The Princess’ Shadow Guard – Chapter 51

Get out of the way! Otherwise, you’ll die (fight Xiao He again)

“Sister.”

Like a cold, sticky call of a venomous snake, the rustling sound of sleeves rubbing against each other is like the crawling of snake scales.

Murong Yan looked at the man in front of her, whom she thought she would never see again, with a pale face but still a calm tone, “How could you be here?”

“How could I not come to find my sister?”

Now, Murong Xiao’s dress is not as luxurious as in the past, just in black clothes and robes, with a terrifying face, “The great Prince Yu’s mansion is not so invincible either.”

So, was it someone who leaked the information?

No wonder he was able to escape despite being heavily surrounded, and no wonder no matter how much I called, the guards were nowhere to be seen.

And Hu’er, Hu’er (Tiger) was also taken away by someone.

Who is it?

While pondering the criminal in her mind, Murong Yan quietly took a breath, trying to keep herself calm.

“Despised by the world, wanted by the entire city, and yet you dare to show up here, you do have some guts,” the woman said, her hand gripping a tea needle tightly inside her sleeve.

Murong Xiao laughed, eerily, “For my sister, I can do anything, even if I get caught and executed the next second, I have no fear.”

He slowly walked towards the woman he hadn’t seen in a long time, seeming both affectionate and menacing.

As if suddenly remembering something, the man chuckled lightly.

“I heard something interesting from Xiao He.”

Standing before Murong Yan, Murong Xiao bent down and whispered, “He killed one of your guards, and that guard seemed to address sister as… 『Yanyan』?”

The sound of air being sliced abruptly resounded as Murong Yan thrust her weapon heavily towards the man’s neck.

However, the man tightly held the tea needle as if he had been prepared, allowing his palm to be pierced without any concern. Fresh blood dripped along the needle, staining the woman’s hand.

“Why did sister abandon me for that lowly person? Why doesn’t sister want to be with me?”

Snatching the object from his hand and forcefully throwing it to the ground, Murong Xiao’s face turned manic, but his tone suddenly softened as he sweetly asked, “Do you want your little brother to address sister as Yanyan? Hmm?”

“Shut up!”

Murong Yan’s usually calm tone changed slightly as she lifted her head fearlessly to look at the man in front of her, “Don’t you dare use your filthy mouth to call that name.”

“So, sister likes to be called Yanyan, huh?”

Seeing the woman’s rare excitement and the vigorous anger in her eyes, Murong Xiao not angrily but smiling, reached out wanting to touch her face, “If I call sister Yanyan, would sister like me then?”

Biting her teeth, Murong Yan slapped away the hand in front of her, “Neither in this life nor in the next.” She stated decisively, “I will never like you.”

“Why…”

Upon hearing this, the man’s self-satisfied expression disappeared instantly, “Why…why…why?” He muttered as if he had gone crazy.

Lifting his head, Murong Xiao, with a hand covered in blood, grabbed the slender neck of the person in front of him, gasping uncontrollably, “Why? I have already given sister so many chances, why does sister always force me?!”

“Since I can’t have sister, I have no way out…”

Extending his other hand, the man took out a gourd bottle from his sleeve and poured out a few pitch-black pills, “Then sister will go to the underworld with me.”

The man’s face twisted ferociously.

“What I can’t have, no one else should even think of coveting…”

He forcefully stuffed the pills into Murong Yan’s tightly clenched teeth, Murong Xiao pressed hard on her nose and mouth with one hand to force her to swallow, while crazily shouting, “When we get to that underworld, sister must wait for me, let’s promise to meet in the next life!”

In the high-rise building, besides the man’s mad, ferocious laughter.

There was also the helpless gasping of a woman suffocating.

“Xiao He!”

On the night streets, Ming Qin faced the man in front of her, her mind constantly calculating.

If Xiao He is in Cangyue Tower, doesn’t that mean the deposed Crown Prince is there too?

Then Yanyan…

Not good!

Considering the situation, Ming Qin no longer hesitated and swiftly drew out a dagger. She leaned forward and slashed towards the man before her, who was like an archenemy.

Xiao He unsheathed his sword, but this time he didn’t use his usual left hand. He stood tall in front of the building, ready to intercept.

In the instant their weapons clashed, sparks flew, shining brightly in the pitch-black streets.

“Get out of the way!”

Ming Qin shouted fiercely, forcefully deflecting the opponent’s blade. Using her right leg as an axis, she swiftly turned around and thrust towards the man’s neck once again. “Otherwise, you’ll die.”

