Messenger of Calamity

Chapter 100: Shut Your Mouth

Damn it, they had run into a Foundation Messenger!

It was incredibly easy to distinguish a Foundation Messenger from a Third-Stage Messenger. Though it seemed like just one more job change apart, the difference in level was like heaven and earth. No matter how powerful a Third-Stage Messenger was, at most they could "take the enemy general’s head amidst a sea of troops," but a Foundation Messenger only needed to raise a hand for "ten thousand arrows to rain down and the entire army to charge"!

A single person could form an army, shake the heavens and overturn the earth—like a god, like a demon, like an abyss, like a prison!

Having witnessed the destructive power Chen Liexia displayed in the Mansu Woodland, Yan Qing clearly understood one thing: forget about the two of them—even a whole group of Third-Stage Messengers stood no chance against a Foundation Messenger. A Level-39 Messenger was merely the mightiest of mortals, but a Level-40 Foundation had already been exalted by the Buddha as a Luohan Bodhisattva, and in the pursuit of Dao was a True Cultivator. They were beings of elevated essence—divine entities walking the land!

Yan Qing didn’t even dare to speak. The reversed blood that surged into his throat was forcefully swallowed back down. He minimized his presence and sprinted toward Shang Xinlei, pried her down from the wall, slung her over his shoulder like cargo, and ran off without so much as a glance back!

From the broken wall walked out a woman in plain palace maid attire, appearing to be around fifty years old. Her silver hair, though aged, flowed as smoothly as silk polished by time, and faint starlight flickered in its strands like powdery fragments. Her face was gaunt, crow’s feet etched clearly at the corners of her eyes. The beauty of her youth had faded, yet neither the youthful palace maid nearby nor the young emperor not far off could match even a fraction of her presence.

Compared to this gracefully aging matron, even Shang Xuanwen, that pampered Prime Minister, appeared as shabby as a rustic farmer. She looked toward Yan Qing’s fleeing figure. Although she didn’t know who he was, how he had infiltrated the Imperial Palace, or how he had broken through the walls of Chengqian Hall, all of these questions could be resolved with the simplest solution: destroy them.

Just as she prepared to activate a token, a palace maid came stumbling toward her, sobbing and sniffling.

“Niangniang, I… I was getting something earlier, and that black-clad man caught me. I thought I was going to die…”

The matron paused. Yinping had been captured but not killed?

Right—this was the Main City. Unless using fire oil or a self-harming token, no one could hurt another person here.

Realizing this, the matron decided not to waste spirit energy. After all, it was pointless to fight; it was better to dispatch guards and apprehend these assassins.

“Master.”

The young emperor pointed toward the palace wall not far off and said with a grin, “Look at that assassin—you hit him into the wall!”

“Struck head-on by Heaven's Might Combat Qi and still alive? That means their defensive token must be of a high grade… Hmm?” The matron, mid-sentence, suddenly realized something. She turned her gaze to the human-shaped dent in the palace wall and immediately became aware of what was wrong.

If they were truly bound by the laws of the Main City, a person struck by Heaven's Might Combat Qi would at most be sent flying, but not harmed in the least—not from the impact, not from the fall, and certainly not enough to leave a crater in the wall. From the very start, it should have been impossible for anyone to break through the walls of Chengqian Hall. The buildings were also protected by the Main City’s laws and couldn't be destroyed by force!

“They’re not assassins.”

The matron turned to look in the direction where Yan Qing had fled. But with so much time wasted, there was no sign of them anymore. She knew she had just missed a golden opportunity. Still, she didn’t seem particularly angry. Instead, it was as if two wild cats had barged into her house and stirred up trouble. She chuckled and cursed:

“They’re a bunch of lawless thieves.”

...

...

“Team Two, over there! Team Four, that way! Don’t overlook a single trace! Shoot arrows the moment you see the assassins! This is an imperial order from His Majesty, and the oversight of Hermit Yu Li—know the weight of what you’ve been commanded. If anyone dares to slack off, don’t blame me for being merciless! Understood?!”

“Understood!”

Hearing the hurried footsteps outside, Yan Qing felt a weight lifted from his shoulder as Shang Xinlei climbed down from him, leaned against the wall, sat down, and asked in a low, panting voice, “Where are we?”

“I found a house at random to hide in. Didn’t see the name, but there’s a well in the center of the courtyard, and lots of clothes hanging out to dry.”

Shang Xinlei, taking advantage of the light from the window, saw the house filled with all kinds of cloth and garments. She let out a breath of relief. “This is the Laundry Bureau. The guards probably won’t come here for a while.”

“You know this place well. What’s the plan now?” Yan Qing was glad to see his teammate recover so quickly. Otherwise, he’d be the only one facing this hellish situation. “Since you had everything so meticulously planned, I assume you’ve also prepared a retreat route?”

