C146

Tao made a turn, and the chill swept past him, the sound of a sharp arrow cutting through the air, brushing against his scalp and body. He flipped over the fallen steed and crawled on the ground, dodging the sharp arrow behind him.

"Tap, tap, tap …"

The sounds of horse hooves galloping could be heard as the sharp sounds of crossbow arrows piercing through the air rang out without pause, densely packed together and shooting towards Duan Zhan Chen and the rest.

Three groups of light cavalry soldiers were holding crossbows in their hands. Instead of retreating, they stood a hundred steps away, the crossbows in their hands constantly firing out. Similarly, they were divided into three groups. After the first group finished shooting the crossbows, they quickly reloaded the crossbows, and the people in the back continued shooting their crossbows.

After the second batch of people shot their crossbows, the third batch followed suit. After the third batch shot their crossbows, the first batch of light cavalry soldiers had already reloaded their crossbows and followed up with the third batch.

They were using this method to stop Duan Zhan Chen's group from chasing Tao Zheng, hoping to save Tao Zheng. This was also Helian Manqiu's order.

"Shoot, do they have arrows?"

The other party was standing a hundred steps away, and the arrows were like a dense rain of arrows. There weren't many people around him, and quite a few of them had already been shot to the ground. The group of people had no choice but to retreat a little and draw their bows, nocked their arrows, and shoot at the other party.

Tao Zheng didn't dare to get up. He hid behind the corpses of the dead horses and looked around for a way to escape.

The galloping of the horses pierced through the air like a tornado. At this moment, the Light Cavalry of the Great Freshmen Prince had already caught up and approached Duan Zhan Chen.

"Retreat, I order you to retreat!"

Tao Zheng shouted out loud. Behind Duan Zhan Chen, there were over ten thousand light cavalry soldiers. He only brought over five hundred men with him, which was not enough to support the fresh and inferior light cavalry.

"Lord, Lord!"

The soldiers led by Tao Zheng looked at their young commanders with bloodshot eyes. They were lying prone under the corpses of their horses to avoid the arrows. They were unable to escape from the corpses of their horses.

They wanted to go up and save Tao Zhaoge, but if they were too close, they would be hit by a sharp arrow. A hundred steps away, this was a relatively safe distance, and the enemy's arrows were rarely more than a hundred steps away.

Even if there was an arrow that could shoot from a hundred steps away, its aim and power was very weak. It would be difficult to cause too much damage to the enemy. There were not many archers who had shot out hundred steps. It required a specialized archer. For example, Duan Zhanchen usually only used his five hundred stone strong bow to draw half of the bow, or he might use other bows to shoot arrows. He would never actually pull out his full bow.

If he was able to pull out a five-hundred stone strong bow, even Duan Zhanchen wouldn't be able to pull it out that many times. Each pull was weaker than the last and lacked accuracy.

Seeing the light cavalry following behind him, Duan Zhan Chen coldly glared at Tao Zheng who was hiding behind the horse, his eyes filled with killing intent. At this moment, he was not in a hurry to capture or kill Tao Zheng, nor was he in a hurry to kill those troops from the military region. Instead, he was using his cat and mouse eyes to stare at Tao Zheng.

"Retreat, this is an order!"

Tao Zheng shouted out anxiously, but none of the soldiers from the military state were willing to back off lightly. They still stood at their original positions, continuously shooting out crossbows in their hands.

"Young General, Young General!"

The reason why Duan Zhan Chen didn't rush to attack after shouting and charging through the clouds was because he saw a slender figure sitting on a red steed not far away with a banner embroidered on his back.

The bronze armor reflected a little bit of coldness under the moonlight and the faint light of the fire. He thought, that slender and short high-ranking officer must be the Acting Guardian General of the Military Region, Helian Qingyu!

His face was covered by a cold, shiny bronze mask, and he could not see the other's face.

Duan Zhan Chen's sword-like eyebrows creased. Good, Helian Qingyu, you've finally delivered yourself to my doorstep!

He was waiting, waiting for Helian Qingyu to come. He believed that with him and the elite light cavalry that he led, they would definitely be able to capture Helian Qingyu and bring him back to ask for meritorious services.

Hearing the soldiers' loud and excited shouts, Tao Zheng could not help but slightly raise his head and look behind him. He saw Helian Manqiu riding a red stallion in his direction. There were only a few people by her side.

"Young General, you shouldn't have come!"

Tao Zheng's eyes suddenly lit up, but a look of worry emerged on his face. He would rather be shot to death here than risk Helian Manqiu's life to save him.

"Retreat! Protect the young general!"

He shouted loudly and stared at his men. Those men didn't move a step back. Someone shouted, "Master, the young general has ordered us to stop the freshmen from approaching. Wait for the young general to come over."

Hearing his subordinate's words, Tao Zheng clenched his fists and gritted his teeth as he looked towards Helian Manqiu.

Duan Zhan Chen led his men and did not continue forward. He stood in confrontation against Tao Zheng's group of several hundred. He was waiting for Helian Manqiu to arrive. He had the heart to capture her alive. He didn't want to attack at this time and scared off Helian Manqiu.

As far as he was concerned, a small pottery medallion was not worth a single glance. His goal was Helian Manqiu!

