Chapter 30: Deadly Poison
There was no longer any need to argue.
The sudden child had ultimately allowed Feng Qi’s intentions to succeed. Wen Ning’an would not be able to go to the battlefield in the short term. The topic quietly disappeared, and Wen Ning’an never spoke to Feng Qi about the child again.
No, they hardly spoke at all.
Two days later, Wen Ning’an went with Qin Zhaohuang to look at houses in the capital, also bringing Ah Bai along to cheer him up. Ah Bai, in turn, was holding Liangliang. Feng Qi didn’t stop him, nor did he dare to.
There was a large, vacant courtyard in the south of the city. Qin Zhaohuang led Wen Ning’an into it and said enthusiastically, “Look at this place! It’s spacious and sunny. It would be best to build the stage here.”
Wen Ning’an nodded slightly.
The courtyard was surrounded by a pink wall, with maple leaves hanging over it. Inside, there were covered walkways on all four sides, connected by paved paths and dotted with rockeries. In a corner, there was a pond with the sound of gurgling water, and a few withered red leaves floated on its surface. Qin Zhaohuang said he had done a divination for this place before; with the dragon raising its head and the phoenix resting, it was a geomantic treasure.
Seeing Wen Ning’an’s restless state, Qin Zhaohuang asked, “What’s wrong? Are you troubled about the child?”
Wen Ning’an was startled. “Huaitian told you?”
Qin Zhaohuang shook his head and walked with Wen Ning’an to a shady corridor in the courtyard. “I figured it out myself. I saw that the Nine Heavens Dragon on your body has become a pair of dragons.”
Quite impressive. He hadn’t expected the National Preceptor to actually be able to tell fortunes, and to be so accurate every time.
Seeing Wen Ning’an’s surprised expression, Qin Zhaohuang felt incredibly heartbroken. So you didn’t believe a word I said or any of the divinations I did before?!
Qin Zhaohuang’s face wrinkled with grievance.
Wen Ning’an smiled and shook his head.
Ah Bai and Liangliang were playing under the sun in the courtyard. Liangliang was not as active and lively as Xingxing. Ah Bai threw a stick several times, but Liangliang remained unmoved, just lying in the sun and lazily licking its orange and black body. In the end, it was Ah Bai who dragged the disgusted-looking Liangliang around the courtyard.
In the corridor, seeing Wen Ning’an looking at the man and tiger in the courtyard with gentle eyes, Qin Zhaohuang couldn’t help but shift his gaze to Wen Ning’an’s still-flat stomach. “What… are you planning to do?”
“What else can I do?” Wen Ning’an lowered his head. “Since it has come, what can I do but treat it well? I don’t know what to do either…”
He just felt that his whole life had been thrown into chaos, his mind a muddle.
Qin Zhaohuang paused, then stood on his tiptoes slightly and ruffled the top of Wen Ning’an’s head.
Wen Ning’an was stunned. He met the concern in Qin Zhaohuang’s eyes and smiled. “I think I understand why Huaitian gets along so well with you.”
“Gets along well?!” Qin Zhaohuang let out a “yikes.” “Don’t be ridiculous. With that temper… hmm, speaking ill of the Son of Heaven is a capital offense. I didn’t say anything.”
Wen Ning’an shook his head and sighed. “I am first a general who protects the country for him, then a commander on the battlefield, and finally, his other half. And he should first be an emperor who weighs the world, then the protector of the common people, and finally, me.”
“That’s the problem.” Seeing Wen Ning’an sit on the railing, Qin Zhaohuang followed suit, swinging his legs. “That’s what you think, but in the Emperor’s heart, there is no order of priority, only you.”
Qin Zhaohuang pointed at Wen Ning’an. “Literally, just you as a person. And with a label that says you belong to him.”
“Let’s not talk about it.” Wen Ning’an jumped off the railing and smiled. “The lunch I owed you before, I’ll make it up to you now.”
