“From this spy’s clothing, appearance, and speech, he definitely did not arrive in Jinchuan recently.”
Jin Feng said, “If Qian Tong had not spotted his mistake, none of us would have realised he was not from Da Kang.”
“Every year the Dangxiang abduct countless Han slaves from Da Kang. He might be a Han himself, taken as a child, trained by the Dangxiang to become a secret guard, then sent back.”
Qing Muluan continued, “Many of the Dangxiang secret guards uncovered in recent years were exactly like that. If he had been lying low for a long time, his original target was probably assassinating my elder brother Qing Huai. Of course, it could also have been you, sir.”
“Assassinate me?” Jin Feng was taken aback. “I’m only a baron. Surely the Dangxiang wouldn’t bother sending a secret guard after me?”
“Though your rank is not high, sir, the hatred the Dangxiang bear you is no less than what they feel for my brother.”
Qing Muluan explained, “Training a qualified secret guard is extremely difficult, so they rarely change targets. If this man’s mission was to kill Brother Qing Huai, then while my brother was away from Jinchuan he would simply lie dormant and wait quietly for an opportunity. Moreover, secret guards always draw up very detailed plans before acting. This time, Princess Wuyang’s importance probably forced him to switch targets temporarily and come after her.”
“So because he wasn’t fully prepared, he gave himself away,” Jin Feng said.
“Exactly. Exposure is what secret guards fear most. Once exposed, it usually means death.”
Qing Muluan nodded. “Sir, let me have the body. When we get back, I’ll have my hidden contacts investigate and see if we can discover who he really was.”
“Fine.”
It was only a corpse; Jin Feng had no use for it, so he agreed readily.
Still, he held little hope that Qing Muluan would uncover the man’s identity.
Da Kang had no internet, no fingerprint database, no DNA records. Tracing a professionally trained spy was virtually impossible.
But if Qing Muluan wanted to try, let her try. Who knew, she might actually find something.
At the same time, Jin Feng reminded himself that from now on he had to be far more vigilant. Everyone entering the village would need thorough background checks.
…
Deep in the northern mountains, the Ninth Princess and her party had seized a small hilltop and had now been locked in a standoff with the bandits for nearly half a shichen.
Da Niu had originally wanted to lead everyone into the old forest, where it would be easier to shake off pursuit.
But the ever-watchful Qin’er discovered more bandits hiding in the trees ahead. Going downhill would mean walking straight into an encirclement.
The guard captain Qin Ming immediately decided to halt, chose a small but very steep hill, and prepared to defend it.
It had to be said that Qin Ming was not only loyal; he was no fool when it came to strategy. The hill was small yet extremely steep, truly easy to defend and hard to attack.
Yet the bandits outnumbered them by far, and the defenders had no heavy crossbows or other siege-defence weapons. They could only fight the bandits hand-to-hand.
The mastermind behind the bandits had long anticipated that the princess would be protected by experts. Not only had he mixed skilled fighters among the bandits to storm the hill, he had also stationed highly skilled archers in hiding to shoot cold arrows.
By now they had killed plenty of bandits, but the princess’s side had suffered heavy losses too.
Of the ten escorts, four were dead. Two imperial guards had also fallen, and almost all the survivors were wounded to some degree.
The only person still completely unharmed was the Ninth Princess, who remained crouched behind a boulder.
“Damn it! Before Old Han left for the capital he bragged to me that the bandits in Jinchuan had all been wiped out. Next time I see that bastard I’m going to ask him properly where the hell these bandits crawled out from!”
While bandaging a comrade’s wound, Da Niu cursed loudly.
“Squad leader, save your strength. If you want to curse Old Han, you have to stay alive first!”
His comrade, an arrow in his leg, peered out through a gap in the rocks. “The bandits are coming up again!”
“If they’re so eager to die, I’ll grant their wish!”
Da Niu unfastened the last remaining quiver from his waist and handed it to the man. “Old Fourth, Old Seventh, both of you have arrows in your legs. Stay back this time. Find those bastards shooting cold arrows down the hill!”
The enemy archers were truly infuriating. Three of the dead escorts and guards had been killed outright by cold arrows; two more had been wounded by them first and then finished off when surrounded.
“Leave it to us!”
The two escorts with leg wounds solemnly took the quiver.
The other escorts also handed over their own quivers.
“Zhu’er, your arm is injured. This time you stay and protect Her Highness.”
Qin’er was giving orders to her companions as well. “If Cui’er and I fall, do not do anything reckless like last time, understand?”
During the previous assault, when Zhu’er saw Qin’er and Cui’er tangled up with expert bandits, she had abandoned the princess to help them.
As a result, another hidden expert among the bandits had immediately charged the summit the moment she left.
If an imperial guard had not thrown himself at the man and rolled down the hillside with him, the princess might already have been beheaded.
Experts who did not reveal their strength looked no different from ordinary bandits. Qin’er could not be certain whether more were still concealed in the crowd.
After several failed assaults, the bandits were growing anxious. This charge was fiercer than any before.
Now, between escorts and guards, fewer than ten were still able to fight. Even with Qin’er and Cui’er covering them and two escorts shooting from the rear, the battle remained desperately hard.
Worst of all, the enemy archers never stopped loosing cold arrows. At first they targeted Qin’er and Cui’er, but when they proved too quick, the archers switched to the escorts and guards.
Soon another escort took an arrow in the arm and dropped his long knife.
The surrounding bandits swarmed like sharks scenting blood, launching their fiercest assault yet on the wounded man.
“Old Three!”
Da Niu roared, trying to rescue him.
But the two bandits facing him instantly redoubled their attacks, pinning him in place with no chance to help.
Every escort was already fighting multiple foes. With a weapon they were barely holding on; without one, their fate was obvious.
In just two breaths, the wounded escort was hacked to death.
“Die, you bastards!”
Stimulated by his comrade’s death, Da Niu’s eyes turned red. He thrust his knife into the chest of the bandit in front of him, then kicked the corpse away.
The instant the body flew backwards, an arrow shot out from under the dead bandit’s armpit.
The enemy archer had chosen the perfect moment. Da Niu could not possibly dodge in time. He could only crouch instinctively, trying to protect his heart.
Psh!
The arrow struck his left shoulder, the head protruding from his back.
Pain made the veins on Da Niu’s forehead bulge, yet he gritted his teeth and refused to retreat a single step. Seizing the opening created by the bandits’ excitement, he cut down another foe.
But in the next second, even more bandits surged forward.
