"Feipeng, Feipeng?"
"He looks drunk. Let's take him home."
"Okay."
Afterwards, Lin Yang was escorted back to his room by several personal guards. They removed his armor and covered him with a blanket. Then, the door slowly closed.
Not long after, Lin Yang, who had been fast asleep, suddenly opened his eyes. He opened his storage ring and began to change into a black bodysuit.
"Hehe, Li Shimin, let me see if you are truly the chosen one."
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Chapter Twenty-Five: A Forced Assault on the Qin Prince's Mansion
Soon, Lin Yang arrived near the Qin Prince's Mansion. It was a typical large mansion from the classical Chinese era, facing south, with a stone lion on each side of the main gate.
During the Qin Prince's heyday, the stone lions were adorned with flags and weapons, said to be symbols of honor and official rank. Now, however, they are completely bare, a sign of being disliked by the emperor. Consequently, a sense of unease has permeated the entire Qin Prince's residence for some time.
The gate was still open. Huge torches illuminated the surrounding area brightly. Lin Yang figured that entering from the front was unlikely. After all, while he possessed some martial arts skills, he wasn't a professional assassin, and it was best not to be too arrogant.
Then, Lin Yang arrived at a wall. This wall was over two zhang high. Moreover, it was constructed with high-quality stone, making it incredibly sturdy. At least, ordinary iron swords would be completely useless against it.
Even the surface was covered with a thick layer of wood lacquer, making it incredibly smooth and impossible to find a spot to plunder. It could be said that this two-zhang-high wall alone had already deterred the vast majority of thieves.
However, Lin Yang was no ordinary thief; he was a super thief with internal energy cultivation. Then, Lin Yang chuckled and took out a grappling hook from his ring. Behind the hook was fine silkworm silk. It was very light, yet incredibly strong.
With a gentle toss, accompanied by a soft click, the grappling hook secured itself to the wall. Then, Lin Yang calmly put on his specially made black gloves and began to climb along the grappling hook.
It must be said that acquiring these equipment alone took Lin Yang a considerable amount of effort. However, the results were gratifying. At this moment, without using any internal energy, he had already climbed the wall. (Internal energy diminishes with use, and without the absorption of spiritual energy, replenishment is extremely difficult. Therefore, one should avoid using internal energy unless absolutely necessary.)
Then, Lin Yang activated his Divine Eye of Fortune and began to carefully observe the fortune and misfortune within the Qin Prince's Mansion.
"Huh, there are wisps of black mist everywhere in this Qin Prince's mansion. It seems that the places where the black mist is located represent traps. Damn, how insidious! Luckily, I didn't fall into one." Looking at the ground below the wall, Lin Yang said with some surprise and relief.
It turned out that the area beneath the wall was a trap. On the surface, it appeared to be solid ground, without any mechanisms or hidden weapons, making it an ideal foothold. However, in reality, it was a huge pit, a pit two zhang deep.
Moreover, the pit was filled with sharp spearheads. Once someone fell in, even Lin Yang wouldn't fare well.
Then, with the help of these eyes, all the traps were clearly visible and had nowhere to hide. Furthermore, given Lin Yang's knowledge of the physical arts, avoiding these traps was incredibly easy.
After all, he had reached the peak of the Skin Refinement stage, with over two hundred muscles all incredibly well-developed. In terms of physical attributes alone, even if the Overlord were reborn, he might not be able to surpass Lin Yang.
Soon, they arrived at the residence of Li Shimin, the most luxurious and grandest part of the Prince of Qin's mansion. It looked magnificent, but at first glance, there were only a few maids and guards.
"This is where Li Shimin lived, but there isn't a single light on. Could he have gone out tonight? That can't be that lucky!" Lin Yang said doubtfully.
Moreover, the security here is not very tight. In fact, there aren't enough guards. All of this suggests that Li Shimin may not actually be here.
Afterwards, Lin Yang went to Li Shimin's study. But this time, he still found nothing. In other words, Li Shimin was not in the study either.
This gave Lin Yang a headache. It was supposed to be a surprise attack, but they couldn't find Li Shimin. This was too much luck! Did some unseen force sense something and change locations tonight?
Soon, an hour had passed. Lin Yang had already explored almost half of the Qin Prince's mansion. It could only be said that the mansion was simply too vast, and coupled with the need to carefully avoid the guards, his pace inevitably slowed down.
