Chapter 321 Extra Story—A Critical Moment
Duanmu Gongyu looked sober as he replied, “The battle in the frontline is in a critical moment. I need to set off early tomorrow morning. I won’t chase after what happened tonight, but don’t think me a fool.”

Duanmu Gongyu’s words conveyed three messages: he wanted no more talking and wanted to have a rest since he needed to set off the next morning; Du Wancai should give up all his designs on him because he would leave the place soon; and if they offended him again, he would not show them any mercy.

Since the assassins were still hidden in dark and Duanmu Gongyu wanted no more trouble, he did not rebuke Du Wancai too harshly or let Du Wancai lose face, but his words were obvious a warning. If Du Wancai was a smart man, he should know what to do.

As the old cock crows, so doth the young. Du Xiuxiu was reluctant to let the chance slip out of her hands, so was Du Wancai. Afraid of offending Duanmu Gongyu, Du Wancai pondered for a long while before speaking again. “Your Highness, please rethink about it. Xiuxiu is my youngest daughter and is spoiled. If you don’t grant her wish, she would bring the place into turmoil.”

Seeing that Du Wancai kept chattering and pestering him, Duanmu Gongyu lost his patience. He interrupted Du Wancai by saying, “How dare you, Du Wancai! Are you trying to force me to marry your daughter? Whether your daughter is spoiled or not has nothing to do with me. You didn’t teach her well, do you really want me to teach her a lesson?”

Catching the anger in Duanmu Gongyu’s tone, Du Wancai dared not to say anymore and left the place at once. What to do the next troubled him much. Should he carry on his plan to have Duanmu Gongyu accept his daughter? Or he should persuade his daughter to give up? He was caught in a dilemma.

Du Wancai was restless after returning his room. After a sleepless night, he still had not come up with any good idea.

The next morning, when Du Wancai just got up, Du Xiuxiu ran into his room crying and threw herself into his arms. “What should I do, father? Prince Yu is leaving. Whatever it takes, you must help me stop him, father…” Du Xiuxiu said while sobbing.

Du Wancai was spiritless for he had not slept for the whole night. Hearing his daughter’s crying, his brain ached. He massaged between his eyebrows as he tried to comfort her. “My good girl, there will be a time for that, so, let’s not hurry about it now. Prince Yu is heading to the battlefield on the southern border, I can’t force him to stay now. If he is delayed and thus loses the war, His Majesty will kill us. When Prince Yu comes back, I surely will help you marry him, alright?”

At the point, Du Wancai had no choice but stable his daughter’s emotions before making a further but unhurried plan.

…

Duanmu Gongyu and Yun Muxi moved on their way with their entourages. Though it was peaceful in Du Wancai’s mansion last night, something might happen today. Thus, they all became cautious and put their guards on.

When the carriage was about to reach a path in the forest, all the people became tense. Hei Ye started to drive the carriage forward at a higher speed. Winds whistled past them; Duanmu Gongyu stayed alert toward surroundings.

All of a sudden, Duanmu Gongyu narrowed his eyes, in which a sharp light flashed, and he looked extremely solemn at the moment.

Right then, several men in black rushed out of the forest and thrust into the carriage with swords as fast as lightning.

“Stay here and do not go out!” After saying this, he drew out his sword and went to fight with the men in black.

There were totally six assassins, two of whom were fighting fiercely with Duanmu Gongyu, while the other four were held off by Hei Ye and Lan Yun. As for Duanmu Gongyu’s four secret guards, they remained hidden and would not show up unless Duanmu Gongyu’s life was threatened. By then, they would eliminate all the enemies in secret while not exposing themselves. That was what they were hired for.

Duanmu Gongyu was as fast as a flash and as swift as the wind when he brandished his sword. Under his skillful moves, the two assassins were forced to the corner quickly and got wounds all over.

The two assassins exchanged a look, and one of them made a sharp whistle.

The next second, dozens of assassins in black rushed out of the forest and stood in a line in front of Duanmu Gongyu.

Emitting a cold aura, Duanmu Gongyu looked domineering, his robe whistling in the wind. The assassins could not help but hold their breath feeling his aura, but soon, they realized that they greatly outnumbered Duanmu Gongyu’s side no matter how powerful Duanmu Gongyu was.

At the finding, they relaxed down. The tallest one among them waved his hand as he gave the order, “The three of you, go catch him.”

The three assassins standing behind the man and the previous six assassins immediately surrounded Duanmu Gongyu, Hei Ye, and Lan Yun. Back to back, Duanmu Gongyu, Hei Ye, and Lan Yun got tense and adjusted themselves to the best fighting state. Sword in hands, they waited for their chance to attack.

The nine assassins slashed toward the three at a high speed. Just as a sword was about to reach between Duanmu Gongyu’s eyebrows, he lifted his sword and cut through the assassin’s throat. The assassin fell on the ground, dead. Duanmu Gongyu’s move was quick and accurate, and he took the assassin’s life with just one strike.

Those who near him even failed to see clearly how he attacked while the assassin was killed. Same as Duanmu Gongyu, Hei Ye and Lan Yun were quick, accurate, and fierce when they killed their enemies.

At the point, only six assassins were still alive. They looked shocked but still chose to continue fighting. These six assassins were no threat to Duanmu Gongyu, Hei Ye, and Lan Yun. The former was put at a disadvantage while the later looked at ease in the fighting.

