Chapter 755: Northwest Wolf

A pair of faintly visible, graceful figures, masked and dressed in black, lay on the tiles of the opposite eaves. They peeked out, watching the figure, and whispered. One of them pulled back her headscarf, fanning her already sweaty face. She stuck out her tongue and complained with a frown, "Sister, is that guy crazy? He's been sitting there staring blankly for almost four hours. What if he ruins our big plan? Should I just go kick him off the roof?"

The other figure, whose face was completely covered, shook her head without speaking.

"Sister, that wine smells so good. It looks like there's still more than half a pot left. I'm really craving it."

After being given a glare, the speaker became a little resentful and aggrieved. She lowered her voice and mumbled, "That old lecher Dong from the inner city really is a major spy planted here by Beimang. Grandpa Song and Master Huang are risking their lives to lure him here. There are already many top experts positioned ahead to handle the assassination. We're just here for show, aren't we? Are we really expected to fight? Old Dong is one of the top three masters in the inner city. Even if that old scoundrel escaped here with a broken arm and leg, he could still crush us with just one finger, couldn't he? My dear sister, why go through all this trouble? Even if I have to die, at least let me walk drunk on the road to the underworld so I won't be afraid of the Ox-Head and Horse-Face guardians."

The other woman was truly annoyed by such inauspicious talk. She ripped off her face covering and said angrily, "Why curse yourself?! You foolish girl, are you just bored out of your mind?!"

The troublemaking girl giggled and pointed a slender, delicate finger at the figure's back. The angry woman quickly fell silent and looked up, feeling some regret. Unluckily involved in this disaster, this person would likely not see tomorrow's sun. With such leisure, in such a large city, wouldn't any place be suitable for moon-gazing? Why come to the roof of this shady inn to lament spring and autumn? What else could it be but an unprovoked calamity? She sighed softly. In this city, if one were to lament the deaths of a few nameless pawns, even the most hard-hearted person would have long since been heartbroken beyond repair. She had seen too many deaths over the years, and even her soft heart had become somewhat numb. She turned her back and lay quietly on the cold tiles, closing her eyes to rest. It was no wonder that old scoundrel Dong from the inner city had amassed such a large fortune in just over ten years. His five or six hundred elite cavalry, nicknamed 'Green Crows' – assassins and death-squads specializing in attacks within the city – were mostly loyal enforcers raised by the Dong family. It turned out his true identity was a high-ranking spy chief from Gusai Prefecture in Beimang. How could Grandpa Song, always a kind gentleman, not be enraged enough to kill? Although Grandpa Song regarded the Xu family of Beiliang as enemies, he had always loathed the Beimang barbarians. Otherwise, he wouldn't have stayed in the Western Regions but would have continued to flood into Beimang's Southern Dynasty with the large influx of people. Uncle Liu and the others often joked that with Grandpa Song's skill and reputation, if he had truly gone to Xijing, he would surely have obtained the esteemed status of a powerful 'Yi' clan. Seven years ago, they were still innocent little girls, only knowing that Grandpa Song had made a deal with the Dong family assassins, spending all his savings to hire them to go to a place called Qingliang Mountain in Beiliang to kill a young master from the Xu family of Liyang. Grandpa Song went with them at the time, but for some unknown reason, he became reclusive for several years after returning. The story of 'Old Song, the outer city drunkard' also spread around that time, and her sister always said that her love for alcohol and her drinking capacity were all due to Grandpa Song's boozy influence, not because she was greedy for drink. This time, if Grandpa Song hadn't insisted on challenging the inner city magnate, the Dong family, Uncle Liu and the others would not have wanted to break the peaceful life they had painstakingly built over more than ten years of enduring humiliation. The Dong family assassins were truly the world's finest, a fact no one doubted. There was once a second-rate Dong family assassin who spent half a year relentlessly wearing down a top-tier master from the outer city's list who had a personal vendetta against him. It was said that before that master died in battle, he was already on the verge of madness. And the Dong family's methods for training assassins were so horrifying that outsiders would shudder just hearing a few words about them, and their killing techniques were endless. Tonight's climax was caused by the presence of an ambitious young man beside the old Dong family scoundrel. Last year, she had glimpsed him from afar, wondering if he possessed Uncle Liu's so-called 'horizontal double pupils,' a natural anomaly. She couldn't see clearly, but the young man did appear remarkably elegant at first glance. Her own younger sister often mentioned him in various ways, though each time with a 'little tigress' demeanor, gnashing her teeth as if she wanted to devour his flesh. Yet, she and her sister shared a telepathic bond, so how could she not recognize that terrifying, forbidden spark beginning to ignite? What woman in the world speaks of a man with such an exceptionally vibrant gaze?

