New and dark light years

Chapter 434 The Assassin Shocks the Valley Mansion

The capital city is located in the north of the Central Plains. Although it is early summer, the nights are still somewhat cool.

In the hall in the backyard, Li Lin was making small paper figures, while more small paper figures were making their own 'brothers' next to him.

If you count them, there are probably over a hundred already.

These little paper figures are all adorable, hopping and skipping as they walk, which is quite cute.

A short while later, Huang Qing walked in through the moon archway.

Hearing the voice, Li Lin asked without looking up, "Has Madam gone to sleep?"

"Yes, Mother and I talked about a lot of things. The Huang family in the capital is even more... bad than we imagined."

Huang Qing originally wanted to use even worse words to describe it, but after thinking about it, she decided against it.

Give the Huang family some face.

"It's inevitable in a large family. Power and wealth are tempting. Taishan is far from the capital, so it's normal for my second uncle and other collateral branches to have their own ideas."

Huang Qing sat down and said somewhat dejectedly, "In my memory, the Huang family used to be very harmonious. I never expected it to turn out like this."

Li Lin smiled and said, "It's just childhood nostalgia."

At this moment, Huang Qing looked at the paper figures running around and playing around the table and asked, "Sir, are you trying to deal with someone by making so many little things?"

She doesn't ask why she's targeting others, she only asks who she's targeting.

Li Lin nodded and said, "Some people are very hostile towards us. This trip to Beijing may not go so smoothly, so we need to make some preparations in advance."

"Is it troublesome?"

Li Lin laughed indifferently, "If all else fails, we'll just fight our way out of the capital."

"You're so amazing, sir?" Huang Qing's eyes were full of admiration.

Li Lin laughed and said, "More than sixty years ago, a few thousand cavalrymen from the Northern Barbarians could enter the pass, advance south all the way, and directly attack the capital. No one dared to come out of the city to fight. Now, the combat strength of the Imperial Guards in the capital is much weaker than it was more than sixty years ago. If things really come to a head, I don't think it will be difficult for them to break out and fight their way out."

Huang Qing nodded slightly without saying a word.

Li Lin is her husband. She doesn't need to know the reasons why her husband wants to do something; she just needs to support him silently from behind.

At this moment, Li Lin felt that the number of paper figures was about right, so he waved his hand, and the paper figures scattered and left the house in various ways.

Hongluan brought in some trays, each containing three bowls of meat porridge.

Upon entering the hall, she put down the tray and asked, "Husband, I just saw several little paper figures running outside. Is someone trying to provoke us?"

Li Lin laughed and said, "In the evening, someone tried to arrest me."

Both women were surprised when they heard this.

Huang Qing said angrily, "Who is so vicious?"

"Prefect of Liangcheng".

Huang Qingming knew the importance of this official position, but she asked in bewilderment, "We've just arrived in the capital and haven't offended anyone, so what gives him the right?"

Li Lin pondered for a moment and said, "Probably so. My presence in the capital is a threat to some people."

"What do you mean?" Hongluan asked, puzzled.

Li Lin said, "I'm just guessing. The little paper figure was just there to test the waters."

The two seemed to understand but not quite.

Li Lin continued, "Tomorrow, you two should have the steward and servants buy more paper, the larger the sheets, the better, and the more the better."

The two nodded repeatedly.

……

Meanwhile, Gu Shuwen stormed back to his residence.

He wanted to arrest Li Lin, but he did not expect to be stopped by the Secretariat.

This made him feel even worse.

In the past, the officials of the Secretariat and the Chancellery had been quite kind to him, and almost any request he made could be granted. Unexpectedly, this time his request was rejected.

He returned home and sat down in the main seat of the hall, sulking. His wife brought over a bowl of lotus seed soup and placed it on the table next to him.

"My lord, eat it while it's hot; it will help cool your heart."

Gu Shuwen nodded, picked up the bowl, and slowly began to drink.

His wife sat beside him, her expression gentle: "My lord, there's no need to be angry. Everyone has to have some ups and downs. You've had it too easy in the past."

“That’s not the problem. What I don’t understand is why the Secretariat and the Chancellery would rather offend me than deal with Li Lin.” Gu Shuwen snorted and said, “Does the Southern Frontier really lack a military general like Li Lin? If we send someone else, we can issue an imperial edict and they would have to go anyway.”

"It seems that he is the only one who is willing to fight in a war."

Gu Shuwen said, "I think Jing'er can go too, and it would be feasible to give him the position of military governor of Cangwu Road."

"That's not a good idea. What if something happens after we leave the southern border? Jing'er will be doomed there."

"It shouldn't happen in the next few years. Qin Tuo needs to stabilize the region, and the Tang family army needs to stockpile food supplies. Neither of these can be achieved overnight."

"What if those two sides suddenly decide to move north?"

"Fortune favors the bold; if that's really the case, then it's his fate."

The wife sighed softly.

Gu Shuwen put down the bowl and said, "I'm a little tired. Prepare some hot water, I'm going to..."

Just then, a scream suddenly came from not far away: "Assassin!" The two of them stood up abruptly.

His wife turned pale with fright, and Gu Shuwen's expression was also not good. He stood in front of his wife and said, "Don't worry, we have many guards in our house."

As if to confirm his words, the sounds of fighting broke out outside.