The tallest assassin narrowed his eyes, and with a wave of his hand, another six assassins joined in the fight. Duanmu Gongyu, Hei Ye, and Lan Yun fought fiercely with the assassins, who seemed determined to take their lives as each of their moves was fatal. Fortunately, the three were all swift and dodged the fatal attack.

They cooperated well with each other in a tacit way. Besides defending themselves, they also launched fierce attacks at their enemies. The two sides were in a close battle.

An assassin suddenly seized a chance and thrust toward between Duanmu Gongyu’s eyebrows. Duanmu Gongyu tilted his head to dodge the sword and quickly jumped to behind the assassin. He slashed the assassin at the back and pierced through his heart. Then, as he pulled out his sword quickly, the assassin fell on the ground. He moves were so graceful as if he were dancing.

Hidden in the carriage, Yun Muxi peeped at the situation outside. Of course, she did not miss any of Duanmu Gongyu’s handsome moves, and she felt both frightened and excited watching the fight as if she were watching an action movie. If she were not in danger as well, she would cheer for them.

Duanmu Gongyu killed another assassin while Hei Ye and Lan Yun each killed an assassin as well.

The tallest assassin wanted to end the fight as soon as possible, so, he waved his hand again and ordered, “All of you, go to fight! Hurry up, kill them all.”

Following the order, the assassins that stood by before all joined the fight. Things became tough to Duanmu Gongyu’s side. Among the dozens of assassins, four went to fight Hei Ye and Lan Yun, and the rest all aimed at Duanmu Gongyu, pushing him into a hard situation. Surrounded tightly by enemies, he could barely defend himself, let alone fight back.

Duanmu Gongyu was put in more danger. As he felt four winds go past him, four figures in black landed beside him. They were no other than Dong Fangying, Xi Fangchi, Nan Fangjing, and Bei Fangye. Out of nowhere, the four secret guards broke through the siege and joined the fight.

The tallest assassin immediately had a foreboding, but, given that he was ordered to kill Duanmu Gongyu at all cost, he had to force himself to continue the fight. Whatever happened, he had to kill Duanmu Gongyu, their biggest target, on the spot.

At the tallest assassin’s signal, several men near him immediately got the clue and turned to target Duanmu Gongyu. They slashed toward Duanmu Gongyu aggressively, and Duanmu Gongyu could hardly handle them. As for the rest assassins, they were busy fighting against Hei Ye, Dong Fangying, and others on Duanmu Gongyu’s side.

Even though with the four secret guards’ help, Duanmu Gongyu’s pressure was eased, he still had to try his best to defend himself as he was greatly outnumbered and fiercely attacked.

As one assassin aimed at Duanmu Gongyu’s heart, two assassins slashed toward Duanmu Gongyu respectively from his right and left. Duanmu Gongyu raised his sword to defend his chest while jumping up and kicking at the wrists of the assassins on his right and left side. The assassins’ swords fell on the ground…

Duanmu Gongyu defended himself perfectly from the three assassins’ attacks. However, when he was about to land on the ground, the tallest assassin thrust at him from behind. Just as the sword was about to reach Duanmu Gongyu’s back, a cup flew toward them and hit the assassin’s wrist.

The assassin felt a sharp pain from his wrist, which caused his sword to deviate from its target and hit Duanmu Gongyu’s right arm. The assassin looked toward where the cup flew from and saw Yun Muxi, who stuck her head out of the window of the carriage and didn’t withdraw it in time.

The tallest assassin turned to attack Yun Muxi. Seeing this, Yun Muxi quickly turned around and picked up another cup and threw it at the assassin. The assassin was hit on the forehead, and the cup caused a bloody hole on it. He then knelt down and covered his bleeding forehead with his hands.

The tallest assassin left a cut on Duanmu Gongyu’s right arm. As Duanmu Gongyu covered the wound with his left hand, he saw the assassin turn to attack the carriage. In great shock, he charged at the assassin quickly…

Just as the four secret guards eliminated the assassins near them and was about to help Duanmu Gongyu, they saw Duanmu Gongyu got wounded and the man who hit Duanmu Gongyu turn to attack Yun Muxi.

The tallest assassin wept the blood off his face, stood up, and charged at Yun Muxi with his swords in one of his hands. Spotting this, Yun Muxi threw out a teapot toward the assassin. However, this time, the assassin was on guard, so, he did not get hit like before. He lifted his sword and cut the teapot into two pieces, which then fell on to the ground.

The assassin continued rushing toward Yun Muxi, who threw everything she could find in the carriage at the assassin. Each of the objects was aimed accurately at the assassin. However, the assassin was no ordinary man. He cut everything that flew toward him into two pieces with his sword while still charging at Yun Muxi at a high speed.

Hei Ye, Lan Yun, Xi Fangchi, Nan Fangjing, and Bei Fangye came into blows with the assassins again while Duanmu Gongyu chased closely after the tallest assassin. At the same time, Dong Fangying hurried to protect Yun Muxi from another direction.

The assassin reached the carriage rapidly and pulled Yun Muxi out of the carriage. Just as Yun Muxi regained her balance after being dragged down the carriage, a sword pressed against her neck, which freaked her out. As a girl that came from modern times, she had never been threatened like this before. Pale-faced, she dared not to move at all.

The assassin shouted at Duanmu Gongyu in a threatening tone, “Put your weapon down and tell your men to stop fighting; otherwise, I’ll kill her right now.”