She suddenly opened her eyes, gripping the unusually long saber at her waist. She arched her back, ready to strike. Her sister was only half a beat slower, also clutching her sword hilt. As children, the sisters were carved from the same mold, and even as adults, they were hard to tell apart; sometimes even Uncle Liu and the others were fooled. However, their temperaments were worlds apart. She practiced the saber, while her sister practiced the sword. She preferred quiet, while her sister was active. Therefore, in the path of martial arts, although her sister had greater talent, their respective masters commented that she was more capable of killing enemies. Grandpa Song, ranked sixth among the outer city's masters, and Master Huang, ranked twelfth, both said that their skills were now close to that of third-rank martial artists, and they hoped to become second-rank minor grandmasters in the future. In this city, there was no talk of 'third-rank,' 'second-rank,' or 'minor/major grandmasters.' Since they could remember, the sisters had simply regarded these terms as novel words of encouragement from their elders.

She suddenly widened her eyes, tears almost welling up.

A tall figure, whose sleeves were as wide as bird's wings, swept across the rooftops like a thunderbolt, exuding an arrogant, unstoppable aura. He paused briefly not far away, then with a single move, struck down an elder they knew very well from a rooftop. He then glided over, his booming laughter echoing in their ears like thunder. "Does that drunkard Song and limping Huang dare to assassinate this old man? This old man is the patriarch of three thousand assassins in the Western Regions! Tonight, I'll make an exception and not resort to my old tricks. I'll just openly kill my way through, so you ignorant brats can learn what it means to throw an egg against a rock! Oh, and where are those little girls, the so-called 'Twin Jewels of the Western Regions'? Come out quickly, so you can see how robust I am in my old age! Forget enemies or grudges; once you've experienced my meticulous training of women, you'll be calling me 'husband' within a month!"

As the hoarse voice resonated through the night sky, they clearly felt the distant rumble of cavalry hooves echoing through the streets. In their sight, no fewer than a hundred figures, like bats, followed the burly old man, charging towards them.

She gripped the saber hilt, her face pale. Didn't Grandpa Song say that tonight's assassination would absolutely not alarm the Dong family assassins or their cavalry? Moreover, the inner and outer cities had always maintained a clear boundary. For the Dong family to deploy their entire force like this clearly crossed the line and broke the rules. Were they not afraid that the intertwined forces of the inner and outer cities would unite against them in shared hatred tomorrow? To the outer city, the Dong family was a colossal power, but in the inner city, it was far from dominant. Everyone knew their influence was inferior to that of 'King Yan Sima' and 'God of Wealth Li.' There were even signs that a newly rising force in the inner city was beginning to replace the Dong family, whose assassin business had been dwindling in recent years.

The burly old man, charging forward, naturally spotted the annoying figure 'playing dead' on the inn's roof. He laughed heartily, thinking, 'Are there really such fools in the world who just wait for death?'

His forward momentum was relentless. He took a step, clearly intending to stomp on the head of that 'clever' fellow, ensuring he would be crushed into a pulp.

