Chapter 97: Dragon Serpent Blade

"Everybody is in place?" Xia Houxi whispered.
He bowed and squatted in the dark alley, the black splatter almost blended with the night, only the goose-knife around his waist showed a shining luster when he inadvertently moved his body. Behind him squatted two rows of fans next to the wall. There were about fifty people, all of them were motionless, like black stone statues.
"Everything is in place. There are three hundred people on standby," said the leader.
"Okay," Xia Hou shouted.
The voice came along the evening breeze, and the ups and downs of yelling and selling sounds mixed. This is Xishi Street. Three hundred steps north is Huangchenggen. At the foot of Huangchenggen is the most prosperous horse market in Beijing. Xia Houyi took out the Yan Yan knife, and the back of the knife extended out against his elbow. The bright blade reflected the shadow of Chulou archway. Blackscale tile, gray-white doorpost, one brick carving wall on each side. Paotang stood under the gate and welcomed him. On a cold day, he wore only a short jacket, but his face became red because he kept running.
He was the captain under Xia Houyi's hands, and a short blade was hidden under his short chirp. The welcome was glanced at Xia Houyi, and he nodded indiscriminately.
If you watch carefully, you will find that passers-by in front of Chu Lou's gate have passed by more than once. They went to the end of West Street and turned around and walked back. The tea guests at the tea stalls, the craftsmen of the bakery, the street singers, and even the funeral fathers, were all disguised by the fans of the East Factory, and all of them were tense, putting Yu Guang at the gate of Chulou.
Tonight, Shen Yan was scheduled to have dinner with Chu Zhao, the first assistant, and Zhang Zhao had a meal in Chulou. The day before yesterday, Xiahou Hou received a new report from Tang XVII. The Galan assassin would assassinate Shen Yan tonight. Now there are two substitutes inside, they will go out in a carriage at the moment of Chen Zheng, and the assassin will fall from the sky.
Xia Hou rubbed his cold knife handle and slowly adjusted his breathing. He felt the heart in his chest beat faster and faster, and the blood slowly boiled in the blood vessels. He knew that he might meet Galauro, his successor, and now Galan's strongest assassin.
"My lord, the governor has instructed you not to fight in person." The head of the class whispered, "If you have an accident, I ca n’t wait to explain."
"Anyway, we have many people, not afraid." Xia Hou shouted.
"But ..." the head of the class had to persuade him again.
The voice on Chu Lou suddenly boiled, and Shen Ye and Zhang Zhao came out as substitutes. The head of the staff stopped, everyone held their breath and stared at the gate of Chulou.
"Shen Ming" and "Zhang Zhao" are making routine concessions to discuss who will get on the carriage first. The plant guard surrounded him, his right hand clenching the handle revealed their vigilance. Xia Houyi frowned slightly. They shouldn't be so nervous, assassins are sensitive, they are easy to find like this.
In the distance came the sound of wheels rolling over the ground, and the sound of horseshoes rattled. Xia Hou froze and looked out. A four-wheel-drive carriage drove over from the end of Xishi Street, carved the perimeter of the carriage, and covered with tassels. A wind lamp was picked up from the carriage to illuminate the handlebar style of the undercarriage. Like a crumpled cardboard.
"Who's this mother's car?" Xia Hou frowned.
"There are four cars. They belong to the royal family."
"Is there a way to stop it? Assassin is coming soon, and the carriage is in the way here."
In charge: "Can't stop, sir, it's the family of the prince."
The handlebar waved his whip to catch the horse, and the carriage was getting closer, and he was going to go under the gate of Chulou.
Xia Houyi cursed, saying, "Who cares for his house? Send someone to the past and say that the Lord is here, and the King of Heaven will not let him pass."
It is not good for Shen Ye to do such a thing, but there is nothing he can do. The head of the office responded and was planning to go out. The moon climbed out of the dark clouds, and the dark sky lightened a bit. Under the lingering light, when the handlebar was raised with a whip, a very thin metal cold light flashed, and the knife generally cut through Xiahou's eyelids.
He has a knife in his sleeve!
Xiahou was frightened, hissing and shouting, "Stop the car!"
