The morning light shines through the woods, the birds' songs linger on the dilapidated walls and courtyards, and the moss-covered old trees. In the sunlight, two groups of people, holding their own weapons, confront each other from inside and outside.
"Minister Min."
The gate of the courtyard was tilted, and on the horse at the gate, a figure wearing a green robe and leather armor underneath, lifted his cloak and dismounted, then walked into the courtyard in green-bottomed yellow-patterned boots and bowed.
The four broken long swords behind him reflected the morning light, looking cold and white, causing the seven guards inside to protect the old man with gray hair in the middle and move back.
"All of you get out of the way. If we really want to resist, who among you can stop him?"
Min Changwen held a guard's shoulder, pursed his lips, separated from the guards and walked out, then shook out his wide sleeves and returned the greeting.
"Zuo Qianwei, long time no see."
On the other side, Zuo Zhengyang raised his hand and asked his subordinates behind him to put away their weapons. He felt relieved. As long as there was no fighting, it would be the best outcome.
The two looked at each other for a while, and Zuo Zhengyang spoke first.
"Minister Min, you are a senior official of the court. Why did you suddenly abandon the capital and make His Majesty so angry? I know you well and you would never do such a thing."
Amid the sound of weapons being sheathed, Min Changwen nodded, extended his hand to invite him to sit on a stone bench nearby, sighed, and looked up at the tree trunk covered with moss.
"Zuo Qianwei, you also know that there are evildoers rampant in this world, right?"
"I know that once, I encountered a monster outside Zhou Zhen's mansion at night, and I cut off a fox's tail with my own hands." Zuo Zhengyang put the thin knife at his waist on the corner of the table, paused for a moment, and suddenly looked at the old man opposite.
"Minister Min, are you saying that there was a monster in the capital, and that's why you had no choice but to flee the city?"
The old man thought of what happened that night, closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"A lot. Lord Gong, the Minister of Revenue, has met with an unexpected disaster."
Zuo Zhengyang frowned, stood up quickly, glanced at the two groups of people around him who were wary of each other, waved his hand away, but lowered his voice.
"Impossible. When Zuo was out of the capital, he saw Lord Gong going to court."
“Then do you think I lied to you?” The old man stood up and looked at him calmly, “Zuo Qianwei and I have known each other for many years, but have you ever seen me behave improperly?!”
Looking at the old man's tone and expression, Zuo Zhengyang clenched his fists for a while, then nodded.
"I believe in Minister Min!"
As he spoke, he grabbed the sword on the corner of the table, turned around and shouted to the dozen or so subordinates he had brought from outside the courtyard: "You stay here to protect the Shangshu, I will go back to the capital to find out the truth myself!"
"Zuo Qianwei can't do that!"
The old man tried to stop him, but the latter grabbed his sword and strode out. His cloak fluttered and his voice came from the gate of the courtyard.
"If it is as the Minister said, I should help your majesty and eliminate the evildoer. But if it is not as the Minister said, I will come back to catch you and bring you to your majesty for punishment!"
The moment he quickly walked down the stone steps and mounted the horse brought by someone, Zuo Zhengyang suddenly stopped talking. He raised his hand to tell his deputy not to speak, and his ears trembled slightly.
What I heard was a slight rustling sound.
He suddenly looked towards the wall and shouted, "Who is it?!"
The long sword at the waist was unsheathed with a clang, and the officials from the surrounding Imperial City Arrest Bureau drew their weapons quickly. Qianwei on horseback stepped on the saddle and leaped up like a big bird into the forest.
At this time, Min Changwen was standing near the gate in the courtyard. He heard Zuo Qianwei's shouting outside. The branches and leaves of an old mossy tree not far away rustled and shook.
The old man raised his eyes and the sunlight above was distorted through the air, as if something was falling from above his head.
"Minister Min, be careful—"
With a sharp sound of breaking through the air, a thin knife was thrown towards the old man, almost touching the old man's forehead. A few inches in front of him, it collided with something with a bang, and sparks jumped in the air.
Zuo Zhengyang grabbed the old man, opened his robe, and kicked at the air in front of him, but missed. He turned around and pushed Min Changwen to the eight guards not far away.
"Protect the adults!"
He flipped over and pulled out a broken-blade knife from his back, which instantly drew two circles of knife shadows, compressing the space of the courtyard to a very small area. In the eyes of everyone inside and outside, all he could see was the sunlight reflecting the cold metallic light emitted from the knife blade.
Bang!
The spinning blade struck the mossy old tree, embedding itself in half, causing debris to fly everywhere. With a crackling sound, it dragged the dense branches and leaves towards the courtyard wall.
boom.
The dilapidated mud brick wall was pressed down a bit, and leaves fluttered down one after another. A few leaves streaked through the air, and their original trajectory seemed to have touched something, and they almost quietly deviated and fell to one side.
'I found you.'
Zuo Zhengyang narrowed his eyes, and with his backhand another long sword rushed up into the sky. In the bright sunshine, he swung the broken knife in his other hand horizontally and slashed angrily.
bite-
The ripples of metal clashing suddenly spread in the air around. Zuo Zhengyang pounced forward, pressing the hilt of the knife and pulling it horizontally in a semicircle. In the originally empty air, something was distorted in the light, and it seemed to fly backwards and hit the low wall of the courtyard gate with a bang, stirring up countless dust.
Buzz…
A long sword fell from the sky. Zuo Zhengyang, who had chopped with the sword from below, kicked back while collecting the sword.
The toes touch the back of the knife.
The weapon that was falling vertically suddenly turned sideways and changed direction, leaving a black shadow in the sunlight. It was nailed to the earth wall with a bang, and the blade protruded from the other side of the courtyard wall.
Tick… Tick… Tick…
A deep red color appeared among the smoke and dust, forming drops of blood along the blade and falling continuously.
The dilapidated courtyard became quiet. Min Changwen, still in fear, was protected by the guards. When the dust settled, he saw a woman in a purple and black cassock being pierced by a knife and nailed to the wall.
"How could it be a woman?"
However, the next moment, Zuo Zhengyang pulled out the long knife, and the corpse fell to the ground. The clothes on his body were loose and crooked, and the body inside was like a paper man, revealing a crack on the back of the neck, with no internal organs or bones inside.
"It is indeed a monster."
Zuo Zhengyang stared at the corpse and uttered a low voice. He took the weapon handed back by his subordinates, put it back on his back, turned around and walked out, waving his hand: "You must not take your eyes off the Shangshu Lord. I will go back and report this to His Majesty and the Lord of Law!"
"That national guardian is a monster!" Min Changwen said while standing in the yard.
The figure who had climbed onto the horse was stunned for a moment, turned around and looked at the old man with wide eyes, unable to say a word for a moment. If the powerful guardian of the country was a monster, then Your Majesty...
Thinking of the end, Zuo Zhengyang pulled the reins, turned his horse around and was about to leave. Min Changwen chased him out from the courtyard: "Zuo Qianwei, don't be reckless. The civil and military officials in the capital are probably like this skin. Don't go back and lose your life. I have sent my daughter to Qixia Mountain to find Lu Liangsheng. Maybe he has a way."
"Zuo can't wait."
Zuo Zhengyang cupped his hands on his horse and said, "No matter if Lu Liangsheng has a solution or not, I will come back to protect Your Majesty. This is my duty. Lord Shangshu, goodbye!"
He cracked the whip and shouted "Gee!" and ran back the way he came.