Ita Era

Chapter 139 Night Attack
The entire meal revolved around money. Besides the five thousand taels of silver, Su Su also wanted to secure a monthly scholarship, the larger the better. The more scholarships she received, the higher the quality of the students, leading to a higher personal evaluation for her and consequently, a better overall evaluation of the group.

Yu Yuan had to consider the balance involved and how to maximize his own interests.

During the meeting, Ding Shi was practically invisible, only concerned with eating. He would only look up and speak up for Su Su when she kicked her shoes. No one had the energy to care about Ding Shi's work; they were just happy to hear the seller had been caught, at least the minimum target had been achieved.

After finishing his meal, Ding Shi left first, instructing his maid, Xiao Cui, to boil water for a bath, a chance to indulge in the vulgarities of feudal society. However, Ding Shi didn't arrange for Xiao Cui to serve him in bed, for reasons that were too numerous to list. After making Ding Shi's bed, Xiao Cui went to the outer room, her own resting place. Ding Shi set his system alarm and went to bed. Meanwhile, the others were still engaged in a heated discussion.

In his sleep, Ding Shi heard the sound of a small pebble rolling. After sleeping for six hours, Ding Shi opened his eyes, glanced at the system time, and saw that it was 1:30 a.m.

Ding Shi got out of bed, grabbed his coat, put it on, and pushed open the door to the inner room. There was a candle in the outer room, and Xiao Cui was fast asleep, her sleeping posture adorable and charming. Ding Shi quietly crouched by the door, listening to the sounds outside.

Two lanterns hung outside the courtyard. Ding Shi saw a dark figure fall from above, and he took out his official knife from his inventory.

Someone wet the window paper with saliva, then poked a bamboo tube in and blew incense into the room.

Ding Shi crawled three meters to the side, gripped the knife in his right hand, channeled his primal force, and stabbed through the wooden wall with one blow; the sound of the knife entering flesh was clearly audible.

Holding his breath, Ding Shi drew his sword, turned to the front door, and pushed it open. Then he heard several 'bang bang' sounds of bowstrings. Ding Shi immediately dropped to the ground and rolled to the side. Three feathered arrows flew into the room from the front door.

Ding Shi shouted, "Enemy attack!"

Xiao Cui sat up in a daze, but lay back down because of the sleeping pills.

Ding Shi was alarmed when he saw how potent the smoke was. He had inhaled some of the fumes while issuing the warning and now he had to leave as soon as possible.

Ding Shi entered the inner room, took two steps back from the paper window, and used his primal force to smash through it. Before he even landed, a cold blade slashed from his left. Ding Shi instinctively used the back of his right-hand sword to deflect the blade upwards and landed, engaging the assassin in combat.

The assassin was highly skilled with his sword and possessed internal energy or Force enhancement. After exchanging more than a dozen blows, both retreated. The assassin prepared to regroup, but Ding Shi activated the Wordless Heavenly Book, drew a bamboo stick, and the white one was nowhere to be hidden.

The skill was used, and a bright light shone on the assassin, blinding him. Ding Shi seized the opportunity to step forward and stab the assassin in the throat.

The sounds of fighting came from all over the backyard, along with Chu Yu's shout: "There are archers on the roof!"

"I saw it." As soon as Wang Meng finished speaking, a wildcat crossbow pierced through the chest of an archer.

"Su Su has been captured." During the fight, the woman in red saw a masked man carry Su Su away. She was surrounded by two masked men and had inhaled some sleeping gas, leaving her unable to fight back.

"give it to me."

Ding Shi replied, then leaped onto the high wall while running, saw the masked man running towards the horse, and immediately gave chase.

Ding Shi doesn't know light-body skills, but he has the power of the primal force, so each crouch jump is like an arrow released from a bow, and each run is like a whirlwind and lightning.

Seeing the masked man mount his horse, and with only 25 meters to go, Ding Shi pulled out a carefully selected stone from his prop slot and hurled it using the momentum of his run. The one-kilogram stone created a gust of wind and struck the horse hard near its eye. The horse reared up and bolted, crashing into a shop door and throwing both riders off.

Seeing the masked man about to grab the unconscious Su Su, Ding Shi threw his broadsword, which spun and slashed. The masked man had no choice but to abandon Su Su, and with both hands gripping the broadsword, he deflected it away. The force was so great that his hands went numb.

At the hour of Ding Shi, the bandit's knife slashed diagonally downwards, displaying its domineering power to the fullest. Ding Shi leaped up with force, using the pillar at the shop entrance as a springboard to change his trajectory and avoid the blow.

In other words, Ding Shi and his group have ample street combat experience, and even with the Force boost, ordinary people would likely be injured by this single strike.

The masked man held his sword horizontally in front of him, gripping it with his left hand and pressing down on the back of the blade with his right, ready to strike at any moment. His stance appeared flawless, but the sword, the king of weapons, is all about unstoppable momentum. For a swordsman, switching from offense to defense is a major taboo.

