Chapter 291 A Grand Performance

“General Nie,” a garrison soldier quietly approached Nie Rui, who was happily admiring the clock tower’s unfinished exterior, and reported, “Two of my men found two jars of fire oil bombs in the construction site. I had my men pretend to wander around and start searching. I reckon this is no small matter.”

The smile on Nie Rui’s face didn’t diminish in the slightest. As it happened, he was the highest-ranking military figure on-site, and according to the Dongping military regulations, such matters had to be reported to him first. If he felt someone else was more suitable to command the scene, he would relinquish command.

Although Nie Rui was essentially a civilian general in charge of intelligence sorting and had handled many cases involving spies, he lacked practical knowledge. However, he quickly understood what might be happening.

The soldier’s handling of the situation was appropriate. Nie Rui nodded imperceptibly and instructed, “Very good, continue the search. Secure each location where something is found. It’s not convenient to move the items out now.”

The soldier said with difficulty, “General, apart from those maintaining order, I have fewer than fifty men available. After dispatching men to search, I have hardly anyone left.”

Nie Rui scanned the surroundings and saw Zeng Zining, the deputy envoy of the Blood Kirin cavalry. Nie Rui quickly approached Zeng Zining and briefly explained the situation. Zeng Zining swiftly mobilized the Blood Kirin soldiers from different banners who had come with several officers and began a discreet search, cooperating with the garrison soldiers.

“Something’s not right. Look there. Didn’t Xiao Yu say there were six jars of fire oil hidden there? Why are those soldiers chatting there?” A Western Ling spy hidden in the crowd noticed the subtle changes on the construction site.

“Notify Chang Fengxing. Initiate immediately,” another spy suggested.

“Yes, do it. Quickly find Mr. Sun and report the situation to him.”

The Mr. Sun mentioned by the spy was the young man who had orchestrated the entire scheme. Sun Xiaofan, barely thirty years old, was already a leader of spies capable of commanding a region. Although he had an extraordinary background, his abilities were also considerable. His ability to organize a massive assassination plot involving various aspects in such a short time was a testament to that.

However, Sun Xiaofan, as a spy leader, lacked the determination to die that assassins and death warriors possessed. On one hand, he had Lao Feng evacuate first. On the other hand, after implementing all the arrangements, he left Danyang even faster than Lao Feng. While his subordinates were anxiously searching for him, he was already hundreds of miles away.

An officer rushed into the clock tower to convey the situation below to the important figures in the viewing hall and on the viewing platform. Whether to evacuate depended on their judgment. However, it would take time for the gravity lift to descend from the top. While the officer was pacing anxiously, changes had already occurred in the viewing hall.

About half an hour before the scheduled trial chime, Tan Weixin, having had her fill of Danyang’s scenery, finally arrived at the viewing hall after being persuaded by Chief Steward Liu Yong. However, just as Tan Weixin was about to sit down in the seat specially arranged for her in the viewing hall, Liu Yong’s aura suddenly tightened.

Liu Yong made several gestures, and two of the guards behind the princess placed their hands on their sword hilts. A master like Liu Yong could sense the unusual breathing under the cover of the blue-gray cloth in the hall, a breathing that contained a hidden tension and danger.

Tan Weixin was somewhat accustomed to this. Liu Yong’s caution always reassured her. The various forces between and within countries were complex, and some people would always take extreme measures. In the past few years, many heads of major families and high-ranking stewards of Dongping had been assassinated. A large number of “experts” renowned for killing assassins had also “emerged.” However, neither Liu Yong nor his younger brother, Liu Meng, who was now the chief of the imperial guards, had ever had such an opportunity. They always nipped assassinations in the bud.

Liu Yong, wanting to avoid causing panic, walked to the pile of objects covered with cloth. He didn’t want to know who was hiding underneath and simply struck down with a palm.

Xiao Yu wasn’t the kind of person to be clueless. Hiding in the pile of debris, he paid close attention to his surroundings. Liu Yong’s steady and light footsteps indicated that he was definitely a master. The step Liu Yong took before striking was heavier and steadier than the previous steps. This abnormality made Xiao Yu’s heart tighten, and he jumped up almost immediately.

