The Difficulty Soared, and He Was Raring to Go

Ran Jiao sprang into action. With a slight twist of her slender, serpentine waist, she truly seemed like a beautiful snake as she "slid" across the roof.

She reached the eaves without a sound, displaying impressive lightness skills.

Then she gripped the eaves with both hands and, with seemingly effortless exertion, flipped down as though she had no bones, slipping into the room beneath the overhang...

Now that was true infiltration skill.

Even with private soldiers guarding the entrance to the great house, none of them noticed that a "beautiful snake" had twisted her slender waist and climbed right over their family head's head.

Wang Qi returned to the observation hole they had opened in the roof and peered inside, only to suddenly see a beautiful face with serpentine eyes appear in the opening, seemingly glaring at him...

For a moment, his heart pounded wildly-thump, thump, thump... She had startled him out of nowhere.

Ran Jiao really was mischievous. He had asked her to restrain the Chen Family head and his wife, yet she had come to give him a fright first...

But Ran Jiao gave him no chance to get her back. She flipped over and leaped down in a pose that looked just like a fancy dive... Her graceful body rolled sideways through a full 360 degrees in midair, yet she landed with the elegance and lightness of a nimble cat. At the same time, her two short blades silently settled against the necks of the Chen Family couple, who happened to be standing close together.

Madam Chen was still complaining when she suddenly felt a chill against her neck. Seeing short swords pressed against both her neck and the Chen Family Head's, she shuddered all over and jerked her neck forward...

Ran Jiao's hand trembled, and she nearly lost control and slit the woman's throat... Cold sweat broke out across her back too. She had never seen anyone thrust their own neck into a blade like that.

Wang Qi nearly laughed aloud at the sight. The panic in Ran Jiao's slit pupils struck him as hilarious.

"Who are you?!" Though startled, the Chen Family Head appeared quite composed as he demanded loudly.

Ran Jiao snorted coldly. "Didn't your son Chen Jingtian lead his troops out to find me?"

The Chen Family Head did not seem surprised at all. "So that is indeed the case. Might I ask whether you have come from Chang'an, young lady?"

Ran Jiao was taken aback. She had not expected the Chen Family Head to remain so calm, much less guess where she had come from in a single remark.

But her distraction lasted only a moment before she recovered and said, "You needn't concern yourself with where I came from. Just cooperate and don't make any rash moves, and you won't be in danger."

Yet something beyond Ran Jiao's control happened immediately. Madam Chen raised her voice and shouted, "Where are the guards? Hurry and seize this intruder!!"

That was fucking troublesome. Furious, Ran Jiao could only reverse her blade and strike Madam Chen on the back of the head with its hilt, knocking her unconscious and shutting her up.

At the sight, the Chen Family Head merely twitched an eyelid before saying, "Please show mercy, young lady. My wife is simply too anxious for our son."

Indeed, had Madam Chen ignored the blade against her neck and shouted so loudly because she was certain Ran Jiao would not dare kill her?

In fact, she had simply disregarded her own safety entirely. All she wanted was for her son Chen Jingtian, who had left the Chen Family Fort, to receive word as soon as possible rather than remain lost in a fog.

Ran Jiao's response, however, instead convinced the Chen Family Head that she would not truly harm them.

But Madam Chen's shout had already summoned the guards outside. The Chen Family's private soldiers swarmed in, and the sight of the unconscious Madam Chen and the short sword still held against the Chen Family Head's neck left them tense and at a loss.

"Chen Family Head, you should behave yourself too. You ought to know what's good for you." Ran Jiao looked somewhat tense as well. Facing so many people alone did not frighten her, but the current situation put her at a disadvantage, and she worried that she might struggle to complete her mission.

"I understand." The Chen Family Head took a deep breath and said, "Might you put down your short sword, young lady? I am willing to do everything I can to cooperate."

Ran Jiao remained entirely unmoved. Instead, she tightened her grip on the short sword...

Watching the sudden chaos around him, Wang Qi began to feel uneasy.

He no longer stayed where he was to observe. Instead, he concealed himself once more with the Light-Concealing Shadow-Masking Spell, then quickly relocated to another hiding spot diagonally opposite the great house's main hall.

This spot was actually already quite dangerous too, with people constantly pouring into the courtyard.

But while those private soldiers streamed in, he made his way over to the courtyard wall and found an osmanthus tree... Evergreen throughout the year, osmanthus trees were favored by wealthy households, who liked to plant them in their courtyards to adorn the scenery and improve the feng shui. Now, however, it made a perfect hiding place for Wang Qi.

He climbed the osmanthus tree. By following its dense branches and leaves, he could step straight onto the top of the courtyard's outer wall, which was very convenient indeed.

He glanced beyond the wall behind him. With everyone gathering in the courtyard, there were few people on the other side.

Wang Qi swept his gaze across the courtyard and discovered that some five hundred people had already gathered, surrounding the Chen Family's great house so tightly that nothing could get through.

For now, the situation appeared stable on the surface. The Chen Family's servants and private soldiers dared not act against Ran Jiao while she held hostages, leaving the scene at a stalemate.

At the same time, he looked into the distance behind him, where a servant was hurrying out of the fortified compound, presumably to notify his young master, Chen Jingtian.

Perhaps this was what Xu Ping wanted to see too... Chen Jingtian was the crux of the problem now, but with a group of private soldiers around him, it would be difficult to make a move against him. Their only option was to make him stumble amid the rush.

Once he had confirmed this, Wang Qi took a standard military war bow from the side of the pack on his back.

This time, he did not use his short hunting bow. He needed greater range and stronger shooting power to provide cover for Ran Jiao.

He nocked an arrow on the war bow, but drew the string back only slightly as he settled in to wait... Whether he would actually need to act depended on how the situation developed.

Yet, to Wang Qi's frustration, things clearly were not going to move in what he considered a favorable direction... As he carefully surveyed his surroundings, he spotted a group of more than a dozen people dressed as wandering swordsmen scattering in an attempt to sneak into the house from other directions...

He did not know who they were, but their actions at this moment were unquestionably very, very detrimental to the whole affair.

If they entered the great house's main hall and attacked Ran Jiao, she might hesitate to strike the rat for fear of breaking the vase... No, she was more likely to see that things had turned bad and simply finish off the Chen Family Head and his wife without hesitation, conclusively branding the Chen Family as rebels.

But neither those above nor Xu Ping wanted to see that happen. It could only be considered a last resort when no other choice remained.

Wang Qi took a deep breath, his blood beginning to surge with eagerness... After spending so long learning his skills, the time had finally come to put them to use.

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