Looking up at the sky, Lin Yang had to admit that if he still couldn't find anything, he would have to go back. Otherwise, he would be suspected of being exposed.
However, at this moment, Lin Yang made a new discovery.
"Hurry, hurry, hurry up!" a burly man said in a low, anxious voice. Beside him stood a scholar with a sword at his waist. At this moment, he and the scholar stood to the left and right, respectively. In the middle were two Taoist priests. On the side, a squad of fully armed soldiers provided tight protection for them.
Then, recalling the memories the system had given him, Lin Yang recognized the four people. The rough yet strong man was none other than the legendary door god, Yuchi Jingde. The scholar was none other than Li Shimin's brother-in-law, Changsun Wuji.
As for the two Taoist priests, although they tried to conceal themselves and wore Taoist robes, Lin Yang recognized them at a glance. The two of them were none other than the famous Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui.
The saying "Fang's planning and Du's decisive action" refers to them. These two can be considered Li Shimin's chief strategists. It's important to know that Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui had already been ordered by Li Yuan to be expelled from the Prince of Qin's residence. Yet now, they disguised themselves as Taoist priests and came here late at night. Their purpose is no longer a mystery.
"Hehehe, no matter how cunning the fox is, it's no match for the hunter." Lin Yang chuckled, and then quietly followed the group from a distance.
Moreover, even if Li Shimin is not found in the end, killing these four people would still bring many benefits.
Soon, following the four people, Lin Yang arrived at the West Garden. The West Garden was very remote, and the first thing he saw was a Taoist temple. The temple was not large, with only a few rooms in total.
Outside, there were over a hundred well-trained armored soldiers. To be precise, they were assassins trained by the Prince of Qin's mansion. These assassins were mostly fully armed, wearing armor and carrying swords, looking extremely menacing. They were carefully patrolling and inspecting the area around the Taoist temple.
In this situation, even Lin Yang couldn't think of a good solution. The guards were simply too tight; no matter how skilled one was in martial arts, as long as the guards weren't blind, they would definitely be able to spot them. Let alone Lin Yang, even if Shi A came, he probably wouldn't have a good solution either.
"It seems Li Shimin is definitely inside. The next question is how to get in. There are twenty guards in each of the four directions around the Taoist temple. In addition, there are twenty guards patrolling back and forth, circling the Taoist temple."
"In other words, no matter which direction you enter from, you will face at least twenty guards. If you delay for just ten or twenty seconds, the twenty patrolling guards will arrive. At that time, you will encounter a full forty guards."
"At the same time, the remaining guards will probably rush to Li Shimin's side to protect his safety."
"As for the courtyard of the Taoist temple, there are a full forty guards. That is to say, even if I sneak in unnoticed, once an encounter occurs, the guards outside the temple will come in within ten seconds at most."
"Moreover, if I'm not mistaken, there are at least twenty crossbowmen lying in ambush on the rooftops of these Taoist temples. They are carrying genuine powerful crossbows, already strung and ready to fire at any time."
"What's even more frustrating is that at least twenty well-trained crossbowmen are also lying in ambush on these surrounding trees. If I take the high ground and show my face, I will be met with their deadly attack."
"Within fifty paces, if I were to be hit by crossbow fire, even I, without armor, would likely suffer greatly if I tried to withstand it with my bare body. Even if I didn't sustain serious injuries, minor ones would be inevitable. This Li Shimin is truly not to be underestimated," Lin Yang muttered to himself, shaking his head.
I thought it would be a piece of cake, but who would have thought that when the time came, I would be stopped by a group of guards?
With that thought in mind, Lin Yang hid at a distance and began changing his clothes. Since sneaking in was destined to fail, he might as well try a direct assault.
Then, a set of high-quality inner armor was brought out. This inner armor was made of special materials, making it very lightweight. The entire suit weighed only about fifteen or sixteen pounds. Wearing it, even the swords and blades of ordinary soldiers couldn't harm Lin Yang.
After putting on the inner armor, he took out a set of jet-black, non-reflective full-body armor from his ring. This full-body armor, just as its name suggests, protected his entire body completely.
Even his head was adorned with a helmet and a faceplate. Between his eyes was a thin, yet incredibly strong, layer of gold wire mesh. Even his shoes were specially made iron boots.