Chapter 4: Midnight Assassin

  The night gradually deepened, with a crescent moon hanging low in the sky, quietly reflecting the sun's rays. The surroundings slowly fell silent, and soon after, the chirping of insects began to sound out, starting tentatively at first, but then growing more reckless.

  Suddenly, the insect chirping nearby stopped abruptly. Ouyang Yun's eyelids moved slightly, and his right ear twitched - "Female Ghost" should be back, with a companion.

  The sound of heavy objects falling to the ground, light; footsteps, even lighter, mixed with other faint sounds moving around in the courtyard, gradually stopping outside his room, silent for a moment, then the sound of opening the door, and a man said: "No one?"

  "Run away?" Another male voice.

  "Shall we go into my room?"

  This was a woman's voice, husky and magnetic, sounding very special. Ouyang Yun smiled to himself: You were originally a great beauty, why did you become a ghost? With such a voice, wouldn't it be more promising to become a pop star instead?

  The footsteps were getting closer and closer to him, and a second male voice said, "Could it be the original owner of this house?"

  First male voice: "It doesn't seem like it, the Chen family except for that little girl who is studying, everyone else has been intimidated by us - Feng Huang, I hope your kindness hasn't brought too much trouble!"

  Three people's voices started very low, then gradually got louder, apparently not expecting that there was still someone hiding in Fenghuang's room. They pushed open the window, jumped into the room one by one, and turned on the light.

  Ouyang Yun looked through the gap between the bed and the floor, seeing two pairs of wide-headed men's cloth shoes and a pair of embroidered shoes. The one wearing the embroidered shoes was obviously Feng Huang. Thinking of her white hair, he couldn't help but feel amused, his mouth slightly curved upwards, thinking to himself that from now on, he would call her "White-Haired Phoenix Female Ghost". His right hand shook, and a steel needle slipped out of the needle case in his armpit. He pinched it with his middle finger and index finger, secretly preparing for an attack.

  The first male voice was Shen Jian, who quickly scanned the room and said: "I don't know what kind of person the other party is, but it seems that silencing them is no longer possible - Feng Huang, open the cellar; Xiong Mangzi, call in the mouse, we can't stay here."

  Xiong Xiazi responded with a sound, jumping out of the window. Feng Huang Bai Liusu walked towards the wardrobe and opened the door, suddenly she softly exclaimed: "Someone has touched it."

  "Ah, so that means someone has been in this room, hurry up and see if anything is missing?"

  Several sacks were pulled out, followed by wooden boxes. Shen Jian and Bai Liu Su opened them one by one to check, seeing that nothing was missing, they couldn't help but feel surprised. Then, Shen Jian suddenly reacted, saying: "This is not good, he must have called someone over, we need to hurry up."

  Two people realized the severity of the problem and were re-tying the burlap sacks when, suddenly, Bai Li Su stopped her hand movement and said, "Not right."

  Shen Jian immediately also stopped moving, then raised his eyebrows and said in a stern voice: "It's the Japanese!"

  Bai Liu Su lowered his head and said timidly: "Big brother, I'm sorry, I didn't think..."

  "Never mind, this isn't the time to assign blame."

  When Bai Liangsu felt something was wrong, Ouyang Yun also heard it. A faint cry came from the courtyard, followed by more and more "drip drip" sounds. It is said that the person who came was Japanese, he understood what the "drip drip" sound was all about, thinking that the Japanese wore wooden clogs.

  Shen Jian and Bai Liu Su reacted quickly, the two people swiftly drew their weapons and stood guard at either side of the window with great tacit understanding. They were accustomed to entering and exiting through windows, so they naturally took the window as the only entrance and exit, but they guarded the wrong place. Along with the "creaking" sound entering the main room, they only then realized that the opponent might have broken in through the door, a "click" sounded as the lock was cut off, immediately followed by a loud "bang", the door was kicked open.

  When the Japanese entered the hall, Ouyang Yun took advantage of the opportunity to use a military dagger to open a small hole in the bed board. As soon as he finished opening the hole, the Japanese swaggered in. The first two were wearing kimonos and holding samurai swords, with another short sword inserted at their waists, and wooden clogs on their feet, exactly what is known as Japanese ronin; the three people behind them were all dressed in black, with their heads and faces covered, only revealing a pair of eyes, shining brightly, seemingly like legendary ninjas.

