Jianghu Demolition Squad

Moving Like the Stars (Part Eleven)

After a day of hard riding, the young server Tang Linzhi had with her vomited all along the way, leaving her no choice but to stop for the night in Jing City.

The Yanyu Pavilion had twelve branches scattered throughout the major cities of Jiangnan region, and as luck would have it, there was one in Jing City.

After some thought, Tang Linzhi took out her cypress token and found the Yanyu Pavilion, where the woman in charge greeted her with great enthusiasm.

Tang Linzhi asked her to send a letter notifying Yan Li and others that someone was plotting against Qing Jiu.

Tang Linzhi no longer planned to return to Yangzhou herself. With Yangzhou to the north and Hangzhou to the south, traveling to both would cause further delays. She decided to head directly to Hangzhou.

The woman in charge proved to be efficient and clear-headed, promptly dispatching a carrier pigeon and sending a messenger on horseback—one to inform Liu Xiu, and another to alert the Qixian Palace.

When Liu Xiu received the letter, she had already made some progress in her investigation into the person who had leaked information about Yu’er. She speculated that this time, the plot against Qing Jiu would be even more elaborate, stirring up a storm that the seven of them might not be able to withstand alone. She promptly summoned the Tower’s members back to Jiangnan to gather manpower and also sent a letter to the Yanyu Pavilion in Hangzhou to seek out Qing Jiu.

Knowing that Tang Linzhi was unfamiliar with the route, the woman in charge assigned two capable subordinates to accompany her to Hangzhou. Tang Linzhi then released the young server and set off the next day with her two new companions.

As they traveled, the snow deepened, and the rivers froze over, rendering the smaller paths treacherous and forcing them to take the main roads.

A day into their journey, under a gloomy sky with heavy snow making progress challenging, they halted at the edge of a forest, their horses restlessly snorting. One of the companions turned to Tang Linzhi and suggested, “Miss Tang, it’s getting late and the snow is thick. It’s not safe to travel now; we should find a place to rest for the night.”

With no obvious shelter in sight, Tang Linzhi surveyed the area, finding neither village nor inn, and remarked, “It seems we have nowhere to rest.”

One companion observed, “Any shelter, even a ruined one, would be good.”

Another suggested, “Let’s go a bit further and see. There should be something.”

After agreeing on a course of action, they urged their horses through the forest.

The forest path was broad and covered in deep snow, creating a stark white road flanked by looming trees, their branches heavy with frost.

The north wind howled, and the heavy snow obscured their vision. Tang Linzhi had no choice but to slow down.

Halfway through, Tang Linzhi’s ears twitched, and her pupils constricted. She shouted, “Ambush!”

Almost instantly, with a thunderous sound, the earth crumbled, and a massive wave of snow surged into the sky, carrying scorching flames, engulfing the three of them.

The attack took them by surprise. Fortunately, Tang Linzhi’s instincts as an assassin quickly kicked in, allowing her to intuitively scan the surroundings for potential ambush spots. Her exceptional senses, heightened by consuming a thousand-year-old python gallbladder, enabled her to detect subtle movements just in time. This crucial awareness helped her seize a fleeting opportunity to survive, narrowly avoiding a deadly blast from the gunpowder.

Despite her quick reaction, one of her companions wasn’t so lucky. His arm was struck by a flying rock, severing it instantly and causing blood to flow unceasingly. Their horses were also blown to pieces.

As they steadied themselves, figures rose from the snow on both sides of the forest, drawing swords and charging at them. Tang Linzhi estimated there were about fifty to sixty attackers.

Retreating was not an option as the path behind them was already blocked.

Surrounded and desperate, Tang Linzhi’s eyes narrowed. She unslung the Chini from her back and declared, “I’ll clear a path. Follow me and break through!”

With her bow fully drawn, she released an arrow with the force to split the heavens, blasting the snow in front of her aside and piercing through two swordsmen blocking their way.

Light as a swallow, Tang Linzhi followed the path of her arrow. The Chini spun in her hand, its blade so fierce that ordinary weapons broke upon contact.

With a single slash, Tang Linzhi cut down an attacker blocking their path. As her Chini spun back, the bowstring snagged the neck of another assailant from behind. With a surge of internal energy, she decapitated him, leaving the bowstring adorned with droplets of blood.

