CH 54

“What!”

Wei Yan was horrified, and after looking all around at the vast rain, his heart beat was like a drum beat. He knew that the march could not be delayed any longer, otherwise they would not be able to reach the Xiling camp until night. He gritted his teeth at the moment, and gave the order: “Pass on my order, leave five thousand elite soldiers here to search the mountain with me, and the rest of the people will move forward as planned!”

He paused, and his face sank: “Be sure to make the front line be vigorous to prevent the chaos that happened just now from happening again! ”

“Roger!”

The deputy general hurried away.

Wei Yan looked at the heavy rain in the sky, and preliminarily judged that this incident was the work of the remnant water bandits who had not yet been cleared out. He had never thought that these bandits were so treacherous that they actually picked this d*mn time to strike making them unprepared. Although there were no casualties this time, some soldiers escorting the bandits were injured, many prison carts’ chains had been cut off and many prisoners sentenced to death had escaped. Even the governor daren was gone, this is the most fatal problem!

His heart became more and more anxious. Unfortunately the rain was heavy and it was chaotic just now so no one knew whether the governor daren had fallen into the hands of the bandits, or if he was hiding in a safe place in a corner now. If it was the former… His heart was pounding heavily. He hurriedly wiped the rain on his face, he did not dare to delay any longer. He proceeded to lead five thousand elite soldiers into the boundless heavy rain to search the mountains.

***

The horse’s hooves stomped heavily on the muddy ground, gradually making countless splashes.

The sound of the fight gradually decreased, and before long only the noisy sound of the endless rain remained in his ears. Xue Zaixing calmed down, spat out a mouthful of rain mixed with sand in his mouth, and grabbed the arm of the person in front of him: “No need to go any further, stop on the spot!” 

The person in front of him tightened the reins: “No! This place is still not far from danger, we can’t stay here for long! ”

Xue Zaixing frowned slightly, sweeping around in all four directions, his heart thumped. A wave of uneasiness surged into his heart–the place where they were located was in the narrow and winding road inside the forest, a complicated road. However, the soldier in front of him was without restraint seemingly well familiar with the trails in this place. He couldn’t help but be vigilant, and quietly touched the dagger in his boots: “I told you to stop!” 

Almost instantaneously, his waist was in severe pain. Xue Zaixing screamed bitterly. He immediately fell off the horse, the dagger in his hand fell off and flew to a far place. In less than a moment’s effort, his neck was gripped. It was actually hooked up by a rope. Before he could react, it was already tightened and a huge force pulled him in.

“Boy….”

Before the word could fall, the rope between his neck instantly tightened. He could only make a rapid gasping sound. His whole person was dragged rapidly forward like a complete mess.

In the midst of the panic and struggle, his helmet fell off, and his face was immediately scratched by the dead branches and even ripped off by the gravel of the oncoming bushes directly making blood flow all over his face in an instant. However, this was not a big deal. The speed of the horse was so fast that Xue Zaixing was almost suffocated by the rope.

Even a stupid person would realized that this  must have been planned. Xue Zaixing panicked in his heart, knowing that what he was afraid of had already happened. He had fallen into the trap of the other party. However, after all, he was a general who had been in the battlefield for a long time, so he responded quickly. He suddenly inhaled violently, spread his arms, and used all his strength to grasp the taut rope at the end of his neck. He suddenly shouted, while using his strength, which actually turned him over on the back of the horse again.

The soldier was startled. He kicked the horse’s belly fiercely making the horse frightened leading itself to jump high and dropping both people to the ground. Before Xue Zaixing could react, the guard had already rolled into the bushes and the huge figure disappeared in just a few seconds. Xue Zaixing’s face was full of blood, one eye completely covered. He gasped before he immediately stood up and crouched in the bush while looking around vigilantly.

The heavy rain has yet to stop, the dense forest was deep, and the loud sound made one’s heart terrified.

Xue Zaixing did not dare to let himself be distracted in the slightest, he had never been in such a dangerous situation in all his life, so he could only rigidly watching the surrounding carefully.

What is that sound?

