Eternal Empire

Chapter 32 - Could You Please Close A Little Later

Du Weiming saw the six assassins right from the beginning and witnessed the entire process of them docking the boat, to preparing the ambush and attacking. However, when the twenty to thirty assassins appeared from all directions, he was completely shocked. When did these people arrive?

Right after he thought of that, he immediately reacted. He rolled over to the other side of the hill. Thereafter, a dagger landed in the area he was laying on earlier. It was where his neck was. If he got stabbed by the dagger, his head would have been cut off.

A masked assassin decked in black had a sinister look in his eyes as he stared at him rolling away. He gave chase.

Meng Changan was surrounded by people. They inched closer and closer to him.

"Big brother Meng, I'm truly so sorry. Originally, I wanted to join the military like you and be as outstanding one day. This was why I always stayed close to you intentionally. However, even if you're stronger, do you think you'll be stronger than Chen Zishan's influential family?"

Zhou Ansheng took a step back. "Kill him. As soon as possible."

The twenty to thirty assassins advanced at the same time. Not a single person said anything. The silent murderous intent was intensified.

When Meng Changan dodged the attack, he seemed to have heard something strange, like rapid footsteps heard when the cheetah was chasing a prey. The footsteps were very light. Despite being surrounded and attacked by so many people, he was still able to distinguish sounds from afar. This was an innate talent.

There was nothing but blade light before Meng Changan. Behind him was nothing but blade light as well. He was injured as well.

He dodged one attack, two attacks, three attacks, and several more. Blood was still flowing out of his wound. His strength was depleting fast; his speed was starting to reduce as well. He even thought about how this was what getting injured did to a person.

Zhou Ansheng yelled behind the group of assassins, "Don't be too vicious. Make sure his corpse looks decent enough so we can bring it back. If it's too battered, it's hard for me to continue acting."

Meng Changan had a more ferocious look in his eye. He dodged an attack and started to charge right back towards Zhou Ansheng.

A sound was heard and he was stabbed in the back, from his nape to his rib. It was deep and long enough. Meng Changan staggered forward and almost fell. Three to four daggers had appeared right before him at the same time.

Thereafter, he saw an umbrella fly over to him. Naturally, for it to appear at this moment was not normal at all.

The umbrella stabbed an assassin in the throat. After that, someone stepped on Meng Changan's shoulder and appeared before him. He grabbed the umbrella and twisted it. The umbrella opened up and the blades sliced towards both sides, cutting his neck. Thereafter, the umbrella-sword dexterously slid across the other two assassins' necks. A thin line of blood appeared first, before blood started spurting out rapidly. The two of them placed their hands over their neck as they retreated.

Even though all he saw was his back view, which was slightly unfamiliar, Meng Changan curled his lips. "How are you here?"

Shen Leng replied, "Oh, I rode a horse here."

Meng Changan was speechless.

Shen Leng tossed the umbrella-sword to Changan. "It's too light. I'm not used to it."

He picked up the umbella-sword from the ground and weighed it in his hand. Thereafter, he pointed it at the group of assassins and swung it across. He opened his mouth but held back. He turned around and asked Meng Changan, "Normally at times like these, what should a braggart say?"

Meng Changan replied, "Say my ass."

Shen Leng responded, "Oh, you asses!"

Thereafter, he charged forth.

Meng Changan was very confident of his skills. If not for the fact that he got stabbed, twenty to thirty assassins would not be able to stop him. However, when he saw Shen Leng attacking them earlier, he started to develop self-doubt.

What did that fella go through over the past few years?

As compared to Meng Changan's ferocity, Shen Leng's sword skills were calm and concrete. Every attack did not waste a single ounce of strength. It was just enough to kill a person. Meng Changan suddenly thought about how such a way of fighting would allow one to preserve his energy for a much longer time in a battle.

