Chapter 237: Snow people
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
Snow fell gently to the ground. Nobody responded to him. The middle-aged man had a severe expression as he waved his hand, "Kill your way in!"
Several black robed men shouted ferociously as they charged into the hall. However, as soon as they broke into the hall, they realized that something wasn’t quite right. There was simply no resistance.
"Shoot!" A loud cry rang out and shattered the silence. The imperial guards were all armed with bows as they prepared to shoot at the black robed bandits. In fact, the bows they wielded were of the latest design.
Following the order, the sound of arrows whizzing through the air could be heard.
"Pu pu pu!" Seven or eight black robed bandits fell to the ground and screamed out in pain. Blood started to form across their robes as they rolled on the ground in agony. The pain was almost impossible to endure.
"Shoot again!"
Even if these bandits had been prepared, it was hard to do anything to defend themselves in such a situation. The sound of arrows darting across the air filled the entire room, as mists of blood formed whenever an arrow found its mark. In a second, the dull thuds of arrows hitting their targets could be heard.
"It’s an ambush!" Only after the second wave of arrows did someone finally muster the strength to warn the rest.
"Third wave!"
"Pu pu pu!" The screams of pain rang out ceaselessly. What entailed were the loud shrieks of agony. At such point-blank range, unless they were armed in plate armor, even Pei Zi Yun would find it hard to defend himself.
"Fourth wave, fifth wave. Drop your bows, draw your swords!"
After the fifth wave of arrows had descended, the entire hall was filled with dead bodies and wounded bandits. The design of these new bows could even penetrate most armor when fired from ten steps away. From three steps away, it could punch through a thick slab of wood. Since this hall wasn’t very large, the distance was three steps at most. Hence, whenever an arrow pierced into the body of a bandit, a large gaping hole was created immediately as puddles of blood formed on the ground. The entire arrow would usually go through the target before it fell lifelessly to the ground.
Several bandits had been shot through their inner organs. The pain was so intense they couldn’t even scream as they twitched on the ground violently.
The entire hall was silent in the blink of an eye. At least twenty bandits had died today. There was still another dozen who had yet to rush in. Under such a terrifying situation, the middle-aged man still shouted, "Formation, charge in! With me, there’s no equal opponent!"
"With me, there’s no equal opponent!" The middle-aged man reminded the remaining black robed bandits under his charge. Due to their pride and strong military training, the remaining bandits got into formation before they charged into the hall.
"Cloud Form!" At this point, swords were raised as a fresh batch of bandits charged in. As soon as the nearest bandit entered the hall, he gave a low groan and fell to the ground. His intestines spilled out of the gaping wound in his abdomen.
"Kill!" The rest of the black robed bandits shouted without care for their own lives as they hacked their way in.
"Zhng zhng zhng!" Swords clashed against each other. The next moment, three more black robed bandits fell as pools of blood formed on the ground.
Although Pei Zi Yun had only killed four men, the black robed men’s formation had been broken. The armed guards charged at them, which caused screams of pain to ring out from the black robed men. Several of them had fallen to the ground and were being hacked at mercilessly by the imperial guards.
The remaining black robed men realized that this was a battle that they weren't going to win and started retreating. The leader of the black robed men was an extremely proficient fighter, and yet he had turned to flee as well. At this point, a shadow charged towards these fleeing men.
A chill ran down the spine of the middle-aged man, as his hair stood on edge while he saw the shadow. He tried to raise his blade to defend himself, and yet before he could even raise it up more than halfway, he saw the shadow move through his body.
He felt a heavy ache from his back, before he groaned and fell to his knees on the ground. The middle-aged man gave a ferocious glare before he cried out and raised his blade once again to strike.
"Pu" Pei Zi Yun raised his own blade effortlessly, and the middle-aged man felt a sharp cold pain on his hand. He saw a burst of blood, as his hand had been severed from his body. He screamed out in pain and his blade fell to the ground.
Pei Zi Yun then stepped forward to interrogate a black robed man on the ground. As he watched Pei Zi Yun approached, he summoned his last ounce of strength, "Black Robed Armed Fighters, with me there’s no equal opponent."
