Xiu talked to one of the guards to let them stay together for a little while. They did that because the other entourage took too much s.p.a.ce and they needed them to share some s.p.a.ce for them. They could find some other place to rest, but their horses were already in bad condition and they didn"t want to push them any harder.
The guard pa.s.sed the question to one of the maidservants and she whispered to the woman who wore a with veil and covered her lower face. Yao Ling a.s.sumed that the woman was their leader. When the woman gave her agreement, her subordinates efficiently moved and quickly gave way to them.
Yao Ling accidentally met the woman"s eyes and she was mesmerized by the beauty of them. The color of her eyes was mystique grey and it was a quite rare color. Yao Ling was startled for a few moments before composing herself, but she couldn"t stop staring at the woman"s beautiful eyes. The eyes... seemed familiar to her, but she couldn"t recall where she had seen them.
Yao Ling snapped out of her thought after a few moments when Yao Ying nudged him and whispered. "What are you doing? It"s impolite to keep staring at the woman!" He reminded her. Yao Ying indeed found the woman beautiful, but why was his wife seemed to be mesmerized by her? He shook his head in defeat. It was hard to decipher a woman"s mind.
Yao Ling blushed in embarra.s.sment. She looked at the woman once again and nodded her head while smiling and greeting her. Yao Ling couldn"t really see the woman"s mouth, but guessing from her big round eyes that turned into a delighted crescent moon shape, it seemed like she was smiling back at her.
After that, they didn"t converse with each other. They were practically only strangers who accidentally met. They did their own business --- both parties were eating and resting, but they didn"t mix themselves with each other and only talked among themselves. They would continue to stay that way if it wasn"t because of the appearance of another group of a.s.sa.s.sins.
The number of a.s.sa.s.sins was more than before, but the body posture of the a.s.sa.s.sins was different from theirs. It seemed like they weren"t Shu people. They were bigger, taller, and burlier. It seemed like... they were Han people? Yao Ling never saw them personally, but she read a few books about them and it matched the descriptions.
She furrowed her eyebrows. Why would the Han people come this far? Her eyes landed on the woman in the white veil and felt curious about her ident.i.ty.
"Not again," Yao Ling murmured to herself. They didn"t even take a glance at them, their eyes were solely on the woman in the white veil. It seemed like the a.s.sa.s.sins" target wasn"t them this time and Yao Ling"s guess was right --- they targetted the other party.
One of the a.s.sa.s.sins talked in a loud voice, "Gu Niang... if you follow us quietly, there won"t be any fight and bloodshed. If you are resisting, then we have no choice but to kill everyone present." His words were directed at the woman who still sitting leisurely --- undisturbed by the a.s.sa.s.sins" appearance. Yao Ling quite admired her bravery.
The woman didn"t talk, but the maidservant beside her answered on her behalf. "Our Gu Niang won"t be going with you! If you want to take her, it will be over our dead bodies!" The maidservant said in a decisive tone.
Yao Ling squinted her eyes. It seemed like this maidservant wasn"t an ordinary one. Under such pressure, she didn"t even flinch and calmly talk on behalf of her master. If they compared the maidservant to Xiao Yu, they could see the difference. In the normal household, the maidservants tended to maintain their innocence and their gut wasn"t big --- just like Xiao Yu. It seemed like the other Gu Niang"s household was a big and complicated one --- probably bigger and messier than w.a.n.g Fu.
The a.s.sa.s.sin seemed to dislike talking to a mere maidservant. "I"m talking to your master!" He said in an angry voice. "In what position should I talk to you?"
"In what position... my master should talk to you?" The maidservant retorted back. "A mere useless a.s.sa.s.sin?" The maidservant asked mockingly, then added one more thing, "My master is too majestic to talk to you!" The maidservant talked back to the a.s.sa.s.sin mercilessly. Hmph! Only a mere a.s.sa.s.sin but his arrogance made her angry.
"Han Yi, there"s no need to be angry." A melodious voice was heard from the woman"s direction. From the movement of the veil, it seemed like she was the one who was talking in a calm voice. "No need to talk some sense to them. Just finish them quickly." Despite the melodious voice, it didn"t cover up the resolute and firm tone behind the soft voice.
Once she said that their guards quickly drew out their swords and they made a barrier, preparing themselves to counterattack the a.s.sa.s.sins and protect the woman in veil.
The woman looked apologetically at Yao Ling, "I"m sorry, Gu Niang. It seems like we brought trouble to you too. But rest a.s.sured, our guards would be able to handle them."
Yao Ling could only nod and smile. What else could she do? They accidentally entangled themselves with this woman.
"Then don"t blame me for being heartless!" The a.s.sa.s.sin said angrily because of the way the woman looked down on them. "Kill them all, except the woman in a veil! We need to capture her alive!" He commanded the other a.s.sa.s.sins.
Lin Jian and Yao Ying knew that they needed to fight once again. Fortunately, Yao Ying only got a minor injury so it wouldn"t really affect his performance. Even if the woman"s guards would be able to handle the a.s.sa.s.sins, but they couldn"t risk their own party. They also prepared themselves and pulled out their swords --- just to be safe.
The guards moved fluidly and each of them had high skills -- probably on par with Xiu. They indeed didn"t have to give a hand to them. The a.s.sa.s.sins were strong, but the only one who was the same caliber as the guards was the leader. The others were quite a hopeless bunch. They were easily slaughtered by the guards.
Lin Jian"s eyes lit up when he saw their weird way of fighting and he didn"t find their martial arts skills familiar. This entourage indeed wasn"t from the Shu Kingdom and he was amazed by the way the guards moved precisely without any useless moves. They were always able to kill the enemies with one clean movement. Lin Jian was a martial arts maniac, so seeing those amazing talents, he was greedily watching and learning a little bit from there.
He paid attention to every little detail and it was lucky for the woman in a white veil that he did just that. Lin Jian was able to see a slight opening and it was the chance that the a.s.sasin leader had been waiting for. The a.s.sa.s.sin leader successfully subdued one of the guards and he ran to the woman"s direction. His previous intent to kidnap her alive seemed to be discarded, he had a murderous aura surrounding him and he was going for the kill.
"Be careful," Lin Jian yelled.
Lin Jian used his qing gong and he was faster than the a.s.sa.s.sin leader. He already arrived in front of the woman before the a.s.sa.s.sin leader did. Lin Jian"s movement surprised the woman and the surrounding guards because he easily broke through their barrier. The woman had a hidden short sword inside her sleeve and she quickly held onto it --- she was afraid that this man would hurt her.
The woman didn"t have martial arts skills, so she didn"t see that the a.s.sa.s.sin was breaking through the barrier and going to kill her. Her view was blocked by Lin Jian"s back -- the one who was actually trying to protect her!
The woman looked at Lin Jian while biting her lower lips. She had never hurt people before, but if the man dared to hurt her, she would stab him on the stomach. However, she was able to think rationally and didn"t dare to act rashly in front of such a skilled person.
She waited for the right time.