plumnovel Chapter 54 The Black-Clad Ninja, Dancing with Wolves
Chapter 54 The Black-Clad Ninja, Dancing with Wolves
Li Chengqian asked with a worried expression, "I wonder where Princess Hengyang and Princess Chengyang are now, and how they are doing?"
"I hope they're alright," Su Wan said.
As they were talking, Su Wan suddenly noticed that a bulge seemed to have formed in the sand pile, and that the bulge was moving faster and faster.
"Your Highness, look what that is?" Su Wan asked, pointing to the bulge on the ground.
Li Chengqian also found it very strange; how could there be bulges in the sand pile?
Just as he was wondering, a dark figure suddenly leaped out of the bulge, wielding a long knife and slashing at Li Chengqian's head.
"Your Highness, be careful!" Su Wan was terrified when she saw it!
Seeing the long sword coming towards him, Li Chengqian quickly dodged to the left, avoiding the blow.
Although he dodged it, he was still terrified.
By the light of the fire, he observed that the man in black looked different from the people of the Central Plains; he was expressionless and extremely cold.
In the original owner's memories, it was discovered that the long sword in the black-clad man's hand looked somewhat like a Japanese sword.
Could it be a ninja?
Li Chengqian thought to himself that the things the original owner saw in the movie were also available in the Tang Dynasty.
He pulled out the dagger Li Tai had given him and stabbed at the man in black. Just as he was about to strike the man in black, the figure vanished in an instant.
Looking at the ground again, four more bulges appeared and quickly moved toward Li Chengqian.
Li Chengqian cursed inwardly, "Damn it, four of them actually came."
He tucked the dagger into his waistband, quickly grabbed the crossbow, nocked an arrow, aimed ahead, and was ready to fire at any moment.
At this moment, two more ninjas sprang out from the sand dunes. Li Chengqian fired two arrows in quick succession, and the two men disappeared like a gust of wind.
Fatong had never seen such bizarre kung fu before. He wanted to go up and fight, but the other person was too fast. He was tall and slow, and he couldn't even touch the other person's clothes.
Xue'er, a young girl, was so frightened that she trembled all over.
Su Gui, Shui Jishe, and Feng Jishe were just here a moment ago, but now I don't know where they've gone to do.
It just goes to show that a lazy donkey pulling a millstone produces a lot of excrement and urine.
Upon seeing this, Su Wan exclaimed, "Your Highness, please hand me another crossbow!"
Li Chengqian never expected Su Wan to be so brave in this critical moment.
"Alright! Here you go!" Li Chengqian took out another crossbow and handed it to Su Wan.
Su Wan is incredibly intelligent and learns quickly.
The four black-clad ninjas emerged from the sand again, and Su Wan and Li Chengqian fired at them together. The four men vanished again in a wisp of smoke.
The fact that they couldn't hit their targets was a major headache for Li Chengqian and Su Wan.
Just then, Su Gui returned.
Su Wan yelled, "Kid, where the hell were you just now?"
"Oh, a camel died of thirst, so I went to check on it," Su Gui explained.
"Your Highness is in danger! Look, there's someone in that sand pile!"
"Yeah?"
Su Gui turned around to look, and sure enough, there were four bulges moving rapidly.
"So it was earth magic! Watch me take care of them!"
As Su Gui spoke, she leaped up, more than ten feet high, and then, head down and feet up, thrust her spear at one of the mounds.
Su Gui pierced one person like she was skewering a toad.
With a flick of his spear, he flung the man's corpse more than two zhang away, where it landed on the sand dune with a "bang".
Following that, Su Gui also burrowed into the sand and fought the other three underground.
What a Su Gui! He's like a tiger descending the mountain or a dragon emerging from the water. In no time, he killed two more and captured one alive.
He tied the ninja up with a rope and threw him in front of Li Chengqian.
Li Chengqian looked down at him: "Who are you people? Who sent you?"
But after saying two things that no one could understand, the man bit his tongue and committed suicide.
"Your Highness, this boy is dead!" Su Gui said to Li Chengqian, pointing to the man's corpse.
