As the sun set behind the mountains, the city was bathed in the glow of the rising lanterns.
Near Youji Street in the Eastern Market, the residents were mostly low-level peddlers and laborers. The streets were rather old, lined with stalls selling sundries along the sides, and there were gambling dens and hidden kilns in the alleys.
Although the brothels here were cheap, their quality was really low compared to other places in the capital. Even at the busiest time of the night when it just got dark, there were not many people on the old street. All one could hear was some noise coming from the brothels and gambling dens.
The gate of a residential house behind a gambling alley was tightly closed. There was some dirt on the threshold stone, and hardly anyone entered or exited from here at night.
It was very quiet inside the house. Several men who were responsible for digging the tunnel during the day were in the room, washing the oil stains they had gotten while splashing molten oil with hot water.
The door of the main room was closed. Xu Bailin was sitting on a chair, lightly tapping the armrest with his fingers, and his face didn't look very good.
Cao Anning was pacing back and forth in front of him.
Cao Anning had grown up in the palace and was taught by Eunuch Cao. He used to behave calmly and composedly.
But after experiencing a series of inexplicable strange events, Cao Anning's long-tightened nerves could no longer hold up, and he showed a hysterical side, constantly muttering in a low voice:
"I met him in the mortuary. I can admit he's very resourceful. We were ambushed while fleeing for our lives. I can admit he has many informants and is fast. Without any evidence, how did he find out about the Prince of Wu's Mansion?
"Even if he found out about the Prince of Wu's Mansion and didn't see any clues, how did he find the tunnel? Even if he found the tunnel, how could he be evenly matched with the old Boxing Champion? If he has such ability, why did he let me escape the first time?..."
It was only today that Xu Bailin confirmed from the old man in the white robe that the person who had sneaked into the Prince of Wu's Mansion yesterday and defeated Nangong Shaofeng with one move was really that persistent Grim Reaper from the Black Yamen, Yejingtang.
Yejingtang's actions these days could be said to be so strange that they were impossible to explain. Not only was Cao Anning completely confused, but Xu Bailin also felt like he had seen a ghost.
They believed that they hadn't leaked any information. After the incident in the mortuary, to prevent anything from happening, they didn't dare to act in the capital. Instead, they secretly went to Guangji for a while.
As a result, in just a few days, Yejingtang directly found their employer behind the scenes and almost caught them red-handed in the tunnel.
That wasn't all. At first, Yejingtang and Cao Anning had a slight advantage, but when fighting against him, they were clearly at a disadvantage. It had only been a few days, and Yejingtang had stunned Nangong Shaofeng with one palm. When the old Boxing Champion went to block the way, he was directly stunned by two punches. Wasn't that outrageous?
Xu Bailin thought for a while: "Yejingtang was able to kill Zhou Huaili, so his martial arts must be good. He might have been hiding his strength on purpose. As for being so resourceful... Could there be a traitor on our side who's leaking information?"
Cao Anning shook his head: "The people below are all focused on their work. The people who know the whole plan are just us few and His Highness the Crown Prince. His Highness the Crown Prince wouldn't expose himself. The old Boxing Champion only went to the tunnel today and didn't know the exact location in advance..."
When Cao Anning said this, his tone paused, and he looked at Xu Bailin sitting in the room. Xu Bailin had been involved from the beginning to the end. When he first encountered Yejingtang, he was provoked by Yejingtang, which led to the government catching a live prisoner...
?!
Xu Bailin's expression froze slightly, and then he showed anger. He slapped the armrest:
"You suspect that I'm leaking information to the government? If it weren't for my excellent martial arts skills last time, I would have been hacked to death by Yejingtang on the street. Could that scene have been fake?"
"Yejingtang's martial arts skills shown today are better than yours. When he fought with you last time, he clearly held back..."
"If you hadn't been blocked by Yejingtang in the mortuary, causing him to follow closely, would I have fought with Yejingtang? First, explain how you escaped from the mortuary!"
"..."
Cao Anning thought about it and realized that it was true. He knew more than Xu Bailin. If there was a mole on the Prince of Wu's side, the most likely person would be him...
Xu Bailin himself was also made suspicious by Yejingtang and didn't care about Cao Anning's suspicion. He said:
"If the mole were one of us two, Yejingtang wouldn't have come from the other side of the tunnel today to alert us. Now that the molten oil has been splashed, we must hide well in the next day or two. If something else goes wrong and all our efforts are wasted, it will be a complete failure."
Cao Anning couldn't figure out how Yejingtang was tracking them. He felt that staying here might mean being found again, so he said:
"You and I should hide separately and meet up tomorrow night. If there's any more situation, escape alone. Don't rashly run back to the base, lest Yejingtang follow the clues and catch us all at once."
Xu Bailin nodded. After thinking for a while, he remembered something and said angrily:
"Yejingtang can even fight the old Boxing Champion single-handedly. Are the people on Junshan Terrace dead? We've already sent the information to them, and they haven't made any move for so long..."
Cao Anning thought for a while: "Last time we wanted to use others to eliminate our enemy. We didn't mention that his martial arts skills were so high. The people on Junshan Terrace might not have felt the pressure and are trying to operate secretly..."
