Shangguan Jianyi’s assassination plan had just begun, and naturally, he would not easily admit defeat. He sniffed out the Dragon King’s intentions of attacking and immediately retaliated.
His response was direct and cruel. That night, he sent out over thirty first-rate killers and an even larger number of machetemen. These machetemen had been working for the Golden Roc Fort for many years and were familiar with the rules of a killer– they were not inexperienced.
There was not much novelty in the whole assassination plan. From the looks of it, each day seemed easy. However, starting from the second day and ending at dawn, even the most experienced soldiers had a little fear of the night.
The troops of the Five Countries had become even more tightly controlled by the Dragon King. They had been hurt in the tides of assassination over the past few days, but this did not affect the views of a minority: the troops of Golden Roc Fort. They had not yet entered Xiaoyao Lake, and the troops looked more pleasant than the troops that had already conquered the Great Snowmountain. Set apart by a deserted desert, the ambitious Supreme King looked more like a rescuer than an invader.
The army still had spies hidden. Things were not as open as before, and this increased their destructive power.
One small group of about fifteen soldiers patrolled the area around the barracks after dark. They walked on a fixed route past several secret posts that were supporting each other. These posts communicated to each other via sounds that resembled birds and other animals and were very sensitive to any changes in their surroundings.
However, this time, the attack took place between two posts. It happened quietly and was over in the blink of an eye. It did not arouse anybody’s attention.
Thirteen soldiers were killed. The assassins quickly removed his black clothes revealing the uniform of the Five Nations army underneath. They dragged the bodies to the roadside and covered them with their own black clothing. They then took the dead soldiers’ weapons and continued patrolling with two leaders.
The two leaders did not even turn their heads. It was as if they had pretended that nothing had happened. They only slowed down a little, waiting for the group to line up, and everything returned to normal.
The small group did not hurry. After finishing the patrolling mission, it handed its duty over to the next group, as usual, and calmly returned to the barracks.
At this time, it was still two minutes to the second watch day.
The soldiers of the Five Countries were concentrated in the barracks in the East and South regions. They were on the outskirts, close to the Great Snowmountain camp. According to the orders of the troops, they were not to cross the border at will.
Thirteen killers waited silently for a while in the dark tent, then quietly walked out in groups of two and three– forming five teams in all. They stood by in their designated areas awaiting orders.
The two leaders were fast “asleep” tents, exaggerating their snoring. And when the last group of killers had left, their hearts were quietly relieved. After the chaos in the barracks, they would use the opportunity to escape the barracks, and officially become enemies of the Dragon King.
The killers seemed to have ideas of their own. A saber gently pierced the vitals of its victim. The betrayer completed his final mission and stopped pretending to snore.
The first assassination took place outside of the barracks– four soldiers at two of the secret posts were killed. Once the signals were not sent on time, the bodies were quickly discovered. A large number of troops arrived and found the thirteen dead patrol soldiers. They immediately understood that the killers had already infiltrated the barracks.
From the beginning, the number of deaths was large, which indicated that tonight’s attack would be larger than any day before.
The leaders of the Great Snowmountain swordsmen immediately rang their horns to alert the barracks.
The killers in hiding took this as their signal to begin their operation.
The whole army had plans on how to deal with this situation and they did not panic, especially the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain. They were the main force in the barracks and were always ready for combat. As soon as the horn sounded, they climbed out of their warm beds, took up their heavy swords, and walked towards the assembly point.
The horns outside the camp continued sounding, and most of the swordsmen were ready.
However, improving vigilance was a process after all, especially within one’s own military camp. Although each tent only house several soldiers, things were bound to become messy with everyone moving at once.
The killers who were hiding in ambush seized this opportunity.
Their target was the swordsman at the back of the group. After killing him, they immediately moved on to the next in line. Once the swordsman in front had realized that something was wrong and looked back for his comrades, three swordsmen were already dead.
The defense within the Great Snowmountain’s encampment was extremely tight. Hence, the three assassinations had all taken place on the fringes. However, this incited a lot of anger in the hearts of the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain. They lit their torches and went scouring for the hidden killers.
This was a bad decision. The swordsman shouldered the heavy responsibilities and should have left immediately to help the panicked soldiers strengthen their defenses and protect the important people in the camp.
It was not until a quarter of an hour later that Dugu Xian, who had been standing beside the Left General, came over to hurry the troops. It was not until then that the swordsmen bitterly put their plans into action.
However, it was already late. The other groups of killers had already put their plans into motion in the camp: to kill their two most important targets.
There were not many savage soldiers. There were only a few hundred of them selected by the Dragon King to be his personal troops. Even though the tent that the Dragon King lived in was subjected to change, to everyone, his tent was always situated not far from where his personal troops were stationed. Hence, these two assassinations aroused greater vigilance at this time.
The Dragon King’s two Queens also lived in the military camp. Many people understood immediately that the killer’s sole mission tonight was not to kill only unimportant targets.
Shuangguan Jianyi was like a god looking over the world. He was well aware of everything that went on in the barracks and was even one step ahead in the assassination plans.
