Chapter 56: Night Raid

  "Ding ding ding ding……"

  A faint tinkling sound came from beside Song Kai's bed.

  Song Kai, who was in a deep sleep, suddenly opened his eyes and sat up from the bed board.

  On the bedside table lay the curved knife bought from the black market.

  Song Kai stood up, picked up the knife, and with a fierce stab on the wooden board at the head of the bed, the wooden board "cracked" open a gap. Song Kai directly took down the wooden board, and next door was Nie Lingdang's room.

  Song Kai took the knife and quickly arrived at Nie Ling's room, one hand pressed on Nie Ling's mouth, and the other hand directly pulled Nie Ling up from the bed.

  Nie Ling Tong's eyes snapped open in terror, and she saw that it was Song Kai. She then closed her mouth obediently and looked at Song Kai with a puzzled expression. Although it was the middle of the night, Nie Ling Tong wasn't worried that Song Kai would do anything rash.

  "Be quiet and follow me," Song Kai said in a low voice.

  Nie Lingdang nodded.

  Song Kai pulled Nie Zhongtang to the gap in the wooden board and arrived at his own room.

  The small bell on Nie Ling's wrist rang out a soft "ting ting ting".

  Song Kai covered Nie Lingdang's wrist with his hand.

  "When did you set up this door?" Nie Zhong asked in a low voice, and Song Kai was too hateful. Was he a voyeur?

  "Shut up, there are assassins outside," Song Kai said in a low voice.

  Gently closing the wooden board, Song Kai pulled Nie Tingting's wrist and walked towards his own bed.

  "What are you doing!" Nie Lingdang was puzzled, "Since there's an assassin, let's hurry up and escape, why go to bed... come on."

  Song Kai let out a "hiss" and immediately heard the faint sound of someone breaking in through the door and window from outside.

  Nie Ling Tong immediately shut up, knowing in her heart that something had indeed happened. At this critical moment, Song Kai pulled her onto the bed, definitely not for any romantic reason.

  Song Kai got up and lit the oil lamp on the table, and the bright light immediately attracted the attention of the black-clad man in the courtyard.

  "What's going on?"

  "It's been discovered."

  "Kill them."

  Soon, black-clad men rushed into Song Kai's room.

  Song Kai sat in front of Nie Zhongtang, coldly staring at the incoming people, there were many people, more than a dozen.

  "Ka cha!" The door panel fell to the ground with a loud noise.

  "What instructions do you have for coming in the middle of the night?" Song Kai asked.

  The black-clad men who rushed in were taken aback. They had thought that Song Kai would panic and shout loudly, but they did not expect him to sit calmly on the bed, composed and unruffled.

  The man in black at the forefront furrowed his brow slightly. The people behind him were all unmasked, as if they had already determined that Song Kai would not make it through tonight.

  Twenty people, killing a merchant or a scholar, is indeed a sure thing.

  "You're Song Kai, right?" The burly man looked at Song Kai, then at Nie Lingdang behind him, and nodded. "Dying with a beautiful woman by your side isn't bad either."

  "It was Yang Rongguang who called you here, I only ask one sentence, can we talk peacefully? I, Song Kai, am just a businessman and only want to be a businessman. If possible, I am willing to give up wealth for peace," Song Kai said word by word, his voice cold and stern.

  The men in black around checked the surrounding rooms, saw no one, and crowded into Song Kai's room. Seeing Song Kai's attitude, it was clear that he had given up resistance, so everyone didn't rush to take action.

  "Sorry, the master only said to take your life, no matter what, we must take your life," the strong man cupped his hands, "Alright, let's get started, and give you a quick death."

  Song Kaiyang raised the knife in his hand and placed it horizontally on his own neck.

  "Song Kai, don't be foolish, at worst we'll fight it out with them!" The Nie Lingdang behind him saw that Song Kai was about to take his own life and was shocked, quickly grabbing onto Song Kai's arm.

  "Little girl, it seems you still haven't given up. We have over a dozen brothers, if we let you escape, it's better to die instead." The leading sturdy man stopped at the edge of the table, "You two can take your own lives, and we'll plead for leniency from our master to give you a proper burial."

  Song put down the long knife in his hand, looked at the spark and said: "Thank you for your kindness, but it seems that you have lost."

  As he spoke, Song Kai's curved knife suddenly made a "ka cha" sound on the bed board, and Song Kai and Nie Zhong fell into the secret passage under the bed board.

  Just then, the flickering flame suddenly "sputtered" and shot out sparks, followed by a "whooshing" sound, turning into tiny flames, accompanied by a whiff of sulfur.

  "Don't let them get away."

  "This oil lamp is somewhat strange."

  "Everybody hurry and chase."

  "Boom..."

  A loud bang.

  Flames shooting up to the sky.

  The table shattered instantly, a huge fireball burst out from the table, wrapping the black-clad men around, and the shockwave brought by the intense explosion blew all the black-clad men away. The entire room, along with Nie Lingdang's room, collapsed with a loud crash.

