Chapter 216: Senior Brother, Infiltrating the Enemy Camp
Ye Anping disguised himself with a gray cloak and mask, appearing mysterious. He carefully examined the body of the attacker on the ground, noting the victim was slightly taller and bulkier than him. He then tore a strip of cloth from a bedsheet and stuffed it inside his clothes.
Finally—
*Swish*—
He drew his sword and made a bloody gash on his left arm, simultaneously smashing the attacker’s nose and mouth to make their features unrecognizable.
After finishing these preparations, Ye Anping, alert to any movement outside the room, returned to the wardrobe. He grabbed Huang Quan’s wrist, her breathing shallow, and confirmed her injuries were not fatal. He then took out a small bottle of pills and a warm cloak, placing them inside the wardrobe. “Miss Huang Quan,” he said, “take one pill every hour. The cloak is for warmth. Stay hidden in this wardrobe tonight and come out at dawn. Remember…”
Huang Quan’s face was pale, and she grabbed his sleeve with concern. “…Young Master…Husband…and you?”
“Don’t worry about me. You rest well.”
“…Mm.” Huang Quan suppressed a cough and, after a moment of hesitation, let go of his sleeve. “Husband, be careful…”
“Mm.”
*Creak*—
Ye Anping held both sides of the wardrobe door and quietly closed it, then let out a sigh of relief. He turned to look at the headless man on the ground, walked over, and took his storage bag, sweeping through its contents with his spiritual sense.
“Spirit stones, pills… what is this?”
Muttering, he flicked his fingers, and a round ring pendant flew out of the storage bag.
Ye Anping took the ring pendant and examined it. He saw two names written on the tassel bamboo tag hanging below: “Ye An” and “Yu Shui Ting,” which immediately put his mind at ease.
“Ye An?” He glanced at the dead man beside him and sneered. “Heh, attempting an assassination yet carrying personal belongings. You’ve been a great help, Brother Ye.”
Ye Anping returned the jade pendant to the storage bag, hung it at his waist, and left the room with his bloodstained sword.
… …
Above the eaves of the courtyard, wind and snow raged, with large snowflakes falling like goose feathers.
Two men, masked and wearing gray cloaks, squatted on the roof tiles, their eyes fixed on the open door of Ye Anping’s bedroom, the howling gale filling their ears.
*Whoosh*—
One of them felt a sense of unease. He counted to sixty in his mind, but still, no one emerged from the room. “Why aren’t they out yet?” he wondered.
“Wait a bit longer. Perhaps they’re ransacking the room. Brother Ye is usually stingy, and Ye Anping is a sect’s Young Master. He must have plenty of valuable things on him, so he’s probably enjoying himself.”
“But this is taking too long…”
“Prepare your sword. If there’s really a problem, Ye Anping must be seriously injured. It won’t be difficult for the two of us to finish him off.”
“That’s true.”
As they spoke, a figure finally emerged from the doorway of the bedroom ahead.
The two on the roof immediately squinted to examine the figure. Due to the wind and snow, they couldn’t see the person’s face clearly from their position, but they could discern the gray cloak.
… …
Ye Anping exited the room and paused, feeling that the remaining two men were likely watching him. If he took the wrong direction now, he would be exposed. However, the wind and snow were too fierce, making it impossible to locate the two men by sight. Releasing his spiritual sense to search would be too obvious if either of them had a profound cultivation in spirit and soul.
After thinking for a moment, he simply knelt on one knee, thrust his spirit sword into the ground, and feigned an injury, intending to lure the two men out.
As expected, not long after he knelt, two figures leaped down from the courtyard eaves not far away and quickly flashed before him.
“What’s wrong? Got yourself injured?”
A rough voice arrived as expected, with a local dialect from the Southern Domain. It sounded sarcastic, as if calling him a weakling, but based on the voice and manner of speaking, Ye Anping inferred that this person was likely straightforward and bold.
