Chapter 572: Assassination

There were too many people in Tu Huaiyu's party, and the city gate was crowded with travelers coming and going, making it no place for conversation. He led the group out of the city first.

Only after they reached open ground beyond the walls did Tu Huaiyu rein in and wait for Chao Shenghuai to approach.

“Chao Shenghuai, disciple of Myriad Beasts Sect, thanks Lord Tu for resolving the trouble.” Chao Shenghuai rode forward and cupped his hands.

Tu Huaiyu smiled and waved it away. “Since you're a man of Song, it was only natural for me, Song's envoy, to step in. No need for thanks. Your surname is Chao. Do you happen to know Elder Chao Jing of Myriad Beasts Sect?”

“Elder Chao is my grandfather.”

“Oh!” Tu Huaiyu stroked his beard and nodded in apparent realization. “Years ago, I met your honored grandfather several times in the Song capital. His bearing remains fresh in this old man's memory. I never expected to run into Brother Chao's grandson here.”

After establishing the connection, he asked, “By the way, what brings you here?”

“Not long ago, my sect allowed me to go out and gain experience. My travels brought me here. Who would have thought I'd run into a vicious servant who deliberately rammed into me and then falsely accused me of striking him? He and the city guards were plainly colluding to extort money from travelers. Absolutely infuriating!”

“For now I'll let them enjoy themselves. I'll settle accounts with them later and make sure they spit back the principal with interest. A pack of blind dogs actually dared bully me! Lord Tu shouldn't have given them money. I'd like to see what they could possibly do to me!”

Tu Huaiyu laughed and waved a hand. “I understand how you feel, but it was a trivial affair. There's no need to get angry. What's past is past. Quarreling with such small people only lowers your own status. Great changes are imminent. When the nest overturns, no egg remains whole. Their tears will come soon enough; someone else will deal with them. You needn't lift a hand.”

Chao Shenghuai's eyes flickered. “On the road I heard Zhao intends to attack Jinzhou. From Lord Tu's words, could that really be true?”

“Possibly.” Tu Huaiyu did not commit himself. As Song's envoy, he had no intention of discussing affairs of state casually with an outsider. He changed the subject. “Where are you headed now?”

“I've come out to travel, and since I've reached Zhao, I naturally ought to visit its capital. I'm on my way to the Zhao capital now. Where is Lord Tu headed?”

Tu Huaiyu laughed. “Back to our embassy in the Zhao capital. If you don't mind, why not travel with us? We can look after one another on the road.”

He would never have extended such an invitation to an ordinary disciple of Myriad Beasts Sect. Chao Jing's grandson was different. This was a convenient chance to strengthen relations with Chao Jing.

And since Chao Shenghuai's identity and background had already been confirmed, there was little reason for suspicion.

The offer was exactly what Chao Shenghuai wanted and saved him from having to ask for it himself. “It would be impolite to refuse such kindness. I'll follow Lord Tu's arrangements.”

“Good!” Tu Huaiyu smiled and waved a hand. The party continued onward.

Host and guest talked pleasantly throughout the journey.

Around noon, as the group passed through a wooded mountain region, a sudden change erupted.

“Who goes there?” One of Tu Huaiyu's guards was the first to detect something wrong.

Detection made little difference. The people causing the disturbance had never intended to hide.

In an instant, more than a dozen masked men in black swarmed out. Their assault was ferocious, their strength formidable. Tu Huaiyu's party was thrown into chaos as explosions boomed through the forest.

The assassins ignored everyone else and drove straight toward Tu Huaiyu at the center of the formation.

His people resisted desperately. One group moved to intercept the attackers while another surrounded Tu Huaiyu and rapidly withdrew.

The old envoy's face had already gone pale with fright.

Then dozens more masked men suddenly burst from the direction of their retreat and charged directly at him. Their strength was even more overwhelming, leaving the defenders hard-pressed to withstand them.

Part of Tu Huaiyu's escort had already been drawn forward to stop the first wave. Now the rear suffered an even fiercer surprise attack, and the defense immediately began to collapse.

Mixed among the fighters, Chao Shenghuai's heart pounded wildly. Niu Youdao's strength astonished him. He had never imagined Niu Youdao had so many experts available.

