nownovels Chapter 38 Autumn Kill
Chapter 38 Autumn Kill
"Young master, it's rather cold today. Why don't we stay at the Yan family's house for the night before going back?" Someone spoke; it was Bi Qing, Gao Yuan's personal attendant.
"You lazy bum! My father was so angry because I failed to break through the barrier that he locked me up for two days. If I go back to the city tomorrow morning, what time will it be by the time I get to the Zhengxin Boxing Gym? If my father finds out, will he be in any better shape than me?" The speaker was none other than Gao Yuan.
Bi Qing was close to Gao Yuan, and even after being reprimanded, he dared to retort, "This time, Young Master obtained the Yan family's medicine. He'll definitely succeed in the trials when he returns! Then Master won't say anything anymore!"
"Of course!" Gao Yuan said confidently, laughing, "Once I've succeeded, I'll invite Yan Zhao to the White-Robed Scholar's place, and you'll come along too. I'll let you have some soup!"
"I don't want to!" Bi Qing immediately shook his head and said in a low voice, "The woman Young Master Yan likes could be my mother, I don't like that."
"You've taken a liking to him?" Gao Yuan laughed, then, as if remembering something, asked, "That guy surnamed Meng tries to pass the test every ten days or so, more punctual than a woman's days. Did he pass it again a couple of days ago? Did he succeed?"
"He's vanished without a trace, and nobody knows what he's up to. I asked Wan Dabao and the others, but they didn't know either. They only know that Du Ren sent him out," Bi Qing said.
"Du Ren has always been involved in brokerage business; who knows, he might have sent that Meng fellow to serve some woman!" Gao Yuan deduced.
"That makes sense!" Bi Qing immediately flattered him, but then asked, "Young master, Meng Chen is just a peasant boy, powerless and without influence. Why don't we just send the constables to the Du family martial arts school to arrest him? But why won't the master stand up for you, and why won't he allow the county constables to do our bidding?"
"You're brainless! Do you really think my dad can control everything in Qingshui County? My dad isn't some local tyrant. If he wants to do business in Qingshui County, he can't afford to fall out with these people!" Gao Yuan said irritably. "The martial arts schools in the county have a tacit understanding; they're all in cahoots. Besides, Du Zhong has the Longwei Escort Agency behind him. Ye Qingshan, the head of the Longwei Escort Agency, has never had a mistake in twenty years of escorting goods. What kind of person could he be?"
"Then what can we do? Just watch Meng Chen hide in the Du family?" Bi Qing asked curiously.
"Du Zhong is just his temporary backer. Once he dares to leave the Du family compound and we catch him, Du Zhong won't stand up for him. The real problem is that once that guy gets past the third hurdle and gains favor with some people, he'll truly have a powerful backer, and if we intervene then, we'll really offend someone." Gao Yuan sneered. "That guy is a coward; he's been hiding in the Du family compound and refuses to come out! Last time he went home, it was because you guys didn't keep a close eye on him!"
"Young master, I have an idea," Bi Qingfu said, his mind suddenly clear. "That old man surnamed Chen from Niujia Village said he has nothing to do with Meng Chen anymore, but tonight when I went to play by the Old Dragon Pool, I heard from a woman in Niujia Village that Meng is engaged to Old Man Chen's granddaughter! They conspired to deceive us! I was thinking, when we go to that old man's house and cause a scene, if Meng knows his young wife has suffered, will he not come back? Then we'll wait for him on the way and intercept him right here—"
Before he could finish speaking, a cold blade suddenly shot out from in front, piercing through the lantern in the blink of an eye, and then the blade swept towards Bi Qing's chest.
Bi Qing was holding the reins in one hand and carrying a lantern in the other. Although he hadn't knocked on the gate, he was still trained. He immediately pulled back his stomach, but the blade was so fast that it still managed to cut a gash on his stomach.
It happened in the blink of an eye; as the lantern was broken open, the candlelight inside flickered and was then extinguished.
In the brief moment of firelight, Gao Yuan could see that the newcomer was masked and dressed in blue, with his sleeves tightly bound and his hair disheveled. He looked like a scholar or a madman.
"Who goes there?" Gao Yuan was much more capable than Yan Bao. He remained calm, using one hand to pat the horse's back for leverage, while simultaneously drawing his sword and slashing at the assassin.
The blade came down from above, but Meng Chen didn't try to catch it. Instead, he moved to Gao Yuan's side and then swung his blade at Bi Qing's thigh. The blade's momentum didn't stop there; it also sliced open the horse's belly.
In an instant, Bi Qing suffered an injury to his abdomen and a cut on his thigh. He was helpless and could only wail loudly.
The horse's belly was also slashed open, and it immediately neighed in pain. Gao Yuan jumped off the horse, but dared not attack quickly; he only raised his sword to defend.
The night was deep, and the crows continued to caw. Gao Yuan couldn't see where they came from, so he cursed them twice, but they not only didn't respond, they attacked with their knives.
Gao Yuan had never encountered an assassination attempt before. Although he was flustered, he naturally used his family's traditional sword technique, but only to defend and not to attack.
After exchanging a few blows, Gao Yuan realized that although his opponent's swordsmanship was fast and fierce, it lacked any discipline. Clearly, the opponent relied on his strength and had not learned proper swordsmanship.
Having tested his opponent's abilities, Gao Yuan gained confidence and immediately wielded his knife with the force of a torrent of water, quickly subduing his opponent while shouting, "Who are you, you scoundrel?"
