Chapter 17

The next day when he woke up, the sun was already high up. Zi Li rubbed his sleepy eyes but it widened in fright the next moment. He slowly sat up in the bed.

Seeing the spot where that man lies besides him gone cold, he looked around only to find the room with not a soul in sight.

“He left without even bidding goodbye, he lacks proper manners! And he even have the audacity to call me brother Zi Li brother Zi Li last night!” Zi Li was pouting and shouting as he lift the quilt and climbed out of the bed. He then saw a slip of paper lying on top of the table.

“Due to an important matter I have to attend to, I will be leaving first. I saw brother Zi Li fast asleep so I decided not to disturb you therefore I just left a note. I hope that brother Zi Li successfully escape one day, I’m sure we will meet again! Yours sincerely, Mo Cang Jing.” Zi Li slumped his butt in the wooden stool.

An important matter? Who does he think he’s fooling! And here I thought that I can count on him for help!

Zi Li immediately sank to his thoughts: You and I are not related nor are we friends so you’re going to dine and dash your way out of this trouble after filling yourself up?

“Argh!” Zi Li pulled on his hair out of vexation. It has been four days already since he ran away, he also don’t know how this matter is faring on the capital of the kingdom! His situation right now is a little precarious. He always feel that he is like a monkey being fiddled around in that emperor’s five fingers without a chance of escape.

“Hey, hey! How can I let my fighting spirit be doused by other people! He better give it all he got! This Lao Zi ain’t afraid of you!” Once he boosted his morale again, Zi Li stood up pleased and decided to take a wash.

“Knock! knock! knock!” All of a sudden, a loud noise can be heard from outside the door. He knows that the one making those loud ruckus is that fat attendant from yesterday.

“Check out time! Check out time! Even though you only paid for the night, you’re face is so thick you are overstaying? Open up! If you don’t open this door I will break it down!” The fat attendant was not holding back anymore in acting very rude.

Although Zi Li got mad, but he was in the wrong this time so he didn’t refute. He can only grumble a few complains as he quickly took a bath, change to a long green robe, put on his disguise, then abruptly slammed the door open. The impatient fat attendant face planted as he fell inside the room.

Zi Li narrowed his eyes as he side-stepped him, then he went down the stairs with heavy ‘thud thud’.

He stacked up on lots of stuffed meat buns and drinking water, then Zi Li patted his behind and prepared to set off.

“Take care, guest!” Said the attendant who was holding the reins and hands it to Zi Li.

Zi Li casts a glance behind him. He fished out two silver coins from his sleeve and gave it to the waiter: “You have taken good care of my horse! Here’s your tip.”

“Thank you guest, oh thank you!” The attendant repeatedly thanked him as he took the silver.

After thinking about it carefully, he finally came into a decision to fled across the country. Since if he go into hiding within that man’s territory, there will come a time that he will pinpoint his location. Now Zi Li can relate himself so closesly to a run away criminal.

On a day as they pass through a narrow road, Zi Li pulled Qu Zi to a tree on the roadside to settle down and take a rest to eat some of his rations. Right as he was about to look for a turf to sit on, a brightly colored snake suddenly rustled out of a thick bush. Zi Li jumped in fright and stepped back. But before he can even recover his senses and run away from the snake, he suddenly heard a ‘swish’ sound. A throwing dagger with its cold gleam swoosh past him and cut the side of his face then it landed into that spot he had yet to sit on.

Zi Li stared on that blade as if it had already pierced through his body. That, it’s as if, the target was——He gasped deeply then he screamed loudly all of a sudden: “Ahh!—–Somebody save me!——“

He jumped back on his horses back as fast as he could and frantically urges his horse to run quickly. His actions was so fast, the assassin hiding in the thicket couldn’t react on time till he had already run away fifty meters in distance.

Zi Li leaned his body lower, then he turned his head around to see several assassins with black mask on their face behind him.

“Hya—-Qu Zi, run faster! There are people trying to kill me! If I made you turn, you must listen to me and change direction——“

A group of men riding horses created a surging stomps on the dusty floor, the sight under the moonlight was quite a spectacle to behold. Usually, Zi Li would dub this situation as an ‘epic scene’, but since he was the target of the assassins, he now was thinking opposite. Although Qu Zi is running very fast, but its fatigue from galloping throughout the day had yet to recover. Soon, more than a dozen horsemen have almost caught up to it, and what’s more, they are all mature horses running after a juvenile one whose strength was gradually depleting and could no longer hold its speed up and slowed down because of its disadvantage.

Why are these people trying to kill me, what facti send them after me? Is it Hong Xu? If that’s the case, this won’t end up good! This day is truly awful! Just what kind of ditch I have fallen into, to have assassins chasing after me as I run away!

Zi Li’s brow was beaded with sweat as he witness assassins come closer and closer. All of a sudden, his eyes shined brightly as he realized something. He urgently took out something from his cloth bundle and ferociously smashed it into the assassin closing in. The other person was soaked with something so he quickly wiped it with his hands. He was completely clueless on what Zi Li had thrown just now so he didn’t pay attention on the use of Zi Li’s secret weapon. All of a sudden, the man shouted while clutching his face and fell down the horse, his comrade mounted in their horses running behind him steps on his belly with their horse’s hooves.

“YES!” Although the scene was quite bloody, but the threat index for his life had gone down so Zi Li shouted in rejoice. Afterwards, he started throwing his secret weapon on those people running after him.

The other assassins saw that their comrades started screaming one after another so they immediately draw their swords and slashed at the incoming unknown projectiles. As they waved their swords to counter, what they hit is not as solid as iron, but a soft as a squishy ball. As soon as their sharp blades pierces it, liquid splatters all over their body and they felt an immediate burning pain. When they looked down on their body, they saw their skin already sizzling and oozing with blood.

Bonbon wanted to say:

To those who had already forgotten because of long interval in updates. Do you guys still remember the medicine powder Zi Li requested from Mo Shou? Mo Shou warned him that diluting the powder in water can melt skin upon contact and that’s where Zi Li got that idea of putting it in goat intestine pouches and use it as an acid bomb.

Hope that helps for less confusion~