flstandardbreds Chapter 161 Breaking the Shadow
Chapter 161 Breaking the Shadow
As the last drop of water dripped from the copper water clock in Chengtian Hall, Liu Shanzheng peeled the linen cloth soaked in medicinal juice off his shoulder.
The scabbed wounds glowed a dark red in the candlelight, and the veins on the back of Lü Ding's hand, holding the copper basin, bulged: "Brother, this poisoned dagger from the Shadow Sect is truly insidious. The imperial physician said it was just half an inch off..."
"Not even an inch could take Liu's life." Liu Shan threw the blood-stained cloth into the basin, the water splashing onto Lü Ding's armor and congealing into blood droplets. "Where is the secret report sent by Han Chengjia?"
Lü Ding quickly took out a secret letter from his bosom and handed it to Liu Shan: "General Han reports that there is unusual activity in the northern border, and it seems that enemy troops have infiltrated."
Liu Shan unfolded the secret letter, his brows furrowed, the candlelight illuminating his cold and stern face: "Send down the order to strengthen the guard at the North Gate and thoroughly investigate any suspicious persons."
At 3:45 AM, the dragon pillars of the Zichen Palace were still covered with night dew.
As Liu Shan, draped in a black cloak, knelt on one knee, Chu Lan, who was applying red ink with his brush, paused slightly.
"Are you leaving the capital?" came a question from behind the crown and tassels, the tone of which was difficult to discern.
"Seven of the Shadow Gate's spies in Longxi Road have been verified, and three of them match the accounts of the Grand Canal Administration." Liu Shan spread the map on the jade bricks, his fingertips tracing the mountains and rivers outlined in ink. "I request to lead five hundred elite Imperial Guards westward under the pretext of inspecting the river works."
Chu Lan suddenly stood up, her twelve black and gold-embroidered skirts sweeping across the winding Wei River on the map.
As she bent over, her dangling beads swayed gently, revealing the flickering candlelight in her eyes: "Fang Mingzhe submitted a memorial yesterday requesting to be discharged due to illness."
"Therefore, I must sever this poisonous claw before he recovers from his illness." Liu Shan's sword hummed softly in its sheath, the cloth strips wrapped around the hilt still stained with the blood of Gray Mist Mountain.
……
The official road of Longxi turned into a mud pit in the drizzling rain of late spring, and the mules and horses transporting grain often got their horseshoes stuck.
Lu Ding wiped the rain off his face, the bronze cauldron clattering against the carriage shaft: "This damn weather is like a funeral for those bastards."
Before the words were finished, crows suddenly took flight from the ancient locust tree by the roadside.
Crows flapped their wings, their dark shadows sweeping across the muddy official road.
The moment Liu Shan pressed his hand on the hilt of his sword, seventeen poisoned crossbow bolts pierced through the rain.
The imperial guards at the forefront couldn't raise their shields in time and screamed as they tumbled into the mud.
"Form a circular formation!" Liu Shan swung his sword, cleaving two crossbow bolts in two. The sweet, pungent smell of the arrows filled the air in the rain—the arrowheads were fed with snake venom from the Western Regions.
Lu Ding roared and swung the bronze cauldron, smashing the bushes three zhang away, sending branches flying everywhere, and more than ten dark figures soaring into the air.
The shadow assassin's scimitar wove a silver net in the rain, but Liu Shan suddenly sheathed his sword.
The pupils of the first few assassins shrank suddenly, and before they could change their moves, their throats were pierced by flying crossbow bolts.
The remaining assassins were startled by this reckless fighting style and faltered slightly, as the Imperial Guards' powerful crossbows had already blocked all their escape routes.
"Leave them alive!" Liu Shan's shout rang out simultaneously with the sound of the crossbow being pulled.
The last assassin to kneel suddenly grinned, and black blood gushed from his seven orifices—it was the poison sac from his shattered molars.
Lü Ding kicked the corpse over: "How many times is this?"
“The seventh time.” Liu Shan tore off the black scale pattern from the assassin’s sleeve, the mark of the Shadow Gate’s assassins. “Pass down the order: rest at the mortuary thirty miles away tonight.”
The cypress coffin in the mortuary creaked in the night wind, and Lü Ding squatted on the roof beam, chewing on a cold, hard sesame cake.
Suddenly, the paper money in the southeast corner moved on its own without any wind. The instant he released the bronze tripod, Liu Shan's blade flashed and cleaved the offering table in two.
Six dark figures emerged from the secret passage beneath the offering table. The one in the lead hooked Liu Shan's blade with two hooks and chuckled sinisterly, "Does Lord Liu truly intend to wipe us all out?"
