Chapter 49: Darkness Makes Things Easy

Deep in the cold late autumn night, Yan Kuang abruptly opened his eyes and tentatively called out to the person beside him.

Seeing no reaction from Cheng Ruyi, Yan Kuang leaned closer to his ear and whispered, "Cheng Ruyi, Mr. Cheng, you black-hearted scholar?"

A wisp of cloud drifted across the moonlight, quietly bathing Cheng Ruyi's sleeping face in its glow.

Yan Kuang breathed a sigh of relief, tucked the blanket around him, and then got out of bed with utmost care. He quickly put on his outer garments and cloak, grabbed his treasured sword, and flipped effortlessly out of the window.

It wasn't that he truly lacked the willingness to help Shen Nian; rather, he simply did not want to drag Cheng Ruyi along.

Strange ailments and out-of-control villagers—neither of these was as easy to deal with as assassins. Assassins acted on orders, and he could meet violence with violence; but the villagers... he could not. As for the strange illness, that was something entirely beyond his comprehension and capabilities.

Leaving the Shen estate, Yan Kuang strode toward Ginkgo Village with his sword in hand. The street was desolate, with only the occasional stray cat or dog darting past him in a chase.

For now, everything seemed normal, yet Yan Kuang still felt a faint sense of unease. He quickened his pace, then suddenly whipped around, but the path behind him remained completely empty.

Yan Kuang did not look back again until he passed the city gates. Only then did he halt, folding his arms across his chest with his sword in hand, and turned around.

From here, they needed to press deeper into the terrain to reach Ginkgo Village, but the path ahead was pitch-dark, rugged, and exceedingly difficult to traverse.

In a deep voice, Yan Kuang called out, "Come out. If you get left behind and dragged off by a tiger, don't expect me to save you."

"Still not coming out? I'll count to three..."

Before his voice faded, a figure swayed out from behind a tree by the roadside and trotted forward. In the faint moonlight, the person wore a cheeky grin, their attitude utterly insolent.

Panting, Cheng Ruyi said, "Officer Yan, you run... walk so fast! I had to rush with all my might just to catch up!"

Helplessly, Yan Kuang let out a breath. "You..."

Cheng Ruyi immediately interrupted, "I'm not going back! If I run into danger, I can run away, and I can even call for backup for you!"

Yan Kuang was instantly left speechless. Cheng Ruyi tucked his hands into his sleeves, shivered, and muttered, "It is freezing, Great Officer Yan... Oh!"

Amidst the pitch-black visibility, Cheng Ruyi felt his wrist suddenly tighten, accompanied by Yan Kuang's voice at his ear: "Then hurry up. Let's get things done while it's still dark."

Before he could reply, Cheng Ruyi was yanked straight into the thick, ink-like night.

"Officer Yan certainly has sharp eyes... I suppose you handle cases under the cover of night quite often?"

Cheng Ruyi was practically blind at this point, forced to keep pace with Yan Kuang, who moved as if treading on wind. He thought to himself that at least his physical training over the past few days hadn't been in vain, as he could still manage to keep up.

"Light is dim at night, making tasks inconvenient. But some matters are simply destined never to see the light of day."

Yan Kuang's voice was deep and resonant, every word crystal clear even against the night wind. He continued, "There are guards at the manor. Didn't you disturb them when you snuck out?"

"I crawled through the dog hole..." Cheng Ruyi replied, giving a light cough to mask his embarrassment. "What? You have a ladder to scale walls, but I'm not allowed to have my own clever schemes?"

Understanding dawned on Yan Kuang, and he suppressed a smile. Cheng Ruyi, however, pressed on, "Officer Yan... in pitch darkness like this, are you certain you can actually find Ginkgo Village? If we keep running like this, won't we end up straight in the Prefecture of Daming?"

Yan Kuang slightly slackened his pace and looked back. The lights of the main city were no longer visible; although everything before them remained pitch black, the swaying shadows of trees at the crossroads were still vaguely discernible.

"It was right here that I first encountered Shen Nian."

In a flat tone, Yan Kuang recounted, "At the time, he was out inspecting taxes. A family in Ginkgo Village had their chicken coop collapse, and their chickens scattered everywhere. He was leading his subordinates to help catch the chickens."

An image instantly bloomed in Cheng Ruyi's mind—a bright, sunny day, a high-ranking official in red robes leading a retinue of bailiffs and advisors through a forest path to catch...

"I was on official imperial business at the time. When the prefectural office couldn't find him, they sent me to track him down, and I happened to run right into that scene."

