Chapter 134: Reinforcements |
Hearing Li Musheng's reply, Murong Xiaoya shrank her neck down timidly and immediately hugged her teacup with lowered head, as though that one question had already pushed her social anxiety to its absolute limits.
Hu Rui'an gave Li Musheng a long, thoughtful look, feeling that even though this Eighth Prince had only recently had his identity acknowledged, the air and manner befitting a prince was already remarkably well-formed.
Just then, Wu Shang, standing to one side, let out a quiet sound of surprise and looked down at the street below.
The two young men who had traded blows to a draw earlier and each retreated had both gotten back to their feet, and were now facing each other down. But at that moment, a crowd of people armed with blades and swords suddenly came pouring out of the shops on both sides of the street.
These people had originally been passersby on the street or the owners and staff of the shops, who had all hidden inside when the bronze gong rang out earlier. Yet now they seemed to have assumed an entirely different identity, each one wearing a fierce and menacing expression as they surrounded the muscular young man in a tight ring.
Then the sound of urgent hoofbeats came thundering from one end of the street, and before long three tall horses pulled up to a stop at the center of the main road.
Astride them sat three middle-aged men. The one in the lead wore a white robe, kept a fine beard, had narrow elongated eyes, and wore an expression of sinister cunning.
He swept his gaze across the street, then clasped his hands toward the tall young man with the spear, saying, "You've worked hard, young nephew Sun. Now that you've taken the measure of this man's martial skills, leave the rest to me."
Hearing this, Sun Shao gave a light nod, drew the long spear back from where he had extended it and stood it upright at his side, then said slowly, "This man's saber technique is formidable, and he clearly has a prestigious sect behind him. If I am not mistaken, he and that earlier group are very likely from the Tianhe Blade Sect in Qing Province."
At this point, the muscular young man Qin Hao braced his broad saber against the ground and looked past the ring of people surrounding him toward Sha Wenshan.
His expression turned gravely serious, and he asked in a low, stern voice, "You're with the White Sand Gang?"
Sha Wenshan did not reply, and instead turned to the two middle-aged men beside him, saying, "I ask both of you brothers to join me in taking this one down. He surely has the other half of the map on him."
Hearing this, the two middle-aged men gave a quiet nod without any further words, then simultaneously leaped from their saddles and shot straight toward Qin Hao.
Sha Wenshan moved in right behind them. The three of them erupted with martial Dao strength that surpassed Sun Shao's, their True Qi surging around them, invisibly cutting off every avenue of retreat for Qin Hao.
Seeing this, Qin Hao's expression darkened, and he had no choice but to circulate the True Qi within his body and grip the broad saber with both hands.
Pushing the Tianhe Blade Art he had cultivated to its fullest, he swept the broad saber in an airtight whirl and unleashed a surging tide of blade energy aimed skyward, in a desperate bid to resist the combined assault of Sha Wenshan and the other two martial experts.
Yet he knew in his heart that his martial Dao cultivation was simply no match for the three of them, and that capture or death was the only outcome awaiting him.
He had considered trying to find an opening to flee, but with three of them closing him in and Sun Shao watching hawkishly from the side, any such opportunity was vanishingly slim.
Just at that moment, a figure in red came bounding across the rooftops, drawing steadily closer from the far end of the street at great speed toward the center of the road.
At the same time, the figure's hands sent one throwing knife after another flying out in quick succession, each becoming a streak of silver light slicing through the air and shooting toward the vital points of Sha Wenshan and the other two.
"Hold on, Senior Brother Qin, I've come to save you!"
A clear, bright female voice rang out plainly in everyone's ears, and the red-clad figure was drawing closer at a visible pace.
"So this one has an accomplice."
Sha Wenshan glanced back but did not let up his attack for a moment.
Faced with the red-clad woman's throwing knives, he seemed entirely untroubled. The martial True Qi around his body condensed into a thick phantom suit of armor, meeting the sharp silver flashes head-on as they arrived in the blink of an eye.
"Run, Junior Sister, you're no match for them. Go back to the sect and bring help to avenge me!"
Qin Hao propped up a curtain of blade light with his broad saber and shouted urgently in a low voice, his expression taut with anxiety.
The Tianhe Blade Sect had always been fiercely protective of its own, which was precisely why he had come all this way to duel Sun Shao and stand up for the junior disciples who had died at his hands.
As things stood, it did not matter much if he died. When the young ones were gone, the old ones would carry on, and even in death he would make sure these people paid with their lives.
But if the news could not be carried back to the sect, all of it would be for nothing.
His junior sister, however, appeared not to have listened, and came rushing forward with resolute determination regardless.
At the same time, Li Musheng, who had up until now shown little interest in the martial world squabble playing out in the street, suddenly raised an eyebrow.
He turned to look at the red-clad figure drawing ever closer from one end of the main street and said with some surprise, "Oh? What is my little admirer doing here?"
The moment those words fell, Hu Rui'an and the others at the table all looked at Li Musheng with peculiar expressions.
They did not quite understand what Li Musheng meant by "little admirer," but from the tone of his voice it was not difficult to guess that he and the red-clad woman knew each other.
After Li Musheng had made it clear he had no interest in the duel on the street earlier, Hu Rui'an had stopped paying it any further attention.
After all, as Li Musheng had put it, these people hacking and fighting at each other was no more interesting to him than watching small fry peck at one another, and it held absolutely no appeal.
As far as Hu Rui'an was concerned, as long as the fighting did not spill over and affect their own group, he had no intention of getting involved.
But the situation now was somewhat different.
If Li Musheng knew the red-clad woman and the two had some relationship, then a degree of perceptiveness was called for.
"Sir, shall I intervene?"
Wu Shang, having navigated the ways of officialdom for many years, naturally knew what ought to be done in the current situation.
Hearing this, Li Musheng glanced back at him, rubbed his chin, and said, "Not to discourage you, but your abilities seem a touch lacking when it comes to those people."
Just at that moment, the coachman Cao Gaoshan thrust his weathered, deeply lined face up from the courtyard below, squeezed out something of a smile, and said, "Sir, what do you think of me? Ever since that strike the other time, I seem to have had a small insight of some kind. I was hoping to ask you to take a look."
Hearing this, Li Musheng shifted his gaze downward and looked the man over, then gave a nod.
Even relationships with fans needed to be maintained. She was his first little admirer, after all, and now that he had run into her, he would feel rather bad about sitting by and doing nothing.
Even so, for a small affair like this, he could hardly work up the desire to act himself.
Having someone act in his stead suited him just fine.
Seeing this, Cao Gaoshan's expression shifted, and in the next moment he vanished from where he stood without a trace.