r18novel Page 192
Page 192
Of course, this person passed by Wei Tingyu and Ren Ruyi when he came out, but the two of them, with a mindset of not getting involved, did not intervene.
It wasn't until they stood still in the garden that the others could see what the figure that had suddenly appeared looked like.
"Ning Tou?" Yuan Lu, who was closest to the man, was stunned for a moment, then almost burst into tears: "You're still alive?"
With his confirmation, Wei Tingyu and Ren Ruyi knew that this person was indeed Ning Yuanzhou, whom Zhao Ji had been trying to capture.
This guy really did fake his death and come back?! It seems I was right all along! Ren Ruyi thought to herself, and couldn't help but frown.
Her first impression of this person named Ning Yuanzhou was not good, because she felt that this guy was just as cunning as Zhao Ji, he was just good at disguising it.
Seeing his appearance and physique now, Ren Ruyi was utterly speechless.
Even though it's not very clear what the other person looks like at night, just their silhouette still gives off a feeling that they are quite scheming!
"Ning Tou! Ning Tou!" At this moment, the warriors of the Six Paths Hall all surrounded Ning Yuanzhou after he appeared, looking at him with admiration in their eyes.
Zhao Ji remained calm upon seeing this, as he was well aware of Ning Yuanzhou's standing among the members of the Six Paths Hall.
He had anticipated this situation.
"Coming to my grave in the middle of the night..." Ning Yuanzhou gave Zhao Ji a pretentious smile upon seeing him, then said, "Zhao Ji! You're getting better and better at this!"
“I knew you wouldn’t die so easily!” However, Zhao Ji ignored Ning Yuanzhou’s words and looked directly at him, saying, “As soon as I received the report from the scout that a man eight feet tall had bought thirteen pieces of Zhang Ji’s bite-sized pastry in one go, I knew it was you!”
When Zhao Ji said this, everyone present was stunned, even Ren Ruyi stared wide-eyed.
Logically speaking, this person should be very cunning, so how could they reveal their true colors in such a childish way?
Is there something wrong with his brain? He likes to scheme, but he's also incredibly stupid, which is why he ended up like this?
"Take him down!" Zhao Ji didn't want to waste any more words with Ning Yuanzhou and gave the order directly.
However, the warriors of the Six Paths Hall looked at each other in bewilderment, after all, Ning Yuanzhou held a high position in their hearts! Getting them to draw their swords against each other was indeed not an easy task.
"Those who disobey orders shall die!" Upon seeing this, Zhao Ji immediately used his trump card.
Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, the other Six Paths Hall warriors, no matter how hesitant they were, had no choice but to grit their teeth, draw their swords, and charge forward! After all, compared to their own lives, their admiration for Ning Yuanzhou was insignificant.
Ning Yuanzhou was initially quite pleased to see that the Six Paths Hall warriors were unwilling to capture him, but unexpectedly, things changed a bit too quickly. He immediately frowned and, relying on his excellent lightness skill, slipped through the crowd of Six Paths Hall warriors who surrounded him, heading straight for Zhao Ji!
Zhao Ji was a bit smarter than Ning Yuanzhou, but not much! He really hadn't expected that Ning Yuanzhou would try to capture the leader first, and he drew his sword to fight without saying a word.
Unfortunately, the difference in their martial arts skills was too great. In just a couple of moves, Ning Yuanzhou grabbed the hilt of his knife and drew the blade, placing it against his neck.
Zhao Ji was truly panicked now, because if the blade were to twitch even slightly, he would be decapitated!
However, Ning Yuanzhou was good at showing off. At this moment, he was not in a hurry to kill Zhao Ji, nor did he try to take him away. Instead, he raised his eyebrows smugly and looked at the other party with a smug expression without saying a word.
It's obvious they want to show the other person how capable they are!
This behavior made Ren Ruyi roll her eyes to the heavens.
Stupid! So incredibly stupid! Watching this spectacle today has made me so angry!
