Chapter 108: Red Blood Mansion’s Ambitious Plot

Chapter 108: Chapter 108: Red Blood Mansion’s Ambitious Plot

The Cultivation Disciples in long, dark blue robes immediately drew their swords in unison and charged to the head of the Jinshui Bridge.

The arrow initially aimed at the Queen had been intercepted by Jing’an, but its immense force dislocated his right arm.

After all, the highest Cultivation among those Cultivation Disciples was only the Fusion Realm. They couldn’t even perform Sword Flight, so how could they possibly stop eight Nascent Soul Realm masters?

That said, dispatching eight Nascent Soul Realm Martial Artists to deal with the monarch of a Secular Kingdom was already a massive show of force, especially on the day of her wedding and in front of countless ordinary onlookers.

Six months ago, this would have been utterly impossible. After all, everyone was constrained by the cultivation pact jointly issued by the Six Sects and Eight Gates.

Although Jing’an was also in the Nascent Soul Realm, his Cultivation advanced only because Chu Fan’s did. Thus, it was impossible for a Nascent Soul Realm Tier Three Martial Artist like him to defeat eight opponents at once.

Just as Chu Fan was about to make a move, a black figure suddenly materialized in mid-air. With a Long Sword in hand, the figure single-handedly forced all eight attackers to a halt.

"I am Dark Night Envoy Zhou Yi. I have accepted a protection mission today. Do me a favor and retreat. If you refuse, you’ll leave your lives behind!"

The black figure swept a cold, arrogant gaze over the eight masked men and spoke with an imperious tone.

Hearing him announce his name, the eight assassins exchanged glances, their eyes filled with shock and hesitation.

Chu Fan wasn’t particularly surprised when he saw the black-clad man’s face, but he was startled when he heard his voice.

He wasn’t surprised by the man’s identity or his sudden appearance, but by the aura he exuded.

It was Ying Xiao, also at Nascent Soul Realm Tier Three. He stood there like a sheathed sword, his aura contained, yet he gave off a bleak and desolate feeling.

Chu Fan even suspected, ’If we fought without my Divine Techniques or Spiritual Power, and he truly wanted to kill me... I’m not sure I could stop him.’

Ying Xiao was truly a being born to kill.

Looking at the eight men’s expressions, Chu Fan thought, ’This "Dark Night Envoy Zhou Yi" must have already made quite a name for himself in the Eastern Domain’s Assassin Realm.’

"Zhou Yi, we have no desire to be your enemy," one of the masked men said, "but our mission today is to kill this woman. If we back down just because you showed up, how could we show our faces in the future?"

Ying Xiao shook his head at their words. Without further comment, he attacked.

With a flick of his Long Sword, his figure vanished. The next instant, a jet of blood erupted from the throat of one of the eight masked men. The man clutched his throat, unable to make a sound.

Ying Xiao’s attack was phantom-like—swift, traceless, and ruthless.

He was already back in his original spot. "I’ll give you one more chance to choose!" he said.

"Dark Night Envoy, we’ll remember this! Retreat!" one of them spat, shooting Ying Xiao a venomous glare. With a wave of his hand, he and the others quickly retreated, taking the corpse with them.

The commoners below watched the scene unfold, not daring to even breathe. When had they ever witnessed such a display?

As soon as the assassins left, Ying Xiao’s figure vanished again.

His Sword Technique and Invisibility skill had been personally taught to him by Xiezhi; even Chu Fan didn’t know them.

However, using his Spiritual Power, Chu Fan was still able to detect his location.

The moment Chu Fan pinpointed his location, Ying Xiao sensed it too and glanced over in surprise. Feeling the gaze, Chu Fan gave him a small wave.

"What are you doing?" Yun Xi asked, confused.

"It’s Ying Xiao," Chu Fan said frankly. "Do you want to keep watching the wedding, or come with me to see him?"

"Will more people come to cause trouble?" Yun Xi asked.

Chu Fan thought for a moment. "It’s fine," he said. "My Spiritual Power can still monitor this area. If something really happens, I can just rush back."