Xiao Yu’s violent movement caused his head to break through the lime bag and shatter the fire oil cans. Although he jumped up immediately, his leg was still affected by Liu Yong’s palm force, and he was drenched in a mixture of lime and fire oil.

“Don’t move!” Almost simultaneously, Liu Yong and Xiao Yu shouted the same sentence. The difference was that Xiao Yu was threatening, while Liu Yong was trying to stabilize the situation.

A little bit of lime made it impossible for Xiao Yu to open his eyes. The burning sensation in his eyes made him angry, but it didn’t scare him any more. After all, he had come prepared to die. For someone who was already prepared to die, this was nothing.

Xiao Yu threw off the blue-gray cloth that was entangling him and retreated weakly, dragging his injured leg. He estimated his current position and knew that he would be up against the wall of the hall after a few more steps. The sound of the wind had begun to fill his ears.

“Fire oil bombs!” Among those present, someone smelled the pungent odor, and many understood the current situation. Fire oil bombs, Dongping’s most powerful weapon, the weapon that terrified the enemy the most, was now threatening them. Although Xiao Yu’s hand was trembling, he resolutely lit the fire starter. A small but extremely dangerous spark danced on the fire starter in his hand.

What was even more dangerous was that Xiao Yu had accidentally kicked over the remaining fire oil cans when he jumped up, and the fire oil was flowing freely on the ground. Many of the officers present secretly lamented. What was even more terrifying than the fire oil bombs themselves was the deflagration of the fire oil. The fire oil evaporated very quickly, and when the concentration of fire oil vapor in the air reached a certain level, even the smallest spark could cause a violent explosion. This kind of scene, which was rare and unattainable on the battlefield, was very easy to occur in this semi-enclosed space.

“Chang Fengxing is on fire…” an official who had retreated to another window said softly.

“Probably from the same bunch as this madman,” it was surprisingly Tan Weixin’s voice that spoke, still calm and clear, as if she had no awareness that she could die at any moment from a violent deflagration.

Then came Ye Tao’s voice, “Yeah, probably. Xin’er, I didn’t expect the security here to be so bad. I thought there were no terrorists here.”

“Can they be considered terrorists? They’re clearly state terrorism. Ask around, they’re probably Western Ling’s little bastards.”

“Ah, if you’re going to make trouble, at least pick a good place. Look at this broken place, nothing’s finished. And even if it had to be here, at least wait for my people to put up the wallpaper and polish the floors, right? It’s very unseemly for people to die in a hall like this.” Ye Tao’s voice became even more teasing.

“Tch, you think we’re choosing a scene for a play?” Tan Weixin chuckled, “You should thank this guy. At least if people die, you don’t have to change the wallpaper and polish the floors. That’s all manual labor, and wallpaper isn’t cheap. By the way… hey, what’s your name?”

“Xiao Yu…” Xiao Yu answered subconsciously. The two people’s recklessness left him not knowing what to do. Target number one and target number two were such fearless people, so fearless that they could continue joking in the face of death. “Bastards, shut up! I’ll make you all die!”

Xiao Yu angrily waved the fire starter in his hand, but at the instant his hand was slightly raised, a powerful force swept over him, directly enveloping most of his body. The fire starter was extinguished, and Xiao Yu’s body was also pushed out heavily. His leg tripped in the air, and most of his body dangled over the windowsill.

After unleashing two powerful palms, Liu Yong immediately rushed forward, pulled Xiao Yu back from outside the window, and pinned him to the ground. The crowd in the hall had already heard the cries of alarm from below.

“Quick, use cloth and lime to absorb the fire oil and throw it into the fire basins in the hall. Cover it with sand,” Ye Tao quickly ordered. Everyone who was able to move immediately rushed forward in a flurry and did as Ye Tao instructed. There were eight fire basins in the hall, used for lighting at night, and a considerable amount of sand for extinguishing fires was prepared next to each basin.

Watching the dramatic and rapid unfolding of the scene from start to finish without any major mishap, Ye Tao curled his lips, tugged on Tan Weixin’s sleeve, and said, “No chance to demonstrate the fire escape, what a pity.”

“You have a fire escape here?” Tan Weixin asked in surprise.

