The shadowy figure darted through the streets and alleys as sharp arrows whistled past, a few grazing his body, tearing his clothes and drawing blood.
The imperial guards and constables pursued relentlessly, splitting up to try and cut off his escape.
Though most citizens had taken cover, some bold onlookers craned their necks for a better view.
An ordinary thief wouldn’t warrant such a massive manhunt-something major must have happened.
Yet even at full stretch, they could only catch fleeting glimpses of the figure moving with the speed and grace of a leopard.
As he leaped across rooftops between streets, droplets of blood rained down onto the heads of spectators below.
One stunned bystander touched his head, only to find his fingers stained red.
Archers continued firing at the rooftops, desperate to bring down the assassin.
Failing to capture even a severely wounded fugitive would earn them the Crown Prince’s severe displeasure.
They had to admit the assassin’s extraordinary skill-despite grave injuries, he dodged arrows with uncanny reflexes, always staying one step ahead.
Just as they pondered their next move, their quarry tumbled from the rooftops.
Jin Anazi crashed through a fabric merchant’s stall, the soft textiles cushioning his fall and preventing worse injury.
Still, he coughed up blood and struggled to rise, leaving chaotic bloody handprints on the colorful fabrics now permeated with the metallic scent of blood.
Clutching his bleeding abdominal wound, lightheaded from blood loss, he staggered into a dimly lit alleyway.
Uninjured, escape would have been effortless, but tonight his wounds were too severe to shake pursuit.
The searching guards and constables fanned out through the alley when they lost sight of him.
Hidden in shadows, Jin Anazi held his breath-one hand pressing medicinal powder to his wound, the other gripping his sword.
He couldn’t die yet, not before completing his mission to assassinate the Crown Prince.
As he gazed at the moon obscured by clouds, visions of his late mother appeared, her loving face reaching out to him.
Just as he moved to grasp her hand, the image transformed into another face that sharply pinched him.
The blood-loss induced hallucination shattered, revealing Lin Ting crouched before him.
“Not dead yet?” she whispered urgently.
“Dead men aren’t worth my time or risk.”
Her tone belied the anxiety beneath her words.
Though the pursuers hadn’t shouted “assassin,” Lin Ting-having run a bookstore with Jin Anazi and trained under him-recognized his fighting style immediately and followed.
Helping him up, she tilted her head:
“What’s your life worth this time?”
Jin Anazi: “……”
Lin Ting: “Surely several thousand taels? I’ll take five thousand-fair enough?”
Several thousand taels for a moment, he didn’t know whether she had overestimated or underestimated the price of his life.
Jin Anazi had initially wanted Lin Ting to leave and not bother with him, but now he barely had the strength to speak and was on the verge of passing out.
She pinched him again.
“You still haven’t answered me.”
If he lost too much blood and fell unconscious without treatment, he might die.
Jin Anazi naturally knew what she was thinking.
“You… really have a one-track mind for money,” he muttered weakly.
His eyelids drooped, then lifted again.
“You can’t save me alone. Just go.”
Jin Anazi had long known that while Lin Ting wasn’t exceptionally skilled in martial arts, she excelled at evasion and escape.
Slipping past the constables’ search wouldn’t be a problem for her; she could find her way into this alley and leave safely.
But dragging along someone as severely injured as him would be a different story.
He wanted to live, but he didn’t want to drag her down with him.
Jin Anazi still hoped Lin Ting would leave.
Lin Ting shot him a sidelong glance and snorted.
“How would I know if I don’t try? If it really doesn’t work out, I’ll just dump you and run. After all, my life comes first.”
After a pause, she added, “If they see me with you, I’ll stab you, then capture you as the wife of a Imperial Guard and claim credit before the Crown Prince.”
With that, she pulled out a dagger.
Jin Anazi had nothing to say.
His instincts told him she absolutely would do it but that was fine.
At least she was leaving herself out.
The alleys twisted and turned, one after another, dizzying like a maze.
Yet Lin Ting navigated the dim surroundings with ease, changing paths the moment she heard footsteps ahead.
Her agility was no worse than Jin Anazi’s.
As they moved, he noticed her lightness skill had improved.
“Did you learn new techniques from someone else?” he asked.
She hesitated.
“You could say that.”
Lin Ting turned into another alley.
“Not long after Duan Ling and I married, he gave me a manual and told me to study it. If I didn’t understand something, I could ask him. I’ve been practicing for a while now.”
Jin Anazi knew he couldn’t afford to pass out, so he kept talking.
“No wonder you stopped using what I taught you. Your movements do resemble Duan Ling’s. But the skills he passed down suit you better. With time, you might even become a master.”
Lin Ting, supporting Jin Anazi, was starting to tire.
He looked lean, but he wasn’t light.
Wiping sweat from her brow, she panted, “Good. Then you better stay alive so I can beat you to death once I become a master.”
Jin Anazi fell silent.
Lin Ting realized this wasn’t sustainable.
She stopped before a wall, intending to climb over and take temporary shelter in one of the alley houses.
He frowned.
“I don’t have the strength left to make it over. And your lightness skill isn’t good enough yet to carry someone over a wall.”
