novelnext Chapter 253 - 158: Who Says You Have Nothing to Repay
Chapter 253 - 158: Who Says You Have Nothing to Repay
[Mission Completed!]
[Successfully assassinated Guo Wang, acquired a ’Random Martial Arts Treasure Chest’.]
Chu Qing glanced down at the long sword in his hand and casually flicked his wrist.
With a whoosh, the sword stabbed into the ground before the statue, vibrating slightly.
Chu Qing took a pair of white gloves out of his chest pocket and put them on.
These were obtained from Sang Qing... Later, identified by Wen Fusheng, they were a pair of Silk Gloves.
Though not invulnerable, they were resistant to all poisons.
Essentially an upgraded version of the Deer Skin Gloves.
Wearing the gloves, he searched the headless corpse for a moment and finally found two letters and a token.
One letter was from the five people he met earlier at the Mountain God Temple, planning to converge here and discuss the capture of Dingxing City.
The other letter was unknown who wrote it, with only a few simple lines: [Blazing Blood Ignites, Seize Dingxing, Communication Token, Destroy In Defeat].
Chu Qing frowned slightly and looked at the token in his hand.
This token was carved from wood, looking plain, with no words on the back, and the front engraved with the character [卒].
Chu Qing looked at the token and the letter, combined their contents, and understood the general meaning.
Blazing refers to Blazing Hall, while Blood might refer to Iron Blood Hall.
Blazing Blood Ignites suggests Blazing Hall plans to attack Iron Blood Hall.
So Guo Wang was to take advantage of this opportunity to seize Dingxing City.
The letter and the token served as proof... If they failed, they needed to be destroyed.
Conversely, if they won, they served as proof of identity.
Considering if Guo Wang himself failed, there wouldn’t be time to destroy these proofs.
The victory or defeat here likely referred to Blazing Hall.
"Guo Wang’s identity holds further secrets... but requires these two items as proof, suggesting he’s far from the core.
"Yet who is the person behind him?"
He speculated in his mind but reached no conclusion, pocketed the items, tore a piece of Guo Wang’s clothing, wrapped the head, and then approached the young girl.
He asked softly:
"Which direction is your home?"
Even though the young girl obeyed Chu Qing and closed her eyes,
hearing Guo Wang’s anguished screams, her curiosity got the better of her, peeking through her fingers to see what Chu Qing was doing.
Hearing Chu Qing speak now, she instinctively shuddered.
However, without any hesitation, she pointed in a direction:
"That way."
The next moment, she felt herself lifted onto Chu Qing’s shoulder.
He sped along like the wind, carrying her in the indicated direction.
The young girl clearly knew the way, and soon they arrived at a village.
Being near the Mountain God Temple, it seemed the girl was familiar with the area because she often played nearby.
With her guidance, Chu Qing silently escorted her to her room.
"Rest well, farewell."
After saying this, Chu Qing turned to leave.
Unable to hold back, the girl asked:
"Hero, what’s your name?"
...
Chu Qing grumbled to himself, but said aloud:
"Don’t ask, and don’t remember me, just pretend nothing happened.
"Do you understand?"
"Mm-hmm."
The young girl nodded vigorously.
A hint of a smile appeared in Chu Qing’s eyes. In this era, a girl of fifteen or sixteen could already be married off.
But to Chu Qing, she was merely a child.
He gently shook his head, said nothing more, and leapt away into the night.
This incident was just a brief interlude for him.
To be fair, he should thank Shen Hongye for this assignment.
If not for her selling out an assassination, Chu Qing wouldn’t have sought out Guo Wang... Without seeking out Guo Wang, he wouldn’t have known that this person arranged the assassination.
The situation in Dingxing City was largely clear by now.
In essence, Guo Wang commissioned murder against Liu Yulai, colluding with factions to target Dingxing City.
The person behind him remained unknown, and while Chu Qing was somewhat intrigued, he wasn’t overly concerned.
For him, there was now just one thing left.
Within two days, someone from Mirror of Sin would come to assassinate Liu Yulai!
Chu Qing had told Guo Wang earlier that he didn’t want to kill Guo Wang at this time... and that wasn’t a lie.
After all, Guo Wang was the one hiring the assassin.
Mirror of Sin kills for money, and thanks to their rule of demanding payment only after the task is complete,
if the commissioner dies, the mission would likely be abandoned.
Chu Qing didn’t want to kill Guo Wang because of this... For perfection’s sake, Guo Wang needed to live until Mirror of Sin arrived.
But the current situation couldn’t be judged by normal circumstances.
After all, ’Sword Ghost’ was here...
Even if Guo Wang died, they would still come.
Assassinating Liu Yulai was not only about the mission but more importantly, to draw out Sword Ghost!
Thus, Guo Wang’s life or death had minor effects, but overall, the impact wasn’t significant.
With the head in hand, Chu Qing executed his Flying Misty Steps, returning to Dingxing City.
However, he didn’t return to the inn...
He swiftly approached Liu Mansion.
The study still had lights on, and there were guards outside.
Despite the late hour, the guards kept their eyes wide open, wary of missing anything.
Suddenly, a gust of wind stirred, rustling the tree shadows.
The guards instinctively glanced toward the sound, failing to notice a shadow that leapt over them, shutting the door lightly behind it while the gust fanned the flames higher.