"No matter how secretly they operate, they should at least show some signs. If they come only after Yejingtang has dealt with us, it will be like giving Junshan Terrace a piece of information for nothing..."
"It's too late to talk about this now. Let's focus on the important matter."
Xu Bailin felt that Junshan Terrace didn't even understand the seriousness of "nourishing a tiger to invite calamity," which really didn't live up to the reputation of a top-notch wealthy family. But since Junshan Terrace didn't respond at all, they couldn't do anything about it. So he didn't say any more and left the residential house, carrying an iron mace wrapped in yellow cloth.
Cao Anning paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. Looking at the loyal subordinates outside the door, for some reason, he suspected everyone to be a mole.
But since he was currently in need of people, it wasn't appropriate to examine them one by one and chill the hearts of his subordinates. After thinking for a while, he was going to ask the four or five subordinates in the courtyard to disperse and hide on their own and then meet again tomorrow.
But as soon as Cao Anning walked out of the gate, he heard the sound of buildings collapsing and the clashing of metal coming from the buildings outside.
Crash——
Ding ding ding——
Cao Anning's face changed drastically. He knew that the relentless Black Yamen's Ghost of Death had come again. He didn't even have the thought of going to rescue anyone and immediately flew into the depths of the buildings...
——
The sun set behind the city wall, and the streets and alleys darkened. Little lights lit up along the streets, while the alleys were dimly lit. Occasionally, a few gamblers and prostitutes in a hurry walked by.
Yejingtang was dressed in a black robe, looking like an ordinary martial artist, walking slowly in the alley, paying attention to the traces on the ground and the pedestrians passing by.
This was a slum area. It was very eye-catching for three martial artists to walk together. So Luo Ning and Pei Xiangjun were just waiting in the carriage at the entrance of the alley, ready to rush to the rescue at any time.
The alleys in this neighborhood were full of gambling houses, taverns, and hidden kilns. The houses were old and not soundproof. Some brothels made quite loud noises to seduce lecherous men. Luo Ning and Pei Xiangjun both had good martial arts skills and could clearly hear from the depths of the alley:
"Umm... so amazing..."
"Is it big..."
Pei Xiangjun covered her face with a black scarf, so her expression couldn't be seen, but there was clearly a strange look in her eyes.
Luo Ning's eyes were cold, trying her best not to recall the scene when the little thief had molested her.
Perhaps feeling a bit bored, Pei Xiangjun asked in a low voice:
"Ning'er, has Jingtang ever said such vulgar words to you?"
?!
Luo Ning slightly frowned and turned her head away, ignoring the question. She thought to herself: When the little thief molested me, his mouth didn't stop. Either he was kissing or eating watermelon. When would he have the time to say these things...
The two women were quite embarrassed, and Yejingtang felt almost the same.
As a man, Yejingtang walking into a red-light district at night and looking around, anyone with some experience would know what he was up to.
The prostitutes standing at the threshold of the brothels occasionally beckoned to attract customers. Yejingtang, like a normal person's reaction, quickly looked away, pretending not to see anything and continued walking.
The tip he received said that the suspicious trace was in a residential house behind the alley.
Although it was still quite far away, Yejingtang walked very carefully in case someone with ill intentions set a trap for him. He asked the bird to scout for any suspicious movements in the sky, and he also kept listening to the slightest sounds from the houses on both sides of the alley. His left hand was always near the handle of his knife.
He walked to the middle of the alley like this and didn't find anything unusual.
Yejingtang looked at the small path between the two houses not far away. Thinking that if he turned in from there, he would be near the residential house mentioned in the tip. As a result, he saw a figure walk out of it openly and walk towards him.
The figure was dressed in a yellowish-brown cloth robe, looking like an ordinary civilian. He was holding a long strip wrapped in cloth in his hand. His demeanor seemed to be that of a gambler who came here for entertainment, and he looked a bit familiar...
Xu Bailin walked out of the narrow path that was only wide enough for one person. He had been checking the surrounding situation. Just as he turned around and took two steps out, he found a tall man in a black robe stopping thirty steps ahead in the dimly lit alley.
Although the light was dim and he couldn't see the face clearly, the man's standing posture was like an evergreen pine, and the black long strip hanging obliquely behind his left waist...
?!
The old alley was full of noise, but the atmosphere fell into a dead silence at this moment, as if there were only the two people facing each other in the whole world.
Xu Bailin didn't see clearly who the person opposite was, but he had encountered the "ghost" several times. He knew that Yejingtang, the Black Yamen's King of Hell, was everywhere, and he guessed the other person's identity right away.
Yejingtang, on the other hand, was a bit hesitant. After all, the light was too dim, and the other person was disguised. He felt familiar but it was difficult to confirm the identity.
Moreover, he received a tip out of the blue, and then he really ran into the main person head-on. If this wasn't the other person deliberately luring the snake out of its hole to set an ambush, it would be too strange.
The two of them were facing each other across half of the old alley for an instant.
After all, Xu Bailin was a powerful figure in the martial world. He had excellent psychological quality and didn't show any strange expression. He naturally walked towards the nearby gambling den.