When Shen Leng sliced the throat of the assassin in front of him, he bent over to avoid an attack before swinging his dagger upwards, slicing the assassin's stomach. After that, he turned around halfway and dodged the attack behind. He stabbed one of the assassins in the heart and twisted his wrist. The blade twisted around in his heart a couple of times, and created a hole in his back, as blood spurted out.

When Shen Leng grabbed the dagger once again and pulled it out. His left hand grabbed onto the assassin's dagger. Both daggers were like a whirlwind - not a single person was alive as they swung across the area.

Shen Leng killed calmly, whereas the injured Meng Changan still killed as aggressively as before. An attack from him was enough to split a person's skull open. He definitely did not hold any strength back. This was Meng Changan.

After seeing that, Zhou Ansheng went pale. He wanted to charge forth a couple of times but he tolerated. When he wanted to leave, it was already too late. Amongst the twenty odd assassins, Shen Leng had already killed twelve. This did not include the six assassins from before - Meng Changan had killed three of them and Du Weiming had killed the other three.

This was Shen Leng's first time engaging in mass killing. This was also Meng Changan's first time. And also Du Weiming's.

They dealt with it naturally. If it were some other person, they would have been trembling in fear. These two fellas however did not look afraid at all. Meng Changan even felt a rush of excitement whenever he killed a person.

Apart from Zhou Ansheng, the last assassin who attempted to flee was nailed against a tree trunk by Shen Leng. Before the dagger was even pulled out, the person struggled to the very end, as he gradually lost his breath.

Shen Leng glanced over at the dagger that was still stabbed into Meng Changan's stomach and shook his head. "Will you die?"

Meng Changan replied, "As long as you quickly dress my wound get me a reliable doctor, I might not die."

Shen Leng walked over to Zhou Ansheng. As he walked, he said, "I'm not very familiar with Changan city. Do you know where I can get the best doctor? However, I'm suddenly thinking that if I charge you a fee, will you pay me? The more I think about it, the more I want to."

Thereafter, he grabbed Zhou Ansheng's arms and twisted them, and kicked Zhou Ansheng behind his knees hard. Zhou Ansheng involuntarily fell to his knees.

Naturally, Zhou Ansheng resisted, but to no avail.

Meng Changan said, "Of course, the one back in the academy is the best. If you want to charge me a fee, can you dress the wound better? However, there is some other place I'd like to go even more."

As he spoke, he took the dagger than Du Weiming gave him. Naturally, he did not know who Du Weiming was, and Du Weiming was also uncertain why he felt that he should give it to him. In any case, everything happened as it should be.

Thereafter, Shen Leng grabbed Zhou Ansheng by the hair and lifted his head. "I know what you want to do. I'll go instead."

Meng Changan cut off Zhou Ansheng's head at one go. "Do you know where to go?"

Shen Leng grunted. "Head back then. Where shall we eat tonight?"

Meng Changan patted his money pouch. He blushed slightly. He took the money pouches from all the corpses on the ground and realized that he managed to get quite a substantial amount of money. Immediately, he was back to his bold self again. "Deng Ji Restaurant."

Shen Leng said, "Wait for me for an hour."

Meng Changan replied, "Why don't we eat first?"

Shen Leng shook his head. "I'm here to ward off evil. I have to do a great job."

Meng Changan started smiling. Shen Leng glared at him and said, "Do not laugh."

Meng Changan responded, "Oh.hehe, heh heh heh heh."

Something seemed amiss. He should be the one telling him not to smile instead. However, for some reason, he wanted to smile.

As the two of them were talking, there was a masked man who hid within the underbrush about 30 feet away from them. He had already been there for a long time. He was secretly retreating. Even though his face was covered, he could not hide the gray hair on his temples. Evidently, he was not a young man.

He originally came here to deal with the aftermath. But right now, he did not even dare to breathe loudly at all. He hardly felt scared when he was part of the underworld back in the day. However, he was truly afraid this time. Were all the young men of this generation that frightful?

Shen Leng looked at the other side and stuck his lips out in the same direction. Meng Changan nodded. "I will go back to apply some medication first. We will eat at Deng Ji Restaurant. Don't be late."

