Ambush

In the shadowy and tiny space of the inn room, Lai Yiteng rested curled in the corner. His sleep was shallow and restless, both of his eyebrows would bunch up every now and then.

There was a small and unnatural noise.

It could have been a mouse on the floorboards or a moth fluttering against the paper lantern in the hallway, but Lai Yiteng immediately shot both of his eyes open. He stayed motionless, keeping up an act of feigning sleep. The cool and comfortable the nighttime air became stifling with quietness.

There were no footsteps, but he did hear the faintest flutter of clothing.

It was certainly a person.

If Lai Yiteng had been deeply asleep he wouldn't have awoken to such minuscule noises. It was also a good habit that he always slept with his knife. Now it was gripped in his hand underneath the fold of his inner robe, just out of sight.

"…"

A moment of tension drew the world tight, so strained he had to use all his willpower to resist moving until the opportune moment.

But that moment arrived quickly when a figure stepped into the room, towards his empty bed.

Lai Yiteng jumped out of the corner and slashed upwards at them. He felt his thin blade catch on the elastic toughness of skin that he knew by heart. Then something hit the floor with a patter and rolled.

A finger.

There was a loud squeal.

The intruder gasped in a breath then continued to shout, "H-He wasn't asleep!" He gave some incoherent groan. "Fuck fuck fuck, it hurts...!"

Lai Yiteng rolled towards the center of the floor and saw the door being pushed open. Some lantern light spilled into the room.

One man was inside his room, his finger stub dripping blood onto the floorboards, another that was taller stood outside with his arms crossed. They wore plain hemp clothing, disguised like common-folk, but had weapons at their sides.

Finally, behind that man was the young girl who helped Lai Yiteng up the stairs earlier. She was hunkered down and cowering as she stared at the half-curled finger that had rolled towards the stool leg.

There was little chance these assailants happened to be after Xian Wu this time, too.

Lai Yiteng kept his eyes trained on the man closest to him, but the man outside his room who was older, a beard trimmed on his chin, was the first to make a move.

Surprisingly, it was to backhand that cowering girl. Her butt hit the floor hard.

"Stupid wench! You were supposed to drug him," the older man said, his tone haughty and reprimanding.

"Ahhh! Don't hurt me!" She cried and screamed, surely waking up the entire inn, "I...I gave him the tea! I did what you said. S-See, it's sitting right over there!"

Her hand wildly pointed to the iron tea pot left on the table next to a porcelain cup.

This time he kicked her in the gut.

"Clearly, he didn't drink it, and you didn't check to see if he had."

Lai Yiteng could care less about the conversation between them or what would happen to that girl. She tried to poison him, after all. And he had no concern for people who did that.

He focused on his stalemate with the man closest, his dark pupils contracting with cold blood thirst. Countering initiative was just as important as taking it.

When the man's arm twitched slightly it set Lai Yiteng off. He leapt onto the bed, then used the wooden board to launch himself into a budding-lotus strike with his palm. His white inner robes flew out behind him, revealing pale patches of skin that reflected the lamp light.

The man also raised his arms to block, and Lai Yiteng noticed him using a defense form common in Lushang martial arts. Their palms collided, a small shock of Qi went through the room.

The man staggered backwards and coughed out some blood that dribbled onto his tunic.

He seemed less confident and experienced than the older man. Not only had he lost a finger, but even his internal organs had suffered damage within two strikes!

Lai Yiteng gave a slightly unhinged smile. "So Lushang only sends weak bastards? Spineless wuss."

He immediately pressed forward in his attack, at first distracting the frightened man with shallow palm strikes. Then he took out his rope from his inner clothes and spun in a circle around him, lifting up his arms smoothly until he'd twisted a rope around his neck.

Yes, this was the same rope Lai Yiteng used to tie Xian Wu into bondage that one time. He always carried it with him inside of his robes.

This case wasn't like with Xian Wu, though.

Xian Wu had the honor of being put into bondage, quite the special treatment. This opponent only had the honor of being strangled by him.

"Urgh…..." croaked the man.

