli? Can you hear me? Do you have any final wishes?"

Whether Wuguli heard Ye Chang’s words remained unknown, for he muttered an irrelevant reply: "Master... are there really immortals... who will guide me back to my native home...?"

Having spoken these words, Wuguli hummed a few bars of a minor tune—presumably a folk ditty from his homeland—before his body stiffened, his limbs twitched once, and he moved no more.

Ye Chang pressed his lips together and gently closed Wuguli's still-wide-open eyes.

"Whether the immortals guide you home or not, I will carry you back... Before that, I will settle this blood debt for you first."

Murmuring softly, Ye Chang laid Wuguli's body down and stood up straight.

The two noble ladies, Miss Li and Miss Cai, who had remained present the entire time, felt as though the Ye Chang standing before them had transformed into an entirely different person.

Though his expression was calm and more restrained than before, Miss Li felt that the young man who had knelt down had become terrifyingly chilling upon rising.

Radiating violence and the stench of blood.

At that moment, the Li clan's daughter even felt that the Ye Chang standing there was as gloomy and forbidding as someone she knew all too well.

Her own father.

"Dispatch another squad of soldiers to surround the refugees, then search the interior. Every single assassin must be rooted out," Ye Chang demanded, grabbing the squad leader by the collar.

Regaining his wits somewhat, the squad leader smiled bitterly and replied, "Master Recorder, this is not something I can decide. My rank is low, and I can only command my own squad."

"There are three squads of men stationed at the city gates; go fetch one of them. Do not try to stall me. Some courtiers are currently advising the Sage to embark on an Eastern Inspection tour, and this is the Eastern Capital—the Sage’s tour will surely bring him here!" Ye Chang stared intensely into the man's eyes. "If assassins are causing havoc when the Sage arrives, just imagine how many heads will roll. Might yours be among them?"

The squad leader panicked instantly.

Though Ye Chang was young to be appointed as a Recorder—a promotion earned through his talent, as Yang Weiming knew—the squad leader was unaware of the background. He assumed this young man must possess high-level connections at court and thus privy to inside information.

If the Emperor really intended another Eastern Inspection tour and assassins struck right here, he, as the military officer present, would undoubtedly bear the blame!

"Yes, yes! As Recorder Ye commands!" The squad leader vaulted onto his horse and galloped away like mad.

"Sister, is that true? Is the Sage going on an Eastern Inspection tour?" Ye Chang’s voice had not been soft, so Miss Cai had overheard. Having covered her eyes in horror during the bloody slaughter, she now regained her composure and, out of concern for Ye Chang, asked Miss Li.

"He's just talking nonsense. An Eastern Inspection tour by the Sage is no simple matter."

"How daring of him to spread rumors about the Sage... Well, he just killed men without blinking, so of course he dares. Who would have thought that gentle-looking Eleventh Young Master Ye is such a fierce hero..." As Miss Cai spoke on, her face flushed slightly.

Miss Li glanced at her, smiled faintly, and then looked back toward Ye Chang.

This fellow had always been famous for his audacity anyway.

Before long, another squad of regular soldiers marched over from the city gates.

"Pick the ones with the best martial prowess and follow me inside to make arrests," Ye Chang instructed the returning squad leader.

Five squads were selected, and accompanied by Shanzhi, Ye Chang, and the others, they entered the trench network. Ye Chang specifically pointed out the archer from earlier, who fell in beside him, though his expression remained somewhat displeased.

"The brave warrior possesses remarkable archery. Things were too frantic earlier to ask your esteemed name," Ye Chang said to the archer. "I cherish making friends and wish to make your acquaintance."

"My surname is Nan, and my given name is Jiyun," the archer replied coldly. "As for Recorder Ye's temperament, I dare not presume to climb so high."

Ye Chang was momentarily stunned into silence.