The place that Zhang Chong had fled to was an upland covered with thorny bush. For some reason, the whole area was full of thick thorns and thistles ridden with barbs extremely prone to hurt people, making it almost impossible to get through.

Driven by an overwhelming desire to survive, Zhang Chong steeled himself and ordered his men to cut through the thorny bush. At the cost of dozens of soldiers' lives, they made it through the area and fled into woods.

The main road leading to the east was right on the other side of the hill. Once he got over it, it would be rather difficult to catch him. As a result, Dai Cheng was hotly pursuing him sparing no effort, and there had been several occasions when he was within an inch of intercepting Zhang Chong successfully.

"Should we lend Dai Cheng a helping hand, Marshal?" asked one of the men covertly following Dai Cheng.

"There's no hurry. Dai Cheng could be counted as an experienced commander. We shall stand by unless he really fails to catch Zhang Chong."

However, Yuwen Tong, who regarded Dai Cheng as an experienced commander, ended up being disappointed. Despite the fact that Dai Cheng was within an inch of catching Zhang Chong for several times, he still failed to stop Zhang Chong from getting out of the woods. What was more embarrassing was that Dai Cheng himself was trapped in the woods by Zhang Chong who managed to advantage himself by making full use of the terrain!

The corners of Yuwen Tong's mouth twitched. "What a bunch of good-for-nothings."

His bodyguards didn't dare to utter a word.

"Let's move," ordered Yuwen Tong. He ignored Dai Cheng and his men who were trapped, led his bodyguards out of the woods and successfully intercepted Zhang Chong who had already reached the main road.

At this time, apart from his two surviving deputy commanders, Wang He and Dou Li, Zhang Chong had only a dozen personal guards by his side.

As the interceptors popped out of nowhere and blocked their path, faces of Zhang Chong and his men changed drastically with alarm. "Who are you!"

Since Yuwen Tong was in inconspicuous clothes and also wearing a mask, Zhang Chong and his men didn't recognize him.

"People who are going to kill you." Yuwen Tong flicked a glance at a bodyguard beside him, who then answered Zhang Chong's question.

Right at this moment, Ling Zhang, carried by another bodyguard, also arrived. Seeing the two sides confronting each other in the front, he didn't precipitously run over. "Wait a moment."

The bodyguard put him down.

Ling Zhang looked around and noticed the absence of Dai Cheng, which brought him into the realization that Dai Cheng must have been lost by the targets.

"I don't think there are any feuds between us. Why do you want to kill me?" said Zhang Chong flintily.

"You're a rebel. Do I need a reason to kill you?" replied the bodyguard standing beside Yuwen Tong, and with that, in a cold voice, he instructed the others, "Finish them!"

Immediately, all bodyguards launched their attack.

Yuwen Tong's bodyguards were all highly experienced kung fu experts with numerous confirmed kills. And their combat capability was far greater than that of common soldiers. Soon, Zhang Chong and his two deputy commanders were the only ones still alive.

"I surrender. Please spare me." Unexpectedly, Wang He dropped his weapon and capitulated.

Zhang Chong, went angry. In his disgust for those who betrayed him or surrendered to the enemy, he tried to take Wang He's life.

Yuwen Tong's bodyguards stopped him. "Zhang Chong, surrender yourself or die."

"Just kill me if you can! In no circumstances will I surrender!" Zhang Chong brandished his weapon and charged forward.

Dou Li knitted his eyebrows. Surprisingly, he didn't capitulate but followed Zhang Chong launching an attack.

"Since they are impenetrably thickheaded, kill them," instructed Yuwen Tong in a low voice.

'This voice sounds familiar.' Zhang Chong became suspicious and, surprisingly, managed to fight his way up to Yuwen Tong with sheer brute strength.

Since Zhang Chong had come at him, Yuwen Tong naturally wouldn't choose to draw back. The two of them started fighting.

Seeing this, all bodyguards took a few steps backward, making room for them.

Far from a match for Yuwen Tong, Zhang Chong was soon reduced to the losing side, but he still refused to give up. Naturally, Zhang Chong's efforts couldn't cause Yuwen Tong any restrictions, and neither did Yuwen Tong show him any mercy.

All of a sudden, with some kind of weird move, Zhang Chong managed to grab Yuwen Tong's mask and tore it off.

"I knew it's you! Yuwen Tong!" Zhang Chong yelled in rage.