The other tall, thin man stared intently at Ye Anping, his eyes revealing a hint of suspicion. After a moment of hesitation, he suddenly asked, “Brother Zhou? That person was poisoned with a potent toxin. Can he still injure you?”
Brother Zhou?… Ye Anping frowned. The jade pendant clearly stated “Ye An” and “Yu Shui Ting.” The latter was obviously a woman’s name. Even with the worst-case scenario, if the person was indeed named “Yu Shui Ting,” this “Brother Zhou” was somewhat questionable…
However, it was also possible that the jade pendant didn’t belong to the person he just dealt with…
Ye Anping was uncertain. He tightened his grip on his spirit sword. The cultivation of these two men was one at Mid Foundation Establishment and the other at Early Foundation Establishment. If his surprise attack could eliminate the one at Mid Foundation Establishment first, the remaining one would be no match for him.
He paused, then lowered his voice, speaking with a hoarse tone and the Southern Domain dialect. “Brother Zhou? Who is Brother Zhou?”
“Oh, right. Brother Liu.” The man with the rough voice suddenly realized his mistake and turned to ask the person beside him, “Are you confused? This is Brother Ye, Ye An, my childhood friend.”
“Oh… sorry, I remembered wrong.”
The tall, thin man shrugged, then glanced at the direction of Yun Yiyi’s bedroom. “It’s probably done over there. Let’s hurry.”
However, Ye Anping had already made up his mind: he would not let these two live.
—One of them, though straightforward, was “Ye An’s” childhood friend.
—The other was somewhat suspicious. If he were kept alive, the risk of exposure would be too high.
He tightened his grip on his spirit sword. Waiting for the moment the man with the rough voice turned around to prepare to jump onto the roof, he bent his legs slightly and stomped down.
The sword embedded in the ground sprang up, kicking away the accumulated snow.
*Clang*—
The slender spirit sword, carrying a deep cold glint, cut through the falling snow in mid-air. Under Ye Anping’s control, it drew a silver line, steadily and accurately aiming for the heart position on the man’s back.
The white blade pierced through the back, and the bloodied blade emerged from the chest.
Through the feel of the sword, Ye Anping knew he had pierced through the man’s heart, left lung, and two ribs in the chest, but not his meridians. He immediately twisted the spirit sword in the man’s chest cavity and swung it horizontally.
*Swish*—
It cut him in half across the chest, and hot blood sprayed out.
Following that, he gripped the spirit sword in reverse and blocked it behind his back.
*Clang*—
He had bypassed the tall, thin man and killed the Mid Foundation Establishment cultivator first. Ye Anping was currently facing away from the other man. However, even with his back turned, the spirit sword blocking his back also intercepted a sword strike from the other man near his back neck.
The tall, thin man’s eyes widened in shock. Ye Anping glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. Feeling threatened, he immediately tried to create distance and escape.
But how could Ye Anping give him the chance to escape?
Tapping the ground with the toe of his right foot, Ye Anping twisted his body and unleashed a move: “Looking Back at the Moon.”
The slender sword blade traced a crescent arc, slicing across the man’s neck.
*Swish*—
Then, he sheathed his sword and swung it forcefully.
“Whoosh—”
Ye Anping closed his eyes and let out a long breath. He sheathed his spirit sword and put it back in his storage bag. In the next moment, the two men fell to the ground, one after the other, with Ye Anping’s position as the center.
He glanced at the two men, ignoring the tall, thin man who had been decapitated. He walked over to the Mid Foundation Establishment cultivator, raised his sword, and poked him several times in vital acupoints to ensure he was dead. Only then did he squat down to loot their belongings.
Based on their personal belongings, Ye Anping deduced their names. He stood up, used his spirit sword to add two more bloody wounds to his waist and left arm, smeared blood on his forehead and nose with his hand, and then leaped onto the eaves, searching for the whereabouts of their accomplices.
… …
