Chapter 26: Laughter

The assassin seemed to have premeditated this; as he twisted his body to catch the blade, he did not pause for a moment. His hands stretched out like an ape, attempting to lock Elder Yue's body.

Elder Yue's reaction was also extremely fast. Sensing the danger, he immediately released the hilt and retreated sharply.

*Rip!*

The assassin tore away two pieces of cloth. Failing to embrace Elder Yue, he settled for a secondary goal, gripping Elder Yue's arm with a death grip.

Just then, the leaves rustled, and three more dark figures leaped down. Moving like ghosts, they headed straight for Princess Dongyang.

Elder Yue's expression changed drastically. In his urgency, he swung his palm toward the assassin's head. The assassin, having already accepted his death, did not dodge; instead, he wrapped his legs tightly around one of Elder Yue's legs. He could only withstand a few strikes before Elder Yue's palm struck his head.

Red and white matter splattered. Although the assassin was dead, his limbs remained tightly locked onto Elder Yue.

The surroundings had long since fallen into chaos.

As soon as Bai Jianglan made a move, he was besieged by two suicidal assassins fighting with a "life-for-a-life" style. Even someone as strong as Bai Jianglan had to respond with caution.

Of the remaining five guards, two were struck through the chest by crossbow bolts fired from the shadows and fell dead. The other three were alert; after dodging the hidden arrows, they stood back-to-back, barely stabilizing their positions to fend off the assassins' onslaught.

At this moment, Elder Yue, who was closest to the Princess, was being restrained by the assassin, and Princess Dongyang had only just managed to sit up from the ground.

Elder Yue dragged the assassin's corpse with clumsy movements, only managing to ram into the nearest assassin while shouting loudly, "Quick, save the Princess!"

Qin Sang had actually been the quickest to react, but this was his first encounter with such a perilous melee, and he feared that the eerie methods of the Yama would expose his secret in front of everyone, so he hesitated.

He hadn't expected that his brief hesitation would allow the situation to deteriorate to this extent in an instant.

Qin Sang grabbed his ironwood staff. He vaguely heard a faint sound behind his head, followed by a sudden rush of wind above him. He hurriedly rolled onto the ground.

*Thud!*

A crossbow bolt embedded itself into the ground where Qin Sang had just been standing.

Then, a dark figure descended from the canopy like a great roc spreading its wings, a chilling flash of sword light cutting through the darkness.

Qin Sang hurriedly rolled again to dodge the strike. Just as he summoned the Yama, he heard Water Monkey shout in his ear, "Brother Qin, hold him off! I'm going to save the Princess!"

Left with no choice, Qin Sang swung his staff in a hard clash against the assassin, glancing back amidst the chaos.

Bai Jianglan had traded an injury for a kill to take down one assassin. Covered in blood, he dragged his feet and arrived at the Princess's side at the critical moment, blocking one attacker.

Water Monkey arrived in time and intercepted another.

The situation was barely stabilized. Once Elder Yue broke free, the battle would be decided, and there would be no need to rush the Yama into killing.

Unexpectedly, just as this thought flashed through Qin Sang's mind and he prepared to maneuver against the assassin, he suddenly heard a faint sound. It was so quiet it was almost inaudible, but it was highly unusual. With his keen hearing, he still distinguished it amidst the chaotic combat.

"This is..."

Qin Sang's heart stirred. He suddenly remembered—it was the sound of a string!

Qin Sang quickly scanned his surroundings and noticed something strange in the shadows behind Princess Dongyang. Then, a tiny, ghostly light shot out from the darkness.

It wasn't a crossbow bolt, but a concealed weapon as thin as an embroidery needle, shimmering with a faint blue light—clearly coated in potent poison.

"Princess, watch out!"

Qin Sang shouted, but Princess Dongyang remained standing in place, too stunned to move, and neither Elder Yue nor Bai Jianglan could turn back in time. Without thinking, Qin Sang used all his strength to hurl the ironwood staff with all his might.