Tao Zheng suddenly stood up. He absolutely did not want Helian Manqiu to come and save him. In order to save him, he had fallen into a dangerous situation. The light cavalry units behind Duan Zhan Chen had already arrived. Over ten thousand men were lined up behind Duan Zhan Chen. He knew that if Helian Manqiu were to come, she would most likely be besieged by Duan Zhan Chen's men and would be in danger.

He would rather be killed by a single arrow from Duan Zhan Chen than to see Helian Manqiu, in order to save him, be besieged by the inferior Light Cavalry soldiers.

It was clear that they only had five thousand people, while the other side had thirty thousand. Although some of their troops had been lost, they were still far superior to them.

With the saber in his chest, he retreated backwards. He gritted his teeth as he stared at Duan Zhanchen. Even though he knew that Duan Zhan Chen could kill him with a single arrow, he wasn't willing to dodge.

Duan Zhan Chen's bow was in his hand. A sharp arrow was lazily nocked on the bowstring. The bow was not pulled back as he casted a sidelong glance at the approaching Helian Manqiu.

Helian Manqiu did not have a bow and arrow in her hand. When she saw the powerful bow in Duan Zhan Chen's hand, she understood that it was impossible to use a bow and arrow to deal with him. However, it was impossible for her to give up on Tao Zheng. Facing over twenty thousand light cavalry soldiers, her eyes showed no fear.

The bow hadn't been drawn out at all, and it was held in Duan Zhan Chen's hand. The tip of the arrow was aimed at Tao Zheng, but he wasn't willing to draw the bow. His gaze fell upon Helian Manqiu's face.

The strange bronze mask covered two-thirds of Helian Manqiu's face, revealing only her pink lips. The corners of her lips were slightly raised, carrying a cold smile. His eyes, which were as bright as the winter stars, were fixated on Duan Zhanchen.

"Helian Qingyu, are you Helian Qingyu?"

Duan Zhan Chen raised his voice as he asked, not even bothering to look at the retreating Tao Zheng. The people beside him pointed their bows and arrows at Tao Zheng, "Your Highness, do you want to kill this kid?"

"You, stand obediently where you are before this prince, otherwise, hmph!"

"Humph, if you have the guts then come and kill me. Come and fight with me, I wonder who will kill who!"

He suddenly turned around and ran in the direction of Helian Manqiu: "Young General, retreat, Young General, please retreat, don't bother with me!"

Helian Manqiu extended her slender finger, pointed it at Duan Zhan Chen and laughed, "Duan Zhanchen, you feel inferior to the Fifth Prince, don't you? Let my men come back, and I'll give you a chance to fight me! "

"Let him go back!"

After saying this, Duan Zhan Chen laughed heartily as he looked at Helian Manqiu. "Good, you truly are a son of Helian Shan. You truly have courage. Do you dare to fight against me?"

"I'm afraid you will regret it later!"

"Alright, Helian Qingyu. Seeing that you have such courage at such a young age, tonight, this prince will give you some face and let your men go back. I wonder, on what basis do you dare to fight with this prince? Tonight, just the two of us will fight. If you win and injure this prince, this prince will let you leave safely. If you lose, get down from your horse and kneel in front of this prince with your hands tied. All of you will become captives of This King's bullets.

Helian Manqiu's eyes fell on Tao Zheng. Her pink lips curled up into a beautiful crescent moon, and her slightly hoarse voice blew across the grass like a deep, sweet evening breeze, "What a cheap idea. You were beaten or injured by me. Let us go. Do you think I need you to let us go?"

"Helian Qingyu!"

Duan Zhan Chen was enraged. He glared at Helian Manqiu: "The people surrounding you are all the elites of this prince. Where can you escape to? Don't think that just because you set up an ambush and killed a few of this prince's subordinates that you can escape from this prince's grasp. Tonight, you are destined to not be able to escape! "

"Oh, how so? "How do you know? Don't you want this general to show mercy and release you guys?"

These words that were as light as smoke, contained an indescribable arrogance and ridicule. When they fell into the ears of Duan Zhan Chen and the other high-ranking officers, they were enraged to the point that they wanted to immediately grab Helian Manqiu from the red stallion and strangle her to death.

"Haha …"

He stared at the bronze mask on Helian Manqiu's face. He had heard that this young and tender young general was called the most beautiful youth in the Northern Frontier. Unfortunately, his face was covered by this bronze mask, making it impossible to see his appearance.

A pair of eyes that were like cold stars glimmered in the night and the fire. It made the stars in the sky dim and the moon and stars could no longer be seen. Only a pair of cold eyes flashed in his eyes.

A crescent moon-like smile appeared on her lips. Her beautiful curves exuded an indescribable coldness. In the wind, the Gesun flower looked as if it was ready to bloom.

Staring at the delicate figure on the red stallion, Duan Zhanchen didn't know why, but he suddenly felt a sense of pity in his heart. For a moment, his gaze was fixated on the figure.

"You have lost. You were injured by me. Before I leave the territory of the Fresh Extremities, you and your people are not allowed to appear in front of me. You have to back away from me." Fifth Prince, do you dare to agree? If you are afraid and do not dare to agree, I will not laugh at you! "

Helian Manqiu's words caused the top of Duan Zhanchen's head to smoke. "Helian Qingyu, you have quite the tone. You are only a child at such a young age. How dare you say such words in front of me?"

"The fifth prince doesn't dare to make this bet, do you know that you will lose for sure?"

"Alright, if this prince doesn't agree, I don't know how you're going to act so arrogantly, but if you lose, what should I say?"