Wen Ning’an took Ah Bai’s hand and led the way to the courtyard’s arched gate. However, before he could push open the hanging flower gate, he felt several sinister winds rushing towards him…
“Be careful—”
Qin Zhaohuang shouted anxiously, and the next moment, he saw Wen Ning’an’s body, like a hawk, reach out and embrace Ah Bai, spinning in mid-air to dodge the flying hidden weapons.
The next moment, Qin Zhaohuang felt that the one who should be careful was not Wen Ning’an, but himself, who knew no martial arts…
A group of men in black suddenly appeared from all around the courtyard and rushed towards him and Wen Ning’an, a mix of hidden weapons and medicinal powders. It was a fierce attack. At the same time, the Left Army’s shadows and the imperial shadow guards who had been secretly following Wen Ning’an also appeared to protect their respective masters.
“Zhaohuang, come here!”
Qin Zhaohuang immediately stuck close to Wen Ning’an, following him as he rushed out of the courtyard.
Wen Ning’an held Ah Bai in one arm and drew the short knife from his waist with the other to defend against the assassins’ sneak attacks. Wen Ning’an’s martial arts were so high that even when so constrained, he could still protect himself and others under the enemy’s group attack.
The clang of swords clashing was incessant. The wild grass on the lawn around Wen Ning’an was uprooted by the force of their inner energy and sword qi. The courtyard was littered with the corpses of the men in black, and the smell of rust from the blood flowing from their wounds seemed to excite Liangliang in Ah Bai’s arms.
Among these men in black, one was particularly eye-catching. He was not dressed in night clothes like the others, but in a dark gray robe with a long flute. His figure was tall and slender, but half of his face was covered by a black veil, only revealing a pair of eyes like stagnant water, with deep dark circles and bruises beneath them.
Ah Bai gasped. “That’s… that’s the masked man…”
Wen Ning’an had no time to comfort the trembling Ah Bai, because after that man appeared, the situation seemed to change slightly.
The man placed the flute to his lips, and a string of strange notes came from it. It was a very strange tune, the pitch rising and falling without any pattern, yet it had a creepy and bizarre feeling, just like the cold man himself.
And with this intermittent tune, the inner energy of the men in black suddenly increased, their eyes filled with madness. Although their martial arts moves were chaotic and disorderly, their reckless swinging, coupled with their powerful inner energy, made it even harder for Wen Ning’an to handle.
Qin Zhaohuang hid behind Wen Ning’an and, after narrowly avoiding a sword thrust from one of the men in black, shouted with lingering fear, “Take down the one playing the flute first! What the hell is he playing? It’s so awful!”
Wen Ning’an naturally understood this, but leaving aside the fact that the man was difficult to approach behind layers of men in black, to be able to appear silently in the courtyard without Wen Ning’an noticing meant his martial arts were not weak.
Wen Ning’an knew he had another fragile little life inside him, and since he had shadow guards to help, he didn’t use his full strength. He was just calculating in his mind how to take down the man playing the flute.
However, before Wen Ning’an could make a move, the man took the initiative and rushed towards him.
Ah Bai shrank into Wen Ning’an’s arms in fear, burying his head deep in the crook of his neck.
The man held the flute in one hand and drew a long, slender sword with the other to exchange blows with Wen Ning’an. Wen Ning’an thought to himself, The man’s martial arts are not difficult to deal with.
Wen Ning’an took a slight step back, feigning an unsteady gait to reveal an opening. The man indeed fell for the trick and lunged at Wen Ning’an’s lower body.
An opening, now is the time!
“Ooh~ ee~”
Before Wen Ning’an’s sword could get close to the man, he heard the flute’s tune change. Large and small snakes suddenly appeared around the man. One by one, brightly colored venomous snakes emerged from the man’s sleeves and collar, hissing as they lunged at Wen Ning’an. Wen Ning’an immediately used his inner energy to shake off these venomous creatures. The occasional “snake” that slipped through the net was either snatched away by Liangliang or swatted away with its sharp claws.
Seeing one of the small, bright red snakes about to land on Wen Ning’an’s wrist, with neither Wen Ning’an nor Liangliang able to deal with it, Qin Zhaohuang’s heart filled with panic. He knew from the color that it was an extremely venomous snake! And Wen Ning’an had a fragile child inside him!
