Chapter 27: Moonlit Night Assassination
Faced with the sudden assassination, Shen Dongshan was not at all panicked. Instead, he sat calmly at the table, drinking wine by himself, calm and relaxed, as if he was unaware of the assassin so close to him.

The sudden change shocked Liu Xunyi and Lin Fangda. They never expected that someone would dare to assassinate the richest man in Song Dynasty so openly in the territory of Lu Mansion in Jiangnan.

But before Liu Xunyi could warn him, the silver light like a meteor chasing the moon had already pierced straight in front of Shen Dongshan. Bai Shuang on the opposite side was frightened and turned pale. She couldn't help but let out a scream of terror.

"Keng!"

Suddenly, a muffled sound suddenly sounded in front of Shen Dongshan, and then a blood-red flywheel of thorns appeared from mid-air, blocking the sword before the assassin hit Shen Dongshan.

At the same time, two shadows on the left and right of the private room instantly pounced on the assassin, and the flashing blades entangled the assassin in the attack like a storm, and he could not get close to Shen Dongshan any more. Through the airtight knife skills and flexible and swift moves, Liu Xunyi concluded that these two followers must be the experts hired by Shen Dongshan to protect him.

Just as the two followers were besieging the assassin, the Wanci Flywheel that had just blocked the sword had already circled in the private room and finally flew back towards Shen Dongshan. When the Wanci Flywheel circled less than two feet away from Shen Dongshan, a burly man like an iron tower had already stood in the middle, stretched out his right hand as thick as steel and iron willow, and caught the rapidly spinning Wanci Flywheel steadily in his hand.

The burly man just carefully protected Shen Dongshan behind him, but did not join the battle, allowing the two black-clad followers to work together to deal with the assassin.

From beginning to end, Shen Dongshan had been drinking leisurely without even raising his eyelids. It was not difficult to see how confident he was in the martial arts of his guards.

Even Liu Xunyi had to admire the assassin. Under the overwhelming blades of the two masters, he was still able to fight with ease. In the battle, sword shadows were sharp, and the sword lights were constantly changing sword moves around the sword shadows. The swords flew up and down freely, and in a blink of an eye, twenty or thirty rounds had passed. Instead of falling into a disadvantage, the assassin gradually suppressed the offensive of the two followers. Relying on his dazzling swordsmanship, he forced the two to retreat again and again.

"What a great swordsmanship!" Liu Xunyi couldn't help but admire it repeatedly in his heart, "But in terms of the exquisiteness of swordsmanship, among all the masters I have seen, I am afraid that only 'Peach Blossom Sword Fairy' Ding Qinghong can compare with it."

"Shen Dongshan, I want your life!"

The white-clad assassin fought more and more bravely, and his sword swung faster and faster. The edge of his sword was sharp, and his moves were tricky. He completely disrupted the offensive of the two followers. In the end, the two men were unable to fight both sides and found it increasingly difficult. They were gradually defeated, and their bodies were covered with several shocking bloody wounds from the flashing of swords and sabers.

"Afu, I've already told you that you can't kill me!" Shen Dongshan put down his wine glass, turned his head and looked at the assassin in white with complicated eyes, and said lightly, "You have tried to assassinate me no less than ten times over the years, but which time have you succeeded in getting close to me? I advise you to give up this idea. Why don't we sit down and talk slowly and calmly?"

Shen Dongshan called the assassin in white "Afu", who was the famous ruthless swordsman in the martial arts world, Tang Afu. Judging from Shen Dongshan's tone, it seemed that he was no stranger to Tang Afu's assassination.

"You despicable and shameless villain, you stole my family property and poisoned me. If I don't kill you, how can I be worthy of the ancestors of the Tang family? How can I be worthy of the spirits of my parents in heaven?" Tang Afu scolded coldly. Perhaps the anger in his heart was aroused by Shen Dongshan again, and his attack became more and more ruthless. He turned his hand and swung the sword to cut off the right arm of the follower on the left. The man's right arm and the steel knife in his hand flew up, and finally fell heavily on the table with a "bang", smashing the delicious dishes on the table into pieces. This scene scared Bai Shuang and she screamed again.

