Chapter 940: Chapter 541: Identity Exposed—So You Are Zhao Douan!
No... With a capture of this scale, they can’t really catch me. They’re checking on us, forcing court spies in the city to expose themselves and be put in a defensive position of escape... Zhao Douan thought to himself, glanced at Du Shishi beside him, and said in a low voice, "You don’t seem to be afraid?"
Du Shishi’s hands were also tied up, and several people were strung together like grasshoppers on a rope.
The young girl’s pretty face was icy cold, her eyes slightly cold, staring at the little flag officer swaggering ahead, and said softly, "Give me ten taels of silver, and I’ll take you out safely."
Zhao Douan looked at her in surprise, "Are you crazy? This is a team of soldiers. There are more around, ready to come at any moment. But your money-grubbing nature reminds me of an old acquaintance... Hmm, also a young girl, even younger than you, reliable when paid."
Du Shishi didn’t listen to his chatter, and said in a low voice, "I’m reliable too. If you don’t nod, the price will go up later."
She knew very well what awaited her once taken into the camp, so she must escape on the road.
Zhao Douan nodded and said, "Alright, deal."
At this moment, there were no other teams on the street, only this one walking. Du Shishi suddenly "ouch" and fell to the ground. A few rebels turned their heads and saw the girl looking pitifully at them with tearful eyes, biting her lip, sitting on the ground, voice shy and timid, making them want to pity her, "Officer, I... want to..."
...Good acting... Zhao Douan silently gave a thumbs up.
"Want what?" The little flag officer’s heart melted, and he bent over with a smile, leaning closer.
Du Shishi’s bound hands suddenly tugged the cloth rope belt, "clank," a piece of rag blocking an old little bell hidden under her skirt was pulled down, and the bell made a muffled sound in the evening’s rosy glow.
"Clank, clank, clank!"
The bell rang by itself, the eerie sound rippling out in a circle, covering a range of three zhang.
Du Shishi said with disgust, "Untie the ropes."
The ten rebels had vacant eyes, muddle-headed, as if hypnotized, actually untied her ropes.
Zhao Douan was stunned for a moment, realizing this was the means of the wild mage girl, the bell at her waist seemed to affect people’s minds.
He also pretended to be muddled, motionless.
"Untie him too." Gaining her freedom, Du Shishi massaged her reddened wrists and ordered Zhao Douan to be set free as well.
Then she said, "All of you will forget our existence, not remembering having ever caught us."
After giving this order, the girl pressed the continuously shaking old square bell with one hand and tugged Zhao Douan towards a nearby alley.
As long as these people forgot about catching them, they could avoid this danger.
However, as the two were about to escape, suddenly a cold voice rang out, "Really caught a small fish."
Du Shishi looked in horror, only to see a black-faced military officer clad in armor appearing at some point on the roof of a nearby house.
A talisman paper was stuck on the officer, constantly flashing, resisting the sound wave’s hypnosis.
"Clang!" The black-faced officer drew his saber, lowered his waist, and launched himself high, chopping down towards Du Shishi!
Du Shishi tried to dodge in terror but found she couldn’t move!
And no matter how she tried to use the bell, it couldn’t affect the opponent!
An ambush? No...
Finally, fear and despair showed in Du Shishi’s eyes. She once thought she was quite capable, but until she faced a master in the military, she realized the chasm between a wild mage and a court officer!
At this moment, Zhao Douan, whom she held by one hand, no longer had "dazed" eyes. His gaze was cold and indifferent as he glanced at the military officer pouncing at them.
With his right hand lightly, five fingers spread open, he calmly pushed out.
"Bang!"
Amidst the muffled impact, Zhao Douan’s single hand pressed against the officer’s Heart Protecting Mirror, the hard mirror instantly caving in, causing the officer’s body to curl into a semicolon, amidst the crunching of bones, this mortal martial artist was killed by a single palm strike from Zhao Douan.
As the body fell, the eyes were still filled with intense puzzlement.
"The bell is pretty good, but your adaptability is lacking. If I were you, I’d hypnotize the soldiers behind to block."
Zhao Douan casually commented, turned around, and with a single hand forming a seal, a phantom flame sprouted from between his brows.
The internal organs of the still-hypnotized little flag officer and other rebels were ignited by white flames, and they died bleeding from all orifices without even a scream.
This was a magic he learned from Pei Niannu long ago and hadn’t used in a long time.
"You are..." Du Shishi stared at him in shock, her mind briefly in a state of shock.
"Let me reintroduce myself, my name is Zhao Douan." Zhao Douan lifted his disguise, returning to his original appearance, smiled at her, and said, "Sorry, it implicated you, but even if I wasn’t here, with them around, you’d face trouble eventually just by hiding. Here’s a suggestion, immediately go back home and take Old Du and the others. Head to Baihe Teahouse in the north of the city. If you can safely arrive, someone will arrange for you to leave for Linfeng. The court is in need of people; your father is good, knowledgeable, Sun Xiaozhun should like him."
After saying this, Zhao Douan stepped towards the government office, at this moment, the last trace of twilight fell, and another night arrived in Yongjia City.
Zhao Douan... is he the renowned Zhao Douan? The Emperor’s treacherous... favorite minister?!
She had actually been living under a roof with such a big figure for these days?
Du Shishi stood dazedly at the street corner, watching Zhao Douan’s figure about to disappear into the darkness, suddenly yelling a reminder, "That’s the military camp! Dangerous!"
Zhao Douan didn’t look back, just waved his hand.
The military camp?
That was where he intended to head.
"I originally intended to go along with it, simply get captured, and then make trouble from within the prison... but things are fine this way too... Heh, Zhao Shixiong, could you have imagined? I never intended to continue lurking in the city, killing the supervisor was just the prelude to stirring this muddy water! And the real action, it’s tonight?"
Zhao Douan’s right hand was lowered at his waist, the Chasing Saber slipped into his palm, casually killing a small group of rebels coming his way.
The night has fallen, tonight there’s wind, the wind carries the scent of blood.
Zhao Douan leapt onto a rooftop ridge, the Han Blade stood atop the bracketed eaves, the clouds overhead parted, revealing a bright moon.
He gazed at the distant government office, and further in the distance, the northern Yongjia River.
"At this time, Yuan Feng, Lang Shiba, Ji Yue, they should be leading troops to cross the river in a grand assault, killing towards here."
"And Song Jinxi, the scholar, and Hong Ye, they should be taking advantage of the chaos to release those loyal to the court imprisoned in the dungeons."
"The gang members controlled by the Night Fragrance Sect will ignite patches of fire."
"As for me..."
Zhao Douan moved like a phantom through the night, finally leaping into the second-floor room of a closed shop.
He didn’t light a lamp, just took out a silver scroll, giving it a gentle shake.
An old small door panel suddenly swelled and enlarged, with beast-shaped copper rings embedded on it, dotted rivets, and gold paint depicting burning lilacs.
[Two-Life Gate]
Zhao Douan recalled the name of this Suppressing Object.
He obtained this Suppressing Object from Master Gu Huo’s treasury, didn’t pay it much mind at first, just thought it odd, but later found out that as long as you walk through the gate, within a certain time, you could instantly return to a distant place.
Because it was so precious and couldn’t be used many times, he hadn’t used it even when killing Wang Qi.