In the midst of this noisy rain, Xue Zaixing seemed to hear a slight “Ka… Kah… Ka…” movement. He narrowed his eyes and his heart beat more and more rapidly. Although the sound was subtle, it was more and more obvious to hear. He suddenly turned around, and opened the only eye that could be used to follow the direction of the sound.

A vague figure appeared in the dense forest, the other party was holding something in his hand, casually tapping the trunk of the tree as he passed by. He was not fast nor slow and his posture was relax, slowly approaching as if he was hunting.

“Who’s there?! ”

Xue Zaixing’s eyes widened, the bloody smell in his throat became more and more intense. His breathing could not help but be somewhat heavier. He casually grasped a branch and held it in his hand. 

The ghost-like person in front of him got closer and closer, while Xue Zaixing’s face became more and more gloomy. He gritted his teeth: “It’s actually you!”

***

“ Ah—” Li Yuanmin shook violently, and the book in his hand fell to the ground with a loud bang.

“Your Highness! What happened?! ”

In front of his eyes was Ni Ying’s worried face.

The nine warblers brass bell on the window ledge made a few crisp jingles and the sound of the rain gradually became clear. Li Yuanmin’s empty and silent head finally had some movement, he opened his mouth slightly, hesitated while looking ahead.

“Your Highness…” Ni Ying held out her ten fingers worriedly, shaking them in front of him. Li Yuanmin sighed. His scattered eyes refocused on Ni Ying, almost instinctively answering her: “I’m okay…”

He swallowed his saliva and touched his heart, which was still beating fast without being able to calm down at all. 

Ni Ying hurriedly poured a cup of tea for him, and Li Yuanmin took it and took a few sips, which gradually helped him sober up a bit.

He had a nightmare again.

He didn’t know what’s with these few days, he had been sleeping restlessly unable to settle in. This frequently made him dream of his past life’s matters. There was no specific plot, there was nothing, only the scattered pieces that always make his heart worry. 

He had not had a good night’s sleep in three consecutive days, so his body was quite tired out and lazy. After he dealt with some daily business, he hid in the study to read some idle books. Looking at it actually made him feel sleepy. Along with the sound of the rain, he fell asleep but unexpectedly had a nightmare again. 

“ Is Your Highness worried about elder brother?” Ni Ying’s expression was still a little worried.

Li Yuanmin stared blankly. He smiled reluctantly: “No, maybe it’s because the weather is not good these days, so I didn’t get a good sleep and dreamt of nightmares. Oh right, has the messenger arrived yet?” 

Ni Ying nodded and handed him the letter she had just received: “Cangjiang River has risen, so elder brother and the others are preparing to change the camp to Xiling.” 

Li Yuanmin nodded, suppressed the uneasiness in his heart, and moved his eyes slightly: “Help me summon the messenger here.” 

Ni Ying knew that he was going to send a letter to her elder brother. She immediately nodded, stood up and went out. 

Li Yuanmin spread out a blank piece of letter paper, gently smoothed it with a paperweight, and picked up a writing brush stained with ink, but he didn’t know what to write down. 

He was in a daze for half a day, obviously he had only written yesterday. He also didn’t know what he’s doing now so he thought about it and wrote two words on the slightly yellowed paper.

Miss you.

He looked at the undried ink above, fanned it slightly with his palm, sighed, and folded the letter paper into the paper seal.

He pressed his heart, there is still a rapid thump as before.

Li Yuanmin’s eyebrows were clustered, uneasiness surging between his heart.

***

With a plop, the blood splashed three feet, but it was instantly washed away by the rain.

Xue Zaixing spat blood foam, his stomach and his back with a long cut. Although it was not fatal, it was enough for him to understand what it was like to ask for death. He no longer had the dignified expression of his usual days, he was just like a stray animal struggling to crawl forward.

The person behind him kept calm amidst everything that was happening and moved forward to Xue Zaixing.

Xue Zaixing finally crawled to the tree trunk. He gathered his little strength, while struggling to prop up his upper body, and gasped for breath. He looked at the expressionless person in front of him coldly, before angrily shouting:

“It’s my eyes that are dull to unexpectedly miss your ambition of a wild wolf!”

Before the words could fall, another scream rang out, and another cut was added to his wretched chest.