"Then let’s go see Ying Xiao!"

Chu Fan and Yun Xi slipped out of the crowd. They found Ying Xiao in a private room of a restaurant, located in an alley behind the main street.

"This subordinate greets you, my lord, and you, my lady." The moment Ying Xiao appeared, he dropped to one knee before Chu Fan and Yun Xi.

"How did you know it was me?" Chu Fan asked curiously as he helped him up. After all, he had altered his appearance.

"My lord, have you forgotten the Celestial Dao Contract between us? At this close a distance, this subordinate can still sense you somewhat. Besides, my lord’s appearance has only changed slightly. Of course, if you hadn’t waved, I still might not have been certain."

Chu Fan poured him a bowl of tea and asked, "Is ’Dark Night Envoy Zhou Yi’ your callsign?"

"The Dark Night Envoys are a new organization I founded. Zhou Yi is my callsign. Our members don’t have names, only callsigns. ’Zhou’ serves as the surname, and a number serves as the given name."

"So what happens when the ranks reach the hundreds and thousands?" Chu Fan asked. "Won’t the callsigns get very long and be a mouthful?"

"No," Ying Xiao explained. "Only the top twenty earn a callsign. Those ranked below twenty are not qualified to have one. They have a collective title: Night Ghost. Those ranked from twenty-one to fifty are known as Asura, and fifty-one to one hundred are known as Ghost. This subordinate has not yet considered titles for those beyond that. At present, the Dark Night Envoys have only sixty-nine members."

’In less than a year, he’s not only founded an assassin organization with over sixty members, but he’s also made a name for himself. It seems Ying Xiao’s fortunes haven’t been bad at all this past year.’

"Initially, I followed my lord’s advice and joined the Shadow Organization," Ying Xiao said. "After I built up a reputation, I brought some promising individuals out of the organization to strike out on my own."

"Why were they willing to follow you and start from scratch?" Chu Fan asked, puzzled.

"I promised to teach them true Killing Techniques. The Cultivation Technique and Martial Techniques that Lord Xiezhi passed down to me unlock new Skills as my Realm increases. Therefore, as long as your Cultivation, my lord, continues to improve, my own trump cards will also multiply."

"I see! And what about Jing’an? What’s his story? How did he end up marrying the Queen of Shuoyue Kingdom?" Chu Fan asked.

"I’m not a good storyteller, so I can’t give you a detailed report, my lord. The gist is that the Xin Yue Monarch has been coveting the Shuoyue Kingdom, wanting to annex it. He began by proposing marriage to the Shuoyue Monarch. After she refused, the Xin Yue Kingdom amassed troops on the Shuoyue border. The Shuoyue Monarch personally led her forces into battle, and after one such engagement, she was rescued by Big Brother Jing’an."

Hearing this, Chu Fan could guess the rest. ’A classic hero-saves-the-damsel story. He must have also helped her repel the Xin Yue army, and the notoriously stoic Queen fell for him.’

"So those eight Nascent Soul Realm experts were assassins hired by the Xin Yue Monarch from some organization?"

Ying Xiao said, "My lord sees things clearly."

"Isn’t the Xin Yue Monarch afraid of being sanctioned by the Cultivation Realm?" Chu Fan asked.

"The various monarchs are aware of some of the recent turmoil in the Cultivation Realm. Otherwise, they wouldn’t dare to be so blatant. Moreover, the Xin Yue Kingdom has some connection to the Red Blood Mansion. For the past three years, Xin Yue has been building its military might and constantly encroaching on neighboring counties."

Ying Xiao’s brief explanation revealed a great deal of information.

’It seems it’s not just the Xin Yue Monarch who has grand ambitions. The Red Blood Mansion’s schemes are even bigger!’

"Ji Bufan told you all this, I assume?" Chu Fan asked.

"Yes. Does my lord wish to see Bufan?" Ying Xiao asked.

"No, not yet. So, why did you suddenly show up here today?"