Schemes within Schemes

A deathly silence fell over the street, broken only by the wind and the screams of the distant crowd.

The black-clad assassin went completely rigid.

He could feel the almost tangible, icy and oppressive blood-and-iron Sha Qi behind him, weighing down on him until he could scarcely breathe.

The captain, Li Zhong.

The assassin was horrified, but not a trace of panic showed on his face.

Ignoring the assassin's shock, Li Zhong looked past his shoulder with sharp eyes and saw Chen Fan lying in a pool of blood in the distance. A barely perceptible flicker of surprise crossed his eyes.

"You actually noticed me."

His voice was soft, as though he were talking to himself.

Chen Fan lay on the ground, his consciousness already fading. At those words, all he could do was sneer inwardly.

Noticed him?

I didn't notice you. I worked out long ago that someone from the residence would be watching this place.

The residence had only just lost the imperial secret manual. With this assassin lurking there, even I, a Ninth Grade martial artist, noticed him. The residence is full of experts, so how could they have failed to notice him?

So, the moment the princess consort left the residence, they had probably already sent someone to follow her in secret.

But why did the people from the residence take so long to show themselves? Why did they have to wait until now?

He had his suspicions. Glancing at the frightened princess consort in the distance, he felt sorry for her.

Li Zhong quickly turned his attention back to the assassin. His hand rested on his saber hilt as his imposing presence climbed steadily, locking firmly onto the man before him.

"Hand over the Record of the Grand Progenitor's Ascension to Immortality, and I'll leave your corpse intact."

The black-clad assassin recovered from his initial shock. Suddenly, he let out a low, eerie laugh.

"Heh heh... heh heh heh..."

"Li Zhong, do you think you're the only hunter here?"

Before the words had finished leaving his mouth, he clapped his hands sharply.

The crisp claps sounded especially piercing on the chaotic street.

The next moment, another sudden change occurred!

On the rooftops lining the street and in the dark mouths of the alleys, black figures silently emerged like ghosts.

Weapons in hand and their presence chilling, they formed a counter-encirclement in the blink of an eye, surrounding Li Zhong and Li Rong'er and her companions, who had yet to get far.

There were more than a dozen of them!

On one of the rooftops, a woman dressed in simple, elegant blue robes stood quietly, a pipa cradled in her arms.

It was none other than Su Xin, the White Lotus Sect's holy maiden!

She looked down at Li Zhong in the middle of the street, a hint of cat-and-mouse mockery on her delicate face.

"Captain Li, we've been waiting for you a long time."

Looking at the array before him, Li Zhong finally showed a flicker of emotion on his perpetually icy face.

He understood.

It was a trap.

A chain of schemes aimed at him, and perhaps even the entire Prince of Xiushan's Residence!

The assassination of the princess consort was a ruse; the real goal was to hook a big fish like him!

Chen Fan lay on the ground, watching Su Xin on the rooftop and feeling the killing intent around him grow ever stronger and more numerous. His heart went cold.

He had thought it was just a simple assassination mission. He had never expected the residence to be caught in someone else's scheme within a scheme, with the princess consort as cannon fodder to light the fuse.

"A fine scheme." Li Zhong slowly drew the long saber at his waist, its blade reflecting a chilling light in the sun. "You used the assassination of the princess consort as bait, then used a guard destined to die as the lure to draw me into the trap. Su Xin, the White Lotus Sect has truly gone to great lengths!"

Su Xin chuckled, but there was no warmth in her laughter.

"To deal with the Prince of Xiushan's Residence's lackeys, some measures are only natural."

Her gaze drifted lightly to the dying guard in the distance, as though she were looking at a tool to be discarded after use.

"This guard was devoted to his duty, at least. A pity he followed the wrong master."

Li Zhong wasted no more words.

He gave a cold snort, then suddenly raised a hand and waved it sharply toward the sky!

"Did you think that was the end of it?"

