Chapter 42: Cold Alley Ambush

  Traversing the northern desert and western cool snow, a million soldiers and horses pay homage to Yan Shang.

  In the 267th year of the Guangming calendar, people all over the world remembered that grand feast in Shu, South Chu, on the edge of the mainland. Since the division of Great Qin a hundred years ago, this was the first gathering of leaders from various countries in many years. In the prosperous capital of Chu, which had a rich cultural history of over a thousand years, the rulers of the chaotic world put their still immature hands together for the first time and laughed loudly, vowing to end the chaos and bring peace to the people. However, behind the scenes, they were deploying troops, secretly investigating, and sharpening the blades of their soldiers in the dark of night, waiting for the day when they would drink blood on the battlefield.

  At this time, inside the prosperous capital of Southern Chu, black-clad scouts were coming and going in a flurry, and the eerie atmosphere of night filled every corner. The already tense Southern Chu border became even more so, with sentries posted at every ten paces and guards at every hundred paces. To try to slip out of the city gates unnoticed was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

  Qing Xia hid in the dark shadows of the imperial city, wearing a black tight-fitting outfit, her face covered with a black cloth, a hook and lock at her waist, soft boots on her feet, like a spirit of the dark night, her eyes shining with an enticing light in the darkness.

  It's too late to escape now, and in just five days, such a huge change has occurred. This makes Qing Xia involuntarily resent this so-called enthronement ceremony for disrupting all her plans.

  Four days ago, General Xikou Guozhen suddenly arrived in South Chu with a large number of imperial guards to congratulate Chuli on his ascension to the throne. He was accommodated at the Ganquan Palace in South Chu. To ensure the safety of the distinguished guest, Chuli strengthened the defense of Shengdu and even transferred all the outer city troops back to the headquarters of the General's camp. Qingxia received the notification when it was already too late, and had no choice but to return to Shengdu with a large group of people, once again entering this huge cage.

  What happened next was even more beyond Qing Xia's expectation.

  I didn't expect the Wang Taigong of the Imperial Secretariat to be so muddle-headed. Not only did he fail to keep an eye on the documents in the Imperial Secretariat, but also, instead of secretly investigating and supplementing what Qing Xia wanted to know, this old man actually copied out a list of personnel from the Green Battalion based on the existing military organization. What's most detestable is that he even included Qing Xia in it, and fabricated a detailed family background for her, with all eight generations of ancestors having a clear origin. It made Qing Xia almost believe that her name, Xia Qing, wasn't randomly concocted, but actually referred to a real person.

  Wang Ling Taigong, in order to avoid staining his official career before retirement, forged a name list and gave Qing Xia an official identity. Chu Li was going to hold a grand ceremony for the selection of talents one month later. Thus, Qing Xia, the abandoned concubine who escaped from the cold palace, unexpectedly became Chu Li's personal bodyguard by mistake, and received the black guard's letter patent, becoming the highest-ranking soldier in the empire.

  It's getting harder to get out of this situation. But that's still not enough to trap Qing Xia in this small space. It wasn't until Qi An appeared that Qing Xia truly realized something was wrong.

  After the southern vassal states of Nan Chu, another of the four major empires on the Chinese mainland, Qi Guo, also sent an envoy to Nan Chu. These two countries, which had been entangled in a complicated relationship for many years, met on the main street of Chu Guo's capital city in a strange and unexpected way. The citizens of Chu Guo stood angrily on both sides of the road, staring at the ruler of this powerful country that had fought against Chu Guo for many years, their eyes almost spewing fire.

  Looking at Chu Li and Qi An, they seemed like old friends who hadn't seen each other in years, chatting warmly and walking side by side. Only occasionally, a glimpse of underlying undercurrents could be seen in the exchange of their glances.

  After Zhi'an entered the Taihe Palace, the city defense of Shengdu became tenser by several dozen times. Not only did the national military intervene, but even local martial arts halls and ordinary civilians spontaneously paid attention to suspicious strangers. The guards at the four city gates increased by more than three times, with hidden sentries monitoring every corner and listening with copper pipes. Even the outside post roads, inns, stables, and mountain paths were all guarded, making it even harder to escape than climbing to heaven.