Tang Linzhi led the way, her bravery unmatched, swooping through the attackers like an eagle from the Tianshan Mountains, to which even fierce wolves nothing more than her prey. Those people couldn’t stop her, and with the support of the two from the Yanyu Pavilion behind her, the three sliced through the encircling crowd like a sharp sword, breaking free and fleeing forward.

However, those lying in ambush were relentless like snakes latching onto their prey.

Tang Linzhi asked, “Can either of you tell the origins of these attackers?”

Both shook their heads. The skills of their pursuers were mixed, some profound, others shallow, giving no clear indication of their origins.

The man whose arm had been severed had his acupoints sealed to stem the bleeding, but with the enemy pressing close, there was no time to tend to his wounds properly. His face was ghostly pale as he struggled to keep up, clearly nearing his limit.

He finally stopped and said, “Miss Tang, go on ahead. I’ll cover our retreat.”

Tang Linzhi frowned deeply, “That’s not how this works!” She was ready to stop and fight side by side with him.

Had it been someone else, she might have continued on her way, but now she didn’t want to owe the Yanyu Pavilion any more than she already did, especially not when it was a matter of life and death.

Another person quickly moved to Tang Linzhi’s side, grabbed her arm, and pulled her forward to continue the escape, not allowing her to stop or intervene. “Miss Tang, don’t let his efforts go to waste.”

Severely injured and unable to sustain his internal energy in the icy conditions, he wouldn’t have been able to escape far anyway—whether he died sooner or later was irrelevant; it was better to buy time for his companions.

Tang Linzhi understood in an instant. She immediately leaped forward, no longer needing the man’s support. As she caught a glimpse of the man with the severed arm from the corner of her eye, she furrowed her brows and clicked her tongue in frustration, muttering lowly, “Which bastard is behind this scheme!”

Her journey had been convoluted; she had been taken from Yangzhou by her master through various backroads, then from the main roads back to Yangzhou, stopping in Jing City before switching to Hangzhou. Despite all the route changes, it seemed someone was always one step ahead.

This brought to mind the pursuit of Yu’er and suddenly sparked the suspicion that the mastermind behind both incidents might be the same…

By now, it was completely dark. A swift shadow dashed across the quiet snowy path, and snow from the branches fell with a snap.

Deep within the snow forest, there was a dilapidated temple, long neglected with several gaping holes in its roof through which the wind whistled mournfully.

Tang Linzhi sat on the temple floor, gasping for air, next to a man who had just breathed his last.

Both men who had accompanied her were dead.

Among the group were several highly skilled martial artists. They fought and ran for over a dozen li, killing nearly half of their pursuers, but they were exhausted. The enemy showed no signs of stopping the pursuit, and the men from Yanyu Pavilion had finally reached their limit.

As soon as she dragged him into the temple, he collapsed to his knees and died, only managing to utter a single sentence before his last breath, “I couldn’t escort you to Hangzhou. I’m sorry, Miss Tang.”

Tang Linzhi lowered her gaze to look at the man’s corpse. A large gash on her left forehead was bleeding profusely, and blood flowed down her face. She casually wiped it away with her hand, her eyes filled with fury, muttering, “Damn it all!”

Outside the temple, the situation was dire. About twenty highly skilled opponents had them completely surrounded.

Even a wounded beast wouldn’t dare to underestimate its foe.

As both sides hesitated, fearing to make the first move that could reveal a weakness, the temple door suddenly burst open. A gust of cold wind blew the snowflakes inside as a figure in a fur coat, leaning on a cane, stood at the entrance.

At the same time, four individuals had climbed through the windows on both sides.

The man leaning on the cane had a handsome face, but his expression was extremely sinister, his smile wicked and unrestrained. “It’s been a long time, Miss Tang,” he said.

Tang Linzhi fixed her gaze on him, her brows knitted in displeasure. It was Yan Jianyu, the very man who had slipped through her and Hua Lian’s grasp before—completely unexpected, leaving her momentarily stunned. “It’s you!”

Tang Linzhi cursed, “So it was those Miao bastards who were after your ancestors, you despicable little beast, always betraying your own!”

Yan Jianyu’s eyes darkened, and his lips twitched as he gritted his teeth and sneered, “If Wu Chang wanted you dead, you’d be a corpse by now.”

After the chaos at Mingjian Manor, where walking corpses wreaked havoc, Wu Chang suffered a significant loss of his undead army due to Qing Jiu and her companions’ interference, ultimately failing to complete his plan. Left with no choice but to retreat and recuperate, he planned to regain his strength before devising new schemes. Meanwhile, the righteous martial arts forces had also sustained heavy losses in the battle and had begun infighting, which reduced their efforts to track down Wu Chang until he completely vanished without a trace.

