Chapter 34: After a night of fierce fighting, I brought him to her dorm to take a shower

The several hundred Yu Guo archers hidden inside the city wall quickly received the military advisor's order, immediately emerged from their concealed posts, and hurried to move the fire oil.

Relying on their high position being unseen by the Xuan Guo cavalry below, they did not hide while moving the fire oil barrels.

Unbeknownst to them, their busy figures were captured by the drone high above.

"Sneaking around trying a surprise attack? Dream on." Ning Jinli snorted coldly.

She piloted the drone to Xiao Qidi's side and quickly informed him of the situation.

In the distance, Ba Yong was entangled by Duan Wu and couldn't immediately rush to attack Xiao Qidi.

But he saw Xiao Qidi with a strange object hovering beside his shoulder, and saw Xiao Qidi tilt his head, as if speaking to that odd thing.

The scene was truly eerie, but he had no time to ponder it.

In a gap of fighting with Duan Wu, he picked up a spear dropped by a Yu Guo soldier on the ground, exerted all his strength, and hurled it at Xiao Qidi.

Ning Jinli had just finished telling Xiao Qidi the situation when she suddenly caught sight of Ba Yong's sneak attack in the distance on the screen.

Because Xiao Qidi was extremely tall, he couldn't wear the bulletproof vest Ning Jinli had bought.

So he still wore the damaged bronze armor.

If struck by Ba Yong's full-force spear thrust, he would either die or suffer serious injury.

In an instant.

Ning Jinli's adrenaline surged, and she directly rammed the drone into the incoming spear!

Beep—

The remote controller emitted the alert tone of the drone losing connection.

The screen plunged into darkness, showing no image whatsoever.

Ning Jinli trembled all over, staring at the screen which reflected her deathly pale face.

Judging by the situation, she must have hit the spear.

But she wasn't sure whether she had blocked it for Xiao Qidi...

After all, the drone's plastic shell could still be pierced by the enemy's iron-tipped spear...

The more she thought, the more panicked she became.

Her mind even conjured the image of Xiao Qidi falling from his horse with a spear through his chest, her heart aching in waves.

"Xiao Qidi... Xiao Qidi! You must be all right!"

Just then, the remote controller's screen flickered a few times, and suddenly Xiao Qidi's face appeared.

It looked like he had picked up the damaged drone and was holding it in his hand, examining it left and right.

"Xiao Qidi! Xiao Qidi!" Ning Jinli shouted, tears welling in her eyes.

But all she saw was his mouth move, with no sound coming out.

Obviously, the drone was severely damaged.

However, being able to see the picture again and confirm he was unharmed put her at ease.

"Sniff... you scared me to death." Ning Jinli clutched the remote controller, her voice trembling.

At Xi Tun Guan,

The Yu Guo archers had already moved a large number of fire oil barrels onto the city wall.

Just as they were about to act, a sudden barrage of arrows rained down, felling more than half of them on the spot.

They turned in shock and saw Li Yao leading several hundred Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Army archers, brimming with killing intent, appear before them!

These Yu Guo archers, even to their deaths, could not figure out how they had been discovered.

While Li Yao led his troops to dispose of them, the battle between the two armies below had also ended.

The Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Army numbered over two thousand; some were wounded, but none seriously, and there were no fatalities.

Meanwhile, the ten thousand Yu Guo soldiers stationed here under Ba Yong were completely wiped out!

Even the military advisor was captured by the Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Army.

Ba Yong's face was covered in blood, his expression ferocious to the extreme, as he roared and swung his two damaged iron great swords wildly in all directions.

More than ten Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Army soldiers had already surrounded him; with a single order from Xiao Qidi, they could pierce him to death with their spears.

"You... all step aside," Duan Wu gasped, "His life must be taken by me."

"Yes, General Duan."

The Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Army had just made way when Duan Wu gripped his war blade and charged at Ba Yong.

The two engaged in another deadly struggle.

