12dz Chapter 293 Madness
Chapter 293 Madness
Upon hearing Mi Wei's warning, the dozen or so soldiers' expressions changed drastically. They pounced on the beggar, ignoring his filth and stench, and pinned him to the ground, rendering him immobile. The beggar's eyes rolled back, and he cried out incoherently.
Mi Wei ordered his soldiers to retreat, but they only found two copper coins and a rather sharp stone on the beggar, which posed no danger. Mi Wei frowned, squatted down himself, and examined the beggar's eyes to confirm that he was truly blind before standing up and saying, "Drag him into the street!"
Upon receiving the order, the four soldiers grabbed one of the beggar's limbs each and carried him to the left. Mi Wei looked at the copper coins and pebbles in his hand, shook his head, threw away the pebbles, and casually tossed the copper coins to the soldier who had just been grabbed by the beggar. He then returned to the right side of the church to patrol and guard the area.
The beggar struggled as he was thrown to a garbage heap several hundred meters from the church, where he screamed and yelled like a madman. Only after the four soldiers had gone far away did he sigh, sit down, and slam his fist into the ground, leaving a fist-shaped dent.
That night, the Xia beggar who hadn't fooled the soldiers transformed himself, fully armed in black and masked, and decided to storm the church to assassinate Yu Jin or Banana.
This assassin from the Great Xia Kingdom was named Cheko. He was originally a guard with a sword in the Great Xia royal palace. When he bravely intercepted thieves who broke into the palace, he was injured in the eyes by the enemy's small hidden weapon and left the ranks of the royal guards.
But this Cheko was extremely patriotic, firmly believing that his country was the ruler of the entire continent, and that one day, wherever the sun shone would become the territory of Great Xia. Therefore, despite being blind, he begged the king to allow him to learn assassination techniques from the military officer in the palace who was responsible for training assassins, so that he could continue to serve his country.
The king granted his request, and in consideration of his injury for his service, sent the most capable teacher in the palace to instruct him in the art of assassination.
Based on his characteristics, the assassin instructor rigorously trained his hearing and his body's keen sense of vibrations from external objects. He also taught him to use his blindness to impersonate vulnerable people such as beggars, vagrants, and refugees to deceive the guards of the target and lower their guard, thus ensuring a successful assassination.
In less than a decade, Cheko rose to become the king's top assassin, using his blindness to infiltrate his targets as harmless beggars, refugees, and other low-class individuals, striking them successfully and escaping in the chaos. This was his first mission.
He had already assassinated three disobedient ministers, two generals, and two Chinese merchants who had tried to steal the king's beauties—the two Chinese merchants who had mysteriously disappeared in August of the fourth year of the reign of Emperor Yuan at Wuxi, leaving no trace. The King of Great Xia dared not openly offend the Chinese, so he sent Cheko to assassinate the two Chinese men and eventually took the two beautiful sisters into the palace.
Upon learning that Bannai had surrendered the entire city and sided with the Chinese, and that all of his spies in Amlaze had been wiped out—either killed or driven out—King Krobor Sultan was furious and shocked. While preparing his troops for war, he sent Cheko to the east to assassinate either Yu Jin, the commander of the Chinese troops, or Bannai, to cause trouble for the enemy.
When Cheko crossed the Kulam Desert and entered a small town on the edge of the desert, he guessed that Hua Zu would stop nearby to resupply, so he decided to wait and see what would happen.
On March 10th and 11th, approximately 40,000 to 50,000 Chinese soldiers gradually entered the town. A highly elite group of Chinese soldiers occupied the church and began to carry out military operations.
Cheko guessed that the Huazu commander Yu Jin and Banana must be in the church, so he tried to approach the church and wait outside the door. No matter which of Yu Jin or Banana came out, he would kill one of them.
Unexpectedly, one of the soldiers' leaders didn't even trust a beggar. Not only did he drag him away from the church, but he also confiscated his money darts and throwing stones. Luckily, they didn't find the needles on the soles of his shoes, or he would have been torn to pieces immediately.
That night, Cheko, who had become the number one assassin in the Great Xia Kingdom, decided to abandon his role as a harmless beggar. Full of confidence, he dressed in black, covered his face with a mask, and carried grappling hooks, darts, money darts, throwing knives, and other hidden weapons. He sneaked into the church from the back, intending to assassinate Yu Jin or Bannaina.
A little after 1 a.m., Yu Jin, Liao Li, and Ban Naina discussed the route the large army would take and then went back to their rooms to rest. Cheko used his keen hearing and sense of the ground tremors.
Yu Jin, Liao Li, and Ban Naina are all historical figures.
Carefully avoiding the Chinese patrol, Cheko reached the corner of the wall behind the church. He threw a grappling hook wrapped with cloth against the wall, and it hooked onto the edge without making a sound. Cheko easily vaulted into the church's backyard.
The experienced blind assassin silently evaded several patrols of Chinese soldiers, slipped into a storage room, and then calmly assessed the defensive arrangements of the entire church.
After a full three hours, Cheko deduced from the soldiers' occasional conversations and yawns that there were more than a dozen soldiers standing outside a room on the right side of the second floor, which should be the place where Commander Yu Jin of the Chinese Army was resting.
There were also many soldiers outside the room on the left, which was probably the room where the Chinese military advisor rested. Only the middle room had only two soldiers at the door, and the sound of their breathing and occasional conversation led Cheko to conclude that this room must be where Banana rested. No bad guy would receive much attention, and the fact that there were only two soldiers guarding it indicated that this room must be where Banana slept.
Assassinating Yu Jin and Liao Li was too difficult, so Cheko decided to assassinate Banana, killing this bad guy as a warning to others and to prevent them from defecting to the enemy country.
The second-floor corridor was filled with soldiers, and there were also many patrolling soldiers on the first floor. Forcing his way in was definitely not an option. Cheko slowly returned to the backyard of the church, intending to break in through the window on the north side of the building to assassinate Banena.
Yu Jin and Ban Nai Na were both highly skilled generals who were not afraid of ordinary assassins. Therefore, the soldiers' strength was actually not high. As long as the soldiers could resist for a second or two and make a sound, they would wake up.
Only Liao Li, as a civil leader and advisor, has mediocre swordsmanship and can't even defeat a single soldier, so his protection is the strongest.
Liao Li's room was located in the middle of the second floor. The two soldiers who were spotted by Cheko at the door were just orderlies responsible for daily chores. There were four special forces soldiers at the door, breathing evenly and slowly, without making any other sounds or movements, which is why Cheko missed them.
Four special forces soldiers were actually hiding beneath Liao Li's room in the church's backyard; two were concealed in the trees, and two in the bushes. Inside Liao Li's room, there were also two special forces soldiers guarding the door and the window.