Everyone pulled their swords out of their sheaths, the knives were woven into a piece, and the night seemed white for a moment.
The handlebar slammed the whip, and the four horses hissed at the same time, madly pulling the carriage forward. Xia Houyi pushed away from the front door, rushed out of the alley, cut the reins of Shen's carriage, and turned over. The plant guards took a slow step, and also started to catch up.
The cold wind blew on his face, and the sound of horseshoes sounded like a cymbal, Xia Houyu heard his sharp breathing. The carriage ran fast, and the carriage turned wildly, and the carriage shook endlessly, making a loud noise, as if the next moment would fall apart. Xia Houyi approached the rear of the carriage slowly, and the snow particles splashed from the carriage almost hit his face.
In front of it is the end of Xishi Street, which is also the border of the ambush of the factory guards. The carriage must not be allowed to leave the street.
Xia Hou rushed the horse to the side of the carriage, and the factory guard behind him gave a short shot. The crossbow dragged a thin iron lock to draw a sharp whistling, nailed to the wall of the carriage. At the moment of nailing, the arrow penetrating into the siding opened, and the claws were extended, as if the beast opened its claws and grabbed the inside of the siding.
"Pull!" Xia Houyun ordered.
All the plant guards were pulling their horses at the same time, the iron locks were straightened for a while, the siding on the three sides was pulled down, the sawdust was flying horizontally, and numerous arrows shot from the carriage, densely like a swarm of bees. Xia Houyi quickly avoided the sharp arrows, and some factory guards were shot off the horse. However, more factory guards caught up with his companions. Looking at it from a distance, it looks like a tattered horse-drawn carriage is dragging a turbulent black tide and galloping on the streets of Xishi.
The guards' horses caught up with the carriage and the hooks shot again. Countless hooks and claws hit the assassin's body on the carriage and dragged them out of the air. The assassins mourned and were dragged to the ground. Long bloodslides slipped in the snow. The red blood was not clear at night. Dreary ink marks on the snow.
Many heads appeared on the roofs on both sides of the street. Everyone opened their bows and arrows, and the icy moonlight condensed on the tip of the arrow was so bright. With a command from the captain, the sky was screaming with arrows, and the air was chopped together by the shattering whistle. If it was a ghost crying, the sharpness could penetrate the skull.
However, the assassin fired a crossbow on the occasion of a critical strike, hitting several factory guards on the side of the carriage, and with a striking jumping power, the bird flew into the night and immediately rode. Three other assassins chopped off the reins with handlebars and flew on horses.
The sharp arrows went empty, and all entered the chassis of the car. The broken chassis of the car was obliquely blocking the way of the factory guard. Xia Houyu jumped up, jumped over the wreckage in the volley, and continued to pursue.
"Sir, they escaped from the ambush!"
West Street was out, and the assassins fled forward in the night. Xia Houyi looked back at the number of factory guards, about 30, and the factory guards came after him. Xia Houzhen immediately took the initiative and said, "Keep chasing! Follow the path of the assassin, pay attention to the wire!"
The factory guards drove the horses in unison, the crossbow arrows kept firing, and the assassins continued to fall into the horses. The factory guard who caught up behind them immediately approached and captured people, but when they caught people, they found that the assassins had killed themselves. There were fewer and fewer remaining assassins, and in the end only three of them ran in the night.
"Only they are real Galan assassins, the others are hidden." Xia Hou ordered sharply, "Chasing!"
The moon was gradually blocked by dark clouds, the streets were terribly dark, and everywhere was full of shadows, as if hiding countless dangers. The assassin's horseshoe sound came from a long distance, very rhythmic, like the sound of cymbals and drums from the ground. The assassin disappeared around the corner, and Xia Hou took the horse to catch up, and just saw the assassin fling into the corner of the alley flashing away, like the residual wings of a moth.
"Raise the fire! The sword is ahead, the man is behind!" Xia Houxi exclaimed.
