Chapter 56 Held Hostage
2410 Words
The outcome of this fight was clear.
At this moment, Leng Qingtang twisted his left wrist and grabbed on the man's mask with a hand like a hawk's claw.
The man in white fought back with the broken sword angrily. Leng Qingtang was prepared. He swept his sword horizontally.
He moaned. A smell of blood rushed into his nose.
Leng Qingtang raised his left leg and kicked hard on the right thigh of the man in white. The man moaned again. He kneeled on the ground with one leg. Blood rushed out of his wounded arm, making the white snow red.
Leng Qingtang put down his sword. He looked at the man he defeated commandingly. He smiled coldly and ordered,
"Tie him up!"
Captains and guards went over and flanked the man in white.
But the man suddenly looked up. Silver light shot out of his mouth and went towards Leng Qingtang.
Leng Qingtang's first instinct was that it was a mouth needle.
He raised his sword. The weapon hit on the sword and splashed white sparks. Sound of cracking rang up. A piece of broken silver needle fell on the ground.
At the same time, rounds of howl came from the guards. The man in white drew away Leng Qingtang by the hidden weapon and fought with the guards. He fought his way out and jumped onto the roof, rushing out of the Eastern Depot.
"Go after him!"
Seeing the assassin went away, Ai Qing, the first captain, waved his arm at his guards. He led the guards onto the roof, following the trail of blood, and went out of the Eastern Depot.
Lu Rong, the second captain, saluted at Leng Qingtang and said quickly, "Master, I'll take some men to help captain Ai!"
Leng Qingtang nodded and watched Lu Rong rush out with a group of guards.
Cheng Wanli carefully looked at the Master up and down. Seeing that he didn't have any wounds and didn't look like being hurt internally, Cheng Wanli rested assured.
He came close and asked with concern, "Master, are you okay?"
Leng Qingtang shook his head in silence. His sharp eyes fixed on where the assassin escaped and said with his teeth gritted,
"His levitation is better than us! If I'm correct, he was the one who set me up in the Qingfeng Temple that day."
Cheng Wanli was surprised. He then slightly looked down and said assertively,
"Rest assured, Master. It's curfew now. He couldn't escape the capital. I'll put up an all-points bulletin for his arrest. We will catch him. And when we do, we can interrogate him and find out!"
...
The night was dark. The Master's Mansion was all quiet.
Gu Yunxi held the lantern and walked aimlessly in the quiet night. She walked in layers of snow on the ground, wearing a pair of soft boots.
The snowing just stopped. A few snowflakes were still falling from the sky. The cold moonlight shone through the clouds. The dim moonlight shone on Gu Yunxi's thin body, casting a lonely black shadow onto the snowy ground.
She was supposed to go to bed at this hour, yet Gu Yunxi couldn't sleep because of all her worries. She put on a man's henna robe and wandered around in the yard of the Master's Mansion.
The pavilions, buildings, and artificial hills were all covered up by thick snow. The white silhouette made them even more exquisite. They were eye-catching at night.
Walking into the door habitually, Gu Yunxi came to the Master's residence. On the snowy ground stood some blooming wintersweet trees. Wisps of faint and elegant fragrance came to Gu Yunxi.
In this beautiful and peaceful night, she stood in the cold yard in loneliness without the romantic atmosphere or her loved one.
Did she do this to herself?
Staring at that lonely shadow on the ground, she laughed at herself. Her heart was filled with bitterness.
She finally realized how self-righteous she was to reject the Master. She thought she was thinking for him, but she just hurt their relationship.
She didn't know what to do. Maybe the Master would never forgive her.
Gu Yunxi suddenly wanted to leave. She came to the Mansion because of the Master. Now that he was no longer here, she didn't think she had any more reason to stay.
Maybe she could just sneak out. It wouldn't be a problem for her to find a restaurant and become a cook. She could earn some money and make a living with her cooking skills.
Gu Yunxi walked back to her residence while thinking about it.
She walked to the door. When she just put out the lantern, she sensitively felt someone was following her.
