Niao Ni
Chapter 439: Kyoto, Have You Been Well?
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The assassin's head flipped backward, hanging only by that solitary, thin vertebra on his back, a bloody, disgusting cavity facing the clear blue sky after the snow had stopped.
Before he could catch his breath, Fan Xian yanked the long sword stuck in the snow, his feet tapping the ground, shrinking his body into a ball, retreating backward with incredible speed. After his body shrank into a ball, the area exposed to the air became smaller, and the grayish-white official robes of the Overwatch Council covered his entire body without a gap.
The sound of crossbows rang through the air, like the mournful sound of a Xihu iron zither, but all the bolts landed around Fan Xian. His movements were too fast, and even the rapid crossbows could not accurately strike him.
A few crossbow bolts did hit, but they could not penetrate his body.
Fan Xian swept to the top of the city-defense crossbow, channeling the remaining tyrannical True Qi in his body, and flipped it up with a backhand!
How much strength would this require?
The massive city crossbow tumbled in the air, smashing hard onto the two city crossbows next to it.
In that brief instant, Fan Xian flicked the tip of his sword with his backhand, hitting the spring of the crossbow in mid-air, which was already cocked to the most critical moment.
The Emperor's Sword, sent by Wang Qinian from afar, was indeed a rare and ultimate treasure in the world. Wherever the sword's edge passed, the spring snapped without reason.
The surrounding assassins panicked, roared, and rushed towards Fan Xian, but ignored the problem with the city-defense crossbow.
Creak, creak, a series of frightening sounds rang out from the top of the snowy mountain, and with three loud bangs, the city-defense crossbows smashed together, immediately changing direction. And one spring had already been cut by Fan Xian, and the metal crossbow bolt that had been charged for a long time finally shot out.
But it was not aimed at the valley, but at the ground.
The powerful recoil caused the massive city-defense crossbow to jump up, flipping up to half a person's height, directly pressing down on the group chasing Fan Xian.
Crushed, a bloody mess, with severed limbs and broken arms.
And the two city-defense crossbows that were hit could no longer control the string on the crossbow mechanism, and shot out with two whooshing sounds. The crossbow bolts had no direction at all, shooting out randomly!
Two sharp lights flashed, and one crossbow bolt hit an old, cold tree that had been growing for many years. How could the tree trunk withstand such a powerful force? The bark flew, and the hardwood split open like tofu, breaking a large hole in the middle, and then breaking from that hole, collapsing with a crash.
And the damage caused by the other crossbow bolt was even more astonishing, directly piercing through the bodies of three assassins, pinning them to the snow!
Blood flowed down the terrifying crossbow bolt onto the snow, and the three assassins who had been strung together were unable to die for a while, groaning incessantly.
The scene was in chaos for a time.
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Taking advantage of the chaos, Fan Xian once again hid in the snowy forest, lying on a tree branch, breathing heavily, while also being careful not to let the blood on his back fall from the snowy tree, alarming the assassins.
The enemy had crossbows in their hands. If another group of crossbowmen surrounded the heavily injured Fan Xian at this time, Fan Xian would not be confident that he could survive.
And his task had been completed. The density of crossbow bolts in the snowy forest had decreased significantly, and the deaths of the three leaders had made these ambushers feel cold and flustered. Without anyone to command, and without the suppression of those three city-defense crossbows, the pressure on the black carriages in the valley was greatly reduced.
Fan Xian lay on the tree trunk, listening to the movement in the opposite forest, knowing that Shadow had already disturbed the camp on that mountain peak before him. The ambushers' morale had been disrupted, and the assassins of the Overwatch Council's Sixth Bureau finally had their chance to shine.
The people of the Overwatch Council naturally knew where the opportunity lay, and without waiting for the leader to whistle an order, they had already rushed out of the carriages, pulled out the black iron spikes beside them, dodged the now sparse rain of crossbow bolts, and silently and angrily sneaked into the forest.
They had already put on their black official robes inside out in the carriages, and like grayish-white ghosts, they entered the snowy forest and began to assassinate any living thing in the snowy forest at any cost, relying on their skills and resentment.
A long-planned ambush with crossbows had finally turned into a close-quarters assassination battle in the forest under the desperate attacks of Fan Xian and Shadow.
In this world, no one is more skilled at assassination than the assassins of the Overwatch Council's Sixth Bureau.
Even the most powerful Qing Kingdom army is no match for the Sixth Bureau in the dense forest, in close-quarters assassination battles.
Listening to the eerie silence in the snowy forest, listening to the occasional sound of crossbows, the occasional sound of breaking snow, the occasional sound of iron spikes entering the abdomen, the occasional sound of screams...
Fan Xian knew that his subordinates had already gained an absolute advantage, and the retaliatory massacre was proceeding in an orderly manner. The two hundred crossbowmen who ambushed the Overwatch Council would no longer have a chance to survive after causing heavy casualties to the Overwatch Council.