“Ah!”

In the frantic clash, Tu Huaiyu screamed. A blade of sword qi slashed diagonally through his body and split him in two.

His eyes bulged wide.

In the final instant before death, he regretted not summoning a flying mount to travel to and from the Zhao capital.

What he did not know was that a flying mount would have made no difference. The number he could summon was limited, which meant only a small escort could have accompanied him. The assassins suffered no such restriction. He would merely have met danger even sooner.

The force used against him was no ordinary assassination team. The manpower had been selected specifically to overwhelm the strength of his entourage.

“Withdraw!” someone among the assassins shouted the instant the target fell.

The masked attackers immediately gathered and retreated. Under mutual cover, they even carried away the bodies of their own dead.

“After them!” Tu Huaiyu's surviving guards roared.

A group gave chase. The moment they entered the forest, the fleeing assassins flung back a dense cloud of dark objects.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The objects burst apart in midair, filling both forest and sky with spreading smoke.

No one knew whether it was poisonous. The pursuers recoiled in alarm, stopping short or retreating rather than risk approaching.

The assassins were clearly experienced at this kind of work. By the time the pursuers detoured around the smoke, not a single figure remained in sight. Heaven knew where the attackers had already hidden themselves in the deep mountains.

There was no longer anyone to chase.

The surviving men could only return.

Lu Chenghai, leader of Tu Huaiyu's retainer cultivators, slowly crouched before the envoy's corpse. Tu Huaiyu's eyes were still open in death.

Lu Chenghai bared his teeth, his scalp almost going numb.

How was he supposed to explain this to the Song court?

The surviving guards and members of the delegation were likewise stunned. None could understand how they had encountered an assassination force this powerful. With the strength of their escort, they had still been beaten so badly they could scarcely fight back.

Chao Shenghuai pushed into the group and held out a strip of black cloth before the crouching Lu Chenghai. “I knocked this face covering from one of the assassins just now. I've seen the man whose face was exposed before.”

He truly had fought desperately in the battle. Never in his life had he thrown himself into a fight with such disregard for death.

Of course, he had the confidence to do so. He knew the assassins would not kill him.

Everyone immediately looked at him. Lu Chenghai shot to his feet, his face twisting savagely. “Who was it?”

“If I remember correctly, his name should be Xu Gao.”

“Xu Gao?” Lu Chenghai's eyes widened. He said heavily, “Brother Chao, are you certain it was Xu Gao?”

The others exchanged looks.

Xu Gao?

There was indeed a retainer cultivator named Xu Gao in Yan's diplomatic delegation.

The various states' envoys had spent years contending with one another. How could they not know the personnel attached to rival delegations?

Chao Shenghuai said, “I've seen him before in Myriad Forms City. On the road I once saw him molesting a woman, and I stepped in to stop him. That's why I remember him.”

It was complete nonsense.

But Chao Shenghuai truly had seen Xu Gao—only last night.

The man was in Niu Youdao's hands. Niu's people had not managed to pry much from Xu Gao, but they had casually extracted enough information for Chao Shenghuai to make use of.

“Gao Shaoming, you bastard!” someone cursed on the spot.

The whole group remembered what had happened at the banquet in Liufang Guesthouse. Lord Tu had clashed with Gao Shaoming and mocked him with the death of the previous Yan envoy, Song Long, warning Gao Shaoming to be careful not to follow in Song Long's footsteps.

Who would have imagined Gao Shaoming could hold such a grudge?

And when they thought about it, an assassination force of this strength was hardly something an ordinary person could mobilize. With the resources of a state behind it, however, the matter was entirely different.

Lu Chenghai stared at Chao Shenghuai and enunciated each word. “Brother Chao, you must understand that the man assassinated was an envoy of our State of Song. This is no small matter. Your words cannot be vague. Are you certain it was Xu Gao?”

Chao Shenghuai raised the sword in his hand. Blood stained the blade. “I cut his arm with this sword. If you find him, the sword wound on his arm will be proof.”

Lu Chenghai asked again, “Brother Chao, do you know who Xu Gao is? Are you willing to come forward and testify?”

