Guo Jia's arrival was like a stone cast into a still lake, instantly disrupting Chen Yu's original plans. His seemingly casual yet incisive and dangerous scheme made Chen Yu realize that passive defense meant waiting for death. He had to strike first and sever the hand holding the sword before the Happo Navy's blade fell!
Chen Yu did not immediately leave with Huang Zhong and his son. First, he entered the shack to examine Huang Xu. The boy's face was sallow, his breathing faint, his cough hollow-signs that his chronic illness had already reached deep into his bones. Focusing, Chen Yu slowly channeled the faint power of Arceus's [Life Creation] within him into Huang Xu's body. Gentle life energy moistened the boy's parched meridians like welcome rain, temporarily suppressing his violent coughing and letting him fall into a deep sleep. Even his complexion seemed a little better.
"Thank you, sir!" Tears streamed down Huang Zhong's aged face at the sight, and he moved to bow again. This immediate effect surpassed anything achieved by the renowned physicians he had sought over the years! The last trace of doubt in his heart vanished.
[Huang Zhong's loyalty +20. Current loyalty: 80 (gratitude/trust)]
"There's no need for such courtesy, old general. This treats the symptoms, not the cause. He needs quiet rest and care." Chen Yu supported him and said gravely, "The situation is critical. We must resolve the immediate trouble before we can attend to your son's treatment in peace."
He turned to Guo Jia, who looked indolent but was actually observing everything with keen eyes. "Fengxiao, this is no place to discuss matters. Since you have a sound plan, we need somewhere safe to discuss it in detail."
Guo Jia yawned and pointed toward a dilapidated earth god temple, all but abandoned, beside a stinking drainage ditch piled with rubbish deep within the market. "That temple's been deserted for ages. Even beggars won't go there. A good place for a private conversation, though."
The four of them-Chen Yu, Guo Jia, Huang Zhong, and the sleeping Huang Xu on his back-quietly slipped into the earth god temple. It was dark, damp, and thick with cobwebs, but it was indeed secluded.
Chen Yu formed a thin barrier of Arceus's power, preventing sound from passing in or out. Sensing the faint fluctuation of energy, Guo Jia's eyes flashed with surprise and even greater interest.
"Fengxiao, what's your plan?" Chen Yu asked directly.
Leaning against a pillar with peeling paint, Guo Jia said lazily, "Simple. Decapitation. The targets: tax collector Zhou Ming, Captain Qian of the Garrison, and... Wang Lang, the chief secretary of the town administration, who may know about this and be preparing to report it. Once these three are dead, Bluestone Town will be leaderless. The report will inevitably be delayed, and a struggle for power and profit might even cause internal turmoil, buying us at least a month or two."
Huang Zhong sucked in a breath. "Assassinate imperial officials? That's a crime punishable by extermination of one's entire clan!" Brave as he was, his thinking still bore the stamp of the old era.
Guo Jia scoffed. "Old general, in times like these, officials and bandits are one and the same. When have they ever treated common folk like us as human beings? If they don't die, everyone in Peach Blossom Spring will-including your bedridden son. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures."
Chen Yu nodded. Guo Jia's words were cold, but they were the truth. "How do we proceed? They're bound to have guards, and the town administration is even more heavily guarded."
"That's why we need a plan." Intelligence gleamed in Guo Jia's eyes. "Zhou Ming is greedy and lustful. Every night, he visits the Drunken Fragrance Tower for pleasure. His guards usually remain downstairs, so that's when he's least vigilant. Captain Qian loves drinking. Tonight, he should be drinking with his confidants in the Garrison barracks. The barracks are well guarded, but we won't be launching a frontal assault." He looked at Huang Zhong. "I've heard you can hit a willow leaf at a hundred paces, old general?"
Huang Zhong said proudly, "Old though I may be, taking a life within a hundred paces is as easy as reaching into my pocket!" He patted the heavy bow beside him.
