Chapter 97 – I Want Them Dead

“Hurry up and bring me some clothes! This young master’s about to be smoked to death!”

“What the hell kind of wine was that just now? Smells like straight-up piss!”

Qin Muyun, flicking the hem of his robe that had been drenched in urine, stormed into the guest courtyard, ignoring the attendants who tried to stop him.

The moment he stepped inside, his eyes landed on Ye Chutang, who was standing beneath the apricot tree.

He suddenly remembered the crude things he’d just said, and a touch of drunken embarrassment colored his face. An awkward smile—worse than a grimace—forced its way onto his lips.

“Ye—”

“Watch out!”

Before Qin Muyun could finish greeting Ye Chutang, a throwing knife flew straight at his face.

Ye Chutang kicked up some dirt and grass at her feet, striking the flying dagger mid-air.

The blade veered off course and embedded itself in the clay-brick wall.

She shouted, “Run!”

Though she raised her voice, it was drowned out by the music playing in the outer courtyard. No one heard her.

Only then did Qin Muyun realize the courtyard was filled with masked men. Their murderous aura made the air feel suffocating.

His expression changed drastically. He immediately reached into his robe and pulled out a bone whistle.

Just as he was about to blow it, he hesitated.

Qi Yanzhou’s divination had been too ominous. If he came here, it would be a near-death experience!

In that brief moment of hesitation, a dark shadow leapt down from the top of the apricot tree, sword aimed directly at Qin Muyun’s throat.

Other than Ye Chutang and Qi Yanzhou, everyone in the courtyard had to die.

Sensing danger, Qin Muyun pulled a pouch of poison from his sleeve and flung it at the masked assassin using his inner strength.

Though his martial arts weren’t as good as Qi Yanzhou’s, they were still above average.

The black poison powder surged toward the attacker’s face.

The shadow guard immediately held his breath, withdrawing his sword and dodging to avoid the poison.

But the sword didn’t miss—it lopped off a servant’s head.

Qin Muyun took the chance to run toward Ye Chutang, shouting for help with all his inner strength.

But just as he opened his mouth, a poisoned throwing knife came whizzing at him—fast and accurate.

He barely managed to dodge it with a sidestep, toes pressing against the ground.

But the blades kept coming, one after another, relentlessly.

He was completely overwhelmed and couldn’t spare the focus to summon his internal force for a call for help.

The shadow guard who had dodged the poison resumed his deadly assault.

Ye Chutang, seeing Qin Muyun struggling to hold his own, kicked up more dirt.

Controlled by her earth-element ability, the dirt turned into sharp blades and shot toward the shadow guard, temporarily saving Qin Muyun from danger.

“Run!”

Qin Muyun had thought he could help Ye Chutang, but now realized he was just dragging her down.

He nodded, dodging knives while making his way toward the gate.

“Bang!”

But the gate to the guest courtyard was slammed shut by Prince An’s men.

Ten or so enemies split into two groups—half targeting Qin Muyun, the other half going for Ye Chutang.

To ensure nothing went wrong, the emperor had sent four elite shadow guards to Prince An’s manor.

Prince An, thinking Ye Jingchuan and Ye Chutang were father and daughter after all, held back and only arranged for two shadow guards to meet with them.

One of them had already died, leaving three.

One stood on the apricot tree, observing the battlefield and occasionally making sneaky attacks at Ye Chutang.

The remaining two attacked her head-on.

Prince An had arranged for a total of eight experts. After losing two, six remained.

Knowing Ye Chutang wasn’t easy to deal with, four of them focused on killing Qin Muyun to distract her and make her easier to capture.

Even against two opponents, Qin Muyun was struggling.

Against four, he was nothing but a punching bag. Wounds soon covered his body.

Ye Chutang wanted to help, but the shadow guards’ skills were too advanced, and they coordinated seamlessly.

She also couldn’t allow Qin Muyun to die, so she couldn’t go all-out with her earth powers. She couldn’t break away.

Though under pressure beneath the apricot tree, she hadn’t suffered any real damage. She had even managed to kill one of Prince An’s men and injure another.

