Chapter 26

"Leave some people here, the rest of you, follow me!"

The guards rushed out of the room in a flurry, leaving just three men to guard the body of old Grand Master Zhuge.

Other children all looked at Chu Qiao, terrified. She, who just coaxed away the guards of Zhuge courtyard, with a crossbow in hand, no longer showed any sign of fear on her face. She smiled at the servants checking on the corpse of the second Grand Master Zhuge, and whistled loudly in a light-hearted manner. "Hey! Stop what you are doing."

The three guards turned their heads and the color drained from their faces immediately. But before they had time to yell out a single cry, three arrows were fired in rapid succession and struck the three astonished skulls at the same time, like shooting stars. Their bodies fell simultaneously, their blood flowed, loyally following their Master Zhuge to hell.

"Ahhhhhh!" a child slave suddenly screamed.

Chu Qiao covered the child's mouth at once. "You should have yelled when I told you to, rather than choosing this moment to make my life difficult."

The children's faces were the color of clay as they sobbed quietly.

Chu Qiao breathed a long sigh, then slowly spoke, "What I'm about to say is very important, you have to listen carefully if you want to stay alive, understand?"

They stopped crying and stared at her with their eyes wide.

"Me? I am one of steward Zhu Shun's people. That old goat has always harassed children and has lost all humanity. Steward Zhu Shun could put up with it no longer and I was sent here to kill him. We are getting rid of him for good of our society, and none of you are allowed to rat on steward Zhu Shun; no matter what kind of torture the Zhuge household imposes on you. You may not tell. Steward Zhu Shun will save you, do you remember that?"

The children nodded their head quickly, like a group of frightened bunnies.

Chu Qiao smiled faintly. The net had been cast, now they could only wait for the fish to flop in. Whether these kids would willingly take on the torture without telling or not, the people of Zhuge household would doubt their words. But all of Qing Shan court saw firsthand that it was Zhu Shun's men who brought her to the court of Zhuge household, and this fact alone would ensure that he would never get out of it. Death is inevitable, it's just a matter of how.

She glanced at the trickling hourglass. There was enough time to sneak back and help Xiaoba, who was escaping from the back door. Yet just as she was leaving through the front door, a hand suddenly clasped her ankle tightly. Chu Qiao looked down and saw it was a guard on his last breath.

"You deserve to die for playing jackal to the tiger!" Chu Qiao's eyes were cold as she pulled out the arrow from the man's forehand in a single motion. The body twitched a few times, then stopped moving altogether. Chu Qiao strained to pry open his hand, but couldn't pull her leg out after multiple tries. She abruptly lost her mind in a fury, pulling out the sabre at the guard's waist and then chopped off his hand with a thud.

"What are you doing?" a low voice rumbled, not particularly loud but filled with malice. Dressed in a fiery red fur coat covered in snow and followed by a large company of retinues from the Qing Shan court, Zhuge Yue looked somberly at the child whose hands were covered in blood, pausing after each word.

Chu Qiao looked up as her pretty eyebrows knitted together. Why was Zhuge Yue here? But that's not important to me anymore. She gazed at him calmly, ther corners of her mouth raised in a faint smile. "As you can see, I've killed this filthy old man, who deserves to die ten thousand times over for his sins."

Zhuge Yue's face looked sullen and dark clouds flickered under his eyes. "The things that happened before, they were your doing too?"

"That's right!" The child's face beamed. The sweet, innocent smile on her face seemed so unfitting under the circumstances. Holding the severed hand in one hand, she grinned as she spoke, "Unfortunately for you, it's too late to know now. It may be a better idea to think about how to face the questions from the other family branch leaders of Zhuge clan. After all, I'm a servant from your court, and with the death of Zhuge Xi, the biggest benefactor would be you and the first wife's family branch."

"Men!" Zhuge Yue growled. "Seize her!"

"In your dreams!" the child sneered. She bellowed as she made a throwing motion, "Take this!"

The servants of Qing Shan court agilely went to surround Zhuge Yue, shielding him in layers with their bodies. Though still young in age, Yue Qi's martial skills are well beyond his years as he pulled out his sabre and rapidly spun forward. His blade was dancing like the wind and rain at extreme speeds. Waves of white lights flashed before him, forming a barrier that would even repel water if it was splashed at him.

Splat. An object abruptly struck the blade of Yue Qi, and a line of blood jetted up towards the sky. They looked down to find a mangled and disfigured hand.

Outside the window, the child uttered a shrill cry, "Zhuge Yue, Linxi won't die for no reason!" The moonlight was dense with tension as the tiny body vanished into the boundless night.

The young boy's face was darker than the night, his eyes red with anger as he stood there. Zhu Cheng glanced at him fearfully, his voice anxious as he shouted at the guards, "What are you waiting for? Get her!" They stumbled after the girl as if they had just woke from a dream.

In the flower thickets of the side residence, a girl's delicate body quickly dashed along the winding trails like a civet cat. Just then, a group of men seemed to emerge in the distance, apparently running towards her. The child's face showed nothing as she halted her footsteps.

"Oh! It's you!" Once she identified the approaching crowd, the child hurried forward. "Did you get the bad guys?"

The man in charge barked when he saw it was a sobbing girl slave. "Move! This isn't something you may ask, now out of my way!" As he spoke, his hands reached out and were about to push the child's shoulders.

"There were more assassins in the house who killed all of your people. They claimed to be working for the fourth young master of Qing Shan court, and I'm only here to spread the word."

"What?" The man spoke, his face full of shock. "Nonsense, there were around three hundred men lurking outside the gates as well, you could tell from one glance that they did not belong to the Zhuge household. Our brothers were struggling to hold them back, so we returned to get reinforcements."