"Excellent!" Guo Jia clapped his hands. "As for Wang Lang, he's cautious and rarely leaves his residence, but he has one weakness-excessive suspicion. We don't need to kill him. We only need to make him 'believe' that Zhou Ming and Captain Qian were silenced after colluding with remnants of the Water Ghost Gang and quarreling over the spoils, and that he's the next target. He'll naturally find ways to suppress the matter. He might even take the initiative to eliminate those who know about it. That would work better than killing him."
Chen Yu silently admired him. A brilliant strategist indeed-ruthless, precise, and adept at exploiting human weaknesses. "How do we make him believe it?"
After rummaging inside his robe for some time, Guo Jia pulled out a small, crumpled strip of cloth that seemed to have been torn from an ornate garment, with a faint Black Snake Gang emblem on it. Then he picked up a piece of charcoal and quickly drew a simple Water Ghost Gang symbol on the wall. "Just leave this cloth and the symbol near Zhou Ming's or Captain Qian's body amid the confusion. Wang Lang will 'connect the dots' himself."
"When do we act?" Chen Yu asked.
"Tonight, at the midnight watch." A cold glint flashed through Guo Jia's eyes. "They'll think we're resting after just wiping out the Water Ghost Gang. We strike when their guard is lowest. Act simultaneously and catch them unprepared."
With the plan settled, they next divided the tasks.
"I'll deal with Zhou Ming myself," Chen Yu said. The Drunken Fragrance Tower was crowded, with eyes everywhere. The target had to be eliminated quickly and silently. His Arceus power might create a distraction or disguise, making him the best fit for the task.
"As for Captain Qian..." Chen Yu looked at Huang Zhong.
"Leave him to me!" Huang Zhong said without hesitation. "Just tell me what he looks like and where he'll be."
Guo Jia added, "He'll be in the lit room on the east side of the barracks' second floor. You can strike from the roof of the house opposite, old general. One fatal shot, then flee far away."
"Leave spreading rumors and planting 'evidence' to me." Guo Jia smiled lazily. "I may have little talent, but I can still wag my tongue and work amid confusion."
Looking at Guo Jia, Chen Yu said gravely, "Fengxiao, this plan is extremely dangerous. Your own safety is paramount."
Guo Jia waved a hand, revealing a sly smile. "Don't worry. I value my life very much. Besides, I'm terribly curious about this 'Peach Blossom Spring' you mentioned. I'd like to live a few more years and see it."
[Guo Jia's loyalty +5. Current loyalty: 60 (approval/opportunism)]
Their deliberations complete, the four made their separate preparations. Chen Yu used Arceus's power to stabilize Huang Xu's condition once more. Huang Zhong settled his son in a corner of the temple and covered him with dry grass, a trace of resolve flashing through his eyes. For his son, and for this rare hope, these old bones of his would kill tonight!
At the midnight watch, all was still. Bluestone Town lay shrouded in darkness, broken only by the occasional clack of the night watchman's wooden clapper.
The Drunken Fragrance Tower. The faint strains of strings and pipes drifted out. In a private room on the top floor, Zhou Ming held a singing girl in his arms, drinking and making merry. Two listless guards stood outside the door.
Chen Yu slipped over the rear courtyard wall like a phantom. The faint effect of [All Things Regulation] let him blend almost completely into his surroundings. Sensing the presences inside the building, he soon pinpointed the room containing his target, whose weak, unsteady aura betrayed excessive indulgence.
He did not take the stairs. Relying on his enhanced physique, he silently scaled the outer wall like a gecko and reached the private room's window. Through a gap, he saw the drunken Zhou Ming groping the singing girl.
Chen Yu's gaze turned cold. He focused and called upon Arceus's power. He could not attack directly, but he could influence the environment slightly. He fixed on the wine cup in Zhou Ming's hand.
[Creation Proclamation · Edict (faint): This wine is deadly poison!]
An invisible ripple of law merged into the wine. Completely unaware, Zhou Ming tilted his head back and drank. Moments later, his eyes flew wide and he clutched his throat, his face contorted in extreme agony. He tried to cry out but could make no sound. His body convulsed violently several times before he collapsed to the floor, dead. The singing girl was so terrified that she fainted.
