Sword Slaying the Jianghu : Chapter 18: The Great Battle at the Prince’s Residence

Ye Xuyang led his five men and quietly slipped into the Prince of Zhennan’s residence. Since he had scouted the place beforehand, he roughly knew which area Zhong Yueping’s bedroom was in. So searching through the enormous residence was much more convenient. They went through the rooms in that area one by one, and finally found where Zhong Yueping was.

At this moment, Zhong Yueping was holding a baby in her arms. When she saw Ye Xuyang and his men burst in wearing masks, she was startled and nearly cried out. Fortunately, Ye Xuyang revealed his identity in time. Zhong Yueping also recognized his voice as the assassin she had saved back then. The line of bloody words the assassin had written before leaving left a particularly deep impression on her.

Zhong Yueping briefly told Ye Xuyang about her situation and that the mastermind behind everything was Yang Shao. She asked him to make sure the child avenged his father. Finally, she said she no longer wanted to live. So she took them to go rescue Yang Ran in the side courtyard. Once she saw the children were safe, she could finally go join Su Lianyun in peace.

At this moment, two guards who were changing shifts walked over. One of Ye Xuyang’s men who was keeping watch outside snapped one guard’s neck. The other guard shouted, “Help! Assassins!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, another of Ye Xuyang’s men kicked this guard in the chest. The guard spat blood and fell to the ground.

Ye Xuyang said to Zhong Yueping, “We must leave quickly, or it will be too late.”

Zhong Yueping said bitterly, “But we haven’t seen Nann yet. We cannot just leave him here!”

Ye Xuyang said, “Now that our tracks have been exposed, let’s leave here first and then find a chance to rescue Nann later!”

Zhong Yueping, who had originally planned to lead Ye Xuyang and his men to rescue Nann and then die, could only helplessly change her mind. She had not seen Nann escape danger. How could she go join Su Lianyun in peace?

Just as Ye Xuyang was preparing to lead Zhong Yueping and her child away, hurried footsteps came from outside. They seemed to be approaching their location.

Ye Xuyang grabbed his sword and charged out with Zhong Yueping and her child. The guards of the Prince of Zhennan’s residence were indeed well trained. In such a short time, several dozen had already arrived. The residence that normally looked empty and guardless was actually full of hidden dangers and ambush troops.

These guards acted as if they were going into battle. It was as if someone was invisibly commanding them. They quickly formed a fan shaped formation, orderly blocking them inside the long corridor.

Behind Ye Xuyang was a stone wall of the corridor. Clearly, Zhong Yueping’s room was at the end of this corridor. Now, to leave the residence, they could only break through the fan shaped formation ahead.

He quietly said to Zhong Yueping, “In a moment, my men and I will break open a gap. You take the child and escape while you can. We will cover your retreat. As long as you escape, they cannot keep me here.”

Zhong Yueping thought back to how Ye Xuyang had escaped from the hands of the Northern Underworld Sect back then. The Prince of Zhennan’s residence surely could not trap him either. So she nodded.

Ye Xuyang charged toward the guards of the Prince of Zhennan’s residence. Where his sword passed, blood flew in all directions and corpses covered the ground. Some were killed with one sword strike to the throat. Some had their limbs cut off. They lay on the ground screaming. Even so, many guards who feared nothing still kept coming to join the battle.

Ye Xuyang tapped the ground with both feet. His body leaped into the air. His feet swung through the air several times, kicking down several guards in succession.

At this moment, large numbers of guards were also surrounding them from the far end of the corridor. They were like flowing grains of sand. Several times, the gaps Ye Xuyang and his men had broken open were filled in again by the flowing “sand” behind them.

Zhong Yueping saw more and more guards arriving. Breaking through this iron barrel like encirclement seemed no longer possible. She truly did not want to drag Ye Xuyang down. So she shouted to him, “You all go quickly! Taking us along makes breaking through impossible. Do not worry about us anymore.”

Ye Xuyang fought with all his might while shouting, “I already made one mistake in saving Hero Su. If I cannot save you today, what face would I have to keep living in this world?”

At this moment, among the five men Ye Xuyang had brought, one had already been stabbed with several holes by the guards’ long spears. He shouted loudly, “Sect leader, go quickly! Your subordinate will clear the path for you!”

After saying this, that man actually charged toward those sharp spear blades like a moth flying into a flame. In an instant, countless long spears pierced through his body. His entire back looked like a hedgehog. But he did not stop because of this. He was still using his remaining strength to press forward.

Ye Xuyang knew who this man was who faced death so bravely. This was his brother who had gone through life and death with him, a subordinate he had rescued countless times from piles of corpses. Ye Xuyang wanted to repay Su Lianyun’s kindness, and this man also had to repay Ye Xuyang’s kindness. This was why he came to help Ye Xuyang rescue people, and why he did not hesitate to give his life to blaze a bloody path.

Actually, assassins were not what the world imagined them to be, all cold blooded and heartless killing tools. At least the assassins before his eyes were not that kind of people.

At this moment, the remaining four subordinates closely followed behind. They cleared the bloody path that man had opened to make it even smoother. Ye Xuyang quickly led Zhong Yueping and her child to follow behind them.

After several rounds of fierce fighting, they finally fought their way out of the corridor. By now they had arrived at a great hall of the Prince of Zhennan’s residence. The hall was rather spacious. This was where Yang Shao normally practiced military formations in the residence. Because Yang Shao was naturally suspicious, he feared that practicing outside would be observed by others, causing his formations to leak and fail to achieve the effect of catching the enemy by surprise.

This great hall was also at the center of the residence. Its length and width were both over a hundred zhang. In such a spacious hall, Ye Xuyang and his men could finally fight with their full strength.

His several subordinates were also quite skilled in martial arts. After a round of fighting, they had already disrupted the guards’ formation. The entire hall began to fall into chaos. Blood flew in all directions, and battle cries rang out without end. Just as they were fighting with great vigor, suddenly a palm struck toward Ye Xuyang’s back. He sensed killing intent behind him. So he took the opportunity to slash two men, turned around, and formed his left hand into a palm to meet the palm strike coming at him. When the two palms met, powerful inner force collided. Both men immediately retreated several steps.

Blood seeped from the corners of both their mouths. Only now did Ye Xuyang realize he had been too careless just now. He had not expected the Prince of Zhennan’s residence to have such a skilled fighter. In that palm strike just now, he had not used his full strength, and so he had suffered some internal injury.

That man’s arm was also trembling faintly. Clearly, he had not expected Ye Xuyang to counterattack. His name was Lin Changfeng, Yang Ran’s master.

Zhong Yueping had seen Lin Changfeng’s skill before. Seeing the situation was not good, she shouted to Ye Xuyang, “Go quickly! The person Yang Shao wants is me. He will not kill me.”

“The Prince of Zhennan’s residence is not a place where the likes of you can come and go as you please. What do you take the Prince of Zhennan’s residence for? Today none of you will leave. Kill them all. Kill them all!” Yang Shao had just arrived leading several dozen guards. Hearing Zhong Yueping care so much about those assassins, he was extremely furious.