Nightfall

The night had come, and the light rain came again .

A slim middle-aged officer holding an umbrella walked on the rainy street . Given the color of his uniform, his rank was not low, but he had no following subordinates, except for a solemn general who was following him silently .

The soldiers and lower officials at the Western Gate stood quietly under the roof . Their eyes moved with the footsteps of two officials on the street . No one stepped forward, and no one looked surprised .

That middle-aged official was Huang Xing . He was the commander defending the city gate . He was responsible for managing all the gates of both the entire Chang"an City and the imperial city . The name of the general who followed him was Yu Shuizhu, who was vice general of the city gate"s defending troops .

Huang Xing was known for his diligence and sincerity . Since he took over as the city gate"s commander, he would choose a gate to inspect every morning and dusk . He would not bring any subordinate officials with him other than Yu Shuizhu . He had been doing that for years in any weather .

The people at the gates of Chang"an had long been accustomed to this . Only when the two officers finished the inspection, could they leave . This had become an unwritten rule .

Based on the patterns of past years, Huang Xing would inspect the Western gate today .

After the inspection of the Western gate, Huang Xing confirmed that there were no problems and he nodded . Vice general Yu Shuizhu looked back at the officers who looked tense and waved his hand coldly . The officers knew that their day had finally ended, and they left in relief .

Standing on the rainy street outside the West Gate office, Huang Xing tilted his umbrella and looked up at the rainy sky . He felt that his legs were a little bit tired and said, "I"ve become old . "

Yu Shuizhu said, "My lord, you can still serve the imperial court for 30 years . "

Huang Xing said, "You have patrolled with me around the city gates every day over the years . Every day you have to return very late . I know your wife has been dissatisfied . It was really hard for you . "

After being silent for a moment, he replied, "My life was saved by my lord . I should accompany you to patrol every day . Even sacrificing my life for you is my obligation too . "

Today, the two well-known cleanhanded officers were once troop comrades . Their fates were changed by a tragic incident and they had been closely linked together since then .

If Huang Xing didn"t make up his mind to go over to Prince Li Peiyan with Yu Shuizhu, he may have died with the general already . Even if he did not die, he would probably be exiled by the imperial court . If the Prince didn"t protect him, how could he have the glory and burden of patrolling Chang"an"s gates?

Unfortunately, they were remained influenced by the event that year . Although they were diligent and honest, they could not be promoted anymore .

However, they were still rich .

Huang Xing looked at Chang"an City in the light rain . After a long silence, he suddenly said with emotion, "It seems that we went through Western Gate like when we returned to Chang"an with the general . "

Yu Shuizhu"s expression became slightly serious .

Whenever they patrolled the city gate, they only talked about family matters and anecdotes of the court . Sometimes they also reminisced their military career . However, they never mentioned the general .

They did not want to remember that tragic event and did not want to recall their role in that matter, perhaps because of guilt or fear .

Yu Shuizhu did not understand why his lord would mention this and said in a whisper, "According to the rules of the court, we should have entered the city from the Eastern Gate . Later, this matter was also taken out as evidence of guilt . "

Huang Xing sighed and said no more .

The rain in the twilight was getting heavier and heavier . Locals had already returned to their homes . The subordinate officials of the City gate defender"s office had also returned to their warm homes . The vigil watchmen were hiding in the Gate or in the office . The wet streets were empty and quiet . Only the two officers were standing in the rain and recalled past issues .

The two carriages waited silently on the rainy street . They were the carriages sent by their homes . The stewards had gotten used to their pattern, and did not come to remind them .

At this moment, they suddenly heard someone walking towards them on the rainy street . The footsteps were very gentle and stable . But if it still could be heard when the person stepped into a puddle .

It was a young man in black and carrying a black umbrella .

Strangely, the young man did not open the umbrella but allowed the rain to fall on his body . His clothes were already soaked and the rain fell along his hair .

Huang Xing looked at the young man in black who came towards them and slowly raised his eyebrows .

He just felt that this young man in black was a bit strange but he did not feel any danger from him . He did not think that anything bad would happen .

This was because they were in Chang"an City where it was safe . They were at the heavily guarded Western Gate . Whether those brave and despotic female soldiers or those powerful cultivators, they would become humble and calm when facing the dignified and powerful military force of the Tang Empire .

Indeed, nothing happened .

When the young man met them, he took a look at Huang Xing"s uniform and the light armor worn by Yu Shuizhu . He saluted and then walked out of the long street .