When Qin Zhaohuang came to his senses again, he found that he had already subconsciously blocked Wen Ning’an’s path. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, preparing to take the blow, but then he heard the sharp turn of the flute’s tune again.
With the somewhat rushed and chaotic notes, the snakes that were flicking their red tongues suddenly went limp and fell to the ground with a thud. The other men in black, due to this sudden change, couldn’t circulate their inner energy and all knelt on the ground, vomiting blood in pain.
Qin Zhaohuang opened his eyes in a daze and saw Wen Ning’an give him a signal. He took the opportunity to stab the man in the heart with his knife. The man subconsciously moved to defend himself, but after swatting away Wen Ning’an’s short knife, a heart-wrenching pain came from his chest. He looked down and saw half a blade stuck in his chest.
Qin Zhaohuang, holding a long sword he had snatched from one of the men in black, had taken advantage of the man’s focus on Wen Ning’an to stab him through the heart.
After the man was stabbed, the previously lifeless snakes on the ground became excited again, writhing as they searched for prey. Even more terrifying, more snakes suddenly slithered in from all directions, surrounding the man.
The enemy’s reinforcements would surely arrive soon, and Wen Ning’an was currently at a disadvantage. Not wanting to linger, Wen Ning’an gave up the idea of capturing the man and reached out to grab the back of Qin Zhaohuang’s collar.
Qin Zhaohuang felt his feet leave the ground as Wen Ning’an used his lightness skill to carry him away.
The man in the middle of the snakes slowly opened his eyes. The large, bloody gash on his chest was slowly healing at a visible rate…
The man looked at the shadow guards, who were all dead and unable to pursue, and the flute in his hand snapped in two with a “crack.”
Letting Wen Ning’an escape danger time and time again. The man snorted coldly. He hadn’t expected that person to be there, disrupting his plans…
“Do you know that man?” After Wen Ning’an brought Ah Bai and Qin Zhaohuang to a safe place—a street corner near Zhaoyue Tower—he couldn’t help but ask.
If Qin Zhaohuang knew him, it would be much easier to investigate. Wen Ning’an already had an answer in his heart; he knew who hated him so much as to want him dead. But he couldn’t let the person who tried to assassinate him go, otherwise, there was no guarantee he would be so lucky next time they came.
Qin Zhaohuang seemed to have misunderstood something and said with a sincere and fawning expression, “General Wen, please see clearly! The heavens can witness that I truly do not know that flute man! And I have no connection to those assassins who tried to harm you!”
Wen Ning’an rubbed his temples. “I’m not suspecting you. I’m just wondering why that man would give up the pursuit because of you.”
He even sacrificed all his own forces so as not to hurt Qin Zhaohuang.
Qin Zhaohuang was stunned. “I don’t know either… Could it be because of my face?” Qin Zhaohuang couldn’t help but rub his own face. He was generally very confident in his looks. After all, if that scholar who wrote “The Qin Fairy” for him hadn’t been stopped by his family, he would have jumped into a deep lake and died long ago…
Wen Ning’an frowned. “That should be impossible.”
What kind of assassin would be so… so foolish.
“Then I don’t know. Maybe we can investigate starting from me.”
Wen Ning’an nodded and put down Ah Bai, who he had been holding. “Don’t be afraid. The masked man is gone.”
Ah Bai nodded numbly.
Qin Zhaohuang pinched Ah Bai’s soft cheek and smiled. “Ning’an, why don’t you teach this child some martial arts? Look…”
Qin Zhaohuang’s words came to an abrupt halt. He stared blankly at Wen Ning’an’s face.
Seeing Qin Zhaohuang’s face suddenly turn pale, Wen Ning’an asked doubtfully, “What’s wrong?”
Qin Zhaohuang pointed to his own mouth.
Wen Ning’an subconsciously reached up and touched the corner of his own mouth with his index finger. He only felt a warmth. He looked down at his hand; it was blood red.
His senses suddenly blurred. He could faintly hear Ah Bai’s cries of alarm and shouting. His vision went black, and the next moment, Wen Ning’an’s body swayed and he collapsed.
