Chapter 18: Seeking A Path
“Fire!”
Shouts from the servants of the Shi Residence echoed from afar, but they had yet to realize that a greater danger than the fire was upon them.
The silhouette of a tall pavilion was outlined against the moonlight, and Xiao Yi was rushing towards it.
It was a three-story pavilion in the Shi Residence’s Back Garden, built on a hill, from which one could see the street scene to the northwest and look for other escape routes.
Finally, Xiao Yi reached the pathway between the Front Courtyard and the Back Garden.
He suddenly stopped and looked at the two roommates standing there, Liu San and Zhao Chong.
These two were lazy in their daily lives, and tonight they had been called out for unknown reasons, their leather armor casually slung on, their roguish demeanor evident.
“Little chick.” Zhao Chong demanded, “You told us to wait for the Young Master in the Main Hall, where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“There’s a fire, and you’re not going to help, yet you’re carrying a bundle? Eloping with some valuables with a hoof?”
“It’s none of your business.”
Xiao Yi shifted his luggage to his left shoulder and continued forward.
“Trying to leave?” Liu San touched the bruise on his face and spat, “Little monkey, you haven’t apologized to me yet.”
“I’ll have time later.”
“Stop right there.” Liu San drew his saber directly, shouting, “Damn you, come on, dare to swing a fist again!”
“Move aside.”
“Get out of the way, you…”
“_Puff_.”
Before Liu San could finish his curse, Xiao Yi suddenly struck, his dagger in his right hand cleanly stabbing into Liu San’s side neck.
That was a spot that the leather armor should have covered, but unfortunately, Liu San was not wearing it properly.
Blood splattered on the wall and trickled down.
Liu San gurgled twice, and with the curse unfinished in his mouth, he fell to the ground.
“You court death!”
Zhao Chong roared, drew his saber, lunged forward, and slashed fiercely.
Xiao Yi had already calculated that a direct confrontation, with him facing two armored opponents, would be too disadvantageous, so he had to seize the initiative decisively.
Thus, by the time Zhao Chong finished his sequence of actions, Xiao Yi had already thrust his saber forward.
He did not draw his own saber, as that would take too much time; he directly took Liu San’s saber and continued the thrust.
“_Puff_.”
Another muffled sound, the saber pierced just at the edge of Zhao Chong’s leather armor. He looked down in astonishment, swayed, and then fell with a thud.
Xiao Yi dropped the saber and went to push open the door to the Back Garden.
Suddenly, he felt a rushing sound behind his ear and instinctively dodged. The blade grazed his arm and struck the door.
Zhao Chong was not dead. Blood flowed from his mouth, and ignoring the severe pain in his chest, he lunged at Xiao Yi with a savage grin.
“_Screech_—”
Xiao Yi quickly grabbed the saber at Zhao Chong’s chest and slashed downwards, deeply cutting into his abdomen.
Blood flowed onto his hands, warm and viscous.
“Ah!”
Zhao Chong screamed in pain and swung again.
Xiao Yi grabbed his wrist, giving him no chance to breathe, stepped forward, and twisted the saber, drawing a spray of blood.
Finally, Zhao Chong’s saber clattered to the ground. His left hand uselessly tried to cover the spurting wound at his waist, and with a look of rage and despair, he glared at Xiao Yi before falling again.
“You damn… sneak attack…”
Xiao Yi remained silent, pulled the dagger from Liu San’s neck, pressed Zhao Chong’s struggling shoulder with his left hand, and swiftly slit his throat with the dagger.
The struggle ceased abruptly.
Xiao Yi delivered another stab to Liu San and wiped the blood from the dagger with his clothes before sheathing it.
He felt his breathing quicken slightly, took a few deep breaths of the blood-tinged air, calmed his breathing, and quickly took out trauma medicine to treat and bandage his wound.
The lesson learned today from blood meant he could not afford to neglect follow-up strikes and leave hidden dangers in the future.
After finishing, he did not look at the two corpses on the ground and pushed open the door to enter the Back Garden.
“Ah!”
Several servants saw the blood on Xiao Yi’s face and screamed as they fled.
He paid them no mind, walking quickly, leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind him.
————————
A hexagonal pavilion stood in the Back Garden, surrounded by plum branches below the bluestone steps.
Xiao Yi looked up; a plaque hung high above, on which the characters “Dengyun Pavilion” were faintly visible.
The Shi Family’s ambition to “ascend to the clouds” had degenerated.
Climbing the steps and entering the pavilion, he found a steep wooden staircase inside, but it was blocked by a railing secured with a small lock.
He stepped forward and used the hilt of his saber to smash the lock.
“_Bang! Bang! Bang!_”
With several heavy blows, the railing was finally opened, and Xiao Yi ascended.
