Horse cries echoed, the night wind howled, a nightmare battle unfolded on the long street.

Sword winds sliced through the chaos, warhorses, charging at high speed, had their front legs severed, blood spraying into the air, tumbling with a deafening roar onto the road. As a horse rolled past, the face of another guard, splattered with blood and flesh, flew backward. The others charged valiantly, their steel blades, along with their chests, cleaved open.

The woman's figure darted at high speed, five or six guards crisscrossing in an attempt to block her path, but they utterly failed to stop her advance. Her slightly clumsy longsword continuously sought openings amidst the clashing blades, drawing out streaks of blood with a "swish, swish, swish." Accompanied by screams, blood splattered everywhere, heading towards the path ahead. In the darkness, the woman was already covered in blood, yet at this moment, she exuded an enormous sense of oppression, forcing the fleeing Song Xian towards the end of the road.

The speed of both sides was astonishing on the long street. Guards, desperate to stop the woman's pursuit, surged forward from all directions. Song Xian was also sprinting away, a guard suddenly cutting in from the front, trying to halt the woman's chase. The next moment, sword light slashed down from his left shoulder to his right abdomen, his body flying out like a cannonball, blood exploding like a giant flower.

Blade light, coming from both sides, tore through the air with a "whoosh." The woman ducked, leaving a bloody line with a "whish" on the thigh of the man on her left. She spun to her feet, grabbed the back of his head, and smashed his skull into the face of the person on the right. She then grabbed a steel blade and threw it forward.

Song Xian had already run several meters. He reached out to grab the reins of a charging warhorse. The spinning steel blade sliced across his ribs with a "poof," embedding itself in the horse's leg. In a shower of blood, the bodies of man and horse rolled forward almost simultaneously. Chaos reigned in the rear. He had just gotten up from the ground when the woman's figure, covered in blood, bore down on him with relentless speed.

"You freaking madwoman—"

*Bang!*

A burst of fire erupted, and Song Xian was blasted away again, his back directly against the corner of a wall. The surrounding guards had failed to stop the woman for even a second. As he raised his head, the ancient sword blade slashed diagonally towards his head. He tilted his head, the blade carving into the wall with a "poof," sending out a shower of earth and stone. Before the feeling of lingering fear could rise, the woman's right fist loomed large in Song Xian's eyes.

With a "bang," his head vibrated, the back of his skull slammed into the wall behind him, his vision trembling, blood flying out. Time seemed to slow down, but his reaction wasn't necessarily any faster. The figures rushing up, the sounds of fighting, all seemed incredibly distant in this trembling, blood-red scene. The woman turned, splitting apart a guard with a single blow. He instinctively raised his blade, but her gaze had already returned.

His arm swung out, but the blade, which should have landed on the woman's body, never connected. Blood spurted from his severed wrist, the arm holding the blade flying through the air, smashing into the guards behind him. The woman's right elbow seemed to carry the force of her entire body as it slammed into his face, darkness magnified.

*Bang! W嗡嗡嗡嗡—*

He didn't know what happened, then a third impact struck him, and the wall behind him disappeared from his consciousness. He was flying…

******************

The carriage stopped at the corner of this section of the road. Ning Yi had arrived not long ago, standing in the darkness beneath a tree, watching the scene at the end of the long street.

He hadn't seen the entire fight, but the devastation on the long street was enough to explain everything. The wreckage of two carriages, corpses, blood, warhorses with broken legs lying on the ground, struggling, moaning – the traces of this battle stretched down the entire street. And the most astonishing sight was the final section of the fight.

Song Xian had originally joined the battle, but the pressure exerted by the woman was simply too overwhelming. By the time Ning Yi arrived, he was already preparing to flee. But there was no escape. Most of the warhorses were injured. The guards, forced to fight on foot, did their utmost to stop the woman's pursuit, the battle extending at an alarming speed towards that side. But they still couldn't stop her. The dance of blood in the woman's attacks seemed to never cease. Guards, lightly wounded, heavily wounded… they surged up from all sides, flung away until Song Xian was overtaken at the end of the long street.

"Boom, boom, boom" – three consecutive impacts, and then the entire wall at the end of the long street collapsed in his view… A brick flew over, hitting someone squarely on the head, turning into powder and fragments. The battle continued…

"That's it, that's it…"

In the darkness, Ning Yi muttered to himself, then adjusted his breathing, taking a long breath.

"That's what I want…"

Having watched for this moment, there was no need to see any more. The soldiers coming to support would probably arrive soon. Ning Yi turned and walked towards the carriage. He then looked at a horse not far away. The horse stood alone at the boundary between light and darkness. The knight on horseback was dead, blood flowing down. Ning Yi walked over and felt around in his arms, taking out a bamboo tube for setting off fireworks and putting it into his pocket. He then looked around. There might be scattered residents on the long street side, but there were none on this side. Hopefully, no one had seen him here.

He then returned to the carriage, quietly turned around, and drove away.

"...This is the final struggle, unite until tomorrow, The Internationale, will certainly...be realized..."

His fingers tapped lightly and rapidly on the carriage, calculating the nearby streets in his mind, the possible layouts of the pursuit. He hummed a song that came to mind, the flickering firelight illuminating his face. At this moment, a smile appeared that was completely different from his usual demeanor, a wildness that was hard to describe beneath the humble facade.

How many opportunities would there be? He didn't know. There were too many variables. Perhaps it would even lead to some trouble. But at this moment, he was certain. He wanted that thing. He wanted to get it…

If he didn't try hard, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

********************

Fireworks rose into the sky in the city's streets, and more often, the sound of hurried gongs.

It was a chaotic night.