He then raised his blade, wanting to bring as many of the guards to the underworld with him as possible. Before the blade could reach Pei Zi Yun, the gleam of his sword shone, the black robed assailant spurted out a fountain of blood from his throat and went limp.
"Who sent you here?" Pei Zi Yun pointed his sword and asked. The middle-aged man laughed sadly, "All my brothers are dead, can I still escape death?"
As he said that, he plunged his body onto the outstretched blade. The point of the blade pierced through his skull and exited through the back of his head. The look on his face as he died bore a sense of dissatisfaction and resignation.
The entire monastery was filled with the strong stench of blood. The ground was stained a bright red as the bodies emitted steam in the snowy weather. Pei Zi Yun was expressionless, "These are all dead fighters. Spare none, clean this place up!"
"Yes!" A pair of guards turned around and walked through the snow while they ensured that every single black robed bandit was dead. The sound of swords stabbing into bodies could be heard. Every single corpse on the ground was stabbed several more times.
Indeed, several had managed to escape death and screamed briefly before they went still and were quiet once more.
"If the enemies are the heroes, I am the bandit. If I’m the hero, the enemies are the bandits."
In actual fact these fallen men had some standards in discipline and fighting. Pei Zi Yun looked at them sadly before he ordered, "Let’s return. The Crown Prince is waiting for us!"
Crown Prince’s Mansion
The originally green tinted roofs of the Crown Prince’s Mansion were coated white today. The roads around the mansion had been swept once, but there was still a thin layer of ice. The rest of the snow had been collected and piled up by a corner. Somewhere nearby were several armed guards dressed in plate armor. Beneath the layer of armor were thick winter cloths. It was so cold that the guards’ cheeks were flushed red.
Stepping on the soft snow, a butler was dressed in brocade fabric coats and a fur hat. He had several jade rings on his fingers and was rather stumpy in build. He walked towards the entrance of the palace confidently and was about to leave when he was halted by the guards, "Butler Li, today the rules of the Palace prohibit entry or exit. You are not allowed to leave!"
Hearing these words, the butler was furious, "Do you know who I am? I am on orders by the Crown Prince’s Empress, who asked me to buy some items for her. How dare you stop me?"
The butler whipped out his Empress Tile and berated the guard, "This is the Crown Prince’s Empress Tile, get out my way!"
The guard looked at the tile and revealed a difficult expression. He was unsure of whether to halt him. Right at this moment, there was a cold laugh, "Buy some items for her? Do I hear fear as you are trying to flee?"
Butler Li was extremely worried and yet he was also angry. When he turned his head, he saw Pei Zi Yun leading a woman into the palace. He then said, "The Crown Prince has granted me the authority. Take this man down!"
"No, how can you arrest me. I am the Empress’s butler." The butler shouted out in fear.
"Take him down!"
The butler was about to struggle when the armed guard gave him a cold look and slapped him hard across the face. Blood and teeth fell out of this mouth as he crashed to the ground. A look of disbelief could be seen across his face.
Even his clothes came undone. A thick wad of banknotes fell to the ground. The butler’s face was bloodied and yet he struggled to pick up the notes.
"Tie him up." A pair of guards held onto him tightly as they tied him up. Pei Zi Yun took the stack of notes and counted it.
After counting the cash, Pei Zi Yun gave a cold laugh, "7,300 taels. The Crown Prince earns only 20,000 taels a year. How can you ever afford such a huge sum of money as a butler?"
"You’ve already tried to profit as much as you can from the Crown Prince, and now you’re still taking more money from outsiders?"
"Take him in and lock him up!" Pei Zi Yun led the woman into the Crown Prince’s study room.
At this point, it was snowing and several lamps were lit within the study. Hence, it was warm and comfortable. The Crown Prince was rather restless as he was dressed in long robes. From time to time, he would scribble something on his piece of paper before he erased it. At this point, a eunuch reported, "Crown Prince, the Dao Master has returned."
The Crown Prince’s face revealed a look of happiness as he instructed, "Quick, get him to come in."
