Messenger of Calamity

Chapter 104: The First Ambush

Returning the time to a quarter of an hour ago, at the moment the explosion and fire suddenly broke out at the Shang Residence.

Before this, Shang Xuanwen had already split the group once, dispatching the Golden Guards’ Commander Chen Zaiyuan to the Armory to fight the fire, while he himself led a group into the Imperial Palace to investigate the situation. Now that the Shang Residence was in trouble, after a brief hesitation, Shang Xuanwen chose to return to the residence first—besides him, the Prime Minister, many others would head to the Imperial Palace to defend it, but the Shang Residence had only him, its patriarch, to protect it.

However, he did not take the shortest route back. If the first fire at the Armory was to cause chaos, and the second fire at the Imperial Palace was to assassinate the royal family, then the third fire at the Shang Residence could only be aimed at him. The enemy needed him to act rashly, needed him to grow angry, needed him to lose his composure—and that was precisely what he must not do.

The fastest route back to the residence most likely had traps laid out. Rushing in recklessly would be stepping into a battlefield meticulously prepared by the enemy. So he must not be hasty. Instead, he had to be slow, be steady, walk the main roads, and let everyone know that the Prime Minister of Great Liang was returning home!

Shang Xuanwen had always preferred to conceal his identity and manipulate others, but this did not mean he was a schemer lurking in the shadows. He was the State Minister of a nation—why should he be concerned with petty calculations and lowly scheming? Walking openly and righteously down the main avenue could crush all malevolent spirits and wicked beings.

If the enemy dared to make a move on the main road, messengers from noble clans across the city would surely converge to help. The further the news of the Prime Minister’s patrol spread, the quicker the turmoil in the city would settle. When people were panicking from chaos, what they needed most was to hear authoritative information.

But things in life rarely went as he wished, just like how children would not remain as innocent and pure as he had hoped. Just before reaching Jiangtai Avenue, Shang Xuanwen encountered the first wave of ambush that night.

Violent and ferocious.

Four flaming assailants suddenly burst out from the buildings on both sides of the street. Just as Shang Xuanwen thought it was another Firemen assault, he saw them hurl out scalding iron chains, heated until they glowed cherry red, each a full seven feet long!

Four of the six Golden Guard warriors were instantly killed on the spot. These warriors were all First-Stage Messengers, but they were still sliced in half by the sickle-like chains, their flesh torn apart like straw.

Though these warriors were Messengers, they had lived in the main city for far too long. The absolute safety of the city had completely dulled their sense of danger. So much so that on a night filled with peril, they hadn’t even activated their defensive tokens—just as sluggish as domesticated pigs.

Relying too much on past experience could lead to unimaginable loss.

But the attackers’ target was not the warriors. From beginning to end, their focus was on Shang Xuanwen. The warriors were merely ants trampled during their encirclement!

Four attackers. Eight chains. Sweeping in from eight directions, sealing off all of Shang Xuanwen’s escape routes!

  Burners of Themselves!

Shang Xuanwen’s heart sank. He realized the enemy truly intended to kill him this time.

That might sound strange. Didn’t the assassins from the past few days also intend to kill him? But all assassinations came at a cost. Though those earlier assassins had been prepared, they were mostly ordinary men. And lives of ordinary people were expendable. Using them for assassinations was like fishing with luck—catching something was good, failing was expected.

But the four ambushers now were all Messengers!

The so-called Burners of Themselves were evolved versions of Firemen—Messengers who used self-immolation to gain the power to harm others. Since they had to self-immolate, these Messengers could not wear any protection and had to let the flames continue burning them, hence the name Burners of Themselves.

The most renowned Burner of Themselves currently was none other than the Empress of the Northern Kingdom.

Self-immolation was only the first step. If a Burner of Themselves only used fire to burn others, then they would be no different from ordinary Firemen. A true Burner of Themselves must possess a fire-related token. Only then could the residual flames of their dying bodies cause their token's fire to become vicious enough to bypass the main city's laws.

These Burners of Themselves may not have fire tokens, but they had iron chains heated like branding irons. If Shang Xuanwen’s guess was correct, these chains were tokens, and they had the ability to heat up rapidly—because only the temperature of the Burners themselves could truly scorch human flesh.

