In the distant horizon, a flash of lightning broke through the dark clouds in the sky, and the sky and the earth suddenly became bright. After a while, the rumbling sound of thunder came from afar...
Hearing the thunder, the originally sparse crowds on the streets of Imperial Capital City quickened their pace. It was already evening, and most of the people in Imperial Capital City who had been busy all day had gone home to prepare for a hot dinner. Except for a few inns and restaurants which were still open, most of the shops on both sides of the street were closed. The crowds on the streets were already sparse to begin with, and seeing that it was going to rain, there were even fewer people on the streets.
Today is March 19th, the 16th year of Yuanping in the Han Empire—the day when Yan Liqiang took action.
Yan Liqiang was sitting in the newspaper office's four-wheeled carriage, swaying, squinting his eyes, looking at the streets of the Imperial Capital in front of him, his heart calm. Occasionally, a gorgeous four-wheeled carriage would speed past the carriage Yan Liqiang was sitting in. Among those gorgeous four-wheeled carriages, there were also several fine products produced by the Manufacturing Bureau. In the past two years, many of the four-wheeled carriages produced by the Manufacturing Bureau have been sent to the capital area, especially in the Imperial Capital, where there are many high-ranking officials and dignitaries. Thousands of taels of silver are naturally a high price in the eyes of ordinary people, but in the eyes of those wealthy families, this is nothing. It might be just the price of a meal, or the price of a decoration in the home. With His Majesty the Emperor as an example, the high-ranking officials and dignitaries in the Imperial Capital naturally rushed to follow suit and ordered four-wheeled carriages from the Manufacturing Bureau one by one. Of course, there are quite a few counterfeit goods among those four-wheeled horse-drawn carriages for carrying passengers. If you don’t lie down under the wheels to look at the spring shock absorbers on the chassis of the carriage, most people really can’t tell what the difference is between those carriages.
The restaurants and eateries that were still open on the street hung lanterns at their doorsteps when they saw the sky suddenly darken!
Some shops have already closed and are installing the movable door panels on the doors one by one.
The runners who had their work cut out met up and walked into the tavern marked by the road sign...
There was a woman who walked with a crying child and scolded the child...
There was also an old man who came out with a dustpan and dumped the coal ash from the Oujie coal into the garbage dump on the street...
The wealthy families on both sides of the street have red doors and jade steps, deep courtyards, and patches of tree shades peeking through the high walls, exuding an atmosphere of wealth. Ordinary families are crowded in the narrow alleys and lanes, with smoke rising from the chimneys on the roofs, indicating the time for making fires.
This is life. One year later, everything in front of you, whether it is those high-rise buildings or small courtyards, will all be reduced to ashes.
The inconspicuous four-wheeled carriage slowly drove through the streets of the Imperial Capital. The people on the carriage were also inconspicuous, so no one paid any attention...
After a few thunderclaps, a few moments later, raindrops as big as beans began to fall from the sky, and the sky became even darker. The streets were filled with mist, and there were fewer pedestrians on the streets...
Unconsciously, the carriage drove to a street corner and stopped under the eaves of a flag tower on the roadside that could shelter from the rain. The driver knocked on the carriage and reminded Yan Liqiang in the carriage, "The front is Zhuque Street..."
"Okay, I'll get off here..." Yan Liqiang responded from inside the carriage, then he got off the carriage wearing a straw raincoat, a bamboo hat, and carrying the big wooden box containing the longbow on his back.
The carriage continued to move forward, and Yan Liqiang braved the rain and walked quickly into a dark alley next to it.
The rain was pouring down like a bucket, and the sky and the earth were completely dark. Only flashes of lightning would make the sky and the earth bright in the blink of an eye. Rumbling thunder continued to come from the sky. Yan Liqiang was carrying a large wooden box containing a longbow on his back, walking in the alleys of the Imperial Capital City, approaching the San Sheng Temple. Occasionally, when he met people in the alleys, both sides would pass by each other in a hurry, and others would pretend not to see the large wooden box that Yan Liqiang was carrying. In the past two days, more and more people have come to pawn or sell their property in the Imperial Capital City, and everyone is used to seeing someone carrying a large wooden box on his back.
When Yan Liqiang was less than a kilometer away from San Sheng Temple, he had just turned into a remote alley when two figures blocked his way, one in front and one behind.
"Brother, what's that on your back? Let us have a look at it..."
A flash of lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the pale face of the gangster who was blocking Yan Liqiang and the dagger he was playing with in his hand, making them particularly dazzling.
The two gangsters had a trace of ferocity on their faces, like wild dogs seeing their prey, and looked at Yan Liqiang and the big wooden box on Yan Liqiang's back with ill intentions.
Yan Liqiang could not have predicted such an unexpected event.
