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墨書 Inktalez
Under the cover of night, Qingliang Temple was far from quiet. On the contrary, the lights of the entire temple remained lit, with flickering candle shadows dancing in the main hall, occasionally accompanied by the sounds of bells and drums.
It seemed that the discussions and debates led by the Holy Monks from all directions were far from over; they were set to continue throughout the night. Despite the dark silence surrounding it, the temple exuded a warm and peaceful aura, as if divine light lingered and offered protection.
Who would have guessed that once dawn broke, this place would turn into a scene of bloodshed and crime?
As we approached Qingliang Temple, still three miles away, I dismounted at Luo Dachun's instruction. We scattered our horses and quickly walked toward Qingliang Temple.
We had visited Qingliang Temple several times before, each time in disguise—either posing as pilgrims or as passing merchants. We had come during the day and at night; in short, we were well-acquainted with the terrain here.
We swiftly reached our designated spot, a dense thicket on the eastern side of the temple. Within this thicket was a small hillock, and we climbed to the top of a large tree there. This position allowed us to see both the entire grove and the courtyard of Qingliang Temple clearly.
The tree we were hiding in must have been very old; its trunk was thick and its branches lush. Even in daylight, it would be hard to spot someone hiding in its canopy, making it an ideal hiding place.
“How did you know Snowfall Villa would come here?” I whispered.
“Snowfall Villa usually sets up their ambush three hours in advance, so they will arrive late at night. Upon reaching Qingliang Temple, they will definitely send scouts to check on the current situation inside the temple. This grove is the best place to hide and wait around the entire temple.”
“What about Mirror Gate? Won't they come too? Where would they hide?”
“They won't come now. Falling Snow has strong reconnaissance capabilities. If Mirror Gate arrives early, they might be detected by Falling Snow, which could spoil their plans. Their ideal timing to appear is right after Falling Snow makes their move, heading straight for the main hall. So if it’s Mirror Gate, they won’t overlook this detail.”
That made perfect sense. I wanted to ask more questions, but Luo Dachun suddenly placed his finger on my lips, signaling me to be quiet.
“Someone's coming,” he whispered very softly. “Listen carefully; no matter what happens, do not reveal ourselves. Promise me.”
I reached out and tugged at his clothing.
Luo Dachun paused slightly before breaking into a bright smile.
“Ying Ying, don’t worry. Just watch; I won’t let you down.”
With that, he pursed his lips and emitted two calls resembling those of a Night Owl.
The imitation was surprisingly accurate; I hadn’t expected Luo Dachun to possess such talent for mimicry.
In the distance, the call of the Night Owl echoed from the forest in the southwest.
Luo Dachun gently patted my shoulder, pulled my hand away from his collar with a smile, and then, in a flash, disappeared from in front of me.
When I regained my senses, he was already perched on a branch of a large tree across from me, waving his hand before vanishing into the dense foliage.
At that moment, I suddenly heard a faint sound nearby and quickly concealed myself deeper among the branches. But I soon realized what the disturbance was, for just a short distance away, several silvery soft serpents surged toward the tree where Luo Dachun stood.
I broke into a cold sweat. Had they arrived?
Several soft tendrils struck the treetop with a sharp whoosh, causing leaves to rain down, yet there were no voices or figures to be seen.
After a brief silence, a shadow suddenly shot out from the treetop like a night bird, darting toward a large tree at three o'clock.
At the same time, an almost invisible silver net fell from above, aiming directly at the shadow.
The shadow twisted in mid-air and performed a flip; with a gentle lift of its right hand, a Cold Radiance flashed through the air, splitting the silver net in two.
However, after this maneuver, it could no longer maintain its direction and began to drift down toward the ground.
Suddenly, four beams of cold light erupted from below—four long blades simultaneously sliced toward where the shadow was descending.
The blades were already in motion, but the shadow's movements were even swifter. It lightly tapped its toes on one of the descending blades and used that slight force to perform an aerial backflip, reversing its position in mid-air.
In its right hand was a slender short knife—its shape quite simple yet remarkably rare. In the dark night, the Cold Radiance flared up suddenly with a clattering sound that threw off the four long blades below. Using the momentum from the weapon's impact, the shadow executed another leap and gracefully landed ten feet away.
One of those wielding the long blades let out a low "Eh?" and asked, "Is that one of us?"
I clearly recognized that the figure was undoubtedly Luo Dachun. After all this time, aside from his earlier frenzy in Chang'an City, I had hardly seen him fight seriously.
It turned out his skills were remarkably agile. His swift and nimble movements resembled those of a cunning fox or flying bird—truly breathtaking and completely at odds with his refined and gentle gentlemanly image.
In terms of martial prowess, Nie Qiuyuan could also be considered a top-tier master; his actions were equally unpredictable. However, compared to him, Autumn's movements were more like those of an ethereal ghost while Luo Dachun resembled some fierce beast. Regardless of how one looked at it—both were impressive and simply stunning!
I had little time to marvel at this because what unfolded next was equally astonishing. In just a blink of an eye, two or three Fire Starters lit up below, revealing Luo Dachun's figure shrouded in black cloth under the dim firelight. By its glow, I saw he was surrounded by a group of black-clad figures forming layers upon layers around him. I counted—there were at least thirty-five black-clad individuals encircling him.
Thirty-five, what kind of number is that! Didn't ancient people always revere even numbers? Thirty-six would be a more respectable figure! Before I could finish my thoughts, a silver light suddenly shot down from the tree that Luo Dachun had intended to attack, heading straight for him.
Luo Dachun raised his hand to block with his blade. I could only hear the rapid and fragmented clinking of metal colliding, and saw the silvery light intertwining, enveloping everything in a tranquil hue.
For a moment, I thought everything had come to a standstill. In the quiet of this warm spring night, I gazed in astonishment at the direction where Luo Dachun stood. At that moment, I believed I saw pure white snowflakes dancing in the air.
The snowflakes suddenly vanished, revealing two dark figures swiftly separating below.
It turned out that the white blade of light shooting down from the tree was followed by a man in black. This was the thirty-sixth.
The descending figure in black spoke hoarsely, "Is it you? This can't be..."
"What’s impossible?" Luo Dachun slowly wiped the black cloth from his face under the firelight. "Did you see me die with your own eyes?"
"Ah... Ming?"
As those two words left his lips, the atmosphere among the group of black-clad men suddenly chilled, and some of them seemed to tremble slightly.
"Three teams working together on a mission? It seems like quite a big deal!" A smile, usually marked by nonchalance, gradually appeared on Luo Dachun's face, which was as pale as jade.
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