ATPnovel Chapter 19 Assassination
Chapter 19 Assassination
It was a dark and windy night, around midnight.
Having used the Disguise Technique, Song Quyou shrank by three feet, changed into a black outfit, and wrapped his azure longsword in black cloth, carrying it on his back. He silently crept to the back wall of the prefectural governor's mansion.
The wall was over ten feet high, with broken porcelain embedded in the top. It was meant to keep out ordinary thieves, but it couldn't stop a Taoist with such skill.
He gathered his strength and leaped into the air, his toes barely touching the top of the wall before he floated into the mansion like a falling leaf.
The prefectural governor's mansion covers a vast area, with pavilions and towers scattered in a well-organized manner. During the day, it appears to be a place of wealth and grandeur, but at night, it exudes an indescribable desolation.
Song Quyou hid behind the artificial hill, carefully observing the situation. He evaded the patrols, tied up a servant from the backyard, and, feigning cold indifference, cried out in a terrified voice:
"If you dare to scream after I let go, I'll turn you into mincemeat."
As he spoke, Song Quyou picked up a pebble, gathered his energy in his palm, and with a sudden squeeze, the hard stone shattered into sand in an instant.
The servant of the prefectural governor's mansion stared wide-eyed and nodded tremblingly.
Song Quyou opened his palm and asked:
Where is the prefect now?
The servant's lips trembled as he stammered, "The master is in the study."
"Where is it located?"
Song Quyou watched as the servant of the prefectural governor's mansion pointed tremblingly. He channeled his inner energy and gently touched the man, causing him to faint.
After hiding the person, they disappeared into the night.
On the way to the study, there were several times more guards patrolling the mansion than during the day, and their steps were light and agile, clearly not ordinary martial artists.
Song Quyou held his breath and waited, then seized the opportunity between the two groups. His five-foot figure, like a ghost, swept through the moon gate and swiftly walked along the covered walkway.
The study is located at the deepest part of the mansion, isolated within a garden. The garden is designed to offer panoramic views of the surrounding landscape. From within, one can see the beauty of Jiangnan, the rugged peaks of the Baiyue region, babbling brooks, and white curtains hanging in the air.
Following the sound of the water, Song Quyou made his way to the study. He lay on the bare old willow by the pond and saw a dim light shining through the study window, with a vague shadowy figure moving about.
"How laughable! A dignified prefect was angered to death by his own actions. It's pitiful that I can only abandon one side and take your body. Very well, while your body is decaying more slowly in the cold moon, I will take the opportunity to eat more people to recover some magic power. As for your soul... I'll eat it when I leave."
"And that young Taoist priest during the day, he must have discovered something, because he had murderous intent the first time he saw me."
Song Quyou held his breath and listened to the conversation in the study through the window.
suddenly.
A loud shout came from the study.
"Who goes there!"
Knowing he had been discovered, Song Quyou stopped hiding. He leaped down from the old willow tree, his toes barely touching the ground as he reached the window.
The window opened by itself without any wind, and the prefect stood before it, his face as pale as paper, but his eyes shone with an eerie light. A smile curled at the corner of his mouth, a smile so stiff that it was clearly not something a human could do.
"Young Taoist priest, you've come at this hour; is it because you think the reward you received during the day wasn't enough?"
Song Quyou did not answer, but drew his long sword from his back, his eyes revealing an uncontrollable murderous intent.
"You're not capable of killing me."
A gong suddenly sounded outside the courtyard, and cries for catching the thief rose and fell. Dense footsteps rushed from outside the courtyard toward the study.
Song Quyou's whereabouts had been exposed. Knowing that he only had one chance to strike, he used all his strength to activate his sword technique. The sword energy swirled around his body without leaking out at all. The long sword in his hand hummed and emitted a bluish-green light.
Breaking through the clouds and startling the wind, the first move of the Nine Heavens Sword Technique, is all about speed.
Inside the house, a demon opened its mouth and roared, spewing out thick ghostly mist.
The ghostly mist was deep and black, concealing a woman's shrill screams, mournful cries, and sobs, which pierced through the window and rushed straight towards Song Quyou's face.
But the sword arrived first, followed by the wind.
A sudden gust of wind arose, and the ghostly mist was no match for Song Quyou, who was protected by sword energy. Instead, it was blown away by the wind that followed, revealing the prefect whose throat had been pierced by the azure rainbow that had broken through the air.
"Young Taoist priest, you can't kill me, but my servants have arrived."
