At Alu Restaurant, several young people were around the same age and hit it off in conversation, so they soon became familiar with one another.
Su Jiangcheng was exceptionally eloquent. As he talked about the customs and scenery of Jiangnan, he made Hong Yun and Hong Lian laugh nonstop. Bai Bingxue secretly cursed the disciples of the Su Xian Sect for being so good at pleasing girls.
Over at the grand hall of Ziqi Country's palace, the festivities were even livelier and more chaotic, and everyone had let down their guard.
The livelier things became, the more danger lurked beneath the surface. There was always someone who would come to ruin the mood.
The sword dance began. Two men in black and two women in white performed a four-person sword dance.
The dance sent sword weapons sweeping in all directions. The women's long sleeves fluttered, concealing their short swords so that they appeared and disappeared from view. The men's outfits were tight and practical, their long swords flashing. Amid the dancing sword light, it seemed one could hear the sound of blades slicing through the air and feel the chill of sword qi.
As the dance progressed, the four swordsmen moved faster and faster, and the sword light grew denser.
Suddenly, amid a dazzling blaze of sword light, all four swordsmen leaped into the air at once. The two men in black thrust their swords straight at King Ziqi, who sat in the elevated position.
In the blink of an eye, Ying Hu, the chief officer of Bing Cao, kicked up a table and sent it smashing toward one of the sword dancers in black.
King Ziqi reacted swiftly. With both hands, he flipped up another table and hurled it at the other sword dancer in black. The two assassins were obstructed, and their sword light swept the tables away, but they were a step too slow. Ying Hu had already blocked their path.
The two female assassins in white also charged over with green-edged swords in hand.
The thirty-seven tribal leaders in the hall, who had been drunk and bleary-eyed, sobered up at once. General Alu, General Age, Young Master A Wei, and General A Long of the Shizong Tribe drew their treasured swords and rushed forward.
Young Master A Wei used his family's inherited White Fox Thirty-Seven Steps. He slipped through the gaps between the four assassins and arrived beside his master, Ying Hu, standing in front of his grandfather. King Ziqi approved inwardly, his tiger eyes widening as he shouted, "Take them down!"
The four experts of Ziqi Country attacked at the same time. The four assassins were no ordinary opponents either. With their backs supporting one another, they attacked and defended in perfect order, holding their own for the moment.
King Ziqi's two secondary consorts had been frightened, so he prepared to take them away from Wude Hall.
Seeing that the assassination had failed, the four assassins were unwilling to give up. Their eight eyes met. The two male assassins in black deliberately exposed an opening, luring Ying Hu into attacking at close range. The two female assassins in white took the opportunity to circle behind him, and two sleeve arrows shot toward King Ziqi.
A Wei had no time to block them with his sword. He leaped forward and threw himself in the way. With two muffled thuds, the sleeve arrows struck him in the abdomen. A wave of agony made him bend over and drop to one knee. The leading assassin in black let out a long howl and prepared to retreat.
The second son of General Abu, A Si, ran to the center of the hall. Completely fearless, he shouted, "You bandits, don't run! Diao'er, bite them!"
He flung forward the two small hands holding the snow ferret in his arms, and it darted out.
The leaders hurried forward in fright to shield the young master, afraid that an assassin would kill him with a single sword stroke.
That snow ferret was a deadly poisonous creature from the Great Snow Mountain. It was swift and nimble, and many jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards had died because they underestimated it.
The four assassins did not know how fearsome it was. While they were surrounded and attacked by experts, the snow ferret scrambled over their backs, necks, shoulders, sleeves, and even beneath their skirts, darting up and down before biting each of them once in a fleshy spot.
At first, the assassins felt as though they had been pricked by needles and nibbled by rats. Later, their vision blurred and their qi and blood stopped flowing smoothly. In the end, they toppled over, blood flowing from their mouths and noses, and breathed their last.
The four assassins were dead, and the crisis was over.
At that moment, A Wei could no longer hold himself up. His legs gave way, and he fell backward.
"Send for the medical officer at once! Young Master A Wei is injured!"
"Seal the city gates and capture the assassins' accomplices!"
"The birthday banquet is over. All tribal leaders are to return to their residences and rest. Tomorrow morning, we will discuss state affairs at Wende Hall."
