Chapter 311 - 246: A Bright Moon Hangs High, Slaughter as White as Snow

Chapter 311: Chapter 246: A Bright Moon Hangs High, Slaughter as White as Snow

It was now the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month. When the drifting clouds parted, a full moon hung high in the sky, illuminating the snow-covered ground until it shone like a giant mirror.

This was the coldest time of year in Kyoto, a period the common folk called "dog-freezing cold."

This year was especially, freakishly cold.

You could even hear the sound of the ice cracking under the extreme cold.

It was a sound like shattering glass—crisp and ethereal.

In temperatures like these, even the assassins from the East Sea couldn’t lie in wait for long.

They had all undergone extremely rigorous training since childhood, which naturally included specialized exercises to endure the bitter cold.

But in such extreme low temperatures, lying in wait for too long would still severely impact their ability to act.

So, they had no choice but to take shifts, rotating in batches to maintain their hidden perimeter.

Watanabe Toyoo had just taken over his post in this corner. Fortunately, he’d come prepared, having placed a thick felt pad under his stomach. This would insulate him from the cold ground as much as possible and make him a little more comfortable.

Of course, this was something no one else could ever find out. For a member of the Hidden Assassination Sect, relying on any external object for comfort was a shameful act.

They firmly believed that only pain could keep a person sharp, so they never allowed themselves even the slightest comfort.

But as a veteran who had been with the Hidden Assassination Sect for many years, Watanabe Toyoo couldn’t care less about such things.

He curled up as tightly as he could, then raised his gaze to the distant moon, a pang of melancholy rising in his heart.

’Such a beautiful moon!’

’If the moon is this beautiful here, it must be even more so back home.’

The people of the East Sea Country had a very peculiar sentimentality in their bones. A more poetic term for it was "to mourn the spring and grieve the autumn," but in truth, it was just melodrama.

Take the current situation, for example. Here was Watanabe Toyoo—a man raised from childhood by the Hidden Assassination Sect, a man who had killed countless times, his hands stained with blood—and he was actually moved by the full moon.

His eyes welled with tears, and he desperately wished he could shout a few lines of haiku to give voice to the turbulent emotions in his heart.

He didn’t, of course. They were here lying in ambush, and besides, this difficult situation shouldn’t last much longer.

Wei-san had just gone inside. Watanabe Toyoo believed it wouldn’t be long before they could leave this city of ice and snow, heading for the Huangpu Guard or returning to the East Sea Country.

And just as Watanabe Toyoo was lost in thought, the corner of his eye caught a flash of light brighter than the moon itself. A split second later, a corpse tumbled from the eaves of a nearby roof, kicking up a mist of blood.

’The sight... was truly beautiful!’

But Watanabe Toyoo had no time to appreciate the gorgeous sight, because the falling corpse was looking right at him.

The face, pale from rapid blood loss, was a mask of the confusion and despair he’d felt just before death.

Watanabe Toyoo felt his scalp tingle as the hairs on his body stood on end.

’Kitano Shosuke!’

’He’s dead!’

’And he died right in front of me!’

Just as Watanabe Toyoo was reeling in shock, a fantastical sight unfolded before his eyes.

Beneath the full moon, it was as if a ball of light had exploded, sending countless flashes of a blade crisscrossing through the air.

These blade flashes seemed deceptively tranquil, not even stirring the wind, but with every gleam, another body fell.

In the blink of an eye, all the other hidden assassins in the vicinity were wiped out. Only Watanabe Toyoo, whether because his position was too well-hidden or for some other reason, had been spared.

He watched, almost numb, as his comrades fell like autumn leaves, becoming corpses one after another. The only thing he could do was shrink his already curled-up form even smaller and hold his breath with all his might, terrified of attracting the attention of this unknown "god."

Finally, the light dissipated, the blade was sheathed. Corpses lay scattered across the ground, and their flowing blood stained the icy surface red.

Just then, a shadow fell over Watanabe Toyoo. He instinctively looked up and saw, silhouetted against the giant, round moon, a young man holding a long blade. He stood atop the curved eaves, looking down on him.

He froze instantly, not even daring to entertain the thought of escape.

It was like a newborn mouse being stared down by a battle-hardened alley cat. The immense fear seized his heart, robbing him of even the will to flee.

Fortunately, in the next instant, Wu Liangchen ended his torment.

With a casual swing of his blade, Wu Liangchen lopped off the head of the last hidden assassin. After that, he encountered no further obstacles and strode directly into the deepest part of the alley.

He had followed Wei Heng all the way here but hadn’t rushed in. Instead, he had first dealt with these nuisances outside.

After all, he had no intention of leaving any survivors this time.

The houses in this alley were almost all dark; clearly, no one lived here anymore.

The people from the East Sea Country had clearly chosen their base of operations with care. First, the location was remote enough. Second, it wasn’t far from the city wall, allowing for a quick escape in an emergency.

But they never could have imagined they would run into a "god of slaughter" like Wu Liangchen.

At that very moment, in a small courtyard at the end of the alley, Wei Heng was in discussion with several other men.

"You did well, Wei-san," said a slender man with long, narrow eyes. "Since that He Chang’an dared to threaten us with this, there was no reason to let him live."