Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 174: The Dark Room

In the dim room, a sharp blade was inserted into the crack of the door and easily lifted the bolt.

They had been waiting outside for more than an hour, until the candles in the house were extinguished, and when they thought everyone had gone to bed, they went in and did their thing.

The door was pried open, but the person inside was unaware and was still sleeping soundly in bed.

A man tiptoed forward, holding a sharp blade in his hand, and suddenly slashed at the person on the bed!

But there was something strange about this chop, and no blood was seen.

Just as he was wondering, he saw a bright knife light flashing from above, and it chopped down like lightning, leaving the man no time to react, and the man was knocked to the ground cleanly and neatly.

The assassins who were following behind were shocked to see their companions being chopped down in the blink of an eye. It turned out that the people in the house had noticed it and hid on the beams in advance, killing them by surprise.

The man named Cui has done a lot of harm to people. He is not just a teenager, but he is not very skilled, and he is very ruthless when it comes to killing people.

They were all personal guards of Zou Huaiyi, the Water Inspector. They were deeply involved in Zou Huaiyi's activities of hijacking ships, killing people and selling goods.

Because they had to be on duty in the camp that day, they did not go to Zou's house to celebrate his birthday and luckily escaped the disaster.

After the incident, he relied on his old connections to evade the search by the Magistrates' Court and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Now Zou Huaiyi's case has too many implications, and people are snatching him from all over the country. The only way to solve the problem once and for all is to flee overseas.

But to escape from the Great Zhou, one needs to get a pass, and the man named Cui has the power and connections to do so, but he wants to exchange the life of the boy in the house.

To be able to be Zou Huaiyi's personal guard, he had outstanding skills and courage. Although he saw his companions being chopped down, he did not retreat and stabbed out with the long sword in his hand like lightning.

Fortunately, Jia Cong was feeling uneasy last night and did not put out the candle late at night, which made the assassin feel uneasy. He woke up as soon as the light went out. Because the house was cold, he got up to add more charcoal, and happened to hear the noise in the yard.

He was already on guard, so he stuffed his pillow and clothes into the quilt and climbed onto the beam.

Having just chopped down a man, he became calmer and dodged the long sword by slightly turning sideways. The tip of the scimitar with a huge arc brushed against the sword and swept forward.

The blade tilted up, and the hook-like tip mysteriously cut a gash on the opponent's arm. The assassin's sword fell to the ground with a clang.

Jia Cong's scimitar is of a strange shape, an unusual sword to begin with, and he has learned the assassination skills of Qu Hongxiu's close combat, looking for opportunities to attack the enemy in a mysterious and unpredictable manner.

Facing the assassin's bold and aggressive style of operation, he naturally has the upper hand.

He was very familiar with the layout of the objects in his room, and there was no hindrance even in the dark, which was another advantage.

Taking advantage of the gap when the assassin's right hand was stabbed and the sword fell, he picked up the stool beside him and smashed it down hard, knocking the opponent to the ground, and then stepped forward to give him another blow.

Suddenly, I heard a scream in the yard and was shocked. That voice was Jinghui's.

As soon as he opened the door and rushed out of the yard, he heard the sound of wind. In the crisis, his body suddenly tilted, and a black shadow flew past his arm and nailed to the door panel behind him.

Jinghui was standing there with a pale face, a steel knife was placed on her neck from behind, and there was an overturned bamboo basket on the ground, with bamboo charcoal scattered all over the floor.

Jia Cong was shocked to see that the man was holding a crossbow in his left hand. This type of crossbow was a standard item in the army and was most commonly used among the Jinyiwei.

When the Water Conservancy Commissioner Liu Hai led officers and soldiers to guard the construction site of the big temple, Jia Cong also saw that they were equipped with this kind of crossbow.

Ordinary bandits don’t have such things.

This person is most likely related to the Jinyiwei or the Water Supervision Bureau.

"Your two accomplices are already dead. If you let her go, I will let you go!" As he said this, he tightened the scimitar in his hand.

When the man saw that his two companions had entered the room and never came out again, he thought that something had probably happened to them. He didn't expect that this young man was so tough and was terrified.

The two companions who had just entered the house were better at martial arts than him, but he was the one who stayed outside the house to guard and plunder the enemy. Now he was alone and powerless, so how could he be their opponent? He had already thought of retreating.

Jia Cong saw him move the sharp blade away from Jinghui's neck, but he did not dare to be careless at all. He saw the man push Jinghui hard and shoot an arrow at him quickly.