Although Ba Yong was wounded, he remained ferocious, his strength seeming inexhaustible.

Duan Wu was far inferior to him in size and strength, but fortunately his far superior armor allowed him to hold his own.

He seized the opportunity and, with one strike, cut off Ba Yong's twin blades.

The blade struck Ba Yong's shoulder and lodged in his collarbone.

"Ah!" Ba Yong's eyes bloodshot, he let out a frenzied roar, and crossed his arms to slam down fiercely.

Crack!

The longsword Duan Wu wielded was actually smashed to pieces by Ba Yong's violently extreme force in this very manner!

The tremendous impact split Duan Wu's tiger's mouth, and his arm went numb as well.

In that moment of distraction, with half a blade still lodged in Ba Yong's shoulder, he flung his arms wide and lunged, pinning Duan Wu to the ground in the blink of an eye.

Both sides were now weaponless, forced to fight hand-to-hand.

Ba Yong beat Duan Wu until his face was covered in blood, even tearing off his bulletproof vest.

Duan Wu, fiercely resolute, endured Ba Yong's huge punches like sandbags, bit into the wound on his face with his teeth, and tore off a large chunk of flesh!

The melee, resembling beasts fighting for their lives, made the onlookers' hearts pound with anxiety, all breaking into a sweat for Duan Wu.

At this moment, Ba Yong found an opening, fiercely grabbed Duan Wu's neck with both hands, and lifted him up entirely.

"I, the general, said that whoever wants to kill me… you're not qualified enough." On Ba Yong's bloody, mangled face, his vicious smile looked even more sinister.

"Oh no, General Duan is going to be strangled to death!" Several commanders were about to draw their swords and rush forward.

Xiao Qidi raised his hand to stop them, saying, "You're helping, and though it's also to avenge the old general, this is absolutely not what Duan Wu wishes; he surely wants to kill Ba Yong himself."

"But Your Majesty, he can't hold on any longer!" Li Yao exclaimed anxiously.

Xiao Qidi drew the long sword from his waist and threw it toward Duan Wu, shouting, "General Duan! Catch the sword!"

He threw it accurately, and Duan Wu caught it steadily.

Before Ba Yong could react, Duan Wu held his breath, exerted all his strength, turned his wrist, and chopped the sword down toward himself.

Swish!

Ba Yong's two arms were instantly severed at the elbows!

Thud!

Duan Wu fell to the ground, propping himself up with his sword, kneeling on one knee and gasping heavily.

Ba Yong let out a miserable howl, waving his two severed arms, staggering backward, then stumbled and collapsed with a crash.

Seeing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Duan Wu staggered to his feet, holding his sword, and walked step by step toward Ba Yong.

Ba Yong stared fixedly at the long sword slowly being raised by Duan Wu; his usual fierce, bloodthirsty eyes now showed despair and fear.

Before, it was always him killing others.

He treated human life as child's play, even took pleasure in massacre, never knowing life is precious.

Now, it was finally his turn to feel what it's like to be killed.

"Don't… don't kill me…" he hoarsely pleaded for mercy.

"Wait!" the captured military advisor shouted loudly, "If you kill Grand General Ba Yong, you will not only utterly offend Yu Guo, but also offend his clan! There are tens of thousands of people as ruthless as him—can Xuan Guo bear the consequences?"

Hearing this, Duan Wu's hand, ready to swing the sword, froze.

The other soldiers also instantly grew solemn in expression.

Ba Yong was a person of the Sha Yue Tribe.

The Sha Yue Tribe used to be an Yi tribe in the southwest region, living in poor mountains and bad waters, leading a savage life of eating raw meat and drinking blood.

That region borders both Xuan Guo and Yu Guo.

A hundred years ago, a certain king of Xuan Guo granted a piece of land within Xuan Guo's territory to the Sha Yue Tribe.

He hoped to improve their lives, maintain friendly relations, and possibly join forces to resist Yu Guo in the future.

Unexpectedly, the Sha Yue Tribe secretly defected to Yu Guo.

