cloud mud

Chapter 9

The bright moon was covered with a layer of mist, and the night was getting darker. Xiangxia was speeding through the city, over the wall and back to the Zhennan Prince's Mansion.

The half-concealed strength of the man in black is terrifying, Xiangxia rubbed his temple in labor pain, but couldn't think of a single word about this person, those were the only ones on the list of villains in the villa, but Xiangxia Never met him.

Probably a newcomer from the owner.

No, even the seat of the owner has been replaced by a newcomer.

In the rivers and lakes, there are many killer courtyards, Beihua Peacock Villa, Nanan Bixiao Pavilion, Dongling Jiuxianju, Xiting Wanfo Lane, the killer courtyard headed by Peacock Villa runs across the six countries, occupying one side, and is not threatened by any country. Walking alone in the world, as long as the commission is high enough, the nobles will be able to kill them.

Although Chu Tan's marriage has been put on hold, his father's military contacts are still there. If the current emperor wants to centralize power in his hands, he must get rid of all hidden dangers. Chu Tan is just one of the many abandoned children. There is only one dead end.

Most of the thousand-gold purple lottery was ordered by the Holy Majesty. Compared with the national treasury, these remunerations are really a drop in the bucket. In comparison, the Assassin's Institute is much cleaner than the imperial spies.

When Xiangxia climbed up the outer wall of the Zhennan Prince's Mansion, the man in black was already standing firmly on the cornice of the main hall ten feet away, looking down at Xiangxia from a high position, his almond eyes seemed to be smiling but not smiling, and said slowly : "Is there any delusion to compare with me who is faster?"

"..."

Xiangxia turned around and ran away.

The outer wall of Zhennan Prince's Mansion is towering, Xiangxia hangs obliquely on the wall and climbs fast, like a gecko swimming on the wall, the trajectory is unpredictable. Get in through the narrow gap.

The man in black chased to the outside of the wall, his slender fingertips caressed the narrow cracks in the masonry that could not accommodate children, his almond eyes narrowed, and he sighed softly: "It's unbelievable. It really is the one on the list who is named 'God Without a Trace', It might not work out for someone else.”

He jumped onto the high wall, stepped on the narrow beams on the top of the mountain, and with the breeze blowing around him, he quickly approached the place where Chu Tan lived.

The two fell into Chu Tan's inner courtyard almost at the same time.

Xiangxia's body shook violently, his bones clanged and stretched, and he gradually returned to his original appearance, while the man in black had already fallen into the long-awaited siege of three people.

The sound of hurried footsteps was heard not far away, and a large number of palace guards were rushing towards the courtyard.

The man in black was forced to retreat in front of the pillar outside the verandah, and glanced at the surrounding people, all of them were dressed in black and strong, with sharp knives all over their bodies.

"The shadow guards are always the most difficult." The man in black looked at Xiangxia and said gently, "If you tell them to back off, I won't report to the owner of your disobedience."

Qiu Chan glanced at Xiangxia coldly, Xiangxia waved decisively and ordered: "Hurry up, kill him."

The three of them besieged and went up, while Xiangxia wanted to find an opportunity to get past the obstruction of the man in black and tried every means to stay by Chu Tan's side.

Chu Tan sat quietly in front of the tea table in the dormitory, listening to the crisp sound of swords clashing outside the window, with cold sweat dripping from his hands, he couldn't help approaching the window quietly, peeking outside through the crack of the window, Xiangxia was opposite, with a look on his face He stared intently at his room.

Closer to his side, an assassin in black was surrounded by three shadow guards, and the sound of guards approaching could be heard in the distance. He must be able to capture the assassin soon.

Chu Tan still underestimated the combat power of the assassin.

The man in black suddenly turned over and jumped, stepped on the pillar behind him, and landed in mid-air, his right leg swept across in an instant, and swept away the lotus horn behind him with a sharp vigor, the lotus horn couldn't resist, even though he had been prepared , was swept a foot away, and slammed into the thick poplar tree behind him.

Lianjiao supported her painful lower abdomen, knelt on the ground and spit out a mouthful of blood.

Ticicada and Jianguan attacked from both sides, a small black fan slipped out from the sleeve of the man in black, and spread out instantly with a twist of his fingers, 36 fan bones with thorns at each root, swept towards Ticicada head-on.

Tiu Chan was forced to retreat, and the man circled behind her in an instant, the blade of the fan knife slid past the blood vessels in her neck, the left arm of the man in black locked Qiu Chan's throat, and the fan knife slid across Qiu Chan's cheek in pity, He whispered softly: "After certain things, I always don't like women with extraordinary force."

