Part 2
The changes all happened in the blink of an eye; the Yuchang Jian was incredibly fast.
At this time, Xie Qianli was unarmed and had no cover in front of him. The assassin’s skills were clearly superior to Lian Qing’s, and retreating would risk the assassin making a feint.
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Lian Qing.
It was that he didn’t want Ying Xi to encounter even half a point of danger.
Therefore, instead of retreating, Xie Qianli advanced. The moment he came into contact with the Yuchang Jian, he thrust out his arm, using his bracer to block.
The metal of the bracer was the thickest.
That assassin froze for a moment, seemingly never having expected this.
The sword could no longer be pulled back!
The blade met the protective gear. If this were night, sparks would surely fly!
In the daytime, it erupted with a loud, ringing clash of metal.
Clang—
The two each took a few steps back, opening up a distance.
With the assassin’s full-strength sword strike, the arm holding the sword had completely gone numb and ached!
That middle-aged man clutched his trembling arm, currently locking onto Xie Qianli with his rat-like, beady black eyes, a look of complete disbelief radiating from his gaze.
Did he think his protective gear was so good it could withstand a sharp sword?
Or was he crazy???
The life-cherishing assassin could not understand Xie Qianli’s behavior of completely disregarding his own safety.
If it was loyalty, that was simply laughable!
If it was something else, that was even more laughable…
Suddenly, countless suffocating losses suffered at Xie Qianli’s hands years ago—all because of Ying Xi—flashed before the assassin’s eyes.
Recalling each and every incident made his heart tighten even now, leaving him thoroughly depressed.
Thus, that man held the Yuchang Jian in a reverse grip, the sword laid across his body, and mocked in a hoarse voice: “We haven’t met for many years. Little Duke Xie’s martial arts have become even more exquisite, yet his infatuation remains just like the past.”
That “haven’t met for many years” confirmed that they had a history.
And that remark about Little Duke Xie’s “infatuation” left most people on the ship entirely baffled.
Fanglan Dian was a childhood secret belonging strictly between Ying Xi and Xie Qianli.
At this moment, Ying Xi had completely made a judgment regarding the identity of this assassin!
He was Yingzi!
He was exactly the leader of the hidden guards who had monitored him in Fanglan Dian and had tormented and played tricks on him for many years.
Years of deep-seated hatred; meeting again today.
In an instant, Yingzi evoked all of Ying Xi’s helpless and painful memories from his time in Fanglan Dian.
After he ascended the throne, Yingzi had fled overnight; what Yingzi feared was exactly the new monarch’s revenge.
Ying Xi nearly crushed his teeth, stepping forward and saying: “Kill him!!!”
The Emperor was usually awe-inspiring and intimidating, but he was always composed and rarely showed obvious joy or anger.
When Ying Xi exhibited the Dragon’s wrath, it gave people a sense of powerful force that would crush anyone, no matter where they hid!
In the present age, only the Emperor possessed this kind of power.
In an instant, the soldiers filling the ship surged up!
Over a hundred silver-armored official soldiers charged toward Yingzi!
If not for the mission to protect the Emperor still resting on his shoulders, Lian Qing was so roused by the call that he almost charged out with them.
Lian Qing hurriedly pulled out the Youlong E and said: “General, catch!”
The weapon pierced the air, and the silver radiance returned to Xie Qianli’s palm.
The Youlong E swept over!
The clear radiance it brought up was like frost and snow pouring from a jade pot, like the Milky Way hanging upside down.
The youth’s spear technique from back then had long since become incomparably masterful. Today, rare was the person in this world who dared to match strength against Xie Qianli.
Yingzi knew he couldn’t face its sharp edge directly.
He pushed off lightly, surprisingly climbing up to the three-story-high roof of the ship. Looking down, Yingzi said arrogantly:
“Two wet-behind-the-ears brats, thinking you’ve become somebody and wanting to kill Laozi.”
“Laozi has roamed the temples and the Jianghu for over ten years; I’ve killed more people than you lots have ever seen.”
“The ship is going to sink!”
“Hahahaha, the ship is going to sink!!!”
Lian Qing was greatly alarmed. Listening closely, there were indeed some noises coming from the cabin.
He crouched down and pressed his ear against the ship’s floorboards. A thumping sound drilled into his ears. Lian Qing shouted: “Someone is chiseling the ship!”
