Xie Ming

Chapter 847 Escape from Death

While the Xiao family was trapped in a desperate situation, at the same time, in the small house in the east of the city, traitorous Imperial Guards disguised as men in black entered the house to assassinate them.

"No time, young master! Don't worry about me, hurry, run to the back!"

The old steward, Qiu Fuzhong, was loyal to his master.

Seeing this, how could Zhizhong bear to leave him?

Ding ding—

Arrows continued to rain down outside the window.

A crossbow bolt was embedded less than an inch into the wooden frame on his shoulder. Upon closer inspection, the shaft was made of iron, the fletching was neatly cut, and it was embedded three inches into the wood, vibrating and humming.

Then the bowstrings twanged more and more frequently, each note deeper than the last.

Qiu Zhizhong half-supported himself on the ground, using all his strength, gritting his teeth as he dragged Uncle Fu inch by inch toward the back window.

He instinctively turned to the side, and something unexpectedly brushed past his ear.

Before he could react, he crashed into the half-screen in front of him with a "bang." The sandalwood screen inlaid with mother-of-pearl immediately burst into a ball of orange-red flames. The gold-lacquered crane was burned and curled up and turned black, and the mother-of-pearl pieces crackled and popped like popping beans.

"Fire, fire, it's fire!"

"Young Master"

Uncle Fu was terrified at the sight. His face turned deathly pale.

"Stop talking nonsense, hurry up, get up and let's go!"

Zhizhong had no time to waste at this moment, and hurriedly pulled the old butler to the back.

A fire broke out, and the room was instantly engulfed in scorching heat.

Seeing that the situation was urgent, Uncle Fu realized what was happening and, without hesitation, followed Zhizhong with difficulty, running backwards.

They chiseled open the back window, and an old man and a young man stumbled and fell out.

What was originally a pile of snow at the base of the outer wall was instantly turned into a dirty mess by two fists and feet kicking the ground in a flustered thud.

Uncle Fu had a bruised leg and was limping, so Zhizhong helped him along. As they walked, blood flowed down their legs.

After struggling for a while, the two managed to snatch the door to the back garden. Looking back, they saw flames shooting out of their study window.

Swallowing half a roll of bamboo curtain, the heat wave felt like it was hitting my face even from a dozen steps away.

When the fire broke out, the dozen or so servants inside and outside the mansion were all in a panic.

In the pitch black, some people, unaware of the situation, were busy with their own things, yet they were still rushing to the front to put out the fire.

The water splashed on the fire hissed and rose up in plumes of white smoke. This chaos, ironically, helped the situation. The water vapor and smoke might have confused the assassins who came to the mansion, creating a chaotic scene.

"Over here, here."

Two people, an old man and a young servant, fled to the back garden, stumbling and scrambling to escape danger.

"Ouch, ouch."

Uncle Fu had an arrow stuck in his leg, but when he first went down into the extremely dangerous situation, he was relatively unharmed.

But this brief moment of relief was immediately followed by a piercing, excruciating pain.

Normally, as someone from a farming family, hard work is nothing to me, but I've never suffered like this before.

After catching her breath in the back garden, she started making silly, affected noises all the time.

Zhi Zhong remained silent, and decided to let it go, since there was so much to it.

Suddenly, however, his ears were sharp, and he heard a rustling sound coming from around the corner ahead. So, with quick eyes and hands, he caught up with the gunman and gagged Qiu Fu.

Da da da—

Upon hearing this, it is certain that someone from the opposing faction is on their way.

In an instant, Zhizhong was horrified. His heart tightened, and he hurriedly stepped forward and pulled Uncle Fu down, crouching low to the ground. Of course, he held onto Uncle Fu's hand tightly, not daring to let go for even a moment, lest he reveal their whereabouts.

Da da da—

With their footsteps disordered, the two ducked into the grass under the tree, trying to listen carefully.

Upon hearing this, Zhizhong unknowingly became confused as well.

Because of this feeling, it was clear that they were two opposing groups.

Among them, one could sense hurried footsteps, the soles of boots nailed with iron, making a clattering sound on the stone slabs—this was the style of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

On the other hand, there are at least two or three people, and their feet feel much lighter, like walking on cotton.

