activa-t Chapter 495 Thank you so much! You made my dream of being a hero come true so quickly.
Chapter 495 Thank you so much! You made my dream of being a hero come true so quickly.
The woman took a deep breath, adjusted her veil, pushed open the door, and went out.
The atmosphere in the courtyard was like a fully drawn bow, ready to explode at any moment.
The middle-aged guard stood in the center of the courtyard, his hand on the hilt of his sword, his face ashen, his jaw clenched, and his eyes filled with barely suppressed rage.
Standing opposite him was a man dressed in black, with a sinister face and a half-smile on his lips, like a snake flicking its tongue.
Behind each of them stood a group of people, their knives drawn and swords held across their chests, neither of them yielding an inch.
"I told you, our wagon only contained goods, not any murderers!"
The middle-aged guard's voice was very low, but every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, carrying an extreme amount of suppressed anger.
The man in black sneered, his gaze shifting from the carriage to the middle-aged guard's face, his look as contemptuous as if he were looking at an ant.
"You think you can just say you don't? How can you prove it? Let us check, and that will clear your name, won't it?"
The middle-aged guard gripped the hilt of his knife tightly, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.
"I'm also saddened by the death of your brother. But what does that have to do with us? We just arrived, and haven't even had a bite to eat yet!"
The man in black chuckled and shook his head.
"Just arrived? Who knows if you and the post station are in cahoots? Who knows if you're working together from the inside?"
The middle-aged guard's expression grew even uglier, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.
"You—you're slandering me!"
The man in black ignored him, his gaze passing over the man's shoulder to the woman who came out of the room, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes.
He looked the woman up and down, his gaze undisguisedly aggressive and greedy, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.
The woman frowned slightly, her hand under the veil slowly clenching in her sleeve.
When the middle-aged guard saw the woman come out, his expression changed slightly. He quickly turned to the side, lowered his voice, and spoke urgently.
"Miss, why did you come out? It's alright, please go back first, I can handle things here."
The woman didn't move, her gaze fixed on the group of men in black, her voice calm. "What happened?"
The middle-aged guard gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with anger and grievance, his voice brimming with barely suppressed rage.
"This man is being unreasonable. He insists there's a murderer hiding in our carriage and wants to check it!"
The woman frowned slightly, and a hint of coldness flashed in her eyes beneath her veil.
The man in black strode over.
He walked up to the woman, stopped, and brazenly looked her up and down, peering through the thin veil of her hat as if he could see right through it.
A slow, smug smile crept onto his lips—a smile that was sticky, greedy, and lewd.
"Young lady, our deceased companion was a second-rank master, so we suspect there's more than one murderer. We need to inspect the entire post station, leaving no carriage unchecked. Please cooperate."
The woman's brows furrowed even more, and her hands under the veil slowly clenched.
Her voice was calm and indifferent as she said, "We've just arrived at this post station and have no connection to it. You don't need to check our carriage."
The man in black chuckled, a hint of contempt flashing in his eyes.
"How can anyone know if you two are actually having an affair just by talking? Stop talking nonsense and hurry up. The more you act like this, the more suspicious I become."
As he spoke, several men in black surrounded him, their hands on their knife hilts, their faces grim, their eyes fixed on the woman and the middle-aged guard with hostility.
The middle-aged guard placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, glanced back at his subordinates, and beckoned.
Several guards immediately surrounded her, their swords drawn, and stood in front of the woman, confronting the men in black.
The two sides were on the verge of war, the air thick with the smell of gunpowder. Neither dared to make the first move, nor would either back down.
The woman remained silent for a moment, a hint of weariness flashing in her eyes beneath her veil.
She didn't want to cause any trouble; she just wanted to deliver the goods safely, finish the job, and go home.
She sighed softly, her voice filled with a helpless weariness.
"Inspection is allowed, but you can't touch it indiscriminately."
The man in black laughed, a cold laugh filled with an arrogant and condescending air.
"We don't need you to teach us how to check."
With a wave of his hand, the men in black behind him surged out like a tide and rushed towards the carriages.
The middle-aged guard frowned, turned to look at the woman, his expression grave, and spoke in a low voice. "Miss..."
The woman shook her head, interrupting him.
"Let them investigate. Keep an eye on them, don't let them touch our stuff."
