Thunderclap——
The heavy rain poured down over the city, and the sky quickly turned into a pitch-black night. The towering city was like a sea of fire on the vast land. A bolt of thunder flashed through the rain curtain, illuminating the dark streets as white as snow.
Clip-clop, clip-clop...
On the long bluestone street, Yejingtang rode a black fierce horse and slowly passed through one alley after another.
The Black Lin Spear in his hand was tilted towards the street surface. Dense raindrops fell on the spear shaft and then slid down along the spearhead, forming a thin line of water at the tip of the spear.
Tick-tock...
Several blocks in the west of the city, with the occurrence of several battles, had turned into a desolate and silent hunting ground with few people.
More than a thousand imperial guards and constables, holding powerful bows and crossbows, surrounded the blocks around Yuning Marquis's Mansion.
Dozens of masters from the Dark Guards and the Black Yamen, working in pairs, patrolled and hunted within the blocks, searching for the traces of the lurking thieves according to the list.
The thieves who dared to commit crimes in the capital were all seasoned veterans in the martial world. It was hard to say how high their martial arts skills were, but their abilities to hide and escape were definitely excellent.
Yejingtang first went after the main target, Liu Qiansheng. As soon as there was movement, the thieves in other places saw that the situation was not right and scattered to flee.
However, with the "battle plan map" provided by the intelligence, most of the thieves who tried to escape according to the plan, without exception, ran into the line of fire and lay down almost without much resistance.
The remaining few alert masters chose to flee in other directions, but they were blocked within the blocks and were gradually dug out. Currently, only two masters with excellent lightness skills had not been found.
After patrolling back and forth on the street for a long time, Shang Jianli, who was hiding in the dark, landed on the street:
"No matter how good one's lightness skills are, it's impossible to fly out into the sky. Could there be some false information in the intelligence, deliberately adding two more people?"
Yejingtang also had this feeling. After all, with more than forty masters of the court, plus the bird in the sky and the hounds on the ground, conducting a carpet search in the blocks, not finding the slightest trace, even with the cover of the heavy rain and the night, this ability to hide was a bit exaggerated.
But the two grandmasters of lightness skills were key figures in the battle plan, who were supposed to rush into Yuning Marquis's Mansion and take the deposed emperor out of the city. Without completely lifting the state of readiness, if they gave up the patrol and left a loophole, and the deposed emperor was really taken away, the problem would be extremely serious.
If the Prince of Wu didn't have the deposed emperor in his hands, no matter how he operated, it would be considered rebellion, going against the will of the world. But if he had the deposed emperor, he could "support the former master" and find a justifiable reason for his actions, and it would be much easier to win the support of other opposing forces. The difficulty of suppressing him would be completely different in these two situations.
Yejingtang held the Black Lin Spear and scanned the street:
"Without confirming the truth, we have to search every inch of the place. Have the captured prisoners revealed any information through interrogation?"
"It seems that only Liu Qiansheng and Nangong Shaofeng know the specific details. Liu Qiansheng has lived a full life and has a high spirit. He would rather die than submit. Nangong Shaofeng is afraid of implicating the Prince of Wu, so he insists that he planned everything alone and refuses to say a single word about anything else."
"Nangong Shaofeng is the teacher of the heir apparent of the Prince of Wu. With so many fierce bandits and the Prince of Wu's personal guards captured at the scene, the Prince of Wu can't shirk this responsibility..."
While the two were talking, suddenly, there was a sound in the night sky:
"Guji! Guji ji..."
Yejingtang's eyes narrowed slightly. He raised his head and looked at the bird circling in the night sky, understanding the meaning of the signal - due east, very far away, extremely powerful.
The bird had amazing eyesight, but normally it couldn't tell the level of a target's martial arts skills. The fact that it could give a warning with the highest level of threat could only mean that the momentum of the target was incredibly huge.
Upon seeing this, Yejingtang quickly took out a pair of binoculars from the side of the horse, leaped into the air, and landed on the top of a three-story restaurant. He looked towards the east from the roof.