For the time being, Yan Jianyu couldn’t contact Wu Chang. Otherwise, with the walking corpses at his disposal, he wouldn’t have allowed Tang Linzhi to escape this far.

Tang Linzhi looked at him with disdain, her gaze falling on his legs, concealed by the hem of his clothes. Yan Jianyu stood rigidly, and Tang Linzhi could tell he was using prosthetic limbs.

“The man only wants the Chini in your hand, he said not to kill you.” Yan Jianyu saw the realization dawn on Tang Linzhi’s face, his eyes suddenly blazing red, and he sinisterly added, “That man won’t kill you, and I won’t kill you either. I just want your legs! I want you to suffer a fate worse than death!”

Yan Jianyu then shouted to the crowd, “Chop off this person’s legs!”

Tang Linzhi picked up Chini, her face cold and solemn, blood covering her forehead, making her appear like a god of war, “You Bastard, may your ancestors break your other leg to even things out. The Tang Clan’s craftsmanship is unmatched. When you need a wheelchair, just come to us and mention your ancestor’s name, and I won’t charge you!”

All four in the temple were formidable fighters and launched an attack on Tang Linzhi. She quickly stowed away her Chini bow-sword, not using the close-combat daggers but instead wielding her divine sword that could split mountains and rivers.

Though the four had no real coordination, their advantage lay in numbers. Even as one faltered, twenty more were ready to take their place outside, making it a relentless battle.

Tang Linzhi fought like a cornered beast, fierce and bloodthirsty. The twenty-plus attackers couldn’t subdue her for a moment.

The battle raged on from the dim night until the first light of dawn. The snow that had fallen all night finally stopped, and a brilliant radiance shone from the east, illuminating the snowy ground with a crystalline glow.

The temple, already dilapidated, was now half-collapsed. Corpses lay scattered across the snowy ground, already turned purple from the cold, surrounded by large patches of vivid red, like blooming flowers.

Tang Linzhi kneeled in the snow, leaning on Chini, the last fallen body before.

Relying on the divine blade Chini and her fierce, reckless determination, she had fought through the night, killing all twenty-odd people, but she was also utterly exhausted.

Her limbs were numb, her body bore more than a dozen wounds, the most serious of which was a deep cut on her side, bleeding profusely. She no longer had the strength to press her acupoints to stop the bleeding. As her blood continued to flow, she felt an icy chill in her chest, even her breath felt cold.

Her vision blurred, seeing double of everything.

Tang Linzhi’s thoughts were muddled, her mind unable to focus on anything beyond the immediate situation. She thought to herself, “This kill was so satisfying, perfect in every way, except for not being able to kill that bastard Yan Jianyu. But, but I can’t kill him. I need to bring him back to Yan Li…”

Yan Jianyu, leaning on his cane, stood five steps away from Tang Linzhi, not coming any closer, as he watched the blood slowly drain from her body. He was extremely cautious, waiting to ensure she was completely incapable of fighting back before approaching.

Yan Jianyu chuckled, “The information he provided was timely, but the manpower was somewhat lacking.” It had surprised him that Tang Linzhi had managed to resist so fiercely, killing all the men he had brought.

He had come with a team to ambush and encircle her, yet it almost seemed as if she had them surrounded instead.

Tang Linzhi opened her mouth to speak but found herself voiceless.

If it weren’t for the fact that she had been struggling in desperate situations since childhood, she wouldn’t have been able to remain standing at this moment, relying on her fierce and unyielding spirit.

Seeing her silent, Yan Jianyu’s sneer deepened, “Once I capture you and bring you back, I’ll start by cutting off your legs and then your arms, turning you into a human stick. I’ll sustain you with ginseng and lingzhi, keeping you alive until you’re a hundred years old. I’ll make you beg for life or death without relief, struggling between human or ghost for a lifetime.”

Yan Jianyu, seeing that Tang Linzhi still did not move, took uneven steps toward her, his hand resting on his cane. With a click, he revealed a sword hidden within the cane, drawing it and pointing the gleaming blade at Tang Linzhi.

The smile that spread across his face was one of unhinged joy.

However, the sound of a blade piercing flesh was followed by blood splattering before his eyes, and the pain he felt was his own.