However, Shang Xinlei shook her head. “We can’t leave.”

Yan Qing raised an eyebrow and leaned in closer, trying to apply psychological pressure with his Dog Head Mask. “Don’t tell me you still want to go through with your assassination plan? If you’re determined to die, I won’t stop you. But we’re teammates—at least draw the guards’ attention and help me make an escape, won’t you?”

Shang Xinlei suddenly began coughing violently. Yan Qing panicked and cursed himself for not knowing how to knock someone out with a hand chop. If he did, he could’ve knocked her unconscious to stop the noise. But since he couldn’t, he pulled her toward him, opened his coat, and wrapped it around her head to muffle the sound as much as possible.

When she finally stopped coughing, she didn’t sit up again. Whether from exhaustion or injury, she lay nestled against him, breathing slowly. Yan Qing could feel his clothes getting soaked and hoped it was her blood—otherwise, it was her drool.

“We won’t get away like this,” Shang Xinlei whispered. “The guards are definitely watching the palace walls right now. It takes time to scale them. As long as they stall us, Hermit Yu Li will be able to arrive quickly.”

“Hermit Yu Li is—?”

“Ancestor of the Shao Clan, a Foundation of the Imperial Family, said to be the granddaughter of Emperor Taizu of Liang, her seniority is frighteningly high.” She exhaled a hot breath slowly and gave a bitter smile. “If I had known she had already returned to the capital, how could I have come up with such a suicidal plan?”

“Escape is not an option, and hiding won’t last long. Looks like we’ll have to cut off the tail like a gecko,” said Yan Qing. “One person distracts the guards while the other escapes. What do you think?”

Suddenly, Yan Qing felt his waist being tightly grabbed. Shang Xinlei muttered through clenched teeth, “I have a better plan. If you dare to abandon me... I won’t let you off!”

This really was a case of the farmer and the snake. In fact, what Yan Qing meant was that he would handle the guards himself—after all, he had a Return Token—but he hadn’t expected such an intense reaction from Shang Xinlei, who looked like she was about to bite him. It was an empty threat. If it had been Yan Qing, he would’ve said, “If you dare abandon me, I’ll shout and no one gets out of here.”

“What plan?”

“There’s one place the guards will never search. We can hide in there for a long time.” Shang Xinlei sat up with difficulty, wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, and looked at Yan Qing as she said:

“The Imperial Secret Treasury!”

A quarter of an hour later.

Yan Qing and Shang Xinlei pressed against a wall, listening as the footsteps on the other side gradually faded into the distance, both letting out a sigh of relief. The imperial authority hadn’t even gotten serious yet—just awakening alone had nearly overwhelmed them. Hundreds of guards and palace maids were conducting a carpet search of the Imperial Palace. Every few steps, they risked running into a patrol. If not for Shang Xinlei being a local, they would have been caught long ago.

But making it this far was already the limit. What came next would be a gamble.

Yan Qing grabbed a roof tile and climbed up to peek. He saw the central square teeming with people—not patrolling, but because the central square was where the palace halls intersected, many teams naturally passed through it.

The good news was that the very center of the square was empty. After all, anyone just passing through only needed to skirt the edges. Who would go out of their way to walk across the middle? The bad news was there were too many people and too many lanterns. If they ran through, they might be spotted.

After waiting three minutes, Yan Qing finally saw the crowd thin around the square. Though there were still people holding lanterns, a completely dark and safe route had appeared!

“Go.” Yan Qing climbed the wall and reached out to pull Shang Xinlei over. As they jumped down, Shang Xinlei staggered and almost lost her footing.

Before Yan Qing could say anything, Shang Xinlei said, “You go ahead, I’ll follow.” She paused, then added, “Even if I get caught, I’m not afraid. I’m the fourth young miss of the Shang Family. The imperial family wouldn’t dare harm me.”

If not for that last part, Yan Qing might have dashed off. But he was a sensitive person—sensitive enough to catch the undertone of guilt in her words, yet unable to accept it with peace of mind. On second thought, Shang Xinlei, who wobbled every few steps and needed help just to climb a two-meter wall—how could she possibly help distract the guards during his escape?

Yan Qing lifted Shang Xinlei’s right arm over his neck, supported her waist with his left hand, and ran straight toward the center of the square with her.

“You…”

“Shut your mouth. Who do you think I came here for?” Yan Qing growled under his breath. “If you’ve got the strength to talk, use it to run faster!”

Shang Xinlei was startled. Drooping her head, she muttered softly, “Next time we’re in this kind of situation, just carry me right away…”

“If there’s a next time, I’ll leave you behind. I don’t need a teammate who gets me into trouble twice.”