Chao Shenghuai glanced at Tu Huaiyu's corpse on the ground. “Lord Tu helped me out earlier. Would I not even dare testify for him? Besides, is that Xu Gao some great figure? Would Myriad Beasts Sect be afraid of him?”

“Good! With those words from Brother Chao, I can rest easy.” Lu Chenghai nodded, then said through clenched teeth, “There is a man named Xu Gao in Yan's delegation. We will still need Brother Chao to identify him face-to-face.”

“A man from Yan's delegation?” Chao Shenghuai froze.

Then he seemed to realize how serious the affair had become. His tone immediately turned evasive. “Brother Lu, perhaps I remembered the wrong person.”

Contempt appeared on the faces around him.

Lu Chenghai grew angry. “Brother Chao, why are you going back on your word?”

“...” Chao Shenghuai fell silent, then sighed. “It isn't that I'm personally afraid of trouble. But this matter concerns affairs between states. Myriad Beasts Sect should not become involved. If the affair grows too large, I can't bear the responsibility. Everyone, just pretend I never said anything.”

Lu Chenghai said, “Do you take us for deaf men? Brother Chao has already spoken. We must report what you said. This matter cannot simply be blurred over.”

“If Brother Chao is willing to testify, fine. If not, I'm afraid it's already too late for you to withdraw. We cannot allow it. Otherwise we ourselves will be unable to answer for this.”

“If we have no other choice, we'll hand Brother Chao over to the imperial court for strict interrogation and let Myriad Beasts Sect go to the court to demand your release. How you choose is up to you!”

Chao Shenghuai tried to turn away.

The men around him immediately moved, glaring as they closed in and surrounded him.

“Send word to the imperial court at once!” Lu Chenghai shouted.

Just as a Goldenwing was released into the sky, the thunder of hooves sounded from the road behind them.

Everyone looked back.

A force from the Zhao court was galloping toward them. Many wore eunuch robes, and at the center rode Zhao Sen in his cloak.

The two parties naturally met.

When Zhao Sen learned that Tu Huaiyu had been assassinated, even a man as habitually cold-faced as he was turned pale with shock. He jumped from his horse and hurried over.

“With the strength of your escort, who could assassinate Lord Tu so easily? Who did it?”

He stopped before the corpse and looked it over, then rose and demanded an answer.

Zhao Sen could not understand it.

Under ordinary circumstances, no one would rashly kill another state's envoy. It accomplished little—the dead envoy could simply be replaced—while creating enormous trouble. If the killers were exposed, they could easily invite retaliation backed by the power of an entire state.

Lu Chenghai ground his teeth. “Yan's delegation did it!”

Zhao Sen's face darkened. “Do you know what you're saying? Without evidence, you cannot make accusations like that!”

Lu Chenghai sneered. “We exchanged blows with them. Someone here personally saw a man from Yan's delegation among the attackers. How could that be wrong?”

“...” Zhao Sen was left speechless.

He suddenly turned and stared back toward Jinzhou.

His stomach filled with fury.

Had Gao Shaoming gone mad?

At a critical moment like this, he still dared provoke Song? If he wanted revenge, could he not at least choose the time?

No wonder Yan's national strength had been declining year after year. A father in high office wanted to give his son a lift, and apparently that meant they would send absolutely anyone out as an envoy!

Zhao Sen also assumed Gao Shaoming had acted to avenge the humiliation from the banquet.

“Let's go!” Lu Chenghai shouted, sweeping one hand through the air.

The group gathered Tu Huaiyu's corpse and the bodies of the others, turned around, and prepared to ride back toward Jinzhou.

Something flashed through Zhao Sen's mind like lightning.

He immediately raised a hand to stop them and shouted, “Don't act rashly! Something about this is wrong. Don't fall into someone else's scheme!”

“Director Zhao, I also think something is wrong,” Lu Chenghai replied. “But can I simply sit by and do nothing? Whether this is a plot can be investigated later. If I fail to act on what is before me now, I won't be able to answer to the imperial court. Move!”

He raised an arm.

The party thundered back the way it had come.

[End of Chapter 572]