Shen Dongshan said softly, "Afu, I still regard you as my nephew. If the Tang family's foundation had been left in your hands, it would have been lost sooner or later, and how could it be prosperous today? You should not hate me, but thank me. It was me who built your Tang family's foundation into the number one business in Song Dynasty today. Afu, Uncle Shen is expanding your family business for you. Sooner or later, I will hand over everything in Dongshan Business to you. Why don't you understand Uncle Shen's good intentions?"

"Humph!" Facing Shen Dongshan's kind words of persuasion, Tang Afu could not help but snort coldly, "Stop pretending to be kind and righteous here, and tell lies. If you really wanted to do this for my own good, why did you poison me? If I hadn't been lucky, I would have died of the poison long ago, and I would have no place to be buried."

Shen Dongshan's face suddenly darkened when Tang Afu exposed his high-sounding words. He said, "It's useless to say more! Afu, if you are willing to come back to Uncle Shen obediently, Uncle Shen will definitely let you enjoy all the wealth and glory in the world to make up for the suffering you have endured for so many years."

"Enjoy all the splendor in the world? Haha, what a joke. I think you will experience all the evil in the world, right?" Tang Afu sneered, "Shen Dongshan, I am no longer the ignorant boy I used to be. Don't try to trick me with sweet words. I will take what originally belongs to me. I don't need to accept your charity. Give me your life!"

After saying that, Tang Afu turned his hand and stabbed another follower in the lower abdomen with a sword, then took two steps forward and flew towards Shen Dongshan with the sword in hand.

"Kui Qi, take him down for me!"

"Yes!"

The burly man standing in front of Shen Dongshan shouted loudly, and then the Wanci flywheel in his hand spun rapidly. With the sound of "chi chi chi", the flywheel was like a sharp steel saw cutting towards Tang Afu's head. At the same time, the seven or eight guards around him also drew their swords and rushed towards Tang Afu.

"Clang clang clang!"

Tang Afu didn't dare to use his flesh and blood to resist the flying wheel, so he could only step back and swing his sword to block it. The friction between the sword and the flying wheel produced a series of dazzling sparks and sharp and piercing sounds. At this moment, the guests who were having fun in the lobby downstairs were attracted by the fighting sound, and they couldn't help but cast curious eyes. Although there were many masters among the people present, no one was willing to interfere in such trivial matters, and they just watched the fun.

"You are so bold that you dare to cause trouble in Su Shui Pavilion. The masters of Lu Mansion will be here soon. No matter you are a ruthless swordsman or a sentimental swordsman, you will be unable to escape!" The guards of Su Shui Pavilion also rushed to the second floor at this moment, staring ferociously at Tang Afu who was being besieged by everyone.

Seeing that more and more people came to protect Shen Dongshan, Tang Afu knew that it would be impossible to succeed in the assassination tonight. He was furious and the sword danced in a circle around his body. A sharp sword energy ripple radiated in all directions, which pushed the seven or eight opponents around him back several steps.

At the same time, Tang Afu took the opportunity to fly to the table. Seeing this, Kui Qi quickly protected Shen Dongshan with his arms and set up the Wanci Flywheel to fight Tang Afu. Unexpectedly, Tang Afu's eyes became fierce. When he approached Kui Qi, he suddenly kicked the wooden stool beside the table and flew out sideways. While everyone was stunned, Tang Afu had already jumped to Bai Shuang's side. Then he made a claw with his left hand and grabbed Bai Shuang's shoulders. Then he lifted her up with force, and Bai Shuang, who was pale and powerless, flew up. Then he waved his sword with his right hand to force back the guards of Sushui Pavilion, and jumped out of the window holding Bai Shuang hostage, and quickly disappeared into the night.

"Shen Dongshan, if I can't kill you tonight, I will kill your woman first!" Tang Afu's cold voice reached everyone's ears outside the window. Shen Dongshan's followers did not react to this, but the guards of Sushui Pavilion were terrified. After all, Bai Shuang was Lu Tingxiang's woman. If anything happened to her, none of these guards would survive.

