The Beacon of Kyushu

In the blink of an eye, the crescent moon rose to the middle of the sky again.

After a day of singing, the show has now ended. Zhao Yuanzuo, who visited during the day, has now returned to his Chu Palace. Tonight, the Nanqing Palace is not as lively as yesterday. Except for the candlelight in the bedroom, the surroundings are pitch black and silent.

The shadow had been to Nanqing Palace three times before, and this time he was familiar with the situation and even more courageous. He jumped lightly from the outside of the courtyard wall, and before he could even see his shadow clearly, he was already on the top of the wall. Then, he exerted a little force on his toes and jumped onto the eaves of a side hall in an instant.

The shadow pressed his body firmly against the roof tiles, and stared straight at the bedroom, fearing that he would be ambushed. But after looking for a long time, he found that the bedroom was not as well-arranged as he had imagined. There was only one guard in front of the main door and one guard in front of the back window. There was no other arrangement. He couldn't help but laugh, "Haha, Zhao Defang is really a fool! No matter whether you threw a real golden mace or a fake one last time, just because you dare to despise me so much, I will make you throw another one tonight!"

"Meow... meow..." The shadow started to meow like a cat. His voice was not too loud, but it was very clear in the quiet palace. The guard in front of the bedroom heard the sound and glanced at the source of the sound warily. He muttered, "It's the middle of the night, why is there another wild cat stealing food? How annoying!"

The shadow heard the guard's words vaguely, and couldn't help laughing in his heart, "Haha, the Eighth Prince is stupid, and the guard who guards the door for him is also so stupid. It seems that if one stupid soldier makes a stupid general, the saying is really true!"

While he was laughing at these people's stupidity, he used his Qinggong skills to float towards the eaves of the bedroom silently like a breeze blowing a willow. His speed was so fast that the two guards in front and behind the bedroom didn't even notice that there was an extra person on the eaves above his head.

It was as if God was helping the dark shadow. The lights in the bedroom were still on just now, and faint sounds could be heard from time to time. But now the candles were extinguished, and the people in the bedroom seemed to have gone to bed, and there was no sound at all.

The shadow knew the time had come, so he quickly took out a bamboo tube from his arms and gently pressed the spring, and a very thin steel needle shot out of the tube. "Swoosh!" The steel needle flashed in the air and shot straight into the guard's Yingfeng acupoint in front of the rear window. The guard felt pain on his head and was about to call out, but he fainted and fell backwards.

The shadow muttered as he leaped down from the eaves, and just as the guard was about to fall, he hugged him and gently placed him on the ground. His series of movements were extremely skillful, not only were they incredibly fast, but they didn't even make a sound.

After the black shadow easily knocked down the guard, he reached into his bosom again and took out another bamboo tube. Then, he carefully used his little finger to poke through the window paper, inserted one end of the bamboo tube into the hall, and held the other end in his mouth. He just blew lightly on the bamboo tube, and a light green drug immediately flowed along the bamboo tube and spread into the bedroom.

Most of the drugs used by night walkers are specially made, and the effect is fast and strong. Even if there are a hundred people living in the house, they will all be unconscious in an instant, not to mention that there are only two people in the hall at this time? However, the shadow waited patiently outside the window for half a quarter of an hour for the sake of caution, and then quietly opened the window and turned over to enter the hall.

The shadow could vaguely see in the moonlight that a young man in a light yellow shirt was lying on the big bed by the window. He was facing the bed, with his back to the window, and covered with a quilt. His figure was about 70% similar to Zhao Defang.

"I guess this is the box that contains the golden mace. Now that you've been drugged, the box belongs to me!" The black shadow was secretly proud of himself, and he tiptoed towards the box. Soon he reached the bedside, and just as he was about to take the box, he suddenly felt numbness on his Qi Hai acupoint, and then his limbs could no longer move. He looked at the man on the bed in disbelief, and said in astonishment: "You... you weren't drugged!"