As he spoke, ten bone-piercing nails flew out from his sleeve, but Liu Shan easily knocked them all down with a swing of his knife.
"I cannot accept such a welcoming ceremony from your esteemed family." Liu Shan flicked his wrist and turned his knife, the hooked blade sparking as it scraped against the blue bricks.
Lü Ding leaped down from the beam, and the bronze cauldron smashed the two men directly into the wall.
The remaining assassins, seeing the situation was dire, tried to retreat, only to find that all their escape routes were blocked by oil-soaked hemp ropes.
As the flames suddenly erupted, Liu Shan grabbed the heavily wounded hook-blade assassin and said, "Tell your sect leader that I will be waiting for him at Blackwater Ferry at noon three days from now."
After saying this, he threw the person out of the fire. As he turned around, he caught a glimpse of the engravings on the spirit tablet on the offering table—these were the secret codes left by Han Chengjia.
……
Deep within the Shadow Gate underground palace, the Mermaid Lamp casts the shadows of the arguing figures onto the basalt wall.
A hoarse voice came from behind the mask of the demon king with a blue face and fangs: "The one surnamed Liu has broken through seven branch strongholds in a row, and you still want to be cowards?"
"Do you think the Imperial Guards' crossbows are just for show?" The purple-robed elder gripped the iron clapper tightly. "Back then, Prince Kang..."
The iron gall suddenly exploded, and fragments embedded themselves between the old man's eyebrows.
The Ghost-Faced Sect Leader wiped his blood-stained fingers: "Anyone who mentions the former master again shall die."
He turned to look at the kneeling hook-blade assassin. "He said Blackwater Crossing in three days?"
"Yes...but I suspect something's fishy..."
"Let's play along."
The sect leader traced the bronze lampstand with his fingertip, revealing the hidden mechanism diagram inside. "Bury three hundred thunderbolts into the ferry crossing. I want the Blackwater River to be filled with the torn corpses of the Imperial Guards."
……
Before dawn on the third day, Heishui Ferry was already shrouded in thick fog.
Lu Ding lay prone in the reeds, muttering to himself, "How did Big Brother know they would have laid out defenses beforehand?"
“The Shadow Gate always operates three hours in advance.” Liu Shan released the last carrier pigeon. “Han Cheng’s family should have succeeded by now.”
As noon approached, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly echoed from the ferry crossing.
Twenty blindfolded warhorses, dragging burning hay, charged into the thick fog. In the instant the bowstrings twanged in the darkness, Liu Shan swung his sword and cut the ropes.
Merchant ships sailing downstream suddenly raised the banners of the Imperial Guards, and the roar of ballistae drowned out the boom of thunder and fireballs.
Amidst the earth-shaking tremors, Lü Ding swung the bronze cauldron and smashed open the collapsed hidden door.
The sect leader's pupils, hidden beneath his ghostly mask, suddenly contracted—the secret passage, which should have been filled with gunpowder, was now piled with account books seized by the Imperial Guards from various branch headquarters.
"Are you satisfied with Liu's gift?" Liu Shan's blade reflected the cracks in the ghost mask.
When the sect leader suddenly attacked, nine bone-piercing nails shot out from his sleeve, but they were knocked away by the bronze cauldron before they could touch Liu Shan.
Amidst Lü Ding's furious roar, five hundred imperial guards surged into the underground palace like a tidal wave.
Amidst the flashing swords and clashing blades, the Ghost Face Sect Master suffered a series of defeats.
The moment the demon mask shattered, Liu Shan's blade stopped at the face covered in burn scars: "What did Fang Mingli promise you? Thirty percent of the profits from the canal transport?"
"You will never..." The sect leader suddenly froze, black blood seeping from his ears, and he died from the poison.
As Liu Shan sheathed his sword, the final resistance of the underground palace crumbled into ruins with the sound of the main beam breaking.
……
On the day the good news arrived in Beijing, Chu Lan was pruning a crabapple tree in the Imperial Garden.
Wen Hangqing rushed over, holding a report: "Your Majesty, the Shadow Gate has... been destroyed."
"I know." She trimmed the last slanted branch, revealing the hidden twin flower buds. "Issue an edict to the Longxi Circuit, ordering Liu Shan to thoroughly investigate the Grand Canal Transport Office. Also, inform Fang Mingzhe..."
The scissors snapped shut, and the withered flower fell into the mud. "It's time to replace the river supervisor he recommended."
"Your Majesty is wise." Wen Hangqing bowed and accepted the order, secretly admiring Chu Lan's decisiveness.