He clenched his fists tightly, his heart was in terror. He had racked his brains to make threats and promises but obviously he could not stop the killing intent of the person in front of him. He couldn’t help but shout: “Kill me! I’ll see how you will maintain your personal integrity!”

Ni Lie held the handle of the sword in his hand in front of his face. While using the other hand to gently brush away the water droplets, he slowly squatted down, and a trace of ridicule floated to the corner of his mouth.

“The sword is the bandit’s sword, this bow…” Ni Lie touched the black and shiny arrow feathers around his waist, “it is also their bow.”

“And me, I am still staying behind in Jiangjing to help governor Daren clean up the rest of the mess, so who would be suspicious of me?”

“You’ve gone crazy to plot this!” Xue Zaixing’s complexion was sinister. He gritted his teeth, swallowed the blood in his throat. He recalled something in the middle of the flitting lightning and suddenly his eyes widened, “You-“

His heart jumped suddenly. His eyes suddenly shone brightly and he gasped, “… As long as you don’t kill me…I will let you play with King Guang’an!” 

Surprised to see the other party’s expression move, he immediately raised some vitality. His eyes were hot, and he added more fire: “The magnificent King Guang’an……in front of me…..is just a plaything in bed… As long as Daren lets me go, I will send him to your bed– I guarantee that he will be happy to serve you!”

He gasped, “This extraordinary thing… Doesn’t commander Daren want to personally have a taste…..” 

Xue Zaixing had thought that the other party would think a little about it, but the man did not even have ridicule on his lips. Through the pouring rain, he saw that the pupils of the other party had become extremely indifferent, like a dead man, deeply gloomy, without a little bit of color. The tall body was nailed in place like a stone statue, motionless.

“……”

Xue Zaixing had never seen anyone in such a posture, and a sharp chill arose on his back.

He ruthlessly clutched his thighs hard and stood up with gritted teeth.

He must flee quickly, without any delay!

There was still a roaring sound of rain in his ears, but in this noisy chaos, he heard a very clear plop sound, a flash of white light shone in his head. A bloody arrow with a tail suddenly penetrated into the thick trunk, but unexpectedly didn’t enter all the way inside. The huge trunk only had a small hole with blood – He had heard earlier on that this young man has strength that surpasses others, a man with extraordinary talent. This time, it could be said he had experienced it first hand, the knowledge of his reputation! 

Xue Zaixing unknowingly had this ridiculous feeling at the end of his life. He spun around stiffly like a puppet.

Not far away, a buzzing black bow had its arrows gone. The young man tilted his head abnormally, his expression was still so terribly indifferent while looking at him quietly.

Xue Zaixing had a bloody hole in his forehead, gushing out blood that was washed by the rain. He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to raise his hand to touch his forehead, when another swift and fierce sound flew through the air.

His body was nailed heavily to the trunk of the tree, and with a few more brushing sounds, his chest had even more bloody holes. The arrows were all submerged into his body, leaving only the tail feathers slightly trembling.

Xue Zaixing opened his mouth wide, dripping down dirty bloody saliva. His eyes widened like a copper bell, as if in disbelief. When finally, his head tilted, his body fell down. There was no longer any movement. 

However, the young man in front of him still pulled the bow, released an arrow, pulled the bow, and released another arrow until the basket was empty before he put down the bow. He pestleed the pestle in the same place for a moment, before departing away.

With a rumbling sound, the sky became more and more gloomy.

Li Jin finally waited for the appearance of his master’s figure. He covered his two fingers on his lips, and blew a whistle urgently. There was a sudden burst of movement in the dense forest, before it calmed down in a flash.

Li Jin’s heart eased knowing that after this they will be able to escape unscathed. 

“Daren, we have to go.”

Just as he was about to get up, Li Jin looked up and glanced at his superior. His heart couldn’t help but shake violently. What he saw was the young man’s bloody red eyes and his terrifying complexion. 

“Daren…..”  Li Jin was uneasy.

The man in front of him was like a stiff beast, his red eyes soaked with blood. He seemed to be in pain, he shook his body, his teeth clenched, and he shouted, “Who are you?!”