I Am Truly Not a Treacherous Minister Your Majesty

Chapter 11: Rainy Night

In the pouring rain, figures moved through the deserted streets.

Those people were dressed in black, wearing bamboo hats, as if they were completely integrated into the rainy night. Water droplets fell beside them, like countless strings of pearls.

At this moment, those figures were fleeing forward in panic, not even caring about their companions, scrambling to escape to the other end of the street like a flock of startled birds.

And behind them, there was only one figure in pursuit.

The completely soaked nightwear clung tightly to the body, outlining that alluring silhouette. However, now, those black-clad men who had once killed without mercy had no time to appreciate this scene. They fled in terror, as if this gentle figure was a demon.

Just as they thought they had pulled away, the black-clad man at the front suddenly stopped.

“What are you doing!? Run, damn it!”

The black-clad man behind him crashed into his companion. Seeing his teammate still causing trouble at this moment, the black-clad man cursed loudly.

However, just as he finished speaking, his companion’s head rolled off.

Blood spurted out, staining the rain-soaked road red.

The black-clad man stared in horror at the scene before him. All the black-clad men couldn’t help but look at the approaching figure behind them.

Damn it, what kind of monster does that corrupt official have by his side!? Just one woman, and she’s as strong as a demon?

“Don’t run. I said, whoever tells me the answer I want will live. Why are you so stubborn?” Ling Yan’s cold voice rang out, as cold as the rain soaking their bodies on this rainy night.

The black-clad men did not answer.

They couldn’t resist, or rather, resistance was unrealistic—this woman in front of them had just been attacked by twelve black-clad men working together, and they couldn’t do anything to her. Instead, three of them died instantly, which already explained a lot.

Their mission this time was to assassinate Qin Ji.

However, not only did they fail to complete the task, but they also failed before the mission even started. The coachman was completely useless; after taking the money, he was killed, causing all their actions to go out of control. However, they had received a death order—this was a death order personally issued from above, and they couldn’t resist it. Since the plan had failed, they could only take desperate measures and choose the simplest and most brutal action.

That was to directly enter the Duke of An’s mansion and assassinate Qin Ji themselves.

The ideal was grand, but reality was harsh. These black-clad men were all carefully selected elites, but they didn’t expect that as soon as they reached the surroundings of the Duke of An’s mansion and prepared to climb over the wall, Ling Yan noticed them.

To be honest, their actions were already very professional. If it were someone else, they wouldn’t have noticed their actions at all. But the problem was…

Ling Yan came from the Demon Sect and practiced demonic arts.

Even though palace experts later taught her, she still had a foundation in demonic arts, and many of the techniques in those so-called “evil arts” were used to ambush people.

For example, the most classic technique, “Ten Thousand Peeping Eyes,” could determine the specific location, age, and body shape of people within a certain range based on the blood flow and heartbeat sounds of the people around. It was equivalent to a weakened version of X-ray vision.

Although Ling Yan hadn’t fully mastered it, she knew a little. While serving Qin Ji in the house and eating fruit, she sensed something unusual and immediately ran out with the fruit knife in her hand.

The so-called “attack” by those black-clad men had long been discovered by her. She was just waiting for them to make the first move and expose their flaws.

Encountering Ling Yan was just their bad luck. If it had been a proper practitioner from a reputable sect, they might have had a slight advantage. But they provoked someone similar to them, a rat in the gutter.

“Run.”

The black-clad man whispered, and then they threw something round forward.

In an instant, smoke filled the air. The pungent smoke spread in the rainy night. Although the rain limited its effectiveness, it still obstructed Ling Yan’s vision.

Ling Yan frowned. The pungent smell entered her nostrils, making her very uncomfortable.

With a casual wave of her hand, a burst of energy swept away the smoke in front of her, even dispersing the rainwater ahead. Then she stared at the empty street.

“Oh, they ran away?”

A cruel smile appeared on her face as she toyed with the fruit knife in her hand.

Indeed, these people’s ability to escape exceeded her expectations. Originally, in Ling Yan’s estimation, this group of people would not be able to escape her line of sight, but it was clear that they were well-prepared and actually managed to escape…

Just kidding.

How could she make such a low-level mistake and let a group of enemies trying to assassinate Qin Ji escape like that?

Moreover, even she couldn’t run out of this wide street in the short two seconds when the smoke obscured her vision. If they could really do that, Ling Yan felt that they would be fully capable of killing her.

So, the most likely scenario is that these rats are lurking nearby.

It’s just a common tactic, using the smoke to obscure vision and immediately hiding. An inexperienced hunter would think they had fled quickly with the help of the smoke and would chase in the direction they might have escaped.

Then, when she walked away, they would flee in the opposite direction, thus escaping.

Ling Yan picked up a handful of rainwater, then bent down, her tender lips kissing the handful of rainwater.

Then, she raised her arm, and the crystal-clear rainwater scattered in the air—it was just an ordinary sprinkle of water, but among those raindrops, there was a faint glow hidden.

The raindrops seemed like countless sharp swords, flying in all directions.

From the nearby dark alleys came the faint sound of penetrating bodies, accompanied by short screams.

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Blood-mixed rainwater flowed from the alley entrance, and footsteps could be heard from inside.

“So I said, stop running, it’s better to just tell me what I want to know.”

Ling Yan brushed away the hair sticking to her forehead due to the rain, then stepped into the alley.

The pitch-black alley was so dark that one couldn’t see their hand in front of them, and even the lights from the houses in the city couldn’t reach here. A flame appeared in her palm, flickering in the heavy rain, but it was not extinguished. The flame illuminated everything in the alley.

In front of her were bodies lying in disarray, with bloody holes on them—but their cause of death was not those holes.

Their faces were blue, their bodies still twitching slightly, they died from poisoning.