When a large number of soldiers surrounded the tent of the Princess and Jiang, the assassinations took place on the other side of the camp.
Two nobles from the Land of Fragrance and four slaves were killed, one after the other. The killers were extremely professional in their methods of operation; they were flawless, but their techniques were unusual. In order to intimidate the people and demonstrate their power, the corpses were subjected to extreme mutilation, and witnesses of the spectacle vomited in disgust. The cowardly troops were thrown into a panic, and a large group of swordsmen came to settle the commotion.
The killers carried out their operation step by step with increasing frequency. Next, another two high-ranking military generals from the Five Countries and one mine thief were assassinated.
Panic was spreading. Only a thousand swordsmen from the Great Snowmountains remained calm. However, they were forced to disperse to different parts of the camp in order to ensure the army’s stability and boost morale.
However, the Dragon King never showed up.
Gu Shenwei had been waiting patiently, knowing that if he revealed himself, he would become a part of Shangguan Jianyi’s plan.
Shangguan Jianyi once hid in the barracks and so he was very aware of the mentality of the various armies– he could even accurately predict their reactions. Only the Dragon King’s routine remained beyond his comprehension.
Gu Shenwei believed that patience was the most important element in this battle.
The assassination was still in progress, but with the improvement of the military camp’s defense, the flaws of the killers became increasingly apparent.
Any plan is perfect in the initial stages, then things begin to go downhill. The wise know when to stop, while those eager to retaliate will to stick to the plan.
Shangguan Jianyi was eager to retaliate. He had never had any contact with the Dragon King. However, he firmly believed that the Dragon King was a slave of the Golden Roc Fort. He refused to be humiliated by a slave.
The machetemen started to coordinate themselves in the battle outside of the military camp. However, the effects were not exactly favorable. The swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain stuck firmly to their orders and stopped running from the scene. The patrolling soldiers started to show some fighting will after panicking, and their alertness became higher than before. Even for the first-rate killers, it became hard for them to kill quietly.
Speculating is the same as making plans. The start was usually easy compared to the end. Shangguan Jianyi applied pressure on the entire camp, and it produced unexpected results.
The assassination that took place outside of the barracks became a face-to-face duel. The troops from the Five Countries proved their fighting strength during the fight. By the fourth watch, the night of assassination began to draw to a close, and they had managed to stave off the attack by machetemen outside of the barracks. They had successfully encircled over sixty people, and only a few machetemen escaped.
The coordination outside of the barracks was ineffective. The assassination within the camp increased in difficulty, and without new orders, the killers were forced to carry on with their original plan.
The two killers, in assassinating one noble from the Land of Fragrances, had revealed their weaknesses and died under the arrows of the Dragon King’s personal troops. Following which, another killer in hiding was also discovered and killed by several swordsmen from the Great Snowmountains.
Most of the killers had already been used to assassinating their targets from the back. As soon as their tracks were discovered, they would have lost their advantage– greatly reducing their combat effectiveness.
The swordsmen’s situation was the exact opposite.
News of the killers’ defeat spread quickly throughout the military camp. Even the most feeble soldiers rejoiced over such news, and the halo of fear that hung over the killers of the Golden Roc Fort began to fade.
However, the assassination was not over. Just when the whole army tightened its vigilance, there were still people dying. The killers were fighting for their lives.
Shangguan Jianyi showed all his cards in the midst of achieving his goal. The last time, the burning of the supply depot sacrificed the lives of army deserters from the Five Countries. This time, however, he sacrificed the lives of his most elite soldiers.
On the fourth day, all of the machetemen outside the camp had been killed or forced to flee. Eleven killers were also killed inside the camp.
Thirteen patrolling soldiers who were killed corresponded with the number of dead killers. Hence, there were still two killers remaining. These two seemed to have lost all courage, going deep into hiding and not daring to come out.
Dawn was approaching. The night of the killers was coming to an end and the soldiers all believed that even the best killers had nowhere to hide under the sun.
Wiping out all the killers was only a matter of time.
Gu Shenwei’s patience was being tested. To Shangguan Feiyi, his powers of understanding paled in comparison to Dugu Xian. However, Shangguan Feiyi believed that he was capable of understanding the psyche of the other and that the assassination plans should never be just this.
Dawn arrived, and there were shouts and laughter from the barracks– the last two killers had been caught.
Shangguan Feiyi was prone to making mistakes too. Gu Shenwei thought this but remained vigilant all the same.
The soldiers did not relax their vigilance either. They launched a wide-scale search of the military camp in search of potential killers and any remaining spies.
At this moment, a sharp scream rang out from the two tents in the heart of the military camp. The atmosphere suddenly changed; everyone knew it came from the residence of the two future Queens. There were at least five hundred guards on surrounding the tent. Even if the killers were invisible, they would not be able to squeeze their way through the security.
However, the assassination still took place.
The Princess of the Stone Kingdom and Lady Jiang from the Great Snowmountain had been assassinated at the same time. Lin Xiaoshan, who had been prepared to sacrifice his life, was injured but did not die.