Li Chengqian frowned, picked up the Japanese sword from the ground, examined it carefully, and asked Su Gui and Fatong, "Have you ever seen this kind of weapon before?"
After examining it, Fatong said, "This weapon is used exclusively by the warriors of the Wa people. I have heard that the Dangxiang and the Wa people's medicine master Hui Ri are in cahoots. They must have learned of our whereabouts and therefore sent someone to assassinate Your Highness."
"Yakushi Eri?"
"Yes, this person and Inugami Mitasuki held extremely high positions in the Wa-nu Kingdom and once represented the Wa-nu Kingdom as envoys to the Tang Dynasty."
"I see. Leave their knives behind and bury the bodies."
After burying the four bodies, Li Chengqian noticed a horse approaching with a person on its back. As the horse reached them, it collapsed with a "thud," struggled for a while, and then died.
The person on horseback was Muji She. He was covered in wounds, blood was still flowing from his arms, and he had already fainted.
Kazeki and Mizuki approached him, shaking his body: "Kikuki, are you dead? If you're not, say something!"
After quite some time, Kiyoshi finally woke up.
Feng Jishe asked, "Hey buddy, what happened to you? His Highness ordered you to protect Princess Hengyang and Princess Chengyang. Where are they now, and how are they doing?"
To everyone's surprise, Muji burst into tears upon hearing this.
Mizuki was also very anxious and slapped him across the face: "What are you crying about, you grown man? Just say it already!"
"The princess and her companions were captured by several men in black of unknown origin."
"What? What were your arrows for? Aren't you a sharpshooter? Why didn't you shoot them dead?"
"I shot, but strangely, they disappeared as soon as I shot them. I couldn't hit them at all. Then, they suddenly emerged from the sand dunes. Their techniques were very unique, and I had never seen them before."
I fought them, but while I'm good at archery, I'm no match for them in a fight.
So I seized a horse and rode here to deliver this message to you.
"You're a complete waste! You're not worthy of being called a sharpshooter!" Mizuki cursed.
Everyone finally understood.
Li Chengqian then asked, "Do you know how many people the other side has brought?"
Five people.
"Are the princess and the others safe now?"
"Those men in black didn't harm them, and they're not in immediate danger, but we don't know what they're up to."
Li Chengqian lowered his head and pondered for a while, then said, "It seems that those five people are in cahoots with the four men in black from earlier. They split into two groups, their aim being to kill me."
They captured Princess Hengyang and Princess Chengyang, among others, but didn't harm them; they wanted to lure us into rescuing them.
Su Wan said, "Your Highness, you can't go. If you go, you'll definitely fall into their ambush."
Li Chengqian shook his head: "My aunts are in trouble, how can I stand idly by? I must go."
"If you really insist on going, I'll go with you."
"This mission to rescue the princess and the others is extremely risky; it wouldn't be safe for you to go."
"No, I want to be with you," Su Wan said firmly.
"All right."
So, Li Chengqian, Su Wan, Su Gui, Feng Jishe, and He Mujishe rode their horses, carrying necessary supplies, to rescue Princess Hengyang and Princess Chengyang.
On the way, Mujishe said, "I wouldn't say my archery skills are that good, but they are still among the best in the Turkic world. However, this is the first time I've encountered such a strange phenomenon. They don't seem to be human; they seem like ghosts."
Li Chengqian said, "If I'm not mistaken, those people are not ordinary people; they are specially trained and called ninjas."
"Ninja?"
"Yes, their movements are incredibly fast, almost beyond human limits. So when you shoot them with an arrow, they seem to disappear in the blink of an eye, as if they can transform."
"I see. But how did you kill those four ninjas?"
Upon hearing this, Su Gui raised her pear blossom spear: "They can run fast on the ground, but they can't run as fast as me in the sand. I burrowed underground and took them all out one by one."
"You're really amazing!" Kijiro gave him a thumbs up.
They walked for about another half an hour, and Muji pointed to the lights about a mile ahead: "That's it, they haven't left yet."
