Chapter 459: Fog
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The Second Prince left Baoyue Brothel. His expression was unusually cold. Regardless of what information he received through this conversation, and how much trust and fear he felt toward Fan Xian’s objection, the reality tonight had proved a great deal. His power in the capital had already been mercilessly uprooted by Fan Xian. There were only two paths before him. One, he could determinedly rely on the Eldest Princess’ side. Another was as Fan Xian thought, he could sincerely back out of the fight for the line of succession.
Without power, what would he use to fight? However, the Second Prince knew that if this situation developed, if Fan Xian had not swept away his power today, then in the not so distant future, either Qing Kingdom would sink into turmoil or he would be mercilessly wiped out.
But, he would not have a thread of gratitude toward Fan Xian because he had forced him onto this desperate path.
After the Great Prince said a few things with Fan Xian, he also left Baoyue Brothel with worry all over his face. At the same time, he also took away the Third Prince. The conversation between the royal brothers had not been very cheerful. Furthermore, the Third Prince had to go back to the Palace. As the leader of the Imperial Army, it was most appropriate for the Great Prince to take him along the way.
The night was gradually getting darker. If there was such a thick layer of clouds, one would certainly be able to see that the moon had moved to the position it should be in the middle of the night.
Fan Xian did not leave Baoyue Brothel. He sat by himself for a long time and ate the bowl of mutton soup he had made. Eating it made his whole body feel warm. He drank a few more cups of wine. Only then did he slowly stand and walked to the window to glance outside.
Outside the window was a deathly silence. The people from the Jingdou government and garrison had already left. Baoyue Brothel was not open for business tonight, so the girls had already slept. There were only a few agile people serving him.
Inside the building, the red candles stood silently. Fan Xian had Shi Qing’er prepare a bucket of hot water, and he comfortably had a wash.
After washing, he rubbed his slightly red face and asked, “Has the Great Prince gone to Yangcong Alley in the past few days?”
Shi Qing’er listened at the side. She knew that the big boss was talking about the matter of the Hu tribe princess. She shook her head. As she was about to go forward to help him dress, he waved his hand and had her leave.
In a moment, Sang Wen came in. This gentle shopkeeper of Baoyue Brothel bent down slightly and carefully helped him put on his inner clothing. Her fingers slid across his well-shaped muscles and couldn’t help being slightly startled but didn’t dare move too much. She carefully tied the nearly three fingers-wide secret crossbow to his left forearm.
Putting on his shoes, she slid the black, slender, and long head of the crossbow into the boots. Sang Wen stood and conducted a final tidying of Fan Xian’s outfit, ensuring that the black Overwatch Council official robes covered every sliver of skin that could be damaged. Only then did she nod her head.
Fan Xian smiled slightly to show his approval. Confirming that the medicinal pills on him had not been lost, he patted Sang Wen’s head and started to leave the room.
Sang Wen started slightly and said, “Sir, your sword?”
Fan Xian turned his head and saw Sang Wen holding Wei Emperor’s sword in her hands. He was calm but an irresolute expression flashed through his eyes. A moment later, he said, “This sword is too bright. It’s better to not take it. Just leave it here for now.”
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Lifting the triple leather curtains in front of Baoyue Brothel, all of the main people respectfully saw Fan Xian out of the door. He had already raised the hood on his robe and pulled it over his head, letting the shadows hide his delicate appearance. Stepping down the stone steps outside the building, he couldn’t resist raising his head to glance at the heavy night as if he was confirming whether or not it would snow in a while.
The carriage drove over, but he shook his head, indicating that he wanted to walk. He then headed toward the east.
Baoyue Brothel had a feast, so he didn’t bring his Tiger Guards, and all of the power of the Overwatch Council in Jingdou had already carried out countless attacks under the cover of night. Even the power of the Qinian Unit had been thrown in. There were only a few Fan manor guards and a coachman beside him.
Everyone knew that Baoyue Brothel was having a feast and had also heard of the disturbance in Jingdou. They all thought the young master needed to walk and think, so they didn’t approach and disturb him. They only had the carriage follow him at a distance.
They did not go east for very long before turning into a straight, long street, Chang Street.
Wearing the robe, he suddenly stopped his steps as if he was listening to something. He waved his hand to tell the carriage behind him to not follow him. He walked toward the center of the street.
The night was already dark. A sudden strange fog appeared in the Jingdou alley where the snow had stopped. The fog moved around the air and gradually became heavier. It rolled in from all directions and gradually gathered on Chang Street.
A faintly white fog, it was not very distinct on the lightless Jingdou street, but it effectively obstructed people’s vision. One felt blind despite open eyes and fingers could not be seen on an outstretched hand.
At first, the carriage behind him did not let Fan Xian walk alone in this night and was not going to listen to his orders. However, at this moment, they still stopped unwillingly.
