Chapter 360 Taking the Sword for Her

Chapter 360: Shielding Him with Her Body

At midnight, the Southern Shuo government office was enveloped in dead silence.

The moon was obscured by thick clouds, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

Several shadows, darker than the night itself, flitted across the overlapping rooftops like ghosts, their movements so light that they didn't disturb a single leaf or startle a roosting bird.

They were Xiao Huaijin's sharpest blades, born solely for slaughter.

Ling Wu, who had been dozing against a corridor pillar, snapped her eyes open.

There was a faint, alien trace in the air—carrying the chilling smell of blood.

She lifted her head, her gaze sweeping over the pitch-black rooftops like a hawk's.

There!

Several figures flickered past, heading straight for the main room where the prince was resting!

Ling Wu's heart tightened. She pushed off the ground, shooting onto the eaves like an arrow from a bowstring. Her soft sword slid from its sheath with a sharp ring, tracing an arc of cold light in the darkness.

"Who goes there!"

She barked, her form already closing in, the tip of her sword aimed at the lead assassin.

The intruder didn't reply, only gesturing for the others to spread out and surround her.

A murderous chill instantly enveloped her.

The clash of steel rang out harshly in the silent night.

Ling Wu fought against multiple opponents and held her ground, her swordplay fierce and tricky, each strike aimed at a vital point.

But just as she dodged a blade and lunged at another's throat, the darkness before her seemed to warp.

A sharp, piercing pain shot through her eyes—the ones that had been damaged by poison powder—and her vision blurred instantly.

That split-second hesitation was the beginning of her downfall.

A rush of air came from behind. She sensed it, but couldn't execute a proper dodge.

"Thud!"

A heavy blow struck the back of her neck. She grunted, and darkness swallowed her completely. Her body went limp, crumpling onto the cold roof tiles.

The lead assassin didn't spare her a glance. With a wave of his hand, the black-clad figures melted into the shadows, silently approached the closed door inside the room.

Inside the room, a single lamp flickered like a tiny bean.

Jiang Shuning sat on the footstool by the bed, resting her chin in her hands, gazing at the sleeping Xiao Lingchuan.

He had taken Divine Physician Sun's medicine and was in a deep sleep. His usually furrowed brow had relaxed, softening his usual cold and hard demeanor and revealing a seldom-seen vulnerability.

She just watched him quietly, as if trying to engrave his image into her very bones.

Suddenly, a chill wind seeped in through a crack in the window, making the candle flame flicker wildly, nearly extinguishing it.

Something was off.

The wind tonight was from the south, but this draft came from a strange direction!

Jiang Shuning whirled around, her heart nearly stopping in her chest.

She saw a clean cross-shaped cut into the window paper, and several dark figures slipping in one by one, their swords gleaming with a murderous gleam—their target fixed on the sleeping Xiao Lingchuan!

Assassins!

Her body reacted faster than her mind.

An instinct rooted deep in her soul drove her forward without thought. She threw herself onto him, spreading her arms, using her frail body to shield the man behind her.

"Thud—"

The sound of a blade piercing flesh was horribly dull.

A searing, gut-wrenching pain shot through her back, spreading instantly throughout her entire body.

It hurt so badly...

Jiang Shuning's vision went dark, all strength drained out of her.

She could even feel the cold steel grinding through her bones, tearing her flesh apart.

She went limp, falling onto Xiao Lingchuan.

The sudden weight and the muffled thud finally jolted Xiao Lingchuan awake.

The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Jiang Shuning's face, pale as a sheet, and the gruesome sword protruding from her back, nearly piercing through her body.

"Shuning!"

A heart-wrenching roar tore out of his throat. His dark eyes were instantly bloodshot.

A frenzied, overwhelming murderous intent exploded.

He pulled her into his arms in one swift movement, rolling with her to the corner of the bed to protect her.

At the same time, his legs lashed out like iron whips, with tremendous force, smashing into the chests of two assassins charging at him.

"Crack!"

The sound of bones shattering was clear.

The two assassins, hit as if by a battering ram, didn't even have time to scream before they flew backward, crashing heavily into the wall, blood spurting from their mouths, dead on the spot.

The remaining assassins were terrified by the brutal scene.

Weren't they told that Prince Jing was poisoned and near death?

How could he still be so terrifyingly deadly?

They dared not linger. Exchanging terrified glances, they turned and leaped out the window without hesitation, disappearing into the night.

Only then did the Deputy General’s frantic shouts and clattering footsteps ring out from the courtyard: "Assassins! Quickly! Protect His Highness!"

But Xiao Lingchuan heard nothing.

His world had shrunk to just the woman in his arms—her breath faint, her body drenched in blood.

Warm blood gushed from her wound, staining his robe and searing his heart so intensely that it seemed to convulse.