Then, using iron weapons obtained from Yu Guo, they seized more land in Xuan Guo's southwest border and established the Sha Yue State.

By the time Xuan Guo discovered how savage and greedy the Sha Yue people were, it was already too late.

The Sha Yue people had no scruples, fought fearlessly, and with Yu Guo supplying weapons, Xuan Guo grew wary of them.

Ba Yong was both the grand general of Yu Guo's border pass and the eldest son of the ruler of the Sha Yue State.

Now, if he were killed, the consequences would indeed be serious, as the enemy military advisor said.

Blood tears welled in Duan Wu's eyes; he hated to hack Ba Yong into pieces, but… for the future safety of Xuan Guo's southwest border, he could only grit his back teeth and lower his sword.

"Consequences?" Xiao Qidi's gaze, sharp as a blade, made the military advisor's liver tremble; he spoke softly, "In the past, the Sha Yue Tribe betrayed righteousness, seized our Daxuan's land, killed our Daxuan's southwest border civilians—did they ever consider the consequences?"

"If we don't kill Ba Yong this time, it will only make that gang of savage, greedy fools think our Daxuan is weak and bullyable!"

"General Duan, I order you—kill him!"

Xiao Qidi's voice wasn't loud, but each word struck the military advisor's ears like a muffled thunder.

"Your Majesty…" Duan Wu's eyes filled with blood and tears.

Xiao Qidi gave him a slight nod.

Duan Wu took a deep breath, no longer hesitating, and swung the sword down with force!

Hiss!

Ba Yong's head flew off.

The military advisor's face turned ashen, he collapsed limp on the ground, stammering, "Don't… don't kill me! I, I'm still useful—I can tell you where Ba Yong's remaining over twenty thousand troops are stationed. I can later give you strategies! I can serve as your military advisor!"

"Hah, not needed," Xiao Qidi sneered, "Ba Yong's every extreme tactic for besieging cities and seizing land came from your schemes; such an unscrupulous military advisor—I need him even less."

"Your Majesty… spare—" he hadn't finished speaking when Xiao Qidi gestured to the commander, who then beheaded him.

Thus, inside the Xi Tun Guan Cheng Lou, not a single enemy soldier remained.

Xiao Qidi surveyed the bloody ground, his thin lips moving, "This surprise attack gave us a complete victory, we won the first battle, but it's not time to rest yet, because there are still twenty-five thousand enemy troops encamped outside Lin Xian Village."

"Jinli Fairy has already helped me ascertain the remaining enemy troops' camp locations; are you willing to follow me to continue slaying the enemy?"

The soldiers' eyes lit up as they rubbed their palms and clenched their fists.

Exactly, taking advantage of the enemy's ignorance of our situation, we'll launch a night surprise attack—we'll definitely catch them off guard!

"We are willing!" everyone shouted in unison.

Even though we had just fought a major battle, expending great energy, everyone's spirits were high and blood boiled!

Kill, we must kill!

Let those bastards who dare invade Xuan Guo, slaughtering its soldiers and civilians, all pay their blood debts with blood!

"Alright, set out." Xiao Qidi pulled the reins, whipped his horse, and led the Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Army toward the next enemy troop encampment.

……

In the blink of an eye, a night passed.

Ning Jinli waited all night in the soldiers' encampment at Lin Xian Village.

She didn't sleep all night.

Even though the soldiers urged her to rest, she refused.

Not seeing Xiao Qidi and the Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Army return, how could she rest easy?

To her, this night felt as long as a century…

Until the sun rose on the horizon.

Suddenly, a guard soldier from Lin Xian Village's wall came running to report:

"Jinli Fairy! His Majesty and the others have returned!"

"Back?" Ning Jinli asked hurriedly, "Are they hurt? Never mind, I'll go see myself!"

She couldn't wait to run out of the camp.

At that moment, a warhorse came running toward her from the distance, facing the rising sun.

