Scourge Messenger

Chapter 105 First Wave of Ambush

Let's rewind to 15 minutes earlier, when the store suddenly exploded and caught fire.

Prior to this, Shang Xuanwen had already divided his forces once, sending General Chen Zaiyuan of the Imperial Guard to lead men to put out the fire at the armory, while he himself led men into the palace to assess the situation. Now that the Shang family was in trouble, after a brief hesitation, Shang Xuanwen chose to return to the Shang family first—besides him, the Prime Minister, many others would go to the palace to protect the emperor, but the Shang family only had him, the patriarch, to protect them.

But he didn't take the shortest route back. If the first time he set fire to the armory was to cause chaos, and the second time he set fire to the palace was to assassinate the royal family, then the third time he set fire to the Shang mansion could only be to deal with him. The enemy needed him to be impatient, needed him to be angry, needed him to lose his composure, but he refused to do what the enemy wanted.

The fastest route back to the Shang residence is likely to be a trap; rushing in rashly would be tantamount to walking into a battlefield the enemy has been preparing for. Therefore, he cannot be hasty now; instead, he must proceed slowly and steadily, staying on the main road so that everyone knows the Prime Minister of Liang is returning home!
Shang Xuanwen has always preferred to conceal his identity and enjoys the art of controlling people, but this does not mean he is a schemer lurking in the shadows. As the prime minister of a nation, why should he concern himself with such scheming and petty maneuvering? He can crush all demons and monsters by simply taking the grand path.

If the enemy dares to make a move on the main road, messengers from noble families will naturally gather from all directions to help. The farther the news of the Prime Minister of Liang's inspection tour spreads, the faster the unrest in the city will subside. When people are panicked by the chaos, what they need most is to hear an authoritative message.

But things don't always go as he wishes, just as children won't remain innocent and naive as he expects. Just before reaching Jiangtai Street, Shang Xuanwen encountered the first ambush of the night.

Fierce and brutal.

Suddenly, four thugs engulfed in flames crashed out of the buildings on both sides of the street. Just as Shang Xuanwen thought it was another attack by the firemen, he saw them swing out scorching hot iron chains, which were heated to a cherry red color and were a full seven feet long!

Four of the six Imperial Guard soldiers were instantly killed. These soldiers were all first-level messengers, but they were still cleaved in two by the sickle-like iron chains, their flesh and blood scattered like straw.

Although these soldiers were messengers, they had lived in the main city for far too long. The absolute protection of the main city had completely replaced their sense of crisis, so much so that even on this night filled with danger, they hadn't activated their defensive tokens along the way, as sluggish as domesticated pigs.

Over-reliance on past experience can lead to losses that are beyond imagination.

But the attackers' target was not Wu Zu; they had been focused on Shang Xuanwen from beginning to end. Wu Zu was just an ant they accidentally trampled to death when they surrounded him!

Four attackers, eight chains, swept in from eight directions, blocking all of Shang Xuanwen's escape routes!
Those who burn themselves!
Shang Xuanwen's heart sank, knowing that the enemy truly wanted to kill him this time.

This sounds strange. Didn't the assassins from a few days ago want to kill him? Because all assassinations require resources. Although the assassinations a few days ago were well-prepared, most of the people who actually acted as assassins were just ordinary people. Ordinary people have as many lives as they want. Using ordinary people to assassinate is like fishing by chance. It's good if you can catch one, but it's also normal if you can't.

But the four self-immolators who ambushed them are messengers!

The so-called Self-Immolators are an advanced version of the Fire People, messengers who exchange their ability to harm others for spontaneous combustion. Because they must spontaneously combust, these messengers cannot have any protection and must allow the flames to continuously burn them, hence the name Self-Immolators.

The most famous self-immolator of our time is none other than the Queen of the North.

Self-immolation is only the first step. If those who burn themselves also burn others with flames, then they are not much different from ordinary fire people. True self-immolators must also possess a token related to fire, so that they can use the embers of their remaining bodies to make the flames of the token so vicious that they can transcend the laws of the main city.