"Wait a moment, sir!"
Yejingtang called out to stop him. As a result, the figure in front didn't stop but instead burst into action in an instant and crashed into the gambling den's curtain.
Swish——
Yejingtang moved almost at the same moment. He stepped heavily on the muddy alley and rushed out. On the way, he kicked a half-section of the stone wall outside the house.
Bang——
The middle of the stone wall exploded, and several bricks flew out, smashing towards the gambling den's curtain with a terrifying whistling sound.
One of the bricks directly tore through the wooden wall of the gambling den horizontally, revealing several tables of gamblers inside who hadn't reacted yet.
Crash——
When Xu Bailin saw this, his face changed drastically. With a flick of his wrist, the green steel mace was already in his hand. He swept it in the air, tearing apart the wrapped cloth and smash the flying bricks.
Pop——
Dust filled the alley in an instant.
Yejingtang confirmed the suspect and didn't stop. After kicking out, the single knife at his waist was unsheathed.
Clang——
A cold light flashed in the alley!
Almost at the same time as the bricks exploded, a terrifying blade light had already reached in front of Xu Bailin.
Xu Bailin had heard today that Yejingtang had fought evenly with the old Boxing Champion. He had thought that the old Boxing Champion was too old to be up to the task.
Seeing this terrifying blade light that was so different from a few days ago, he suddenly realized that Yejingtang's martial arts skills had indeed increased significantly.
Fortunately, he had experience fighting with Yejingtang before. The Eight Steps Crazy Saber aimed for extreme speed, and there wasn't much room for the change of moves.
Sensing the danger, Xu Bailin had already placed the iron mace horizontally in front of him one step ahead.
Clang——
The blade light tore through the night, flashing past in the dark alley.
To outsiders, it was like a bolt of lightning-like white light suddenly shooting from the spot and directly hitting Xu Bailin's chest.
And Xu Bailin didn't even stand still for an instant. His whole body was sent flying out at the same speed. In the air, he raised the iron mace, ready to block the second consecutive knife.
But after Yejingtang struck out with one knife, he didn't continue with a series of moves. Instead, he retracted the knife like a dragonfly skimming the water and leaped onto the roof, scanning the surroundings to avoid being ambushed by hidden people.
Crash crash crash——
In an instant, broken wood flew everywhere in the alley, and countless screams of men and women were heard.
Xu Bailin landed on his feet, still maintaining the posture of blocking. Seeing that Yejingtang didn't follow up with another attack, he didn't hesitate to turn around and run away.
Yejingtang found that there was no ambush around, and there was the sound of someone escaping in the distance. He knew that he had really found the hiding place of Xu Bailin and the others. He immediately shouted:
"Keep an eye on the escaping person and don't engage the enemy easily!"
Luo Ning and Pei Xiangjun, who rushed out of the carriage, quickly leaped onto the roof when they saw this.
As Yejingtang spoke, he had already rushed across the roof with his knife in hand, chasing after Xu Bailin, who was trying to escape.
Xu Bailin didn't have much desire to fight in the first place. Seeing that there were also Black Yamen experts behind, he directly gave up the idea of meeting up with Cao Anning and fled towards the city wall. Along the way, he kicked bricks and tiles with his right foot, throwing them at the civilians running in the alley.
"Ah——"
Several running civilians were immediately knocked to the ground with blood on their heads.
Yejingtang was enraged when he saw this. He couldn't just ignore it. His figure shot up like a black lightning bolt, moving left and right in the alley, using his blade and broken stones to block the tiles.
Bricks and stones flew everywhere in the old neighborhood, and the screams rose to the sky, like boiling water suddenly boiling over.
Xu Bailin used creating chaos to escape. Although it had no moral principles at all, this method was indeed effective against the court's constables.
The bricks and stones were all thrown into the distance. Even though Yejingtang's movement skills were superb, when moving left and right, he would inevitably be quickly pulled apart from Xu Bailin.
Yejingtang knew that if he continued to chase, Xu Bailin would only go berserk and kill people randomly. He wanted to stop and turn around to chase the other thief.
But what neither Yejingtang nor Xu Bailin expected was that as soon as they were separated by a short distance, a piercing arrow shot out from the dark, directly towards Xu Bailin's next landing point!
Whoosh——
Xu Bailin was caught off guard. He retracted his legs in the air and smashed the iron mace to break the hidden arrow shooting towards his legs. His running figure also paused slightly as a result and landed on the old bluestone street.
Plop!
Although Xu Bailin bounced up after landing, Yejingtang's reaction was not slow. As soon as the hidden arrow came, he knew that Xu Bailin would definitely dodge. His figure had already rushed onto the old street, holding the knife and ready to strike.
Although Xu Bailin wasn't afraid of the hidden arrows shot from a distance, blocking the arrows would definitely interfere with his movement skills. In the situation of being chased by Yejingtang, this was almost a life-threatening matter. After getting up, he quickly moved and leaned against the pillar of a restaurant, blocking the archer's view, and facing Yejingtang with great caution.
Yejingtang had thought that