The middle-aged guard gritted his teeth, his cheeks puffed out, his eyes filled with resentment and anger.
But he finally nodded, turned around, and lowered his voice to tell his men, "Follow them, and don't let them search the place."
Several guards sheathed their swords and quickly followed the men in black, standing beside the carriage with their eyes fixed on their hands.
The man in black did not follow to inspect the carriage. He stood there, his gaze falling on the woman again, peering through the veil of her hat at her fair chin and slightly pursed lips.
He smiled, a smile that carried an indescribable, nauseating quality.
"Young lady, you are quite beautiful. I wonder if you have a husband?"
The woman's brows furrowed sharply, and a hint of coldness flashed in her eyes beneath her veil.
The man in black smiled, his tone carrying a feigned kindness.
"Don't be nervous, we mean no harm. Judging from the flags on your carriage, you should be part of the Chen family's caravan from Jiangnan, right?"
The woman's eyes flickered slightly, and her hands clenched even tighter under her veil.
Her voice was calm, devoid of any emotion. "Young master has a good eye. It is indeed our Chen family's caravan."
The man in black's eyes brightened slightly, the smile on his lips deepened, and a chilling light flashed in his eyes.
"That young lady wouldn't happen to be the Chen family's daughter, what's her name again... Chen something?"
The woman's heart skipped a beat.
Her pupils suddenly contracted, and her face beneath the veil turned deathly pale.
She knew she had been exposed, knew that this person had never come to inspect the carriage in the first place, and knew that her target had always been her.
She took a step back, her lips slightly parted, as if she wanted to call for help.
The man in black had already moved.
His movements were as fast as lightning, like a leopard pouncing on its prey, his arms outstretched as he reached out to grab the woman.
The smile still lingered on his lips, but his eyes were filled with greed and excitement, like a wolf that had finally waited for its prey to be alone.
The wind howled, and the hand drew ever closer.
The woman was immediately filled with despair.
The other party was clearly prepared. From the moment they recognized her, they began to relentlessly pursue her, and she didn't realize what was happening until the very last moment, by which time it was too late.
She was too careless.
Before she left home, her father had told her to be careful on the road, as things had been turbulent these past few years. The Chen family's business had grown so large that many people were envious, and even more people wanted to take advantage of the Chen family.
She thought that bringing so many guards would be enough, that nothing serious would happen on the official road, and that those people were only after the goods.
She had thought of everything, except that the other party's target was herself.
She closed her eyes, waiting for that hand to fall on her, waiting for the humiliation and pain to come.
Just then, a flash of sword light streaked past.
The sword light was incredibly fast, flying out from the corridor behind her. It was silvery-white, like a bolt of lightning, like a crescent moon.
It flew past her ear, bringing with it a gust of cold wind that stirred the veil of her hat and ruffled the stray hairs at her temples.
The sword energy was cold and piercing, but it did not harm her in the slightest.
The next moment, warm liquid splashed onto her veil, dress, and the back of her hand.
She heard a heart-wrenching scream, so sharp it almost tore her eardrums apart.
She opened her eyes and saw the hand reaching for her, along with half of her forearm, flying in mid-air, its fingers still twitching slightly!
Blood gushed from the severed wrist, like a dark red fountain, splashing onto the yellow earth and spreading a shocking red stain.
The man in black clutched his wrist, staggered back several steps, his face ashen, and cold sweat poured down his forehead like rain.
His mouth was wide open, and a pig-like scream came from his throat, "My hand! My hand!"
Chen Wanqing's eyes widened. Before she could react, she felt herself fall into an embrace.
That embrace was warm, carrying a faint, refreshing scent, like a mountain forest after a snowfall, or like winter plum blossoms in full bloom in the depths of winter.
One hand wrapped around her waist, the force just right, holding her firmly in his arms so she wouldn't fall or hurt.
Her veil was lifted slightly by the wind during the chaos, and she hurriedly looked up to see a handsome, smiling face with a hint of languor and composure.
Qin Mu lowered his head, looking at the still-shaken woman in his arms, a slight smile playing on his lips.
"It's alright now."
Chen Wanqing's heart skipped a beat.
Her hands were still frozen in mid-air, she forgot to put them down, and her legs were still weak. She could only stand up by leaning on him.
