Oh no! My grandmother made me shoulder the responsibility for eight households!

Chapter 192 Chaos in the Capital

"Hey, Old Wang, are you still selling your steamed buns?"

"Selling, selling, selling! Two for ten coins... Holy crap?!"

Old Wang, who sells steamed buns, almost popped his eyes out halfway through his sentence.

At the other end of the long street, a dark mass of cavalry surged forward like a tide.

They were all dressed in black armor, with long swords at their waists, and the sound of their horses' hooves hitting the bluestone slabs was like thunder.

"Imperial City Guard is on official business! No one else may enter!"

The leader, a centurion, had a frighteningly loud voice. He flicked his riding whip in the air with a crisp "snap".

The people on the street were completely dumbfounded.

The vegetable vendor's basket fell to the ground, and radishes and cabbages rolled all over the floor.

The old man listening to the storyteller in the teahouse brought his teacup to his lips but forgot to drink.

Even the stray dogs that were squatting by the wall sunbathing suddenly jumped up and ran away with their tails between their legs.

"What... what happened?" someone asked in a low voice.

"I don't know... Judging by the situation, are they catching a notorious thief?"

"Does a notorious bandit need so many people? The entire Imperial City Guard has come out. I just came from the yamen, and even the gatekeeper ran away with me!"

Old Wang hurriedly packed up his stall, forgetting all about selling his steamed buns.

He had been selling pancakes on this street for over a decade and had never seen anything like it.

As he was tidying up, another troop of cavalry charged through the fork in the road, nearly knocking over his cart.

"Get out of the way! Everyone get out of the way!"

The cavalry charged straight to the east of the city, the dust kicked up by their hooves covering Old Wang's face.

Old Wang wiped his face and suddenly saw Manager Liu of the silk shop across the street standing at the door, his face as white as paper.

"Manager Liu, you're very knowledgeable, what exactly is going on here..." Old Wang leaned over and asked.

Manager Liu's lips trembled as he pointed to the sky.

Old Wang looked up, but saw nothing.

But Manager Liu had practiced martial arts. Although he was only a fifth-rank martial artist, his eyesight was much better than that of ordinary people.

He had just clearly seen more than thirty dark figures sweep across the rooftop from all directions at an alarming speed.

The direction those shadowy figures went...

Manager Liu's heart skipped a beat.

Some of these paths lead to Qingshui Lane.

……

No. 7 Courtyard, Qingshui Lane.

From the outside, it looks like an ordinary wealthy family's house, with blue bricks and gray tiles, and two courtyards.

There wasn't even a stone lion at the entrance; it was very low-key.

But at this moment, the atmosphere in the courtyard was so tense it was almost palpable.

Five men in black stood around the stone table, but none of them sat down.

"We just received a message from the Corpse Refining Sect, telling us to hold our positions." The speaker was a tall, thin man with a hoarse voice. "Wait for their signal."

"Wait my ass!" A scarred man slammed his hand on the stone table, causing it to crack open with a "crack."

"Lin Chen has a peak-level Earth Immortal under his command, as well as a thousand Great Snow Dragon Riders. Do you know what that means?"

The tall, thin man said coldly, "Old Scar, what are you panicking about? We're just here to gather information, we haven't done anything."

"Didn't lift a finger?" Old Scar laughed, a laugh more like a grimace.

"Three thousand imperial guards are running all over the streets, and you call that not taking any action?"

They're clearing out the weaklings; once they've dealt with the rest, it'll be time to settle things with us!

The other three didn't say anything, but their expressions were all grim.

They were spies from "Shadow Fiend Sect," a small sect in Zhongzhou, who were ordered to come to the capital to inquire about that "thing."

I thought I was just slacking off, but who knew I'd run into this mess?

"The Netherworld Sect is in even worse shape," a younger man whispered.

"I heard they lost three immortal beings in the North without uttering a sound."

"Now they want to use us as pawns, to make us test Lin Chen's limits..."

"Testing the waters?" Old Scar spat. "That's suicide!"

Just then, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from outside the courtyard gate.

It's urgent, and there's a lot of it.

The expressions of the five people changed simultaneously.

