The assassin seemed to have planned this all along. Even as he twisted to trap the blade in his body, his movements did not pause for an instant. His arms shot forward like an ape's, reaching to lock around Elder Yue.
Elder Yue reacted with extraordinary speed. Seeing things take a bad turn, he immediately released the sword's hilt and pulled back in haste.
*Rrrrip!*
The assassin tore away two pieces of cloth. Failing to grapple Elder Yue fully, he settled for the next best thing and clamped his grip tightly around Elder Yue's arm.
Just then, the leaves rustled, and three more dark figures dropped from the canopy. Moving like specters, they lunged straight for Princess Dongyang.
Elder Yue's expression changed drastically. In his desperation, he swung his palm toward the assassin's head. The man was already resigned to death and did not even try to dodge; wrapping his legs fiercely around one of Elder Yue's legs, he took only a few strikes before Elder Yue's palm caved in his skull.
Red and white splattered outward. Though the assassin was dead, his limbs remained clamped tight to Elder Yue's body.
Chaos had already erupted all around.
The moment Bai Jianglan moved, he was ambushed by two suicidal assassins. Their fighting style was purely trading life for life, and formidable as he was, Bai Jianglan had to handle them with caution.
Of the remaining five guards, two were pierced through the chest by crossbow bolts fired from the shadows and collapsed dead. The other three were alert enough to dodge the hidden bolts; backing up against one another, they barely held their ground to fend off the assassins' onslaught.
At that moment, Elder Yue—the closest to the princess—was restrained by the assassin, and Princess Dongyang had only just pushed herself up from the ground.
Dragging the assassin's corpse, Elder Yue's footwork was clumsy. He could only manage to throw his weight toward the nearest attacker, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Save the Princess!"
Qin Sang was actually the quickest to grasp the situation. Yet this was his first time encountering such a perilous, chaotic battle, and he worried that Yanwang's bizarre method of killing would expose his secret before everyone. Hesitation held him back.
He had not expected that in the blink of an eye during his brief delay, the situation would deteriorate to such an extent.
Qin Sang grabbed his ironwood staff. Faintly catching a slight noise behind his head followed by a fierce gust descending from above, he hurriedly rolled across the ground.
*Thud!*
A crossbow bolt slammed into the patch of earth where he had just been lying.
Immediately after, a dark figure spread its arms like a roc and plunged from the treetop, a glint of chilling sword light cleaving through the gloom.
Qin Sang rolled again in haste to evade the sword strike. Just as he summoned Yanwang, Water Monkey's shout rang in his ears: "Brother Qin, hold him off! I'm going to save the Princess!"
Left with no choice, Qin Sang had to swing his staff and clash head-on with the assassin, stealing a glance back in the midst of the chaos.
Trading injury for injury, Bai Jianglan struck down one assassin. Covered in blood, with the other still tailing him relentlessly, he arrived by the princess's side at the critical juncture and blocked one attacker.
Water Monkey arrived just in time to intercept another.
The situation had barely stabilized. Once Elder Yue broke free, the battle would be decided, and there would be no need to rush Yanwang into killing.
Unexpectedly, no sooner had this thought crossed Qin Sang's mind as he prepared to stall his opponent than he caught a faint sound. It was so soft as to be almost imperceptible, yet entirely out of the ordinary; with his acute hearing, he still picked it out amid the clamor of battle.
*What is that...?*
Qin Sang's heart jumped. It struck him at once—the twang of a bowstring!
Sweeping his gaze around, Qin Sang spotted an anomaly in the shadows behind Princess Dongyang. The next instant, a faint glint of eerie light burst out from the dark.
It was not a crossbow bolt, but a concealed weapon as slender as an embroidery needle. The needle gleamed with a sinister blue light, clearly laced with lethal poison.
"Princess, look out!"
Qin Sang shouted, only to see Princess Dongyang rooted to the spot, not daring to move recklessly, while Elder Yue and Bai Jianglan were unable to turn back in time. Without a second thought, Qin Sang poured all his strength into violently hurling the ironwood staff.
