Chapter 32: Fell for it, Retreat Quickly!

Zhan Lan held the Soft Sword in her hand, this sword named Heavenly Slash was indeed useful.

After all, she spent three thousand taels of silver to buy it.

When she redeemed the Purple Gold Hammer for Dugu Yan, she took a liking to this weapon.

On the battlefield, her favorite weapon is the battle spear, but for assassination and self-protection, she prefers the easily carried Soft Sword.

In her past life, this sword was used by Sword Saint Qin Sheng.

Swoosh!

The sound of something tearing through the air came from behind her, and Zhan Lan dodged.

Then, more than a dozen arrows were shot at her.

Zhan Lan quickly discerned the direction of the arrows, flipped over, and jumped down the slope, taking cover behind a huge rock, but her left arm took an arrow.

Visible attacks are easy to dodge, hidden arrows are hard to guard against.

The wound on her arm felt scorchingly painful, staining her sleeve red. Zhan Lan grunted softly and broke off the tail of the arrow with her right hand.

Zhan Xuerou actually hated her this much!

These people had such accurate archery, they must be disciples of the Heavenly Slaughter Sect.

They took on such assassination tasks in secret.

If the Black Shark Gang from before were just small-fry, the people from the Heavenly Slaughter Sect were not so easy to deal with!

There were at least more than ten of them, and now, with her left arm injured, she might not be able to win.

It seemed that they had already noticed that she wielded her sword with her left hand.

Rustling sounds came from the underbrush; those people were closing in on Zhan Lan.

With an oppressive force growing stronger and nearer.

Zhan Lan took a deep breath and lit the prepared Wolf Smoke. With a loud bang, the smoke shot up into the sky.

The best hunters often appear in the manner of their prey.

Now, the hunting moment had arrived!

"Fallen for the trap, retreat quickly!" The disciples of the Heavenly Slaughter Sect realized something was amiss and started to pull back.

"Shoot!" Zhan Lan's voice rang out, and the sounds of arrows pierced through the air from all directions, exploding beside the disciples of the Heavenly Slaughter Sect.

"Ah!" Screams echoed through the valley.

Dugu Yan led a hundred mountain bandits in shooting arrows, completely surrounding the disciples of the Heavenly Slaughter Sect.

Zhan Lan picked up her Soft Sword and stood up from behind the huge rock; the disciples of the Heavenly Slaughter Sect, staring at their dozens of dead fellow apprentices, were both shocked and afraid.

In the blink of an eye, only five of them were left, and all were wounded by arrows.

They had taken on this mission in secret; their sect was not aware.

They were the backup kept by their employer; if the Black Shark Gang hadn't failed, they wouldn't have shown up.

They hadn't expected the woman before them to use herself as bait, drawing out them who lurked in the shadows.

"Miss, we are from the Heavenly Slaughter Sect, just trying to earn some silver. Let us go, and we'll act as if we've never seen you today!" The leader, a man in white, said coldly.

While talking, he even threw hidden weapons at Zhan Lan.

Zhan Lan dodged, not wasting words with him, and threw out a single word, "Kill!"

"Kill them!" The bandits charged down with their broadswords in hand.

Zhan Lan stood silently there, Dugu Yan quickly ran to her side, and proudly said, "How is it! My friends are capable, right?"

Dugu Yan, who grew up in the mountains, was very familiar with the bandits from nearby peaks.

Zhan Lan had long anticipated that within Zhan Xuerou's plan, there would surely be both overt and covert forces, ensuring her thorough demise.

These bandits had long been lying in ambush here, just waiting for Zhan Xuerou's men to appear.

Even if the people from the Heavenly Slaughter Sect were formidable, it was unrealistic for five people to resist a hundred bandits.

Soon, the battle came to an end, and Zhan Lan approached Qiying, the leader of the Qiying Mountain bandits.

The man had a bushy beard and a stout figure with a square face, thick lips, and white teeth. Zhan Lan gave a slight nod and said, "Thank you, Brother Qi, for your help. Here's a silver note for a thousand taels for the brothers to buy some drinks!"

