The Splendor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 18 Finding the Way
"The fire is coming!"

From afar came the cries of alarm from the servants of the Shi family, but they were still unaware that an even greater danger than the fire was right before them.

The outline of a tall pavilion was reflected in the moonlight, and Xiao Yi was running towards it.

That was a three-story pavilion in the back garden of the Shi family mansion, built on a mound. From there, one could see the street view to the northwest and see if there were any other escape routes.

Finally, Xiao Yi arrived at the passageway between the front yard and the back garden.

He suddenly stopped and looked at his two roommates standing there, Liu San and Zhao Chong.

These two men were usually lazy, and tonight they were summoned out for no reason. Their leather armor was just hanging casually, revealing their roguish nature.

"Little chick," Zhao Chong snapped, "You told us to wait for the young master in the main hall, where is he?"

"do not know."

"You didn't go to save people from the flood, so why are you carrying a bundle? Did you run away with some hussy with your valuables?"

"None of your business."

Xiao Yi shifted his baggage to his left shoulder and continued walking forward.

"Trying to leave?" Liu San touched the bruises on his face and spat, "You little monkey, you haven't apologized to your grandfather yet."

"When I have time."

"Stop!" Liu San drew his sword and shouted, "You son of a bitch, come on, try throwing another punch!"

"Step aside."

"Fuck your mother..."

"puff."

Before Liu San could finish cursing, Xiao Yi suddenly made a move, and the dagger in his right hand swiftly pierced Liu San's side of the neck.

That area should have been covered by leather armor, but unfortunately, Liu San wasn't properly dressed.

Blood splattered on the wall and flowed down.

Liu San chuckled twice, then collapsed to the ground, still grumbling.

"You deserve to die!"

Zhao Chong roared, drew his sword, stepped forward, and slashed fiercely.

Xiao Yi had already calculated that if they faced each other head-on, he would be at a great disadvantage as he was fighting two opponents who were also armored. He had to seize the initiative decisively.

Therefore, as soon as Zhao Chong finished his move, Xiao Yi had already thrust the knife out.

He didn't draw his own sword, that would take too much time; instead, he directly took the sword from Liu San's hand and thrust it forward.

"puff."

Another muffled thud, and the knife pierced into Zhao Chong's leather armor, grazing the edge. He looked down in surprise, his body swayed, and he collapsed with a thud.

Xiao Yi discarded his sword and went to push open the gate to the back garden.

Suddenly, he felt a whooshing sound behind his ear. He instinctively dodged, and the blade sliced ​​through his upper arm and struck the door.

Zhao Chong was not dead. Blood was flowing from his mouth. Ignoring the excruciating pain in his chest, he grinned and lunged at him.

"Shoot-"

Xiao Yi quickly grabbed the knife from Zhao Chong's chest and slashed downwards, cutting deeply into his abdomen.

Blood flowed onto his hands, warm and sticky.

"what!"

Zhao Chong roared in pain and swung again.

Xiao Yi grabbed his wrist, giving him no chance to breathe, stepped forward, twisted the horizontal blade, and brought out a spray of blood.

Finally, Zhao Chong's sword fell to the ground with a clang, his left hand futilely covering the gushing blood at his waist. With angry and desperate eyes, he stared at Xiao Yi and collapsed once more.

"That dog... sneak attack..."

Xiao Yi remained silent, pulled the dagger from Liu San's neck, pressed down on Zhao Chong's struggling shoulder with his left hand, and cleanly slit the dagger across his throat.

The struggle came to an abrupt end.

Xiao Yi delivered another blow to Liu San, wiped the blood off the dagger with Liu San's clothes, and sheathed it.

He felt his breathing quicken, took a few deep breaths of the bloody air, calmed his breathing, and quickly took out some wound medicine to treat and bandage his wound.

We have learned a painful lesson today, and we must not be careless in the future and leave hidden dangers.

After finishing these tasks, he didn't look at the two corpses on the ground again, and pushed open the door to enter the back garden.

"what!"

Several maids screamed and ran away when they saw the bloodstains on Xiao Yi's face.

He ignored it and walked quickly, leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind him.

--------

A hexagonal pavilion stands in the back garden, surrounded by plum branches at the foot of the bluestone steps.

Xiao Yi looked up and saw the plaque hanging high, with the three large characters "Dengyun Pavilion" faintly visible.

Historians' lofty ambition to "ascend to the clouds" has been corrupted.

Climbing the steps, you enter the attic, where there is a steep wooden staircase, but it is closed by a fence with a small lock.

He stepped forward and smashed the lock with the handle of his knife.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" With a series of loud noises, the fence was finally pulled open, and Xiao Yi went upstairs.