The tension in his heart finally relaxed.
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There were no survivors, just as Fan Xian had predicted. The swordsmen of the Sixth Bureau were extremely ruthless, leaving no one alive. Of course, this was not only because the Sixth Bureau was ruthless. When the battle was about to end, the remaining twenty or so crossbowmen committed suicide in a very uniform manner.
Fan Xian stood on the snow, coldly watching the twenty or so corpses on the ground, looking at the faces of these corpses, and found that there was no sorrow or fear on their faces, only firmness and loyalty.
The Qing Kingdom's army...is indeed the most powerful force in the world. Such discipline and strength, if placed on the battlefield, what a terrifying force it would be.
And of the thirty or so Overwatch Council officials on the black carriages in the valley today, only about twenty were able to enter the snowy forest alive. And these twenty people had assassinated more than a hundred crossbowmen.
In the mountain forests on both sides of the snowy valley, behind those dark stones and under the trees, there should still be many corpses whose blood had already been frozen.
Fan Xian's mind was agitated, he coughed twice, coughing up some blood, slowly turned around, and looked at the bloody figure on the ground.
This person was covered in blood, one of his eyeballs had been pierced by a dagger, looking as ugly as a deflated wineskin. Both of his arms had been neatly cut off, his left hand had a bloody hole, and his right hand had been destroyed into broken wood by tyrannical True Qi.
This was one of the three experts from before, the one who had attacked Fan Xian from behind, and had desperately hugged Fan Xian as he was dying. He never expected that he would become the only survivor among the assassins.
Fan Xian walked to this person's side, slowly raised his foot, stepped on this person's face, stepped on it twice, and woke him up.
The bloody figure slowly woke up, his lifeless eyes scanned around, saw the Overwatch Council's secret agents around Fan Xian and the corpses of his brothers scattered in the forest, felt a pang of grief, and then became resolute again. A look of pleading suddenly shot out from his eyes, and he endured the pain to say with a trembling voice: "Sir, please don't kill me, I'm willing to do anything..."
The "willing" was a closed-mouth sound.
Fan Xian acted as fast as lightning, inserted his fingers into this person's mouth, and with a strong twist, a section of this person's chin was twisted off in a bloody mess, and could no longer be closed, with several teeth falling out.
Fan Xian reached out and wiped the blood off his hands in the snow beside him, and said: "Don't think about committing suicide, you are still useful to me... Now that you have no hands and can't close your mouth, how can you die for loyalty?"
"Stop the bleeding for him, keep him alive."
Fan Xian instructed his subordinates beside him, and then slowly walked towards the snowy valley below the mountain, coughing up blood along the way, with blood gradually flowing down his back.
Hong Changqing followed behind him, wanting to help him, but was stubbornly brushed away by him.
Hong Changqing was lucky. He did not die under the rain of crossbow bolts today, and only suffered minor injuries to his left arm.
But the rest of the Overwatch Council did not have such good luck. Of the thirty or so confidants who followed Fan Xian back to the capital, nearly half died, and those who were alive were all injured and weak.
They continued to walk towards the mountain valley, and the Overwatch Council officials along the way bowed slightly to pay their respects. This was a respect for the Director that came from the heart. Everyone knew that without the Director's desperate secret attack, everyone in the Overwatch Council would have died in this valley today.
The Overwatch Council officials gradually gathered behind Fan Xian, dragging the only survivor, and returned to the valley, beside those broken carriages.
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Fan Xian squatted beside his overturned carriage, fiddling with the broken carriage shaft with his fingers, occasionally glancing at the dead coachman in the carriage, his face calm, not knowing what he was thinking, and refusing the Overwatch Council subordinates' request to treat his injuries.
Why? Why all of this?
The corpses of the state soldiers all over the valley, which force had the audacity to ambush him in a valley so close to the capital? Who had the strength to mobilize so many military experts, and even brought over the city-defense crossbows!
The city-defense crossbows were the second point of doubt in this assassination. The assassins needed time to install the crossbows, and it required a lot of commotion. Why didn't the Kyoto Garrison, which was responsible for the security of the four fields around Kyoto, notice anything?
And what made Fan Xian feel the coldest was, why could the other party calculate his time of returning to the capital so accurately? From Yingzhou to Weizhou, he deliberately set up a false trail, let the Jiangnan Water Camp release false rumors, and then went straight... If they wanted to assassinate him, these troops would not dare to ambush near Kyoto for too long, so how could they have timed it so accurately?
What was even more terrifying was that although it was close to Kyoto, Fan Xian asked himself that he had not relaxed his vigilance. He had sent out scouts three miles away, so why was the initial report from the scouts that everything was normal? Didn't the scout notice the anomaly in the valley? Until Shadow gave a warning in advance...
