Song of Adolescence

"We're almost at Songyu Street where there will be a turn. The road there is not wide enough and the Brave Tiger Guards will have to spread out. Also, it's very inconvenient to ride a horse through the road when it's narrow and crowded." Lanyue Marquis shook his head helplessly. "There will definitely be a large wave of killers waiting for us there. Why would anyone choose this location for the Court of State Ceremonial?"

"The Court of State Ceremonial is in charge of religious matters. During the previous reign, the Moqian Sect had many followers and they once broke out in riot in Heavenly Revelations City. Their first target was the Court of State Ceremonial. After that incident, the Court of State Ceremonial was moved here. If a large army tried to attack this location, their force would be in disarray," Jin Xian explained. "Songyu Street will indeed be troublesome."

"Songyu Street. That's our first chance and also the best chance." Ye Ruoyi used her finger to draw a circle on the map. "Here, the road is narrow, and will hinder the movement of the Brave Tiger Guards. The second chance will be Chengfang Street. It's a long and wide avenue, but the entire street is full of shops. They can easily hide in them. But, there's another possibility we can't rule out, Lihe Street.”

"Lihe Street?" Lei Wujie took a closer look. "Didn't I visit this street before?"

"You have indeed been there. The buns they sell there are delicious. You and your shidi who loves meat buns, went there once." Ye Ruoyi smiled.

"I remember now! It's this street!" Lei Wujie called out, then he frowned. "It's very narrow, probably wide enough only for four or five people to walk. They can't possibly take this road."

"Often, the impossible is the most probable," Ye Ruoyi said solemnly. "If they want to reach the palace safely, they can only use the impossible method, because this matter in and of itself was impossible to begin with. If the Emperor wanted to bring a criminal into the palace under bright daylight and in the open, that wouldn't be an issue. But, the Emperor obviously has another purpose in mind, and this purpose cannot be seen in the light. So he is in the same situation as us. If he wants the man, he'll have to snatch him."

"Any other chances?" Xiao Se asked.

"Here." Ye Ruoyi drew another larger circle with her finger. "This is the last chance, this large open space in front of the imperial palace. If we get to this point, our true intentions will be revealed and we'll have to show our true faces."

"After saying so much, where exactly are we going?" Lei Wujie spread his hands and said, "Let's go the most direct way."

"We won't take Songyu Street, since that's the first hurdle. I'm sure Lanyue Marquis would have made preparations there. We take this road." Xiao Se pointed at the map.

"Are you sure?" Lei Wujie asked.

"Let's go." Xiao Se turned around and said, "This fight today is bound to get ugly."

"I'll go too." A slightly tired voice sounded, and everyone turned their heads to see Sikong Qianluo standing there holding her spear.

Xiao Se shook his head. "Your injuries are not healed yet. You can't go."

"No way. I'm worried if you only have Lei Wujie with you," Sikong Qianluo said.

Lei Wujie grumbled, "What's there to worry about? Even the State Preceptor praised my talents."

"This is not about who is going with whom." Xiao Se walked over to Sikong Qianluo, reached out and stroked her hair. "Don't worry, everything will be fine."

"Once everything is over…"

Xiao Se reached out and tapped Sikong Qianluo lightly on her neck. She lost consciousness right away. Xiao Se supported her and handed her over to Ye Ruoyi. "Take care of her and wait for us to bring Jin Yan back."

"I…" Ye Ruoyi stopped herself.

"You're not allowed to go either," Lei Wujie said.

"Lei Wujie, let's go." Xiao Se walked out of the door and looked at the sky. "I'm tired of this. I need all of this to be over as soon as possible."

Lei Wujie nodded and said with a smile, "I still want to travel to the ends of the world with my sword and wander through the martial world."

"Travel to the ends of the world with my sword and wander through the martial world…" Xiao Se murmured in a low voice.

"What's wrong?" Lei Wujie asked.

Xiao Se frowned. "Doesn't quite rhyme."

"We can't keep using the Hidden River assassins. Long Ye, what about your death squad?" Xiao Yu was sitting in the courtyard, and although he was asking Long Ye, he was looking at the house in the backyard.

"They've already set off. The Grand Eunuch will personally take charge," Long Ye replied.

"Fine." Xiao Yu murmured in a low voice. "All of this will end soon."

"Songyu Street is straight ahead." Lanyue Marquis pressed on the hilt of his sabre.

Jin Xian Gonggong nodded. "I can feel it. Right now, the current atmosphere on this street can only be described in four words."

"Haunted, fiendish, unnerving, ominous."

Lanyue Marquis chuckled. "Gonggong, your description is apt."

Jin Yan wiped the sweat from his forehead. "After hearing that, I'm even more scared though?"

"You've harmed a lot of people in your life. Do you know how terrified those people were before they died?" Jin Xian asked back.

Jin Yan began breathing faster. "We're already at this juncture. Jin Xian, you don't have to lecture me anymore. I know that I'm as guilty as sin, but I still want to live."

In the midst of their conversation, they suddenly felt a heavy object collide against the roof of the carriage, followed by sounds of heavy coughing from outside.

Jin Xian pulled open the curtain of the carriage, only to see smoke lingering around them. The Brave Tiger Guards were all coughing and their eyes were tearing up.

"Someone released smoke." Jin Xian frowned.

Lanyue Marquis took a quick look, then shoved open the curtain and alighted the carriage. He had a strong internal strength to protect himself so the smoke could only obscure his vision, but not enter his nose and mouth. He looked down and shouted out loud, "Watch your feet."

Sure enough, a large number of men in black, masked and armed with blades, attacked their group. Most of them were crouching down as they inverted the blades in their hands.

"The Lingnan Earth-Trampling Blade." Lanyue Marquis slashed his long sabre, dispersing the smoke in front of him. "Everyone, watch your feet, watch your feet!"

After the smoke in front of him dissipated, a person suddenly landed heavily in front of the carriage. The horse neighed, and the whole carriage nearly overturned.

"Who!" Lanyue Marquis snarled angrily.

"The person who wants to kill you." The man's face was masked, but his eyes were fierce and he struck a fist at Lanyue Marquis.

Lanyue Marquis jumped up, swung his long sabre, and slashed at the man.

The masked man didn't hide, but slammed a fist down with his bare hands.

Lanyue Marquis' sabre was based on "violence" and was exceptional at domineering and offensive attacks. But when matched against this man's fist, he couldn't take the advantage at all.

"Violent Blade?" The masked man sneered, "I once fought with your shifu. He was not my match."

Lanyue Marquis once defeated a Hidden River Head of House with his sabre. But against this man, after only a few moves, he couldn't make full use of his sabre at all. What sort of killer could be more powerful than a Hidden River Head of House?

In the martial world, there was a ranking list of assassins. All the people on this list were assassins that were denounced by everyone in the martial world. Only the Hidden River looked down on this list, because the only reason these people could make the list was because the Hidden River assassins never left their names behind.

There was only one person who ranked first on the list of assassins, and not even the assassins of the Hidden River would dare to question his position. 𝐟𝐫𝗲𝙚ｗ𝚎𝐛𝙣𝐨𝙫𝘦𝗹.c૦m

Because he was very powerful and very fierce.

Lanyue Marquis uttered in a stern voice, "King of Murder, Li Tian!"