She didn't dare to push the door. She held her breath and stayed still, paying attention to her surroundings.
Behind her, a gust of wind blew. A big hand fell on her left shoulder.
Gu Yunxi grabbed it hard with her right hand in haste. At the same time, she swiftly turned back. Just when she was about to kick, a cold light flashed in front of her eyes. The person put the weapon on her neck.
"Don't make a noise! Or I'll kill you!"
The voice sounded like a young man. He breathed heavily while threatening her harshly.
The delicate mask covered his face. He was slim and weak. He was shaking, yet he still held the weapon tightly without any slacking. The weapon was pushed mercilessly against the artery on Gu Yunxi's neck, leaving no room to escape.
This was the first time that Gu Yunxi encountered this situation. She was held a hostage.
Her heart was beating like a drum, but she forced herself to stay calm.
At the same time, she sensed a pungent smell of blood. This was what Gu Yunxi feared most.
He was clearly wounded. That was why he looked so weary and tired.
Gu Yunxi kept thinking in her mind. She encouraged herself and raised her eyes, looking directly at the man's masked face.
When their eyes met, Gu Yunxi was dazed. She saw his eyes that were like clear glass hidden under his rigid mask. They were shining brightly. Gu Yunxi thought he looked familiar as if she had seen him somewhere.
Across her, the man in white stared at her. He was also dazed.
"Go! Go inside!"
He suddenly came back to reality and yelled at her in a deep voice. He was indifferent and desperate.
On her neck, the edge of the weapon pressed onto her soft skin harder. A creepy feeling made Gu Yunxi shake. She clenched her fists. Her nails all went in her palm, causing her much pain.
She couldn't help but obey his order. She carefully went backward, opened the door, and let the man in.
Once he was inside, he put down the weapon. He swiftly closed the door and bolted it with one hand. He then bent over and leaned on the door wearily. It looked like he had used up all his strength.
Gu Yunxi took the opportunity and punched his face hard with her right fist in the dark. Yet he suddenly raised his left palm and tightly grabbed her fist.
Gu Yunxi was surprised. She swiftly turned around to avoid his kick. She then raised her left arm and tried to hit the back of his head with the side of her palm as if it had been the edge of a knife.
Before she could get close to him, she suddenly lost her balance and was tripped over by his leg. He bent down and tried to grab her clothes. She agilely rolled out and grabbed the stool, trying to hit him.
The man dodged the stool. It crushed on the ground, making quite a noise.
He mumbled. His breath was even heavier, showing how angry he was. He went closer and fought with Gu Yunxi. In ten moves, he knocked her down with her face up. He swiftly stretched his left arm and pressed on her chest with his big hand.
The soft and bouncy touch didn't surprise him. On the contrary, he curled up his lips under the mask. He looked quite intrigued.
"Let me go!" Gu Yunxi shouted in a sharp voice. She reacted quite drastically.
She was a girl. How could a man touch the most important part of her body?
The man in white smiled more. He lifted his hand and changed his move. He quickly pressed on Gu Yunxi's left rib using his index finger and middle finger.
Gu Yunxi felt her whole body was numb. As if she had been tied up by some force, she couldn't move her body anymore.
"What did you do to me?"
She felt lucky that she could still talk. She looked up and stared at the man. She didn't know her acupoint was sealed by his fingers.
The light outside was flickering. Qinger, the maid, came with a nanny. She held a lantern and called Gu Yunxi.
"Lady, Lady! What's wrong?"
Just now, the noise of the stool in Gu Yunxi's room startled the servants. They then heard her terrified shout. Qinger immediately got up and brought the nanny to check on her.
Gu Yunxi immediately panicked. Sweat fell down her forehead.
She was wearing a man's clothes. But after Qinger shouted, the enemy surely knew she was a girl. She couldn't move, so she looked at the man in white with fear, watching out for his every move.
He bent down, pressing the cold weapon on Gu Yunxi's nose. He said with a quiet voice,
"I think you know what to say."