The Fan manor guards on the carriage made the wind-proof lantern a bit brighter, but the dim yellow light only lit up the dog in front. Like the clouds at the top of Cang Mountain, they could not see very far. They had long lost sight of the lonely figure in black.
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On Chang Street, the white fog gradually thickened. Only the weak sounds of Fan Xian’s footsteps could be heard, ringing out like a calm and steady rhythm. Other than this, there was not a single other, sound as if there was not a living thing on this street.
The people the Overwatch Council wanted to kill tonight seemed to have already been killed, and those they wanted to capture have already been thrown into prison with the Seventh Bureau firmly in control. The Jingdou commoners who did not yet know of these things were enjoying the warmth of their beds. The nobles out at night had already staggered home. The people sounding the night watches were being lazy. The 13 city gate guards were watching the gates.
The footsteps constantly moved forward, then, it seemed to sense something and paused in the white fog. A gust of a winter’s night’s wind blew past and thinned the fog on Chang Street a little. The end of Chang Street could faintly be seen.
There should be no one at the end of Chang Street. However, it felt like there was someone standing guard there. Wearing the robe, he stopped his steps and raised his head. His eyes gazed calmly forward as if he seeing just who was there.
Then, he saw a person.
The person’s figure was tall and sturdy with shoulders like steel. He stood like a mountain at the end of Chang Street. There was a longbow behind him, and he carried a quiver with 13 arrows inside.
The wind stopped, and the fog thickened. They were not seen again.
Fan Xian had the Overwatch Council begin their final attack on the Second Prince and his people, but he seemed to have forgotten one thing. When you attacked the most aggressively, often that was also when your defenses were the weakest. At this moment, he had no one beside him he could depend on, only himself.
He was carrying out revenge for the attack in the valley. It was a completely unreasonably revenge, but had forgotten that a certain Governor was also going to carry out revenge for the death of his only son.
Could he dodge the bow opposite him?
Two years ago, he had been shot down from the Palace walls by that bow and had been completely powerless to retaliate. That bow had already become the largest patch of blank space in his martial cultivation.
That was why he stopped behind the fog.
On the other side of the white fog, Yan Xiaoyi slightly shuttered his eyes and felt the qi of the person behind the fog, checking that the other party did not leave his control.
On this side of the fog, there was no sign of movement.
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Yan Xiaoyi, the previous Commander of the Imperial Army, the current Governor of the North of Qing Kingdom and one of the very few ninth-ranked super officials, was not a lunatic. He knew what it would mean to assassinate Fan Xian in Jingdou’s Chang Street.
He still did not forcefully suppress his battle rage and bloodlust. When he saw Yan Shendu’s body in the Yuantai Camp, he had already decided. A person’s life, just what was it for? Even if, in the future, he controlled all the armies under heaven and conquered this kingdom, who would he leave it to?”
Thus, he was not a lunatic, but he had still gone mad.
Jingdou was not peaceful. No one had expected that Fan Xian would carry out a purge so aggressively. At the same time, no one expected that the Northern Governor would actually throw away all his apprehensions and return to his initial hunter’s thoughts and would silently watch Fan Xian, observe Fan Xian, and wait for Fan Xian, until his patience brought Fan Xian to the location of his death.
Although there was fog on Chang Street that could obstruct people’s vision, it could not stop Yan Xiaoyi’s arrow. His arrow did not need eyes in the first place.
He had brought 13 arrows and was going to ask Fan Xian what the Thirteenth Wang on the notice that the First Bureau put up meant. If Fan Xian died, it was fine if this question was not asked. No matter how much improvement Fan Xian had made these years or how talented he was in martial cultivation, Yan Xiaoyi coldly believed that he could definitely kill him.
This matter had nothing to do with the line of succession, and nothing to do with the world. It was not for justice or benefit. It was only because the personal grudge was irreconcilable.
He had already locked into the qi. The two of them, one was at the end of the street and the other in the middle, other than meeting face to face, there was no other way. Fan Xian stood silently behind the fog as if evaluating whether he should battle or retreat.
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After a long silence, Yan Xiaoyi took one step forward. The murderous intent radiating from his body caused the white fog in front of him to move. A patch of empty ground in front of him appeared, and the air immediately became colder again.
He immediately pulled back his hood. He glanced at the roof in the top left corner out of the corner of his eyes and slightly furrowed his brows. Using the stone beast on the roof, he blocked his body.
With his body and the stone beast in a single line, he felt there was a strangely terrifying danger waiting for him at the end of that line.
This was an illogical feeling. He had lived in the woods from a young age, interacted with wild beasts, and developed a sensitivity like that of wild beasts. He could always sense the existence of danger ahead of time.
The longbow had long been in his hand, but an arrow had not been nocked. Yan Xiaoyi lowered his head slightly and felt the strange movements around him—just who was ambushing who?
He was a ninth-ranked extraordinary ace. Other than those four old freaks, Yan Xiaoyi did not have much to fear in this world. Every time his state entered the peak, the thought of challenging a Great Grandmaster always rose up in his heart.
