Chapter 6: Awakening from Hibernation (Part 2)

  They didn't come for me! As soon as he jumped off the horse carriage, Wang Xuan immediately discovered a strange reality. The target of the sneak attacker was not him, but Bai Huaqi.

  Three masked men on horseback robbed and killed a songstress, and even used crossbows? Which family would do such a stupid thing! Before he could continue to guess the cause and effect, the three assassins had already charged over on their horses, "Little face, get out of the way, this has nothing to do with you!"

  "You're the ones who are shameless! Your whole family is a bunch of shameless people!" Wang Xun's face turned red with rage, and he poked his head out from behind the carriage door to curse loudly. "Using a hidden crossbow to ambush an unarmed woman, what else can you three be but shameless?"

  The curses had barely fallen when both sides were shocked. "Fu Bo Nu, they actually used the cavalry-specific Fu Bo Nu! Good heavens, fortunately they didn't shoot accurately." Wang Xun was greatly startled in his heart, and he raised the carriage door to charge towards the opponent, fearing that if he delayed, others would have time to reload the crossbow arrows.

  "Kill him!" The three assassins were also greatly shocked. Fubo's crossbow was specially equipped for the cavalry in the Great Tang army, with fine workmanship and a range that rivaled the infantry bow. It was strictly forbidden for ordinary civilians to possess one, and if someone dared to steal it from the military and sell it, they would be caught by the authorities and charged with treason!

  For these few people, whether or not they were plotting a rebellion was actually irrelevant; the real crime was implicating their master. They exchanged glances and immediately understood each other's intentions. Two of them, one on either side, moved to surround Wang Yunbao. The third person circled around the lower official road, chasing after Bai Huaqiu's carriage.

  "Beautiful!" Wang Xuan loudly shouted in anger, running and suddenly bending down to turn around, swinging his arm in a semicircle, using the carriage door in his left hand as a hidden weapon to throw at the war horse chasing after Bai Huizhi. Immediately afterwards, both legs forcefully pushed off, and he transformed from vertical to horizontal, diving headfirst onto the official road.

  Four months of hard training, the effect is now apparent. The carriage door was used by Wang Xuan as a hidden weapon, spinning along the ground and cutting directly to the hind legs of the war horse chasing Bai Hua Zhi. The poor creature couldn't withstand such a huge impact, let out a miserable cry "hī liū liū", made a sideways flip, and pressed its owner under its body.

  The remaining two assassins had not yet figured out what was happening to their companions, and saw Wang Xun turn around and flee horizontally. He whipped his horse and followed closely behind. As he ran, Wang Xun suddenly turned again, still using the sudden force of both legs, from horizontal to vertical, and along a route parallel to the official road, he rushed towards Baima Castle.

  "Little one, where are you escaping to!" Two assassins pursued relentlessly, their horizontal knives flashing a cold light in the morning sun. No matter how hard he tried, two legs couldn't outrun four legs, and Wang Xuan was left with no choice but to turn around and face them head-on. "Clang" "Clang" Relying on his previously solid foundation and the combat skills he had trained for months, he parried the opponent's first two attacks in a row. However, the horizontal knife in his hand couldn't withstand such a huge impact, breaking from the middle, with more than half of the blade flying into the air.

  With only half a broken knife left in his hand, Wang Jun was not so foolish as to stand still and let others strike him. Taking advantage of the opponent's turning of their horse, he spread his legs and fled along the official road towards Chang'an City.

  At this time, there were already sporadic pedestrians on the official road. However, the incident happened suddenly, and no one could figure out who was killing whom. Following the principle of avoiding disaster if possible, they fled to the fields by the side of the road. The entire official road instantly became empty, making it impossible for Wang Xun to find someone to talk to.

  "Save me!" he shouted loudly, hoping someone would stand up for him, even if it was just to throw a stone over and distract the assassin's line of sight. Who would have thought that not shouting was okay, but as soon as he did, people ran even faster, some climbing trees, others burrowing into the snow, and after a while, there wasn't even an extra shadow to be seen on either side of the official road.

  Listening to the sound of horseshoes getting closer and closer behind him, Wang Xun suddenly became fierce. He bit half a horizontal knife in his mouth, stared at an old elm tree with a trunk as thick as a hug on the side of the road, and ran wildly. His legs jumped violently under the tree roots, his arms hooked around the branches that stretched out horizontally, and he pulled down hard, using the rebound force of the branches to curve his arm, tuck in his abdomen, and flip over, all movements were done in one breath. Before the assassin could catch up, he was already sitting on the branch.

  The change was sudden, and the two assassins didn't even have time to tighten their reins, so they had to rush past the tree trunk. Spotting one of them, Wang Xuan flew down from the tree, embracing the opponent's lower back with one hand, while flipping over the other hand to slash with half a knife blade. "Pfft!" Fresh blood immediately splattered all over his body and face. The unlucky assassin had his neck almost completely severed by the blade, only a thin layer of skin left between his head and body, without even making a sound, he fell off the warhorse's saddle.

  "Don't run, look at the knife!" With his legs clamped on the saddle, Wang Xun urged his horse to launch an attack on the last one. It wasn't because he was brave, but because the opponent was within half a zhang in front of him. If he gave this person a chance to turn his horse's head, with only half a horizontal knife in hand, he would still be the one to suffer.

