By the time Duan Ling sensed the hook it was too late. The instant he opened his mouth to scream, the hook tightened around his neck, killing his cry in his throat. He was dragged backward down the tunnel in a blur, the chamber’s ceiling rapidly receding from view as he and his attacker burst onto the platform.
This development had come too suddenly; Helian Bo let out an angry bellow, alerting the guards to the danger in their midst. Yet even as he raised a hand to signal the archers, Helan Jie lifted Duan Ling in front of him as a shield. No one dared fire.
Grasping Duan Ling in his damaged left hand, Helan Jie hopped from dowel to dowel, fleeing via the pathway Duan Ling had taken the first time he’d entered the cave. Unable to catch up with him, Helian Bo whistled to signal the sentries and alert the men outside the cave’s entrance.
How can he be here?! was Duan Ling’s first panicked thought.
The whole plan’s ruined! was his second.
The moment Helan Jie stole out of the cave’s entrance, a soldier yelled, “Who goes there?!”
Helan Jie punched Duan Ling in the gut and tapped an acupoint; Duan Ling’s vision instantly went dark, his body limp and unable to struggle. Spinning, the assassin shouldered the soldier aside so hard he smashed the man’s head against the cave, cracking his skull. A volley of arrows followed; Bian Lingbai’s soldiers, guarding the cave’s entrance, had no qualms about taking Duan Ling’s life. Fortunately, Helan Jie was quick to make his escape. He dove into the woods and leapt across the wide stream, stumbling only slightly as he disappeared into the twilight with Duan Ling in tow.
Slack in Helan Jie’s hold, Duan Ling knocked into trees and boulders as Helan Jie scaled the mountain, climbing until they reached a perilous peak near the end of the mountain road. Just before the summit was a towering outcrop, home to a lone pine tree that leaned out over the drop. Helan Jie whipped out a rope and bound Duan Ling’s wrists, then threw Duan Ling out over the cliff. A million miles of vast sky filled Duan Ling’s field of vision; if Helan Jie let go of the rope, Duan Ling would plunge to a gory death.
But he didn’t fall. Helan Jie secured the other end of the rope to the furthest branch of the leaning pine. Dangling in midair with his hands bound, Duan Ling swung suspended between the sky above and the earth below.
As he hung there, panting, the world seemed to fall silent around him. The rope tethering him to the pine tree spun slowly, twirling him around until he was sick.
“A surprising catch,” Helan Jie cackled, pulling down his mask. His face was pockmarked and covered in scars. When he smiled, the sight was as terrifying as any ghost in the night. An owl hooted nearby.
Duan Ling shouted as he struggled, “Why… Why were you even there? Let me go!”
Helan Jie stared at Duan Ling with unblinking eyes. “I was lying in wait for my enemy. But I caught you instead. Lucky me.”
Still gasping for breath, Duan Ling asked, “How long were you waiting in that cave?”
“I just got there.”
“But who were you trying to catch? What do you have against Wu Du?!” Duan Ling found himself growling.
“Ah—Wu Du. I forgot about him,” Helan Jie muttered. “Who are you?”
Duan Ling stared at Helan Jie, who stared right back. With an apelike agility, Helan Jie leapt onto the pine tree, causing it to dip perilously. Duan Ling bit down on a scream.
Standing atop the branch, Helan Jie flashed his iron hook at Duan Ling. “You know the Nameless Assassin? I’ll make him pay for the loss of my hand.”
“Who?” Duan Ling said with a frown. He’d never heard of any Nameless Assassin. No matter how he racked his brain, he couldn’t understand why Helan Jie had appeared inside the treasure cave.
Helan Jie snorted, settling cross-legged on the branch. Straining under their weight, the tree bent in a creaking arc. Duan Ling cast his eyes up to the twinkling stars above. This man had murdered his father, and now he was about to kill him too. Beneath this wide and empty sky, could he still say, May heaven bless our Great Chen?
Wu Du was surely galloping toward him even now—but whether Helan Jie’s enemy showed up or not, this madman wouldn’t spare Duan Ling’s life.
“What’s the use of taking me hostage?” Duan Ling asked. “I don’t know any Nameless Assassin.”
Helan Jie sneered down at him. “Stop lying. You think I don’t know? The bandits Helian Da sent—it was the Nameless Assassin who killed their sentry in the woods that day. He saved your life. How could there be nothing between you?”
“What?” Duan Ling’s brows knitted.
“Sneaking into the general’s residence at night for an assassination attempt must’ve been for you too. It took a lot for me to find his trail, but who would have thought: His hiding place was the same treasure cave Bian Lingbai’s been looking for.”
Duan Ling didn’t know what to say.
“I worried that if Bian Lingbai came here, he’d scare him off—but with so much gold here, there’s no way the Nameless Assassin wouldn’t return… Who would’ve thought that, after waiting for days, it would be you who showed up instead!”
“He probably just wanted whatever was in that hole in the wall,” Duan Ling said. “Save your energy; he’s long gone. Why wait around here for him?”
“We’ll see about that,” Helan Jie said. “If he doesn’t show soon, you’re dead.”
“Well, at least send him a message,” Duan Ling snapped back. “I’d like to be saved. There is no grievance between us; I’d rather not die for no reason.”
Helan Jie sneered again. “There are plenty of people out there I’ve got no grievance with, yet I’ve taken eight thousand lives, if not ten. What’s one more? I can wait until dawn to chase him to the ends of the earth and kill him—after you die, that is.”