This standard crossbow is not big in size and can be strung once and fired multiple times. He shot the arrow at Jia Cong without intending to hit him, just to stop him. Before Jia Cong could dodge, he shot the next arrow at Jinghui's back, and then turned and ran.

Shooting these two arrows was enough to give him a chance to escape.

As soon as Jia Cong walked out of the door, his eyes never left Jinghui and the crossbow in the man's hand. He didn't even try to dodge the arrow shot at him.

Just after the man fired the first arrow, he flew towards Jinghui. He couldn't imagine what the consequences would be if Jinghui was shot at such a close distance.

At the moment when Jia Cong threw Jinghui to the ground, he felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder, and the assassin took the opportunity to run away and disappeared.

Jia Cong saw Jinghui's pale face lying in his arms, fortunately she was safe and sound, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The arrow pierced through his clothes on the right shoulder at an angle, leaving a deep cut on the shoulder, which was only two fingers wide away from the neck. If it had been a little more off, it would have pierced the neck.

Although he avoided vital parts, the blood quickly soaked half of his clothes, which looked a bit scary. Jinghui was so frightened that she didn't know what to do and just hugged him and cried.

Jia Cong comforted him, "It's not a fatal injury. I won't die. Help me back to my room first."

At this time, the sky was gradually getting brighter. The fight just now was actually very short and didn't even make much noise, but lights were still lit in the yard next door.

Jia Cong helped Jinghui into the room and locked the door.

Enduring the severe pain, he checked the two people on the ground. One was dead, and the other was stabbed by him when he jumped from the beam. The blow was not fatal, but the man was already unconscious from serious injuries.

She found the bottle of medicine that Qu Hongxiu had given him. When Jinghui undressed him, she discovered that his shoulder was torn and the bleeding would not stop if he moved at the slightest. She could not help but cry out.

After washing the wound, he taught Jinghui to apply medicine to him. Fortunately, Qu Hongxiu's medicine was always effective and the bleeding stopped quickly. However, Jia Cong was mentally exhausted after the injury and could hardly hold on.

At this time, the east was already getting bright, and the faint morning light shone in from the window, gradually erasing the darkness in the house.

The unexplainable fear and confusion buried deep in Jinghui's heart seemed to gradually dissipate in the warm morning light.

It's like layers of fog have been cleared away, and the tenderness that rises from the bottom of my heart is clear and firm.

The tables and chairs in the room were in a mess, with a dead man and a wounded man lying on the ground, and the air was filled with the smell of blood.

But it was filled with a tender and gentle breath. Jinghui helped Jia Cong sit on the edge of the bed and leaned lightly on him. Jia Cong half-hugged her with his right hand, and the scimitar in his hand had been thrown aside.

……

Master Xiushan discovered that Jinghui went to deliver bamboo charcoal to Jia Cong early in the morning, but did not return for a long time. She sent someone to check and found out that something had happened.

Panxiang Temple was under the jurisdiction of Wu County. By the time the Wu County government received the news and rushed over, it was already past the hour of Mao.

At Jia Cong's suggestion, the team leader called a doctor and the seriously injured assassin was saved.

This assassination attempt was most likely related to the Water Inspectorate. Jia Cong saw Cui Bowang again on Leyu Street that day, and even the Jinling Guard was implicated. Under such circumstances, it was natural that the assassin had to be left alive.

When the magistrate of Wu County learned that the person who had been assassinated was Jia Cong, the now famous official in Jiangnan, and that the assassin was most likely the remnant of the Jinling Water Conservancy Commissioner, there was no way he would be negligent at all.

While arresting and treating the prisoners, an urgent letter was sent to Yingtian Prefecture to discuss the follow-up matters.

After all, one assassin escaped and the case involved a major case involving the Jinling Water Supervision Bureau, so no one could be sure whether the assassin would come back.

If this official gets into trouble in Wu County, don't say the court will hold him accountable.

The verbal and written criticism from the scholars and people in the south of the Yangtze River alone was enough to make it impossible for him to gain a foothold in Wu County. To be on the safe side, Jia Cong was taken to the back office of the county government to recuperate.

After all, no matter how arrogant the assassin was, he would not dare to go straight into the county government office to commit the assassination.

Ever since Jia Cong was injured, Jinghui has never left his side. Although she still can't remember the past, it doesn't seem to matter anymore.

(End of this chapter)