It was also because of his realm that he could clearly sense that on Chang Street. There was only himself and Fan Xian. That was why he dared to coldly use his state of mind to connect with Fan Xian, preparing to fire out that fatal arrow at any moment.
Of course, when he had stepped out earlier, he had discovered a strange phenomenon.
At the forefront was that unknown and mysterious source of danger, less so was at the moment his step landed. He felt that the flavor of the fog behind him seemed to have changed slightly. It was a feeling, and it wasn’t a feeling.
It was the slightest change in the texture of the wind and fog, and not the feeling after it entered the mouth.
Yan Xiaoyi knew that a very powerful figure had been hiding behind him the entire time. He wasn’t sure which specific realm this person’s martial cultivation had reached, but to be able to fool him for so long, they certainly had the power to hurt him.
He didn’t move carelessly because he knew that once he fired, the three energies he had stored for so long would dissipate and would reveal some flaws. Once there was a flaw in his state of mind, he wasn’t confident that he would be able to retreat completely under the joined attack of the ace behind him and the distant danger.
Chang Street remained coldly silent like this. The person on the other side of the fog couldn’t move, and Yan Xiaoyi on this side of the fog also couldn’t move.
He couldn’t move his feet, but he could move his hands.
Yan Xiaoyi took a deep breath of air. His entire figure seemed to expand a bit. His finger slowly fell down and seemed to unconsciously brush across his bowstring.
His fingers were rough and thick, but this movement was very soft like a soft brush sweeping over art paper, slender fingers brushing over qin strings, and orchids blooming.
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With a soft buzz, the bowstring vibrated.
A strange magic seemed to be created by his bowstring. The slightly vibrating bowstring moved the surrounding air, shaking the slightly faint and white fog. Gradually, it converged into true strength and sliced open Chang Street in front. Following this gentle buzzing, it quietly struck toward the other end of the fog and the person on the other end of the fog.
A muffled grunt came from the other end of the fog. Immediately after, there was the sound of someone falling to the ground.
Yan Xiaoyi calmly flipped his wrist, and the bow stood straight. Without seeing him move, an arrow was already on the string. The earlier shot without an arrow already had such power. Now, he already had an arrow on the bowstring.
But, he didn’t fire. He only remained silent because he deduced clearly that the person at the other end of the fog wasn’t Fan Xian. He had clearly watched Fan Xian leave Baoyue Brothel, so when had he switched? Although he was very confused, he understood that in tonight’s hunt, the hunter and hunted had already switched roles.
However, Yan Xiaoyi was not afraid. As long as he had his longbow in hand, even if two ninth-level aces came to attack him, he wouldn’t feel any fear. On the contrary, he felt an excitement he hadn’t felt in a long time. At any moment, he was prepared to use the arrow on his bowstring to end a life.
He had not aimed with the arrow in his hand, but his heart had already locked onto the location in the distance. However, the two sides were divided by the stone crafted creature, so it was impossible to fire.
Part of Yan Xiaoyi’s attention was also on the fog that had changed for an instant and had now returned to normal.
No one would move first.
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After an indeterminable amount of time, the strange fog on Chang Street still did not dissipate. Yan Xiaoyi’s mountain-like figure remained standing without any sign of tiredness.
However, he knew that the two hidden people were also not tired. At least, they had not let him sense they had relaxed in any way. To be able to compete with him in patience and willpower was an incredible thing. Yan Xiaoyi determined the other party’s realm and strength.
He understood that this attack on Chang Street in the depths of the night had already sunk into a stalemate. He had used that stone creature to protect himself, but it also blocked him. If this stalemate continued, the sky would probably brighten and the two sides would still be unable to move.
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However, the other party could retreat but Yan Xiaoyi was unable to move. He knew that he was now at a disadvantage.
Another long period of time passed, Yan Xiaoyi still stood steadily at the corner of the street, as unmoving as a sculpture. With his longbow in hand and the arrow nocked, there was not a single waver. There was a strange sense of beauty.
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Suddenly, a coughing sound rang out in the white fog filled Chang Street.
Accompanying this strange coughing sound, a streak of faint light shone in the fog. The light gradually brightened and walked closer to the corner of the street. As it came even closer, only then was it clear that it was two lanterns.
The lanterns were held by two little eunuchs, the little eunuchs’ faces were frozen white.
Behind the eunuchs were four workers carrying a little sedan chair. The coughing rang out endlessly from that little sedan chair.
The sedan chair stopped beside Yan Xiaoyi’s side. The curtain of the sedan chair lifted slightly and revealed an old and tired face.
This face belonged to Eunuch Hong.
Eunuch Hong blinked his muddied eyes and spoke quietly to Yan Xiaoyi beside the sedan chair, “Coming into the streets to admire the snowy night, the Governor is in a good mood. However, the night is already late, it’s better to return home. I will take you back.”