In this moment, Qin Sang utilized his skills from hunting birds; the staff flew almost flush against Princess Dongyang, striking the poisoned needle just in time and knocking it away.

As he raised his hand, Qin Sang triggered the mechanism of his sleeve arrow toward that shadow.

The bolt shot into the darkness, followed by a muffled thud, and then silence.

Only then did Princess Dongyang react. She looked up at Qin Sang, a trace of panic in her eyes, but she quickly regained her composure and flashed him a bright smile.

"Commander Bai, end this quickly!"

Elder Yue was breaking into a cold sweat from the previous scene. Not daring to delay further, he risked being struck by a sword to strike the assassin dead with his palm.

The assassination plot had been shattered by Qin Sang's single blow, and in an instant, all the remaining assassins became incredibly frenzied.

Qin Sang fought sharp swords with his bare fists, feeling the strain after only a few moves. He hurriedly found an opening to let the Yama kill an assassin. At the exact moment the assassin's body went stiff, his fingers moved like lightning to crush the man's throat as a cover.

His timing was precise, leaving almost no flaws.

This was the first time Qin Sang had used the Yama Banner to kill in front of others, and just as he had envisioned, he executed it perfectly.

Just as a smile began to touch Qin Sang's face, he suddenly heard several screams. His heart jolted—Water Monkey!

*Swish!*

A severed arm flew through the air. Water Monkey's left arm was gone, and his face was deathly pale.

Elder Yue snatched up a sword, swung it to cut away the weight on his body, and moved with the agility of a cicada in eight steps to reach Water Monkey's side, finishing off the assassin with a single strike.

...

When everything finally settled, only one of the five guards remained alive. Water Monkey had lost an arm. Bai Jianglan pressed his fingers against the acupoints at the stump, using his true qi to seal the blood vessels and barely stem the bleeding.

Elder Yue had been struck in the left shoulder and had no time to tend to it. He quickly searched the surroundings and then checked if Princess Dongyang was injured.

Princess Dongyang shook her head to indicate she was fine. She walked over to pick up the ironwood staff, weighed it in her hand, and handed it back to Qin Sang, saying, "Thank you, Young Master Qin, for knocking away that poisoned needle and saving my life."

Qin Sang replied with poise, "The Princess overpraises me. What I did was a mere trifle. This was entirely thanks to Commander Bai, Elder Yue, Zhou Ning, and the guards fighting desperately to kill the assassins, which gave me the opportunity to throw that staff."

Princess Dongyang nodded and turned to Elder Yue. "Elder Yue, once you have treated your injuries, please arrange for the guards to be buried. Since they died for me, they must not be left to rot in the wilderness. Once we return to Dongyang Commandery, I will order men to bring their bodies back for a proper burial."

Elder Yue accepted the command and departed.

Qin Sang crouched beside Zhou Ning, watching Bai Jianglan's busy movements. He wondered if this world possessed the medical skill for limb reattachment; even if it did, it would likely be difficult to restore it to its original state.

For a martial artist, it was undoubtedly cruel.

Looking at Water Monkey's pale face, Qin Sang didn't know how to comfort him. He took out the wound salve provided by the old Taoist and handed it to Bai Jianglan. "Brother Bai, try this. The formula was passed down by a former imperial physician."

Bai Jianglan opened the cap, sniffed it, and applied some to Water Monkey's stump. The continuous bleeding actually began to subside.

Bai Jianglan's eyes lit up. "Good medicine!"

Gritting his teeth, Water Monkey managed to squeeze out a few words, "Thank you, Brother Qin!"

What a tough man!

Qin Sang praised him inwardly. Water Monkey was usually an energetic and talkative person; he hadn't expected his temperament to be so resilient. Even after such a heavy blow, there was no sign of despondency on his face, and he hadn't uttered a sound while Bai Jianglan treated his wound.

"Brother Zhou, I'm still waiting to eat that Nine-Whiskered Fish you caught!"

Water Monkey let out a loud laugh.

(End of Chapter)