Realms In The Firmament

Chapter 70 – Assassination On The Street

“I couldn’t discipline you before. I wanted to, but was unable.” The steward threatened, “But from now on, if you dare to run wild again, I will spank your ass to pieces. You tell me whether I dare to or not!”

That was spoken in a fierce tone.

That was no longer the tone of a steward talking to his master; it was the tone of an uncle talking to his nephew.

Apparently, when Song Jue was weak, he felt that he was incapable of protecting Ye Xiao and couldn’t be someone he could depend on. He felt that he didn’t deserve the title of ‘uncle’, so he just let Ye Xiao do whatever he wanted.

But right now, Steward Song’s cultivation had returned. He felt that he had become freaking awesome!

[If anyone dares to mess with my nephew, I will kill him!]

The enormous self-confidence he lost in the recent years had returned.

‘I wanted to, but was unable’ perfectly described the sentiments he felt deep within his heart.

Now that he wanted to and was completely capable of fulfilling his duties, naturally, he would make up for what he had failed to do in the past, including protecting Ye Xiao, be the one he could rely on and of course, disciplining him!

Ye Xiao laughed and said, “Uncle Song. Please relax. Am I the kind of person who keeps on making trouble?”

The steward rolled his eyes.

[How come this sounds so familiar? Damn it. He said the same words again!

If you are not the kind who keeps on making trouble… then who on earth is?

You are certainly the ancestor of that sort!

You are a demon who keeps on making trouble!]

…

Ye Xiao was holding on to a massive amount of money at the moment. He was totally a rich guy. He couldn’t suppress the urge to spend money anymore, so he rushed out anyway. This time, he specifically went to the place where metallic materials were being sold…

Since the price of metal was currently on the rise, he would have to pay a high price if he wanted to buy anything. But he also understood something else: usually, precisely when everything was rising in value that rare items show up!

The reason why the businessmen hoarded goods was to gain maximum profits during such times!

Thus, this time when Ye Xiao went out, he brought all his savings with him.

He was shopping crazily across the entire street!

But apparently,the results of his shopping spree wasn’t satisfactory. Although he had spent almost 200 thousand silver bars, the amount of items in the Gold Space only increased by a small amount. They weighed less than 2.5 kilograms.

This result made Ye Xiao depressed. Those so called ‘Soul of Irons’, ‘Hundred-tempered Steel’, ’Stone from The Heaven’… They had powerful names, each scarier than last, but the essence absorbed from them was almost negligible.

Even the lot of them together could only release a tiny amount of metallic qi…

What a massive waste of resources!

After the shopping, the monarch’s face was filled with impatience as he walked aimlessly around the marketplace. If it wasn’t for the sun that was brightly shining down on him, warming his body and slightly increasing the power of the East-Rising Purple Qi, he would have most likely flipped out by now.

[I had come out with great hope.

But after spending thousands, I only got such a small gain?

Is it because I have received too much these past few days that I have spent all my luck?!]

While thinking of nonsense and mixing with the crowd, he noticed that the crowd was quickly becoming denser. It seemed like there were lots of people rushing in.

He frowned and looked towards the street corner.

[How come so many people are crowding over there?]

At the street corner, a carriage had arrived, bearing a sign which read ‘Divine Arms Mill’!

It was not a small carriage at all, but it wasn’t big enough to cause the street to become congested either. However, there were lots of people surrounding the carriage with eager looks and burning eyes.

Those people who were surrounding the carriage were all cultivators. Some of them were citizens of the martial world, some of them were government officers, and some of them were well-dressed – they must be the men of the noble clans…

Divine Arms Mill!

The No.1 weapon producer in the Land of Han-Yang!

According to the tales, among the top-ten legendary swords in the Land of Han-Yang, six were produced by the Divine Arms Mill!

These famous weapons could cut through iron as if it was mud!

They could easily chop through gold and jade!

Since the Divine Arms Mill had arrived at the capital, it was no surprise that it had aroused a commotion!

Ye Xiao’s eyes lit up and he thought, [It is fine that I haven’t found any decent metallic material. Since I don’t have a proper weapon at the moment, if I can buy a good sword to become my temporary weapon, then that would be good.]

So he followed the crowd walking towards the Divine Arms Mill.

In Ye Xiao’s eyes, even if he could get a top-quality weapon in the Land of Han-Yang, it wouldn’t be worthy of being held in his hands. He would only use it temporarily. When an opportunity would arise, he would definitely replace it.

While he walked, he suddenly felt a killing intent fiercely smashing against his body. A serious danger was rapidly approaching him from all directions!

[Assassins?!]

Ye Xiao was astonished.

[Under the light of the day, on a nearly impenetrable street that is densely crowded, I am actually encountering an assassination squad!] Ye Xiao collected his thoughts quickly: [Coming out here was a completely random idea. How long have these assassins been stalking me?]

He had no doubt that this was a long-term assassination plan!

Four waves of cold wind approached from his front, back, left and right!

They were like poisonous snakes hiding in the grass, charging like lightning through the crowd.