It was those men who had jumped into the river water…
These assassins were divided into two groups, coordinating from above and below.
The assassins on the ship attracted attention and caused a commotion to cover up the chiseling of the ship.
The assassins under the ship were acting vigorously to destroy the Longchuan.
The operations were intricately linked!
Having figured out these key points, Lian Qing couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat!
No wonder the enemy soldiers hid in the river upon seeing the official ships; it turned out they had this planned all along.
If the Longchuan sank, it would certainly be a massive disaster!
Lian Qing said: “Bixia! Mojiang will immediately escort Bixia onto the other ships.”
“No need.”
Lian Qing was stunned.
Looking out onto the deck, General Xie remained as steady as Mount Tai, and the Emperor didn’t show the slightest panic. The two had no communication whatsoever, yet Lian Qing could read a formless sense of tacit understanding between them.
Lian Qing thought, Bixia must really trust the General.
But the ship, the ship, there were people under the ship!
The view from the main cabin was limited. In fact, corpses had already begun to float up around the Longchuan. The corpses all wore water trunks; they were exactly the people chiseling the ship.
As time passed, more and more corpses floated up, gradually forming a scale.
The emerald green river water mixed with bright, vibrant red, blending with the paleness of the corpses, creating a vast and eerie visual.
The noise of chiseling the ship grew smaller and smaller.
What was going on?
Lian Qing peered outside.
A man suddenly popped his head out of the water, wiped his face, and said: “I can’t take it! My lungs are going to burst!!!”
Before his voice faded, this person was sniped by the Longwujun’s crossbows, instantly pierced into a hedgehog. He joined the corpses floating on the water’s surface, the river water around his body turning blood-red.
It turned out that swimming underwater required the use of reed pipes for breathing. Xie Qianli had long sensed deceit from the enemy soldiers jumping into the water and had arranged to fire arrows to destroy the reed pipes.
Holding one’s breath meant death; coming up for air meant being killed by a flurry of arrows.
Xie Qianli spoke to Yingzi in an icy tone:
“This Longchuan is built entirely of ironwood, its sturdiness rivaling steel. If it were any other ship, this wood would only be spared for the crucial components.”
“Today, whether you chisel faster or I kill faster, feel free to enlighten me.”
Thus, silence remained a tug-of-war, but the situation between the two sides sharply reversed. Because human breath-holding time is limited, the longer it dragged on, the more advantageous it became for the Imperial army.
Yingzi’s throat bobbed; he finally broke a sweat.
“You…”
“You—”
No matter how exasperated he was, he was unwilling to lose his former status as an exalted figure of the Jianghu in front of a junior twenty years younger than him.
And he couldn’t help but recall that the seemingly bright and open-hearted Xie Qianli before him was truly full of scheming when it came to calculating against others!
Back in front of Emperor Yuantai, Xie Qianli had once performed a double-edged sword dance.
The sword dance was like thunder. When sheathing the sword, he deliberately injured himself, causing all the elders of the royal family, including Emperor Yuantai, to worry endlessly.
Emperor Yuantai was so furious he wanted to melt that sword down into iron plating to wrap the door threshold, so he could kick it hundreds of times a day.
The young Xie Qianli offered the weapon and said: “A double-edged blade is sharp and hard to control; a murder weapon hurts others but also harms oneself. Uncle, your nephew is afraid he won’t be able to grow up and fight battles for you. I will never practice this kind of sword again.”
Countless times.
Using those seemingly innocent, unintentional childhood words, Little Duke Xie buried seeds of suspicion one by one into Emperor Yuantai’s dragon heart.
Hearing it often enough, Emperor Yuantai eventually grew wary, and the hidden guards gradually lost imperial favor.
Their covert contest gave the little Ying Xi in Fanglan Dian breathing room and a chance to grow up.
Today, the plan had completely failed.
Yingzi said viciously: “Good, you are very good. Truly, benevolence does not command armies, and in war, there is no objection to deceit. I have experienced it, Little Duke Xie!”
Yingzi leaped from the roof of the ship, intending to dive into the river from a height, but his momentum was cut off by the Longwujun’s rain of arrows.
Yingzi abruptly halted his steps.
A wooden plank hooked onto the ship’s roof!
Xie Qianli had already arrived before him.
The Youlong E seemed infused with the power of wind and thunder, whipping up a sheet of awe-inspiring light and shadow: “Halt. Bixia ordered me to kill you.”
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