Seeing that the other party still didn't answer and was being forced back by his sword strike, Gao Yuan glanced at Bi Qing, who was sitting on the ground groaning, and said, "Qing, if you're not dead, hurry up and kill him with me!"
Upon hearing this, Bi Qing struggled to his feet, pulled out his knife, clutched the wound on his stomach, and limped forward.
At this moment, Gao Yuan had completely suppressed his opponent, forcing him into the fields beside the road.
The field had just been harvested of beans and grains and then plowed again, making it exceptionally soft to walk on.
Gao Yuan was skilled with swords and often received training at home. Seeing the assassin struggling, his confidence grew, and he became more and more adept at wielding the sword.
After several dozen breaths, Gao Yuan knew that the outcome was already decided.
"Any Tom, Dick, or Harry dares to rob us!" Gao Yuan roared, then struck out with a straight attack, "Take this!"
Gao Yuan had already discerned that his opponent's lower body was extremely stable, even stronger than Meng Chen, who had been standing still for a whole day. Therefore, this move was aimed at the lower body, and it was bound to hit. Even if the opponent retreated, an opening would be left!
But as Gao Yuan's shout fell, the opponent neither dodged nor avoided, but instead faced him head-on and pounced towards him.
Gao Yuan's knife was already out of reach, and the tip immediately pierced the opponent's thigh.
But the other party seemed unconcerned about these injuries, and instead used them to get closer and stab him with a knife.
The two were only two or three feet apart, and Gao Yuan had no time to dodge. The other man's knife was already stuck in his stomach.
The knife didn't penetrate deep into his abdomen, but Gao Yuan felt excruciating pain, and his mind immediately went blank. He had been pampered since childhood and had practiced countless times how to counter any move, but he had never seen such a fighting style of exchanging injury for injury, or life for life.
The situation where he had easily suppressed his opponent was no longer there. Knowing that he could not show weakness, Gao Yuan also became ruthless. He pressed down on his opponent's knife with one hand, and then twisted the knife in his hand. With a squeaking sound, it was clear that the tip of the knife had penetrated into the opponent's leg bone.
Gao Yuan had expected that the other party would retreat after being injured, but the other party seemed to have gone mad, grabbing his knife with his bare hands and ignoring the fact that the blade cut his fingers. Instead, it seemed that he wanted Gao Yuan to stab the knife deeper into his thigh.
Just as Gao Yuan was in a daze, he saw Bi Qing limping up behind the assassin and then stabbing him in the waist and abdomen.
The blow struck squarely, drawing blood.
Gao Yuan saw that the assassin still did not dodge, as if he was not afraid of the pain in his body, and the other party's knife pierced into his stomach a little more, and he also slightly rotated it.
"Madman!" Gao Yuan was in excruciating pain. He broke out in a cold sweat and finally gave in to fear. He loosened his grip on the hilt of the knife, dropped it, and turned to run away. But the field had only been plowed recently. In his panic, he felt an unbearable pain in his abdomen and stumbled to the ground.
Bi Qing was also stunned. He had injuries to his leg and waist, so his strength was naturally reduced. But when he stabbed the other man, he clearly pierced the other man's ribs and even damaged his internal organs. Yet the other man didn't utter a sound, like a dead man who was not afraid of pain.
"Are you a human or a ghost?" Bi Qing was terrified. Seeing Gao Yuan flee, he immediately tried to run as well, but he was injured in the leg and couldn't run fast at all. Instantly, his other leg was also slashed!
The crows were no longer cawing in the world, which only made Bi Qing's wailing sound louder.
At this moment, Meng Chen was in unbearable pain, with wounds on his thigh and abdomen, and sweat had blurred his vision.
Meng Chen stopped paying attention to Bi Qing and went to pursue Gao Yuan.
Gao Yuan, severely injured in the abdomen, staggered ahead; Meng Chen, wounded in the thigh and waist, limped behind.
The two chased each other for about a hundred paces in the field. Gao Yuan felt cold all over, but his wound felt warm, as if something had fallen out of it. He touched it with his hand and realized it was his intestines.
"Who are you..." Gao Yuan could no longer run. He finally came to his senses and realized that if he wanted to live, he couldn't run; he had to fight for his life!
But Gao Yuan realized it too late; he had already lost his knife and didn't even have a weapon at hand.
"What do you want? Money? I have money..." Gao Yuan stammered, but he saw that the villain ignored him and just limped closer to him with his knife in hand.
The autumn night was deep, and Gao Yuan could not see the other person's appearance clearly, so he turned around and ran away, but he fell to the ground after taking only two steps.
Despite the excruciating pain, Meng Chen stepped forward and straddled Gao Yuan.
Gao Yuan gripped the soil, trying to crawl forward, but felt as if his intestines had taken root in the earth, and the slightest movement caused excruciating pain. He knew that the other party was determined to kill him and that he would not escape tonight, so he wailed and cried, even defecating and urinating in fear.
Meng Chen straddled Gao Yuan, panting heavily, his hands gripping the hilt of his sword, the tip pressed against Gao Yuan's back, and then he exerted force.
The blade tore through the flesh on his back in an instant, before being stopped by his spine.
Meng Chen leaned down, pressing his entire body against Gao Yuan's back, and whispered in Gao Yuan's ear, "Senior Brother Gao, I heard you were looking for me?"
Gao Yuan was shocked upon hearing this. He tried to turn around, but felt the person behind him exert force again. Immediately, there was a sizzling sound, and the tip of the knife had broken through his spine, pierced through his belly, and plunged straight into the ground.