Changning's Imperial Army Chapter 31 - Liu Lang Dao

Regardless, the name 'Gou Lan Zi' did not sound good. In the northern part of the country, it had an even more hateful meaning to it. Hence, only outsiders called them 'Gou Lan Zi'. Their own people went by a different name…Liu Lang Dao.

The two names, Gou Lan Zi and Liu Lang Dao, were worlds apart. Regardless of what they were called, ultimately, what they did for a living was beneath contempt.

When Du Weiming went back to the river for the second time, he was still silently cursing Shen Leng, calling him neurotic. However, just when he was about to look for a place to goof off, he realized that there was really a boat docked there. There were six men holding knives. There were only two types of people in Changan who dared to carry a dagger with them - people who worked for the government, and people who run when encountering those people who worked for the government.

The six people secured the boat by the river bank. Thereafter, they gathered and discussed for a while before they split up. They each looked for a hidden spot to hide. At this moment, it was starting to get dark.

Du Weiming did not dare to move. When he was laying there, he felt as though his teeth were chattering slightly.

Perhaps because it was heaven's will, the elder who was guarding the door just switched shifts not long ago. After he left, Meng Changan and another scholar from the academy walked out.

The person walking next to him was called Zhou Ansheng. He had an extremely good rapport with people in the academy. He was someone who was very humble and courteous. He was young yet not impetuous. People said that perhaps it was because he was from a humble background, which was why he was very courteous to everyone. Regardless of what people said, he let it slide.

Perhaps it's because they were not from good families, Meng Changan often took care of Zhou Ansheng. He felt that Zhou Ansheng was good in all aspects, except for the part that he was too soft. Even the way he walked was too graceful and gentle, like a cat.

"Where are you taking me?" asked Meng Changan as they walked.

Zhou Ansheng replied, "To the river. I don't know why Yu Dian is looking for you either. He insisted that he wanted to talk to you there. Why can't he do it within the academy?"

Immediately, Meng Changan thought about how he met with Zhang Bohe not long ago. However, Yu Dian was not the kind of person that Zhang Bohe and Chen Zishan would mix with. He was someone who thought very highly of himself - he would never meet with Meng Changan in private to convince him to step aside. Furthermore, they were both on the same level. It was uncertain which party would prevail in the competition.

Zhou Ansheng looked embarrassed. "He asked me for help and I felt obligated to."

"You're too nice. I'm going to see him not because he's a big deal, but because I'm giving you face."

When Zhou Ansheng heard what Meng Changan said, he started smiling. Even his smile was rather bashful.

"Thank you, big brother Meng."

His face was even blushing slightly, like a girl.

Meng Changan sighed and subconsciously said, "Do not smile!"

He could not help but think about the time he was in the abandoned warehouse behind his house back in Yulin town. He yelled at that fella to stop smiling quite a number of times.

Zhou Ansheng replied, "Ok. Since big brother Meng does not want me to smile, I shall not smile."

Indeed, he stopped smiling.

Hence, Meng Changan sighed to himself. That fella would never listen to me. The more I tell him not to smile, the more he would…I wonder how his life has been, with those two unknown fellas, over the past few years.

"Big brother Meng, what are you thinking about?" Zhou Ansheng saw that he looked slightly vexed and asked him.

Meng Changan felt embarrassed. "Oh, it's nothing. Everything's fine. I simply got distracted and thought about something from my childhood."

The two of them walked as they talked, heading towards the back of the academy, in the direction of where the river was. There was a teahouse at the side of the road. Chen Zishan and Zhang Bohe sat by the bed as they walked the two of them walking. Zhang Bohe laughed grimly. "I already told you that Meng Changan is a fierce tiger. However, a stupid tiger is nothing to be afraid of."

Chen Zishan started laughing too. "Yeah, that's right. A stupid and conceited person will die easily. And faster too."

He was referring the Meng Changan. However, Zhang Bohe had a sudden realization of some sort. He looked at Chen Zishan with an intense look in his eyes. Chen Zishan was staring out of the window; his eyes seemed to be fixated on Meng Changan. Nonetheless, Zhang Bohe felt that Chen Zishan's eyes were shifty.