The tall, thin man darted to the door and peeked through the crack; his heart nearly stopped.

Both ends of the alley were blocked.

The entire force consisted of Imperial Guards, dressed in black armor, with long swords drawn.

The centurion leading the group was on horseback, gesturing to his men.

"We've been discovered." The tall, thin man turned around, his voice dry.

"Damn it!" Old Scar gritted his teeth. "Let's fight! A bunch of useless Imperial City Guards, let's break out!"

"Are you stupid?" the younger one exclaimed hastily.

"If we act now, wouldn't that tell everyone we have a problem? What if they're just doing a routine check..."

Before he could finish speaking, the courtyard gate was kicked open with a loud bang.

Wood chips flew everywhere.

The centurion stood at the door, his hand on the hilt of his sword, his gaze sweeping over the five men in the courtyard, and he grinned:

"Oh, everyone's here? Saves me the trouble of looking for them one by one."

The tall, thin man, trying to remain calm, stepped forward and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture.

"Sir, what brings you here? We brothers are here on business; we have travel permits and documents..."

"A document?" The centurion pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it.

"Shadow Fiend Sect, a second-rate demonic sect in Central Continent, specializing in stealth and assassination."

The sect leader, Shadow Old Ghost, is at the peak of the Celestial Realm.

"The five spies sent to the capital, with cultivation levels ranging from early-stage Celestial Realm to peak Grandmaster, are you the ones?"

The five people were completely stiff.

"Oh, right." Baihu turned the paper over; on the back were portraits of five people. Although rough, their features were captured quite accurately.

"It even came with a portrait. It's not very lifelike, but... it's enough."

Old Scar's eyes sharpened: "Now that you know, there's nothing more to say!"

His aura suddenly erupted, revealing his early-stage Celestial Realm cultivation without reservation, causing a section of the bluestone slab in the courtyard to crack.

"Fight your way out!"

Old Scar was the first to make a move, his five fingers forming claws as he lunged straight at the centurion's face.

With one swipe, you could not only tear a hole in a human face, but also in a steel plate.

Baihu's face turned pale, and he subconsciously stepped back.

But Old Scar's claws didn't touch him.

Old Scar suddenly froze in mid-air.

He didn't stop it himself.

There were thirty-six dark figures, appearing on the courtyard wall, rooftop, and treetops at some unknown time.

They were as silent as ghosts, their black clothes almost blending into the night, only their eyes beneath the masks were as cold as ice.

"Leave no one alive."

The leader of the Heavenly Guards uttered four words, his voice completely flat.

The next second, all thirty-six people moved at the same time.

No fancy moves, no nonsense.

It's the simplest form of killing, like a wolf pack hunting.

Old Scar was the first to die.

He didn't even have time to react.

I felt a blur before my eyes, a chill in my throat, and then endless darkness.

The body fell from the sky and slammed onto the stone table with a "bang," shattering it into pieces.

The tall, thin man roared and retreated rapidly, trying to escape by climbing over the wall.

He had just leaped halfway into the air when three short knives simultaneously pierced his back from three directions.

The tip of the knife pierced through his chest, drawing out three streams of blood.

The tall, thin man looked down at the knife tip protruding from his chest, opened his mouth, but no sound came out before he died.

The remaining three were in an even worse situation.

The young man had barely drawn his weapon when his head flew off.

The other two, back to back, tried to resist, but were instantly overwhelmed by attacks from all sides.

When the Heavenly Guards retreated, only two piles of flesh on the ground remained, barely recognizable as human remains.

From start to finish, it took less than three breaths.

All five spies from Zhongzhou were wiped out.

The centurion stood there, his legs feeling a little weak.

Although he was only at the early stage of a Grandmaster, he truly felt like he was going to die the moment Old Scar unleashed his aura.

result……

He glanced at the dark figures on the courtyard wall and swallowed hard.

Is this the strength of the Prince of Zhenbei's subordinates?

"Clean up the scene."

The leader of the Heavenly Guards uttered a single sentence, and the thirty-six men vanished in a flash, as if they had never existed.

The centurion steadied himself and roared at his men:

"What are you all standing there for? Pack it up!"