Gu Yunxi immediately understood. Nothing was more important than her life at this moment. Calming her mind, she raised her voice and said to Qinger,
"I'm fine. I just had a nightmare. I knocked down the chair when I was getting a glass of water. You can just go back to sleep!"
"Lady, just open the door!"
Qinger was vigilant. Standing outside, she pushed the door. She wouldn't have felt relieved if she hadn't seen Gu Yunxi.
"It's too dark. It's hard to light up. I'm fine. Just go to bed..."
Her acupoint was sealed, so she felt unable to breathe after a while. Gu Yunxi said the whole sentence with great difficulty and started breathing with her mouth.
"OK, Lady. Then be careful."
Seeing Gu Yunxi didn't want to open the door, Qinger didn't want to push her in the dark. She carefully advised her and then went back to bed with the nanny.
Gu Yunxi's throbbing heart was finally back in peace.
"Like I guessed, you are indeed a girl!"
The man in white put away his weapon. He bent over in the dark. His left hand fell by Gu Yunxi's cheek, and his arm was on the ground, supporting his body. Underneath the cold silver mask, his eyes were bright and shining. His eerily look projected on her beautiful face. All of a sudden, she got more scared.
"What do you want?!"
Gu Yunxi looked up and yelled angrily. Suddenly, she felt she was in graver danger and couldn't escape anymore.
A helpless panic raged in her heart.
The man in white hesitated and smiled. He lifted his hand and took off his mask.
"Bro, I said we would see each other again. I didn't expect it to be this soon."
He was joyous.
He was hurt by that eunuch at the Eastern Depot because he wanted to see her. Yet he accidentally met her in the Master's Mansion!
Gu Yunxi lay on the ground. She opened her eyes wide in disbelief. She carefully looked at the young man's handsome face under the light.
He was that handsome man in white!
"You are that jerk at the Baoyue Restaurant!"
"Hush..."
The man in white looked joyous. He was delighted that Gu Yunxi recognized him. He pressed his left index finger on her lips in haste, warning her to keep quiet.
She thought he was acting up again, being impetuous like he did at the Baoyue Restaurant, so she bit his finger hard with her sharp teeth when he was not paying any attention.
The man in white muttered and pulled back his finger in haste. He raised his eyebrows and said in a harsh voice,
"How dare you bite me? You're indeed a girl trained by the Eastern Depot. You're vicious and evil! If I knew you would do this, I would have sealed all your acupoints, so you can't even open your mouth!"
"You know where this is?"
Gu Yunxi was scared and angry at the same time. When she heard him say "Eastern Depot", she couldn't help but screamed.
"Of course, I do. A mansion this extravagant, it could only be the Master of the Eastern Depot's Mansion."
The man in white smiled disdainfully. He then straightened up his back, crossed his legs, and sat next to Gu Yunxi.
"If you know, how dare you come in and hold me a hostage?!" Gu Yunxi opened her eye wide and questioned him rhetorically in anger.
The man in white curled up his red lips. He glanced at Gu Yunxi who was quite angry. He didn't answer.
He failed at prying the Eastern Depot. Now all the guards were searching for him on the streets and it was the curfew. He was wounded and had nowhere to hide.
He thought about it and decided to go back to the Master's Mansion to hide.
As the saying went, "The most dangerous place is the safest." Now Leng Qingtang was at the Eastern Depot. He didn't have time to think about his own mansion.
Even if he set up all kinds of traps all over the capital, he wouldn't have dreamed that the man he wanted was at his own mansion.
Tearing off a piece of fabric from his clothes, the man wrapped up his wound. The man in white came to the mansion using levitation. He hid on the roof and waited for an opportunity.
When he saw Gu Yunxi, he didn't recognize her. He only thought that judging by "his" clothes and figure, the young man was definitely not well trained for martial art.
So he decided to use Leng Qingtang's place to recover.
The man in white made his decision, jumped off the roof, and held Gu Yunxi a hostage.
- Writer
