Chapter 141: Night Battle

After nightfall, there was not a single cloud in the sky. With the fifteenth of the lunar month drawing near, the bright moon shone clear and radiant, and the starlight was not dim either. The originally dark wilderness seemed to be coated with a layer of silver, which made the several skulking figures under the night all the more conspicuous.

One of them quietly crept up to the door and peered in through the half-open crack. He saw the flames on the pile of firewood inside the Earth God Temple flickering, occasionally emitting distinct crackling sounds, while several figures lay scattered around, back facing him, seemingly fast asleep. He immediately took a deep breath, retreated swiftly on tiptoe, and upon reuniting with the others, he chuckled grimly, "They are all sound asleep. It seems we won't need to waste much effort at all. We just need to set a fire, and when it's investigated later, we'll simply claim they were careless and caused a fire themselves."

"If you ask me, it's more satisfying to go in and kill them one by one, lest any fish slip through the net."

"Are you kidding? This is the capital territory! In case the case blows up and alerts the superiors, that would be no small matter! Besides, they are Leader Xiao's enemies anyway..."

Seeing his subordinates arguing endlessly, the leader among them let out a low bark, "Shut up, all of you!"

Although this shout instantly shocked everyone into silence, the man clad in black with a hood felt extremely hesitant inside. Ever since the incident sparked by Wang Shuzhen at Consort Doulugui's birthday banquet, Wang Shuzhen had been confined to his home for three months by Wang Maozhong, and had only recently been released. However, after all, he was Wang Maozhong's legitimate eldest son, a frequent visitor to the inner chambers of the palace, who moved about without the slightest restraint even in front of the Crown Prince. As for the future, Wang Maozhong had two wives—one a primary wife, and the other bestowed by the emperor in marriage, both holding the title of State Lady. Whether the peerage, official titles, or the massive family estate would fall upon which son was far from certain. Therefore, his actions today could not be described as anything less than risky.

Yet, he only enjoyed a shred of respect from Ge Fushun because of his sister, and he had no say in front of Wang Maozhong. Even after returning from Taolin last time, presenting Wang Maozhong and Ge Fushun with two rare treasures, he had merely exchanged them for a promise of promotion should any military post become vacant. Wang Shuzhen, on the other hand, had promised that if this matter was handled well, he would surely treat him as a trusted confidant in the future, and had even guaranteed him a promotion!

Xiao Le took a deep breath. Seeing everyone staring at him, he hardened his heart, lowered his voice, and commanded, "Le Yi, go set the fire, and be discreet. Feng Si and Zhao Wu, go guard the end of this path. The rest of you scatter around the perimeter; not a single one is allowed to escape!"

While giving instructions, he touched the bow on his back, feeling a twinge of regret for bringing this inseparable treasure out with him. After all, resorting to archery in such peaceful times was a much more serious offense than a case involving a few dead bodies! Yet, habit had become second nature. Having served in the Left Yulin Guard for many years, this bow was the foundation of his standing, and no matter what, he could not bear to leave it behind!

As flames gradually rose at the corner of the dilapidated temple, Xiao Le's expression grew increasingly solemn and gloomy. Matters had reached this point, and there was no turning back. He instinctively tightened his grip on the sabre at his right waist. However, unexpectedly, as the fire grew larger and the burning sound crackled louder, the people inside the Earth God Temple remained completely silent, as if truly dead asleep, let alone anyone running out. Fanning his brows into a tight knot at this sight, he suddenly barked in a deep voice, "Go take a look and see what on earth is going on in that temple!"

The man who had scouted the place earlier glanced at Xiao Le, paused for a moment, and then braced himself to approach the burning dilapidated temple once again. However, even though the intense heat of the flames prevented him from getting as close as before, the moment the burning door panels collapsed and fell to the ground under the strain, he instantly saw that the figures lying haphazardly inside seemed rather unusual. Especially when he used the back of his knife to flick a clump of burning dry grass onto one of the figures, watching the fire flare up fiercely as if meeting the best accelerant, he stared intently for a moment before instantly drawing a sharp breath.

He retreated three steps in two, utterly flustered, and said in exasperation, "It's bad! We've been tricked! Those clothes inside are stuffed with dummies!"

Xiao Le's expression changed drastically. Yet right at that moment, he heard a shrill, piercing scream echo from not far away. As if serving as a prelude, two more followed a moment later. At that very instant, he realized that tonight they had walked right into a trap long prepared by others. The enemy had laid everything out in this dilapidated temple, just waiting for them to step right into it. Those two or three screams just now were perhaps the hunters being pecked by the geese—they had fallen into an ambush. Judging from the direction of those screams, apart from Feng Si and Zhao Wu, the rest of his men were likely in grave danger!

Consumed by rage, he drew his sabre, angrily hacked down a clump of obstructing bushes nearby, and then shouted sharply, "Feng Si, Zhao Wu, stay put and stay on high alert! I'm bringing men to rendezvous with you!"

Taking the enemy unawares, they had cleanly and neatly downed three adversaries. To Chibi, this was not an extraordinary feat. He had once followed Cui Ezhi from Shangzhou to infiltrate the capital, and during the world-shaking feat of executing the Wei family clan, he had slain several renowned guards of the Wei family. Therefore, hearing the leader realize something was amiss and shout out like that just now, he could not help but sneer.