This throw drew upon his years of skill in striking birds. Skimming past Princess Dongyang, the ironwood staff intercepted the poison needle in the nick of time, knocking it away.
Even as his arm went out, Qin Sang triggered the mechanism of his sleeve crossbow toward that pocket of shadow.
A bolt sank into the darkness. A muffled grunt came from within, followed by total silence.
Only then did Princess Dongyang register what had happened. She looked up at Qin Sang, a faint trace of panic on her face, but she quickly regained her composure and offered him a radiant smile.
"Commander Bai, finish this quickly!"
Elder Yue had broken into a cold sweat at the sight. Not daring to delay any longer, he risked taking a sword thrust to shatter his opponent's skull with a palm strike.
With their assassination plot shattered by Qin Sang's staff, all the remaining assassins flew into a frenzy.
Pitting bare fists against sharp steel, Qin Sang began to struggle after several exchanges. Seizing the right opening, he directed Yanwang to dispatch the assassin. The moment the man's body stiffened, Qin Sang's fingers struck like lightning, crushing his throat as a cover.
His timing was immaculate, leaving virtually no flaw to be found.
This was the first time Qin Sang had used the Yanluo Banner to kill in front of others, and just as he had envisioned, it was executed flawlessly.
A faint smile had only just appeared on Qin Sang's face when several screams suddenly rang out, giving him a sharp jolt. Water Monkey!
*Swish!*
A severed arm flew into the air. Water Monkey stood with his left sleeve empty, his face deathly pale.
Elder Yue snatched up a fallen sword, severed the dead weight clinging to his body, and used the Eight Steps Chasing the Cicada technique to dart to Water Monkey's side, finishing off the assassin with a single thrust.
***
When the dust finally settled, only one of the five guards had survived, and Water Monkey had lost an arm. Bai Jianglan rapidly tapped the acupoints around his stump, using true qi to seal the blood vessels and barely halt the bleeding.
Elder Yue had taken a sword wound to his left shoulder, but had no time to tend to it. He quickly swept the perimeter before checking whether Princess Dongyang was hurt.
Princess Dongyang shook her head to signal she was fine. Walking over to the ironwood staff, she hefted it in her hand and returned it to Qin Sang, saying, "Many thanks, Young Master Qin, for knocking away that poison needle and saving my life."
Qin Sang replied neither humbly nor haughtily, "Your Highness overpraises me. What I did was merely a trifling matter. This victory was entirely thanks to Commander Bai, Elder Yue, Zhou Ning, and the guards fighting desperately to slay the assassins, which gave me the chance to throw that staff."
Princess Dongyang nodded, then turned to Elder Yue. "Elder Yue, once your wounds are tended to, please see that the guards are buried. Since they died for me, we cannot leave their bodies exposed in the wilderness. When we return to Dongyang Commandery, I will have their remains brought back for a proper burial."
Elder Yue accepted the order and left to carry it out.
Qin Sang crouched beside Zhou Ning, watching Bai Jianglan work. He wondered if this world possessed the medicine to reattach severed limbs, though even if it were reattached, it would likely never function as before.
For a martial artist, this was undeniably cruel.
Looking at Water Monkey's pale face, Qin Sang did not know how to comfort him. He drew out the golden sore salve compounded by the old Taoist from his chest and handed it to Bai Jianglan. "Brother Bai, try this. The formula was passed down by a former imperial physician."
Bai Jianglan uncapped the bottle and sniffed it, then took some out and applied it to Water Monkey's stump. The relentless oozing of blood truly began to stem.
Bai Jianglan's eyes lit up. "Fine medicine!"
Water Monkey gritted his teeth and forced out a few words. "Many thanks, Brother Qin!"
*What a tough man!*
Qin Sang praised him inwardly. Water Monkey was lively by nature and talked non-stop, but beneath that lay incredible grit. Suffering such a grievous wound, his face showed not the slightest despair, and he had not uttered a single whimper while Bai Jianglan dressed his injury.
"Brother Zhou, I'm still waiting to eat that nine-barbel fish you're going to catch!"
Water Monkey burst into hearty laughter.
Chapter 26