Hidden Shadow – CH 179

Chapter One-Hundred-Seventy-Nine: A Close Call (1)

In the dark alleys of the small town, the Konghe Army was assassinating their fifteenth target.

Chu Dingjiang chose the route closest to the armory. To avoid being surrounded there, he had to assassinate as many as possible along the way. But now the armory was right in front of them, and too much time had passed; they could no longer act in batches.

Suddenly, the sound of a zither arose in the distance, its intensity fluctuating in the wind. The assassins of Piaomiao Mountain Mansion were startled awake.

Chu Dingjiang sensed dozens of people rapidly approaching from the south. Soon after, Sui Yuntong also noticed, but unlike Chu Dingjiang, he was not as composed and whispered a warning, “My Lord, someone’s approaching.”

“Go straight down this alley, and you will reach the armory of Piaomiao Mountain Mansion. There are extremely powerful crossbows there; that’s your target,” Chu Dingjiang said quickly. “Around the armory are nine eighth-level experts. Second Young Lady Lou and I will handle them. The rest of you, find a way to sneak in and retrieve the weapons as quickly as possible! Fourteenth Young Lady recognizes those weapons. This is an internal diagram drawn by Lord Gu; it might not be accurate, just for reference.”

Everyone had seen this diagram before and roughly knew its contents. Chu Dingjiang tossed the diagram to An Jiu without hesitation.

Chu Dingjiang had once secretly infiltrated this place. After scouting the exterior, Gu Jinghong had drawn an internal diagram based on the building’s structure and marked all possible locations for hidden weapons.

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This was purely a battle of wits between Gu Jinghong and Wei Yuzhi; the outcome was still uncertain. Everyone received the order and slipped into the alley, leaving only Lou Mingyue and Chu Dingjiang.

The two quickly infiltrated a nearby residence.

“Let this old man see who dares to be so audacious!” an old man said coldly from under the eaves.

Chu Dingjiang did not waste any words. Like a ghost, he attacked in the opposite direction, reaching the eaves. A flash of cold light appeared in his hand; his longsword was unsheathed, and he himself became a giant sword. With a single strike, the roof tiles creaked loudly.

A figure fell from the beam.

Chu Dingjiang struck the old man’s skull without hesitation.

The old man’s eyes widened, his pupils reflecting a tall figure, and he breathed his last.

Lou Mingyue’s breathing quickened. This was the first time she had seen Chu Dingjiang fight, and it had deeply shocked her! There were no earth-shattering feats, no fancy moves; he had simply and easily killed a master! The old man was nearing the ninth level, and Lou Mingyue could sense a strength comparable to her own from him. Yet, he was utterly vulnerable before someone at the Transcendent Realm!

Before this moment, Lou Mingyue, as one of the best among her peers, was somewhat arrogant, believing that killing Yelu Huangwu was not impossible for her. However, now she realized how narrow-minded she had been.

Transcendent Realm…

“Go!” Chu Dingjiang said, “Go and fight; learn through battle.”

“Yes!” Lou Mingyue tried to calm her turbulent emotions and split up with Chu Dingjiang to intercept the other experts guarding the armory.

Chu Dingjiang had Lou Mingyue stop a mid-eighth-level martial artist. His skill was slightly lower than Lou Mingyue’s, but he was an experienced assassin, far superior to her.

Meanwhile, An Jiu and the others, heading straight for the armory, encountered resistance upon entering the courtyard.

Two ninth-level experts. One was a slightly plump middle-aged woman dressed in coarse cloth, and the other was a hunchbacked old man.

Their highest-ranking fighters were only two at the eighth level.

An Jiu immediately recognized the hunchback as the informant sent to the Liu family teahouse to retrieve the message.

“He’s got some nerve!” The hunchbacked old man raised his hand to grab Sui Yuntong, who was closest to him.

Sui Yuntong’s martial arts were barely at the sixth level, and he had not fully recovered from the mental attack An Jiu had delivered. Now, under the old man’s oppressive aura, she was completely immobilized.

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Li Qingzhi, standing beside him, swung his sword to block, and the hunchbacked old man’s hand collided with the heavy blade. A metallic clang rang out.

The hunchbacked old man’s withered fingers twitched, firmly gripping his spine. The two were locked in a stalemate; veins bulged on Li Qingzhi’s body, and the force emanating from his arm tore his sleeve apart. At the same time, the middle-aged woman also closed in.

An Jiu drew her bow, aiming at the hunchbacked old man’s throat.

In the stalemate between the hunchbacked old man and Li Qingzhi, the old man held the upper hand. He could retreat at any time; otherwise, An Jiu would have used a real arrow directly.

The hunchbacked old man caught An Jiu’s movements out of the corner of his eye. Although he did not know what she was up to, he clearly sensed the dangerous aura emanating from her. He was an experienced assassin, and at the first sign of trouble, he immediately released his grip.

An Jiu slightly shifted her aim and released her grip with two fingers.

She underestimated the old man’s speed; the arrow grazed past him.

Even so, the hunchbacked old man felt the pressure. His eyes narrowed, and his gaze towards An Jiu was filled with horror. There was once a mad martial arts fanatic in Piaomiao Mountain Mansion who could condense his inner force into arrows from an empty bow to injure people. The power was so great that even the explosive crossbows personally made by the Second Master of the mansion could not match it. And this young woman’s arrow had a similar effect! The invisible arrow carried a chilling pressure.

Taking advantage of his momentary lapse in concentration, An Jiu drew her bow and fired two arrows in quick succession. This time, one hit its mark, causing the hunchbacked old man to stiffen. The others immediately swarmed forward.

An Jiu’s arrow was already nocked, but she struggled to aim.

In the past, An Jiu’s close-quarters combat skills were not weak, but in this place filled with martial arts and internal energy, her abilities were at a disadvantage. Therefore, she would not choose to charge in unless absolutely necessary.

Amidst the chaotic battle, An Jiu avoided the crowd and went alone to the armory door.

She stood to the side of the door and kicked it open.

There was no movement inside.

An Jiu was deeply impressed by the blue-light crossbows; their power made her very covetous. She believed that this strategically important place could not be so poorly guarded.

She drew an ordinary arrow, nocked it, and fired it towards the door.

Immediately, the sound of wood rubbing together came from inside, followed by the whooshing sound of countless arrows being fired.

Thump thump thump thump…

The arrows struck somewhere unknown.

An Jiu’s heart sank. Wei Yuzhi was so skilled in setting up formations and constructing weapons; if she rashly rushed in, her life would be in grave danger.

Thinking this, she raised her hand and released two more arrows. This time, An Jiu listened carefully. First, there were two loud thumps—her two arrows had struck a certain spot—before the rain of arrows followed. This meant that the mechanism could not stop the arrows at such speed.

The map Sang Nu had given her highlighted the armory, but since he did not have the trust and favor of Wei Chuzhi and Wei Yuzhi, he could not understand its internal structure. It had already taken him considerable effort to roughly mark the type of crossbow placed in the southeast corner.

In the southeast corner…

Seeing the fierce battle raging in the courtyard, An Jiu quietly slipped around it.