Reaching the highest point, he stood by the railing and looked around. He saw fires like a long dragon outside the walls, encircling the Shi Residence. The troop numbers far exceeded his expectations.
This made him somewhat puzzled. Since Shi Hongzhao had entered the palace, he was likely dead. What figures in the Shi Residence could require so many men?
Putting aside this thought, Xiao Yi’s gaze meticulously scanned the surroundings, searching for a weakness in the encirclement.
Finally, he noticed a bamboo garden within the high wall on the west side of the Shi Residence. He could use the bamboo garden to climb the high wall, and outside would be a narrow alley.
He had once heard Chun Tao mention that the alley was called Sweet Water Alley, and across from it was another mansion owned by Li Tao, who had once served as Prime Minister. He had been dismissed from office at the beginning of the year and had a very poor relationship with Shi Hongzhao. Although they were neighbors, they rarely interacted.
At this moment, the fires in Sweet Water Alley were bright, indicating patrols were present, but Li Tao’s mansion was peaceful.
It was likely that Shi Hongzhao’s political enemies would not be involved in this coup.
Perhaps he could hide in Li Tao’s mansion, but how to cross the guarded Sweet Water Alley?
Xiao Yi had a vague idea for an escape plan, but its implementation was somewhat difficult, so he continued to observe, his eyes filled with thought.
It began to snow again, and the cold wind whistled through the eaves, carrying snowflakes.
There were also faint other sounds.
As Xiao Yi was deep in thought, his ear twitched, and he suddenly turned around.
“Don’t move!”
With the sound of “_deng deng deng_” footsteps, a figure appeared at the top of the stairs.
In the dim light, Xiao Yi saw a hand crossbow pointed at him, its iron tip glinting coldly.
Behind the crossbow bolt were Xie Hui’s eyes, full of fierce malice.
“A runaway slave from Donkey Ball, you killed Liu San and Zhao Chong, I’m going to squeeze your balls and feed them to the dogs!”
Xie Hui’s finger was already on the trigger, aiming at Xiao Yi’s throat.
Xiao Yi said, “Don’t rush, let me put down my saber first.”
“Damn you, I told you not to move!”
“See, I’m putting my saber down.”
Xiao Yi remained composed, slowly squatted down, placed his saber on the ground, and raised his hands, indicating he had no intention of attacking.
At the same time, he asked in a very polite tone, “Does Captain Xie know that the Emperor has already made a move against the Shi Family?”
“Nonsense!”
“The Shi Family is finished, I plan to find another path.” Xiao Yi, as if not seeing the crossbow, casually asked, “Captain, do you wish to seek Wealth and Honor with me?”
“I’m seeking your mother, you killed Liu San and Zhao Chong… You, you killed them!”
“Is avenging them more important, or is your own future more important? I plan to defect to Guo Wei, I have a letter of introduction on me, do you want to see it?”
“Don’t move, put your hands back!”
“You don’t trust me? You can come and take it.”
“Are you a spy planted by Guo Wei? You’re dead.”
Xiao Yi retorted, “The Marshal is dead, does the Captain want to be buried with the Shi Family?”
“You little beast, you’re still lying to me?!”
“If the Captain doesn’t believe it yet, then listen… or you can see for yourself.”
Xiao Yi tried to influence Xie Hui with his calm demeanor and pique his curiosity, so he slowly turned to the side, gesturing for Xie Hui to look outside.
“You, move aside,” Xie Hui said.
“Alright.”
Xiao Yi took a few steps back, Xie Hui stepped forward, stepped on his saber, and the crossbow bolt moved closer to his throat.
He could see the string of the crossbow was taut, and the finger on the mechanism showed an intent to pull.
It was at this moment that Xie Hui glanced outside.
For a moment, Xiao Yi considered whether to lunge at him.
But Xie Hui quickly looked back at him, his eyes filled with shock.
“What’s going on?!”
Xiao Yi looked out. Light snow was falling, and the fire at the stable illuminated half of the Front Courtyard.
There, rows of armored soldiers with sabers were moving rapidly, and any Shi Residence servants they encountered were quickly cut down.
“Of course, they are killing people.”
“Who is killing people?!” Xie Hui demanded.
Xiao Yi retorted, “Didn’t Captain used to kill people like this too?”
“Damn you! I’m asking you a question!”
“It looks like the Imperial Guard. I said, the Marshal is dead, otherwise the Imperial Guard wouldn’t dare do this.”
“Damn it! What exactly is happening…”
Xiao Yi remained calm. He saw that although Xie Hui was still cursing, his eyes were no longer focused.
So, he casually took two steps forward.
“Has the Captain chosen? To die with them, or to seek Wealth and Honor?”
As he spoke, Xiao Yi slowly extended his hand and, with a gentle and steady force, gradually pushed down the crossbow bolt in front of him.
