This courtyard had been her first hiding place after leaving her uncle’s place. Seeing it now stirred an unexpected sense of familiarity and warmth in her heart.
She suddenly had the urge to go visit Yin Er. Or perhaps she could also see Yan Hong and Cui Er, and find out how they had been doing all these years.
She, of course, couldn’t enter via the front door. Lanxiang Courtyard’s secret back door though, she knows it very well.
Feng Zhi Wei stood up, put away the mask belonging to Wei Zhi, leaving on her past trademark yellow face. Getting to the back door, she was just about to knock when a sudden sound of hurried footsteps came from behind her. Quickly ducking out of sight, she soon sees Yin Er hurrying over, tugging an old woman along with her. In the early summer heat, her face was covered in sweat, her expression extremely tense and anxious. Behind her followed several other women, all slender with outstanding beauty. Feng Zhi Wei shrank into the shadows as she watched the group, wondering inwardly: Since when have the girls of Lanxiang Courtyard been of such high caliber?
The group hurriedly pushed open the door, which was not closed at all, and it seemed that no one had been there previously. But immediately someone came from behind the door and said, “You are here? Hurry!” Someone ushered them inside, and in the next instant, figures flickered past as the door was swiftly shut.
From within came the faint sound of hurried footsteps, and someone muttered, “What’s so special about this old woman? Could she be better than…”
Yin Er’s voice could then immediately be heard cutting off the person’s muttering as she said coldly, “Don’t talk so much! No matter what, the master’s life is the most important thing!”
Listening to their footsteps, Feng Zhi Wei suddenly lowered herself to the ground and listened carefully. Sure enough, the footsteps did not seem to be walking on flat ground, instead, they seemed to be descending underground.
A tunnel?
Feng Zhi Wei mentally went through what she recalled of Lanxiang Courtyard’s layouts. Her study of mechanisms and hidden traps had only begun after Zong Chen gave her that mysterious book. Not long after that, she left Lanxiang Courtyard, so she actually never noticed anything strange about this place.
But now, hearing Yin Er’s tone when she mentioned “master”, seeing their anxious expressions, and considering the “tunnel”, a warning suddenly flashed through her mind.
Back when she had been expelled from her uncle’s manor, many things had seemed ordinary on the surface, yet in truth, everything had been planned and controlled by others. By that point, Ning Yi had already set his sights on the Feng siblings, so the first encounter at the Qiu manor was not a coincidence, the lonely bridge on the snowy night was not a chance meeting, and the Lanxiang Courtyard was naturally not so simple either.
Feng Zhi Wei listened for a while in the darkness, then straightened up, carefully examined the surrounding terrain, leaped onto a tree, and made some calculations. After a while, she leaped and silently glided past the treetop, turned into a narrow alley, and landed in front of a house.
Here, if she wasn’t mistaken, should be the exit of that tunnel.
There were a few scattered beggars around. Feng Zhi Wei observed them for a while and felt that these beggars were real. She landed next to a beggar who was sleeping alone. Seeing that his clothes were acceptable, she nudged him and said, “Hey, brother, can I buy a piece of clothing from you?” She handed him a piece of silver as she spoke.
The beggar’s eyes lit up. He took the silver, bit it, and right away, deftly took off his outer robe. Without saying a word, he disappeared into the darkness— these vagrants who often begged near brothels and taverns have encountered all sorts of strange people and had long since gained the ability to remain calm in all situations, and to make money whenever they could.
Saving herself a lot of trouble, Feng Zhi Wei pinched her nose and put on the tattered, blackened robe, then let her hair down to cover her face. She hadn’t worn a mask today, so she had to make do with pretending to be a beggar. Under the current circumstances, only these beggars who had been begging here for years would not attract attention.
She squatted behind a broken vat, leisurely pretending to pick some nonexistent lice, while listening to the movements inside.
There was still no movement inside, but outside, the wind suddenly picked up.
Not just the sound of the wind, there was light as well.
The gleaming lights of swords.
This was a silent, dark alley, in stark contrast to the brightly lit, bustling district of nightlife not far away. This area is often filled with smoke and haze, so that when those gleaming sword lights appeared, they looked like stray fireworks bursting from far in the distance– just brief white light flashing, accompanied by faint “puff” sounds.
Even with Feng Zhi Wei’s martial art skills, it wasn’t until the second strike that she caught the scent of blood and suddenly realized what was happening.
Using a crack in the broken vat, she cautiously peered out. At some unknown point, a group of neatly dressed men in black had appeared in the narrow alley, darting swiftly through it. Their swords flashed like a whirlwind, silently killing all the beggars sleeping there.
Feng Zhi Wei’s heart lurched. It was already too late for her to leave. Judging by these people’s martial arts skills, she should be able to make her escape, but then that would inevitably bring unwanted attention upon herself. Moreover, she still remembers the expert fighter who had forced her off the imperial temple wall. She really dared not take the risk, so she stayed hidden behind the vat, unmoving.
Her figure was fairly well concealed, but these men seemed determined not to leave any survivors. Before long, light, agile footsteps approached. When they saw her behind the vat, a vicious glint flashed across the man’s eyes. A sword shot forward like a living snake, with a sharp “woosh” it pierced toward her chest.
The person was very confident in his own martial art skills. Once the strike landed, he immediately turned and left.
The tip of the sword he held reversed behind him glimmered faintly in the dark, a drop of bright red liquid slowly falling from its point…
Feng Zhi Wei remained curled up motionless behind the vat, looking like the poster child of a beggar who suffered an unjust death.
The half-eaten papaya in her arms smelled delicious, and she suddenly felt a little hungry. …
The area seemed to have been cleared up, and then the sound of horse hooves was heard. The group dressed in black immediately went to greet them respectfully.
Feng Zhi Wei turned her face and, through the cracks in the broken vat, saw a red horse leisurely approaching. Her heart skipped a beat the moment she saw the horse— a top quality Yue horse!
Her gaze moved upward as the person on the horse coldly looked down. Under the starlight, the face was fair and delicate, with bright eyes that were filled with a murderous aura. The face was very familiar.
Shao Ning!
Under the starlight, Shao Ning sat astride on the horse, looking toward the house that concealed the tunnel entrance, and spoke slowly. The night wind carried fragments of her voice, from which Feng Zhi Wei could vaguely make out, “….all cleaned up?”
The men in black bowed respectfully.
Shao Ning nodded in satisfaction and pointed at the house, “The time should be soon now. No one would ever think to look here. Once you get the person, then leave immediately.”
“Yes.”
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