"Go save Miss Bai, don't let Tang Afu hurt her!" Shen Dongshan's face was as gloomy as water, and he gave the order in a cold voice.

Looking at the empty night sky outside the window, Liu Xunyi, who was originally surprised by the turmoil, suddenly had a gleam of light flashing in his eyes. Before he could explain to Lin Fangda, he jumped out of the window and chased after Tang Afu and Bai Shuang.

Under the moonlight, Liu Xunyi, relying on the tracking skills he learned in Tianji Pavilion, chased through several streets in a row, but the guards who had chased out from Sushui Pavilion at the same time as him had disappeared one after another. It seemed that they probably couldn't find Tang Afu, so they searched everywhere like headless flies.

Tang Afu's martial arts skills are very advanced. Even if he is carrying a living person, he can still leap flexibly. He can move flexibly in the intricate streets of Quanzhou City and on pavilions of all sizes. He can jump more than ten feet away with one rise and fall.

Bai Shuang was only a woman, and being held hostage by such a cold-blooded killer, she was inevitably panicked. She wanted to struggle and beg for mercy, but Tang Afu pressed her acupuncture points, and not only could she not move her body, but even her throat could not make any sound. She could only let Tang Afu hold her in his arms like a sack, and "go up and down" with him. Bai Shuang, who did not know martial arts, felt dizzy and her stomach was churning, and she could no longer tell the directions.

"The guards of Jiangnan Lu Mansion are nothing but a bunch of drunkards. They can't even catch my shadow in their own territory." Tang Afu took the White Frost Rabbit and quickly turned over several streets, and then landed on the top of an attic. The stars and the moon were overhead, and there was no one around. Tang Afu stood on a high place and looked down at the quiet and dim streets around him, and a trace of contempt appeared in his eyes.

He lowered his head to look at Bai Shuang, whose eyes were full of anxiety. Just now in Su Shui Pavilion, he was so focused on assassinating Shen Dongshan that he didn't pay attention to Bai Shuang. Now, under the bright moon, he looked at Bai Shuang in his arms again and was stunned. He never expected that the woman he had casually held hostage would have such a stunning beauty.

Compared to her, all the women Tang Afu had seen before could not be considered beauties, and ordinary women were even more incomparable. Under Bai Shuang's slightly trembling almond eyes, Tang Afu, who was ordinary in appearance, felt a little ashamed of himself. After taking a look at Bai Shuang, he quickly turned his eyes away.

"I never thought that Shen Dongshan would have a woman like you by his side." When he thought of Shen Dongshan, his previous admiration for Bai Shuang's appearance instantly disappeared. On the contrary, he felt even more disgusted with Bai Shuang. He guessed that the young and beautiful Bai Shuang must be willing to serve the fifty-year-old Shen Dongshan for money and wealth, so he also regarded her as a worldly woman.

"Girl, I have no grudge against you in the past or in the present, but it's a pity that you chose the wrong man, Shen Dongshan." Tang Afu said to Bai Shuang with a cold look, "Whatever Shen Dongshan wants, I will never let him get it, including you."

Hearing Tang Afu's words, Bai Shuang's eyes were filled with fear and hesitant words, showing how terrified he was.

Tang Afu silently stared at Bai Shuang's pretty face, and said faintly: "What a beautiful face, but unfortunately... My name is Tang Afu, girl, just remember my appearance, if there is an afterlife, you can come and seek revenge on me!"

After saying that, as Bai Shuang struggled in pain with eyes full of unwillingness, Tang Afu slowly drew out the ruthless sword with an expressionless face. The stars and the moon were soft, but the sword edge was shining with a creepy cold light.

"Since ancient times, beautiful women have had a tragic fate, because men are often unlucky. Miss Bai is already unfortunate enough, how can you be so cruel as to make her even worse?"

Just when Tang Afu was about to kill Bai Shuang with his sword, a clear voice suddenly rang out in the night sky.

Tang Afu was stunned when he heard the words, and looked in the direction of the voice, but saw Liu Xunyi, with a calm expression, standing on the eaves of an archway diagonally opposite the attic, holding a sword.

……

(End of this chapter)