Ding Shi stepped forward, and the masked man swung his knife horizontally. Ding Shi retreated several steps, took out the blank book from the prop slot, rushed forward, and hurled the blank book at the masked man.

Despite enduring Ding Shi's various inhumane experiments, the wordless book remained incredibly sturdy. Most importantly, it could no longer be traded, discarded, or stolen. Therefore, this bundle of bamboo slips became Ding Shi's hidden weapon.

The masked man slashed horizontally again, producing a metallic clang and sparks flying. Ding Shi caught the rebounding blank book and smashed it hard against the masked man's head.

The masked man withdrew his knife, but Ding Shizhao didn't need to be old. He moved his right hand to block the knife, and the knife struck the blank book precisely.

By this time, Ding Shi had closed in completely, rendering the masked man's broadsword useless. The masked man was semi-conscious from being hit in the head multiple times, and was finally knocked unconscious by Ding Shi's over-the-shoulder throw.

The battle ended. Chu Yu was seriously injured, Hua Shan and Yu Yuan were lightly injured, and Su Su was unconscious. Five assassins were killed and one was captured alive. Ding Shi killed two and captured one. Wang Meng killed two and Hong Yi killed one.

Despite having experienced many instances, only Ding Shi and Wang Meng in the Fire Seed Camp have experience in close combat and killing.

Therefore, although the players had the upper hand during tonight's attack, they lacked the resolve to kill. For example, after defeating the masked man, Wang Meng would immediately finish him off, while the others would try to knock him unconscious or tie him up. The person killed by the woman in red was also because she couldn't control the power of her Star-Severing Sword, cutting him in half at the waist.

After the battle, the constables rushed to clean up the battlefield. Wang Meng took charge, ordering people to fetch a doctor and move the wounded. He left the task of caring for Hongyi to Ding Shi.

Battlefield psychologists have categorized the stress response to a first kill into ten levels. Killing someone with a gun at over 200 meters has a level of only 1-2. Killing someone with a firearm or crossbow at around 10 meters has a level of 4-5. Stabbing an enemy with a melee weapon has a level of 6-7; if the victim is splattered with blood, internal organs, or brain matter, it can reach level 8. Slashing an enemy with a melee weapon has a level of 8-9.

Characters like the one in red, who cut an enemy in half at close range, not only got covered in blood and entrails, but also witnessed the struggles and screams of the dying enemy's upper body up close, causing them psychological trauma exceeding level ten.

The woman in red sat in a secluded spot in the backyard, drenched in cold sweat, trembling uncontrollably, her eyes unfocused.

Ding Shi gently placed his hands on the left and right shoulders of the woman in red, guiding her to stand up: "Take off your coat first."

The woman in red neither stopped, agreed, nor opposed; she curled up, protecting herself like a pangolin.

Helpless, Ding Shi could only tear off the filthy red coat and lead the woman into the room. He made her sit down, removed her shoes and socks, and then had her maid take her to take a hot bath. He also instructed his own maid to cook a hot meal with soup.

The lower-ranking members of the Dragon Gang also engage in gang fights, and skirmishes between the two gangs are frequent, but fatalities are rare. However, the higher-ranking members of the Dragon Gang often shed blood. Being江湖 (jianghu, the underworld) figures, they are not suited for palace intrigue; once they become bitter enemies, assassinations and murders become commonplace. Ding Shi, as the second-in-command of the higher-ranking members and a frontline commander of the killings, has handled many such incidents. He even enrolled in psychology courses for this purpose, and apparently, he also met a girlfriend?

Did he? Ding Shi searched his memory, but neither Zi Qing nor Cao Ying left any impression on him. Ding Shi wasn't sure if he had had a close relationship with the teacher when he enrolled in the psychology trauma course. Maybe he did, but who knows?

Ding Shi didn't remember, nor did he care. One more or one less wouldn't make a difference. After the maid added hot water twice, Hongyi finally came to her senses, put on her clothes, sat down next to Ding Shi, and silently began to eat noodles. The scalding hot noodle soup helped Hongyi regain some of her energy, and then she looked at Ding Shi: "When was the first time you killed someone?"

Ding Shi replied, "I was 18 years old, on my birthday. Wang Meng was still a small-time leader. He offended a powerful force by attending the boss's funeral. That night, four masked men broke into the repair shop. Wang Meng wasn't there; it was just me and two others. At the time, we only had one thought: either they would die, or we would die. Afterwards, we only felt fortunate and nothing else was wrong."

Recalling that rainy night, Ding Shi still felt a chill run down his spine. He was just a new recruit at the auto repair shop, a lowly henchman without any undercover training. He was drinking beer and eating peanuts with two slightly older thugs when he suddenly found himself caught in a life-or-death attack. He couldn't remember what he had done. Only afterward, when the police asked him to identify someone, did he realize that he had smashed a large hole in someone's head with a wrench.

From a legal perspective, this incident constitutes legitimate self-defense, and with the help of his superiors working behind the scenes, Ding Shi was acquitted.