Countless questions surged into Fan Xian's mind, especially one aspect of the questions, which made him feel cold all over.
Today's situation was completely different from the situation in the Hanging Temple.
Today's situation was a death trap. The other party had used such powerful forces and meticulous preparations, without a doubt, to kill him. If it was Princess Royal who instructed Yan Xiaoyi to take action, then there must have been a major change in Kyoto, and the other party would be so unscrupulous and dare to despise the Emperor so much... But, if Kyoto was really in chaos, even if the palace couldn't send out news, what about you?
Fan Xian thought darkly, what about you? Even if everyone in the world was frozen, you... would definitely have a way to notify me.
This was a contradictory proposition. If Kyoto was not in great chaos, then it could not be explained why Princess Royal and Yan Xiaoyi dared to... do such a big thing. And if Kyoto was really in chaos, why didn't he receive a warning?
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"My Lord, it's time to make a decision." A member of the Qinian Squad, with a face full of dried blood, whispered in Fan Xian's ear. The people of the Qinian Squad had been following Fan Xian for the longest time, so they spoke more directly. This person said in a deep voice: "Should we retreat to Weizhou and contact Kyoto first, or enter Kyoto directly?"
Fan Xian was silent, looked at his subordinates around him who were not lightly injured, and knew that he had to make a decision immediately.
If Kyoto was really in great chaos, it would be suicide for his group to return to the capital.
He was silent for a long time, then suddenly raised his head, looked at the Kyoto city walls faintly visible outside the valley, and said coldly and forcefully: "Send a signal flare."
"Yes."
A signal rocket shot into the sky from the snowy valley, carrying a sharp whistle, carrying dazzling light, covering up the snowy day and dim sun.
This was the Overwatch Council's level one danger rescue signal, which was used by the entire Qing Kingdom military and the Overwatch Council system. So Fan Xian was not sure whether it was the military or the Overwatch Council who would come to the valley to respond to him.
He hoped it was the former.
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He did not know how long had passed when a rapid, torrential sound of hooves came from outside the valley, with horses neighing. In the blink of an eye, a team of about two hundred cavalrymen drove into the valley. These cavalrymen were dressed in bright armor, with swords and spears at their sides, looking solemn and full of killing intent, but they did not even have time to raise their flags.
But in Fan Xian's eyes, not raising the flags was even more strange. At this moment, after just experiencing a bloody assassination, he did not trust anyone.
The leader was a middle-aged man of about thirty years old, with a solemn face and a short beard fluttering under his jaw, with a sword at his waist, but his expression was solemn with a few traces of incomprehension.
When he saw the corpses of men and horses all over the mountain valley, and those overturned carriages everywhere, and the crossbow bolts deep in the cracks in the rocks, in addition to incomprehension, the general's solemn expression showed infinite shock and hidden anger.
The general raised his right fist and waved it upward, shouting loudly: "Prepare for battle."
The two hundred cavalrymen behind him immediately became alert, watching everything in the valley.
The man drove into the valley with a gloomy face, drove directly to Fan Xian who was sitting beside the carriage, flipped off the horse with extreme grace, held a long sword, and asked in a deep voice: "Are you alright?"
Fan Xian coughed twice and looked at him and said, "What do you think?"
"Who did this?" The general said through gritted teeth, his face full of murderous intent.
Fan Xian lowered his head, then suddenly opened his mouth and said: "I didn't expect that it would be you who came... Doesn't the Kyoto Garrison have other generals? It actually alarmed you, the Chief Commander, to come and rescue people."
The person who came was Qin Heng, the second son of the Qin family, the current Kyoto Garrison Commander, the most popular military figure in the court.
Seeing that Fan Xian was alive and could still speak, Qin Heng knew that the enemies must have been cleared, and only then did he feel relieved. He sighed and said: "The Overwatch Council's level one rescue order, everyone in Kyoto knows that you are coming back soon, of course, they guessed it was you... I was so scared that I was about to die, how could I not come?"
He lowered his voice and laughed self-deprecatingly: "If you died, I don't know how many people in our Kyoto Garrison would have to be buried with you."
In fact, at the moment when he saw Qin Heng entering the valley, Fan Xian relaxed. Since the Qin family still controlled the power of the Kyoto Garrison, it meant that the Emperor was still in control of the Kyoto army, and there should be no chaos in Kyoto.
But he still asked: "Is Kyoto alright?"
Qin Heng understood what he was worried about, shook his head and said: "Peaceful."
Fan Xian lowered his head and said: "Then...it's really strange."
Qin Heng also understood his words. If Kyoto was peaceful... who would dare to risk the Emperor's great anger to assassinate a royal offspring?
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Fan Xian briefly recounted what happened today to Qin Heng. Qin Heng listened with incomparable shock and fear, frowned and said: "These people really have wolfish ambitions that will never die."
