Calamity Messenger

Chapter 130 - 104: The First Wave of Ambushes

Rewind time to a quarter of an hour ago, right when the explosion and fire suddenly broke out at the Shang Family.

Before this, Shang Xuanwen had already split his team, dispatching the Commander-in-Chief Chen Zaiyuan with the Jinwu Guard to the Armory to extinguish the fire, while he himself led people to the Imperial Palace to check the situation. Now that the Shang Family was in trouble, after a momentary hesitation, Shang Xuanwen chose to return to the Shang Family first — apart from him as the Chancellor, many others would head to the Imperial Palace to protect it, but the Shang Family had only him as the Patriarch for protection.

However, he did not take the shortest route to rush back. If the first fire at the Armory was to create chaos, the second fire at the Imperial Palace aimed to harm the Royal Family, then the third fire at the Shang Mansion could only be meant to deal with him. The enemy needed him impatient, needed him angry, needed him to lose composure, but he absolutely could not act according to the enemy’s wishes.

The quickest way back to the Shang Mansion likely held traps set by the enemy; rushing in recklessly was akin to walking into a battlefield prepared long ago by the enemy. Therefore, he could not be hasty now; he had to be slow, be steady, and walk on the main road, making sure everyone knew the Chancellor of Daliang was returning home!

Shang Xuanwen always liked to conceal his identity, loved the Art of Manipulating People, but this did not equate him being a conspirator hidden in the shadows. He was a country’s Prime Minister; why bother with those petty schemes and calculations? Walking the grand avenue could effortlessly crush all demons and monsters.

If the enemy dared to act on the main road, naturally, messengers from noble families across the land would converge from all sides to offer help. The farther the news of the Chancellor of Daliang patrolling the city spread, the faster chaos within the city would calm, as during times of turmoil, what people needed most was to hear a piece of authoritative information.

Yet things do not always go as he wishes, just as children won’t stay naive and innocent as he hopes. Just before reaching Jiangtai Avenue, Shang Xuanwen encountered the first wave of ambush tonight.

Wild and intense.

From the buildings flanking the street, four fiery, self-immolating men charged out suddenly; just when Shang Xuanwen thought it was another attack by the Firemen, he saw them fling out red-hot, seething iron chains that stretched seven feet long!

Four out of six Martial Soldiers of the Jinwu Guard were instantly slain; these soldiers were First-Turn Messengers, yet were split into halves by the scythe-like iron chains, their flesh scattered like straw.

Though these soldiers were messengers, living so long in the main city, the city’s absolute protection had completely replaced their sense of crisis. Thus, on this night fraught with dangers, they hadn’t activated their defensive tokens at all along the way, resembling domesticated pigs in their sluggishness.

Trusting past experience too much, the losses incurred could be unimaginably overwhelming.

But the target of the attackers wasn’t the soldiers; they had been focused on Shang Xuanwen from the start, the soldiers were merely ants crushed unintentionally as they encircled!

Four attackers, eight chains, sweeping in from eight directions, sealing off all avenues of escape for Shang Xuanwen!

Self-Burners!

Shang Xuanwen felt a heaviness in his heart, realizing the enemy this time truly sought his death.

It sounds peculiar, weren’t the assassins of previous days trying to kill him as well? Because all assassinations require a cost, while past attempts, well-prepared yet mostly carried out by mere mortals—there’s always an abundance of mortal lives. Using them for assassination was akin to fishing casually; hooking one was good, missing out was expected.

But now, the ambushers—these four Self-Burners—were all messengers!

A Self-Burner is an advanced version of a Fireman, gaining the ability to harm others through self-immolation. Due to self-immolation, these messengers can have no defense, must let flames continually scorch themselves, hence the name Self-Burners.

Currently, the most famous Self-Burner is none other than the Empress of the Northern Country.

Self-immolation is merely the first step; if Self-Burners rely only on fire to singe others, then they wouldn’t differ much from ordinary Firemen. Real Self-Burners must possess tokens related to fire, enabling them to use the remaining flames of their charred bodies to make the token’s blaze vicious enough to surpass the laws of the main city.

These Self-Burners, though lacking fire tokens, had iron chains heated like branding irons. If Shang Xuanwen guessed correctly, those chains were tokens, endowed with rapid heating properties because only the temperature from the Self-Burners themselves could truly sear other people’s flesh.

The likelihood of Self-Burners surviving is extremely low; they endure unimaginable pain every moment, and since they have abundant Qi Blood and vigorous vitality—like dry wood burning fiercer than damp wood—their flames burn more intensely than those of mere mortals. Such willing sacrificial Self-Burners are an exceptionally precious resource in any faction; now four appear all at once, which can only mean one thing—

The enemy is willing to pay any price to eliminate Shang Xuanwen!

But is paying any price enough to deal with me? Inside, Shang Xuanwen felt an unprecedented calm; he clearly heard the sonic booms created by the sweeping eight chains, their trajectories vividly clear to him, as if the chains themselves explained their intentions.

The Heart-Seeking Bell, from the very start, was a scouting token capturing the trajectory of enemy attacks through listening, and hearing their inner voices was merely a gift unexpectedly received.

In an instant, Shang Xuanwen calculated his best response strategy.

He could sweep away four chains with one stroke, while two Martial Soldiers beside him who had activated their tokens could block one chain, as for the remaining three, the Heart-Protecting Mirror’s Seven-Layered Mirror Surface would be sufficient to fend them off! Yet, he regretted allowing the Mouse Monk to follow, as without a defensive token, protecting this Great Monk now became imperative—