Li Chengqian looked up and indeed found several tents set up in front of him.
Su Wan spotted two green lights not far ahead.
She pointed and said to Li Chengqian, "Your Highness, look what that is?"
Li Chengqian made everyone stop.
He pulled on the horse's reins and found it strange, wondering how there could be a light in the desert.
As the light drew closer, the crowd gradually came to see it clearly.
Su Wan shouted, "That's not a lamp, it's a huge wolf!"
It turned out that the two lamps were the wolf's eyes.
Li Chengqian was also surprised, wondering how there could be wolves in this desert.
His horse neighed and took a few steps back.
He gripped the horse's belly tightly with his legs, firmly reining in the horse, and the horse gradually calmed down.
Muji planned to nock an arrow and shoot the wolf, but because of an injury to his arm, he was unable to draw the bowstring.
Li Chengqian stared at the wolf and said to the crowd, "You all step back and let it come closer, then I will shoot it!"
As Li Chengqian spoke, he took a crossbow off his back and nocked an arrow.
At first, the wolf walked very slowly, but later it walked faster and faster. Suddenly it opened its blood-red mouth, revealing sharp fangs, and leaped up, rushing straight at Li Chengqian!
"Your Highness, be careful!" Su Wan screamed in fright.
Seeing the wolf approaching, Li Chengqian remained calm and fired an arrow, hitting the wolf squarely in the throat.
The wolf let out a mournful howl, and the corpse fell to the ground.
Su Wan exclaimed, "Your Highness, your archery skills are truly remarkable! One arrow, one kill! I was terrified just now."
As soon as Su Wan finished speaking, she suddenly noticed that hundreds of "green lights" had appeared around her.
Li Chengqian said, "The wolf pack is coming, everyone don't panic!"
Wolves are social animals, unlike lions and tigers.
Even lions and tigers are afraid when they encounter a pack of wolves.
However, right behind the pack of wolves stood a tall woman dressed in black.
Although Li Chengqian could not see it very clearly from a distance, he could still make out the general idea.
The woman had a beautiful face, fair skin, and bright, expressive eyes.
The woman held a long whip in her hand and was chanting some kind of incantation.
Under her command, the wolf pack became orderly and disciplined.
The wolf pack immediately dispersed, surrounding Li Chengqian, Su Wan, and the others from all sides, and was gradually tightening the encirclement.
Li Chengqian said to Su Gui, "Protect your sister well!"
At this moment, Su Wan was also determined. She took the crossbow from her shoulder, nocked three arrows, and aimed at the wolves not far away: "I don't need protection, watch me shoot them dead!"
Kazekichi handed a Japanese sword to Kijikichi: "Buddy, although your arm is injured and you can't shoot arrows anymore, you should be able to cut off the wolf's head with this sword in a critical moment, right?"
"Don't worry, we can easily take advantage of him!" Kiji said confidently.
Just then, the woman in black whistled, and the wolf at the front began to attack Li Chengqian and his companions.
Li Chengqian designed a crossbow that could fire in rapid succession, and could fire three arrows at a time, thus greatly increasing its power.
Li Chengqian knew that in this situation, the most important thing was to maintain stability and prevent his own side from falling into disarray! In particular, he himself could not afford to lose his composure.
Li Chengqian had practiced shooting regularly, so he was very skilled at using the crossbow.
He can kill a three-headed wolf in one shot; his archery skills are extremely accurate!
Although Su Wan was afraid, seeing Li Chengqian's calmness and courage gave her even more courage.
She wasn't as accurate as Li Chengqian, but she still managed to kill two or three wolves.
Then look at Su Gui, who wielded the spear in her hand with incredible speed, killing seven or eight wolves in succession with each shot.
Feng Jishe and Mu Jishe also killed several wolves.
However, as the woman in black intensified her whistle, the wolves charged forward relentlessly, showing no sign of retreat.
If one wolf dies, the others will pounce on it and devour its carcass on the spot.
Wolves are such cruel animals; they not only eat people, but also their own kind.
