Chapter 57: Go to hell

Author: Yue Qianchou.

The sound of rain hitting the umbrella was audible. Ben Weikang, soaked through, turned and saw a woman walking towards him under an umbrella. In her hand, she held a shimmering golden bead for illumination. The hem of her cloak and skirt was already wet from the rain.

He recognized her from her figure. As she approached, the captivating face beneath her hood confirmed it was indeed Xiang Lan'er.

A wave of warmth instantly filled him. He quickly said, "Why did you come? The rain is too heavy; go back quickly."

Xiang Lan'er held her umbrella over his head, leaving most of her own body exposed to the rain. She reached out to help him up, saying, "My lord, let it be. We don't need to rely on anyone; we can live on our own."

Her actions brought a pang of sorrow to Ben Weikang. He was even more unwilling for her to suffer alongside him, feeling that every extra day of her hardship was his own sin. He immediately pushed her hand away. "It is only right for a son to kneel before his parents. It's fine. You go back first, go back quickly, and obey!"

Seeing his resolve, Xiang Lan'er, who had stood up, raised her hand, closed her umbrella, and stood in the rain. Under Ben Weikang's astonished gaze, she knelt down beside him, parallel to him, placing her closed umbrella to one side.

Ben Weikang exclaimed, "What are you doing? Get up quickly!"

He quickly reached for her arm, intending to pull her up.

Xiang Lan'er pushed his hand away. "I cannot watch my lord suffer alone. We are one. If my lord kneels, your concubine will kneel with you."

Hearing her words, Ben Weikang's lips trembled. He felt deeply that he had not misjudged her. Tears welled up in his eyes, mixing with the rain. Suddenly, he shouted towards the mountain, "Father, Mother, your son was wrong! Your son has come to see you! Woo woo..."

He then slammed his head onto the steps and sobbed uncontrollably.

The two disciples guarding the mountain gate archway watched, sighing with regret and helplessness.

The heavy rain did not last; it gradually eased significantly.

At both ends of a street, several carriages blocked the intersections, allowing only pedestrians to exit and temporarily preventing anyone from entering.

Once the street was clear of pedestrians, a carriage began to move from one end to the other, maintaining a steady, unhurried pace. As it neared the Anle Inn, someone disembarked from behind the carriage and stepped under the eaves, proceeding along the eaves on the Anle Inn side to shelter from the rain.

Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang's fascination with the city rain had not yet faded. They remained under the eaves, observing how the varying intensity of the rain changed the city. Wherever raindrops caught the light, everything sparkled, a novel sight that pleased their senses.

"Huh, Shi Chun," Wu Jinliang said with a curious hiccup, clutching a wine jar, "the rain has lessened, but the pedestrians seem to have vanished from the street."

Earlier, when the inn waiter was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, he casually remarked, "You two are in such fine spirits; you should have a couple of drinks to enhance the mood."

So, the two immediately decided to make the most of the evening. They had the waiter bring two jars of wine and placed a plate of crispy roasted insect eggs in the middle of their long bench. Such good times—with money, leisure, and fine wine—were truly a world apart from the Land of Exile.

However, Wu Jinliang's words still caught Shi Chun's attention. He glanced towards both ends of the street and saw a carriage approaching. He gestured with his wine jar towards the carriage, indicating that someone was indeed coming.

Wu Jinliang saw it too, gave a soft, hiccuping chuckle, then reached for a crispy, fava-bean-sized, salt-and-peppered insect egg from the plate between them. He popped it into his mouth, chewed, and followed it with a gulp of wine—delicious, pure enjoyment.

The carriage did not stop outside the Anle Inn. However, the curtain subtly twitched, and a hand emerged.

The two brothers noticed this in quick succession. Before they could react, the hand flicked, sending two yellow blurs shooting towards them.

Having experienced similar situations, they hadn't even fully discerned what the yellow blurs were when the image of immobilizing talismans flashed in their minds.

Their mild intoxication instantly vanished. Instinctively, they tried to leap away and dodge, but the distance between them and their assailant was too short. They couldn't evade in time. What they feared most came true: before the talismans even reached them, an invisible sensation of sluggishness enveloped them.

They knew this feeling all too well; it was one they would never forget. Wu Jinliang was already cursing furiously internally—someone was using immobilizing talismans on them again!

The two couldn't understand it. In the Land of Exile, it was one thing, but out here, their cultivation was next to nothing. Did it really take something as expensive as an immobilizing talisman to deal with two nobodies like them? It was debatable whether their two "worthless lives" were even worth a single talisman.

Even the two victims themselves felt it was incredibly wasteful to use such expensive items against them.

They had barely lifted their bottoms off the bench when they became completely motionless, fixed firmly in place.

The once sparkling, charming world suddenly appeared monstrous in their eyes.

The carriage maintained its steady speed and drove past them.

The hand that had emerged from the carriage window quickly retracted, as if nothing had happened. As the carriage passed the inn entrance, even the waiter behind the counter, who looked up, noticed nothing amiss. The waiter was unaware that the two men sitting outside, enjoying the view, had run into trouble.

After a quick glance, he resumed poring over a picture book, one depicting men and women embracing.