Burners of Themselves were unlikely to survive. Every moment, they endured unimaginable agony. And because of their robust vital energy and blood, and their strong life force, just like dry wood burns more fiercely than rotted wood, their flames burned hotter than those of ordinary people. Such Burners of Themselves, who were willing to die in sacrifice, were incredibly valuable to any faction. For four to appear at once could only mean one thing—

To eliminate Shang Xuanwen, the enemy was willing to pay any price!

But could paying any price really bring me down? Shang Xuanwen felt an eerie calm. He clearly heard the sonic booms from the eight chains’ swipes. In his ears, the trajectories of the eight chains were vividly clear, as though the chains themselves were speaking their intentions to him.

The Soul-Seeking Bell had always been a reconnaissance token that captured the enemy’s attack paths through sound. Hearing inner voices was merely a bonus he had triggered by chance.

In that instant, Shang Xuanwen calculated the best way to respond.

He could slash away four of the chains with one sword strike. Two nearby warriors, who had activated their tokens, could block one more. As for the remaining three, his Heartguard Mirror of the Mountains with its Sevenfold Mirror could withstand them! The only problem was the Rat Monk who had followed behind—he had no defensive token. Shang Xuanwen regretted agreeing to let this Big Monk come along. Now, he could only find a way to protect him—

Just then, Shang Xuanwen heard hurried footsteps from behind. It was the Rat Monk running. He thought the Rat Monk was afraid, thought he was seeking protection, thought he was coming to borrow a sword—he never imagined… the Rat Monk would throw his arms around his neck from behind.

The action didn’t harm him, but it completely sealed his fate. Off-balance, he could no longer deflect the chains. And the chains would soon crash down like hammers striking steel, utterly smashing the sevenfold defense of the Heartguard Mirror—followed by his own flesh and blood.

 Shang Xuanwen was suddenly struck by a realization. The route from the Imperial Palace back to the Shang Residence had been a decision he made on the spot—and it wasn’t even the shortest route. Logically, no one could have predicted his path accurately. The only explanation was... there was a traitor by his side.

And in these past days, who had stayed closest to him, who knew him best, who had been acting alongside him every moment—who else could it be?

How laughable. He had lived his whole life cautiously. No one had ever truly gained his trust. No one had ever stayed at his side for long. And yet, he still couldn’t escape betrayal... perhaps even death, because of it.

He had placed too much trust in past experience, too much in his own judgment—and thus suffered the most brutal betrayal. Those skilled in swimming drown, those skilled in riding fall. Wasn’t this the meaning of that saying?

In this world, who could he still trust?

"What the—"

"Out of the way!"

Agitated shouts rang out all around.

Shang Xuanwen’s eyes widened as he saw one of the warriors in front of him suddenly pull out two chains from inside his robes. As he drew them out, the chains scraped violently against his armor. The armor had likely been smeared with black oil, causing him to catch fire instantly. The chains turned scorching cherry red. He lashed sideways, killing a fellow warrior in one strike. But when he turned his head to search for Shang Xuanwen, he discovered he had already been dragged away by the Rat Monk.

So it wasn’t four Burners of Themselves—it was five!

Yet even with this revelation, the situation did not improve in the slightest. Ten scalding chains came down from every direction—above, below, left, right—encircling them entirely. All that awaited them appeared to be a bloody end.

"Big Monk, you—" Shang Xuanwen wanted the Rat Monk to let go of him. Even in a situation of certain death, he wanted to fight for a slim chance of survival.

However, the Rat Monk suddenly stopped in his tracks. His left arm still held Shang Xuanwen’s neck, his right hand gripped his own collar, and his torso leaned back slightly—his body taut like a drawn bow. Shang Xuanwen’s pupils contracted. He struggled violently, but the Rat Monk’s vital energy and blood were shockingly strong for a commoner... or rather, Shang Xuanwen’s own vitality was too weak. As a member of the Shang family’s scholarly lineage, he had trained primarily in soul cultivation, not in vital energy and blood. Coupled with years of governing and lack of physical training, his vitality had long since declined—he couldn’t even break free immediately.

And so, the Rat Monk was able to throw him with a single hand.