Shen Leng replied, "I won't be."

He looked at Du Weiming. "Help me take him back to the academy."

Du Weiming asked, "Where are you going?"

.

Shen Leng started to pick up the daggers from the ground, one by one. He picked up about seven in total. He tied three of them to his back, and tied the remaining four to his waist - two on each side.

"Beat some dogs."

After Shen Leng said those three words, he had already disappeared from the woods.

Uncle Lao felt that this was his best opportunity to strike. Meng Changan was severely injured. The person supporting him did not seem to be that strong. Hence, even though he wanted to leave initially, he resisted. He held onto the shaft of the dagger and his veins bulged at the back of his hand.

"Hey."

Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him. Uncle Lao suddenly turned his head around. He saw the fella with seven daggers on him. He did not know when he went around and appeared right behind him.

"You're already old, don't get involved in the underworld anymore."

Shen Leng drew out a dagger, and so did Uncle Lao. The dagger landed and so did the head.

Shen Leng felt that he had used a little more strength than he should have, and that he should take note of it in the future. After that, he started assessing Uncle Lao's martial arts skills. On a scale of ten, taking into account his speed and strength when drawing the dagger, that old fella was at least a seven.

This was a young man's initial judgment of a martial arts practitioner. He was someone conceited, and somewhat ignorant. After all, he was inexperienced. If all the martial arts practitioners in the world could be divided into ranks, Uncle Lao would be a five at most, and Wang Kuohai, who he had defeated earlier in the competition back in the Navy camp, would be a four at most. Or a three.

Naturally, even if someone were to correct Shen Leng, and he humbly accepted, he still felt that he himself was a ten.

Meng Changan went over and picked up Uncle Lao's head before tying it to his waist. He looked like a new recruit who beheaded someone on the battlefield and keeping the head to gain credit. Du Weiming almost threw up a couple of times, but he gritted his teeth and tolerated. He did not want to lose too much.

Shen Leng got to the river bank and got onto the boat. He released the rope and rowed it downstream. As his arms moved faster and faster, the boat charged forward like an arrow being shot out of the bow.

At Deng Ji Restaurant, Meng Changan entered its doors with blood all over his body and a human head still attached to his waist. He smiled apologetically at the waiters in the restaurant who fled the scene chaotically. He headed straight to the counter and asked, "May I ask, what time is your restaurant open until?"

The manager did not reveal much emotions. His hand was still on the abacus. However, his fingers were trembling slightly.

"What do you want?" asked the manager.

Meng Changan placed all the money he picked up from before and placed them all on the counter. "I have a brother who came to visit me from afar. I want to treat him to a good meal. After all, Deng Ji Restaurant is the best in the city. However, I need to go back for a while first to apply some medication. If it's possible, could you close the restaurant slightly later? He will be back in about two hours."

The manager calculated the time and was about to reject him. This was because Deng Ji Restaurant had never closed late for anyone before. But at this time, a young lady who was around fifteen or sixteen years old said to him from the second floor in a clear and cold voice, "In that case, we will open for three more hours. Not any longer."

The manager looked up at the young lady, who nodded slightly. The manager simply let it be.

"Alright."

Meng Changan cupped his fist and thanked them before leaving the restaurant.

The manager kept the bloodied money. He looked at his hands that were stained with blood and was slightly dazed.

On the second floor, a middle-aged man wearing a scholar robe was making tea elegantly and gracefully. After he saw that the young lady just got back, he was slightly embarrassed and said, "Go back and tell madam that I will be home a little later tonight. I haven't seen such an interesting young man in a very long time."

"Yes, sir."

The young lady nodded her head slightly but she had a displeased look on her face. "I'm afraid the cost of the meal has to be waived again."

The middle-aged started laughing. "Of course. He said that Deng Ji Restaurant is the best."

He gestured. "Go back first. If it gets too late, madam will get worried.

On the snowy white sleeves, there seemed to be a design of three red floating clouds. It looked very beautiful.