Chapter 1168: At a Critical Juncture

Zhuge Feiyu's flute music turned out to be very useful; many fierce beasts dared not approach.

But there were too many fierce beasts; as soon as he paused even slightly, they would immediately pounce.

Seeing the people beside him being devoured by the fierce beasts, Zhuge Feiyu worried that if they delayed any longer, none of them would be able to leave.

"Black Phoenix, take the Fourth Prince and leave first!"

Zhuge Feiyu really had no selfishness; even at this moment he was thinking of letting the Fourth Prince leave first.

"What about you?" the Fourth Prince said, still unwilling to abandon his companions.

"If you leave, we'll have a chance to escape; the Crown Prince wants to deal with you!"

In fact, he said that just to comfort the Fourth Prince.

Zhuge Feiyu knew that if the Fourth Prince left, the Crown Prince would be even less likely to let them go.

But keeping the Crown Prince around now is useless; it would be better to let him leave.

The Black Phoenix was also eager to escape the beasts' encirclement; without hesitation, it shrouded its whole body in a layer of black demon qi, wrapping the Fourth Prince within.

"Quick, stop them—they're trying to flee!"

Seeing this, the Crown Prince immediately reminded the whip-wielding martial cultivator.

But before the whip-wielding martial cultivator could summon the beasts, the Black Phoenix had already charged out.

A mass of black demon qi first shot forward horizontally a few steps, then shot straight up into the sky.

At that moment the Crown Prince and the beasts saw that the Black Phoenix's back had sprouted a pair of phoenix wings, which lifted the Fourth Prince and rose into the air.

Some beasts immediately launched attacks, but due to the distance they caused little harm to the Black Phoenix, only knocking off a few black phoenix feathers.

Some beasts also took to the air in pursuit, but the Black Phoenix shook them off far away.

"Damn it!"

The Crown Prince gritted his teeth and cursed.

Most of the beasts they had captured were ground-based, not good at flying, and slower than the Black Phoenix.

"Kill them, leave none!" the Crown Prince vented his anger on the remaining people.

Zhuge Feiyu thought correctly. If they killed a prince, the Crown Prince would still have some scruples, but killing them, the Crown Prince wouldn't think twice.

The remaining few also showed despairing expressions.

"Let's fight to the death; begging for mercy now is useless!"

Zhuge Feiyu sighed, raised his flute to his lips again, preparing to play.

He never imagined he would end up like this.

"Ah, if it weren't for my greed, wanting to trap the Crown Prince, I wouldn't have fallen into his scheme! Outmatched, I can only blame my bad luck!"

Zhuge Feiyu, on the other hand, had no complaints; he merely prepared for a final battle.

At this critical juncture, he suddenly felt something grab his shoulder and lift him into the air. Moreover, that speed was even faster than the Black Phoenix's departure speed.

Zhuge Feiyu's soul was naturally strong, yet he had never sensed anyone approaching him.

But the other party could not only approach him, but also seize him; their cultivation level was clearly far above his.

He immediately thought it might be Ye Liuyun who had arranged people to protect them.

"Are you sent by Ye Liuyun?"

"Yes."

Xuanwu gave a brief reply, grabbed Zhuge Feiyu, and swiftly withdrew.

Zhuge Feiyu wanted Xuanwu to rescue the others as well, but the words rose to his lips and he swallowed them back.

Ye Liuyun couldn't possibly send many such experts; this person could evidently save at most two.

And this person, after the Crown Prince left, saved only him, which shows that Ye Liuyun's earlier assignment to him was probably just to save the Fourth Prince and himself.

Moreover, even if he returned now to save the others, the Crown Prince would likely have taken precautions.

He felt grateful to Ye Liuyun in his heart, but also deeply sympathized with the martial cultivators left behind.

Helpless, he could barely protect himself, let alone save them; all he could do was hope they'd be lucky.

The Crown Prince and the others were also stunned for a moment. But they soon realized that Zhuge Feiyu had been snatched away by someone.

"Ye Liuyun has made a move!" a quick-reacting martial cultivator beside him shouted.

They had left a psychological shadow from the unpredictable Xuanwu beast.

The Crown Prince nodded and said to everyone, "It's indeed a move, no mistake, but he's only rescuing people; he won't attack us!"

The Crown Prince also realized that Ye Liuyun did not want to get involved in the princes' struggle.

If Ye Liuyun wanted to intervene, he could simply kill the whip-wielder, or just kill him outright.

Others didn't grasp this; they kept scanning their surroundings with divine sense, as if Xuanwu's presence would let them detect it.

The Crown Prince also ignored them, instead ordering the whip-wielding martial cultivator to drive the beasts to slaughter everyone left by the Fourth Prince.

Only after the Fourth Prince's people were all dead and no one had been attacked did they believe the Crown Prince's words and relax.

One of the martial cultivators went further, saying, "It seems Ye Liuyun doesn't dare to attack Your Highness! When we assault the city, perhaps threatening Your Highness a bit will make him surrender!"

The Crown Prince glanced at him and snapped, "Foolish! Go try negotiating with him!"

Having said that, he let the whip-wielding martial cultivator release all the beasts, and they surged toward Stone City in a mighty throng.

They were now not far from Stone City; there was no need to hide their strength any longer.

The Black Phoenix, carrying the Fourth Prince, and Xuanwu, carrying Zhuge Feiyu, successively rushed back to Stone City.

After Ye Liuyun waited for them to return, he immediately activated the formation, having prepared the defenses.

Seeing only Zhuge Feiyu return, the Fourth Prince felt deeply disheartened.

Zhuge Feiyu wanted to thank Xuanwu, but never saw him again; thus he could only thank Ye Liuyun.

"What's with the formalities? Saving you is what I ought to do. Only the people I sent lack flexibility; they didn't manage to bring back another one!"

Ye Liuyun also felt regret, only able to blame himself for being hasty when he assigned the task earlier, not thinking it through.

"No matter what, I'll thank you for thinking of having someone rescue me! If I get the chance, I'll definitely repay you!" Zhuge Feiyu thanked Ye Liuyun with a clasped-fist salute.

Although Ye Liuyun wanted to recruit Zhuge Feiyu, it wasn't appropriate to bring it up now. So he politely brushed it off and urged Zhuge Feiyu to quickly recover his True Essence.

Afterwards, he also comforted the Fourth Prince: "Victory and defeat are common in war; who doesn't encounter a setback? The match isn't over yet—who will win is still uncertain!"

Zhuge Feiyu also shared Ye Liuyun's view.

"Yes, Your Highness, losing one round is fine—you can turn it around; there's no need to blame yourself! If you lose heart, then defending this city would be meaningless! You're someone destined for great deeds; you need a broad mind!"

Upon hearing that, the Fourth Prince also perked up a bit.

Ye Liuyun also immediately had them recover their True Essence and prepare for battle.

"First, let's recover our True Essence. I estimate the Crown Prince will launch an attack right away. He wouldn't deign to join forces with the Seventh Prince. So we'll seize the chance to cripple him in one battle. That way, even if the Seventh Prince arrives later, the Crown Prince will have no grounds to cooperate with him."