Song Quyou smiled faintly, twisted his sword sharply, and retreated lightly.
The armored and armed servants who arrived with torches and lanterns surrounded Song Quyou, but they looked at each other and none of them made a move.
Song Quyou no longer concealed himself, dispelling the illusion technique, and his body returned to its original eight-foot frame. His five-foot-long night clothes were instantly torn apart, leaving only shreds of cloth barely covering his shame.
"What are you standing there for? Quickly capture the assassin. Seize this evil Taoist priest!"
The servants exchanged bewildered glances, their hands hesitant as they held their swords and spears. They looked at the ragged yet composed assassin before them, then at the prefect with his strange expression, who had survived a sword wound, and were momentarily at a loss for what to do.
The prefect realized something and immediately covered his throat. The wound from the long sword did not bleed, but only wisps of black mist seeped out, lingering between his fingers.
"How could this be? How could it not be covered up?"
An elderly man who looked like a steward cried out in a shrill voice, "The master is injured! Quickly capture the assassin and treat the master's wounds."
These words gave some of the servants a way out. The leading guard gritted his teeth and brandished his sword.
"superior!"
More than ten armored soldiers shouted in unison, brandishing their swords and spears, and rushed towards Song Quyou.
Undeterred, Song Quyou brandished his longsword, unleashing a torrent of sword energy that surged outwards, forcing back the surrounding servants.
"Gentlemen, please watch."
With a flick of Song Quyou's finger, the yellow talisman that had been affixed to the prefect's body at some unknown time suddenly burst into flames and turned into blue smoke.
The yellow talisman burned out, and the true form of the evil spirit was revealed.
His face was deathly pale with bluish spots, and his eyes were empty with black smoke billowing out.
Song Quyou smiled, holding his sword and standing to the side, saying in a low voice, "A throat pierced yet not dead, no blood flowing, yet still able to speak. Add to that, no pupils in the eye sockets, a deathly pale face covered in corpse spots. Do you all not know what an evil spirit is?"
The servants looked at each other, their swords unconsciously pointing at the prefect.
At this moment, the old servant jumped out and shouted:
"Can't you see? This is the sorcery of that evil Taoist priest. He was only five feet tall a moment ago, but in the blink of an eye, he became eight feet tall. If he's not a demon, then who is?"
Upon hearing the old servant's words, the servants looked at Song Quyou in confusion, wondering if he had any further rebuttal.
"The prefect has been in office for less than a year, and five of his wives have died. His sixth wife was even kidnapped by a monster. Isn't it obvious?"
At this moment, one of the servants stepped forward and said tremblingly, "When the wives of the previous prefects were buried, I secretly lifted the shroud before sealing the coffins, and indeed, just as the expert said, the wives of the prefects were completely shriveled up and turned into dried-up mummies."
As soon as he finished speaking, the servants immediately took a step back and pointed their sharp blades and spears at the prefect and the old servant.
Taking advantage of the break, Song Quyou's eyes darted around, scanning the courtyard. By the moonlight, he noticed a thin, almost imperceptible verdigris thread extending from behind the old servant into the study.
"I've found you."
Suddenly, Song Quyou leaped with all his might, his body swooping down like a falcon, his long sword cutting through the air, heading straight for the depths of the study.
A chilling roar echoed, sending shivers down the spines of everyone present. The servants in the courtyard trembled and retreated.
"You brat, how dare you destroy my idol! I will not forgive you!"
"Evil gods and demons, they're just being stubborn."
Song Quyou pushed his sword technique to its limit, transforming all his sword energy into a blue rainbow on his sword, and fiercely stabbed at the ghost statue hidden in the dark corner.
For a moment, a dazzling blue rainbow burst through the doors and windows, as if vying with the bright moon for brilliance. The roars grew even more mournful.
But as Song Quyou's longsword pierced the ghost statue's chest, the blue light dimmed, and the roar became weak and hoarse, until it fell silent.
Song Quyou casually picked up the ghost statue, looked at it, and then threw it out of the study. Under everyone's watchful eyes, the culprit revealed its sinister appearance.
The three-inch bronze ghost statue was unlike any other ghost or deity in the Central Heaven Land. It had four faces, representing greed, anger, ignorance, and emptiness, which sent chills down one's spine, making one fear that it might suddenly erupt and devour someone.
Fortunately, a sword wound piercing the abdomen of the ghost statue brought some peace of mind.