A Clash of Gods - Chapter 177
Chapter 177 Equilibrium
Qu Xiaocang arranged for the carriage and had the injured guard brought out and put him inside.
The guard was still unconscious. It could be seen that the bronze general’s attack was indeed powerful. Duan Canghai examined him, finding that although the guard was injured, there was no danger to his life. That man attacked the guard’s chest. The guard’s reaction was fast, so he had blocked it with a blade in front of his chest to avoid being directly hit in the chest by the bronze general. Otherwise, his sternum would have been broken, but even so, the attack still injured the guard.
“Marquis, I…” Duan Canghai felt a little guilty and said, “It was my carelessness that put the Marquis in danger. Please punish me.”
The two of them sat face-to-face in the carriage. The carriage arranged by the Mansion of the Divine Marquis was also very spacious and not crowded at all.
“I know you’re a cautious person.” Yang Ning frowned, “Under those circumstances, there must be a reason for you to suddenly leave. What happened?”
Duan Canghai thought for a moment, then said, “Marquis, you don’t know. Tonight, I saw that figure and thought it was an assassin I had seen before, so I chased after him.”
“Assassin?”
Duan Canghai frowned, “Three years ago, the Qinhuai Battle hadn’t started yet. The General was recuperating in the mansion. I remember that time when I went to the Mansion of the Marquis of Loyalty for a banquet. When I came back, I suddenly encountered an assassination attempt. At that time, the assassin descended from the sky and looked like a bat. His flying skill was very good. As the General’s health was not good, the assassin wanted to take advantage of the General’s weakest moment to assassinate General.”
“Assassinate my father?”
“Yes.” Duan Canghai nodded, “He descended from the sky and stabbed down from the top of the carriage. The guards that followed the General didn’t react in time. Fortunately, although the General wasn’t in good health, he still dodged the assassin’s attack. The assassin immediately escaped instead of attacking again. We chased after him. Since the assassin ran too fast like a bat, we simply couldn’t catch up.” At this point, he shook his head with a helpless smile, “It’s all our fault for being incompetent.”
“Are you saying that the figure you saw tonight is similar to the assassin who assassinated my father?” Yang Ning frowned.
Duan Canghai’s expression was serious, “I saw that person flying across the street. His flying skill was extremely impressive, and his attire was very similar to that of the assassin back then. So I immediately chased after him in a hurry. The assassin had assassinated the General in the past. After that, the Mansion of the Divine Marquis sent people to investigate, but they could not find any trace of that person. It was as if the assassin had never appeared, and there was no news from him.”
“Could it be that the vampire bronze general is the same person as the assassin who assassinated my father?” Yang Ning asked, “Why did he appear again after so many years? And he even committed a crime with such an unbelievable method?”
Duan Canghai shook his head and said, “I originally suspected that the assassin who appeared tonight was the assassin of that year. However, from the Marquis’s description in the Mansion of the Divine Marquis, it seems that I was wrong.”
“Oh?”
Duan Canghai explained, “The man with the bronze mask that Marquis saw had the temperament of general leading troops to battle, but I still clearly remember the assassin who stabbed the General back then. His body was rather short. Although I couldn’t see his face clearly, he looked like a monkey…” After thinking for a moment, he said, “The person I saw tonight should be the bronze general that the Marquis saw. It’s just that his attire is similar to that of the assassin, but he shouldn’t be the same person.”
“Short stature, like a monkey?” Yang Ning frowned, “And his flying skill is extremely good?”
Duan Canghai nodded, “That’s right, if I catch that assassin one day, I will dismember him.” He clenched his fists with a cold expression.
“Is father often assassinated.?”
Duan Canghai sighed, “Not only the General but the old Marquis was also assassinated at least ten times. However, they were all lucky, and none of them were assassinated by the assassins. Marquis, the two generations of the Marquis of Honor are the pillars of the empire. With them here, the enemy country will not be able to enter our Chu. In the eyes of the Northern Han people, the Marquis of Honor has always been regarded as a threat. Back then, they tried their best to kill the Marquis of Honor.” He smiled coldly, lowering his voice to say, “All the people from the Northern Han State and Eastern Qi State have ulterior motives. Other than that, even in the Chu, the Marquis of Honor has blocked many people’s way. Those people also have ulterior motives.”
Yang Ning nodded slightly. He could understand this point, and at this moment, he understood why Gu Qinghan and Duan Canghai would treat his safety so seriously. After all, the two generations of the Marquis of Honor had been assassinated repeatedly, and the third generation of the Marquis of Honor would probably enjoy the same treatment in the future.
“Uncle Duan, have you heard of Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas?” Yang Ning thought for a moment before asking softly.
Duan Canghai was startled and frowned, “Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas?”
“The Hagakure School hides in the ground. The Flying Cicada School flies in the sky. The Koga School deduces all visions, and the Iga School uses Water and Fire Magic…” Yang Ning chanted in a low voice. These were the four sentences he had heard from the brown-robed elder who had accompanied Xiao Guang. He still remembered them very clearly, “I heard that there are many sects in Dongying. Among them, the Hagakure School, the Flying Cicada School, the Koga School, and the Iga School are the four most famous sects. However, the Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas were killed by other sects, so they can’t continue living in Dongying.”