Did they think that in the dead of night, lacking bows and arrows and daring not use them casually, they could gather people to resist?

At Xiao Le's fierce roar, the two men beside him naturally closed in tightly. However, as he held his sabre in hand and slowly retreated with the two men toward the position of Feng Si and Zhao Wu, who were guarding the rear route, he suddenly heard a sharp sound of breaking wind from all directions. Before he could even react, the two men beside him cried out, "They're actually throwing stones! What are these fellows trying to do... Ah!"

As the words fell, before Xiao Le could scold them to shut up, the voices turned into agonizing, low groans. Discovering that one of the men beside him was clutching his right shoulder and his steel sabre had dropped to the ground, not even knowing how the man was injured, he was struck with sudden, profound panic. Facing life and death, he unhesitatingly unbuckled the treasured bow from his back, nocked an arrow in a few swift motions, drew the string effortlessly back like a full moon, and loosed an arrow straight into the pitch-black forest.

Although that arrow seemed to vanish into the darkness without a sound, he drew another arrow, nocked it, and said word for word, "Today, we made a mistake and tracked the wrong person while hunting fugitives. If you insist on keeping all of us here, you are welcome to try! When it comes to night combat, I am no coward compared to those fellows who lack even basic vigilance! Otherwise... Zhao Wu, Feng Si, mount your horses immediately and ride back to the city to report everything that has happened here! I want to see if they can shoulder the crime of harming imperial officers!"

Seeing Dushiyi successfully employ the copper pellets amidst the flying gravel to achieve miraculous results, Chibi could not help but reveal a look of astonishment. However, the arrow that followed immediately after nearly made him gasp aloud. Although the man clearly could not see in the pitch darkness, that arrow had grazed right past Dushiyi's side by a mere half-foot. Had it deviated even slightly, a major disaster would have occurred! Therefore, despite their complete victory, hearing the man brazenly claim they had tracked the wrong person, followed by an extremely tough threat, Chibi hesitated.

Zhao Wu and Feng Si had just been dispatched to watch the rear route. To avoid alerting others and to quickly capture the other three for individual elimination, he had temporarily let those two go, never expecting them to be used as leverage by this man now! What happened to the few of them didn't matter, but if Dushiyi, who was to take the Jingzhao Prefecture examination tomorrow, were affected, or if the Cui family were implicated...

This familiar method of coercion instantly reminded Dushiyi of his past experience in Taolin County, and of Shi Wanxing, who also possessed eyes on top of his head, arrogant and overbearing, yet ultimately inviting his own doom. He took a deep breath, tightening his right hand around another copper pellet. Recalling the speaker's arrow that had nearly brushed past him just moments ago, and listening to the neighing of horses outside, just as he was hardening his heart to make a resolute decision, he suddenly heard two screams. Seizing this fleeting moment of imminent peril, without a second thought, he hurled a copper pellet through the air, instantly followed by a muffled groan of pain.

And what Chibi heard, too, was the sound of branches snapping underfoot and clothes fluttering in the wind. Therefore, even though the direction of that groan was definitely not one of their own people—it must have been an accomplice attempting to flee upon hearing the earlier warning—he still instinctively raised his sabre to shield Dushiyi. Before long, from the exact spot where the groan had just sounded, a new round of clashing steel, curses, and cries of pain erupted. When those sounds abruptly ceased, and a figure swiftly and abruptly materialized before them, his expression changed drastically.

"Master Du, long time no see."

These words, sounding as casual as a greeting in any ordinary setting, reached his ears. Then, seeing the small glazed lantern in the newcomer's left hand rise slightly to illuminate her face, Dushiyi froze for a moment before letting out a bitter smile. "Lady Yue, to say 'long time no see' in a situation like this—you really know how to catch people by surprise!"

"I should be the one saying that. I've noticed that fellow Wang Shuzhen acting skulking and shady for more than just a day or two. Seeing him meet up with this man secretly, and then watching this man lead a band of men out of the city, naturally I had to follow to figure out what was going on." Yue Wuniang casually flicked away a lock of hair that had fallen loose during her surprise attack, and then beamed with a smile, "Yet I never expected they were coming after you; nor did I expect you to set a trap to lure them in; and even less did I expect that you studied copper pellet techniques under Master Gongye. That move had some real skill to it!"

At this moment, even Chibi recognized Yue Wuniang. Though astonished by her seemingly unreserved and bantering relationship with Dushiyi, he could not dwell on it and immediately interrupted to ask, "Lady Yue, what happened to those people? Don't tell me you killed them all?"

"I'm not bloodthirsty; I merely rendered them unable to move."

She tossed this off as casually as discussing a routine daily chore. After Chibi offered an apology and rushed off anxiously to check, she turned her curious gaze to Dushiyi—who remained neatly dressed as if he had merely taken a stroll during the night—and let out a long sigh of relief.

"This matter originally stemmed from my master and me, and I never imagined it would implicate you. That Wang Shuzhen is truly despicable; his father can at least be considered half a hero, but he is an utter scoundrel! Speaking of which, how do you plan to deal with these people?"