Fan Xian suddenly looked at him and asked: "You are in charge of the Kyoto Garrison. Such a powerful army is buried in this valley so close to Kyoto... How do you explain it?"
"There is no explanation." Qin Heng said directly: "This is our problem."
Fan Xian nodded.
Qin Heng said: "Let's go back, your injuries need to be treated." He then sighed: "These people are really ruthless, are all your subordinates dead?"
"No." Fan Xian coughed twice and said with a smile: "My subordinates are all waiting for you."
More than a dozen Overwatch Council secret agents slowly walked out of the forests on both sides of the snowy valley, all holding hand crossbows, calmly and coldly facing Qin Heng and the Kyoto Garrison troops in the valley who were responsible for cleaning up the corpses.
Qin Heng's expression changed slightly and said: "What? Don't you trust me?"
"Who do you think I can trust now?" Fan Xian laughed mockingly: "Don't forget, I almost became a ghost earlier."
Qin Heng silently shook his head and said helplessly: "If you think that pointing these small crossbows at me can make you feel more at ease, then do it." He then frowned and said: "Otherwise, I will accompany you back to the capital first, you may feel safer, and the cleanup work in this valley will be handed over to the Kyoto Garrison. This is our job anyway."
This successor of the Qin family said calmly and earnestly: "If it is really as you said, that military forces are involved in this matter, believe me, our old Qin family will definitely help you get justice."
Fan Xian shook his head and said: "No need, let's go together, I want to keep these corpses."
Qin Heng knew what kind of anger was hidden under Fan Xian's calm face, nodded, and looked at the assassin who was still lingering but had not yet died under Fan Xian's feet, and asked: "What about this survivor? I'm afraid His Majesty will personally interrogate him."
Fan Xian said expressionlessly: "All the dead people in this valley are mine, and the living people are also mine."
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The corpses of the state soldiers could not be taken care of for the time being, and only the officials of the Overwatch Council who died in the line of duty were carried out, and the corpses of the assassins who died in the ambush were also gathered together from the forests on both sides.
Fan Xian looked at the cold bodies of his subordinates, slightly tilted his head, looked at the corpses of the ambushers again, and said softly: "The remains of our own brothers must be taken care of, as for these people...what's the use of dragging so many corpses? Chop off their heads and take them back to the capital."
Hong Changqing loudly took the order from the side.
Qin Heng frowned slightly as he watched this scene from the side. If there were no accidents, these corpses were also good men of the army. Although they had become murderers of the imperial envoy due to the infighting in the court, it was natural that their death was not a pity, but Fan Xian's humiliation of the corpses seemed to make this young and promising general of the army feel a little uncomfortable.
Fan Xian completely ignored Qin Heng's feelings and watched his subordinates chopping off heads there with a hint of teasing expression.
When everything was cleaned up, the remaining blood, corpses, horse corpses and broken cars in the valley would naturally be handled by the follow-up personnel of the imperial court.
Half of the two hundred Kyoto Garrison cavalrymen dismounted and carefully helped the remains of the Overwatch Council officials onto the horses, and at the same time, they let the injured Overwatch Council officials sit on the horses.
This was all Qin Heng's decision. He knew that at this moment, he had to do everything possible to appease Fan Xian's anger and the Overwatch Council's anger.
The Overwatch Council and the military had always had close relations and a long friendship, but due to this battle in the small mountain valley, there would inevitably be a wound that would be forever difficult to heal.
After Fan Xian also got on his horse, Qin Heng flipped onto his horse and said calmly beside him: "Have you ever thought about it, if it is really the military who wants to harm you...I can completely kill all of you at this time."
At this time, the Overwatch Council officials had put away their crossbows and were all seriously injured after the catastrophe. Qin Heng had two hundred cavalrymen, so he did have the confidence to say this.
But Fan Xian didn't even look at him.
Behind him, were the horses carrying the remains of the Overwatch Council officials, and suddenly a corpse on a horse jumped up!
The corpse swept across the distance between three horses like a ghost, and floated lightly behind Qin Heng, sitting on his horse, close to his chest and back, so intimately...like his shadow.
Qin Heng was shocked, but the long sword at his waist only had time to be half drawn, and he found that the person behind him gently breathed a sigh of relief on the back of his neck - very cold.
Qin Heng knew that he was caught off guard and restrained. With the incomparably terrifying skill of the person behind him, if the other party wanted to kill him in this situation, even if Grandmaster Ye Liuyun came, it would be impossible to save him.
The Shadow behind him was dressed as a very ordinary secret agent, wearing a gray and white coat, his head drooping, as if he was dozing off.
Qin Heng was silent, sheathed his sword, and glanced at Fan Xian. Fan Xian did not look at him, but narrowed his eyes and looked at the distant Kyoto.