Does the Six Paths Hall of Wu Kingdom really have no talent? How could such an incompetent person have been a hall master before?
However, the thought that Zhao Ji, who was such a wretched man, had now become a hall master made her feel somewhat relieved.
As an assassin, Ren Ruyi's motto is speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness—to kill with a single blow and then quickly leave! She simply cannot understand Ning Yuanzhou's behavior of putting on airs even when he is already fighting to the death with his opponent.
Ning Yuanzhou's show of bravado gave Zhao Ji time to think of a solution, and surprisingly, he actually came up with one.
"The news about the sixteen people under Chai Ming! Do you still want to know?" Zhao Ji asked Ning Yuanzhong directly, "They are all your brothers who have risked their lives for you!"
These words seemed to have some effect. Ning Yuanzhou's eyes darted around twice, as if he was thinking about something, and then he immediately released his grip on the knife hilt.
This scene moved Genroku and the other Rokudo-do warriors deeply.
As expected, Ning Tou is still Ning Tou! He's so loyal! Even though he had a sure victory, he actually chose to compromise for the sake of news about those sixteen brothers who had risked their lives for him!
However, Ning Yuanzhou's actions were only enough to fool Yuanlu and the other Six Paths Hall warriors; Wei Tingyu and Ren Ruyi could only silently complain that his acting was terrible.
Weren't those sixteen so-called brothers who had risked their lives for each other all like Ning Yuanzhou, who followed Emperor Wu on his personal campaigns and then disappeared on the battlefield?
If you really care about their lives, why did you come back yourself?
With Ning Yuanzhou's skills, infiltrating Anguo's military camp wouldn't be difficult! Finding out whether those brothers died in battle or were captured would be very easy!
As a result, this guy just dusted himself off and ran back, faking his death to avoid trouble. Now he's actually worried about those brothers he's risked his life for?
Zhao Ji sneered at the sight, because the fact that he dared to use this as a bargaining chip to gamble with Ning Yuanzhou's life clearly showed that he knew this guy was actually a pretentious scoundrel.
Regardless of his true thoughts, he still had to pretend to be very loyal in front of outsiders! Otherwise, how could he have fooled the Six Paths Hall underlings so completely, making them still remember this Ning Tou to this day?
"Ning Yuanzhou! You'd better know your place!" Seeing that his plan had succeeded, Zhao Ji became smug again and looked at Ning Yuanzhou, saying, "Don't think you're something just because you have some martial arts skills!"
"Even if you just injured me, my uncle-in-law, Zhang Xiang, can still dig up your Ning family's ancestral graves!"
At this moment, Wei Tingyu finally understood why Zhao Ji, this good-for-nothing, could control such a crucial organization as the Six Paths Hall. It turned out that he was relying on his uncle, Zhang Song!
He recalled his previous audience with the Wu Palace, where he had seen Zhang Song, the chief minister of the Wu Kingdom.
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Chapter 171 Ning Yuanzhou's Clumsy Performance! Ren Ruyi and the others' Contempt!
It has to be said that Zhang Song, despite his respectable appearance and seemingly loyal and patriotic demeanor, secretly practiced nepotism!
It can only be said that Zhang Song's acting skills are far superior to those of his good-for-nothing nephew Zhao Ji!
Seeing Zhao Ji's smug look, Ning Yuanzhou outwardly toned down his previous boastful attitude and nodded, saying, "Yes! But right now, all I want to know is the whereabouts of Chai Ming and the others!"
"Were they sent by you to protect His Majesty?"
Of course, Ning Yuanzhou's words were also a joke! Because he was in Emperor Wu's army at the time!
Given his status and position, even if he were to be conscripted into the army, he wouldn't be an ordinary soldier.
How could the emperor not know whether his former brothers from the Six Paths Hall were by his side?
"Once you've accomplished what Prime Minister Zhang instructed, I'll naturally tell you!" Zhao Ji smiled smugly upon hearing this, then looked at Ning Yuanzhou and said.
In his view, he had finally grasped Ning Yuanzhou's Achilles' heel! Now the mission could be completed smoothly!