Chen Yu vanished soundlessly into the darkness, just as he had come. Before leaving, he placed the strip of cloth bearing the Black Snake Gang emblem that Guo Jia had given him on a corner of the table, weighing it down with a wine cup. The guards outside remained unaware throughout.
On the roof of a house opposite the Garrison barracks, Huang Zhong lay motionless in the shadows like a statue, his heavy bow fully drawn and an ordinary arrow nocked. His eagle-sharp gaze remained fixed on the brightly lit window on the east side of the second floor opposite. Captain Qian's corpulent silhouette showed against the window paper as he raised his cup and drank heartily with his subordinates.
The night breeze stirred Huang Zhong's white beard. He drew a deep breath, seeming to become one with his bow and arrow. His faint perception of the flow of "time" made the world before his eyes seem to slow. The wind's resistance, the arrow's trajectory, and the target's movements all became incomparably clear.
Now!
The instant his fingers released, the arrow left the string without a sound, tore through the air, and passed precisely through a gap in the window!
Thwack!
The arrow pierced the back of Captain Qian's head and emerged through his Adam's apple! The smile froze on his face, his wine cup fell from his hand, and his obese body crashed to the floor. The room immediately erupted into chaos!
Without even looking at the result, Huang Zhong put away his bow, turned, and vanished into the tangled residential lanes in a few bounds, as though he had never been there.
Near the town administration, news of Zhou Ming's sudden death and Captain Qian's fatal shooting arrived almost simultaneously, sending all of Bluestone Town into an uproar! Leaderless, the Garrison descended into chaos; the town administration blazed with lights and bustled with frantic activity.
Guo Jia mingled with the panicked crowd, a faint, sickly flush on his pale face. Lowering his voice, he spoke to those beside him with just the right note of fear:
"Have you heard? The remnants of the Water Ghost Gang have come back for revenge! Lord Zhou and Captain Qian pocketed their goods back then, and now they've come knocking!"
"Look! I picked this up outside the Drunken Fragrance Tower! The Black Snake Gang's emblem! They're in it together!"
"Could Chief Secretary Wang be next? He knows the inside story..."
Rumors spread swiftly through the panic like a plague. Together with the "evidence" Chen Yu had deliberately left behind, every clue pointed to a gang vendetta.
Inside the town administration, Chief Secretary Wang Lang turned deathly pale upon hearing the news and rumors. Already deeply suspicious by nature, he now believed them without question. He immediately ordered the gates shut and more guards posted. At the same time, he strictly ordered the news suppressed, forbidding anyone from reporting the matter to the prefectural authorities! "Investigate! Hunt down those remnants of the Water Ghost Gang and Black Snake Gang! Leave none alive!" He intended to silence everyone who knew anything and bury the matter completely!
Halfway through the midnight watch, Chen Yu, Huang Zhong, and Guo Jia successfully regrouped at the earth god temple. Huang Zhong hoisted the still-sleeping Huang Xu onto his back.
"The matter is settled."
"The target has been eliminated."
Guo Jia smiled lazily. "Wang Lang is probably busy cleaning up the mess right now. No one will be paying attention to our Peach Blossom Spring for a while."
[Current crisis successfully resolved. Arceus power awakening +0.5%. Current awakening: 2%] [Huang Zhong's loyalty +10. Current loyalty: 90 (reverence)] [Guo Jia's loyalty +10. Current loyalty: 70 (trust)]
Looking at his two newly recruited pillars of support-one a divine archer who never missed, the other a brilliant strategist whose plans never failed-Chen Yu felt bold ambition surge within him.
"Come on. Let's go home!"
Under cover of night, the four quietly left the chaos-stricken Bluestone Town, met by Zhao Yun, who knew the route, and returned to their secluded haven.
This preemptive strike had not only resolved the imminent crisis but also secured the deep loyalty of two exceptional talents for Chen Yu. Unnoticed, Peach Blossom Spring's strength had risen another level. Yet Chen Yu knew well that this was only a brief calm before the storm. A greater tempest was gathering strength in the distance.
And with Huang Zhong's arrows and Guo Jia's strategies, Peach Blossom Spring now had the confidence to face that storm! The thunder in the dark was merely the prelude to this newborn force's first display of its edge.
Before you continue