  He glanced at his watch, 2:30 in the morning, and thought to himself that these Japanese people weren't afraid of falling even when walking on wooden sandals at night - they're cool and not afraid of getting hurt, impressive!

  The Japanese man looked at him and then turned his gaze to his compatriot. Both were dressed in short sleeves, blue shirts and pants, the man was about thirty years old, with a deep cheekbone and cold eyes; the woman had white hair, fair skin, big eyes, cherry lips, and a high nose bridge, absolutely a beautiful woman, unfortunately, there was an unrecognizable scar on her face from the corner of her eyebrow to the edge of her mouth, like splashing ink on a painting, really too damaging. He couldn't help but sigh, thinking that he couldn't call her "White-haired Phoenix Female Ghost" anymore, otherwise, it would be too hurtful to her self-esteem.

  Seeing two samurai swords with bloodstains, Shen Jian knew that Xiong Zhanzi and Lao Shu were likely to be in a precarious situation, and his heart ached as he involuntarily narrowed his eyes.

  If it weren't for the fact that she was certain she had indeed crossed over, Ouyang Yun would have suspected that she was on the set of some TV drama.

  "Northeast Tiger, didn't expect to see you again so soon," said the Japanese ronin with a flesh-colored mole on his left cheek, glancing at the sack and wooden box, a hint of a triumphant smile playing on his lips.

  Dongbei Tiger was Shen Jian's code name. He dodged to the front of Bai Li Su and said coldly, "Watanabe, you killed two of my brothers."

  "As a warrior, it's best to die in a duel, you should be grateful for them."

  "Is that so? Then you're prepared to die in battle today?" Shen Jian said, suddenly stretching out his hand and pushing Bai Li Su, shouting loudly: "Go!" Then he charged towards the shore.

  As soon as the sword moved, the three ninjas behind Watanabe simultaneously raised their right hands, each with a cold light flashing on their hands, which was the ninja's exclusive hidden weapon: Kunai. Watanabe waved his hand to stop them and sneered, "He is mine!" He took a step forward, holding the knife in both hands, and slashed diagonally at Shen Jian's right shoulder.

  Shen Jian's sword flashed quickly, his movements swift and agile. His hands moved even faster as he wielded the curved blade, its length just over a foot. Before Otowa could assume the stance for a downward slash, Shen Jian's sword had already struck down on his opponent's blade.

  Watanabe's knife was long and thin, he feared being cut off, his wrist flipped over, meeting the blade head-on.

  Two people were entwined in close combat, their movements extremely fast, the white light of the blades flashing past each other's vital parts, looking incredibly perilous. The sound of "ding ding ding" from the collision of metal echoed incessantly, and apart from those three ninjas, everyone else stared with wide eyes, tense with attention - Bai Li Su had not left, her right hand holding a short sword about one foot long, her left hand grasping a flying dagger, as if ready to substitute for Shen Jian in battle.

  Emotionally, Ouyang Yun naturally hoped the Chinese would win. During his days as a special forces soldier, he had been in several fights, but they were all one-sided and not as exciting or thrilling as those depicted on TV. This kind of intense fight to the death was something he had never seen before, and at first, he felt like he was right there in the midst of it, thinking about how he would react if he were one of them, gradually grasping the trick.

  Shen Jian and Watanabe's martial arts skills were not far apart, but due to the narrow indoor space, every inch counted, and Watanabe's long sword could not be wielded freely. Without enough space to build up momentum for a big slash, he couldn't utilize the advantage of his long blade. He was gradually forced into a flurry by Shen Jian's curved knife, which stuck close to him with a series of thrusts, cuts, and parries. Watanabe realized the problem and tried several times to switch to the short dagger on his body, but his intention was seen through by Shen Jian, who didn't let him succeed.

  After a dozen or so moves, the two men were getting closer and closer, with Shen Jian's advantage becoming more and more apparent. The Japanese man was indeed trustworthy, or perhaps Watanabe was their leader, arrogant as he was, no one else dared to help without his orders. The onlooking Japanese men just stood there, until Shen Jian suddenly parried Watanabe's sword, turned around, pressed his back against him, and struck a blow to his abdomen with his elbow, then flashed behind him, his left hand grasping the opponent's waistband, holding the short knife to his neck.