  Qing Xia naturally didn't want to be trapped in the city like this, and besides, staying in the military camp for a long time wasn't a solution either. She and Yang Feng were still the lowest-ranking black-clad guards, only responsible for defending the outer city, but it was hard to guarantee that they wouldn't be discovered by Chu Li one day. As for this man, she had always been extremely cautious, afraid of revealing even a hint of her true intentions and being caught by him.

  Hiding in the shadows, holding a roll of cloth, Qing Xia was like a lynx cat, shrinking into a corner, her sharp eyes observing all around. From time to time, she would draw something on the injured cloth, and as time slowly passed, after about three hours, the patrol distribution at the East City Gate had been roughly drawn out. Qing Xia turned her head back, looking in the direction she came from, and saw that two burly men who seemed drunk were still standing outside the wine shop. But from their eyes, Qing Xia could tell how sober they were right now.

  With a swift swing of the hook on his hand, he silently and steadily hung himself from the big tree. Qing Xia grabbed the rope and climbed up with agility like a monkey, hiding himself among the leaves in no time.

  The legendary lightness she had never seen, but with the right tools and agile hands, she could do just that. In the darkness, only a dark shadow could be seen flying over the eaves of each household, disappearing in an instant at the end of Zhuque Street.

  Qing Xia bent down and hugged a huge pillar, spinning around it once before landing steadily on the ground.

  This was a quiet and secluded alley, empty of people, passing through two streets, which was Qing Xia's current destination - the Junji Barracks. However, those two streets were lined with blades and filled with the smell of gunpowder. It wasn't worth getting involved, so Qing Xia looked at the black high wall at the end of the alley and thought to herself that it seemed she could only take this path back to the barracks.

  Inside the high walls was the Nan Chu Great Prison, where Qing An had once been held. The prison had long since been abandoned and only a few idle soldiers were left to guard it. Due to the tense situation in Sheng Du, all prisoners had been transferred to the nearby Bei Du Jing Hua City.

  After a busy night, Qing Xia was also somewhat tired. She quickly calculated the time Yang Feng would be on duty and rushed towards the high wall. However, just as she did, a sudden sense of vigilance rose up, almost without any warning. Qing Xia suddenly stopped in her tracks, her body leaning back, her back hitting the ground, her right foot kicking out, making a loud "thud" sound, and fiercely kicked someone's body.

  "Hmm..." The man grunted, took two steps back, and then steadied himself before quickly closing in.

  A battle sword chopped down, Qing Xia rolled on the ground to avoid the blade. A dagger was drawn from a soft boot and thrown backhand, relying solely on instinct, towards that person.

  The newcomer was also skilled, and with a clang, he blocked the incoming dagger. Qing Xia's eyes were especially sharp in the dark, and with one glance, she saw the glint of the falling blade. She dodged to the side, crouched down, and sprang up, grabbing the falling dagger and swinging it forward. Half-crouching on the ground, she stabbed at the soles of the person's feet.

  "Hmph!" A loud, cold hum suddenly rose, Qing Xia Qu's hand used his elbow to block the opponent's knee strike. He turned around and grabbed the opponent's ankle with one hand, twisting it hard, and with a "bang" sound, the opponent was slammed heavily onto the ground.

  "Don't move!" Sen Han's dagger instantly pressed against the opponent's neck artery, Qing Xia stepped forward coldly, kneeled down and heavily smashed into the opponent's abdomen, coldly shouting.

  From the start of the action to the capture, it took less than five seconds, fully demonstrating the ultra-strong quality and perfect combat skills of modern special forces.

  The man was panting heavily, and on the cold blade, there was a unique aura of a soldier.

  Qing Xia pressed tightly against the man's body and asked in a cold voice: "Who are you?"