There were people outside? Could they be Zhuge Yue's retinues? Chu Qiao's eyebrows knitted together. She calmly said, "This way is impassible; they have more people than you. How about you hide here and I lure them out for you?"

The man was delighted. Perhaps this little girl does have some courage. "Good, if this works, I'll truthfully report what happened to my superiors."

"Yes." The child beamed. "I only ask to be freed from my servitude."

The men of Qing Shan court followed moments later. Before they could utter a sentence, they were engaged by the men of Zhuge's side residence in the dark.

Yue Qi rode forward, his voice seething with anger. "Who are you people? I am the subordinate of the second old master and the personal bodyguard of the fourth young master! "

"Go f*ck yourself!" The opposing brute spat, "I'm the imperial guard of Sheng Jing palace! Brothers, get them!"

As the clash and bangs of fighting raged on, Chu Qiao gradually retreated from the battlefield. Upon finally reaching the outer wall, Chu Qiao glanced at her surroundings and looked for wall-climbing equipment. Just then, she felt a wave of air on the back of her head. Chu Qiao immediately turned around, her reflexes fast and agile. She pulled out her crossbow and prepared to shoot, yet her opponent was even quicker. Her captor scooped her up with one arm and nimbly performed multiple leaps, landing on the high walls. 

"Yikes, it's so rude of you to wave weapons at me the moment we meet." Yan Xun was dressed in a large, pure white fur coat, with pitch black hair and eyes that shone like the stars. He looked at her with a playful, almost flirtatious smirk on his lips.

Back at the Zhuge court, there were lit torches and disarrayed people everywhere. The people inside and outside of the court tangled together in combat. The sound of battle persisted on and on. Yan Xun looked around, shaking his head as he sighed. "Look at you, a little child causing such a big mess. The Zhuge family is so unlucky to have you as their servant."

Chu Qiao snorted. She struggled and said, "Let go of me!"

The young boy laughed, unafraid to be seen by other people. He inched closer with a grin on his face, "Girl, I don't mind you skipping our date. But now that you owe me another favor, how are you going repay me?"

"Who asked for your help? You conceited b*stard!"

"Hmph, you always say that. I feel like my kindness went to a backbiting wolf." Yan Xun harrumphed, but his face immediately brightened up. "But that's alright, I do as I please. Now that the show is over, we better go before the fire catches up to us. Hold on tight!" That said, the young boy took off and leaped down from the edge of the wall.

Surprised, Chu Qiao cursed under her breath for his stupidity and arrogance. But at the same time tightened her grip on Yan Xun's body. She hoped that the brilliant art of Qinggong really existed in this world, otherwise the fall would surely kill both of them.

Thump. The war horse neighed as the weight of two people landed on its back. Feng Mian grinned cheerfully. "My prince, I've been waiting for ages."

Seated on his horse, Yan Xun laughed heartily. "Then let's go."

Behind them the battlecries were so loud that they reached the sky. The light of flames dazzled for miles on end. The prince of the Yan Bei kingdom raised his whip and galloped onward. He quickly disappeared at the end of the long street.

Almost at the same instant, Wei Jing and Zhuge Huai received a secret letter. Under the candlelight, the elite members of their respective families' younger generation expressed deep concerns on their face. Then, after giving short, brief instructions, they each stepped out of their family households.

Across the sky the clouds layered and snow filled the air. The moon faintly shone upon the land of the living. Beside the Bai Liu Temple of Zhen Huang City, Yan Shiqi, the shadow guard from the court of the Yan Bei Prince, had just intercepted Yan Xun's war horse. His face was stricken with worry as he said, "Lieutenant Colonel Song from the city-front, General of the Dauntless Cavalry has surrounded your residence with troops. The eldest young master from the Zhuge household hurried towards Ba Xing Alley with his army of bodyguards as well. Now, they are all making their way here."

Yan Xun frowned, his voice deep with concern, "What's the Dauntless Cavalry Camp doing here? Did the Zhuge family notify the Grand Elder's Council so quickly?"

"Prince!" Feng Mian cried. The sound of hoofbeats approached rapidly from the rear. "Men have caught up from behind!" The page hurriedly said, his face filled with worry.

"How many? Are they Zhuge Yue's men?" Yan Xun asked.

"No." Covered in snow, Feng Mian was so agitated that the white dust on his hat tumbled as he spoke. "They were men from the Wei's house, I saw Wei Shuye lead at the front with my own eyes."

"The Wei family?" Yan Xun frowned again, the tone of his voice even lower than before. "When did they start working with the men of Zhuge family? On top of that, how could they possibly notify and mobilize the Wei army in such a short time?" He looked down at Chu Qiao, who sat next to him. "Lass, did you provoke the men from the Wei family?"

Chu Qiao's forehead scrunched together as her tiny face fell into deep thought, but she quickly shook her head affirmatively. "Nope."

"Then I don't know why that is," Yan Xun muttered.

Chu Qiao turned her head around. "One must bear the consequences of their own actions. This matter concerns myself alone. There is no need for you to be dragged into this, Yan Xun."

Yan Xun was stunned. Her face was obviously that of a child, but seeing the calmness and composure between her words and expression, he couldn't help but stare in awe. "Lass, I am so inexplicably drawn to you, so before you tell me the truth about yourself, I would rather not see you fall captive like this."

Chu Qiao, with arched eyebrows, coolly said, "As long as time stands, there will be a day when we meet again. Besides, it won't be easy for them to catch me. Being a small target and being on my own, I could easily get away. On the other hand, considering your social status, I don't want you involved for no reason."