"Shuning... why are you so foolish..." His voice trembled uncontrollably, the veins on his arms bulging as he held her. "Why did you block this sword for me..."

He would rather that sword had pierced his own chest than see her endure even a sliver of pain.

Jiang Shuning's consciousness was fading; the excruciating pain made even breathing incredibly difficult.

She forced her eyes open, and in her blurred vision, she saw Xiao Lingchuan's face indistinctly, only catching his bloodshot eyes and the despair nearly overflowing from them.

She wanted to raise her hand to touch his face, but hadn't a shred of strength.

"My lord..." Her voice was faint as a mosquito's, intermittent. "You... you're fine... that's... good..."

As long as he was still alive, that was enough.

These words were like a red-hot branding iron, searing Xiao Lingchuan's heart.

The toxins in his body surged again due to the violent emotional upheaval and forced exertion of his inner energy. A coppery taste filled his throat, and he suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, splattering onto the ground in a shocking pool.

Trembling, he carefully lifted her horizontally in his arms, kicked open the door, and shouted at the top of his lungs to the chaotic soldiers in the courtyard:

"Someone! Quickly summon Divine Doctor Sun for me!"

"The princess consort has been struck by a sword!"

His voice had completely cracked, carrying a sobbing tone and a beast-like roar.

The entire Nanshuo government office fell into unprecedented chaos overnight, with a lingering scent of blood and unease permeating the air.

Inside the room, under the dim yellow light, Divine Doctor Sun was drenched in sweat, veins bulging on his forehead, his hands trembling as he inserted acupuncture needles to stop Jiang Shuning's bleeding.

His expression was unprecedentedly grave; every needle insertion was done with extreme caution, as if he were gambling with death.

Jiang Shuning's injury was truly horrifying. That sword had precisely pierced a vital point of her heart meridian, and blood gushed out continuously like a spring, soaking the sheets and even dripping down the edge of the bed onto the floor, forming a small, shocking pool of crimson.

Her face was pale without a trace of color; her lips were cracked nearly to the point of bleeding, and her breath was so weak that she seemed on the verge of fading away at any moment.

Xiao Lingchuan stood by, staring fixedly at the scene, his eyes bloodshot. Intense murderous intent and boundless self-blame intertwined, nearly tearing him apart.

He had never imagined that her frail body could contain so much blood.

Why had he failed to protect her?

That heart-wrenching guilt suffocated him more than the residual poison in his body.

"Divine Doctor Sun..." Xiao Lingchuan finally couldn't help but speak, with a tremor he himself didn't even notice. "Tell me the truth... the princess consort... can she survive?"

"Divine Doctor Sun did not look up, his hands continuing their work as he replied in a deep voice, "Your Highness, this old man will do everything in his power and apply all his lifelong knowledge to save the princess consort! But this wound... is indeed extremely dangerous. I dare not make any hasty claims."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Lingchuan's heart sank heavily, as if falling into an abyss.

He staggered back a step, turned around, and walked out of the room.

At the door, the Deputy General was already kneeling on the ground. Seeing him come out, he immediately bowed his head and confessed his guilt, his face full of shame and self-blame: "Your Highness, this subordinate failed in his guarding duties, failing to detect the assassins' infiltration in time, causing Doctor Jiang to be severely injured! Please punish this subordinate!"

"What good would punishing you do?" Xiao Lingchuan's voice was low and icy, each word tinged with barely suppressed anger. "I want to know who sent these assassins tonight! They dared to commit murder right under my nose—I'll make them pay with blood!"

Cold sweat beaded on the Deputy General's forehead as he hurriedly reported, "Your Highness, this subordinate has thoroughly searched. On the backs of the two slain assassins, we found special totem tattoos! However, this subordinate is slow-witted and still does not know if this tattoo is related to their identity."

With that, he quickly ordered the two assassins' corpses brought forward, turned them over to expose the patterns on their backs, for Xiao Lingchuan to examine.

Under the candlelight, the tattoo was unmistakably a mythical beast resembling a leopard, its lines bold and sinister, as if roaring, exuding an ominous pressure and murderous intent.

Xiao Lingchuan's gaze fell on the tattoo, his pupils constricted, while the corners of his lips curled slowly into a bloodthirsty sneer, radiating endless chill and murderous intent.

"Pixiu..." he murmured softly, his voice piercingly cold as ice, with a gnashing hatred. "This is the mythical beast totem used by my fifth brother and his maternal clan."

The Pixiu attracts wealth, taking in but never giving out.

The Cui family, as the richest clan in Daye, outwardly presented themselves as merchants, but secretly used this pattern as a secret code to mark people or things hidden in the shadows.

This was originally top secret, but Xiao Lingchuan had lived a second life; there were no secrets he didn't know.

The fury in his heart blazed like a wildfire, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

"Xiao Huaijin, my fifth brother, your people dared to harm Shuning. I will make you pay!"