"Gentlemen, what I carry on my back is worthless, why don't we go our separate ways..."
“Stop talking nonsense. It’s your bad luck that we two brothers met you today. If you know what’s good for you, just leave your wallet and things on your back and get out of here. If you don’t, the knife in my hand is not for you to see…” The thug who was blocking Yan Liqiang sneered and winked. Then the two thugs came towards Yan Liqiang from the front and the back.
Yan Liqiang looked around. It was raining heavily and there was no one within a hundred meters of the alley. Since they were looking for death, he could not blame himself.
When they were about one meter away from Yan Liqiang, the two thugs rushed towards him at the same time...
A flash of lightning flashed across the sky, and the world suddenly turned white...
Yan Liqiang's figure had disappeared in the alley. The two hooligans, with blood spitting from the corners of their mouths, stared at each other with wide eyes, looking like they were unwilling to close their eyes. The daggers in their hands were stabbed into each other's hearts, killing them with one blow. They were entangled and fell to the ground. Even if the criminal police in the Imperial Capital saw such a death scene, they would probably think that the two hooligans died together. Such a small person, dead is dead, as long as there is a reason, as long as no adults ask, who would worry about how these two people died...
…
A few minutes later, Yan Liqiang had quietly arrived at the backyard of the Three Saints Temple and stood under the tall Three Saints Pagoda.
At this time, it was the evening class time for the monks in the Three Saints Temple. In the backyard, one could still hear the sound of chanting coming from the Buddhist hall in the front yard, but there were not many people in the backyard. The Three Saints Pagoda in the backyard was usually deserted and was only open very rarely. In the pagoda, there were some Buddha statues and the relics and ashes of the monks in the temple.
At the moment when the lightning between heaven and earth lit up and dimmed again, Yan Liqiang's figure, like a ghost, leaped up to the second floor of the Three Saints Tower under the cover of a tree, shook open a window on the second floor, slid in through the window, and then closed the window again. The whole process was completed in less than half a second.
After arriving at the tower, Yan Liqiang went up from the second floor to the top floor, then took off his straw raincoat and hat, opened the wooden box, took out the horn python bow and the god-killing arrows inside, slightly opened the window on the top of the tower, and like a hunting hunter, quietly stared at the section of street from the imperial palace to Suzaku Street more than 700 meters away, and began to calmly adjust his breathing, waiting for Lin Qingtian's convoy to appear.
There are shops on both sides of Zhuque Street. At this time, most of the shops are closed and the street is sparsely populated.
The closer things got to the point, the calmer Yan Liqiang became.
After Yan Liqiang waited quietly in the tower for more than two hours, a convoy of cars and people appeared under Guangmingfang on Zhuque Street.
There were 50 guards in front of the convoy, and behind the cavalry followed a full set of prime minister's ceremonial guards. Even though it was raining heavily and it was dark, the ceremonial guards were still meticulous and majestic. A gorgeous black four-wheeled carriage was in the middle of the convoy, and behind the carriage were 50 guards.
Yan Liqiang flexed his fingers, gently pushed open the window on the top of the tower, and took the four arrows of the gods in his hands.
Yan Liqiang was waiting quietly, waiting for the car to approach the middle of Zhuque Street.
The convoy walked slowly on Zhuque Street, getting closer and closer to the place where Yan Liqiang was going to make his move. Just when Yan Liqiang took the bow, took a deep breath, and was about to make his move...
The sky and the earth turned white again, and rumbling thunder was heard. Yan Liqiang's eyes suddenly widened. "Oh my god!" Yan Liqiang almost screamed, because at that moment, he found that there was an extra person in front of Lin Qingtian's motorcade on Suzaku Street. That person was wearing a white robe and a strange golden mask on his face. He stood in the middle of Suzaku Street, blocking the way of Lin Qingtian's motorcade. With Yan Liqiang's eyesight, he didn't even see how that person came out at that moment.
The man held a sword in one hand, which was hanging low, and in the other hand, he held two heads. Because of the angle of view, Yan Liqiang could not see the faces of the two heads in the man's hand. He just calmly watched the approaching convoy.
The wind and rain in the sky fell down to that person, as if they were separated by an invisible hand, and fell only in front of and behind that person. The person was wearing a white dress, and no raindrops touched him, making him feel like a fairy…
Even from a distance, Yan Liqiang could feel the aura rising from the man in white. The man just stood there, and it felt like a mountain standing there...
"Shh..." When they were still a hundred meters away from the man in white, the horses ridden by the guards in front of Lin Qingtian's convoy started to stir. The horses screamed and just stood still, allowing the guards to scold and whip them. The rhinoceros horses did not dare to move forward, but retreated instead, as if there was something terrifying ahead...
…
ps: Tiger has not been in good condition these two days, so the update is a bit slow, please forgive me!
(End of this chapter)