Although these self-immolators did not possess any fiery tokens, they did have iron chains heated to the point of being like branding irons. If Shang Xuanwen was not mistaken, these iron chains were tokens, and they possessed the characteristic of rapidly heating up, because only the self-immolator's own temperature could truly burn the flesh and blood of others.

Those who choose self-immolation are unlikely to survive; they endure unimaginable pain every second. Because of their abundant vital energy and vigorous life force, like dry tinder burning more fiercely than flammable wood, their flames are more intense than those of ordinary people. Such self-immolators, willing to die for their cause, are extremely valuable resources in any faction. The fact that four of them have appeared at once can only mean one thing—

The enemy is willing to pay any price to eliminate Shang Xuanwen!
But can you deal with me by paying any price? Shang Xuanwen's heart became extremely calm. He could clearly hear the sonic booms from the eight chains. The trajectory of the eight chains was crystal clear to him, as if the chains themselves were telling him their thoughts.

From the very beginning, the Soul Bell was a reconnaissance token used to listen and capture the enemy's attack trajectory; listening to the voice of the heart was merely a gift that he accidentally triggered.

In the blink of an eye, Shang Xuanwen calculated his best course of action.

He could slice through four iron chains with a single sword strike. The two warriors beside him, whose tokens had already been activated, could block one. As for the last three, the seven layers of the breastplate's protective surface would be enough to stop them! The rat monk following behind, however, lacked any defensive tokens. He shouldn't have agreed to let him come along; now he could only try to protect this great monk—

Just then, Shang Xuanwen heard hurried footsteps behind him; it was the Rat Monk running. He thought the Rat Monk was afraid, that he was seeking refuge, that he was coming to borrow a sword, but he never expected... the Rat Monk would grab him from behind and hug his neck.

This action did not cause him any harm, but it put him in a completely hopeless situation. Unable to break free of the chains, which would soon shatter the seven layers of defense of the breastplate like a hammer pounding steel, followed by his own flesh and blood.

Shang Xuanwen suddenly realized something. The route he took back from the palace to the Shang family was a last-minute decision, and not the shortest one. Logically, it was impossible for anyone to have accurately ambushed him. The only explanation was... that he had an enemy informant among his ranks.

And who else could be the person who has been closest to him these days, who knows him best, and who has been with him all the time?
How ridiculous! He lived his whole life cautiously, and no one could truly gain his trust or stay by his side for long. In the end, he still couldn't escape being betrayed... and even had to die because of it.

He placed too much trust in past experiences and his own judgment, which is why he suffered the most devastating betrayal. The saying "Even the best swimmer drowns, and the best rider falls" probably illustrates this point.

Who can I still trust in this world?

"how--"

"Stay out of the way!"

Angered shouts erupted from all around. Shang Xuanwen's eyes widened as he saw the soldier blocking his path suddenly pull out two iron chains from his robes. As the soldier drew them, the chains rubbed violently against his armor, which was likely coated with black oil, causing it to instantly burst into flames. The chains also turned a scorching red-hot. He swiftly whipped the soldier beside him to death, but when he turned to look at Shang Xuanwen, he discovered that Shang Xuanwen had been kidnapped by the Rat Monk.

It turns out there weren't four self-immolators, but five!

Even after realizing this, the situation didn't improve at all. Ten scorching hot iron chains blocked them from above, below, left, and right, and they were trapped within those chains, seemingly destined only for a bloodbath.

"Great monk, you—" Shang Xuanwen wanted the rat monk to release him; even if it was a certain death, he wanted to fight for a chance to live.

However, the Rat Monk suddenly stopped. His left hand still clung to Shang Xuanwen's neck, his right hand gripping his collar, his upper body leaning slightly back, his form like a bowstring drawing its bow. Shang Xuanwen's pupils constricted, and he struggled violently. However, the Rat Monk's qi and blood, being a mortal, were unexpectedly strong... or rather, his qi and blood were too weak. As a member of the Shang family's literary lineage, he had focused on cultivating his spirit and soul rather than his qi and blood since childhood. Coupled with years of neglecting physical training while in power, his qi and blood had long since declined, to the point that he couldn't break free immediately.

That's why the Rat Monk was able to throw him away with one hand.