  Nie Lingdang, who fell under the dark passage, heard the sound above his head, and his body trembled violently, as if a muffled thunder had burst out above his head, shaking the earth.

  Song Kai pinned Nie Lingdang to the ground, and after the explosion, he pulled Nie Lingdang out through a secret passage.

  The corridor is very short and leads near the stables.

  Song Kai dug out and patted the mud on his head.

  Nie Ling Tong spat out the mud in his mouth, turned his head and saw that a huge fire had engulfed his room, with black smoke billowing and dyeing the sky crimson.

  Song Kai dug through the pile of earth beside the stable and pulled out a saddle bag, which he hung over the horse's back.

  The explosion startled six black-clad men outside, who cautiously approached the rear courtyard of the inn in a fan shape.

  Song Kai held the reins with his left hand and grasped a curved knife in his right, saying softly, "Let's go."

  "Where are you going?"

  "Run."

  "What was that just now?"

  Gunpowder.

  Song Kai pulled on the reins and led the horse out through a hidden door.

  A man in black happened to be entering the inner courtyard from this direction, and upon seeing him, Song Kai took out his machete and went straight at him. His movements were as swift and ruthless as those of a seasoned veteran.

  Song Kai was not a veteran soldier, but that explosion just now, more than ten lives lost, had completely numbed him.

  Either you die or I live.

  Forget it, then let's just kill him.

  The person opposite was startled and jumped back, but he did not expect Song Kai's action to be extremely strange, the curved knife in his hand turned into a white strip, slashing at himself.

  A cracking sound, the sound of bones splitting open.

  The man in black let out a muffled roar and fell to the ground.

  Song Kai wiped his curved knife on the corpse of the black-clad man as he led the horse.

  "Mount up!"

  Nie Ling nodded woodenly and stepped on a specially made stirrup to climb up.

  Song Kai pulled down Nieringdang's buttocks, helped Nieringdang onto the horseback, then he jumped up and got on the horseback too. He pulled the reins and galloped quickly towards the direction of the city gate.

  "Where are we going?" Nie Lingdang asked again, tonight's events had already made her thinking a bit stiff.

  "Run!" Song Kai's reply was still very simple.

  "But now it's evening and the city gate is closed,"

  "I know the gatekeeper, don't worry."

  "But... but why run away?" Nie Lingdang still couldn't react.

  The horseshoes galloped quickly towards the direction of the city gate, and the sound of horseshoes was very crisp in the dark night.

  "Because we're not opponents."

  "Who's not an opponent?"

  Yang Rongguang.

  "But... why didn't you escape earlier?"

  Song Kai heard this question, slightly stunned, then sighed, "Because I still had a glimmer of hope, I didn't want to leave Suzhou City. I thought that if Yang Rongguang and Yang Huaiyan would give up now, I could continue to stay here and slowly develop my strength. But I underestimated Yang Rongguang. If he appeared tonight, I would have taken his life. However, he didn't come, which means there must be a follow-up action, we can only escape."

  Nie Ling's expression turned silent, then her mouth curved upwards, unafraid, and instead burst out laughing.

  "Why are you smiling?" Song Kai wondered.

  "Happy."

  "Are you happy to escape?"

  "It's because you're with me on this escape."

  “……”

  "Where are we going?"

  "Go to Chang'an City, Su Lao said that if I escape to Chang'an City, there will naturally be someone to meet us, and Liu Yuxiang is also in Chang'an City."

  “……”

  "Ah! What are you pinching me for!" Song Kai angrily shouted out loud.

  "I'd be delighted! Hmph!"

  The city gate is just ahead.

  The explosion woke up many people, but there weren't many people walking on the streets. It's none of their business and they just mind their own affairs. In this era, being wise and keeping a low profile is the ultimate principle.

  At the city gate, a man was sitting on a stone, covered with a tiger skin blanket, leaning against the tree trunk and counting the stars.

  Taking a closer look, this person is actually Niu Er, who was in the same ten-person morning training squad as Song Kai.

  The sound of horseshoes echoed.

  The ox got up and rolled up the blanket on its body, and came over.

  "Thanks, brother," Song Kai said with a bow from horseback.

  "Hey! What's up, we're good brothers. I heard the noise and quickly got up, threw on a blanket and came over. Don't worry, I know all three shifts of guards here. I used to live outside the city and had to come in every day to slaughter pigs, so I'd always give them some money." Niu Er said as he led Song Kai towards the city gate. "Later, I was lucky enough to join Zhou Duwei's troops and got to know Squad Leader Ma Chao. Ma Chao is their leader, so we became even more familiar with each other."

  As they spoke, they arrived at the city gate, and since there was no one around, Ma Chao skillfully removed the large club placed on top of the city gate and said in a low voice: "Brother Song, take care along the way."

  "Take care, brother."

  "See you again!"

  The sound of horseshoes echoed, Song Kai pulled the reins and took Nie Zhongzhong away instantly.

  The oxen closed the city gate and quietly left.