In the middle of the night, Shunjun City, which was bustling during the day, has been completely shrouded in darkness and silence. There are almost no people on the streets. Only soldiers on night watch will walk mechanically on the streets according to the established route.
Thousands of years ago, there was only one city in the world that could be called the city that never sleeps, and that was Tokyo Bianliang in the Song Dynasty. Shunjun City is naturally no exception. Even though the people here are prosperous under the governance of the Xifeng clan, they still return to peace at night.
So when Sun Tu quietly climbed out of the back wall of the courtyard after the second watch and headed for the agreed-upon East Street, he didn't have to worry too much about being bumped into. He appeared on that street smoothly. Walking in front of a slightly dark alley. After glancing around inside and outside the alley, he stepped in with a calm smile.
As soon as he entered the alley, a voice suddenly sounded in the originally silent darkness: "Sun Qianli?" The voice was actually in Chinese, not the Khitan language Sun Tu imagined, which made Sun Tu slightly startled. But he responded softly: "Exactly!"
"Do you know your responsibilities? Now that you have successfully infiltrated the Xi Feng clan, why don't you meet with us and report immediately?" The person in the darkness continued to speak, but had no intention of showing up. He seemed to want to hide Like his own identity.
But Sun Tu smiled coldly: "Responsibility? Why don't I know what my responsibilities are?" As he spoke, his ears moved lightly, searching for the specific location of the person in the dark. When the other person spoke again , his eyes had been fixed on a corner more than ten steps ahead, where the person was.
"What, do you really want to betray me, Daliao? You..." At the moment when this person scolded Sun Tu sternly, he suddenly moved, stretched out his body, and rushed towards the figure hiding in the darkness, When he was halfway there, the short knife at his waist was already in his hand. Under the flickering cold light, he took it straight to his chest without any hesitation.
The man suddenly exclaimed: "You..." But it was too late to say the next words. He could only shrink back and retreat in a hurry. At the same time, the saber on his waist did not have time to withdraw from the sheath, and the sheath was blocked in front of him. , with a sudden sound, Sun Tu knocked him down and shoveled him backwards for a long way. He just stabilized his body, but his breathing was completely messed up, and the hand holding the knife was still trembling slightly.
"What are you doing! The moment I left Nanjing, I no longer regarded myself as a Liao man!" Sun Tu shouted angrily, and stepped forward to grab him again. The knife in his hand was continuously aimed at the opponent's neck, chest and face. Chopping with all his strength, the momentum is really terrifying. In fact, it only looked fierce on the surface. He could only perform five basic skills at most. Otherwise, if the person in front of him was unprepared and was attacked by him with all his strength, he would have been killed on the spot.
But even with 50% strength, this person was not able to withstand it. In just a moment, his shoulders and arms were stabbed in many places, and he staggered back a lot. It looked like he could no longer hold on. Seeing this, Sun Tu shouted coldly again: "You really came at the right time. I didn't know how to make Xi Fengchang believe in my sincerity. Now if I take your head back, they will definitely not You will doubt me again!" After saying this, he drew out the knife with more force, the knife went faster, and fell straight towards the opponent's throat, but this time the man found that he had retreated into a blind corner. There is nowhere to hide anymore, I can only roar
With a sound, he raised the knife and raised it again.
"Dang!" The two knives collided, splitting the leather sheath of the knife into pieces. He even screamed, the mouth of the knife-wielding hand completely shattered, and the knife fell out of his hand. However, the knife in Sun Tu's hand only slowed down for a moment, and then he slashed down again, about to cut his throat with a knife.
This frightened the man so much that he couldn't help but screamed: "No... I'm not..."
At the same time, a voice also sounded in the darkness on the side: "Stop, it's all a misunderstanding!" With this shout, a little fire suddenly lit up in the originally dark alley, and then several torches lit up one after another. , the alley was illuminated brightly, and it made Sun Tu's eyes blur for a while. The knife that was about to penetrate the opponent's throat was quickly withdrawn, and at the same time, his left hand pulled the person in front of him. , with the intention of using it as a shield.
"Pa bang bang..." A burst of applause rang out, and Xifeng Chang's voice full of admiration came from under the firelight: "Brother Sun is really good at it. This time I really opened my eyes!"
"You..." The look of surprise on Sun Tu's face quickly turned into anger: "You arranged this? Are you testing me?" Under the light of the fire, Sun Tu's face was livid, and his eyes were filled with anger. It seemed that fire was about to burst out at any moment. At this moment, he still held the man in front of his chest, with the knife across his throat, as if he might break out and hurt someone at any time. No matter who comes to see this scene, they will think that Sun Tu is extremely angry because he was teased.