As most of the people returning from White Egret Isle entered Jiangning City, the chaotic sounds had already affected half the city. The arriving Wu Lie Army soldiers and government runners were busily chasing the female assassin running through the city. Several skirmishes occurred, resulting in more deaths and injuries. When the returning residents spread towards this side, the female assassin probably wanted to flee towards the crowd, but the elite Wu Lie Army soldiers who had followed Chen Yong also flanked her from that side, forcing her to go to the relatively quiet side of the city.

The woman should have also suffered severe injuries, but her combat power remained strong. If one wasn't particularly confident, they wouldn't dare to fight her. Ordinary runners just beat gongs and drums as they chased. There were, after all, many people in pursuit. The woman rushed left and right, but she couldn't completely disappear.

Tonight was different from the night of the Lantern Festival. There were now few people on the city streets. The woman was also overly stubborn tonight. Unlike the Lantern Festival night, when she immediately left after being injured, she had risked everything to kill Song Xian, and she herself had been severely injured. It was now difficult for her to find ideal hiding places. And the Wu Dynasty didn't have a curfew. Although most people closed their doors and didn't come out when they saw the fireworks and heard the gongs, there were still some idlers wandering at night. Ning Yi, driving his carriage on the edge of the situation, had an advantage. He occasionally encountered soldiers and runners, said a few words, or hurriedly left, ignoring him.

Humming a song along the way, circling between several blocks, watching the chaos coming from afar, his fingers calculating the possible directions of each group of people he saw, the general situation in the entire area, the woman's location and the plans she might choose. Establishing contact was very difficult. If he drove over now, it would be very easy to meet the woman once, but it would be meaningless. If he proposed to help her with a clumsy start like that, the most likely scenario would be that she would kill him immediately. He couldn't take the initiative in these things. He could only find a specific environment and let the other party take the initiative before he could have the opportunity to reveal his intentions.

Calculations about people's hearts are always quite complex. Even if he still had a staff team like he had in his previous life, he couldn't say he was certain at this time. Right now, he was alone, and he could only try with a test mindset. There were several blocks in the city that should be ideal, but in this brief moment, he probably miscalculated the woman's direction twice. One of them was a usable opportunity, but he missed it. About ten minutes later, he saw a possibility in the occasional chaos that came.

The carriage sped away, circling along the long street towards the west of the city, arriving at a secluded alley. The sound of hurried gongs came from afar, followed by the sound of fighting. The woman was pushing the chaos, heading this way. At a certain moment, the visible chaos disappeared again. Ning Yi calculated the time, took out the firework tube, pulled off the lid, and a burst of signal fireworks shot into the sky, lighting up the night sky. Then he cracked his whip, letting the carriage leave here at high speed, heading to nearby blocks.

Theoretically speaking, the direction of the female assassin's escape had been temporarily limited. As long as he could get there in advance, it might be possible for his carriage to become an ideal bait. Perhaps there was a 30% chance of getting her into the carriage, and then there would be the possibility of making a deal… After driving for two blocks, a group of runners rushed from the other side. When they saw him, they suddenly stopped him.

Damn it…

If the fighting in the distance was still continuing at this time, these runners wouldn't pay attention to him, but at this time, the woman's traces had temporarily disappeared. Ning Yi had no choice but to stop the carriage and let them search it. The carriage was flying the flag of the Imperial Son-in-Law's mansion, so these runners would naturally not make things difficult. After a brief search, they immediately said good things and let him go, but a lot of time had already passed. When Ning Yi moved forward again, the woman's position had already exceeded his expected place.

Unexpected events often happened. Ning Yi had long understood that, but its appearance now made him feel really regretful. Having already used up the firework tube, he no longer had the opportunity to control the direction of the woman's escape. Not long after, the woman's running direction continued to move towards the east. Ning Yi slowly drove away from the dangerous central area. Going there again was meaningless. Even if he could really save the woman, he probably wouldn't be able to avoid the inspection of the Wu Lie Army soldiers and runners. The ratio of danger to reward was extremely skewed, so there was no point in taking the risk.

"What a pity, I wonder if I'll ever encounter such a powerful person again…"

He thought like this, heading back towards the Su mansion. The chaos behind him was silent for a long time. When another firework signal and the sound of gongs attracted his attention, he suddenly realized that the direction of the chaos had actually pushed back…

*******************

On a relatively quiet lakeside on the west side of the city, Ning Yi drove the carriage along the road on the lakeside. On one side was the quiet lake water and trees, and on the other side were high-walled courtyards with lanterns hanging. Occasionally, he could see one or two pedestrians, probably returning from the Saiflower Gathering.

Far behind the carriage, a group of Wu Lie Army soldiers were circling around the road, seeming to be heading this way. At the fork in front, there were also runners patrolling towards this fork. Ning Yi recalled the location of the fight not long ago. Near the intersection, he quietly stopped the carriage by the side of the road, got out of the car, and stretched.

********************

On the dark lakeside, the woman, wrapped in a black cloth, quietly lurked in the deep grass under the trees, adjusting her breathing, trying to quietly not let her blood leave too much trace, patiently waiting for the several teams of converging searchers to pass.

The carriage stopped not far from where she was hiding, and then she saw the driver get out of the car, stretch, walk towards the lake, humming a strange and leisurely tune, looking down at something in the grass…

******************

When coding this chapter, I listened to the Tang Dynasty Band's "The Internationale" several times. It wasn't that the lyrics were appropriate, but I felt that the rhythm and feeling might be similar to Ning Yi's state of mind at this time.

I finished coding overnight again. Please give me more monthly tickets to support me, let us catch up with the previous one ^_^ (To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please log in, there are more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)

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