He stared in shock at the blade piercing through his chest, and a cold voice behind him said, “I heard you wanted to turn my apprentice into a human stick?”

Before Yan Jianyu could turn to see who it was, his throat was slit by a dagger, and he collapsed to the ground, his eyes forever dimming in a cold, gray death.

At the same time, Tang Linzhi could no longer support herself and collapsed forward.

Tang Biao quickly caught her in his arms, stuffed a medicinal pill into her mouth, and quickly attended to her most severe wound.

Tang Linzhi regained some strength and clutched at his clothes, pleading, “Master, I beg you, help me. I’ll agree to anything, anything…”

Tang Biao decisively sealed her acupoints, and she completely lost consciousness.

Tang Biao cursed under his breath, “Foolish girl,” His body was sturdy, and without any gentleness, he slung Tang Linzhi over his shoulder and headed west.

Half an hour after Tang Linzhi and Tang Biao had left, Yan Li felt uneasy. She quickly told Yu’er and a few others, then went out to find Tang Linzhi.

When she arrived at the Tiandi Tavern, there were no customers in sight, only a tavern that looked as if a fierce wind had swept through.

Yan Li grabbed a young server hiding behind the counter and asked urgently, “Have you seen a man and a woman come here, both dressed in black and about this tall?”

“I didn’t see anything, I didn’t see anything,” the server replied.

“Please, I’m their friend and I urgently need to find them,” Yan Li insisted gently.

The server peeked at Yan Li, sensing her noble and righteous demeanor, and dropped his guard, “They were drinking on the second floor earlier, and everything seemed fine. Later, for some reason, they started fighting and headed towards the south gate.” The visitors that day were few, and the striking demeanor of the two had made an impression on him, so upon Yan Li’s inquiry, he was certain it was them.

Yan Li closed her eyes and raised her head, contemplating for a moment before making a decisive move. She took out a silver coin and said to the server, “Please run an errand for me to the Qixian Palace. Tell them ‘Yan Li has gone south to chase after Tang Linzhi. No need to worry; all is well. Once the message is delivered, there will be an additional reward.” She needed to go and find out what Tang Linzhi was thinking. If she intended to use this opportunity to return home, they wouldn’t stop her. If not, she would have her return to Tang Sect first, and once Qing Jiu, Mo Wen, and Hua Lian were back, they could all go together to pick her up.

The young server gratefully accepted the silver coin and nodded. Yan Li immediately pursued the south gate and just managed to catch sight of Tang Biao riding out of the city. Yan Li looked around and noticed a horse in a nearby stable being fed hay. Without hesitation, she untied one and leapt onto its back.

The stable hand, seeing someone taking a horse, panicked as if the sky had fallen. Disregarding his own life, he stretched out his arms to block the horse’s path.

Yan Li was in a hurry to follow, but she had no intention of harming anyone. She said, “I have urgent matters to attend to and need to borrow your horse. You can seek compensation at the Qixian Palace. Please, make this easy for both of us, it’s a chance to do a good deed.”

The stable boy didn’t recognize Yan Li and naturally refused to let her go. Left with no choice, Yan Li searched her body and gave him all the silver she had before he finally allowed her to leave.

Yan Li then spurred the horse on, but the delay caused by the stable hand meant she could no longer see Tang Biao and Tang Linzhi. Fortunately, the clear weather and snow-covered ground left a trail of hoof prints, which Yan Li followed.

After two days of hard riding, her old leg ailment flared up. Usually, Mo Wen was there to administer acupuncture whenever they entered a damp and cold place, which had helped improve her condition so much that she had almost forgotten about her ailment.

This year, after taking python gallbladder, she hadn’t experienced any flare-ups and thought she was nearly cured. Unexpectedly, the cold and continuous exertion brought the ailment back. At first, she could bear it, but later, the pain became as sharp as drills boring from her knees into her brain.

Struggling to bear the pain, and fortunately not far from Suzhou, Yan Li decided to divert there. She found Liu Xiu and borrowed some help before continuing the pursuit of Tang Linzhi.

Unbeknownst to her, Tang Linzhi had managed to shake off Tang Biao in a small town and had returned. As a result, Tang Linzhi and the people sent by Liu Xiu missed each other.

By the time Liu Xiao received the news again, it wasn’t about bringing back Tang Linzhi, but rather a message that Tang Linzhi herself had entrusted the Yanyu Pavilion in Jing City to relay—someone was plotting against Qing Jiu.