Chow Chan gritted her teeth and hit the lower abdomen of the man behind her with her elbow. The man in black was startled and dodged. Qiu Chan took the opportunity to get away. Holding Qiu Chan's long hair, she pulled it violently, Qiu Chan groaned in pain, raised her long knife and cut off the long hair, only to be able to escape.

But in just a few breaths, Qiu Chan went limp all over, and looked down to see three poisoned flying needles stuck in her thigh.

The man in black knocked on the small fan, and Qiu Chan knelt on the ground and fell down.

There was a seven-point smile in his almond eyes, and he looked at Xiangxia like a teaser, "It's not poisonous, don't be so angry."

Xiangxia clenched her fists, gritted her teeth and looked at the person opposite, the veins in her right hand bulged, and she drew her sword out of its sheath.At this time, the guards of the palace arrived and blocked the prince's residence, slowly approaching the intruding assassin.

The man shook off the broken hair on the fan knife, lifted his heels slightly, and with a series of afterimages behind him, he rushed towards Xiangxia.

When Xiangxia raised his sword to parry, the other party caught off guard and stepped on Xiangxia's sword, and suddenly took advantage of his strength to retreat a few steps. It turned out to be a false move. Carrying it on his shoulders, he broke through the window lattice and escaped, jumped onto the outer wall of the palace, glanced at Xiangxia with a chuckle, jumped off the high wall, and ran away with Chu Tan.

Xiangxia hate's eyes were red, his right hand was gripping the hilt of the sword so hard that his knuckles made a crisp sound, he quickly climbed up the high wall and chased after him.

The man in black hugged Chu Tan as he shuttled through the quiet and deserted forest. Chu Tan frowned tightly, clutching his skirt tightly, with two or three minor scratches on his tender white face, staring at him angrily .

"You're always staring at me, and I'm a little ashamed." He lowered his eyelids and laughed softly.

"Where do you want to take me?" Chu Tan asked, tugging at his collar.

The man in black smiled and said nothing.

Without further ado, Chu Tan bit down on the shoulder of the man in black, causing the man to grunt. He stretched out his hand to push away Chu Tan's mouth, and rubbed the blood-stained shoulder.

"Where you die, our rewards are the same." The man in black chuckled, "If I don't bring you here, Lord Xiangxia probably won't be willing to follow me to meet his real master."

"You stabbed him." Chu Tan asked him coldly.

"Huh? Are you so considerate of servants?" The man in black was a little surprised, and soon laughed again, freeing up a hand to twist the small fan, with a hidden arrow on the tip of the fan, and handed it to Chu Tan's lips.

"This hidden arrow will be stuck on Lord Xiangxia, and there is something painted on the arrow, you can choose to lick it for him." The man in black seemed sure that he would not dare, and laughed softly.

Chu Tan hesitated a little, glared at him bitterly, opened his mouth to lick the cold arrow in the back, the arrow was coated with some kind of medicine, and his mouth was very astringent.He licked off the poison on the hidden arrow, his eyelids became heavier and heavier, he fell on the shoulder of the man in black, and slowly fell asleep.

"Good boy." The man in black smiled, put away his small fan and back arrow, and walked deep into the dense forest.

The closer it got to the depth, the cooler it became, Chu Tan gradually woke up, his body was still limp, unable to resist.

The man in black still led him slowly through the dense forest.The surrounding trees rustled, making the surroundings appear eerie and eerie.

Chu Tan braced himself and said tiredly, "You can take my king's life, don't involve Xiangxia."

"Heh, you really moved me." The man in black raised his eyebrows and smiled, "You don't even know the details of Lord Xiangxia, yet you dare to keep him by your side."

"Do you want to know about him? I have some news here."

Chu Tan turned his eyes to look at him.

"The villain on the list, Baili Xiangxia, claims to be a god without a trace, and any cracked jade or rock can be a hiding place. So I haven't found him for so many years." The man in black had a mocking smile in his eyes, "He even This is not to tell you the truth, what is his intention? A thousand gold purple lottery is hard to come by, maybe he is also waiting for this credit?"

"Forget it, divisive schemes are useless to me." Chu Tan turned his head in disgust.

The man in black smiled gently and continued on his way.

The cool wind is getting stronger, and the surroundings are getting darker, only the moonlight leaking in through the cracks in the trees.

When he came to a hazel tree, he stopped suddenly, frowned slightly, put Chu Tan, who was limp and unable to resist, under his feet, and quietly listened to the movement around him, the fan knife slipped out of his sleeve and landed on his palm , suddenly flashed 36 sharp blades.