The scream in his throat withered from the rope pressure, but his arms flailed behind himself and at Lai Yiteng, helplessly trying to get him away.

With no difficulties Lai Yiteng struck out his pointer and middle fingers and hit pressure points on the man's shoulders with one hand to quickly make his arms limp and powerless.

Lai Yiteng was nothing more than a beautiful man in inner robes, bare feet, and a bed head, but it didn't mean he wasn't a deadly force. He was even eerie-looking with those contracted, black pupils, and pale, wraith like skin, and the man he was strangling was making weak and pathetic hiccuping noises in fear.

He wasn't strangling this man for fun, however.

There was no window in the room, so Lai Yiteng was using this man's body to block any potential attack from the elder man outside. His aim was to get out of the room. He did not want to be cornered inside by any other potential reinforcements.

"M-Master...Gojun..." the man croaked as he was strangled. "H-Help me! Please..." tears began to spill down his face. He didn't expect to be turned into such a sorry state this day.

'Gojun'?

Lai Yiteng blinked once, then his blood flared up with hatred. So besides Gojun An that he dismembered in Lushang's underground dungeon, another person in the 'Gojun' family had come today...

Casually dragging his hostage around the room, Lai Yiteng used one arm to pick up his meager bits of luggage onto one shoulder.

Finally, he gave a solemn look to the elder outside.

"Move, or he's dead." Lai Yiteng added coldly. "Don't bother trying to intercept, either, do you think you can save him faster, or that I can break his neck faster?"

That girl screamed and ran away. The elder man just frowned. His hair was fastidiously tied up on his head, and he stroked the stubble on his chin.

"Crazy bastard," he said. "I go by the Gojun Lao, sound familiar? To think you can brutally murder my elder brother and get away with it, and now you want to kill my youngest disciple in such a brutal manner. I haven't seen scum like you in a long time."

Lai Yiteng immediately grew more guarded.

Gojun Lao was indeed the younger brother of the martial arts master Gojun An that he had killed, but everyone at Lushang Sect knew that the younger brother had surpassed the older in skill. Gojun An only had a higher title because of seniority. Lai Yiteng didn't know if he were aware of what went on in the secret dungeon of Lushang Sect, and he didn't really care, either.

Lai Yiteng bit off his words as he tightened the rope, "Moving or not?"

Drool began to slip out of his captive's mouth.

Sure enough, it seemed the Gojun Lao placed some value on his little disciple who was currently turning blue in the face. He stepped aside with a slight frown, and Lai Yiteng proceed to exit while shoving his hostage in front of him.

Gojun Lao spoke in a low tone, "You should give up without a fight. A thing like you, looking neither female nor male, who is vicious and cruel, has little place in the world."

Lai Yiteng grit he teeth. He decided to show how he felt about that with actions, not words.

As soon as he'd stepped into the hallway, he kicked his hostage in the backside and sent him flying into Gaojun Lao's body!

Lai Yiteng took a deep breath for Seven-Lotus strike, crouching down and readying his stance. All the power in his body gathered towards his palm as he aimed directly towards Gojun Lao's skull.

Gojun Lao retreated backwards to avoid having his brains splattered everywhere, but the disciple in his arms was not so reactive and got nicked. His shoulder was torn up in a burst of blood as he screamed even harder than before. Gojun Lao furrowed his brow and helped prop him up on one shoulder. His unlucky disciple heaved in a breath and muttered something about his worst day ever.

Lai Yiteng's rope had been conveniently removed during that strike. It spun in the air until he pulled it back into his robe. But he was not finished.

He wanted to keep distance from Gojun Lao, so Lai Yiteng breathed deeply again before tearing out his door, then sent it hurtling at the two.

Gojun Lao lifted his knee sharply and shattered the wood into splinters and chunks, but Lai Yiteng had already ran down the hallway to the room next door.

It was Xian Wu's room.

"Brother Wu!" he called inside.

The room was empty. Xian Wu's things were still sitting around messily but the man himself was nowhere to be found.

...

At this point in time Xian Wu was still drinking by himself at Red Peony, but Lai Yiteng didn't know that. He only knew that he was gone.