At Alu Restaurant, Bai Bingxue and the others followed their host's arrangements. A table laden with exquisite dishes stood before them, and the monk Sixi abstained from neither meat nor vegetables, eating until his mouth shone with grease.
Bai Bingxue ate some of the pastries she had loved as a child, while Su Jiangcheng and Su Dingfeng drank two pots of wine. The enthusiasm of the two princesses, Hong Yun and Hong Lian, had left them both thoroughly dazed.
They went from the scenery of Jiangnan to poetry and literature, then from the grain transport along the Bian River to the gifted men and beautiful women of West Lake.
Bai Bingxue and Sixi could not get a word in, so they focused solely on eating.
Suddenly, hurried hoofbeats stopped in front of the restaurant. Then a general in black came carrying Young Master A Si and shouted from the doorway, "Second Sister, Third Sister, something's happened! Something terrible has happened!"
"Second Sister is Fourth Brother?" Princess Hong Lian said in surprise and hurried outside.
"Third Sister, call Second Sister and come back with me at once. Assassins attacked Grandfather, and Big Brother is injured!" A Si shouted anxiously from horseback.
"Ah! Is Grandfather all right? Is Big Brother all right?" Princess Hong Lian asked anxiously.
"Go call Second Sister. You'll know once we get back." After saying this, A Si turned his horse around and galloped toward the palace.
Inside the palace, Young Master A Wei lay on a sickbed, his abdomen and lower garments drenched in blood.
Seeing that his lips were blue-black, his face pale, and that he exhaled more than he inhaled, the medical officers all shook their heads.
They did not dare to apply acupuncture or pull out the arrows. For the moment, all they could do was wait helplessly.
King Ziqi paced anxiously outside with his family. Everyone was so frightened that they did not dare make a sound, and the atmosphere was oppressively tense.
After some time, two medical officers came out, knelt, and kowtowed. "Your Majesty, please mourn. Young Master A Wei is going to meet the Buddha. Sob..."
A Wei's birth mother, General Abu's principal wife, fainted from fright after hearing this. The medical officers hurriedly busied themselves with resuscitating her.
King Ziqi's eyes glistened with tears. "Abu, Alu, Age, come in with me and see A Wei off."
Just as King Ziqi pushed open the door, Bai Bingxue, Hong Yun, Hong Lian, and Sixi returned.
"Grandfather, let me examine Cousin's injuries." Bai Bingxue shouted the moment she entered.
King Ziqi moved aside from the doorway and let her in.
Bai Bingxue entered the room and seized A Wei's wrist. When she felt that his heart was still beating, she breathed a sigh of relief.
She hurriedly took a Returning Yang Rescue Reversal Heart Protecting Pill from a medicine bottle in her robes and gave it to A Wei. It kept his last breath alive, giving him hope of survival.
Bai Bingxue first examined A Wei's mouth and nose, eyes, pulse, and wounds. Then she ordered the medical officers to cut away his upper garments.
The chief medical officer watched her work for a while, growing displeased. "Miss, it's too late. Just let Young Master A Wei pass on peacefully!"
Bai Bingxue's eyes widened as she cursed loudly, "Bullshit! If you keep dawdling, watch out—I'll have Grandfather chop off your head!"
King Ziqi glared over when he heard this.
The chief medical officer was so frightened that he hurriedly ordered the other medical officers to get to work.
After A Wei's upper garments were cut away, two feathered arrows were visible in the pale flesh near the Zhongwan and Juque acupoints. They had already penetrated three inches into his abdomen, and black blood was flowing out.
Bai Bingxue examined them carefully. Beside her, the chief medical officer said, "The wound is bleeding black. The arrowheads were coated with a filthy, deadly poison. The wound is torn, and these arrows embedded in his abdomen have barbs. If you pull them out recklessly, his intestines and stomach will surely be torn apart."
"What's more, Young Master A Wei's Sea of Food and Water has suffered such severe damage. Aside from an immortal, no one in Ziqi Country can save him."
Annoyed by his rambling, Bai Bingxue roared, "Get out!"
The chief medical officer still wanted to argue, but General Alu grabbed him by the back of his collar and dragged him outside.
The chief medical officer cursed inwardly, I don't believe you, you little yellow-haired girl, can bring a dead man back to life!
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