Not long after, several men in black leaped over the wall of the front courtyard.

Immediately, several martial arts guards leaped in from outside and gave chase.

These men in black arrived quickly, their agility superb; with a few light taps on their feet, they reached the front of the hall.

At this moment, the black-clad men's eyes were filled with murderous intent, and they threw out a large number of hidden weapons from several meters away.

Locust stones, plum blossom darts, and so on!
Seeing the swarm of projectiles raining down, Gu Shuwen's pupils shrank involuntarily.

Just as these hidden weapons were about to hit Gu Shuwen, a figure descended from the sky, with his left hand behind his back and his right hand gently blocking forward. An invisible stream of air blasted all the hidden weapons away.

The men in black did not retreat but charged straight at them.

"Is this your honor?" Gu Shuwen exclaimed in delight.

This Master Xu was an old man. At this moment, he clasped his hands together in front of him, and a white sphere formed by condensed primordial energy appeared between his palms, visible to the naked eye.

He then shoved the white ball away abruptly.

The white ball exploded immediately after leaving my hand, turning into countless sharp needles, like a dense rain of arrows, which shot out in a radial pattern towards the man in black.

Seeing this, the men in black tried desperately to stop them, but they could only protect a small area in front of them. They were caught off guard and, with several muffled sounds, several men in black were instantly pierced by countless ice needles and fell to the ground.

Only one man in black survived.

He wielded a semi-transparent longsword, and with a mere flick of his wrist, a ring of flowing energy appeared in front of him, deflecting all the ice needles aimed at him.

"Luoshui Sword!"

Xu Gongfeng's elderly face was full of surprise.

Then the man in black spoke up: "Ice Qi?"

The voice was clear and crisp, clearly a woman's voice.

Just then, a woman's startled cry came from behind Xu Gongfeng: "My lord, are you alright?"

Xu Gongfeng turned around and saw that Gu Shuwen was injured, with an ice needle stuck in his right arm.

Xu Gongfeng's eyes widened in surprise, and he subconsciously asked, "When?"

The man in black ignored him, turned around, and leaped away.

At this moment, several martial arts guards from the Gu family tried to stop them, but they heard the sound of flowing sword energy appear, and then these guards were either killed or wounded.

"Let her go!" Xu Gongfeng shouted.

Now no one stopped the men in black.

Then, Xu Gongfeng turned around, removed the ice needles from Gu Shuwen's arm, and pressed his acupoints to stop the bleeding. He then clasped his hands and said, "Patriarch, I failed to protect you properly, and you were injured. It is my fault."

Gu Shuwen waved his hand: "It's nothing, just a needle stuck in my flesh, nothing serious."

He sat down and asked, "But why didn't Master Xu order the guards to keep that assassin here?"

“That’s the Luoshui Sword, which excels at defense and counter-attack.” Xu Gongfeng said with a helpless expression, “The more we deal with her, the more passive we become. Just now, for no apparent reason, you, the patriarch, were injured, and I didn’t even have a chance to react. If someone tries to stop him again, the next thing that bounces back might not be a needle, but a broken sword.”

Gu Shuwen was taken aback and asked, "Is this Luoshui Sword so strange?"

“It’s not evil, it’s mysterious,” Master Xu explained. “More than thirty years ago, the Luoshui Sword appeared. Its sword techniques were very strange and could not be predicted by common sense. The more you attacked it, the more inexplicably you would be injured or killed. According to the elders at the time, this sword technique might be related to immortals, and therefore had the effect of reversing cause and effect. The best way to deal with it is not to conflict with it. If it wants to leave, just let it leave.”

Gu Shuwen asked, "Wouldn't that be incredibly frustrating? What if he keeps chasing and beating us?"

"Immortal sword techniques are not so easy to use. How many swords can she use? She probably only saved two or three to save her life."

Gu Shuwen understood what Xu Gongfeng meant: "Then she should indeed be let go, but how could my Gu family offend such a martial arts master and a descendant of immortals?"

Xu Gongfeng remained silent; he didn't understand these things about officialdom.

His wife, standing nearby, asked, "Has my husband offended anyone recently?"

“Besides Li Lin…” At this moment, Gu Shuwen smiled: “It’s him, if not him, it has to be him.”

Meanwhile, several small paper figures had already hidden in the grass not far away and were lying down.

Once the paper doll is powered by spiritual energy, the 'messages' it transmits become increasingly detailed.

Li Lin was in the room cuddling with his two wives when he received the message from the little paper doll and instinctively stopped what he was doing.

Huang Qing's cheeks were flushed, her breath lingering, and she looked at him with dazed eyes, asking, "Why did you stop, my lord?"

Li Lin smiled and said, "It's nothing, I just thought of some things."

Afterwards, they practiced dual cultivation diligently once again.

The next morning, just as Li Lin finished eating the breakfast prepared by Hongluan and was chatting with Madam Huang, he saw the steward rush in.

"Sir, a group of constables has arrived outside. They want you to go to the Secretariat and Chancellery for questioning."

Li Lin smiled and said, "I understand."

He knew this would happen when the little paper doll sent back a message last night.

He stood up and said to Huang Qing, "I left you two paper figures of the Tree Fairy Goddess, and there are many large paper figures in the warehouse. If these paper figures move... the three of you should follow them out of the city. I will meet you outside the city."

(End of this chapter)