Under the night rain, the city was filled with firelight. Since Yun'an City was flat and the buildings couldn't be higher than the palace walls, standing on the top of a tall building gave a vast view.
Mingyu Building was built in the east of the city, which was quite far from the current location. But when a bolt of lightning illuminated the whole city, through the binoculars, he could still see some strange things on the top of Mingyu Building.
At the top of the five-story building, there stood a person.
The figure held a knife in his right hand and pointed it towards the sky. His long hair and even his robe fluttered in the wind and rain.
The surging momentum deflected the surrounding rain curtain, causing ripples in the night rain at the top of the tall building.
The power of this momentum was like a towering mountain standing on the top of the capital!
Qiu Tianhe?!
Yejingtang's pupils shrank slightly. Even though the distance was too far to see clearly who the figure was, he could still recognize the identity of this person from the unique saber stance of "Tianhe Saber".
He could even tell from this soaring momentum that Qiu Tianhe was probably howling towards the sky. Although he couldn't hear the sound, he guessed that it was probably something like "I, Qiu Tianhe, have returned to the realm of an immortal today. Among the eight wildernesses and six harmonies, who else can match me?" - something like that to show off.
Yejingtang thought something was wrong in his heart - this displayed momentum clearly indicated that Qiu Tianhe had suddenly regained his combat power and was causing trouble on top of Mingyu Building.
All the masters were in the west of the city. With only the White-Haired Di Ting alone, it was highly likely that she couldn't suppress Qiu Tianhe, who was in his prime in his fifties.
He was Qiu Tianhe's guarantor. If Qiu Tianhe went crazy and caused a big mess at this moment, the trouble would be really big.
Yejingtang quickly put away the binoculars, jumped down from the tall building, landed on the horseback, and lifted the Black Lin Spear:
"There's some trouble over at Mingyu Building. I'm going to take a look. Lord Shang, please say hello to His Highness for me. Giddyap -"
Shang Jianli was a bit confused and was about to say that the order to withdraw hadn't been given yet, and leaving one's post without permission might be punished by the Prince of Jing. But Yejingtang had already galloped out of the street and rushed towards the east of the city...
——
Thunderclap——
The bright white lightning illuminated thousands of streets and alleys in Yun'an City.
After the drumbeat of Mingyu Building sounded, Yun'an City entered a curfew state. The alarm hadn't been lifted, and the common people were not allowed to go out. There was only the torrential rain curtain on the street.
Clip-clop, clip-clop——
The lights on both sides of the street were as bright as day. A black fierce horse rushed through the empty long street. Because of the extremely fast speed, the spear tip held obliquely tore through the wind and rain, making a slight humming sound:
Weng weng weng~~
Yejingtang didn't ride a horse when he went back yesterday, and in the morning, he rode the precious horse of the Third Miss. The horse had amazing stamina. With all its might, in just a short while, it had crossed the Tianjie, the central axis of the capital.
As the distance rapidly decreased, bursts of noise came from the rain curtain:
Boom——
Boom——
The explosive sounds were like muffled thunder, moving along the main street of the prince's mansion towards the direction of the imperial palace. It sounded like a powerful dragon rampaging through the blocks. Among them, there were also the sounds of "Whoosh - whoosh -", which were the whistling sounds of the saber tearing through the air!
Yejingtang was secretly shocked. He knew that Qiu Tianhe was very powerful, but he didn't expect him to be this powerful. Judging from the momentum coming from afar, an ordinary martial artist not only couldn't compete with him, but it also required great courage just to get close.
If Qiu Tianhe went crazy and was charging towards the imperial palace, I'm afraid that the hundreds of people left behind by the Black Yamen had already been killed. Since he had bailed Qiu Tianhe out, if something went wrong, even the bird would probably be implicated.
"Giddyap——"
Yejingtang urged loudly and urged the horse under him with all his might. Almost at the speed of thunder, he rushed back to the main street of the prince's mansion.
The white stone avenue outside Jingwang Mansion was as empty as if it had been washed clean. There was no one in sight, and only the earth-shattering noise from the other end could be heard:
Rumble——
Yejingtang gritted his teeth secretly. He gathered his courage and rushed through the gate of the prince's mansion, trying to stop the irresistible Qiu Tianhe. Suddenly, he heard a:
Peng——
An explosive sound.
