Chapter 157: Close Combat

"Alright."

Zhang Qian changed into fine armor inside the room, put on anti-poison gear, and tied an anti-poison veil across her face.

Long Chen did not dare to be careless. He also changed completely into fine armor, added protective plates to all his vital spots, and tied a half-moistened veil over his face to ward off poison.

"Take a small crossbow. It might come in handy at a critical moment."

Long Chen picked up a compact crossbow loaded with only a single bolt and handed it to Zhang Qian.

Zhang Qian concealed it behind her waist, while Long Chen hung his own crossbow at his waist, where his garments easily hid it.

Taking out two detoxifying pills, Long Chen swallowed one himself and gave the other to Zhang Qian.

With everything prepared, Long Chen and Zhang Qian made their way to the pond in the side courtyard.

In the late spring, all things were reviving by the pond. The chirping of insects echoed from the grass along the water's edge, and a warm evening breeze gently brushed past. There was a unique, intoxicating languor in the spring air that relaxed the body, inducing a lazy, carefree mood.

Long Chen sat inside the pavilion by the bank. The pavilion had windows on all sides, with only a single door open.

His long spear lay upon the table, and Zhang Qian stood guard behind him.

"Later, when you engage Wuming in combat, you only need to stall him. I will kill Hou Ping first," Long Chen said in a low voice.

Wuming's wounds from earlier in the day surely had not healed yet, and his combat effectiveness would be severely compromised. Even if Zhang Qian could not kill Wuming, she would certainly be able to hold him off.

Zhang Qian gave a slight nod.

In the shadows by the lake, a figure slowly emerged. Wearing a mask patterned with blazing crimson flames and twin short swords at his waist, it was none other than the shadow guard commander, Wuming.

Wuming walked slowly along the winding waterside corridor toward the front of the pavilion, gazing at Long Chen through his mask.

"Long Chen'en, I truly admire your methods. You actually managed to incite the Three Patriarchs to kill us. What a brilliant scheme."

From Wuming's perspective, Long Chen's arrival in Qianjiang Prefecture was a dead end.

The local overlords, the Three Patriarchs, were enemies; the shadow guards were enemies; the Imperial City Inspectorate was also enemies.

With enemies lurking in both the light and the shadows, Long Chen was doomed no matter what he did.

Yet, to his surprise, Long Chen had actually managed to instigate the Three Patriarchs into fighting them to the death. Wuming knew that he himself could never have pulled that off.

Long Chen chuckled and said, "What can I do? The manpower I brought was insufficient. If I had enough men, I would much rather have killed you with my own hands."

Wuming laughed heartily. "It's not that your manpower is insufficient now; you simply have no men left at all. I have just wiped out the entire Yuan family, and Hou Ping from the Imperial City Inspectorate should have finished off the Xu family by now."

"And what about the Wang family? Clearly, I never made a move against them, yet their estate went up in flames. I'd like to ask Lord Long, who on earth is killing people and setting fires at the Wang family?"

Long Chen laughed out loud. "Naturally, it was me!"

Wuming chuckled along. "Lord Long is certainly straightforward, admitting to it with such refreshing candor. I must say I am impressed!"

"They fought for you by day and died for you, yet you turned around and wiped out the Wang family. If we hadn't made a move against the Xu and Yuan families, were you planning to do the job yourself?"

Long Chen smiled. "Indeed. I had already arranged to disguise myself as you and strike at the Three Patriarchs tonight."

"Since you've already taken care of it, I am more than happy to save the effort. I must thank you for ridding the people of a scourge."

Long Chen's original plan had been to wipe out all three factions completely. While the Three Patriarchs had indeed joined Long Chen in besieging the shadow guards and the Imperial City Inspectorate during the day, Long Chen and they were by no means comrades.

The Three Patriarchs were notorious villains who murdered and plundered without restraint. To say nothing of else, tens of thousands of commoners in Zhenhai had been slaughtered by them; their hands were stained with countless blood debts, and they richly deserved to die!

That evening at the prefectural governor's mansion, Long Chen had deliberately dropped hints that the shadow guards might launch a nighttime retaliation, laying the groundwork for his own operations.

Wang Zhong and Wang Li were already dead, so Feng He should have had no trouble wiping out the Wang family.

However, dealing with Xu Zhi and Yuan Tengfei might present variables. In case he failed to exterminate them, Long Chen could simply frame Feng He as a shadow guard and wash his hands of the suspicion.