Xiao He remained motionless, still standing in front of the building. His expression showed some surprise, and his left hand, which had been crippled, throbbed with a slight pain as it hung by his side.

“I didn’t expect you to still be alive.” His voice turned cold. Tilting his head slightly, he performed a side somersault and landed on his tiptoes behind the woman, preparing to kick her unprotected abdomen.

Ming Qin didn’t evade. Instead, she reached forward and caught the incoming leg with one hand, while raising the dagger with the other, intending to sever tendons and veins. With an air of certainty, she casually stated, “This time, I will definitely kill you.”

“Take a good look at your own face.” Mocking, Xiao He curled his lips, his body sinking.

Using his hands to push himself off the ground and throw off the person on him, he raised his sword once again and thrust towards Ming Qin. “As if you’re desperate for me to add a few more scars.”

“They’re just a bunch of bandits who serve the tiger.” Leaping into the night sky, shrouded by moonlight, Ming Qin evaded the attack by rolling her body. “Don’t be so arrogant.” She raised her hand and swooped down.

“Aren’t you also a dog of the Chongwen Princess?” Xiao He sneered, bending his knees to stabilize his footing. “Hmph… Before I chop off your head this time, I’ll remember to take your left ear as well.”

The blades clashed once again as the two skilled warriors battled fiercely, neither gaining the upper hand after fifty or sixty exchanges.

Both of them were on edge, and under the moonlight, an eerie calmness seemed to prevail. It felt as if a gentle breeze could easily tip the delicate balance, shattering the false harmony maintained through sheer force, tilting towards one side or the other.

Ming Qin didn’t want a prolonged fight. Anxiously worried, she sought a swift and decisive victory with all her heart. Her emotions grew impatient, and her sword swung faster and faster, as if her life depended on it, reminiscent of the stance she had taken in the forest, hoping to burn the jade and stones.

Just as Ming Qin wished that the person before her would strike her abdomen, in an attempt to sever the man’s neck…

『Whoosh!』

A chilling sound cut through the air.

Faintly, the sound of a needle piercing flesh echoed.

Xiao He, who had been fiercely engaged in battle, suddenly stiffened. He felt a slight numbness and weakness in his thigh, causing his body to tilt involuntarily.

Seizing the opportunity, Ming Qin boldly approached, driving the dagger deep into the abdomen of the disbelieving man before her.

Without any mercy, she ruthlessly sliced upward with the sharp blade, cutting through until his chest cavity ruptured and his internal organs spilled out uncontrollably. Ming Qin then wiped her hands on the fallen man’s sleeve.

“You’re too impatient, Ming Qin. Show a little more patience,” said Song Shuqing, who emerged from the shadows. The night wind tousled her disheveled hair, giving her a wild appearance. Despite her seemingly smiling face, there was an eerie coldness that sent shivers down one’s spine.

“It’s because you were too slow, senior sister.” Ming Qin complained, her expression emotionless as she calmly retracted her weapon.

“You two moved too quickly. It was hard for me to find an opening, you know.”

The hands behind Song Shuqing’s back became visible, with fists clenched around a few black iron long needles. Tilting her head, she said to the person lying on the ground, “But… it was quite the impressive match. Too bad, you had more than one opponent, huh.”

Xiao He, still with a shred of consciousness, coughing up blood, looked angry but spoke weakly, “It’s really… despicable.”

“Despicable?” After hearing these words, Song Shuqing squatted down, as if she heard something amusing, a smile held back in her mouth. She playfully poked the man’s face with the long needles in her hand, “Aren’t you adorable?”

Ming Qin, expressionless, retracted her weapon and said to Xiao He, “You were a good opponent.”

She paused.

“But for the person who assassinated Yanyan’s mother, I will undoubtedly take their life…” Ming Qin glanced at the man lying on the ground, her tone cold. “By any means necessary.”

“After all, I am her dog.”

She withdrew her gaze and looked up at the window where light seeped through. Unwilling to delay any longer, she quickly propelled herself upward with a powerful leap, effortlessly scaling the heights in a few swift movements.

Song Shuqing on the ground watched the man with widened eyes. She checked his breath, confirming his death before getting up.

She looked at the disappearing figure of her junior sister and sighed helplessly. “Ming Qin, have you forgotten that my Qinggong is really not as good as yours…”

Finding an entrance, she resignedly began climbing the stairs.

LP: Re-translated on March 17, 2024