Although Duan Canghai had a wide range of connections and knew a lot about ganghood matters, he was a soldier back then and wasn’t a real ganghood person. Yang Ning looked at him, who was a little dumbfounded. He knew that this guy probably didn’t know much about Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas at all. He could only say, “I heard that after the remnant of Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas escaped from Dongying, they went to some island in the East Sea. They weren’t good at other means of livelihood and they were best at assassination.”
Duan Canghai was a little surprised, “Marquis, how did you learn these?”
Of course, Yang Ning had already thought of a way to reply, “It was during a chat with people at the Temple of Great Light that the monks there accidentally mentioned it.”
Although the Temple of Great Light was a royal temple, it was somewhere between the imperial court and the ganghood. As the number one temple in the world, it naturally knew everything in the ganghood.
Furthermore, Yang Ning was not worried that Duan Canghai would seek confirmation. After all, not everyone in the Temple of Great Light was qualified to go up the mountain.
Duan Canghai was convinced, “Why did Marquis suddenly mention Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas?”
“Because there are top flying skill masters in Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas,” Yang Ning said, “And you said that the assassin’s body was short, he looked like a monkey. The Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas came from Dongying, from which people were all short. And the Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas were best at assassination, so I think about the assassin who assassinated my father back then. Is it possible that it has something to do with Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas?”
Duan Canghai’s body trembled and he frowned, “Marquis, you mean that the assassin who assassinated your father back then could have been sent by the Lord of the Baiyun Island?”
“Why do you suspect the Lord of the Baiyun Island?” Yang Ning asked.
Duan Canghai said, “Didn’t you say that Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas were stranded on the islands of the East Sea? As far as I know, the Lord of the Baiyun Island lived in Baiyun Island for years, which was one of the islands in the East Sea. The place where the Lord of the Baiyun Island is located is naturally within his sphere of influence. Are all the Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas controlled by the Lord of the Baiyun Island?”
Hearing Duan Canghai’s words, Yang Ning was shocked. He felt that it might be possible.
“You think the Lord of the Baiyun Island sent assassins to assassinate my father for the sake of Eastern Qi State,” Yang Ning asked, then shook his head, “I don’t think that’s possible.”
“Why did Marquis say that?”
Yang Ning said, “The current national policy of the East Qi State is definitely to balance the strength of the two states. It can survive not because it has a strong navy. To be honest, either Northern Han State or our Southern Chu State can destroy the Eastern Qi State with full strength.”
Duan Canghai nodded, “What Marquis said is right. There are very few people in Eastern Qi State. If we fight it, at most half a year, Chu will be able to conquer the territory of Eastern Qi State.”
“Yes. Why didn’t the Chu and the Northern Han State attack it? Isn’t it because the Northern Han State and us are fighting head-to-head? It can be said that they are evenly matched. Under such circumstances, who would dare to use their forces against the Eastern Qi State?” Yang Ning smiled faintly, “Unless there is a day when the Northern Han or one of us can defeat the other side. When the time comes, we don’t need to fight and the Eastern Qi State people will obediently surrender. However, the people of Eastern Qi State would not allow such a situation to occur. In their eyes, Northern Han State and the Chu were equally powerful, which as their safest situation.”
Duan Canghai nodded slightly, “What Marquis said is the same as the General. The General also said that although the Chu become strong, we will not be able to conquer the Northern Han in a short period. At that time, the Eastern Qi State people will rely on the Northern Han people, and vice versa. In short, as long as the Eastern Qi State people see who is weaker, they will rely on whom.”
“When my father was alive, Chu could compete with the Northern Han people.” Yang Ning sighed, “The Qinhuai Battle also proved that the two countries are indeed evenly matched. The Eastern Qi State people would only choose to stand aside when they had no other choice. Otherwise, they would never get involved in these matters. They knew what it meant for the three states to have my father alive. Once my father died, the balance of power between the two countries would very likely be broken. It was impossible for the Lord of the Baiyun Island, Mo Lancang, not to know this. Since he was the Imperial Master of Eastern Qi State, he would plan it from a long-term perspective. Sending people to assassinate my father would not benefit the Eastern Qi State at all. Do you think that a person who had already become a Great Grandmaster would make such a stupid mistake?”
Duan Canghai’s expression was solemn. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Marquis, you are right. The Lord of the Baiyun Island would never make such a mistake.”
“If the one who assassinated my father back then was from the Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas, there must be someone else behind the Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas.” Yang Ning smiled faintly, “There’s no enmity between us and the Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas. They must be hired by some people. Those who secretly hire the Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas want to kill my father.”
Duan Canghai patted his head and said in annoyance, “If it wasn’t for the Marquis’s reminder today, I wouldn’t have found any clues. Since Marquis was wise and extraordinary, you can think of the Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas as an important clue.” He sneered, “Although the time has passed and the General is no longer alive, we can’t let go of any enemy that has harmed the General.”
“You have so many connections, so you can secretly investigate the situation of Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas.” Yang Ning pulled open the window curtain and discovered that the sky had already brightened. He yawned and said, “When you get the news, remember to let me know. I also want to know who the real culprit behind that group of short monkeys is.”