Chapter 119: The Wind is Picking Up, Time to Scram?!

Qin Cheng and Wei Qing were sipping sake and chatting idly, waiting for Gongsun Ce to fetch some dancing girls. Qin Cheng knew little about the current entertainers and, while their presence was of no great consequence, he was curious to see the elegant movements he had not yet witnessed since arriving in this era. Modern people are, after all, always somewhat intrigued by the lives and figures of the ancient world.

However, Qin Cheng and Wei Qing waited in vain for the dashing, top-tier Chang'an socialite Gongsun Ce to arrive with a flock of beauties in tow. Instead, they were met with a blood-curdling shriek—a sound so resonant and powerful it seemed capable of shaking the very foundations of the tavern.

"Could that fool have fallen down the stairs?" Wei Qing asked, startled.

"I suspect he tried to take liberties with someone’s dancer and ended up losing more than he gained," Qin Cheng chuckled.

Joking about Gongsun Ce, both men rose and headed toward the door to see what had transpired. Before they could even reach the threshold, Gongsun Ce’s voice rang out again—not with a scream of agony, but with an excited roar.

"Ha! Nice technique! Come on, take this!"

Hearing this, Qin Cheng and Wei Qing were both exasperated. Qin Cheng wondered if this man simply couldn't go a moment without a fight.

As they stepped out of the private room, they found the corridor crowded with onlookers. Most of the patrons in the main hall below had also stood up, craning their necks to peer at the second floor, with occasional jeers erupting from the crowd.

In front of a private room on the second floor, Gongsun Ce, who had just been kicked out, was charging toward a grim-faced, middle-aged man. Beside the man stood a timid dancing girl clutching a zither. She was quite attractive, lightly powdered, but her face was pale with terror, clearly shaken by the preceding commotion.

It turned out that when a tipsy Gongsun Ce stumbled out to find dancers and received no response, he had simply wandered the halls, poking his head into various rooms to check for talent, breathing his heavy alcoholic fumes into each one. Finally, he had spotted a dancer playing the zither in one room. Treating her like a discovered treasure, he had lunged in, ignored the guests, and dragged her toward the door, calling back, "I’m borrowing her for a moment, I’ll return her to you all later! Ha!"

Gongsun Ce was quite pleased with himself, but he paid for his arrogance immediately. One of the guests behind him had cursed, "Where did this drunkard come from?" and launched a kick that sent Gongsun Ce sprawling against the balcony railing. The alcohol made his subsequent howl exceptionally loud and wretched, which was exactly what had drawn the attention of the entire tavern.

The man who had kicked him, standing at the doorway, was of medium build, wearing tight silk robes that accentuated his bulging chest muscles. He watched Gongsun Ce coldly. Next to him stood a young nobleman in his early twenties who, clearly annoyed by the interruption to his drinking, snapped, "Ignorant wretch! Brother Li, teach him a lesson!"

Li Li, the middle-aged man, responded respectfully and moved to meet the charging Gongsun Ce. Since this young nobleman was a distinguished guest he was keen to impress, he could hardly refuse.

Gongsun Ce threw a punch straight at Li Li’s face. Li Li did not dodge, instead parrying the blow and kicking toward Gongsun Ce’s abdomen. Despite his drunkenness, Gongsun Ce’s reactions were not sluggish; he sidestepped and countered with a roundhouse kick.

Li Li was no amateur, and the two traded blows in a stalemate. Gongsun Ce’s martial arts were certainly not inferior to Qin Cheng’s, and fueled by the alcohol, he grew increasingly excited. Seeing that Li Li could not secure a quick victory, the young nobleman grew even more agitated and ordered his two sword-wielding servants, "Go, assist Li Li!"

As he spoke, the dancer by the door glanced up at him.

The two swordsmen moved to surround Gongsun Ce, but before they could close in, a figure arrived in a blur, blocking their path.

"Get lost!" the swordsmen barked, moving to shove the intruder aside. Instead, they felt their bodies lighten as their arms were guided away, their footing lost, and they were sent toppling to the side.

The intruder was Qin Cheng.

Qin Cheng had kept Wei Qing from intervening, knowing that as a commander of the Emperor’s guards, Wei Qing’s involvement in a street brawl would be problematic. He could handle this himself. Initially, he had hoped to defuse the situation, but given the aggression of the other party, he abandoned that notion.