There were about a hundred guards around Xi Fengchang at this time. Seeing him in such a state, they were very worried. They all naturally drew their swords to protect him in case Sun Tu suddenly attacked. When he arrived, he seemed very calm and calm at this time. He looked directly at Sun Tu's anger and said: "Yes, all of this is a trap I set up to test Brother Sun. But Brother Sun, your performance today is quite good. I Very satisfied, at least you can convince me that you are not a member of the Liao Kingdom..."
"Ha... I treat you as a friend, but I didn't expect you to plot against me like this!" Sun Tu completely ignored the guards around him who were drawing swords, and suddenly put away his sword and pushed the middle-aged man who was being held hostage out: " Since you don't want to believe me, then I have to stay here and just leave." Without any hesitation, he turned around and walked towards the entrance of the alley behind.
"Brother Sun, wait a minute!" After seeing Sun Tu's "real strength", Xi Fengchang was not willing to let such a master leave. He quickly ran forward and apologized repeatedly: "Brother Sun, please listen to me. Of course I can trust Brother Sun, but my father and Sixth Brother are suspicious of you. If they don't do this test, they won't believe you at all, and naturally they won't let you serve as an official here. So in the final analysis, I I am doing all this for your sake..."
"For my sake? You can really speak." Sun Tu still had a cold face, but his attitude seemed better than before: "If you have any difficulties, just tell me directly, why do you need to do this? It's a shame. I was thinking about how to give you an explanation before! I just know that my identity has been found out by the secret agents of the Liao Kingdom here, so I plan to try my best tonight to help you eliminate some hidden dangers. Who knows... Haha, look. It's just because I'm overthinking it."
"It turns out that Brother Sun went to the appointment with such thoughts in mind. It was indeed
I underestimated you... In fact, this matter could have been easily solved. As long as you hand over the secret letter to me after getting it, it will be enough to prove your innocence. "Xifengchang explained with a wry smile.
"Hmph, do you think I, Sun, don't even have such a small responsibility? Since I provoked the Liao people, I naturally want to solve it myself. Otherwise, how can I have the face to surrender to you and help you? "Sun Tu's attitude seemed to have softened a little, and he had begun to consider the other party.
Xi Fengchang breathed a sigh of relief: "Brother Sun is right. In the final analysis, I misjudged your courage and ability with my villain's heart. I promise, this kind of thing will not happen again, as long as Brother Sun is willing to contribute to our Xifeng clan from now on, and you will be one of our own."
"Is this true?" Sun Tu looked at him seriously and asked, "I don't want anyone to treat me like a fool again."
"Seriously!" Xi Fengchang looked back at him with sincerity on his face. It wasn't until he heard him replying these two words so solemnly that the gloomy look on Sun Tu's face slowly dissipated: "I already have nowhere to go. In this case, I will trust you again."
As he spoke, he snorted again and said: "Brother Xi Feng, in fact, if you think about it carefully, you will know that I can never be a spy of the Liao Kingdom. Your encounter with me in Wu La Hai City was just an accident. , If you hadn’t suddenly gone to such a remote place, I wouldn’t have been able to get close to you at all, so how could I have made any plans? Unless someone could predict your actions and predict your actions, they would make this arrangement."
Xi Fengchang lowered his head and thought about it, and that was really what happened. The person who prompted him to go to Wu Lahai was Xifeng Jian. Although he had always been at odds with his brother, he believed that the other party would never collude with the Liao people. This made him feel a little ashamed after looking at Sun Tu again. He really didn't expect these details.
After the misunderstanding was explained, Sun Tu followed him back to the other courtyard. Now it seems that the day is not far away when he becomes a close confidant of the Xifeng clan.
But things happened again and again the next day. When Xi Fengchang truthfully reported what happened yesterday to his father and bluntly said that Sun Tu was absolutely reliable, Xi Fengjian who happened to be nearby raised a question: "I don't think so. If this person really has great intentions, he might not pay attention to the details of the Liao Kingdom you arranged. Moreover, what if he is smart enough to see that this is a trap set by you early on? In this way, he can actually take advantage of it. This has earned your trust."
"You... I believe in my own judgment. Sun Qianli is definitely not a workman of the Liao Kingdom as you said. I think you are just afraid that my strength will greatly increase with his help." Xi Feng Chang retorted angrily.
"Lao Ba, you are still too casual. There are some things that you have to guard against." At this time, Xifeng Jian looked extremely calm and said with a smile: "Otherwise, what do you think father means?"
Xi Fengchang's eyes had been scanning the two sons who were constantly arguing. At this time, he looked at Xi Fengchang with a smile and said: "Since you want to make a difference, you must learn to recognize and use people. Then if Sun Qianli is talented It's a good thing to be used by you, but if he has any problems or makes any mistakes, you will have to bear the consequences."
"My son understands that since Sun Qianli is the one I like, there is no need for anyone else to say anything!" Xi Fengchang immediately agreed, but his eyes that glanced at Xi Fengjian were full of dissatisfaction and provocation.