xymnovel Chapter 222 Night in Suzhou, Jiangnan
Chapter 222 Night in Suzhou, Jiangnan
Yuan Tiangang led the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry on a march day and night, and arrived in Suzhou City in Jiangnan in two days.
Just past 7 PM, there were still scattered lights in the city.
The Cui family ancestral home is located in the east of the city, covering an area of 1,000 acres.
High walls and deep courtyards, the copper nails on the vermilion gate gleamed coldly in the moonlight.
Eight guards with swords huddled under the eaves, rubbing their hands and chatting idly.
"This damn weather, it's only autumn and it's already eerily cold."
"Cold? My heart is colder!" a tall, thin guard said in a low voice.
"Have you heard? Our trading company in Luzhou was raided yesterday, and the manager and all the employees were thrown into jail!"
"More than just the trading company!" another round-faced guard interjected, his voice trembling.
"My cousin is the second manager in Jiangning. At noon, he sent a message through someone."
It is said that all eighteen shops owned by the Cui family in Jiangning were smashed to pieces at the same time!
The person who did it... looks like someone from the military!
The head of the guards, a scarred man, glared at him upon hearing this:
"Shut up! Do you all have a death wish? The patriarch has been..."
He hadn't finished speaking.
His ears suddenly twitched.
From the far end of the long street, a very faint "tap-tap" sound came, like raindrops hitting the bluestone slabs, dense and rapid.
"What's that sound?" The scarred leader gripped the hilt of his knife and craned his neck to peer into the darkness.
The round-faced guard listened intently: "No way, it's not raining..."
"No!" The tall, thin guard's expression changed. "It's a horse's hoof!"
Before he could finish speaking...
"call out--!"
An arrow emerged from the depths of darkness, its shaft pitch black, the arrowhead flashing a cold light for only a moment in the moonlight.
The scarred leader's pupils contracted sharply as he tried to dodge, but his neck had only twisted half an inch.
"Pfft!"
The arrow pierced his Adam's apple with pinpoint accuracy, its bloody tip protruding three inches from the back of his neck.
He opened his mouth, made two "hoarse" sounds in his throat, and fell straight backward.
"Enemy—!" The tall, thin guard hadn't even uttered the word "attack" yet.
The seven arrows seemed to have been timed perfectly, shooting at the same time from different angles.
Seven people, seven vital organs, they didn't even have time to scream before they became corpses in front of the door.
Only then did the rapid, resounding sound of horses' hooves become clear.
No longer a muffled "tap-tap," but a thunderous roar!
On both sides of the long street, silver-armored cavalry surged out like a flood bursting its banks.
The true energy enveloping the warhorse's four hooves created a pale blue halo as it stepped onto the bluestone slabs.
The horse's bit was tightened completely, yet it didn't neigh at all!
Three hundred Snow Dragon Riders, silent as iron.
(Three hundred taels of silver were enough to deal with the Cui family's ancestral home; the rest had been distributed.)
The sound of horses' hooves came to an abrupt halt outside the high walls of the Cui residence.
The cavalry scattered in an instant, completely surrounding the Cui residence.
Almost simultaneously, thirty-six dark figures, like night owls, swooped onto the walls and rooftops surrounding the Cui residence, each taking up their mysterious positions.
An invisible and intangible yet heavy pressure quietly enveloped this thousand-year-old mansion.
……
The roof of the main hall.
Yuan Tiangang, dressed in a black robe, stood with his hands behind his back, the night wind making his robes flutter.
He looked down at the vast mansion below, its lights sparse yet turbulent undercurrents, his face expressionless.
Beside him, Jing Ke held a short sword, like a shadow.
"There's a formation," Jing Ke suddenly said, his voice hoarse.
Yuan Tiangang hummed in agreement and turned his gaze toward the depths of the Cui residence.
There, several auras of varying strengths were faintly awakening and rising.
The Cui family is, after all, a family with a history spanning a thousand years.
"What does the Lord mean?" Yuan Tiangang said calmly.
"Cui Yuanming must live, and the others... must be eradicated completely."
As he spoke, he raised his right hand and gently pressed down.
"action."
……
West Courtyard, guard barracks.
The Cui family has eight hundred guards, known as the most powerful private army among aristocratic families.
Most of them had already taken off their armor and were gathered in several large communal rooms, gambling and bragging, filling the rooms with a foul, smoky atmosphere.
"Open! Open! Oh my god, it's another piece of shit!"
"Old Wang, with your luck like that, you might as well just chop it off!"
"Get lost! Hey, have you heard that the Prince of Zhenbei is getting married again?"
"The Holy Maiden of Nanzhao, the Princess of Dongli, tsk tsk, they're both listed on the Rouge Ranking!"
"I'm so jealous! We work ourselves to the bone on night watch, and we don't even have a decent wife, while the prince... ugh!"
"Shut up! How dare you say such things? The patriarch's been on edge lately; he might skin you alive!"
Just as they were making a fuss, a very short, muffled groan suddenly came from outside the courtyard, as if someone had grabbed its neck.
An elderly guard near the door frowned and peered outside:
"Ergou? Did you pee in the ditch? Why didn't you make a sound..."
His words caught in his throat.
At the entrance of the courtyard, three men dressed in black stood silently, seemingly out of nowhere.
They were all dressed in black, their faces covered by masks, revealing only a pair of emotionless eyes.
The three men carried long, narrow daggers, their blades dull and unreflective.
"you……"
The old guard had barely uttered two words when the three men in black moved.
It wasn't a rush, but rather a "gliding" over, with unpredictable steps, and in the blink of an eye, it was in the crowd.
A flash of light!
There were no shouts, no cries of killing, only the slicing sound of blades cutting through flesh and severing throats, a swift and chilling sound.
"Enemy attack—! Grab your weapons!"
A quick-thinking guard captain jumped up and grabbed the waist knife beside his pillow.
He possesses the cultivation level of a Grandmaster, ranking among the top three of these eight hundred guards.
The sword was only half-drawn when a dark shadow flashed before my eyes.
A Heavenly Guard had somehow gotten close to him, his short knife like a venomous snake probing for his tongue, heading straight for his ribs.
Before the guard could fully pull out his sword, he felt a chill on his left side.
He stiffly looked down and saw another dull blade tip, which had somehow emerged from his body.
"Too slow." The Heavenly Guard coldly uttered two words and drew his sword.
Blood splattered.
The head guard stared wide-eyed and collapsed to the ground.
massacre.
A real massacre.
The eight hundred guards were like helpless lambs before the thirty-six Heavenly Guards (only nine were assigned to the West Courtyard).
These Heavenly Guards cooperated with each other to the extreme, forming groups of three and moving as one.
Some were the main attackers, some were the support, and some were the finishers.
Despite their numerical advantage, the guards often found themselves unable to defend themselves effectively, and were easily divided and their vital points pierced.
The barracks were soon filled with corpses, and the stench of blood was so strong it was almost unbearable.
The surviving guards were terrified. Some tried to run to the back door, but as soon as they turned around, a flying dagger pierced their backs.
Some knelt down and begged for mercy, but as soon as the blade flashed, their heads were severed from their bodies.
If it weren't for the purpose of deterrence, the group wouldn't have chosen to engage in close combat.
After all, without corpses, there is no direct fear.
In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the west courtyard fell silent.
All that remained were corpses lying scattered on the ground, and nine Heavenly Guards who quietly sheathed their swords and disappeared into the darkness.