Having just eaten their companions, the wolves still had blood on their mouths. Having regained their strength, they licked their mouths with their tongues, looking quite satisfied.
The wolf, smelling the blood, became even more ferocious!
Seeing that the number of wolves was increasing and they were fighting to the death, Su Wan was extremely annoyed.
She thought to herself that it was all because of the woman in black who was behind the wolves.
The world is full of wonders; I never expected that these wolves would listen to the woman in black.
Su Wan thought that to catch the thief, you must first catch the leader. If I shoot the woman in black dead with an arrow, then these wolves will scatter without a leader.
Thinking of this, she nocked another arrow and aimed it at the woman in black.
With a "whoosh," the arrow shot towards the woman in black.
Su Wan originally thought that this arrow would surely kill the woman in black, but she was wrong.
Just as the arrow reached the woman in black, she reached out and caught it.
Su Wan was taken aback; she hadn't expected there to be such a remarkable woman in the world.
Li Chengqian saw all this and was quite surprised.
There's a saying that women, monks, and Taoist priests either don't go to the battlefield, or if they do face the enemy, they must have extraordinary methods. It's certainly true!
After a fierce battle, Li Chengqian and his men had killed almost all the wolves.
At that moment, the woman whistled again, and the remaining wolves retreated.
"I originally thought the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty was just a weak scholar, but I never expected his archery skills to be so superb. It's truly admirable!" the woman said loudly.
"Who are you?" Li Chengqian asked.
"I am Yakushi Keiko, the younger sister of Yakushi Keihi from the Japanese Kingdom. Last year, the chief envoy Inugami Mitasuki and the deputy envoy Yakushi Keihi came to the Tang Dynasty together, and I came along with them."
"I see. As far as I know, our Tang Dynasty treats your envoys quite well. So why are you treating us like this?"
Yaoshi Huizi sneered: "Who doesn't know that you Tang people are full of benevolence and morality, but in reality you harbor evil intentions? Your Tang territory is already big enough, but you are still not satisfied. You want to annex Tuyuhun and Dangxiang to the west. Even I can't stand it anymore, so I came to teach you a lesson. I didn't expect you to be so lucky."
"You may have misunderstood. Our Great Tang has always loved peace and has never invaded other countries. It was only because Tuyuhun broke the alliance first that they repeatedly violated the borders of our Great Tang, burning, killing, looting and committing all kinds of evil deeds, which aroused the people's resentment."
My father cherishes the people of the land and does not wish to wage war. Therefore, he sent me to negotiate peace with them. How could it be as you describe?
"Li Chengqian, I didn't expect you to be so good at arguing at such a young age. I can tell you that you can turn black into white and the dead into the living with just one word."
However, I only look at the facts, and what you say is useless.
As far as I know, the Tuyuhun people existed before the Sui Dynasty. Your Tang Dynasty has only been established for a little over ten years. Your grandfather was very unethical, seizing the throne from his cousin Yang Guang. How can you talk about benevolence and righteousness when you acted like that? I think the eyes of the world are discerning, and people can see it very clearly.
So you don't need to explain to me.
"Very well, have you seen my aunt, Princess Hengyang, and my sister, Princess Chengyang?"
"They were all captured by my brother, but don't worry, they're all alive and well now."
"Where are they? I wish to see them."
At this moment, five men in black appeared before everyone. One of them was the leader, and the other four were escorting Princess Hengyang, Princess Chengyang, Du He, and Du Zhenglun respectively.
Du Zhenglun cried out loudly, "Your Highness, please save this humble subject!"
"Don't worry, I'm coming to rescue you," Li Chengqian paused, "Aunt, sister, are you alright?"
"Chengqian, we are alright. They are ruthless. Why didn't you leave? Why did you come back to save us?" Princess Hengyang said.
"Aunt, you're talking nonsense. We came out together, how could I abandon you?"
The leader of the men in black was none other than Yakushi Hui Ri. He shouted, "Li Chengqian, kill yourself right now and I'll release these people. Otherwise, I'll kill them!"
I'll give you half an hour to consider. When the time is up, either you or they must have your heads rolled!