In his entire life, this was the first time Shang Xuanwen had been tossed like a sack. In midair, he couldn’t see behind him, but his ears caught everything clearly. He heard the chains immediately shift direction, attempting to strike at him mid-flight. Yet weapons that relied on momentum like chains were not so easily redirected. Apart from two or three that successfully struck him, the rest still hit their original target...

That monk who wasn’t even a Messenger.

Shang Xuanwen had never imagined the sound of chains landing on flesh could be so loud, so shrill, so heart-wrenchingly painful. He tumbled to the ground, and the first thing he did upon raising his head was look back down the narrow path—but all he saw were Burners of Themselves charging out from within.

And a body, trampled beyond recognition into a mass of mangled flesh.

In that instant, Shang Xuanwen heard nothing. Only the sound of his own heartbeat, nearly halted. It was as if the vilest, most despicable serpent in the world had bitten into his heart, slithered up his spine, and polluted every bone, every drop of blood, into a stinking mire of black filth.

He had looked down upon the world for so many years, believing all people to be hypocrites who preached righteousness while hiding filth in their hearts. In the end, he wasn’t even as good as those hypocrites... just a deluded fool full of self-importance.

Presumptuously trusting, presumptuously doubting. He felt no anger, no shame—only a boundless revulsion. Once, he had loathed himself for hearing Yue’er’s inner voice. Now, he loathed himself for hearing his own.

Perhaps the one who had always been ugly wasn’t others—it was himself.

Shang Xuanwen rose to his feet, eyes bloodshot, the agony in his heart tearing his sanity apart. All he could see now was that ruined body lying in the distance. Instead of running, he began walking toward the Burners of Themselves!

The Burners were thrilled at the sight, charging forward with pained roars:

"Don’t let him get away!"

"Shang Old Traitor, the vengeful spirits of Zhenze are here to take your life!"

"Tonight is your grave!"

Shang Xuanwen was not surprised. He had led campaigns against the Taohu Rebel many times—the hatred between them was endless. He had encountered countless acts of vengeance like this before. He had never regretted his actions. Their positions were opposed—court and traitors—only one side could live. He used to believe vengeance was the most foolish pursuit, that survival was all that mattered. But when it came to his turn, he was no wiser than anyone else.

Perhaps only tonight did he truly understand what hatred meant.

"What—?" One of the Burners at the rear stumbled, looking down to find his foot had been grabbed.

By that body—bloodied and tattered, lashed by the chains, looking like a pile of rotting mud.

Shang Xuanwen’s pupils dilated at the sight. He wanted to scream something, but his throat was mute, no sound came out—because he saw the Rat Monk looking at him.

Those eyes held no pain, no fear, no resentment. Even in the dark night, they were clear and bright. Shang Xuanwen had always been willing to speak with him for a reason—anyone who saw those eyes would feel compelled to pour out their troubles... He was born to be a good monk.

Why go this far? In just a few days, you could’ve reported to the Secret Realm Garrison and begun a new life. Whether as a Messenger or as a monk, it would’ve been better than throwing your life away here... I haven’t even lent you the Heaven-Reliant Sword.

At this point, no words were needed. The opportunity bought with his life—Shang Xuanwen had no right to waste it.

Shang Xuanwen turned and sprinted, ignoring the curses and lashes of the Burners of Themselves. He had no intention of looking back. Near Jiangtai Avenue, there were Messenger residences. But seeing the Burners, they all retreated indoors immediately. Facing a group of Messengers willing to self-immolate in martyrdom, the best strategy was to quietly wait for them to burn out.

They were fragile as moths. But if Shang Xuanwen dared to turn back and stab, ten chains would instantly bind him, and the Burner struck would cling to him like a moth to flame. They feared not death—they only sought a chance to burn themselves completely.

If Shang Xuanwen turned back to fight, he could certainly kill two or three Burners—but the cost would be too great to bear.

When Shang Xuanwen finally escaped from the Burners, his Heartguard Mirror had already shattered once. He no longer walked the main roads, fearing discovery by other assassins. Instead, he took familiar alleys, restoring his strength with Spirit Jade as he moved.

Then, he encountered two beauties under the moon.