"Demons of the White Lotus Sect, since you've come, none of you will leave!"

At his command, a series of heavy, measured footsteps sounded from the end of the street!

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

A squad of the residence's personal guards, likewise armored and armed and carrying powerful bows and heavy crossbows, instantly sealed the street's exit like a black iron gate!

Arrows were nocked, bows drawn full as the moon, and countless gleaming arrowheads aimed at every White Lotus Sect member on the rooftops and in the alleys.

Reinforcements!

The residence had actually made preparations too!

The mantis stalked the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it!

Su Xin's smile finally froze on her face.

She had not expected Li Zhong to be so cautious as to have another squad hidden in secret.

"Kill!"

Li Zhong gave her no time to react. With a thunderous shout, he became a black afterimage and lunged straight at Su Xin on the rooftop!

The great battle was about to erupt!

"Loose arrows!"

"Kill them all!"

In an instant, cries of battle shook the street.

Sabers flashed and swords flickered, fierce Qi flying in all directions.

Arrows tore through the air with piercing whistles.

Screams, clashing weapons and furious roars intertwined into a symphony of death.

The whole street became a millstone grinding flesh and blood.

Chen Fan lay on the ground as blood continued to pour out beneath him. His vision had blurred, and all he could see were chaotic shadows swaying before his eyes.

He felt his life rapidly slipping away.

This time, he was really going to die.

Just as his consciousness was about to sink into darkness, a pair of soft boots embroidered with golden cloud patterns stopped before him.

He raised his head with difficulty and saw Li Rong'er's face, pale as paper and full of conflicting emotions.

The chaotic battlefield and bloody fighting seemed to become a distant backdrop.

In her world, all that remained was the guard before her, who had taken a fatal blow for her and was about to die.

"I..." Li Rong'er crouched down and reached out, as though she wanted to touch him, but hesitated. Her voice trembled a little, whether from fear or some other reason. "I dragged you into this, didn't I?"

She finally understood.

The prince's ruthlessness, Li Zhong's appearance, the White Lotus Sect's trap.

Everything revolved around her, the princess consort who had "lost her chastity."

And he, the guard whose poem had just sent ripples across the lake of her heart, was merely a piece sacrificed without hesitation in this cruel game of chess.

Chen Fan looked at her and tried to smile, but the movement pulled at his wound, and he began coughing violently as more blood poured from his mouth.

"Cough, cough, it was my duty..."

"Your Highness... please don't... worry..."

His voice grew weaker and weaker.

Doing his duty to the utmost was his final obligation as the guard Lin Shou.

He did not want this pitiful woman to live on burdened by guilt.

Although, after he died, he would live again.

But the pain of death was real enough.

That familiar agony, as though it would tear his very soul to shreds, had already begun to spread from the depths of his being.

It fucking hurts...

Chen Fan breathed his last. His head tilted to one side, and the light in his eyes went out completely.

The world fell into darkness.

Li Rong'er stared at his face, now utterly lifeless, and at those eyes that would never light up again. She froze.

Her outstretched hand hung in midair, trembling slightly.

A clear tear slid down her cheek and struck the cold flagstones, shattering.

[Substitute Death Reincarnation System activated]

[Host death detected]

[Searching for perpetrator...]

[Priority determined: direct killer - White Lotus Sect assassin, Chen Jinzhong]

[Target locked. Beginning body possession!]

"Boom!"

A violent force blasted through the darkness of his consciousness in an instant!

Chen Fan abruptly "opened" his eyes.

No, they were not his eyes.

This was an entirely new perspective.

He could feel a powerful, unfamiliar current of internal force surging through the meridians of this body.

His body was brimming with strength!

This was the strength of an Eighth Rank martial artist!

At last, this feeling is back.

He held a short dagger, cold and familiar in his hand.

And before him, an incomparably fierce flash of saber light, bearing the force to cut through everything, was slashing straight toward his throat!

The one wielding the saber was none other than the captain, Li Zhong!