The cool wind was still blowing by, and the leaves sang softly and fell to the ground slowly.

Suddenly, a gap opened in the hazel tree next to him, and a black figure rushed out, grabbed the shoulders of the man in black, and slammed his head down. on the ground.

Xiangxia punched the person under him in the face, and the man in black turned his head to avoid it. There was a loud bang in his ear, and he sank into a shallow pit on the ground.

The man took advantage of Xiangxia's combo attack and suddenly hit his knees on Xiangxia's back. He grabbed Xiangxia's shoulder with both hands and pulled hard, throwing Xiangxia out of the air, hitting his back hard on the ground, almost breaking his bones. scattered.

"Xiangxia..." Seeing Xiangxia gasping for breath while holding his chest, with a line of blood flowing from the corner of his mouth, Chu Tan felt pain in his heart, and endured the numbness of his limbs, he crawled towards Xiangxia.

The man in black clicked his tongue: "You lean on the side, it's not good to splash blood all over the prince."

Xiangxia took advantage of the man in black's distraction to talk, and suddenly turned over and climbed up to the tree trunk beside him, the sword was unsheathed, the sword light flashed through the eyes of the man in black, and the man was shaken to avoid it.

Feeling bad, the man in black rushed towards Chu Tan, grabbed Chu Tan's arm, pressed him against the hazel tree beside him, and pressed the fan knife against his throat.

"You're too slow." The man in black pressed Chu Tan's shoulder and smiled slightly at Xiangxia. Xiangxia's face turned green and white, the veins on his forehead bulged, and the long sword pointed at him:

"Don't threaten me with the prince if you have the ability." Xiangxia said bitterly.

Chu Tan frowned slightly, looked at Xiangxia and said, "From today onwards, you are free. Leave here."

"My lord!" Xiangxia didn't dare to move rashly, but he refused to retreat.

The man in black's fan knife approached half a point, and chuckled softly: "You all can't leave." After finishing speaking, he looked at Xiangxia, "I'll give you a chance to commit crimes and make meritorious deeds, put down the sword, and get rid of this one by the way."

Xiangxia slowly took out the two plum blossom darts on the sword belt.

The man in black took half a step back, and said with a gentle smile, "I can see that the trajectory is off by half a degree. You can't fool me, and you can't beat my knife."

"Okay. I'll share [-]% of the reward." Xiangxia slowly raised her hand, and when she let go, she dropped the long sword.

Xiangxia snorted, and raised two darts to shoot directly between Chu Tan's eyebrows.

Chu Tan looked calmly at the oncoming killing intent with calm eyes.

When the first dart touched the eyebrows, the second dart followed closely behind, with a crisp sound, the two plum-blossom darts collided in front of Chu Tan, suddenly flew, and were deeply inserted into the tree trunk. Then he mercilessly flew towards the mouth of the man in black.

The man in black's expression changed suddenly, and he turned sideways to avoid it. Xiang Xia suddenly squatted down and picked it up again before the long sword touched the ground. When the man in black turned his head again, Xiang Xia disappeared from sight.

Unexpectedly, the tree trunk beside Chu Tan suddenly exploded, Xiangxia rushed out suddenly, rolled on the spot, hugged Chu Tan horizontally, and swept the man in black's cheek with the blade.

Xiangxia lowered her head and asked, "Are you scared?"

Chu Tan shook his head: "Fortunately, you messed around once before."

The black satin covering the face was picked off by the tip of the sword, and the man in black revealed a gentle face with a slight smile.When avoiding the edge of the sword, he raised the small fan in his right hand, and the hidden arrow brushed against the blade of the sword and flew quickly, sparking dazzling sparks, and sank deep into Xiangxia's right shoulder.

Chu Tan heard Xiangxia roar in pain in his ear, trembled violently, but did not fall down, gritted his teeth viciously, put his arm around Chu Tan, protecting him under his arm, and pointed the sword at the black man with the other hand. Clothed man, a desperate attitude to die.

The man in black was also a little angry when his mask was picked off, and he raised his fan knife to fight.

A soft shout came from the depths of the dense forest: "Everyone stop."

The two looked back and forth at the same time, and a young man in blue brocade and fine attire came slowly.

The corner of the man in black's mouth turned up slightly, and he nodded respectfully and said, "Villa Master."

Xiangxia tilted her head to carefully identify it for a long time, and was surprised: it was actually this kid who inherited the position of owner.Peacock Villa has always regarded the strongest as the heir, so each generation of heirs has bloody hands and a cruel and ruthless temper-he was just a milk baby back then.