Then a figure flew into the air at the speed of an arrow released from a bowstring from the main street, creating a white trail in the rain curtain. Then it drew an arc and crashed onto the main street of the prince's mansion.
Peng!
Paji~
The figure fell on the white stone street tiles, bounced up and then fell again, sliding a long way along the street in the rain. His legs were twisted and his body was slanted, and he didn't move anymore.
!!
When Yejingtang saw that this person had flown half a street, he was surprise and doubt. He held the spear with one hand and forcefully reined in the horse, causing the fierce horse to slide several steps in the rain. Then it raised its front hooves and stood still on the spot:
"Sizzle ~~ --"
The night rain fell into silence.
Yejingtang hesitated while sitting on the horse. When he saw that the other person didn't seem to be completely dead, he urged the horse to approach and take a look - lying in the rain curtain was a saber-wielding man with tattered robes. He coughed twice, gasped for breath, and from his expression, he seemed to be quite stunned from being beaten.
Holy crap!
When Yejingtang confirmed that the saber-wielding man lying on the ground was the heroic Master Qiu who had been full of arrogance on the roof of Mingyu Building just now, he was stunned. He quickly dismounted and ran over:
"Master Qiu?!"
When Qiu Tianhe saw Yejingtang coming, he quickly sat up, regained his calm and lofty posture, and waved his hand:
"It's okay. I won't die."
Yejingtang rushed over in a hurry and found Qiu Tianhe in such a state. His eyes naturally showed a strange look. He squatted down beside him and examined the injuries:
"Master Qiu, are you being beaten?!"
Qiu Tianhe gasped for breath. When he heard this, he looked unhappy:
"I fought with Lord Cao. We had a good fight. What do you mean by saying I'm being beaten? Do you expect me to defeat Lord Cao without getting a scratch?"
"Lord Cao?"
When Yejingtang saw that Qiu Tianhe was fighting with the "door god" of the imperial palace who was imprisoned in the dungeon, he felt relieved and asked:
"Did Lady Meng lift the restriction on you?"
Qiu Tianhe nodded: "I made a deal with the White-Haired Di Ting. I would help the court stop Lord Cao, and she would petition the court to give me my freedom."
When Yejingtang heard this, he was really surprised and secretly thought: If Qiu Tianhe could help put down the rebellion of the Prince of Wu this time and make great contributions, it would be face-saving for the court. There would be almost no resistance to pardoning Qiu Tianhe, which was much simpler and faster than him pleading everywhere...
No, if Master Qiu regained his freedom and left the capital openly, the whole martial world would know about it immediately.
When the leader of the Pingtian Sect found out that Qiu Tianhe was okay and her lady of the sect leader was still staying in the capital...
Wouldn't she immediately come and kill him, the "other man"?
"..."
Yejingtang felt that his life was in danger. But he couldn't keep Qiu Tianhe in the capital for his own self-interest. In his heart, he was mostly happy to congratulate Qiu Tianhe on regaining his freedom.
"This is a very good deal."
Yejingtang looked at the street where there was no more movement and asked:
"Did Master Qiu stop Lord Cao?"
Qiu Tianhe simply shook his head: "After all, he's the 'door god' of the imperial palace. A skinny camel is still bigger than a horse. How could I possibly stop him alone? I just injured him and consumed most of his combat power. I'm afraid it's hopeless for me to regain my freedom in this way."
?!
Yejingtang's expression froze, and he asked seriously:
"Where did Lord Cao go?"
"He must have gone into the palace to kill the emperor. You're no match for him, kid. Don't go and get involved... Eh?"
When Yejingtang heard "kill the emperor", his heart sank. He had no intention of chatting with Qiu Tianhe. He immediately picked up the spear and rushed towards the imperial city.
Qiu Tianhe sat on the ground and looked a bit dazed. He probably meant - Aren't you a spy of the Pingtian Sect? Is there a need for you to be more desperate than me? Is Xue Baijin planning to accept an amnesty?