To his surprise, after Feng He destroyed the Wang family and went to check on the Xu and Yuan families, the shadow guards and the Imperial City Inspectorate had already stepped in and done the work for him.

Wuming could not help but praise, "Impressive, truly impressive. Decisive and ruthless—aside from the Great General, you are the most formidable person I have ever seen."

"If we were not enemies, I would genuinely wish to share a drink with you and discuss heroes over wine."

Pfft...

Hearing this, Long Chen burst into laughter. "You, a running dog of an assassin, what qualifications do you have to discuss heroes over wine with me!"

"Let alone you, even if Jing Tianlie were here, I wouldn't condescend to share a table and drink with him!"

Who was Long Chen? He was the fifth young master of the Long family, a peerless genius capable of trading dozens of blows with the Empress herself.

Even Jing Tianlie had been thoroughly crushed by the Long family army; Wuming was merely Jing Tianlie's lapdog. What right did he have to discuss heroes over wine with Long Chen? It was truly shameless self-aggrandizement.

Zhang Qian was stunned as she listened. For the first time, she felt that Long Chen possessed such overwhelming dominance.

Previously, following Long Chen, she had only thought of him as lecherous, vulgar, and full of cunning tricks.

Yet tonight, she felt as though the person sitting before her was not a eunuch at all, but an overlord destined to conquer the world!

Wuming had originally spoken with a sense of buoyant release, feeling as though he had met a kindred spirit, only to find that Long Chen held him in utter contempt.

He had pressed his warm, eager face against a cold, freezing backside, only to have the other party release a fart by way of mockery.

Wuming felt as though he were choking to death. A stifling oppression gripped his chest, and he nearly vomited blood once more.

He had suffered severe injuries in his battle with Long Chen during the day. The only reason he dared to seek Long Chen out was because he knew Long Chen was also wounded, plus he had Hou Ping to assist him.

Earlier that day, while fleeing and evading pursuers, Wuming had unexpectedly run into Hou Ping.

Though they served different masters, their goal was identical: to kill Long Chen.

With a common enemy came common interests, and with common interests, they could become friends!

The two of them hit it off immediately and formulated tonight's plan.

First, eliminate Long Chen's helpers, then join forces to kill Long Chen.

And so, the two sides split up, first eliminating the Xu and Yuan families, then wiping out the weakest Wang family, before finally gathering at the prefectural governor's mansion to slay Long Chen.

When they had finished off the Xu and Yuan families, they noticed the blazing fires soaring from the Wang estate, instantly guessing that Long Chen was discarding the donkey the moment it left the millstone. Thus, they had hurried straight to the prefectural governor's mansion.

"To discuss heroes over wine with a mere eunuch—how utterly humiliating. Once we kill him, you and I can discuss heroes over wine instead."

Hou Ping stepped out from the darkness, his face also covered by a mask.

Hou Ping's face had been badly burned, leaving a hideous appearance, so he too had worn a mask when coming here.

"Very well, everyone is here now. Let's begin!"

Long Chen could not be bothered to waste any more words with them. He picked up his long spear and stood up.

Hou Ping gazed into the pavilion and sneered coldly, "Come out. It's too cramped inside; we won't have room to maneuver."

Long Chen chuckled darkly. "That just means your skills are lacking. If you've got the guts, come in and fight."

Long Chen refused to step outside, while Hou Ping was unwilling to step inside. The two sides reached a stalemate.

Wuming felt a surge of bottled-up frustration. He sneered, "It's all the same wherever we fight!"

His twin short swords were suited for combat in confined spaces, so he chose to go inside.

Wuming walked slowly toward the pavilion. Hearing that Long Chen was heavily injured and that Zhang Qian's cultivation was not particularly high, Hou Ping felt unconcerned and followed Wuming inside.

Wuming advanced step by step. As he reached the entrance of the pavilion, his figure suddenly accelerated. Drawing his twin short swords, he lunged fiercely at Long Chen.

Raising his long spear, Long Chen swept it horizontally, batting the twin swords aside.

Wuming leaped upward, and Hou Ping appeared behind him, thrusting two flying daggers straight at Long Chen.

Clang! Clang!

Zhang Qian had sharp eyes; she raised her saber and deflected the two flying daggers.

Long Chen lunged forward fiercely, entangling Hou Ping in close combat. Wuming landed, attempting to pounce on Long Chen, but Zhang Qian immediately closed in and engaged Wuming in a fierce melee.