Time Travel: I'm a Flower Thief

Zhang San, sword in hand, shouted in a deep voice, "Form ranks! Advance slowly, do not stop!"

Four hundred shield-bearing soldiers formed a shield wall that held firm, protecting the carriage as it slowly moved forward.

One hundred armored crossbowmen kept their crossbows pointed in all directions, remaining vigilant at all times, not daring to relax their guard in the slightest.

Wang Wu and Zhao Liu stood guard on either side of the carriage, keeping a watchful eye on everything around them. The entire team advanced steadily toward the palace while maintaining a defensive posture.

Wang Yu calmed himself down a bit in the car. Hearing the orderly footsteps outside, he felt a little more at ease, but he still dared not be careless.

Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed in the distance of the street.

A cold, swift wind swept across the long street, and before anyone could react, a dozen or so guards on the outer side of the shield formation fell to the ground.

Each person had a deep gash slashed across their neck, and blood gushed out instantly, without even a groan.

The sudden turn of events threw the four hundred sword-wielding soldiers into chaos.

When the onlookers on the street saw that someone had died, they were so frightened that they screamed and scattered in all directions, disappearing completely in no time.

Wang Wu wiped the blood splattered on his face and roared, "Stay calm! Don't panic!"

Zhao Liu's hand gripping the knife was so tight it turned white.

He didn't even see how those guards died, or why a gust of wind blew them all down.

call--

Another gust of cold wind swept through the long street.

This time, everyone was on guard. One hundred armored crossbowmen pulled the triggers at the same time, and black iron crossbow bolts shot out like a storm!

As the rain of arrows approached, a dark figure finally stopped in his tracks.

Standing in the middle of the street was a boy dressed in black.

The next moment, everyone in the room felt a chill run down their spines—

The crossbow bolts that flew towards the man seemed to be frozen in mid-air by an invisible force, as if time had stopped.

"Xie Xiaoyi!" Zhang San's pupils dilated in shock, and he roared out in a hoarse voice.

Xie Xiaoyi sneered and casually flicked his fingers left and right in front of him.

Immediately following was a series of clanging sounds, and the crossbow bolts in mid-air instantly lost all their force.

They fell one after another with a crackling sound, piling up on the ground in a short time.

Throughout the entire ordeal, he didn't move an inch.

Zhao Liu pointed his sword at the center of the street, his eyes wide with anger, and shouted sharply, "Xie Xiaoyi!"

You are a wanted criminal by the imperial court, yet you dare to openly commit murder and plot to assassinate a prince on the Imperial Street of the capital!

Aren't you afraid of being implicated and your entire family executed, torn to pieces?

Xie Xiaoyi raised his eyes, a disdainful sneer curling at the corner of his lips, and spoke calmly:

"So what? I'm going to settle things with you all in Qingjiang City today!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Zhao Liu, enraged, stepped forward with his knife in hand and shouted angrily:

"You insolent brat! How dare you be so arrogant before the prince! Do you really think no one will punish you?!"

As soon as the words were spoken, a gentle breeze swept by silently.

Zhao Liu felt a chill on his neck.

The next moment, the head rolled to the ground, and blood gushed out from the severed neck, splattering onto the bluestone road, extremely glaring.

Looking at Xie Xiaoyi again, he was still standing in the same spot, as if he had never moved.

From beginning to end, no one saw how he made his move.

The surrounding soldiers all turned pale with fright, exclaimed in alarm, and took a step back involuntarily, their faces filled with fear.

Inside the carriage, Wang Yu heard a strange noise suddenly arise. His heart tightened, and he could no longer hold back. He lifted a corner of the carriage curtain and looked outside.

At just one glance, he froze, his face turning ashen, because the head that had rolled to the ground was staring back at him with its eyes wide open in death.

This caused the usually composed and aloof prince to change his expression on the spot.

He finally realized that Xie Xiaoyi had become so audacious that he disregarded imperial power and didn't take killing seriously at all.

He was terrified and enraged, and shouted sharply towards the outside of the carriage, "Wang Wu! Pass down the order: all crossbowmen, fire at once! Turn him into a pincushion!"

Upon hearing the prince's order, Wang Wu gritted his teeth and roared, "All crossbowmen! Fire! A volley!"

One hundred armored crossbowmen drew their bows again, and a dense rain of arrows once more blasted towards Xie Xiaoyi!

With a flick of his wrist, Xie Xiaoyi revealed a simple yet heavy butcher knife in his palm.

He neither dodged nor evaded, but instead slashed his arm through the air—

A fierce and unparalleled blade aura swept out!

Ding ding ding ding——!

The barrage of crossbow bolts was cleaved and knocked down by a single strike, the shafts breaking and scattering everywhere; not a single one could penetrate more than ten feet in front of him.

The next second, everything went blurry before everyone's eyes.

Xie Xiaoyi's figure had disappeared from the center of the street.

"The dragon swims out of the sea!"

Almost at the same instant he finished speaking, an incomparably violent surge of energy erupted from the spot where he had disappeared.

Before Wang Wu's guards could even utter a cry of alarm, they were violently thrown away by an invisible gale and crashed heavily to either side.

The originally dense guards were forced into a straight passage by that strong wind!

The other three guards were terrified; were their opponents even human?

Could it be a ghost?

When everyone looked up again, Xie Xiaoyi was already standing in front of Wang Wu.

"You're asking for death!" Wang Wu was terrified and hurriedly swung his knife wildly.

Xie Xiaoyi remained unmoved, his figure flashing continuously, dodging left and right, drifting forward and backward amidst the flashing blades, his figure so fast that only afterimages remained.

Wang Wu's horizontal sword didn't even touch a corner of his clothes, leaving him panting heavily.

Xie Xiaoyi's lips curled slightly, the butcher's knife rose again, and he muttered incantations:

"One strike severs your wrist, two strikes shatter your shoulder, three strikes chop your knee, four strikes sever your leg..."

"All done, that's it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Xiaoyi suddenly raised his hand and gave a light push.

"Bang—"

Wang Wu's limbs split open on the spot, revealing streaks of blood on his shoulders and hips. Blood, broken bones, and severed limbs then splattered all over the ground.

Xie Xiaoyi deliberately spared his life, refusing to deliver a fatal blow.

Wang Wu lay there on the ground, excruciating pain instantly engulfing his entire body. His heart-wrenching screams echoed throughout the long street.

But with all four limbs shattered, he couldn't even struggle. He could only wail in endless agony, unable to live and waiting to die.

The soldiers were completely stunned by this scene.

Having served in the military for many years, they had seen life and death, and were not afraid of death, which had naturally forged their hearts of stone.

But the scene before them filled them with a deep-seated fear.

It was a despair so profound that one could neither struggle nor seek liberation, a despair far more terrifying than a fatal blow.

Everyone was puzzled. How could the fierce and imposing commander of the guards have turned into a pile of rotten things?

The entire room fell silent.

Wang Yu, inside the carriage, was utterly terrified and filled with deep regret.

He secretly regretted it: Damn it! Why did I act so impulsively and have to tell Xie Xiaoyi about what happened in Qingjiang City?

They brought this upon themselves. It seems that now they can only hope that Zhang San will lead the remaining men to fight to the death and drag the matter out until the Imperial Guards or the patrol battalion come to protect the emperor.

Zhang San was already terrified and his whole body was trembling uncontrollably.

He finally understood—

Compared to an absolute master, we are less than ants...