The young monarch on horseback, clad in tattered bronze armor, seemed to glow with a halo in the soft sunlight.

"Xiao Qidi!" Ning Jinli shouted.

Xiao Qidi didn't wait for the horse to stop, he flipped off its back.

Before he could say anything, Ning Jinli flung herself into his arms.

"You're back, you've finally come back."

Her voice trembled with emotion.

That night, she was anxious and fearful, her mind uncontrollably imagining all sorts of mishaps befalling him.

At this moment, seeing him return safe and sound, she couldn't hold back her tears.

"Hiss..." Xiao Qidi drew a sharp breath, his brow twitching.

Ning Jinli panicked, "Are you hurt?!"

"No..." Xiao Qidi shook his head.

Ning Jinli's face darkened as she pried open his shattered bronze chest armor.

The snug clothing inside outlined the contours of his chest and abdominal muscles.

It was soaked with sweat, giving off a mixed smell of blood and sweat.

Smelling the obvious blood odor, Ning Jinli's face worsened; she lowered her head and quickly rummaged.

On Xiao Qidi's slightly weary face appeared a helpless expression: "I wasn't injured this time, I—"

"Shut up!" Ning Jinli snapped.

After pulling aside the snug clothing at his chest and abdomen, she discovered there was no wound or blood there.

Could it be elsewhere?

She immediately ordered, "Take it all off, let me check."

Xiao Qidi's cheek twitched: "Actually, it's the arrow wound on my back hurting; the fierce battle probably tore it open a bit."

Ning Jinli frowned: "Why didn't you say sooner?"

Xiao Qidi had nothing to say, he sighed silently.

Afterwards, the military doctor examined him and confirmed that his previous wound hadn't healed, it had split open this time, but fortunately it wasn't serious.

The military doctor took out the medicine box Ning Jinli had previously provided, took some medicine, and treated him.

"And the others? Any casualties?" Ning Jinli asked.

Xiao Qidi said there were wounded, but none serious.

Ning Jinli didn't have time to wonder why he'd taken all night to bring the troops back; she grabbed him and headed off.

"Miss Ning, where are you taking me?" Xiao Qidi asked while hastily fixing his clothes.

Ning Jinli said: "Of course, I'm taking you to rest."

Xiao Qidi puzzled: "I can rest right here."

"No!" Ning Jinli said firmly, "You can't rest properly here; if it weren't for the fact that only you can pass through the spacetime portal, I'd have to bring the rest of the soldiers too to rest properly."

Xiao Qidi muttered, "So you're thinking of more than just me..."

……

Thus, early that morning, Ning Jinli dragged Xiao Qidi back to the factory and led him to her dormitory room.

She slightly renovated a staff dormitory.

Inside there was only a bed, a table, and a wardrobe.

It was simple and clean, the air filled with the fresh scent of a girl's bedroom.

Xiao Qidi looked around and unintentionally noticed clothing hanging on the rack, which made him frown in puzzlement.

The other clothing looked roughly like what Ning Jinli usually wears.

But the two round and one triangular pieces of pink fabric were strange…

Could they be clothing?

Why so little fabric?

"What are you looking at!" Ning Jinli's face flushed inexplicably; she quickly raised her hand and turned his face.

"Well, this is the bathroom."

She opened the bathroom door, brought him in, then taught him how to use the shower head: "Turn the switch left for hot water, right for cold; just adjust the temperature."

"On the shelf beside it, this is shampoo, this is body wash."

"I'll go get you a set of clothes and buy some breakfast; take your time washing, then wait here for me, don't run off."

After giving all those instructions, she walked out of the bathroom and closed the door.

The bathroom filled with the rustling sound of Xiao Qidi taking off his clothes.

However, as she picked up the car keys and was about to leave the dormitory, a low, startled cry suddenly came from the bathroom.

Immediately afterward, something fell.

At the same time, a heavy thud of a fall sounded...

Ning Jinli's heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly ran back and pushed open the bathroom door!