The black-clad woman, gripping her saber and knowing she couldn't escape death, somehow — perhaps it was her compassionate nature, which often drew her elders' disapproval, acting up at this critical moment when she could barely save herself — leaped over the ridge. She ran down the sloping roof, and just as the old Dong family scoundrel was about to stomp on the stranger's head, she came to a sudden halt. Grabbing the collar of the young drunkard, who had evidently passed out sometime earlier, she pulled him sharply backward, sending tiles clattering beneath his back, a particularly grating sound in the night. Especially when she finally exhausted her strength and had to stop near the towering ridge, her peripheral vision caught sight of the man still clutching a wine pot. She wished she could just throw this reckless fool, who valued wine over his life, to that old scoundrel Dong.

The old Dong family man, whose foot missed its mark, showed no anger. If he had truly intended to kill the young man, how could that young woman's mediocre skills have snatched him from the tiger's jaws? The old man was simply in high spirits, having finally caught these 'Twin Jewels of the Western Regions,' and was content to play cat and mouse for a while longer. As many outsiders said, the rules in this city were strict. Even with strong backing from Beimang's Xijing, he had only become one of the three major surnames in the inner city. The Sima family, descendants of Western Chu, and the Li family, led by a Southern Tang elder, had always suppressed the Dong family. However, after tonight, if King Yan Sima truly met King Yan, it would no longer be a three-way standoff but a confrontation between two dominant powers dividing the inner and outer cities. As for the drunkard Song and limping Huang, they were merely minor pawns in this grand upheaval, a diversion to mislead the Sima family. This outcome, which he had diligently worked towards for over ten years without success, he had to admit was thanks to that illustrious young man from Beimang. Regardless of the young man's background or skill, Dong Tieling, no matter how many years he had dominated this city, could only patiently and humbly act as an assistant and gofer for that person. There was nothing he could do; after all, who could blame him for having such a powerful father? Would Dong Tieling really dig up his own father from his coffin to challenge someone? Of course, if doing so could achieve that young man's stature, Dong Tieling wouldn't mind unearthing his father's remains. Having lived in this city in the Western Regions for so long, he had grown accustomed to its merciless nature, where even family ties meant little. For example, as he stared at those two blooming young women, the old man couldn't tell which was the elder sister and which was the younger, but he knew that one of them, along with her elegant and refined Uncle Liu, had betrayed everyone. He couldn't really blame her; who told her to be so blind as to fall for that wealthy young man whose father held a seat in the Beimang royal court's council discussions? And even more foolishly, to believe she could fly wing-to-wing with her lover? As for that man named Liu, he was even less surprising. He had shrewdly allied himself with Beimang's Zhumang six years ago. Otherwise, would Dong Tieling have ever respected him? And how else would they have shared so many beautiful courtesans and top-tier geishas in the inner city, becoming 'brothers-in-law' on the bed?

The old man's lecherous gaze swept over them. He chuckled sinisterly, "May I ask which of you is Yan Yan? Oh, that's Yan as in swallow, not Yan as in wild goose. Your lover sent me to tell you that he's unworthy of your deep affection and too ashamed to face you. So, he's letting me take care of you sisters instead."

The old man cackled, "Of course, the latter half of that was my addition, but your lover essentially meant the same thing."

The woman who had already drawn her slender saber slowly turned her head, staring blankly at her younger sister, Yan Yan, whose face looked as if it had been struck by lightning and who had dropped her longsword. The elder sister, Yan Ge, was distraught, unable to utter any harsh words. She could only sob with a choked voice, "How could you be so foolish, so foolish..."

Yan Yan's face contorted, and she shouted loudly, "I haven't!"

Dong Tieling watched this scene, finding it truly delightful. He wiped his mouth with his thumb, squinting as he chuckled. "Yan Yan, Yan Ge, don't rush. I, Dong Tieling, have plenty of ways to make you happy. There's no need for you sisters to seek death like this. You'll soon discover that there are pleasures in this world that even celestial beings would envy and crave. You're both not even twenty yet. It's true that I prefer new things, but I don't discard the old. Ordinary men don't know the taste of a forty-year-old woman, but I find it sweet