Xiangxia hesitated for a while, but said in a low voice, "I've seen the owner."

The young man in blue ignored him, walked up to the man in black, and asked, "So long."

"Lord Xiangxia prevented me from bringing Prince Chu back." The man in black explained.

"Useless things, what do I want you to use?" Nian's owner looked sullen.

The man in black glanced at the owner and raised his mouth: "Sorry."

Xiangxia's long sword had already turned in front of the owner, blood was dripping from his right shoulder, and a hidden arrow was pierced into his shoulder, staining the entire shoulder and the ground under his feet red.

Nian Zhuangzhu looked at Xiangxia's fierce and desperate eyes for a long time, and then looked at the young man who was tightly protected in his arms.

He shook his head suddenly, turned and left.

Seeing that he really didn't intend to kill her, Xiangxia was puzzled, but finally heaved a sigh of relief, slowly put down her stiff and painful arm, hurriedly supported Chu Tan's shoulder, hugged her tightly distressedly, and asked him in a low voice: "Are there any injuries?"

Chu Tan pointed to the hidden arrow on Xiangxia's shoulder, and choked up in a hoarse voice: "This...it hurts so badly."

"It's not a problem." Xiangxia gritted her teeth and reluctantly pulled off the back arrow on her shoulder, wanting to throw it aside bloody.

"Lord Xiangxia, you are lucky." The man in black raised his eyebrows and said contemptuously, "Your sweetheart licked the arrowhead's cartilage powder for you, and you still haven't put it away."

Xiangxia was stunned holding the bloody arrowhead, Chu Tan supported Xiangxia, her cheeks were hot.

The man in black walked away with a flick of his sleeves, catching up with the owner of the village who went ahead.

"The benevolence of a woman." The man in black had a gentle voice, but he could hear some dissatisfaction, and he muttered: "10 taels, you let it go as soon as you said it. Useless things, what's the use of you if I want you. "

The owner laughed and put his arms around his shoulders, "Good third brother, we are not bad at this point."

"When did you pity strangers?" He raised his almond eyes slightly, looking into the owner's eyes.

"Third brother used to protect me like this." The owner smiled, took him away, and said in a low voice, "The Luoyang peonies are about to bloom, and I wanted to take you to see them a long time ago to make amends for third brother."

"..." The man in black let out a sigh of relief, and let him hug him with ease.

"What's the matter with the tooth marks on your shoulder?" The owner frowned and rubbed.

"You know, I get bitten by kids a lot."

At dawn, I gradually heard the sound of gurgling water and the singing of birds in the mountain stream.

Xiangxia carried Chu Tan out of the dense forest and walked on a small path down the mountain.

"You don't need to hug me, I can walk by myself." Chu Tan gently pushed Xiangxia, frowned and looked at his shoulder injury worriedly, "Will the root cause of the disease remain?"

"It's okay, my subordinates are not so fragile." Xiangxia rubbed Chu Tan's hair, kissed him on the face, and cherished him as if he had lost it and found it again.

"Speaking of which, did you really lick the arrow's poison for your subordinates?" Xiangxia was a little scared, and said in a low voice, "If it's really poisonous, I won't be able to see you."

"I'm even more afraid that I won't see you." Chu Tan obediently lay on Xiangxia's shoulder, and asked again, "Will they still come to trouble you?"

"I don't know. Probably not."

After walking a few more steps, Chu Tan saw a crumpled thing falling by the stream, his eyes lit up, and he patted Xiangxia lightly: "Look at that."

Xiangxia turned her head and glanced at the place Chu Tan was pointing at, then walked over with Chu Tan in her arms.

The lanterns piled up by the water looked like lanterns, which had been flattened and supported by bamboo wires. There were vaguely written words on the paper-pasted lanterns.

Chu Tan opened his eyes wide in surprise, lying on the edge of the water, he picked up the thing, held it in his hand and looked through it.

This is the lantern they put on during the New Year's Eve, but it fell here.

Chu Tan first saw the word "Xiangxia" written on his side, and couldn't wait to turn to the other side. At that time, he always wanted to know what Xiangxia wrote.

The word "Chu Tan" came into view.

Chu Tan suddenly felt a lump in his throat, and his eyes were warm.

Xiangxia squatted beside Chu Tan, and he also saw the words written on both sides of the lantern.

"I'll show you this." Xiangxia took out two yellowed paper cranes from his cuffs, and the wings of the two paper cranes were glued together.

Chu Tan touched it and asked, "What does this mean?"

Xiangxia threw away the paper crane, hugged Chu Tan into her arms, and smiled with the corners of her mouth crooked:

"Flying together."

----

End