The look in Yuwen Tong's eyes went cold and with that he decisively took Zhang Chong's life with one blow.

The deadly blow was caused by a sword that had gone through Zhang Chong's chest. In the last few moments of his life, he was still glaring at Yuwen Tong in fury. "It was you... You did all this."

Yuwen Tong flintily watched him, making no response. Zhang Chong glared fixedly at Yuwen Tong. Eventually, he fell to the ground with a thud and breathed his last.

Seeing this, Ling Zhang standing in the distance abruptly exhaled deeply. He felt that something that had been restraining him suddenly loosened.

Zhang Chong died and he finally got his revenge.

Dou Li also didn't last long. He was killed by the bodyguards and fell down to the ground.

Wang He, who had surrendered, was the only one left.

"Marshal, please don't kill me. I surrender. I can testify to all Zhang Chong's doings!" offered Wang He immediately.

Yuwen Tong briefly knitted his eyebrows. This kind of man disgusted him.

"Take him back," said Yuwen Tong.

"Yes, Second Master."

"Marshal, Dai Cheng is coming. Please leave here first."

A sudden commotion came from afar.

A bodyguard heard the noises and hurriedly informed Yuwen Tong.

Yuwen Tong nodded, took a flying leap and left.

Ling Zhang patted the shoulder of the bodyguard who had carried him to the scene. "Let's go out there."

Carrying Ling Zhang, the bodyguard gave a bob of the head, leaped off the slope and landed on the main road.

"Childe Ling?"

"What did you come here for, Childe Ling?"

Ling Zhang flicked a glance at the bodies on the ground and replied, "Two of you may stay. Others should leave lest any suspicions be aroused in Dai Cheng when he sees this."

"Ur... All right." The bodyguards nodded. One of them stayed, along with the one who had carried Ling Zhang to this spot.

Instead of checking the bodies of Zhang Chong and Dou Li, Ling Zhang gazed at Wang He, the look in his eyes somewhat weird, which made it hard for others to tell what he was thinking about.

"Childe Ling?" The two bodyguards were rather puzzled.

"Will it cause Yuwen Tong any trouble if this guy tell others he saw Yuwen Tong?"

This question sent one of the bodyguards into a brief trance. He pondered over it for a while and responded, "It's okay. I think the Marshal can handle it."

"But he's still a risk," Ling Zhang frowned. "Kill him."

Wang He rounded his eyes. "No. Ling Zhang, you can't kill me!

I won't do that. I won't disclose anything!"

"I don't believe you," replied Ling Zhang flintily.

The two bodyguards thought for a while and believed that Ling Zhang had got a point. "Then let's get this over with. Dai Cheng will soon arrive."

In the knowledge that they were really going to kill him, Wang He immediately rose to his feet and attempted to flee, but he had only ran two steps away when a sword was run through his heart.

"You..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he breathed his last and fell down to the ground.

Ling Zhang withdrew his sword, tossed it to the side of the body on the ground, then flicked a glance in the direction where sounds of people running were emanating from and said, "Let's go."

Both of the two bodyguards were fleetingly taken aback by the decisive action of Ling Zhang. Then they exchanged glances, nodded and left, one of them carrying Ling Zhang on his shoulders.

Almost as soon as they left, Dai Cheng and his men arrived and were greeted by the three corpses on the ground.

"They died?"

"Who killed them?"

With a serious expression on his face, Dai Cheng kept silent for a while before ordering, "Take these bodies back. Remember, it's us who killed them."

"Yes, Second Master."

Yuwen Tong returned to the residence of Ling family, but Ling Zhang was nowhere to be seen, which sent him confused, since he had assigned a bodyguard to tend Ling Zhang, and both of them should have come back by this time.

"Marshal, Childe Ling also joined the hunt for Zhang Chong. He got there almost as soon as you left," said a bodyguard who had returned shortly after Yuwen Tong.

"Then where is he? Why am I not seeing him?" Zhang Chong was already dead. Why kept him from coming back?

"Here he is," replied a bodyguard.

Yuwen Tong turned around and saw a bodyguard, who was carrying Ling Zhang, land in the courtyard.

With a slight frown on his face, Yuwen Tong walked over and helped him get off the back of the bodyguard. "What happened?"

"It's okay. I just need some time to regain my strength, which was why I had this bro carry me," responded Ling Zhang.