Qiying did not expect Zhan Lan to be so forthright. He was here to help Zhan Lan only because of Lady Dugu's face.

He had not thought of receiving any benefits from Zhan Lan; after all, they despised the pretentious deeds of the Heavenly Slaughter Gang!

Qiying laughed heartily as he accepted the silver note from Zhan Lan, "Lady Dugu's friend is our friend, Miss Zhan is straightforward!"

Zhan Lan bowed to the bandits with clasped hands, "Big brothers, please hurry down the mountain through the small paths. The government troops should be arriving soon! There will be other days for us, we shall meet again if fate allows!"

The bandits, with an air of banditry, grinned foolishly at Zhan Lan.

"Alright! We feel relieved with Lady Dugu following Miss Zhan. Just say the word if you need our help!"

Zhan Lan said solemnly, "We are friends, and when the time comes, I will surely ask for your help."

Qiying glanced at Zhan Lan's arrow wound and urged, "Miss, you better hurry down the mountain too."

Zhan Lan nodded, and along with Dugu Yan, they both headed down.

Halfway down the mountain, Zhan Lan saw the government troops and Zhan Xinzhang arriving. She stumbled and fainted to the ground.

Dugu Yan was panicked and hurried to assist her, gently shaking Zhan Lan's body, only to see Zhan Lan, lying on the ground with her eyes closed, blink at Dugu Yan.

It was all feigned by Zhan Lan!

Since Zhan Xuerou and Lady Li were injured so severely, she couldn't show weakness either!

Old General Zhan dismounted, his bright eyes looking at the bloodstains all over Zhan Lan's white dress, face, and hands.

He then saw the arrow wound on her arm and promptly picked her up, placing her on the carriage, instructing the coachman, "Quick, take Miss Zhan Lan back to the General Mansion for medical treatment!"

Dugu Yan grabbed Old General Zhan's arm, "Old General, the lady is still up on the mountain, unconscious after being attacked!"

The troops all showed respect for the General Mansion, and the leader immediately said, "Old General Zhan, we will go search for her right away!"

Zhan Xinzhang nodded; after sending Zhan Lan off, he followed the troops up the mountain.

On the mountain, as Zhan Xinzhang looked around, the corpses were counted by the pile—two groups of people in total.

Apart from leaving a living witness from the Black Shark Gang, there were no survivors!

Did Zhan Lan handle all of this by herself?

From the wounds, there were sword cuts, knife slashes, and arrow wounds.

Old General Zhan thoughtfully surmised that this was a premeditated assassination aimed at Zhan Lan.

However, the girl had prepared well. Who had helped her?

...

In the shaky carriage, Zhan Lan opened her eyes; her arm had already been simply bandaged.

She left no survivors apart from Liu Chi because Zhan Xuerou hadn't ordered her death directly; it was all orchestrated by Chunhua's cousin.

He had directly negotiated with the people from the Black Shark Gang and the Heavenly Slaughter Sect.

Based on Zhan Lan's understanding of Zhan Xuerou, the latter would have prepared a scapegoat to bear the blame.

No matter what, Zhan Xuerou would be sure to extricate herself completely, leaving no trace behind.

Most importantly: the Heavenly Slaughter Sect had seen Qiying and the others, and Zhan Lan could not implicate them; she had to kill all the people from the Heavenly Slaughter Sect.

Although she couldn't bring down Zhan Xuerou this time, she could still inflict a significant blow.

Zhan Lan, holding Dugu Yan's hand, whispered softly, "Please go directly and invite Doctor Tian Heng from Baohong Hall to treat me at the mansion."

"Alright, lie still and don't move," Dugu Yan was extremely worried.

Although she hadn't known Zhan Lan for long, she was always impressed by her strategies; Zhan Lan always thought many steps ahead.

Being cautious in everything, yet bold in action.

There must be a reason for the tasks she assigned, and it was enough to listen and act accordingly.

Elsewhere, at the General Mansion.

Zhan Xuerou lay on the bed, pale as Doctor Li finished examining her, his brow furrowed in concern. Qin Shuang anxiously asked, "Doctor Li, how is Rou'er?"