Yu Yuan knocked and came in, looking at Hongyi with concern. He sat down to the side and asked gently, "Are you alright?"

The woman in red nodded.

Ding Shi asked, "How was the first catch?"

Yu Yuan: "It's alright, but you'll be unconscious for 6 hours." Ita Medical is just that unreasonable; Chu Yu, who was pierced by two arrows, only needs to drink the medicine prescribed by the doctor to get a get-out-of-jail-free card.

The woman in red asked, "Who are these people?"

Ding Shi wanted to ask, why would anyone want their lives?

Yu Yuan: "Tonight, 10 to 14 people have come. They are all experts and all suicide soldiers. I don't think the guards of ordinary landlords' and merchants' houses can meet this standard."

The woman in red said, "Princess Yong'an."

Yu Yuan nodded: "We haven't even made a move against her yet, so why did she attack us first?"

Hua Shan, who had reached the door, heard Yu Yuan's question and walked in, saying, "It is the princess." She opened her left hand, revealing three copper coins.

To others, it was just three copper coins, but to Hua Shan, it was an arithmetic problem in her palm. Solving the problem would yield an accurate divination result, while solving only half of it would only give a vague answer.

Hua Shan belongs to the Taoist Yin-Yang school and is a certified traditional Chinese medicine practitioner. Her family has practiced medicine for five generations and she is skilled in acupuncture. Unfortunately, the medical system in this game is too overpowered, leaving her with no use for her knowledge. She has no choice but to switch to studying metaphysics. Fortunately, Taoism and medicine are closely related, and her divination skills have improved rapidly.

As for his math skills, there's no need to elaborate; he's a licensed doctor, and math is the stepping stone, the key to getting into medical school.

Hua Shan said, "According to the divination, we may have found out her problem."

Yu Yuan thought for a while: "Su Su told me something this afternoon. As an academic official, she visited two local scholars and talked about national affairs. During the conversation, one of the scholars said that Princess Yong'an might be a member of the Third Prince's faction. When the Third Prince was away on official business, he made a special detour to Yong'an to visit his aunt, the princess."

Yu Yuan pondered, "Could there be another power struggle? Does the princess have a private army? Are the bandits her soldiers? No, regardless of whether they are, I must get rid of the princess. Ding Shi, are you free here?"

Ding checked the time: "I have to go out to run some errands in half an hour."

Yu Yuan said, "Never mind then, I'll make the arrangements."

Ding Shi said, "Don't worry, Wang Meng has the Wildcat Crossbow. Killing a princess will be a piece of cake." The Wildcat Crossbow has a range of 150 meters and is extremely accurate.

Yu Yuan said, "Then we have to lure her out of the princess's mansion. Can we bet on tonight's wedding banquet?" To alleviate the financial pressure, he and Chu Yu will hold a wedding tonight to earn some money from wedding gifts.

Ding Shi said, "It depends on the princess's attitude towards us. If she wants to win us over, she should come in person. If we are not valuable, she will at most send a steward to deliver a gift."

Yu Yuan nodded: "We still need to pressure her. She wants to eliminate us because we got close to her secret, so we need to get even closer to her secret during the day to force her to reveal herself. We need to find out her secret first."

Ding Shi said, "Military preparations are nothing more than soldiers, food, and money."

Surrounded by her companions, Hongyi felt a strong sense of security. Although she rarely spoke, her spirits remained high, and she even managed a polite smile. This indicated that she had stepped out of her own world, and everything else could only be left to time.

When it was almost time, Ding Shi got up to take his leave, went back to his small courtyard to change into a new black robe, and left the county government office with some dry food and a bag of water.

……

At six o'clock in the early morning of late autumn, the sky was still dark. An oxcart pulling a water tank creaked and groaned along the road, driven by an old man.

For decades, the old man has been fetching water from Yuquan Mountain every night at midnight and delivering it to Qunhua Town to sell to the Zhang family. The Zhang family, who are fond of tea, still have a booming voice even at eighty-five. According to the Zhang family, all of this is thanks to the water from Yuquan Mountain.

Although he didn't earn much, this job allowed the old man to avoid having to toil in the fields for a living.

Ding lit a tinderbox and held it in his hand. He walked from Sanliting onto the road and reached out his hand. The old man stopped his cart, got out, clasped his hands, and said, "Sir, what can I do for you?"

Ding Shi said, "There's something I'd like to ask you, sir."

Old man: "Please speak, sir."

Ding Shi said, "The day before yesterday, did you see a little girl around here? She was alone, wearing straw sandals and a grayish-white dress."

The old man thought for a moment, then shook his head: "No."

Ding Shi asked, "Old man, besides you, is there anyone else who has time to go to town?"

The old man replied, "There isn't one at that time. Every village has an oxcart that goes to town, usually departing from the village at seven in the morning. Only I have to rush to deliver the water to Master Wang's house before he gets up early."

Ding Shi was quite disappointed and stepped back to make way, saying, "Thank you, sir."

(End of this chapter)