Her veil was askew, revealing a pair of eyes that were slightly red from fright.
Those eyes were bright, like two stars washed clean, and they were staring blankly at the man who had fallen from the sky.
Qin Mu didn't look at her again, turned around, and faced the black-clad man who was still screaming in pain.
The man in black clutched his wrist, blood gushing from between his fingers, and he couldn't stop it.
His face was contorted in agony, his eyes filled with fear and rage, and his voice was hoarse from the pain.
"Where...where did you come from?"
Qin Mu smiled, gently flicked the longsword in his hand, and drops of blood slid off the blade and dripped onto the yellow earth.
His gaze fell on the severed hand that was still twitching slightly in the pool of blood, then shifted to the face of the man in black.
"Thank you so much. You made my wish to be a hero and save the damsel in distress so quickly."
His voice was soft, with a hint of a smile, as if he were thanking a friend who had helped him fulfill his wish.
The man in black's face twitched even more violently, whether from pain or anger, it was hard to tell.
He gritted his teeth and forced out a few words: "Go...kill him!"
The seven or eight men in black behind him had already drawn their swords, their faces contorted with rage and their eyes filled with murderous intent.
Upon hearing their leader's command, they charged forward without hesitation, their blades gleaming coldly in the twilight.
Qin Mu casually swung his sword, the light of which traced a silvery-white arc in the twilight, like a crescent moon falling from the night sky.
The black-clad man at the forefront didn't even have time to scream before his head flew off.
The cut on his neck was as smooth as a mirror, and blood gushed more than ten feet high from his cavity. His body was still in a charging posture, and he ran two steps before collapsing with a thud.
The second man had his throat slashed open by the sword. He threw down the knife, clutched his neck with both hands, blood gushing from between his fingers. His eyes were wide open, his mouth opened and closed, but he couldn't make a sound. He slowly knelt down.
The third person was pierced through the chest by a sword, the tip of which emerged from his back, bringing with it a cloud of blood mist.
He looked down at the bloodstained sword tip in his chest, his eyes filled with disbelief, and slowly collapsed.
Qin Mu's sword was very fast.
So fast that its trajectory was obscured, so fast that only streaks of silvery-white light could be seen flashing in the twilight.
With each flash, a man in black fell down.
There are no superfluous moves, no fancy actions, just a thrust, a flick, a slash, a sweep—simple to the extreme, and deadly to the extreme.
The woman stood behind him, watching his back as he brandished his sword and killed someone. Her eyes were wide open, and her mouth was slightly agape, as if she had forgotten to close it.
She watched the pale figure weave through the crowd, watched the men in black fall like wheat being harvested, and watched the blood bloom into shocking red flowers in the twilight.
Her mind went blank.
She had witnessed murder, guards fighting off bandits on the road, and the clash of swords and the flying of blood and flesh.
But she had never seen such a sword before, nor had she ever seen anyone kill so casually, so calmly, so effortlessly, as if taking a stroll in their own backyard.
In less than ten breaths, all seven or eight men in black fell to the ground.
There were no survivors, no wounded; each one was killed with a single sword strike.
In fact, it could be even faster, without even needing a sword. Qin Mu could kill all of them with just a thought.
But Qin Mu didn't want to be so sensational, after all, his current identity was merely that of a chivalrous swordsman.
If it's too flashy, it would go against his original intention.
Qin Mu sheathed his sword, turned around, looked at the woman, and the smile on his lips remained.
"Are you alright?"
Chen Wanqing's lips trembled slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she just shook her head, the light veil on her hat swaying slightly.
Her legs were still weak, and she could barely stand by leaning against the wheel of a carriage.
Footsteps came from the other end of the courtyard, hurried and disorderly.
Several men in black strode over. The one in the lead was burly, with a gloomy face and a hint of impatience in his eyes.
He saw corpses all over the ground, his companion lying in a pool of blood, and the black-clad man with the severed hand clutching his wrist, leaning against the wall and gasping for breath. His expression suddenly changed.
"What happened? We just dealt with that commander, how did you run into trouble?"
The black-clad man with the severed hand raised his head, his face ashen white, cold sweat mixed with blood streaming down his forehead.
His lips trembled violently, and it took him a long time to speak:
"We've hit a tough spot!"