Chapter 72
“WE HAVE TO GET BACK, quick!” Duan Ling urged the black-clad man. He moved to wrap his arms around the man’s neck, but the man put Duan Ling down and took his hand instead, leading him over another wall.
They didn’t get far before another ambush struck from the side: Two daggers sliced through the air, aimed at the man in black’s wrist. He reacted lightning fast, slashing his sword toward his assailant’s throat without loosening his grip on Duan Ling. One of the daggers struck the man in black’s wrist with a metallic clang, and their assailant dodged back, narrowly avoiding the blade that had come within inches of his throat.
Their assailant was another man wearing all black. Duan Ling was dumbfounded—who was this?
Duan Ling’s rescuer jumped down into a courtyard, and Duan Ling followed, casting a quick look around. As soon as the man let go of his hand, their assailant dashed over and grabbed Duan Ling’s arm, pulling him behind his back and taking a protective stance.
But the first man in black had no intention of leaving—he took a single retreating half step before stabbing toward them again. It seemed he intended to recapture Duan Ling, who stood briefly frozen, too shocked to speak. The second man shoved Duan Ling to the side—safely out of reach—and launched four darts across the courtyard that stopped the first man in his tracks.
Duan Ling took the chance to scamper off to the side, watching the two men in black exchange rapid blows. He couldn’t figure out who was who. Was the slightly taller one Wu Du? Abruptly, he recalled that Wu Du hadn’t taken his sword when he left—but just as this thought crossed his mind, the men collided fiercely once more, and their weapons were knocked from their hands. The daggers embedded themselves in a nearby pole, while the longsword flew into the bushes. The pair abandoned their weapons and threw themselves into hand-to-hand combat, fists and feet flying.
Oh no, thought Duan Ling. Now that the fight had become pure hand-to-hand, he had even less of an idea of who was who in the dark. In the blink of an eye, one of the black-clad men leapt to his feet and snatched the daggers from the pole, while the other somersaulted across the courtyard and retrieved the sword. The knife in the dagger-wielder’s left hand skimmed the pond’s surface, drawing ripples through the water and misting the air with fine droplets. When the dagger came level with his chest, he hooked his right-hand dagger over the top of it, crossing the blades before him.
Duan Ling cheered internally at this display; it was a technique Li Jianhong had once taught him called the Arc of Light, which used both palm and sword techniques. He’d never imagined it could be used for a double-dagger style.
There was no more doubt in his mind—the assassin with the daggers must be Wu Du!
The man slashed both hands downward at once with a power only the Guardian could’ve withstood. An arc of bright blade qi lashed through the air, glinting with the moonlight. The man with the sword leapt up, twisting his lean body in midair to parry the strike with his blade. Using his momentum to assist, he repelled the doubled blows of the qi and the daggers with four resounding clangs.
The dagger-wielder cried out, and from his voice, Duan Ling confirmed he was indeed Wu Du. But his Arc of Light was not fully dispersed; it slashed across the sword-wielder’s face, knocking away his mask.
Duan Ling’s breath hitched as it started to fall away.
Yet the sword-wielder didn’t linger; he caught his mask before it could fall and launched himself off the ground with a kick, disappearing over the courtyard’s wall.
At last, Wu Du removed his own mask and turned to Duan Ling with a look of abject confusion. “Who was that?”
Duan Ling, equally puzzled, shook his head.
Shouts rose from the adjoining courtyards—the guards had obviously run into the escaping assassin.
“Quick! Let’s go!” Duan Ling cried, grabbing Wu Du’s hand and dragging him back toward their room.
Catching Duan Ling’s intentions, Wu Du moved to pull a robe over himself to cover his stealth clothes. Duan Ling exclaimed, “No, strip!” and began swiftly peeling off Wu Du’s clothes.
“Boots too! Keep the dagger,” Duan Ling said.
Wu Du paused, but complied.
The pair ran out of the courtyard together in the same direction as the assassin. Duan Ling prayed the man hadn’t yet escaped into the night.
Meanwhile, Helian Bo’s subordinates, the Bian residence’s guards, and Helan Jie had pursued the assassin to the main hall’s courtyard, where the man leapt onto the wall and disappeared. Arriving in the nick of time, Wu Du—his upper body and feet bare, wearing only a pair of trousers—yelled, “Stop right there!”
Wu Du scaled the wall after him, but the assassin was already long gone. Duan Ling cheered internally: They’d been able to join the crowd at the last second—thank goodness!
Bian Lingbai gaped at the sight of Wu Du. When Helan Jie looked back, he, too, paused. Wu Du scanned the crowd and scoffed, affecting bafflement at the attention. “What a bunch of losers; you can’t even win against one assassin. In the end it was me, Master Wu, who scared him away.”
Duan Ling almost wanted to cover his face.
“Where…” Bian Lingbai began. “Wu Du, where were you earlier?”
“I was sleeping; can’t you tell?!” he snapped back.
Bian Lingbai turned his ire on Helan Jie, hollering, “What’s going on? That wasn’t Wu Du?!”
Right on cue, Duan Ling turned a befuddled gaze from Bian Lingbai to Helan Jie. “Where did that assassin come from?”
Bian Lingbai wore an expression of total puzzlement, while Helan Jie stared grimly back at Duan Ling and Wu Du.
A few minutes later, Bian Lingbai, Duan Ling, Wu Du, and Fei Hongde—walking with the support of a cane—convened in Bian Lingbai’s bedroom.
“Everything’s still here,” Bian Lingbai said. “What was the assassin after?”
Duan Ling pretended to examine the treasure map on the table, but as soon as Bian Lingbai looked down at it as well, he and Wu Du quickly scanned the layout of the room. Duan Ling cast his eyes over the shelves while Wu Du examined the floor. At last, Wu Du’s gaze fell on a single bluestone tile in the far corner.
“The reason I troubled Mister Fei this evening was to inquire about the location indicated on this treasure map,” Bian Lingbai said. “I’ve been sleepless with worry. If you’re well enough to travel, why don’t we set out to take a look at the place ourselves?”
Bian Lingbai was a little too impatient for Duan Ling’s tastes. Then again, delays led to complications; how could he not want to collect the treasure right away when he knew where it was? Still, Duan Ling couldn’t help but wonder if this new urgency had any connection with Helian Da’s plot.
“Certainly,” Fei Hongde replied. “It might have been by accident, but you’ve saved this old man’s life tonight, General.”
“What was the assassin after?” Duan Ling asked.
“He was interrogating my reasons for visiting Qin Ridge the other day,” Fei Hongde replied.