This was the first time in his life that Shang Xuanwen had been thrown around like a package. He couldn't see behind him in mid-air, but his ears heard everything clearly. He heard the chains immediately change direction, trying to sweep towards him as he flew through the air. However, chains, which rely on inertia, are not so easily controlled. Aside from two or three chains successfully changing course and landing on him, the others still struck their original targets…

That monk wasn't even a messenger.

Shang Xuanwen had never imagined that the sound of chains striking flesh could be so loud, so piercing, so excruciating. He rolled to the ground, and the first thing he looked up at was the path behind him, but he could only see the Burners rushing out from within.

And a mangled, gruesome body that they had trampled upon.

In that instant, Shang Xuanwen could hear nothing but the almost stopped beating of his own heart. It was as if the most vicious and shameless snake in the world had bitten through his heart, crawled along his spine and all over his body, polluting every bone and every drop of blood into foul-smelling black mud.

He had despised the world for so many years, believing that everyone was a hypocrite who spouted benevolence and morality but was corrupt and filthy inside. In the end, he was not even as good as a hypocrite... He was just a self-righteous fool.

He believed with self-righteousness, and doubted with self-righteousness. He felt no anger, no shame, only an overwhelming loathing—once, he loathed himself for hearing Yue'er's inner voice; now, he loathed himself for hearing his own inner voice.

Perhaps the ugliness is never in others, but in ourselves.

Shang Xuanwen, his eyes bloodshot, struggled to his feet. The excruciating pain within him had completely robbed him of his reason; his gaze was fixed solely on the mangled body lying on the ground in the distance. Instead of fleeing, he walked towards the one who had burned himself!
The self-immolator was overjoyed at the sight, charging forward while letting out a painful roar:

"Don't let him get away!"

"You old scoundrel Shang, the vengeful spirits of Zhenze are coming to claim your life!"

"Tonight will be your burial ground!"

Shang Xuanwen wasn't surprised. He had fought against the rebels of Taihu Lake many times, and they had developed a deep-seated hatred for each other. He had encountered far too many cases of revenge like this. He had never regretted his actions; officials and traitors were on opposing sides, and it was a matter of life or death. He had always thought that revenge was the most foolish thing to do, and that survival was more important than anything else. But when it came to himself, he wasn't any smarter than anyone else.

Perhaps it wasn't until tonight that he understood what hatred was.

"What?" The last of the self-burners stumbled and looked down to see that his foot had been grabbed.

He was grabbed by that body that had endured most of the chain whippings, its flesh torn and mangled, resembling a rotten mud.

Shang Xuanwen's pupils dilated when he saw this scene. He wanted to shout something, but his throat was as if it had gone hoarse and he couldn't make a sound because he saw that the Rat Monk was also looking at him.

Those eyes held no pain, no fear, no resentment; they were clear and bright even in the darkness. Shang Xuanwen was happy to talk to him for a reason; anyone who saw those eyes would be compelled to pour out their troubles… He was a born good monk.

Why go to such lengths? I could have reported to the military town in a few days and started a new life, whether as a messenger or a monk, it would have been better than wasting my life here... I haven't even lent you the Heaven-Slaying Sword yet.

At this point, no words are needed. I have no right to waste the opportunity he gave his life for.

Shang Xuanwen turned and ran, ignoring the curses and whips of those who were burning themselves, he had no intention of turning back. There were messengers living near Jiangtai Street, but when they saw those who were burning themselves, they immediately hid in their homes. Faced with a group of messengers who were willing to burn themselves to death, the best strategy was to quietly wait for them to burn out completely.

They were as fragile as moths, but if Shang Xuanwen dared to turn back and thrust his sword, ten iron chains would immediately bind them. Those who were stabbed by him would cling to him tightly, like moths drawn to a flame. They were not even afraid of death; they only wanted a chance to burn themselves out.

If Shang Xuanwen were to turn around and fight back, he could certainly kill two or three of the Burners, but the consequences would be unbearable for him.

After Shang Xuanwen got rid of the Burner, his Heart-Protecting Mirror had already been broken once. He did not take the main road again, for fear of being discovered by other assassins. Instead, he took the small path he was familiar with, absorbing spiritual jade to restore his energy as he walked.

Then, he met two beauties under the moon.

(End of this chapter)