This was a perfect killing trap.

Ye Xiao confirmed the targets with only a single glance. There were four men; all dressed in grey ordinary cultivator suits. They were inconspicuous. In fact… when the Divine Arms Mill arrived, Ye Xiao happened to be here shopping…

[It must have nothing to do with the Divine Arms Mill, because they definitely had no idea that I would be here. The only possibility is that someone has been planning on dealing with me for some time!

Who might it be?]

The danger was quickly closing in on him. Finally, four cold beams of light were revealed under their clothes, before simultaneously shooting towards him.

They were aiming at the his chest, the back, the left subcostal and the right subcostal…

Four men, in the cover of the noisy crowd, attacked him fiercely at the same time!

Four swords, all filled with killing intent!

Such clever tactics; such a ruthless assault! In this world, if it was used against an ordinary cultivator of the Grade of Diyuan, even if he was at level 6, it would have definitely succeeded.

The eyes of the four assassins were filled with cruelty and the satisfaction of success. In their eyes, the Ye Xiao was already a dead man!

It was impossible for him to escape this attack.

A sneer showed up on the corner of Ye Xiao’s mouth. He lowered his head and rapidly stepped forward. And then he leaned towards his side. The four swords stabbed into his body at the same time. – SWISH!-

The front, the back, the left and the right. The strange thing was that… the four swords all went through the gap between his skin and the clothes. They made eight holes in his clothes!

Yet his body was totally unharmed!

How skillful!

It was as if his body was being held up by the four swords, but the deadly sharp blades were unable to make a single cut on his skin!

Before the four men were able to notice that, Ye Xiao had already reached out his hand and gripped the wrist of the man in front of him. And then as he squeezed, the gelid power suddenly controlled the entire body of the man; the man couldn’t even open his mouth.

The very next moment, three thin ice knives flew out without a trace.

The three men who were on the left, the right and the back of Ye Xiao felt a pleasant coolness before they suddenly stopped their rushing bodies. Their eyes were filled with disbelief.

Ever so slowly, their bodies started to collapse onto the ground.

Ye Xiao always knew how this fight would end. He didn’t even look back. He just shook his body and the four swords silently returned. They flew back into the clothes of the four guys, exactly where they had previously hidden their weapons.

He didn’t just stop there; he held up the man in front of him. The four holes on his clothes, which was made from fine silk, were totally unnoticeable.

He casually held up the guy in front of him and blew on top of his head. And then, the man’s hair became grey…

It almost seemed like he had turned into someone else, as both of them seemed to be whispering with lowered heads. They almost resembled two close friends, who were happily conversing with each other, before unhurriedly departing from the crowd…

The way they departed seemed leisurely and elegant.

Behind them, people were shouting, “Don’t push! Don’t push, all of you! The Divine Arms Mill is right there. They are not going to run away… Just bring enough money. Pushing and squeezing won’t help anyway if you don’t have the money…”

The three dead bodies hadn’t actually fallen on the floor yet; they were still in the process of falling.

Finally…

-POOF!-

One of the bodies fell to the ground.

“Don’t push already! Someone fell down…” People shouted.

“Another one fell… Damn it! I told you not to push… Don’t step on people…”

“With such weak body strength, he actually squeezed in here to buy divine weapons. For what?”

“Exactly! Exactly…”

When people were complaining disdainfully, one of them noticed that none of the three men actually were attempting to get back up, they didn’t even struggle! So he reached his hand out to check their pulse, but he failed to find one, as the bodies had already turned cold. He suddenly quivered and nearly passed out from fear. He cried with a voice that sounded inhuman, “Arh arh arh… Death… There are three men that have been pushed to death…”

“You are spouting fxxking nonsense. I have seen situations much worse than today and people didn’t die being pushed.”

“Eh… Arh arh… They are dead for real…”

“What the hell! How come these three fellas stopped breathing? Are they really dead…”

After knowing there were dead men amongst them, – Shoot! – the crowd scattered. Suddenly, an empty circle formed within the crowd. Three men curled up on the floor. There were no wounds on their bodies, yet they didn’t breathe.

It somehow looked like they were dead because of being pushed too heavily.

When that scene was revealed, people felt frightened. – Shraff!- In an instant, people dispersed like the receding tide. [Shit! It is acceptable that I failed to buy some weapon, but hell no, don’t get me in a lawsuit. We are in the capital right now…]

“None of my business…”

“I didn’t push at all…”

“Oh shoot, somebody died for real.”

“What the hell. Were they made from bean dregs? Really? Died from being pushed?”

“Scared the shit out of me. Better hurry off.”

“I still want a divine weapon…”

“You want shit! The officers are coming right away. If you get caught, even if you don’t die, three layers of your skin will be ripped off! Hurry up!”

“Hurry. Don’t get me involve this shit hole…”

“Gosh…”

Within seconds, all the people on the street had seemingly vanished. The entire street had suddenly become desolate… Except for the three bodies, who remained crooked in their original postures…

No signs of wounds; no stain of blood.