  Shen Jian actually had several chances to directly eliminate the opponent, but now Ouyang Yun understood that he wanted to capture them as hostages. "Put down all your weapons!" Shen Jian stared at the remaining Japanese and shouted coldly, then looked at Bai Li Su and growled: "Still not leaving?!"

  Bai Liu Su shook his head: "If we leave, let's go together." His voice was very low, but his tone was quite firm.

  Four Japanese people looked at Watanabe, seemingly waiting for his instructions, but their faces showed no expression.

  Watanabe smiled and said, "Northeast Tiger, I didn't think you'd be stronger than me." The corner of his mouth twitched, and his smile suddenly turned cruel. He flipped his hands over, and the warrior's knife plunged into his own abdomen with force.

  This move was ruthless enough, Ouyang Yun had a mind to remind him but it was already too late, and could only sigh and curse in a low voice: "Damn the Martial Way!" With his left hand exerting force, he grasped a steel needle, bent his legs and pushed off with force, using his head as a hammer, charging towards the bedside.

  "Big brother, quickly let——" Bai Liu Su shouted out loud. With a flick of his left hand, the flying knife shot towards Watanabe's heart, and he also pounced forward.

  She moved, and the remaining four Japanese also moved. More than a dozen flying swords shot out, all towards Bai Liuxue. Another Japanese ronin shouted: "Hakka!" One sword stabbed towards Shen Jian's head exposed on Watanabe's left shoulder.

  Shen Jian's right hand instinctively pulled, his left hand urgently pushed, but it was still too slow. Watanabe's slash had tremendous force, instantly piercing through himself and stabbing into Shen Jian's abdomen. Then, a gash opened on his neck, blood spurted out, and his body fell forward, with a "pffft" sound, replacing the white silk streamer that had been hanging down, shaking twice, before crashing to the ground, immediately dying thoroughly.

  Watanabe's knife gave Shen Jian a great deal of harm, stabbing not too deeply, but because he brought out the knife in that one move, it slashed open his abdomen, and this wound was fatal. A wave of intense pain came over him, and all he felt was blackness before his eyes, his senses momentarily dulled, unable to dodge the knife aimed at his head. In the midst of Bai Li Su's mournful cries, this knife directly stabbed into his brain, leaving him no chance to survive.

  "I'll take you down!" Bai Liu Su dodged the remaining Ku Wu with a jump, and in mid-air, he let out an angry roar. With a flick of his right hand, his short sword shot towards the killer who had slain Shen Jian.

  That Japanese ronin was about to hide, but suddenly felt a numbness in his waist, and then his whole body became stiff. He only had time to cast his eyes towards the place where the strange noise came from, before being stabbed in the heart by a short sword, and he died instantly.

  Ouyang Yun made his move. He burst out of the bed, wood shavings flying everywhere, his right hand throwing a steel needle at the short pirate and his left hand throwing another steel needle at the nearest ninja. He had originally hoped to save Shen Jian's life, but he was still one step too late. That damned bed, made of who-knew-what kind of wood, had even left him feeling a bit dizzy from the impact.

  Ouyang Yun's steel needle was more overbearing than Bai Liu Su's flying knife or the ninja's kusarigama - ten centimeters long, hollow, with anesthetic applied to the body of the needle, and a rubber plug at the back end. If he wanted to kill someone, all he had to do was pull out the plug. The prey would bleed to death after being anesthetized.

  Ouyang Yun's sudden appearance shocked the remaining two ninjas, but they didn't panic. They exchanged a glance and immediately divided their tasks in perfect tacit understanding. One of them scattered a handful of black ash to cover their retreat while the other quickly fled, apparently intending to send back information.

  Ouyang Yun saw the situation and naturally wouldn't let them succeed. He originally wanted to conserve bullets and practice his martial arts, but now he immediately drew out his gun. With two light "chi" sounds, the two ninjas' hearts were instantly pierced by a red thread, and they fell dead on the spot.