Since when did Xianyang City spawn such a certified lunatic?
Feng Tong was the eldest son of Feng Quji, the Left Prime Minister of Great Qin, and a notorious playboy in Xianyang. The only reason he didn’t recognize Ying Qingye was that Ying Zheng kept a tight leash on his own sons. Although the prince’s previous incarnation had been a bit slovenly and frivolous, he never dared to be as high-profile and arrogant as Feng Tong.
Thus, it was completely normal that the two didn’t know each other!
“Hurry up!”
Ying Qingye snapped angrily, startling Feng Tong so badly that the ceremonial sword slipped right out of his hand and clattered to the floor.
He stared at Ying Qingye in absolute terror, as if the young man were a malevolent ghost crawled straight out of the underworld.
“You… you psycho!”
With that, he shoved past the onlookers and bolted toward the exit.
“Hey? Why are you leaving?”
“Don’t run away!”
Ying Qingye picked up the dropped sword from the ground and hurriedly gave chase.
“Stop running!”
Hearing this, Feng Tong glanced back over his shoulder and saw Ying Qingye sprinting after him, brandishing a naked blade.
Terrified out of his wits, Feng Tong accelerated his pace, and Ying Qingye matched him stride for stride right behind him.
“Don’t run off!”
“Come back and kill me, hurry!”
Ying Qingye hollered continuously as he pursued his target, shouting instructions at the top of his lungs.
Just like that!
Feng Tong fled for his life in front, while Ying Qingye chased him from behind, clutching a sword and screaming at him not to run and to commit murder.
In an instant, the attention of every single patron in the pleasure house was drawn to this bizarre spectacle.
The two of them tore through the halls, one after the other, with the frontrunner in a state of absolute panic. Blindly picking a direction, Feng Tong ducked headfirst into a private room, and Ying Qingye immediately kicked the door off its hinges behind him.
Inside the room sat roughly seven or eight men who appeared to be deep in some kind of clandestine conspiracy!
Startled by the sudden intrusion, they instinctively snatched the swords at their waists, glaring murderously at the two gate-crashers.
When Ying Qingye saw these men—all sporting fierce, menacing expressions with murder written all over their faces—his heart bloomed with joy.
These guys have got to be hardened desperadoes, the cold-blooded, blink-of-an-eye executioner type!
“You lot… are you trying to save him?”
At that, Feng Tong scrambled across the floor on all fours, lunged toward the group, and latched onto one of their arms.
“Good fellows, save me! Heroes, save my life!”
“This guy’s a complete lunatic, please save me!”
Feng Tong was practically on the verge of weeping and begging for mercy.
The men didn’t even spare Feng Tong a glance. Instead, they tried to brush past him, desperate to get out of there. They could sense that if they didn’t leave right this second, it would become impossible; too many eyes in the establishment were now focused on this room.
If they lingered any longer, their cover would undoubtedly be blown.
Seeing this, Ying Qingye panicked. How could he possibly let them slip away after he had gone through all this trouble to find actual desperadoes?
If you walk out that door, how am I supposed to get back home?!
Before Ying Qingye could even open his mouth, a frantic Feng Tong grabbed onto another member of the group, crying out:
“Heroes, you can’t just stand by and watch me die!”
“I’m begging you!”
Feng Tong’s face was painted with absolute desperation.
“Get lost!”
The men had zero intention of entertaining him; they turned sharply, intent on making their escape.
Only to find their path blocked entirely by Ying Qingye.
“None of you are leaving!”
Ying Qingye locked his gaze onto them.
“My good brother, we have no grudges against you in the past, nor any enmity today. Why won’t you let us pass?”
The leading man stepped forward and spoke through clenched teeth.
“I said you can’t leave, and that means you can’t leave.”
“Punk, are you courting death?”
A hot-tempered young man in the group glared furiously at Ying Qingye.
“Yeah! That’s right!”
“I am courting death! If you’ve got any balls, draw your sword and run me through!”
Looking at Ying Qingye’s infuriatingly punchable expression, the young man felt his blood boil to a crisp. He instantly yanked his sword from his scabbard, lunging forward with every intention of hacking Ying Qingye to pieces.
Only to be held back by a firm grip from the leader.
“Why are you holding him back?”
“Come on, come on! Come and kill me!”