At this point, Yan Kuang paused slightly before continuing, "In order to chase him... and the chickens, I circled this area at least five times. I'll never forget the way."

In awe, Cheng Ruyi praised, "A benevolent government that connects with the people... Lord Shen is truly a fine official! And of course, Officer Yan, you are too! But I am quite curious—did they manage to catch all those chickens in the end?"

"Mn." Yan Kuang quickened his pace again. "The villagers slaughtered a few on the spot and prepared a feast of braised chicken for us."

"Was it delicious?"

Before Cheng Ruyi's voice had even faded, he felt the grip on his wrist suddenly release, and he was shoved hard forward by Yan Kuang!

Using the momentum to break into a trot, Cheng Ruyi managed to steady himself. When he looked up, he saw Yan Kuang blocking the path with his drawn sword, while a figure knelt directly before him on the ground.

Another assassin?

Filled with doubt and afraid to make a sound, Cheng Ruyi frantically searched his surroundings in the dark for a weapon he could use. Then he heard Yan Kuang say, "This man is gravely wounded; he doesn't have much time left."

Cheng Ruyi hurried forward. In the dim moonlight, he could vaguely make out a man covered in blood and injuries, dressed unmistakably like a martial arts knight-errant.

Yan Kuang reached out to steady him, but just as he was about to speak, the wounded man grabbed Cheng Ruyi's arm.

Perhaps due to the poor visibility, it was a blind grab. Cheng Ruyi neither spoke nor struggled away as the man laboriously fished something out from inside his robes and tremblingly shoved it into Cheng Ruyi's palm.

Frowning, Cheng Ruyi asked, "Hero, what is this..."

"Listen... to the Heavenly Whisper... Listen to the Heavenly Whisper... Give... save..."

The man spat out the words in a fragmented murmur, his throat sounding as if it had been scraped by shards of broken blades. Just as Yan Kuang prepared to question him further, the man collapsed forward.

"He's gone." Yan Kuang checked the pulse and lowered the body to the ground.

Cheng Ruyi turned the object in his hand, feeling its texture and examining it. "It feels like... a jade pendant?"

With that, he rubbed and wiped the item against his sleeve, preparing to hand it over to Yan Kuang—

A sharp whistling sound pierced the air right beside his ear!

Yan Kuang instantly wrapped an arm around Cheng Ruyi's waist, spinning them both out of harm's way to dodge a volley of hidden darts. Several more arrows whined through the wind; the longsword in Yan Kuang's palm cleared its scabbard with a ring, and he muttered in a low voice to Cheng Ruyi, "Crouch down and stay hidden!"

Cheng Ruyi obeyed immediately. The moment he hunkered down with his head covered by the roadside, someone delivered a vicious kick to his side!

"...There's someone here!"

A woman's piercing cry rang out from behind. Beneath the trees, a slender silhouette could be seen raising a curved blade, swinging it heavily toward Cheng Ruyi's neck.

Yan Kuang flashed forward, countering with an elbow strike that shoved the woman away. He then grabbed Cheng Ruyi, pushed him forcefully behind his own back, and shouted at the top of his lungs—

"Run!"

Simultaneously, several figures converged from the front. Judging by their silhouettes, they appeared to be a group of women. Not daring to linger, Cheng Ruyi immediately followed the阎王's (Yama's) command, pivoted, and fled back the way they had come.

Behind him, blades clashed and the sounds of fierce combat erupted. As he ran, Cheng Ruyi silently chanted in his heart: *May Officer Yan live a hundred years, may Officer Yan be blessed with boundless longevity and countless descendants...*

They were all female assassins—the first time Yan Kuang had ever encountered such an opponent in his life. He was reluctant to harm them, yet the attackers were highly trained professionals. Every single one wielded twin curved scimitars, striking with ruthless efficiency and relentless, fatal precision.

"Are you people from the Heavenly Whisper?"

Yan Kuang parried with all his might as he spoke, but the group showed no intention of stopping. A momentary lapse in concentration allowed a curved blade to slice open a cut on Yan Kuang's arm. He threw a punch with his free hand, striking his nearest attacker in the shoulder, and spun his sword around with a resounding *clang*, snapping another woman's short weapon in two.

The group visibly paused. Seizing the opportunity, Yan Kuang demanded—

"Are you coming after me, or after him?"

With that, Yan Kuang hoisted the lifeless body of the knight-errant and hurled the corpse directly toward them. The assassins stepped back in hesitation, just as a woman's voice cut through the air, cold as a frosty moon—

"Since you've seen him... you cannot live either! Sisters, form the formation!"