The torch lighted up for the second time, Xia Houyi took one, dismounted and entered the narrow alley. The shadows in the hutong are heavy, and everyone's face is golden and bright under the fire, looking like a Buddha statue in the temple. Assassins fled in the alley, and they chased after each other. The hutong is so narrow that only two people can walk side by side. Many urine buckets are stacked upside down against the wall. There is a smell of urine in the air, and the sound of the urine bucket being knocked over continuously makes a sound. The assassins left separately, and the factory guards pursued separately. The cobweb-like alley branches spread out, and the escaped assassins and chasing cypresses spread like mercury into the alley.
Xia Houzhen took the lead, and was only a few steps away from the assassin, as if torch was out and he could hit his horns, but every time it was a little worse. Xia Houyi reached out and touched the crossbow on his body, but found that he had run out and could only catch his teeth to catch up. The corners are heavy, the shadow of the assassin flickers, sometimes it is hazy and sometimes it is real, like a ghost that is far away and near.
wrong! What flashes of light and flint in his head generally flashed, Xia Houxi suddenly stopped.
This is wrong! Hutongs are the best place to arrange the wire. Why haven't you seen one for so long? Also, Galan should have a sheath. The assassin escaped for so long. Why didn't she see the sheath to cope?
These assassins do not look like assassinations, but rather lead them to somewhere! Xia Houyu did not hesitate, immediately stopped chasing, and retreated. Then he found that the back was empty and there was no one. I ran too fast, not even paying attention to the people behind me. The torch illuminates the larger square, darkness lies on his shoulders, and the end of the field of vision is dark, and every step is like stepping into enemy territory. He felt suffocated, as if his throat was choked with an iron ring.
He suddenly felt a little strange again. It was him who hid in the dark to spy on the prey, but now he has become a prey.
Suddenly, a sharp roar came from behind, and if the serpent spit out a letter, the fangs were revealed!
Xia Houyi subconsciously held up the fire to resist, short Yadong passed through the torch, and the huge force took the torch out of Xia Houyi and brought it into the snow. The red fire light flickered for a moment, then went out, leaving only the sound of the flutter. The world suddenly darkened, and the heavy darkness fell from all sides, wrapping him heavily. There was silence in the alley, and he heard his breath and heartbeat.
Xia Houyi pulled out his knife and took a few steps forward.
dark. silence.
The soap boots squeaked in the snow, the danger came from all directions, and he seemed to feel the cold eyes of the assassin hiding in the dark, stabbing his spine like a needle.
Who is his opponent? Gallo? Still tight?
His heart was restless, as if something was rushing out of the darkness. No, calm down, calm down, he told himself. He took a deep breath and stopped walking forward, holding the knife in both hands and squatting slightly. He closed his eyes and stopped looking, his vision fell into a deeper darkness, and a night wind was flowing by his ears, brushing his hair, sliding across his cheeks, cold. He kept his knife-stretching hands, and the whole person was as strict as a stone statue.
A long time ago, he practiced a kind of knife, called a blind knife, when he practiced Baijia swords. Trainees should be blindfolded in the summer woods and listen to millions of cicadas. The training committee dropped a needle in front of him. He wanted to recognize the sound of the needle breaking through the air among the crows of cicadas, and then cut it with a knife. Sometimes hearing is more reliable than vision. When the knife is out of view, only sound can expose the knife.
There are no cicadas, only silence. The night wind will tell him which direction the enemy is.
There were mixed footsteps from far away, and it was the factory guard running. The wind rattled the bamboo poles against the wall. The little mouse crawled out of the trench, creaked into the cage on the ground, and got out again. A louder voice was heard on the street outside Hutong, three times before and three times after.
The wind is moving in the ear, everything is quiet like a thunder.
Suddenly, somewhere, a crack appeared, like lightning breaking through the darkness. Xia Houyi opened his eyes!
The ghost is behind!
In the darkness, two knives collided, and the sparks caused by the friction of the blades flashed away, like fireworks blooming in the night. With the gleam of sparks, he saw the cold and shiny white porcelain mask and the indifferent eyes behind the mask.
The two knives separated after the moment of collision, and the two stared at each other silently through the dark darkness.
Xia Houyi's hands were numb with the cut. The slash is as fast as a dragon and a snake, and only a strong master can have such a speed. He does not need to ask and know the name of the assassin.
Ghallo.