She pointed at a dog hole at the base of the wall, expression unchanging.
“You crawl through. I’ll go over.”
Lin Ting had no intention of forcing herself to haul Jin Anazi over the wall.
He was thin, and as a martial artist, his flexibility surpassed that of an average person-he should be able to squeeze through the hole.
Only then did Jin Anazi notice the dog hole.
Accustomed to scaling walls and roofs, he rarely paid attention to gaps near the ground.
His frown deepened, but he knew when to yield.
Bending down, he headed for the hole.
Lin Ting watched as Jin Anazi smoothly slipped through, his toes pressing firmly against the ground as he lifted his hands to scale the wall, flipping over to the other side in the blink of an eye.
The house was uninhabited, its small courtyard adjacent to the alley left abandoned and overgrown with weeds.
After making it over, Jin Anazi collapsed onto the ground, eyes shut, too weak to stand.
Just as Lin Ting was about to pull him up, more people vaulted over the wall-not just one, but several.
In the blink of an eye, she flung a handful of knockout powder toward them.
The drug scattered in the wind, forcing Xia Zimo to hastily drag Xie Qinghe back.
Xie Qinghe quickly covered his nose and mouth, calling out, “Seventh Miss Lin, it’s me.”
He had no martial skills and had been hauled in by Xia Zimo.
Yet the moment they landed, they were met with a cloud of knockout powder, nearly succumbing to its effects.
Lin Ting’s grip on her dagger loosened instantly as she stared at them intently.
“Fifth Young Master Xie? And Lord Xia? What are you doing here?”
As the powder dissipated, Xie Qinghe lowered his hand from his face.
“How is Young Master Jin?”
She and Xie Qinghe spoke simultaneously.
Xie Qinghe stepped forward to check Jin Anazi’s pulse, confirming whether he was still alive.
“Fifth Young Master Xie learned of the assassination attempt on the Crown Prince and guessed it was Young Master Jin’s doing. Then we received word that the assassin was severely injured, so we pursued. Thankfully, we made it in time.”
Jin Anazi struggled to open his eyes, but his exhaustion had robbed him of even the strength to speak.
Lin Ting had rarely seen Jin Anazi this badly wounded-only once before, when she had rescued him from the mass graves.
That time had been even worse; he had truly been on the brink of death.
Xie Qinghe retrieved pre-prepared supplies and swiftly bandaged the near-fatal gash at Jin Anazi’s waist.
“The Crown Prince’s shadow guards and officials have been diverted by our men. Seventh Miss Lin, you should leave first. We’ll handle the aftermath.”
Lin Ting didn’t move, still uneasy.
“Is Jin Anazi in mortal danger?”
“The medicine I brought is of the highest quality. The life-threatening wound at his waist has already stopped bleeding. He’ll live.”
She knelt to tend to Jin Anazi’s other injuries.
“Fifth Young Master Xie, did you save Jin Anazi today to repay the debt of his once saving your life… or to recruit him for your rebellion?”
Xie Qinghe’s hands paused briefly as he bandaged.
“What do you think my reason is, Seventh Miss Lin?”
Lin Ting avoided a direct answer.
“I don’t know. But I hope you helped him out of gratitude, not ulterior motives.”
“Why?” Xie Qinghe asked.
Lin Ting glanced at Jin Anazi.
“He doesn’t want to be emperor. After his revenge, he only wishes to live freely as a man of the rivers and lakes.”
Xie Qinghe slowly rose to his feet, his face still refined but now tinged with an inescapable sorrow.
“But you’ve seen for yourself—Young Master Jin can’t kill the Crown Prince alone. Even if he somehow succeeded, he wouldn’t survive.”
He lowered his gaze.
“A free man of the rivers and lakes… If it were possible, I’d wish for that too. But our identities forbid us from such a life.”
As the former dynasty’s prince, even if Jin Anazi had no desire to rebel, others would force him to.
This was a fate he couldn’t escape.
It was only when Xie Qinghe himself resolved to rebel that he realized each of them had their own destiny.
Unavoidable, inescapable.
The only choice was to face it head-on.
Lin Ting finished bandaging Jin Anazi’s knife wound on his arm and looked directly at Xie Qinghe.
“That was Jin Anazi’s own choice. We can’t make decisions for him under the pretense of acting in his best interest.”
He didn’t avert his gaze.
“I saved Young Master Jin today only to repay the life debt I owe him, nothing more. Can Miss Lin now rest assured to leave him in our care?”
Xia Zimo chimed in, “We mean no harm to Young Master Jin.”
Lin Ting shot Xia Zimo at a glance.
If days ago there had been any possibility of Xia Zimo persuading Xie Qinghe to stand down during their meeting, their reappearance together today-coming to rescue Jin Anazi, a man with the identity of a former dynasty prince-clearly signaled rebellion.
Were it not for her urgent need to find Duan Ling, with time pressing, Lin Ting would have confronted Xia Zimo about his involvement in Xie Qinghe’s revolt.
Yet entrusting Jin Anazi to them was indeed the better option.
Having saved him, she lacked the time to guard him, and she trusted Xie Qinghe wouldn’t harm him.
“I’ll leave him in your care then.”