Upon reaching the highest point, he stood by the railing and looked around. He saw that the flames outside the wall stretched like a long dragon, completely surrounding the Shi residence. The number of troops was far greater than he had expected.

This puzzled him. Since Shi Hongzhao had entered the palace, he was likely already dead. What other people in the Shi family would need so many people?
Putting that thought aside, Xiao Yi carefully scanned the area, searching for any flaws in the encirclement.

Finally, he noticed a bamboo grove inside the high wall on the west side of the Shi residence. He could take advantage of the bamboo grove to climb over the high wall, and outside was a narrow alley.

He had heard Chun Tao say that the alley was called Sweet Water Alley, and there was a mansion across the street. The owner was named Li Tao, who had once served as prime minister but was dismissed from office at the beginning of the year. He had a very bad relationship with Shi Hongzhao, and although they were neighbors, they hardly ever visited each other.

Sweetwater Lane was brightly lit, clearly guarded by patrols, but Li Tao's residence remained peaceful.

It is unlikely that Shi Hongzhao's political enemies will be implicated in this coup.

Perhaps we could hide in Li Tao's mansion, but how do we get through the guarded Sweetwater Lane?
Xiao Yi vaguely had a plan to escape, but it was difficult to put into practice, so he continued to observe, his eyes showing deep thought.

It's snowing again. The cold wind whistles through the eaves, carrying snowflakes.

There were also some other sounds faintly.

Xiao Yi was deep in thought when his ears twitched, and he turned around abruptly.

"do not move!"

With the sound of footsteps, a figure stood at the top of the stairs.

In the dim light, Xiao Yi saw a crossbow pointed at him, its iron arrowheads gleaming coldly.

Behind the crossbow bolt were Xie Hui's triangular eyes, gleaming with a fierce light.

"You runaway slave, you killed Liu San and Zhao Chong, I'll squeeze your balls out and feed them to the dogs!"

Jie Hui's fingers were already on the crossbow, aimed at Xiao Yi's throat.

Xiao Yi said, "Don't rush, let me put down the knife first."

"You son of a bitch, I told you not to move!"

"Look, I'm putting down the knife."

Xiao Yi remained calm, slowly squatted down, put down the knife in his hand, and raised his hands to indicate that he had no intention of attacking.

At the same time, he asked in a very polite tone, "Does Chief Jie know that the Emperor has already taken action against the Shi family?"

"Fuck your motherfucker!"

"The Shi family is finished. I'm planning to find another way out." Xiao Yi, as if he hadn't seen the crossbow bolt, asked casually, "Captain, would you like to join me in achieving wealth and power?"

"Fuck your mother! You killed Liu San and Zhao Chong... You killed them all!"

"Is avenging them more important, or is your life and future more important, Commander Jie? I plan to join Guo Wei. I have a letter of introduction in my pocket. Would you like to see it?"

"Don't move, put your hand back!"

"You're worried? You can come and get it."

"You're Guo Wei's spy? You're dead."

Xiao Yi countered, "The commander-in-chief is dead. Does the captain intend to be buried with the Shi family?"

"You little beast, you're still lying to me?!"

"If you still don't believe me, then listen... or you can see for yourself."

Xiao Yi tried to infect Jie Hui with his calm demeanor and arouse his curiosity, so he slowly turned to the side, gesturing for Jie Hui to look outside.

"You, move to the side," Xie Hui said.

"it is good."

Xiao Yi took a few steps back, and Jie Hui stepped forward, stepping on his knife, bringing the crossbow bolt even closer to his throat.

He could see that the string holding the crossbow bolt was taut, and the fingers on the trigger were about to pull it.

It was at this moment that Xie Hui glanced outside.

For a moment, Xiao Yi considered whether or not to pounce on him.

But Xie Hui quickly looked at him, his eyes filled with shock.

"What's going on?!"

Xiao Yi looked around and saw light snow falling from the sky, while the fire in the stables illuminated half of the front yard.

There, rows of armored soldiers with swords were moving swiftly, quickly killing any servants they encountered from the Shi family.

"Of course it's murder."

"Who is killing people?!" Xie Hui demanded.

Xiao Yi countered, "Didn't the head constable kill people in the same way before?"

"Screw you! I'm asking you a question!"

"It looks like the Imperial Guards. I told you, the Commander-in-Chief is dead, otherwise the Imperial Guards wouldn't dare to do this."

"Damn it! What on earth is going on..."

Xiao Yi remained calm. He noticed that although Xie Hui was still cursing, his eyes were no longer focused.

So he casually took two steps forward.

"Has the captain been chosen? To die for the cause, or to enjoy wealth and honor?"

As he spoke, Xiao Yi slowly reached out and, with gentle yet steady strength, pressed down the crossbow bolt in front of him, little by little.

(End of this chapter)