After entering the woods, Meng Changan subconsciously looked at their surroundings. Instead of calling it a habit, it was more accurate to say that he was a careful and guarded person by nature. Sometimes, there were people within the woods during the day. After the skies darkened, it would seem more sinister. The lighting within the woods was bad as well - it was reasonable to say that anything suspicious would not be noticed.

However Meng Changan stopped abruptly. He lowered his head and looked beneath his feet. It was not entirely dark in the woods yet. He noticed that the grass beneath his feet had been stepped on before. Under the dim dusky light, it was almost unnoticeable if one did not take a closer look. Naturally, this might not mean much. After all, it was not as though nobody walked through the woods during the day.

However Meng Changan furrowed his brows slightly. He reached out his hand and pulled Zhou Ansheng behind him.

"What's wrong?"

Zhou Ansheng's facial expression changed.

"Nothing. Stay behind me."

After he said that, he went to a higher ground and looked around. He looked towards the river as well, and saw a boat in the gap between some trees.

"If you want to kill me, how long more are you trying to hide it?"

Hence, a dagger fell from the tree. The blade light akin to satin.

Zhou Ansheng yelled out to Meng Changan to be careful. However, he was also stabbed in the back by a dagger.

Meng Changan moved very slightly to the side, and managed to dodge an attack. The knife almost struck him in the shoulder, but in a split second, Meng Changan extended his left hand and happened to clutch the assassin's neck. He exerted his force and his fingers dug right into his neck. He pulled them out and half his neck was torn apart.

The assassin's neck was gurgling with blood. He took a few steps back in a row before falling to the ground.

Meng Changan tossed aside the flesh and larynx in his hand. The smell of blood on his palm made him a little excited.

Behind him, Zhou Ansheng and another assassin were engaged in a struggle. A net fell from above and three assassins grabbed it, attempting to place it over Meng Changan's head. Meng Changan stood there and did not move. When the net landed, Meng Changan lifted his hand and grabbed the net before swinging around. The three assassins got flung away before they landed onto the ground.

Meng Changan took huge steps forward. His right leg kicked towards one side. One of the assassins had fallen to the ground; before he had the chance to stand up, Meng Changan's leg had already gotten to him…Bang! Bang! There were two consecutive sounds. The first one was made when Meng Changan's leg landed on his face. The second was made when the assassin's head hit against a tree trunk, after which his skull was smashed into pieces.

His corpse went limp and fell to the ground. Everything within his skull started spilling out of it.

The other two assassins had already gotten up. Two daggers landed at the same time. Meng Changan dealt with the two assassins slightly differently - he merely moved his body to the side. The two daggers landed in front of his chest and behind his back respectively, extremely close to his body. The gap was only that big - almost without any additional space between the daggers and his body.

Meng Changan extended both hands at the same time. He used his index and middle finger of each hand to stab into the eye socket of both assassins. He exerted strength and pulled the two people towards each other. Their heads smashed into one another, causing blood to spurt out onto Meng Changan's face.

It was only a brief moment but he had killed four people in succession.

There were six assassins in total. Apart from the one that was fighting against Zhou Ansheng, there was one remaining assassin, who had already turned around and ran for his life.

Du Weiming who was hiding within the underbrush looking at the vicious fella who just killed four people in a row. He thought to himself: If this person is Meng Changan, what's the point of Shen Leng coming here?

After Meng Changan released his hands, the remaining assassin was already at least 30 feet away from him. He ran in the direction of where the boat at the river bank was. Meng Changan scoffed softly before he gave chase. As he ran, his feet kicked up dust from the ground. When the dust flew up, he was already several feet away.

That was not qinggong - it was just explosive power.

Meng Changan only took seven steps to catch up to that assassin. One could well imagine how scary every step of his was. It looked fierce and powerful.