“Of course,” hearing the surprise in Tan Weixin’s tone, Ye Tao wore a deeply hurt expression. He was, after all, a proper architect. This kind of thing was common sense. Although the fire escape’s capacity was limited due to materials and technology, it could guarantee that everyone above could be evacuated in about five minutes.

“The skyscraper demolition didn’t succeed,” Tan Weixin said with a smile, “How do you feel?”

“Great. I’m just glad it didn’t turn into a countdown to heaven. If this clock tower were to go down like that, it wouldn’t be very high, but it would still be quite a sight.”

Not many people understood the conversation between the two, but everyone completely understood why the two were so compatible. Perhaps the fact that both were equally crazy was a very important reason. Even the skilled and daring Liu Yong and the guards behind Tan Weixin were sweating profusely, but Tan Weixin and Ye Tao didn’t even change their expressions.

“Your Highness, I’ll send this man down first. Should today’s trial chime be… should it be postponed?” Liu Yong asked for instructions, but he was looking at Ye Tao.

“No need. Everything proceeds as normal,” Ye Tao said firmly, “Is it okay that Chang Fengxing caught fire?”

Liu Yong and the others present weren’t too worried about that. What they were afraid of was what would have happened if Xiao Yu had succeeded in setting the fire earlier. As for the matters on the ground, there were so many garrison soldiers, Blood Kirin soldiers, and the always united people of Danyang, the Western Ling people couldn’t make any waves.

Indeed, when the news of the fire at Chang Fengxing reached Nie Rui’s ears, he almost immediately ordered the blockade of the road leading from the construction site to Chang Fengxing, dispatched troops from nearby barracks to put out the fire, and tightened control of the scene, among other orders. The decisive Nie Rui immediately became a thorn in the side of the Western Ling spies who were carefully observing him.

Whoosh, whoosh – two short arrows shot from crossbows flew toward Nie Rui. With the sharp sound of the arrows, although the plan had been disrupted, the Western Ling spies on the ground began to act.

Unexpectedly, just a few feet from Nie Rui, two money dart hit the short arrows. A young man in gray martial attire jumped out from the crowd, shouting, “How dare you, Western Ling dogs!” and pounced on the two spies who had fired the short arrows and were still holding crossbows.

Even more unexpectedly, the young man had no chance to act. His shout had already alerted the surrounding crowd to the enemies’ locations. The surrounding people shouted, “Western Ling traitors!” “Kill the Western Ling traitors!” and swarmed forward. The location where the young man jumped from was quite far from the two Western Ling spies, and it took some effort to find a foothold in the crowd. Before he could rush to the front, the angry crowd had already beaten the two Western Ling spies to the ground, and not even a corner of their clothes could be seen.

The young man scratched his head awkwardly and jumped onto the eaves of a house on the second floor, overlooking the crowd and searching for deliberate actors. Some Dongping garrison soldiers nearby were pushing through the crowd, shouting, “Everyone, show mercy, don’t kill them, let us take them back for interrogation!” The whole scene looked so “the military and the people united as one,” yet it was so amusing.

Most of the other Western Ling spies in the vicinity saw that the situation was not good and began to quietly withdraw. Some who had already drawn their weapons and suddenly jumped out of the crowd were quickly suppressed. Although injuries to some civilians and soldiers were unavoidable, no one lost their lives.

At this time, Nie Rui smiled slightly and made a decision that no one expected. He jumped onto a pile of lumber and shouted loudly to the crowd, “Fellow citizens of Danyang, the Western Ling dogs have set fire to Chang Fengxing. Is there anyone willing to lend a hand to put out the fire?”

Some young and strong people immediately responded and squeezed out in that direction. Many others looked up at the clock tower with a reluctant expression. Yes, everyone had come to watch the clock tower’s trial chime. It would be a pity to leave at this time.

As if able to see through everyone’s thoughts, the four chiming bells rang at this time, half an hour ahead of schedule. The bells of the Danyang clock tower did not have the somber majesty of the Seven Seas Tower of Yicheng, but another tone, a noble and elegant tone. The four chiming bells, with the simplest of melodies, played a nine-note phrase, then repeated it twice, and then returned to silence.

A deafening cheer and applause erupted from the crowd… A storm was averted.

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ps: Continue to ask for monthly tickets, please encourage everyone~