"Go inside and get some rest. Dai Cheng is in charge of the matter of Tanyang now. Let's leave it to him." Yuwen Tong supported Ling Zhang with his hand.

"I killed Wang He."

Yuwen Tong cocked an inquisitive eyebrow at him.

"He saw your face and is definitely going to tell Dai Cheng about it. If Dai Cheng reports this to the emperor, you will be condemned as defying an imperial edict and the emperor will no doubt use it against you."

"He may testify about Zhang Chong's crimes."

"You think we need a witness to testify that Zhang Chong was a rebel?"

Yuwen Tong raised his brows and, heedless of the presence of bodyguards, scooped up Ling Zhang and strode towards the room.

"Hey, what are you doing? People are watching!" Ling Zhang patted him.

Before Yuwen Tong could say anything, those bodyguards quickly turned around and chorused, "We didn't see anything."

A pink flush spread over Ling Zhang's cheeks and ears with embarrassment. 'This is ridiculous... They are lying through their teeth.'

"I have to go to my uncle's place and put in an appearance. He must have been very worried about me."

"I'll go and tell him you've come back."

"I–"

"Trust me. I got this. What you need to do now is get some sleep. You'll be informed of all other things after you wake up."

'Then see me back to my own place. Why are you carrying me into your bedroom?!' Ling Zhang complained in his mind. However, maybe because he was really too exhausted and also had no intention of arguing with Yuwen Tong, he almost drifted into sleep before being put down on to the bed.

Yuwen Tong lowered his head to look at him and, with even greater caution, placed him on the bed very, very gently.

But Ling Zhang still opened his eyes. After seeing where he was, he closed his eyes and mumbled, "Two hours' sleep is all I need. Wake me up after two hours."

"Just sleep," Yuwen Tong coaxed him in a low voice.

This voice was so hypnotic that Ling Zhang fell asleep almost immediately after hearing it.

It was after dark that he woke up from hunger. He opened his eyes and was still a little sleepy and unclear-minded, but the unfamiliar furnishings instantly sent him fully awake. It was already night and there was no lighted lamp in the room. A lantern overhanging the corridor was shining soft light through the window.

His coat had been removed and placed on a teapoy beside the bed. He was covered with Yuwen Tong's quilt, which was giving off that faint fragrance of Yuwen Tong, making him feel that his whole body was enwrapped in this scent.

Memories of occurrences of this morning instantly came back to him. He recalled being carried into this room by Yuwen Tong, but what had happened next was just a blur, since he had fallen asleep shortly after that due to overwhelming sleepiness.

He wondered what the current situation was like outside.

Hastily, he got out of bed and dressed. The clean clothes with a refreshing smell brought him into another fleeting pause. 'Yuwen Tong prepared these clean clothes for me.'

Since these clothes had been in this room for some time, they also had that faint fragrance on them. After putting them on, Ling Zhang felt as if he were still in Yuwen Tong's bed, which made him very uneasy. He kept having this feeling that something was not right.

"What's the matter?" As if on cue, Yuwen Tong walked into the room and saw that Ling Zhang was sniffing at his clothes with his head down and a faint flush on his cheeks.

Ling Zhang hurriedly lowered his arm. "It's nothing."

'He thinks this reaction of his suggests nothing?' Yuwen Tong walked up to Ling Zhang, craned closer to him and took a sniff. "I don't smell anything weird. I took these clothes here from your bedroom last night. They should be all right."

Of course the clothes were okay. It was something else that wasn't. But Ling Zhang felt that it would be a little strange if he specially brought this to Yuwen Tong's attention.

"Like I said, it's nothing."

Yuwen Tong straightened himself. "Are you hungry? Dinner is ready."

Hunger had happened to be the very reason why he had woken up. Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong walked to the dinning room. As expected, there was food on the table. It seemed that the dinner had just been served.

"You haven't had dinner either?" Ling Zhang could tell with half an eye that the food was more than one serving.

People of Ling family were never wasteful. They always prepared the exact amount of food that could meet their needs.

Yuwen Tong nodded, held his hand and brought him to the table to sit down. "I just came back, so I thought I might as well wait a while and dine with you."

"How's everything going out there? Why didn't you wake me up at noon?" asked Ling Zhang after taking a seat.