After he had caught up with that assassin, the latter sensed danger behind his back. He turned around abruptly and swung his dagger. Meng Changan did not hide or dodge. Instead, he threw out a punch…the assassin swung his knife first but Meng Changan's fist had already landed on his face first. This punch directly caused his skin and flesh to rupture. What a powerful strength!

His fist struck his cheekbone and the upper half of his skull cracked open. That dagger was never going to be able to land. That assassin flew backwards upon impact. Meng Changan's left fist caught up and landed on his temple, creating a dent in it. The other side of his temple started swelling up immediately…

Meng Changan turned around and headed back. He did not even bother to look at that assassin.

He killed five assassins in succession while unarmed and defenseless. The smell of blood on Meng Changan's body started to get stronger. When he walked back, he saw that Zhou Ansheng had already snatched the dagger from the assassin and stabbed it into the assassin's neck, who groaned for a bit before falling to the ground.

Zhou Ansheng carried a dagger and charged over. His face was frighteningly pale. "Big brother Meng, are you ok? I'm sorry…I'm so sorry. I did not expect Yu Dian to be up to no good."

"It's definitely not Yu Dian."

Meng Changan curled his lips, "Yu Dian is an open and honest man. He can never do something this vile. You have most likely been deceived."

Zhou Ansheng frowned. "This is impossible, I'm sure I…"

He quickly squatted down and pressed against Zhou Ansheng's wound with one hand. He used the other hand to tear off a piece of cloth from Zhou Ansheng's clothes, and used it to strap around his wound.

Zhou Ansheng's face was filled with guilt. "I'm sorry big brother Meng. Am I too stupid…I'm not as skilled as you when it comes to martial arts, and neither can I be as decisive and vicious as you when it comes to killing people…"

Perhaps it was because he felt that 'vicious' was not a good word, the look of guilt on his face intensified.

Meng Changan helped him to strap around his wound tightly. "They are here to kill me, don't tell me I should be more gentle? Killing someone is the most cold-blooded thing in the entire world…huh?"

He suddenly went 'huh'. Thereafter, he hurriedly got up and took a couple of steps back. He lowered his head; he was stabbed right in the stomach with a dagger...Zhou Ansheng had hidden a dagger in his sleeve. If he did not retreat after seeing Zhou Ansheng's shoulders move, the dagger would have stabbed him in the heart instead.

Zhou Ansheng struggled to sit upright. "You are right. Killing someone is the most cold-blooded thing in the world."

He tightened the piece of cloth that Meng Changan used to dress his wound. Blood continued to spurt out. However, there was no look of guilt or pain on his face; only ruthlessness.

"I did not expect to make an error in judgment."

Meng Changan sighed softly, and left the dagger alone - he did not attempt to pull it out of his stomach.

He looked at Zhou Ansheng. "Guan Tang Kou or Liu Lang Dao? Liu Yun Hui and Hong Su Shou do not dabble in such businesses."

"Liu Lang Dao," answered Zhou Ansheng truthfully.

Meng Changan looked rather distressed. "You are a scholar of Yanta Academy. Even though your results are not outstanding, your future is still considered bright. Instead, you chose to join the despicable Liu Lang Dao."

"You're wrong…I did not join Liu Lang Dao after I entered the academy. Instead, Liu Lang Dao was the one that sent me to the academy. Everybody says that Liu Lang Dao is despicable; we know ourselves that we are rather dishonorable. But who wants to be like that forever? Hence, we always got to make some changes. If we have someone in the imperial court, we will then slowly be able to stop doing dirty dealings."

He lowered his head and looked at his wound. "The show I'm putting up is pretty realistic. This freaking hurts."

Meng Changan responded, "You schemed well. With me dead, and you severely injured, who would suspect you?"

Zhou Ansheng shook his head. "I don't have a choice. Even 16 or 26 assassins are not enough to kill you, let alone 6…if not for the attractive monetary reward, I would not have exposed myself. Big brother Meng, I'm sorry."

He lifted his hand and snapped his fingers. Thereafter, at least twenty to thirty assassins appeared from the surrounding underbrush.

Du Weiming, who was laying down in the underbrush, was entirely shocked. When did these people appear?

Chapter end