After the carriage passed, the person walking under the eaves quickly approached the Anle Inn. As he neared the two men on the bench, his hand twitched, and a dagger slid from his sleeve into his palm.

As he reached Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang, he raised the dagger. Shi Chun was the first target, the blade's tip already level with his neck.

The assassin's lips instinctively curled into a grim, sharp smirk, typical before taking a life. The next steps flashed rapidly through his mind: slit the throats of both targets, then leave the Anle Inn, immediately catch up to the carriage ahead, and quickly depart inside it. The carriages blocking the street ends would also quickly disperse and vanish into the rainy night.

As for the two men immobilized by the talismans, even if their throats were cut, they wouldn't be able to struggle. They would simply sit there, quietly dying.

In this rainy night, no one would hear the sound of blood dripping, no one would witness their deaths, and no one would be alerted.

After all, this was a city, a gathering place for many people, so naturally, there were rules. Openly causing chaos was inappropriate.

This assassination plan had been formulated based on the on-site reconnaissance conducted beforehand.

The two immobilizing talismans used were of high quality and thus not cheap, making this an assassination that came at a considerable cost. However, there was no alternative, as the upper echelons couldn't provide precise information about the targets' strength when issuing the elimination order.

Not everyone had the capability, like Fengchi and his group, to extend their reach into the Land of Exile and investigate the two men's true abilities at any time. Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang had just emerged from the Land of Exile, and not much information about them had spread externally. For most, their ability to gather intelligence quickly was insufficient.

They only knew that the two had just come from the Land of Exile. Logically, most who emerged from there should still be in the Initial Martial Realm. But who could guarantee there wouldn't be an exception?

Since they needed to eliminate the two men while minimizing any disturbance, and given their unknown strength, using immobilizing talismans was the best option.

This was why the carefully planned assassination operation was now unfolding.

As the assassin moved, simultaneously surveying his surroundings to ensure no one was watching, a sudden sense of alarm seized him. From the corner of his eye, he perceived that the assassination target seemed to have moved.

His subconscious reaction was: How could this be possible?

Immediately after, he knew they had indeed moved. His wrist was suddenly seized. Startled, he was about to use magic to break free when a sharp pain shot through his chest and ribs. The inner strength in his body suddenly felt like air leaking from a deflated ball.

He abruptly turned and looked down, only to see that his wrist was indeed firmly gripped by the primary target. A dagger had appeared in the target's hand at some unknown moment, and it had been mercilessly plunged into his ribs.

The target had acted too decisively. Filled with panic, a stray thought crossed his mind: How could this be? Didn't they want to capture him alive for questioning?

He knew he was finished!

Actually, what Shi Chun held was not a dagger but a short sword, though their sizes weren't significantly different.

It was the one he always carried close. In the Land of Exile, he used to keep it tucked under his thigh, but outside, where he wore trousers long-term, it was inconvenient to constantly undo his waistband. So, he kept it in his sleeve for easy access, and it had immediately proven useful.

The reason the attacker couldn't distinguish whether it was a sword or a dagger was that, apart from the hilt, the entire blade had been savagely plunged into his ribs.

"Go to hell!" Wu Jinliang roared, leaping up almost simultaneously.

Tearing off the immobilizing talisman, he instinctively grabbed his weapon and swept it across.

Having been out in the world, especially having come from the Land of Exile, their vigilance was not lacking. Their weapons were certainly always close by; his greatsword was kept to one side behind him, ready to be grabbed instantly.

The greatsword swung out like a sweeping door panel—a truly massive weapon. The force of its swing could almost knock a person over, and it swept just above Shi Chun's head, who was still half-seated on the bench.

The assassin was still powerful; at the very least, his cultivation far surpassed theirs. Even with a fatal injury and his internal physical strength and magic rapidly draining, a flick of his wrist easily broke free from Shi Chun's grip.

However, his face couldn't escape Wu Jinliang's sudden strike. With a resounding thud against the side of his face, he took a solid hit just as he closed his eyes. He was violently thrown into the middle of the street, and blood spurted like an arrow from the wound in his ribs.

For an ordinary person, that blow would have flattened their head. Yet, this man actually endured it through magic, merely shaking his head after crashing to the ground. He then clutched his bleeding ribs, his eyes wide with panic, and struggled to get up on the slippery, rain-soaked ground.

Wu Jinliang regretted his hasty attack; otherwise, he was sure he could have severed the opponent's head with a single strike.

These two brothers, when they acted, it was always a matter of life or death, especially seeing their opponent severely wounded.

With their bloodlust and courage, there was no way they would let him go!

After the strike, Wu Jinliang lunged forward, dragging his sword, springing out from under the eaves and into the rain. He was about to swing his sword mid-air for a furious slash when he saw the assassin's wobbling figure hurl a dagger at him. He quickly pulled his sword back to shield himself, his entire body miraculously hiding behind the greatsword.

Clang! Another deafening crash echoed as sparks flew from the greatsword.

Even severely wounded, the assassin's desperate throw still sent Wu Jinliang, sword and all, flying backward.

But from below, a figure charged forward: Shi Chun, who had already drawn his sword and attacked.

The two brothers, one in the air and one on the ground, knew their enemy was strong, yet neither retreated. They successively brandished their swords, charging through the rainy night, vowing to fight the enemy to the death!

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