"Because I figured you were exhausted and could use some more sleep. Dai Cheng has taken over the Prefecture Encampment. Statistical work on casualties in this battle is ongoing. Those things on the Grand Mang Mountain have been transported outside. After inventorying them, Dai Cheng will report to the emperor and ship them to the capital city, so we can still stay in Tanyang for some more time. It will take at least half a month for his memorial to the throne to reach the capital city and then be delivered back here, which means you have more than enough time to do what you have got to do in Tanyang."

"What about the bodies of Zhang Chong and his deputy commanders?"

"Dai Cheng had them brought back. I don't know what his intention is. He only claimed that he was the one who killed them. Nothing more."

"Will he by any chance guess that you were the one who killed them?"

"I don't have any motives for killing Zhang Chong. He might conjecture that Zhang Chong was killed by some foes of his, but he won't be able to find out anything else."

'That's true. There was no known hatred between Yuwen Tong and Zhang Chong. Even if Dai Cheng has some suspicions, there's no way he can confirm them. Besides, he doesn't have any evidence."

"Uncle Ling has told Tao Feng about the matter of Lu family. This afternoon, they went to the residence of Lu family. News of Lu Kui faking his death has spread through the whole Tanyang. He claimed that he faked his death because he offended Zhang Chong and was afraid of his retaliation. It is known to all residents in Tanyang that Zhang Chong was a traitorous rebel, so they all believe that Lu Kui's faking his death is justifiable, and there has been no disturbance. But it is rumored that people of Lu family are going to hire some Taoist priests to hold a ritual so as to expel bad luck from their house."

Ling Zhang nodded. "That's understandable."

Though Lu Kui was merely faking his death, it was still pretty inauspicious. People of Lu family might have trouble sleeping at night if they didn't do something to rid their house of ill luck.

"By the way, there is yet another matter," Yuwen Tong added.

"What is it?"

"Jia Yin almost died in his cell."

"How did he come to survive?"

Yuwen Tong was not surprised by this reaction of Ling Zhang's at all. He gave a smile and replied, "Because Tao Feng was afraid that you might get angry if Jia Yin died, so he sent for a physician who stopped Jia Yin from breathing his last. When the day arrives, he'll be beheaded."

Ling Zhang curled his lip. He didn't really care whether Jia Yin would die in the jailhouse or on a chopping block.

"What was it that almost killed him?"

"It is said that he vomited blood from fury."

"What a shame his fury didn't take his life."

While taking about Jia Yin, Ling Zhang thought of Jia Zhong. Given that it had been quite a few days, Yamen runners should be on their way back escorting Jia Zhong had the hunt gone smoothly.

"I wonder if they've got Jia Zhong or not."

"I'll send someone to make some inquiries," said Yuwen Tong.

Recently, they both had been too occupied to find the time to follow up the hunt for Jia Zhong.

"Are Guard Yao and Guard Zhang back?"

Yuwen Tong gave a bob of the head. "They both returned.

I've already had someone deliver a message to Xie Shi. I think he should receive it tomorrow. Old Master Ling and your aunt will come back in a couple of days."

Ling Zhang heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

Since Zhang Chong's attempt to intrude into the city had failed, Ling family was pretty safe, but he had no intention of taking even the slightest risk.

With this burden removed, Ling Zhang felt fully at ease.

The blood debts had finally been repaid in kind. Both of the two forces that had been running roughshod over Ling family had been eliminated, and they had rid themselves of life-threatening danger.

After the bitterness and longing for vengeance that had been building up in him dissolved, not only he himself felt much more relaxed, outsiders also sensed that he had changed considerably. Yuwen Tong, for instance, had always felt that Ling Zhang had been like a tense string, that even when he was smiling, there was always something other than happiness in his smile, as if something had all along been stopping him from being happy. But now, with Zhang Chong dead and the Prefecture Guards brought down, Yuwen Tong could distinctly sense that something joyous and vigorous had come back to Ling Zhang, as if even his eyes had become much brighter and sparkling.

Yuwen Tong found it hard to withdrew his gaze on Ling Zhang.

"What seems to be the problem?" Having noticed that Yuwen Tong had been gazing at him for some time, Ling Zhang lowered his head in confusion and checked his clothes wondering if there was anything strange about him.

"You seem more attractive after having a good sleep."

It was not until after a short while that Ling Zhang came to realize that Yuwen Tong was taking liberties with him. "I'm a man. What are you talking about?"