Of course, since it was a chance encounter, there was no need for him to elaborate or argue further.

Suddenly, a fight broke out around the corner, and the two groups of people collided.

Suddenly, the clang of metal on metal rang out, and occasionally, the sound of hidden arrows being fired could be heard.

"The Embroidered Spring Blade?" "Who...who exactly are you?"

"How dare you attempt to assassinate Commander Qiu's residence at night?!"

It was only when he heard someone groaning and suppressing their voice that Fang's eyes narrowed.

Around the corner, Ye Gan, in a brief lull between their exchanges, shouted in quick succession.

The bowstring twanged again, this time in a different direction.

One thing went east, the other west, followed by a scream, and then something fell to the ground with a thud.

Zhi Zhong recognized the speaker as Yue Xiu, one of his subordinates.

Knowing that it was the person who had come to their rescue, they waited until the sound of swords and spears subsided, then quickly pulled Uncle Fu aside and appeared from the haystack on the other side of the corner.

Unfortunately, he was in a panic and couldn't keep up. He missed a step, slipped on the snow, and fell flat on his face.

"Huh? Who?"

"Chiu, Chief Justice Chiu!"

The fight was resolved on the spot. Just as Yue Xiu was about to step forward and lift the veil from the man in black to examine him, Zhi Zhong and Qiu Fu rushed in. He immediately became alert, glanced at the man, and drew his knife to look.

Seeing the Chief Justice's face through the dim moonlight, he cried out and rushed to help him up.

"The more you repair, the more you fix it."

Zhizhong hadn't expected this, and the fall was quite severe. He grimaced and tried to get up.

Suddenly, another situation arose.

Just as he was scrambling to regain his footing, Zhizhong turned his head and saw a figure in black climbing in through the moon gate not far away.

His black boots trod silently through the snow, his movements swift and precise. He held a crossbow in his hand, its bow taut and aimed intently at the target.

The arrow, illuminated by the firelight in the front house, emitted a cold, bluish glow.

The man in black dared to face Zhizhong head-on, and immediately raised his hand to shoot.

"Yue Xiu!"

There was no time for a big move; Zhizhong grabbed the young general Yuexiu, who was facing away from him, and pulled him away from being harmed.

But the string rang out, igniting the flames, and it was too late for him to dodge.

Qiu Zhizhong rolled to the side almost instinctively.

But in an instant, I felt a burning pain in my calf.

When he looked down, he saw that an arrow had pierced through his leg and undergarments, and blood was seeping out of the hole.

At the same time, Jin Yuexiu, who had just landed beside him, was also quick to react.

He tilted his head to the side and lay down, firing a crossbow bolt at the black-clad thief's chest.

The force was considerable; the stab struck immediately, and the thief died instantly, collapsing to the ground.

After resolving the issue, Yue Xiu turned around and saw that the Chief Censor was injured. He became even more anxious, fearing that there might be more hidden attacks. He quickly got up, grabbed Zhi Zhong's arm, and rushed to the crevice between the piles of Taihu stones on the other side.

"Watch out, General Secretary!"

"Go, go quickly, we must not stay here any longer."

"Uncle Fu, come with me quickly."

Then, panting heavily, the three of them crouched down and slipped into the artificial cave.

This secret passage leads directly to the Embroidered Uniform Guard's quarters, which Zhizhong had previously specifically chosen for the secret guards' barracks.

Preparing for this contingency plan is to learn from the previous experience of being imprisoned, and this is what we are concerned about.

This time, it seems that the fruit has indeed come in handy.

The three of them walked sideways through the cave. The narrow cave was cramped, and in some places, only one person could pass through sideways.

Both Zhizhong and Fubo had leg injuries, making it more difficult for them to move around.

Upon reaching the inner room, he was in a flurry of activity. The stone walls were frozen, and icicles had formed over the past two days, which scraped against his face, adding a few more fine bloodstains to Zhizhong's cheeks.

Before the three could reach the rear, another thief came chasing after them.

Even the narrow passage was filled with sound, only the crackling sound of something shooting out could be heard.

Several crossbows fired arrows simultaneously from hidden positions.

The more they fought back, the more they were attacked.

Fortunately, the passage was narrow and winding; otherwise, the three of them would have perished in that short time. (End of Chapter)