"Oh!" Ning Yuanzhou nodded upon hearing this and asked, "What does Zhang Song want me to do?"
"His Majesty has been captured and is in distress in the north. Prime Minister Zhang needs someone to rescue him!" Zhao Ji's expression turned serious as he looked at Ning Yuanzhou and said, "Among the Six Paths Hall, only you are most familiar with Anguo!"
"Yes!" Ning Yuanzhou could not refute Zhao Ji's words and could only nod, but his expression remained indifferent.
"Prime Minister Zhang's word is law. If you can succeed, he will pardon all your crimes and reinstate you to your original position!" Zhao Ji frowned upon seeing Ning Yuanzhou's expression, but still continued, "What do you say?"
“Lord Zhao…” However, Ning Yuanzhou’s eyes darted around, and he looked at Zhao Ji and said, “Tell me the whereabouts of Chai Ming and the others first, and then I’ll tell you whether I’m willing or not!”
Upon hearing Ning Yuanzhou's words, even Ren Ruyi couldn't help but frown.
This statement alone shows that the man doesn't care much about Chai Ming or his missing brothers-in-arms!
Right now, Chun Chun is just teasing Zhao Ji!
After all, Zhao Ji isn't stupid; how could he possibly agree to such a request?
So doing this will not bring any benefit other than angering the other party!
Just as Ren Ruyi had expected, Zhao Ji's expression immediately turned fierce. He glared at Ning Yuanzhou and said, "Don't try that on me!"
"Forgive my bluntness!" Ning Yuanzhou was not at all surprised by Zhao Ji's reaction. He simply smiled and said, "For Lord Zhao to come here in the middle of the night, Zhang Song must have given a death order!"
After saying that, Ning Yuanzhou didn't wait for Zhao Ji's reaction and turned around to fiddle with his incense burner.
He remained completely indifferent to the brothers he had just questioned about who had died in the line of duty.
This scene caused not only Ren Ruyi to frown, but even Yuan Lu, who had always admired Ning Yuanzhou, to frown.
Upon seeing this, Zhao Ji sighed helplessly, because Ning Yuanzhou was right. He had indeed received a death order from Zhang Song, and he had to get Ning Yuanzhou to agree no matter what.
Seeing that his former sworn brothers could no longer be used to threaten Ning Yuanzhou, he had no choice but to soften his stance and say directly, "Chai Ming and the others went to war with His Majesty. Half of them died on the spot, and the other half were captured with His Majesty."
"As long as you go to Anguo, you can rescue them all!"
Upon hearing Zhao Ji's words, before Ning Yuanzhou could react, Yuan Lu's eyes lit up with joy. After all, those so-called brothers-in-arms of Ning Yuanzhou were also very important partners to him.
Even the Six Paths Hall warriors who came with Zhao Ji had hopeful eyes.
Because they were once colleagues and brothers who worked together!
At least half of them are still alive, which instantly eased their grief.
Everyone thought that Ning Yuanzhou, the former leader of the Six Paths Hall, would never abandon his brothers!
However, the course of events once again dealt a severe blow to those who trusted Ning Yuanzhou.
He paused for a couple of seconds, then a disdainful smile appeared on his lips, as if the half of the people Zhao Ji had just mentioned who were still alive had nothing to do with him.
"If that's the case... I'm not interested!" Ning Yuanzhou thought for a moment and then stated his answer decisively, leaving no room for negotiation.
"I am no longer their leader! Asking about their life or death is merely out of consideration for the past kindness shown to me!"
"Please trouble Lord Zhao to go back and tell Prime Minister Zhang... I will not be going to Anguo!"
After saying that, he continued to lower his head and fiddle with the incense burner in his hand.
This answer stunned everyone present except for Wei Tingyu.
Zhao Ji even widened his eyes, because he originally thought that he could use the whereabouts of Ning Yuanzhou and his so-called brothers who had risked their lives to blackmail him, and that he would definitely be able to accomplish this.