Though injured, Qin Muyun clung to life with sheer force of will. But in the end, he was outnumbered.

Seeing him on his last legs, Prince An’s men went in for the kill.

The shadow guards deliberately exposed an opening, hoping to bait Ye Chutang into saving him.

If she tried to help, they’d seize the opportunity.

Between getting hurt herself or letting him die, she could only choose the latter.

Ye Chutang summoned her earth ability to draw the five-claw grappling hook to her feet.

She hooked the chain with her toes, grabbed it with her hand, and whipped it out to create space between her and the attackers.

Then, with a tap of her toes, she shot toward Qin Muyun.

Thinking he was about to die, Qin Muyun’s face contorted when he saw Ye Chutang rush over, ignoring her own safety.

“Miss Ye, don’t—urgh…”

He had wanted to tell her to leave him and run, but his injuries were too severe. He only got two words out before he coughed up blood and passed out.

The enemies didn’t stop their killing moves. Their sword tips were aimed at Qin Muyun’s heart and throat.

Seeing him fall unconscious, Ye Chutang instantly unleashed her earth powers.

The four assassins trying to kill Qin Muyun suddenly felt like they were standing on a violently rocking horse—they couldn’t steady themselves, let alone finish him off.

The stone tiles were flipped over, and the soil beneath seemed to come alive, wrapping around their legs.

Just as Ye Chutang was about to bury them alive, a chill ran down her spine.

Danger!

The shadow guards’ martial arts were extremely high-level. The ground’s shaking didn’t affect them much.

All three focused entirely on Ye Chutang. Thinking it was just an earthquake, they didn’t notice anything wrong with Prince An’s men.

Sensing an opportunity, they struck at once—victory in their grasp.

Ye Chutang confirmed Qin Muyun’s position and pulled a bomb from her spatial storage.

She was about to detonate it to kill everyone and destroy the evidence when—

Bang!

Qi Yanzhou kicked open the courtyard gate.

He had kept track of time after Qin Muyun entered the guest courtyard.

When a whole tea’s worth of time passed and Qin Muyun hadn’t returned, he knew something was wrong.

So, ignoring Prince An’s obstruction, he rushed in.

Just as the gate flew open, the massive apricot tree came crashing down toward him.

The moment Ye Chutang saw Qi Yanzhou, she knew she couldn’t use the bomb anymore.

While he hadn’t yet taken in the full scene, she immediately used her earth powers to topple the apricot tree and block his view.

At the same time, the enemies who had been shot earlier were dragged into the earth and buried.

The four attackers still trying to kill Qin Muyun were tangled in the dirt and couldn’t move. Ye Chutang shot them dead with her sleeve arrows.

Qi Yanzhou had just dodged the falling apricot tree when he saw Ye Chutang in grave danger.

“Miss Ye, look out!”

In a flash, he activated his lightness skill to the max and appeared beside her in the blink of an eye.

He blocked the shadow guards’ combined strike and snatched the five-claw hook from her, swinging it with his powerful inner force.

His strength was formidable, and the shadow guards didn’t dare take the hit head-on. They were forced to retreat temporarily.

“Miss Ye, take Huai Xuan and get out of here.”

The emperor’s target was him. Ye Chutang shouldn’t have to suffer because of this.

But as soon as he spoke, he coughed up a mouthful of blood. His face turned ghostly pale.

The combined attack from the three shadow guards had left him with serious internal injuries.

Once he used his inner strength, the blood in his throat couldn’t be held back anymore.

After coughing up the blood, he pushed Ye Chutang.

“Go, now!”

Ye Chutang sensed many people approaching the courtyard and shook her head.

“Prince An’s people are coming. I can’t get out. You can’t handle them alone either.”

She popped a detox pill into his mouth, then swallowed one herself.

She then walked over to the unconscious Qin Muyun, forced his mouth open, and fed him a pill as well.

After he swallowed it, she returned to Qi Yanzhou’s side.

Looking at the three shadow guards, her eyes brimmed with murderous rage. “They saw me shoot. They must die. Help me.”