The man threw away the soaked handkerchief in his hand, calmly turned over and got out of bed, with his hands behind his back and a faint smile, "Ying Fei, you have been in the martial arts world for so many years, you wouldn't be surprised by such a trick! Now that you are in my hands, are you convinced?" The shadow carefully looked at the person who was speaking in the moonlight, and then he recognized that the other party was not Zhao Defang who only knew how to enjoy himself, but Zhao Yuanzuo who was feared by the martial arts world. He regretted it so much that his intestines turned green, "Zhao... Zhao Yuanzuo, could it be that everything you did these days was deliberately performed for me? If so, I, Ying Fei, really admire you!"

Zhao Yuanzuo shook his head and said, "No, of all the things that happened in the past few days, only not posting official documents, stopping the search, and the drama of me visiting your house today were my work. The rest, such as the quarrel on Liangmen Street and the fierce fight on Wansui Mountain, were indeed your work."

Ying Fei sighed, "Ah, I was wondering why the situation suddenly changed after just one day when everything was clearly going according to my plan before yesterday. I was even doubting whether the golden mace I stole was real or fake. I didn't expect that all of this was your idea."

Zhao Yuanzuo smiled and said, "You are indeed very smart, and your Qinggong is very advanced. Unfortunately, your cleverness backfired and you fell into the trap."

Ying Fei smiled bitterly, then said in a tough tone, "Zhao Yuanzuo, at this point, if I stick my head out, I'll get a knife. Don't expect me, Ying Rufeng, to beg you to let me go. Since the day I stole, I have made up my mind to go against the court and the evil people in the world, and I have long disregarded life and death. Now I have gotten what I asked for, and I have gotten what I asked for. You can kill me or rob me as you please!"

Zhao Yuanzuo nodded slightly, looking at Ying Rufeng with a look of admiration in his eyes, "A great reputation is a real talent, Ying Rufeng is indeed extraordinary, I admire you! Unfortunately, the laws of the Song Dynasty are ruthless, I can only take you to Kaifeng Prefecture to await trial!"

As soon as he finished speaking, numerous torches suddenly lit up around the bedroom, illuminating the surroundings as if it were daytime. Then, the door of the bedroom was pushed open, and Zhao Tingmei, Chai Yuxi, Zhao Rong, and Lu Duan walked into the hall with their heads held high.

Zhao Yuanzuo slapped Ying Rufeng and untied his acupuncture points, but Ying Rufeng remained motionless. He knew that with his martial arts, he was far from being able to deal with Zhao Yuanzuo alone, not to mention that there were countless yamen runners and imperial guards around. If he didn't run, he might be able to leave Kaifeng Prefecture alive. If he took the opportunity to escape, he would be hacked to pieces on the spot.

Zhao Tingmei walked up to Ying Fei, slapped him twice, and said angrily: "Little thief, it's ok for you to steal the Eighth Prince's golden mace, but you dare to steal my seal, do you know what crime you should be punished for?"

Ying Fei smiled disapprovingly, "Mr. Zhao, as you said, I am just a thief. How can I know what law I have broken or what crime I should be sentenced to? I only know that I am willing to sacrifice my life to bring down the emperor. Whether it is stealing the golden mace or the seal, in the end, the most I can do is die. Can you really exterminate my entire clan?"

Zhao Tingmei pointed at Ying Rufeng and shouted, "You are still not honest even now! I am telling you the truth, you have committed a crime that will punish all nine generations of your clan. I, the prefect of Kaifeng, have the right to exterminate your entire clan!"

"The whole family?" Ying Fei sneered, "My mother worked for you officials and was exhausted to death. In the year of the great disaster, my father saw that the local corrupt officials refused to issue relief, so he stole grain from five official places in anger to help the people. Unexpectedly, he was outnumbered and fell into the hands of the corrupt officials and was beaten to death. Now you want to wipe out my whole family, are you going to chase them to the underworld and kill my parents' souls again?" (End of this chapter)