  "Are you a woman?" The man subdued by Qing Xia did not answer, but instead asked in a loud and surprised tone.

  Qing Xia saw that he didn't respond, and suddenly clenched his fist, punching him heavily in the stomach. The man instantly bent over and grunted, but couldn't make a sound.

  "It was me who asked you." A cold voice came out of Qing Xia's mouth. Can't blame her for being ruthless, now if her identity is exposed, not only will she die without a burial place, but also implicate Yang Feng, she really can't take this risk.

  "Miss, stop."

  A slightly hoarse voice suddenly rang out from the corner! Qing Xia was shocked, she didn't expect there to be someone here, and with her skills, she would actually be careless enough not to know that someone was hiding in such a close place. "We are just passersby, and we don't know the young lady, this is just a misunderstanding, please let my friend go."

  " Misunderstanding?" Qing Xia said coldly, her surprise lasting less than a second before she regained her composure. In the darkness, the black-clad woman slightly raised an eyebrow and asked in a low voice: "If I wasn't lucky enough to be alive, I would have probably died at your hands already. You actually dare to say it's just a misunderstanding?"

  In the darkness, a moment of silence passed, and a dim yellow lantern suddenly lit up. Qing Xia's tight black clothes were exposed for an instant, and the black mask on her face set off her jet-black eyes. Her slender figure in the night was full of powerful yet gentle beauty. Qing Xia still knelt on the man's body, with a sharp dagger pressed against his throat, coldly staring at the crowd standing in front of her.

  A coarse, dark blue linen shirt, a dark iron mask, and more than twenty figures hiding at the end of the alley, dead silent. However, just by looking at their standing posture, it can be seen that all of them are high-level martial artists.

  An elderly man with a hint of white in his hair stood among the crowd, his back slightly hunched. Beside him was a small sedan chair made of green fabric, quietly situated amidst the throngs of people, its green curtains still and unruffled, without a single ripple.

  The old man looked at Qing Xia with a warm gaze and said in a low voice, "Miss, if we really wanted to kill you, you wouldn't be standing here safely now."

  This remark was extremely impolite, but Qing Xia knew that they absolutely had the capability. Just from the fact that they could hide in a place so close to themselves without being discovered, it was enough to know that these people's abilities were not to be underestimated. The reason why they sent one person to ambush themselves earlier should have been without any intention of killing. It was only when they revealed their superhuman combat strength that the other side had misjudged them.

  "Let her go." A low, deep voice suddenly came from the sedan chair. The old man hastily bowed his head to listen, with an extremely respectful expression. He then turned around and said to Qing Xia: "My master says to let you go, so you can leave now."

  Qing Xia slowly stood up, cautiously looking at the opponent's horse. He carefully retreated backwards, suddenly kicking up the long knife that the man had dropped on the ground with one foot, and then jumped sideways into the air, his other foot fiercely kicking the hilt of the knife. The knife shot out like a swift thunderbolt, piercing the air with a "whooshing" sound. Amidst everyone's stunned gazes and low gasps, it steadily landed on the front edge of the small sedan chair covered in blue cloth.

  "If I really wanted to kill you, you wouldn't be standing here unharmed."

  As soon as the words fell, Qing Xia suddenly sprang up and ran two steps forward with great force, stepping onto the wall beside her.

  With a few swift steps, the tall wall over three meters high was instantly trampled under Qing Xia's feet. The woman in black stood on the rooftop of a resident's house, her slender figure swaying slightly with each movement, and soon she had already leaped into the courtyard of the Nan Chu Tian Prison.

  "Master!" The white-bearded old man said in a low and slightly panicked tone.

  "Nanchu is getting more and more lively," a low voice slowly came out from the sedan, a pair of slender hands lightly pushed aside the curtain, "Go investigate this woman's background, others follow me out of the city."

  The crowd responded with a loud voice, and in less than half the time it took to burn an incense stick, the dark alley was once again plunged into silence.

  The moon at the edge of the sky is big and bright, shining coldly on this land covered with frost.