Wei Qing watched Gongsun Ce sparring with Li Li, thinking, *This martial arts fanatic really doesn't miss a single chance to spar, regardless of the occasion.*

Just as Qin Cheng made his move, the dancing girl, who had been cowering, suddenly flicked her long sleeves, revealing a dagger, and lunged at the young nobleman without warning!

Almost simultaneously, a loud crash erupted from the private room, and two figures burst out. Before they appeared, two flashes of cold light—a blade and a sword—shot toward Li Li’s back!

If the previous scuffle had been a mere fistfight, these three weapons turned the scene into a lethal assassination.

...

Guo Dongdong and Guo Xixi, dressed in night gear, were perched on the tavern roof, listening intently. They had held this position for nearly an hour, waiting for a signal. The plan was to wait for their companion to drug the occupants of the room, then slip in, eliminate the target, and retreat.

Silence still hung over the room. The sisters were shivering from the cold, rubbing their hands to stay warm.

"Sister," Guo Xixi whispered.

"What is it?" Guo Dongdong asked, keeping her eyes fixed ahead.

"Are you cold?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Guo Dongdong retorted.

"Are you nervous?"

"Why would I be? It’s not our first time killing."

"But this is different! We have to do it quietly, and this target is important..." Xixi murmured, her heart racing.

"I don't think that much," Dongdong replied. "Killing is killing."

"Sister, you're a pervert!"

"You're the pervert!" Dongdong snapped. "Hush, listen!"

Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream echoed from the tavern.

"What happened?" Xixi asked in shock.

Dongdong's face darkened. "Xiao'er’s music has stopped."

The sound of fighting erupted.

"Has she been exposed?" Xixi cried.

"Let's go!" Dongdong ordered. The two leaped from the roof, kicked open the window at the back of the room, and surged inside, drawing their weapons to strike at Li Li’s back.

...

The scene was chaotic. Qin Cheng had just used a Taiji technique to send one of the swordsmen flying over the corridor railing. He turned, barely missing a punch from the second swordsman, just in time to see the dancer, Xiao'er, lunging at the young nobleman with her dagger. The nobleman was staring at Qin Cheng with hatred, completely oblivious to the blade nearing his throat.

Ignoring the punch landing on his own face, Qin Cheng tilted his head to dissipate the force and lunged toward the young nobleman. As the nobleman scrambled back in terror, Qin Cheng delivered a swift kick to his stomach.

The nobleman flew backward, and the dagger whistled past his nose, shaving off a few hairs. Qin Cheng wasn't playing the savior; he simply didn't want a murder on his hands while he was involved. As the nobleman fell, Qin Cheng dragged him aside, causing him to crash into a wooden wall instead of being skewered.

The nobleman scrambled up, only to freeze in terror. Before him, two masked figures in black were unleashing a flurry of blade strikes.

Xiao'er, having missed her strike, slashed her dagger toward Qin Cheng’s throat. Qin Cheng leaned back to avoid it, but at that moment, the blades from the two masked assassins were upon him. He was trapped.

Guo Dongdong and Guo Xixi had intended to strike Li Li, but Qin Cheng had inadvertently blocked their path. Seeing him, they were stunned, but their momentum was too great to stop. As the blades neared his chest, Wei Qing arrived, his own blade parrying theirs with a sharp *clang*.

Wei Qing had saved him. The sisters, relieved, forced Wei Qing back and turned their blades toward Li Li. Meanwhile, Xiao'er had resumed her assault on the battered young nobleman.

"Protect him!" Qin Cheng shouted to Wei Qing, taking a blade from him and lunging after the two masked sisters.

The chaos was total. Seeing the masked assassins, Gongsun Ce shouted to Li Li, "Watch your back!"

Li Li thought it was a trick, but Gongsun Ce, despite his obsession with combat, was no fool. He grabbed Li Li and pulled him aside just as the sisters' blades struck empty air.

Qin Cheng intercepted the two women. As they fought, he recognized the blade techniques—they were familiar. He leaned in close to Guo Dongdong and whispered, "Dongdong?"

Dongdong didn't answer, but her hesitation betrayed her.

"The wind is rising, let's retreat!" Qin Cheng signaled.

Recognizing the futility of the situation and the inevitable arrival of the authorities, Dongdong replied, "Retreat!"

Qin Cheng grabbed Gongsun Ce and dragged him into the private room, following the sisters. Inside, they found Wei Qing holding a blade to the dancer Xiao'er’s throat, while the young nobleman lay unconscious on the floor.

As Qin Cheng and the sisters entered, Wei Qing prepared to strike, but paused at Qin Cheng’s command: "They're with us!"