Swift and Decisive

"Head northwest; the place you're looking for is in an alley on West Marsh Street."

Murong Qing recalled the map hastily drawn by the two people seeking help, and quickly made a judgment by comparing it with the location of the street scene in front of her.

Because Mu Wu withdrew from the siege and disappeared from sight, the curfew in Haojing City was lifted. As the former capital of Li State and the current capital of Barbarian Hu, Haojing City had many pedestrians on the streets even at night. Therefore, Si Ming and his group were inconspicuous and did not arouse anyone's suspicion, and they arrived at their destination very smoothly.

Si Ming stroked his chin and said, "It feels like things went too smoothly. I was mentally prepared for spies everywhere and for the whole street to chase me, but nothing happened."

He Qichang asked suspiciously, "Didn't you just say we shouldn't make any noise and that we were going to conduct a true stealth operation?"

"That's true... Never mind, anyway, I'll go in and rescue him. You guys are responsible for eliminating the outer surveillance. According to the information provided by the two people who asked for help, there are a total of four people monitoring the Crown Prince's every move, but they will rotate, usually only sending out two people. You have the advantage in numbers."

Si Ming is thick-skinned and fearless, even if there are traps inside. If the others go in together, he will have to take care of them.

Everyone knew this, and there was no objection.

Just then, a golden light suddenly appeared outside the city, accompanied by a deafening dragon roar, and swooped down towards the palace.

Alarms immediately blared throughout the city, and pedestrians fled in panic, running for their homes. The battles of the past few days were still fresh in their minds, and they didn't want to become unlucky victims caught in the crossfire.

In an instant, two beams of light rose from the city, accompanied by a powerful aura, and together they intercepted the golden dragon. The two sides immediately engaged in a fierce battle, with the vast Primal Qi the universe surging outwards.

Seeing this, Si Ming immediately said, "Now! Let's begin!"

Chapter 191 Quick Victory

Si Ming ignored whether his companion's operation went smoothly and barged straight into the target's residence, reaching out and pressing down to tear the entire door panel off.

This caused quite a commotion, but at the moment everyone in the city was focused on the battle between Mu Wu and the Silver Wolf King and the Vulture King, and couldn't care less about anything else. Even the loudest noise was drowned out by the clash between Spirit Transformation stage experts.

However, the owner of the house was clearly not among them. A middle-aged barbarian came running out in a panic, carrying a sharp knife, and shouted, "Who are you, daring to trespass into my home...?"

Before he could finish speaking, Si Ming knocked him unconscious with a single palm strike, and he and his knife fell into the nearby bushes.

Then everyone in the courtyard was alarmed, including the barbarian's wife and more than a dozen servants, who all shouted and threw themselves out of the rooms, but Si Ming knocked them all unconscious with one move each, until finally, an eight or nine-year-old boy came out.

"Who are you, and why are you breaking into my house?" The boy's face showed no panic, revealing a maturity beyond his years, as he tried to negotiate with the assailant, "Take the money if you want, just please don't harm my family."

Si Ming glanced at it briefly and figured that even if it was a trap, Barbarian Hu must have gone to a lot of trouble to find someone to impersonate him.

He had never met Emperor Shenzong and did not know what he looked like, but the Crown Prince's mother was Murong Zhe's sister, and they were related by blood. The saying "like uncle, like nephew" was proven true in the boy.

Of course, it wouldn't be accurate to say they look exactly alike, since the other person was raised by barbarians from a young age and had Barbarian Hu beard with a shaved rat tail, making their hairstyle incredibly ugly. Fortunately, they had a good foundation, so they weren't too bad-looking.

"I'm not here to rob you, I'm here to rescue you."

"Save me? Why? I'm living perfectly well here, there's nothing that needs saving me. Have you mistaken me for someone else, sir?" the boy asked, puzzled.

Is your Chinese name Zhang Baobao?

"Yes."

"Then I haven't mistaken you for someone else; it's you. With your intelligence, you should have already realized that you're not a barbarian, but Huaxia. In fact, your true identity is... well, it's too complicated to explain now, let's talk about it later."