At the command, the assassins brandished their blades and advanced. Suddenly, one of them cried out, "Sister A-Lan, someone is missing!"

...

Flying darts and hidden projectiles hissed past his ears every few moments as Cheng Ruyi scrambled for his life, half-running and half-falling.

The very woman he had tripped earlier was in relentless, stubborn pursuit!

Aside from learning how to bolt like the wind, he hadn't picked up a single martial arts trick during his days with Yan Kuang. Still, thanks to the pitch-black night which prevented precision ranged attacks from instantly taking his life, Cheng Ruyi managed to keep ahead.

Panting heavily and gasping for breath, Cheng Ruyi grew increasingly panicked as the main city remained nowhere in sight...

Could it be that the darkness had caused him to take a wrong turn?

Distracted for a split second, he heard a sharp snap behind him, and Cheng Ruyi tumbled flat onto the ground, a sharp pain searing through his lower calf!

Without daring to pause, he scrambled back up and limped frantically into the woods beside the path.

"Stop right there!"

The woman chased him right into the thicket. Pushing past layers of waist-high brushwood, Cheng Ruyi gritted his teeth and pressed deeper into the forest, blood steadily seeping from the wound on his leg.

Reaching down, he felt the embedded projectile, clenched his jaw, and hardened his resolve. With a sharp tug, he ripped the hidden dart out and clutched it tightly in his palm. Just then, the woman closed in. As her curved blade swept downward, Cheng Ruyi dropped heavily to his knees!

The silver blade flashed with a chilling light, shearing off a lock of his hair that fluttered down and drifted onto the edge of the metal.

"Miss... let's talk this over. I—I know a colossal secret! The Heavenly Whisper! You know about the Heavenly Whisper, right?!"

Combining what he had seen and heard earlier, Cheng Ruyi blurted out frantic nonsense. Hearing this, the woman actually hesitated for a fraction of a second.

Spotting his opening, Cheng Ruyi slammed the hidden dart he was holding straight into her shin!

A sharp cry of pain rang out from above. Taking advantage of the moment, Cheng Ruyi rolled away, grabbed onto a tree trunk, hauled himself up, and resumed his escape. Livid with rage, the woman swung her blade and gave chase once more. Limping awkwardly, the two of them pursued one another back and forth through the muddy woods.

Unable to take much more of this, Cheng Ruyi panted, "Heroine... stop chasing me, go back and bandage your wound!"

Spitting in disgust, the woman cursed, "Despicable scoundrel...! You must die!"

Sighing, Cheng Ruyi had no choice but to drag his injured leg and run onward. Suddenly, a curved blade came spinning through the air like a flying knife; he twisted to the side, narrowly dodging it, only for his leading foot to step into empty air—

A steep slope...?

Before he could react, Cheng Ruyi lost his footing entirely. Tumbling head over heels into weightlessness, he heard the woman let out a startled cry of her own.

The two of them tumbled headlong down the hillside together. Cheng Ruyi was fortunate enough to crash straight into a thick patch of weeds, though the violent rolling left him dizzy and disoriented for a long while before he regained his senses. Not far away, the young woman was also slowly pushing herself up, massaging her aching forehead with one hand.

The terrain here was lower and the light even dimmer. Tearing a strip of fabric from his sleeve, Cheng Ruyi bound his wound to stem the bleeding, holding his breath in absolute silence.

True to his hopes, the woman failed to spot him. Having lost track of her curved blade somewhere along the tumble, she unsteady rose to her feet and searched around.

"Hiss... why is he so fast? Where on earth did he run off to..."

Having taken an even worse tumble than Cheng Ruyi, she scanned the area to no avail. Deciding against further delay, she utilized a light-foot skill to leap away into the night.

Cheng Ruyi let out a long breath of relief. After waiting a little longer, he gritted his teeth, crawled out from the brushwood, and stood up, falling into deep contemplation as he looked at the steep slope.

How was he supposed to get out of here? He could only move forward... Groping around on the ground, Cheng Ruyi snapped off a sturdy tree branch to use as a walking stick and forged ahead.

The valley floor was still densely wooded, and the darkness made it even harder to distinguish directions. Walking onward for an indeterminate length of time, until the first faint traces of dawn began to tint the edge of the sky, Cheng Ruyi realized with sinking certainty that he was still trapped deep within the forest.

Possessed by a strange premonition, he tore another strip of cloth from his hem, tied it loosely around a nearby tree trunk as a marker, and continued on his way.