Pei Zi Yun walked in and bowed deeply. The Crown Prince’s face was somewhat flushed as he spoke, "Enough with the bow, come, sit. What was the situation like?"
"Crown Prince, this time we managed to lure 43 men. All of them chose to die rather than surrender, and thus we didn’t manage to capture any alive." Pei Zi Yun half stood as he spoke.
"These men were extremely hard to train and raise. Now that they’re dead, my brother will probably suffer from heart ache." The Crown Prince replied happily. He then asked, "What about the mole? Have we found the mole? I want him now, and to deliver ten thousand cuts to his body to relieve me of my hatred."
The Crown Prince’s face was ashen, clearly filled with hate.
"Your majesty, after carefully comparing the list of names of those who were present during informative conversations, this lady minister managed to narrow the names down, and is certain that there are no errors."
"What?" The Crown Prince took a look at the name lists. Just staring at the names made him dizzy. There was Butler Li, and several handpicked men selected by his Empress. One of them was even someone who the Empress was exceptionally close to.
"Crown Prince, when we arrived, Butler Li wanted to take his money and escape, but was stopped by the guards." Pei Zi Yun then handed over the entire stack of notes, "We recovered 7,300 taels of silver."
"That’s not all. Based on our investigations, Butler Li even managed to purchase three plots of expensive land in the capital city. Each is worth 3,000 taels of silver."
"He also has several shops. With such a short amount of time, we couldn’t conduct an extensive search."
When the Crown Prince received the notes, his face turned ashen once again as he frowned and took a sip of tea before concentrating hard. It was as if he was trying to compose himself, and yet wrinkles formed across his forehead and his cheeks twitched. He was unable to control his anger as he slapped the table hard, "Drag him in here."
"Crown Prince have mercy. Crown Prince have mercy. I’m innocent, they’ve framed me." Butler Li started kowtowing in fear.
"Framed you? With so much money and so many plots of land and shops, are you still being framed?" The Crown Prince waved his hand. Immediately a guard came in with a tray. The tray was filled with land deeds.
"Crown Prince, spare me. Crown Prince spare me. It was the Empress who instructed me to do this." The butler shouted out loudly, seeing the expression on the Crown Prince’s face.
"Empress?" Hearing these words, the Crown Prince trembled as his face turned red in disbelief. Ever since the Empress entered the Palace, he had shown her so much love. He also knew that she had lost her virginity a long time ago. Could it be…
"Crown Prince, don’t listen to this dying man clutching at straws. It’s very believable that someone would betray his master for such a huge sum of money." Pei Zi Yun cast a cold glance at the butler before he spoke. "In order to prevent him from speaking more rubbish, we should settle him as soon as possible."
Hearing these words, the Crown Prince seemed to have reached a sort of understanding as his expression changed. Even if his Empress was extremely suspicious, there was absolutely no way of him from checking. If the Crown Prince was so easily swayed by such rumors, how was he going to rule the nation?
With this in mind, he made up his mind. Looking at butler Li, he slammed the table once more, as a ferocious look was etched across his face. "You dishonorably betrayed me and instead of admitting to it, you tried to slander the Empress. Your life has already reached the end. Execute him!"
As soon as the Crown Prince gave this command, killing intent surrounded him. Soon after, ten guards stepped forward to drag him out onto the snow.
"Hit him!"
The guards picked up huge wooden paddles and started to beat him. In the blink of an eye, his body was a mangled mess. He had only been hit around ten times when he passed out. However, the guards continued to hit him. Seeing such a scene, watching as his screams became whimpers, most of them were so startled that they started to shake.
Several other important people who were suspected of betrayal had also been bound up. Soon they were brought to the snow and pressed in head first.
As the snow engulfed their faces, they struggled to breath. Before long, they ceased moving, and became snow people.
The entire scene was absolutely silent. Many people shook with intense fear as their faces turned pale.
"Push them all into the snow, and turn them into frozen snow people. When summer comes and the sun melts the snow away, they shall be fed to the dogs!" The Crown Prince shouted in anger.