Si Ming stepped forward, and before the boy, whose curiosity had been piqued, could react, he knocked him unconscious with a chop to the neck, hoisted him onto his back, and turned to leave.

After Si Ming swaggered into the courtyard, two figures suddenly emerged from two corners of the alley and hurriedly chased after the courtyard.

By the moonlight, Murong Qing saw that it was a man and a woman; the man was using a sword, and the woman was using a knife. She had not sensed their presence before.

"You to the left, I to the right."

After speaking with He Qichang, she immediately lunged at the woman holding the willow-leaf knife, drawing her sword mid-strike. The blade snapped and closed in a flash, like flowing clouds and drifting wind, as she swung it out.

Upon seeing this, the woman exclaimed in surprise, flicked her sleeve, and the willow-leaf knife flew out lightly, as graceful as floating clouds. Halfway through its flight, the blade suddenly spun, as if a wisp of blue cloud had been broken, revealing a sliver of a cold, white moon.

"Well Moon Saber Technique!"

Murong Qing immediately recognized that the opponent was also using a Higher Vehicle martial art from the Mohist School. She couldn't help but wonder to herself, Barbarian Hu how much good stuff did the barbarians plunder from the Su State?

Both Swordsmanship and saber techniques were exquisite, and neither side could dodge them. Instantly, their swords clashed, and their Internal Cultivation clashed.

Murong Qing stumbled back three steps, her sword-wielding arm going numb. In contrast, her opponent only took one step back, then moved gracefully, her willow-leaf blade swaying like an orchid, like the moon reflected in a well, seemingly real yet illusory, slowly and deliberately slashing towards her chest.

Realizing that his opponent's Internal Cultivation surpassed his own, Murong Qing stopped taking the blow head-on and retreated more than ten feet. His sword stance changed, becoming elusive and elusive, like smoke or mist, ethereal and unpredictable.

"Thousand Directions Afterimages!"

In his quest for a swift victory, Murong Qing's sword flashed with incredible speed, seemingly multiplying from one to two, then from two to four, and in an instant, it had become a myriad of transformations, as if the clouds and mist in the night sky had parted, and countless stars had suddenly appeared, dazzling the eyes of all who beheld it.

The woman's sword techniques were unpredictable, making them impossible for her opponents to defend against. What appeared to be a false sword shadow could be replaced by a real sword at any moment. Unless one had reached a state of simplicity and authenticity in martial arts, it would be extremely difficult to see through the truth.

However, Murong Qing didn't bother to discern the truth from the falsehood. She simply unleashed more sword flourishes, whether real or illusory, all enveloped in the sword shadows. A series of crisp clanging sounds rang out as she barely managed to block the opponent's blade attacks.

"Hmph, the Moon Sets, Crows Cry!"

With a quick twist and a leap, the woman soared over ten feet into the air, escaping the range of Murong Qing's sword strike. In mid-air, her figure spun rapidly. The willow-leaf blade, already light and agile, trembled even more like water and clouds, dissipating Sword Qi. Then, like a hundred butterflies fluttering, it descended gracefully from above.

Faced with this incredibly fierce strike, Murong Qing showed no sign of nervousness; instead, she sighed and said, "You've lost."

She urgently channeled her Glacier True Qi, focusing it into her sword, and slashed upwards. Instantly, a blast of cold air flew through the air, like a glacier rushing down, extremely fierce.

The woman suddenly felt a chill seep into her meridians, attempting to stiffen her movements. However, her Internal Cultivation was already superior to Murong Qing's, and since it was only an external chill rather than a direct contact, she immediately let out a delicate shout and circulated her internal energy to dispel it.

"You dare say I've lost after all that? What arrogance..."

The thought had barely crossed her mind when she heard a metallic clang. Her willow-leaf knife was severed by the opponent's blade. The downward momentum was the hardest to change, and the woman had no time to dodge. She was immediately cut in two by the sword light, and blood splattered all over the ground.