The one who gathered them was obviously the main lead. As for why he worked under Emperor Yang Zhou… the reason was simply because Long Qian Xing hated politics and the countless schemes that come with it. Thus, he chose to work together with Emperor Yang Zhou even if he was the one who often worked behind the scene and do everything.
Nan Hua actually wanted to gather more people.
However, she didn't want to take the people who were supposedly on Long Qian Xing's side. It would change the real story too much.
Besides, was there even any chance for her to meet with them and utilize their ability well with her current position?
How unlikely.
"Miss, it's already late. Would you like to rest?" Xiao Yun asked carefully when he saw Nan Hua was still busy reading and looked deep in thought.
Nan Hua was thinking of gathering more people, but she couldn't find anyone whom she could think suitable. Zhang Dan Shui was a lucky one since she saw that he was quite capable and didn't seem too bad. Her cousins were not bad either but they might not find working under her to be that pleasant.
After all, she was younger than them and they knew her quite well.
Other…?
Who?
"I'll rest." Nan Hua put down the book. Her dark obsidian eyes gleamed in the darkness. "Xiao Yun, you can guard from inside this time."
"Ah?"
Xiao Yun didn't understand but she nodded and sat down beside the door. On the other hand, Nan Hua sat on her bed but showed no sign that she was about to sleep. Instead, Nan Hua was looking towards the window as her lips curled up to form a sneer.
Half of the shadow guards followed Old Master Nan to the battlefield a few weeks ago. Since then, it has been quite peaceful on the surface.
But Nan Hua knew that there were several assassins who had tried to infiltrate the residence. They were stopped by the shadow guards as they failed to enter much further than the perimeter.
"Miss?"
"Stay here."
Swish!
When Xiao Yun saw Nan Hua disappeared, she felt a bit helpless. She had been training martial arts with the other shadow guard and Mu Yan lately but it felt as if she was still of no use to Nan Hua. Her skill couldn't be compared to Nan Hua in the slightest bit and would only be a hindrance if she tried to stand forward.
"Xiao Yun, you should rest and try to protect yourself," Mu Yan reminded from behind the door.
"Ah, you're not sleeping yet, Yan'er?" Xiao Yun was a bit helpless. "You should be the one to be careful."
"Mhm…"
Mu Yan looked outside where there were already several corpses on the ground and sighed. The one who killed them were obviously Nan Hua, who noticed that there were several of them who came inside.
She couldn't even do anything and the fight was already over.
Swish!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
"You little runt!" the assassin was perplexed when he saw that he couldn't break Nan Luo's defense.
Nan Luo was looking at the assassin with disdain. He had been training hard all this time and purposely increased his basic training all because he hated to be losing against these assassins. The last time they came, he had to run around a lot.
Clang! Slash!
Parrying the attack, Nan Luo then drew close and slashed towards the assassin's chest. His eyes narrowed as he watched the assassin fell to the ground. "Two."
Looking at the next assassin that was about to come, he prepared his sword once more. While it looked weird for such a young boy like him to wield big sword and acted arrogant, the two corpses beside him proved that he had the necessary qualification to contend against the assassins.
"You b*stard!" the assassin came as fast as possible towards Nan Luo and attacked.
Clang!
'It's heavier.'
Nan Luo furrowed his eyebrows and jumped to the back. He flipped midair and stabilized his position before his sword thrusted forward, blocking the assassin's attempt to catch him off guard. His eyes were cold as he stepped back and then positioned himself in defensive posture.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Parrying the attacks, Nan Luo found out that the assassin in front of him was better than the one before. The attacks were fiercer and faster than before. It was clear that the assassin had much more training.
"Damn you! Die you brat!"
Clang! Swish!
Nan Luo evaded and jumped back. He jeered, "No way. I don't want to die in the hand of such an ugly assassin."
"You dare!"
Clang! Swish!
Repeating similar movement, Nan Luo evaded after parrying the attack. He found out that his strength was still far lower than this current opponent, so he tried his best not to fight against him head on.
He still wanted to live, ah.
Fighting head on against such an opponent would only hasten his journey to the underworld.
"Do you really think that you can run away from me?" the assassin was annoyed and chased after Nan Luo. He brandished his blade and strike Nan Luo as hard as possible.
Clang! Bang!
The force from the attack pushed Nan Luo to the back, crashing onto the pile of woods there. He jumped back nimbly and looked at the assassin in front of him with cold gaze. It seemed that his plan of making sure that he would not die and defeated the assassin in front of him didn't work too well.
The assassins who came this time was much more powerful than the one who came previously.
"You sure are resilient like a cockroach." The assassin's face changed when he saw Nan Luo still stood up even after such an attack.
"Heh, thanks for the compliment." Nan Luo grinned and charged forward once more.
Soon, the voice of metal clashing could be heard.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!