Ying Qingye craned his neck forward, speaking in a thoroughly obnoxious tone.
The corners of everyone’s mouths twitched involuntarily. He is so annoying! In all their lives, they had never laid eyes on anyone so uniquely punchable.
“I’ll kill you!”
The hot-headed young man could no longer restrain himself. Brandishing his sword, he lunged straight toward Ying Qingye and brought his blade crashing down right toward the young prince’s face.
Clang—!
Instead of the expected fountain of spurting blood, a sharp screech of clashing metal rang out.
Looking closely, another sword had materialized to block the descending blow.
The next second, a squad of imperial soldiers swarmed into the private room, encircling everyone inside in a tight formation.
“Meng Yi pays his respects to the Fifth Prince!”
Meng Yi deflected the assassin’s weapon with a flick of his wrist and bowed to Ying Qingye.
Everyone in the room froze! This certified lunatic was Prince Qingye?!
“Meng Yi, what brings you here?”
“This minister received intelligence from the Black Ice Terrace and came specifically to apprehend these remnants of the six states.”
Ying Qingye looked bewilderedly back and forth between Meng Yi and the group of assassins, whose faces had turned utterly ashen.
“You’re saying they’re remnants of the fallen six states?”
“Indeed, My Lord. They were attempting to conspire and launch a rebellion.”
“My thanks to the prince for helping this minister stall them so they couldn’t escape.”
Ying Qingye stared at them in utter astonishment. What the? I accidentally stumbled straight into a cell of six-state remnants?! I actually thought they were just regular old desperadoes!
“Uh…”
“Hah, it was merely a trivial effort, think nothing of it!”
Ying Qingye waved his hand dismissively, putting on an air of nonchalant indifference.
“Brothers, fight these Qin dogs to the death!”
“We must not let them take us alive!”
“Charge!”
Suddenly, the leader of the faction roared at the top of his lungs.
Without warning, the entire group lunged straight toward Ying Qingye and Meng Yi.
Meng Yi’s expression shifted drastically. He shouted in alarm:
“Protect the Prince!”
Several soldiers instantly formed a protective human wall around Ying Qingye, while Meng Yi drew his blade and charged into the fray.
The two opposing forces clashed fiercely within the cramped confines of the private room. True to his lineage as a scion of a renowned military family, Meng Yi possessed exceptional martial prowess, clearing away several of the enemy combatants in a single exchange.
“Haha! Even if we die today, we’ll drag some Qin dogs down to hell with us!”
“Brothers, let’s perish together with these Qin bastards!”
With a final desperate cry from the leader, the remaining assassins let out wild war-hollers and threw themselves forward once more.
Meng Yi’s heart skipped a beat; he hurriedly threw himself in front of Ying Qingye, deflecting every incoming strike with sweeping parries.
Squelch—
Meng Yi’s sword pierced clean through a soldier, fresh blood bubbling up from the tip of the blade.
Watching this scene unfold before him, Ying Qingye’s heart surged with absolute excitement. Under normal circumstances, he would have been terrified out of his wits. But things were entirely different now—what an incredible opportunity!
If I get killed here, I can finally go home!
Ying Qingye shoved aside the soldiers guarding him, yanked the ceremonial sword from his own waist, and bellowed at the top of his lungs:
“Let me at ’em! Slaughter the bastards for me!”
With that, he tried to charge forward.
The original body owner had never learned a single martial art, and neither had he. The moment he rushed in, he was bound to get hacked to pieces.
Yet, before he could take more than two steps, a pair of soldiers grabbed him and hauled him right back behind their protective shield.
“What are you blocking me for?!”
“Go up there and kill the enemy!”
Ying Qingye shouted frantically. If he didn’t hurry, Meng Yi was going to wipe out all the enemies by himself! Their numbers were already small to begin with, and though Meng Yi had only brought a dozen or so men, every single one of them was an elite. The rebels simply didn’t have the numbers to match them.
“My Lord, our sole mission is to protect you; we cannot disobey orders!”
Ying Qingye was left utterly helpless. He tried desperately to break free, but it was completely useless—he was locked down tighter than a fortress!
The battle didn’t drag on for long. Within minutes, the remaining six-state remnants were completely subdued.
Five or six lay dead, and the rest were securely captured and bound.