Hu Shining had said not to get caught up in a melee, but a melee had almost broken out all the same.
King An's residence, though not especially small, was suddenly packed with people. Most wore black and had their faces veiled. If you took your eyes off someone for a moment, you could no longer tell friend from foe. It seemed no one had thought to mark themselves beforehand.
If he still had his powers, Old Man Mu would have been glad to wade into the fray. But now, he followed Hu Shining's "orders" to the letter: he only watched and never intervened. Whenever anyone approached, friend or foe, he immediately changed position and kept a safe distance from the battlefield.
Old Man Mu soon found himself disappointed. This was not the massacre he had imagined. The scene was chaotic, but every side had its own objective, and no one had made killing their first priority.
The first ten Moonlight Hall disciples to enter the fray had run into formidable foes and immediately chosen to flee. Han Wuxian stood in the courtyard, holding Han Xuan tightly in her arms, her long hair falling past her waist. She watched the fugitives and laughed uproariously, but did not pursue them. The crowds of black-clad figures all around her meant nothing to her.
And no one paid her any attention.
Shangguan Ru led her people straight to a room in the west wing. She, too, carried someone out, and they immediately covered one another as they withdrew. That person let out a piercing scream, answering Han Wuxian's laughter.
Old Man Mu suddenly understood. The good lady had come to rescue Shangguan Shaomin.
Another group of Golden Peng Assassins—or, more accurately, Tianshan Sect swordsmen—passed Shangguan Ru and her party and charged at Tie