Huang Xing noticed that when the young man in black was saluting, his look was not of awe, but a very complicated emotion . He said with a smile, "We think that this young man who doesn"t use his umbrella is weird, and he would also find us odd, two officers quietly standing in the rain . "

Yu Shuizhu said, "Indeed, let"s go back . "

Huang Xing suddenly felt something in his hand, and he found a note in it .

He did not read what was written on that slip of paper, but turned back and found that the young man had already disappeared from the street .

Yu Shuizhu also noticed this . His brows suddenly twisted, and said heavily, "Being able to put a note in your hand silently, that young man is remarkable . "

Huang Xing was silent for a moment and he opened the note in his hand .

The note was yellowish and it seemed to be very common, but also very uncommon . The words were probably written in a mixture of cinnabar and another material . It was red like blood .

Some lines were painted on the upper end of the yellow paper note . The lines together looked like a single word, but neither Huang Xing nor Yu Shuizhu could recognize the word .

They knew the words under it, because those were normal texts .

"I come from the General"s Mansion, and I will take your life . "

Their expression changed drastically, looking so terrified that they were like the gloomy and rainy night . Huang Xing"s fingertips which were holding the note trembled slightly .

The words "General"s Mansion" on the yellow paper reminded them of those memories that were deeply buried in the deepest parts of their hearts . Those b.l.o.o.d.y memories were already blurred . Today, Huang Xing watched the Chang"an City in the rain, and they remembered some . Now because of this note, all those memories came back .

They were both very clear that the general referred on the paper note was not referring to Xu s.h.i.+, the Defender-general of the State, nor the great general, Xiahou . It referred to the Xuanwei General, Lin Guangyuan .

Huang Xing sighed and said, "I sensed something and it"s becoming true . "

Yu Shuizhu said with a grave expression, "I will go to the Prince"s Palace . "

Huang Xing nodded .

They separated in the middle of the rainy street, holding umbrellas and heading to their carriages .

Official boots stepped on the

on the water in the street and made a splas.h.i.+ng sound .

At the beginning, the rhythm of the sound was very calm and stable .

They walked on the rainy street faster and faster .

This proved that their true feelings at this time were not as relaxed as how they looked .

Yu Shuizhu walked quickly, the expression on his face became more and more grim and severe . The fear in his heart was replaced by anger . He only wanted to quickly report to the Prince that someone survived in that event .

The sound of footsteps suddenly became chaotic .

His left foot stepped into water, and the sound he made became much deeper .

Because his foot could no longer be lifted .

His feet fell into the puddle .

There was an invisible sharp thin line on the ground of the rainy street . It cut his trousers, his flesh and his bones . His feet fell off .

But it was not an invisible sharp thin line, but countless intangible sharp lines .

Yu Shuizhu"s knees were cut into two pieces, and next his entire thigh .

Then his light armor was split into countless pieces .

He was cut into countless pieces of fresh meat .

Like ripe fruit, they all fell into the water making splattering sounds .

Huang Xing holding the paper umbrella walked as fast as he could towards his carriage .

The oilpaper umbrella in his hand was very old and his face was very pale .

He did not want to die .

Although his umbrella was very old, and the entire city of Chang"an thought he was honest, he had in fact stolen a lot of money these years . He wanted to survive to enjoy all the things moneythe things money could buy .

Although daily inspections of the city gate were very tiring, in fact, he enjoyed the fear of his subordinates when he inspected and the admiration of local citizens . He wanted to be alive and enjoy these .

He thought he was a landscape of Chang"an City and he wanted to live for a long time .

At this moment, he heard a splas.h.i.+ng sound behind him .

The sound of meat pieces falling into the water was different from the sound made by stepping into the water . It was very clear in the sound of falling rain .

Huang Xing did not look back . He dared not to turn back .

His hand holding a paper umbrella trembled and he looked at the carriage not far and the steward bowing to him . His pale face showed a desperate look .

The yellow strip of paper he held tightly in his hand was wet with rain and sweat .

Suddenly, a bright flame came out of his hands .

Another fire sprouted from his officer uniform .

Another fire sprouted out of his wrinkles on his old cheeks .

Numerous fires, spitting out from the deepest part of his body, instantly melted his hair, eyebrows, lashes, skin, fats, muscles, and bones . The fire burned everything .

The long street in this rainy night was dark and damp .

The person under the umbrella was burning .

After a moment, the paper umbrella fell down to the ground and landed on the rain-covered street .

Huang Xing who had been under the umbrella had become ash silently .

The umbrella slowly rolled in the water and the handle was slightly charred .

In a lane not far, Ning Que stood quietly in the rain .

Maybe because of the violent mood changes or the cold from the spring rain, his face looked pale and tired .