  The last assassin couldn't have guessed the evil intentions in Wang Xun's heart, and suddenly turned his head to see a bloody man dancing with a "dagger" and running around him, scaring him into letting out a miserable cry, using force to kick the stirrup, and fleeing in disarray.

  "Where to escape, quickly surrender!" Wang Jun didn't think that he could actually make it come true, and he chased after the rider, beating his horse. After chasing for more than 40 steps, he saw the horse that he had knocked down with the carriage door earlier, whinnying pitifully by the side of the road. The rider's leg was pinned under the horse, half of his face buried in the hard mud, and even if he wasn't dead yet, for the rest of his life, he would have to walk with a crutch.

  Seeing another companion fall to the enemy's poisonous hand, the assassin who escaped with his life was even more frightened out of his wits. He threw down his horizontal knife by the side of the road and raised his hands high in surrender, "Don't kill me, don't kill me, I'm just following orders. Following orders!"

  "Don't run, don't run and I won't kill you!" Wang Xuan was both shocked and delighted, his mouth agape as he continued to shout. What kind of guts did this guy have to actually come and be an assassin? Not having seen them for several months, the hoodlums of Chang'an City were truly becoming more and more useless.

  "I won't run, I won't run!" The assassin raised his hands in a pleading gesture, his voice already cracking with sobs. "I didn't pull the reins, my horse can't stop! Grandfather, please don't chase me, isn't that enough?"

  "What a waste!" Wang Xuan cried and scolded loudly, "A guy who can't even be wanted as a eunuch!"

  After scolding, he quickly swept his gaze to the side of the saddle and found a General Fubo crossbow and a box of neat crossbow arrows.

  He dropped the dagger and picked up the crossbow, manipulating it with both hands. It's no wonder that several assassins forgot to use a second arrow after firing one; in the heat of the moment, this short crossbow designed specifically for cavalry was extremely difficult to restring. Only someone like Wang Xun, who had great strength and was accustomed to riding horses from a young age, could manipulate it with both hands free. If it were someone with less strength or less skilled in horsemanship, they would fall off the horse before even loading the arrow.

  In the time it took to breathe, Wang Xun reloaded his crossbow. With both arms level and taking aim at the assassin in front of him, "Take a look back and see what this is? Pull on the reins and get off your horse! Otherwise, I'll shoot you with my crossbow!"

  Upon hearing this, the assassin's plea for mercy grew more shrill, "Spare my life, spare my life!" Yet his legs continued to kick against the stirrups without stopping, refusing to surrender.

  Bai Wei's carriage couldn't run far, and Wang Xuan didn't have more time to entangle with the assassin on the road. With a click of his fingers, he shot out a crossbow arrow. Within a distance of less than ten feet, even an untrained person wouldn't miss. The assassin in front fell off his horse, rolled on the ground, spat out blood, and was doomed to die soon.

  For the first time, he saw someone die in front of him. Wang Xuan's heart suddenly throbbed violently, and the smell of blood in his nostrils suddenly intensified. He opened his mouth and vomited out the food he had eaten that morning. A mouthful of undigested food spurted out, and his nose and tears flowed down at the same time. However, he didn't dare to delay any longer, wiped his face with his hand, turned his horse around, and rushed towards the assassin who was trampled by war horses.

  The last person who could ask out the truth, if this one dies, then he's waiting to be locked up in a big prison. The Wang family's golden pardon may not work, and it's likely that even Fourth Uncle will have trouble smoothing things over. As he scared himself, Wang Xun jumped off his horse and reached out to push the warhorse whose hind leg was injured by the carriage door.

  The trained warhorse slightly understood human nature, seeing Wang Xuan come to rescue, it made a concerted effort to move its body. One man and one horse exhausted each other's last strength, finally moving the assassin who was pressed under the horse's body out. Fortunately, this person still had ups and downs in his chest, Wang Xuan saw the situation, overjoyed in his heart, stretched out his hand to grab the cloth on the opposite side.

  "Don't move!" Just then, a hoarse voice came from among the pedestrians who had been scattered on both sides of the official road.

  Wang Xuan slightly stunned, stretched out his hand and immediately changed direction to grab the horizontal knife that the assassin had dropped. Afraid of causing misunderstanding, the bold passerby quickly added another sentence, "Since he's covering his face, he must not want to be recognized. If you're not confident in dealing with him, it's better to pretend to be ignorant!"

  "How to install?" Wang Xuan's thoughts had always been slow, and after listening to the other party's words, he immediately dispelled the idea of revealing the assassin's identity. His recent troubles were already enough. Even if he hid and walked away, they still kept coming to his door. These stupid assassins might not be able to do anything to him, but their masters behind them would certainly not be easy to mess with.

  "They, three Western barbarians, have taken a fancy to her and killed a Tang Dynasty woman in broad daylight. As a Tang man, it is your duty to help when you see injustice!" But this guy, who had been giving orders since the beginning of the fight, had seen everything from the start and was hiding by the side of the road, unwilling to come forward and help. "Since I've fulfilled my responsibility, let those in charge handle the rest. Without asking or looking into anything, just consider it none of your business!"

  Note 1: A woman's male favorite, relatively popular during the Wu Zetian era.