In the distant horizon, a bolt of lightning shot through the clouds and lit up the sky. After a while, a thunderous sound came from the distance…
Hearing the thunder, the people in the not-so-busy streets sped up. It was already nighttime now and most of the people in the capital who had been busy for the day were ready to go home and eat a hot dinner. On the side of the streets, only a few restaurants and hotels were still running. Most of the shops had closed.
Today was the 19th day in the third lunar month of the 16th year of the Yuanping reign in the Great Han Empire — the day Yan Liqiang was going to attack.
Yan Liqiang wobbled on the newspapaer office’s carriage. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the streets. Occasionally, a luxurious carriage would go past his. Some of them were exquisite products of the manufacturing bureau. In the past two years, quite a few of the carriages the manufacturing bureau made were sent to the capital district, especially in the capital city. There were many wealthy and powerful people here. A few thousand taels of silver may be expensive for ordinary people, but to these elites, it was nothing. It might just be equivalent to the cost of a meal. With the Emperor leading the way, the elites in the capital city all copied and ordered carriages from the manufacturing bureau. Of course, some of them were fake.
Seeing the sky suddenly darken, the restaurants started hanging lamps outside their doors.
Some shops were closing and attached blocks of wood on their doors.
Some policemen walked into nearby taverns together…
Some women were reproaching their crying kids.
After a few lightning bolts, pea-sized rain started falling from the sky. The sky was dark and the streets were watery. Now, there were even fewer people…
The carriage stopped at one street next to a building that could cover the rain. The rider knocked on the carriage, reminding Yan Liqiang, “The Phoenix Parade is just ahead…”
“Alright, I’ll get off here…” Yan Liqiang agreed and put on his cape and hat while carrying his wooden box as he got off.
The carriage went on ahead while Yan Liqiang quickly went into a dark alley under the rain.
The sky was dark with the occasional flash of lightning. Yan Liqiang carried his long wooden box containing the bow and walked in the small alley towards Three Sages Temple. He passed by some people but they didn’t seem to notice his wooden box. There were too many people selling their assets in the capital, so carrying a wooden box wasn’t anything special now.
Just when he was 1,000 meters away from the temple, Yan Liqiang turned into a distant alley and two figures stopped in front and behind Yan Liqiang.
“Brother, what are you carrying? How about letting us see…”
Lightning flashed, illuminating the pale face and knife the hoodlum had in front of him.
They had cruel smiles on their faces.
Yan Liqiang hadn’t anticipated this event.
“You two. What I’m carrying isn’t worth money, so we should go our own separate paths…”
“Quit wasting time, it’s unlucky that you met us two today. Leave everything you have and piss off. Otherwise, my knife isn’t just for show…” the hoodlum in front of him sneered. With a glance, they started pressing towards Yan Liqiang.
Yan Liqiang looked around — there was no one within 100 meters. Since these two wanted to die, they better not blame him.
When they were one meter from Yan Liqiang, the two charged at Yan Liqiang at the same time…
Yan Liqiang’s figure disappeared. The two hoodlums had blood in their mouths and glared at each other. Their knives stabbed into each others’ hearts. Even if the police saw them, they would think the two killed each other. No one would care why these two small figures died. There just needed to be a reason. As long as no upper-level citizen questioned this, who would care about how these two died…
A few minutes later, Yan Liqiang had arrived at the backyard of Three Sages Temple. He stood below the tall Three Sages Temple.
At this moment, the monks were having their night lesson. One could hear chanting from the front but there was no one at the back.
When the lightning illuminated the dark again, Yan Liqiang’s figure had already dashed up the second floor of the tower. He shook open a window and slid in before shutting it. This entire process only took half a second.
Yan Liqiang came to the tower and went straight to the top. He took off his cape and hat and opened his wooden box, taking out his bow and arrow. He opened the window a little bit and waited like a hunter as he watched the Phoenix Parade intently. He calmed down his breathing and waited for Lin Qingtian’s carriage to appear.
The closer it came, the calmer Yan Liqiang was.
Yan Liqiang waited in the tower for two hours when a group of people and a carriage appeared.
There were fifty guards in front of the carriage. The cavalry behind had the full customary Grand Chancellor proceedings. Despite the rain, they held their customary staves rigidly. A black luxurious carriage was in the center of this group, and there were fifty more guards behind them.
Yan Liqiang moved his fingers and quietly pushed open the window with four God Extermination Arrows in his hand.
Yan Liqiang waited quietly for the carriage to reach the middle of the parade.
The carriage was getting closer to the position Yan Liqiang was going to fire at. Just when Yan Liqiang took a deep breath and was about to shoot…
Lightning flashed and the world lit up again, along with the rumbling thunder sounds. Yan Liqiang’s eyes bulged and he almost gasped. At that instant, he found that there was a person in front of Lin Qingtian’s carriage. He wore all white and he had a strange golden mask on his face. He stood in the middle of the street and blocked Lin Qingtian’s entourage. Even with Yan Liqiang’s eyes, he didn’t see how that person had appeared.
That person carried a sword in one hand but two heads in the other. Due to the angle, Yan Liqiang couldn’t see the faces of the two heads. He just looked calmly at the carriage coming over.
The rain and wind seemed to have been parted by an invisible hand around that person. He wore white robes and stayed perfectly dry. He seemed like an immortal…
Even from a distance, Yan Liqiang could feel the shocking temperament from that person. It felt like a mountain was there with just him standing in place…
“Huuuu…” Lin Qingtian’s entourage rustled. The horses were frightened and bucked up where they were no matter how the guards whipped them. They didn’t dare to go up and instead retreated…
