Ning Dao Covered with Snow

Chapter 395 Rescue
Just then, a sharp arrow pierced through the window and shot straight at Si Buping!
Si Buping reacted extremely quickly, swinging his sword to block the arrow.

The arrow struck the blade with a crisp clang.

The arrow was immediately deflected and embedded deeply into the wall.

Fu Bai shouted, "An assassin!"

In an instant, all the guards inside and outside the house drew their swords and searched for the assassin. However, it was too dark and the torrential rain severely affected their vision, so they were unable to find the assassin.

Si Buping first glanced at the hole in the window, then walked to the wall and pulled out the arrow with one hand.

By the dim light, he carefully examined the arrow in his hand. As if thinking of something, he narrowed his eyes and revealed a thoughtful expression.

Fu Bai twisted Jiang Qiuyu's arm behind his back, then forcefully pressed his head onto the table, demanding in a stern voice, "Did your accomplices come to rescue you?"

Jiang Qiuyu's face was distorted from the pressure, and his arm was almost dislocated. He was in excruciating pain, but he gritted his teeth and remained silent.

Yue Jin was cautious: "There might be an ambush nearby. The enemy is in the dark while we are in the light, which is very disadvantageous for us. Why don't we take Jiang Qiuyu back to the Inner Guard first, and then investigate his accomplices in detail later?"

Si Buping nodded slightly, accepting Yue Jin's suggestion.

Yue Jin brought out ropes and tied Jiang Qiuyu up tightly. Then Fu Bai escorted Jiang Qiuyu outside.

But as soon as they stepped out the door, two arrows shot towards Fu Bai!

Fu Bai shoved Jiang Qiuyu to the ground, then dodged to the side, avoiding the two arrows.

Through the heavy rain and mist, Fu Bai saw a figure flash across the roof of the opposite house, and he immediately shouted: "The assassin is there!"

Fu Bai led three guards out of the courtyard and chased after the figure.

Yue Jin was about to pull Jiang Qiuyu up from the ground when he heard footsteps coming from above the roof.

His heart skipped a beat, and he immediately shouted, "There's someone on the roof!"

Three guards braved the heavy rain and leaped onto the roof. Immediately afterward, the sounds of fierce fighting erupted from above, and soon after, someone was seen tumbling down from the roof.

Yue Jin ran out to see what was happening and found that all the people who had fallen were his own people, and each of them was injured. It seemed that the other party was very skilled in martial arts.

He looked at Si Buping and said loudly, "Grand Commander, I'll go up and take a look."

Si Buping ordered the remaining two guards to go with Yue Jin and make sure they captured the assassin on the roof.

After Yue Jin led the two away, only Si Buping and Jiang Qiuyu remained in the house.

Si Buping slowly squatted down, handed the arrow to Jiang Qiuyu, and asked, "Do you recognize this arrow?"

Jiang Qiuyu closed his eyes and refused to answer.

Si Buping continued, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings: "These are arrows used by the Shence Army. Could it be that you have accomplices in the Shence Army?"

Jiang Qiuyu remained silent.

Si Buping pressed the arrow against his eye and threatened in a low voice, "I know you're not afraid of death, but are you afraid of living a life worse than death? Now, with just a little force, this arrow can pierce your eyeball. Now I'll ask you one last time, who exactly are your accomplices?"

This time, Jiang Qiuyu finally reacted.

He opened his eyes and quietly looked behind him.

Si Buping noticed something was wrong and immediately turned around to look behind him, just in time to see a masked man in black jump down from the roof beam!

The man in black held a horizontal sword, and the blade slashed down fiercely at Si Buping!
Si Buping braced himself with one hand, twisted his waist and spun around, perfectly dodging the knife.

The man in black landed, the tip of his horizontal sword slicing across the ground before slashing at Si Buping once more.

Si Buping drew his own knife, the blades clashing and vibrating. The two immediately stepped back and separated, realizing the other was a formidable opponent!
The two sides engaged in a fierce fight in the cramped room. Tables and chairs were overturned, writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones were scattered all over the floor, and the oil lamp was smashed and extinguished, plunging the room into darkness.

The two could only pinpoint each other's location by hearing.

With a deafening roar, a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, hitting the old locust tree in the courtyard.

The sudden, loud commotion briefly distracted Si Buping.

In just a short while, the man in black rushed to the door and hoisted Jiang Qiuyu onto his shoulder.

Si Buping caught up with lightning speed, his sword pointing directly at the man in black's back.

The man in black sensed a strong gust of wind coming from behind him. He dodged the knife to the side and swung his knife at Si Buping's right arm at the same time.

Just as Si Buping was about to retreat, a flash of lightning streaked across the sky.

The flash of light illuminated the man in black's eyes.

Si Buping met his gaze, then suddenly stopped in his tracks, allowing the other man's knife to strike his right arm.

In an instant, a sharp pain struck, and blood gushed from the wound.

The man in black was slightly taken aback when he realized that his knife had actually hit the target, but he quickly recovered, hoisted Jiang Qiuyu onto his shoulder, and strode out of the room, disappearing into the heavy rain and mist.

Soon after, Yue Jin, Fu Bai, and the others returned, all soaked to the bone and bearing various bruises.

They were frustrated at failing to capture the assassins when they discovered that Jiang Qiuyu had disappeared and that Si Buping was injured.

"Grand Commander, what's going on here?"

Si Buping said expressionlessly, "There was an assassin hiding in the house. He was very skilled in martial arts, and none of us noticed him. He was the one who ambushed me and rescued Jiang Qiuyu."

Fu Bai couldn't help but curse, "These assassins are too cunning! They deliberately lured us away and then took advantage of the situation to launch a sneak attack on the Grand Pavilion Leader. I must capture them and skin them alive!"

Yue Jin wiped the rain off his face and asked worriedly, "What do we do now?"

Si Buping said in a deep voice, "You should return to the Inner Guard first."

"And what about the Grand Secretary?"

"I want to go to the palace to meet the emperor."

……

Suddenly, someone knocked on the gate of Qingping Residence.

It was really inconvenient to go out in this heavy rain. The doorman wanted to pretend he hadn't heard it, but the door knocking grew louder and louder, and it was as if it wouldn't give up until the door was opened.

Helpless, the gatekeeper could only mutter complaints under his breath as he put on his raincoat, grabbed his oil-paper umbrella, and ran out to open the gate.

Standing outside the door was a tall, handsome young man, none other than Xiao Wang, the sixth son of the Xiao family.

Upon seeing him, the gatekeeper hurriedly bowed and greeted him respectfully, then ushered him inside.

Xiao Wang was led to the flower hall. He had just put down his oil-paper umbrella when he saw Nie Xiayun pushing Yan Ciwan in a wheelchair.

Seeing that his coat was soaked by the rain, Nie Xiayun immediately said, "Take off your coat and give it to me, I'll help you dry it."

"Thank you for your trouble, Madam."

Xiao Wang took off his outer garment and handed it to Nie Xiayun with both hands.

Nie Xiayun had someone bring hot ginger soup to Xiao Wang to ward off the cold, then left with her wet clothes and sent away all the other servants so as not to disturb Yan Ciwan and Xiao Wang's conversation.