Chapter 532

Seeing the two inside the carriage unharmed, Zhou Mo quickly let go of the reins, his body rolled in place, and just as he left his spot, a loess pillar collapsed heaven and earth, flattening the crack that had just appeared.

Hu Xiaotian protected Long Xi Yue with one hand and Tang Qingxuan with the other; the three raised their heads from the flying dust. Hu Xiaotian whistled, and Little Gray quickly ran to their side upon hearing the sound. Hu Xiaotian handed the horse reins to Tang Qingxuan, who mounted the horse. Hu Xiaotian helped Long Xi Yue onto the horse's back, then drew his black-gold blade and stood guard beside the horse.

Amid the swirling dust, shouts of killing suddenly rang out; from all directions, a volley of arrows shot at the still-confused troops, arrows like locusts, and within a short time dozens were struck down.

Zhou Mo and Hu Xiaotian covered Princess Anping and Tang Qingxuan as they retreated behind an earthen wall, while several of our warriors also withdrew here. The ambushers, relying on their familiarity with the terrain, launched attacks from various covers. They threw our side into chaos, and before they could even see the enemy's appearance, dozens had already been killed or wounded.

Zhan Peng swiftly ran forward, dodging the successive volleys of cold arrows, taking a quiver from a fallen warrior, then, like a spirit monkey, climbed a loess pillar, from the high ground seeking the ambushers' hiding place, drew his bow and nocked an arrow, never missing, and consecutively shot dead more than ten of the enemies surrounding them.

Zhou Mo charged forward, his body like a cannonball fresh from the barrel, striking a loess pillar with his broad back; under his powerful impact, the pillar collapsed with a roar, burying more than ten bandits hiding in the covers beneath it.

At this moment, Wen Boyuan also steadied the formation and ordered the archers to counterattack.

Zhan Peng, from his high position, shot with every arrow killing. Zhou Mo, aroused by killing, held a shield in one hand and brandished a blade in the other, charging into the enemy camp like a deity descending, cutting down foes as easily as slicing melons. He and Zhan Peng acted in unison; when Zhou Mo burst forth, Zhan Peng immediately leapt down from the loess pillar. His feet tapped the pillar repeatedly to slow his descent. As his feet just touched the ground, a masked brute sprang from the earth, raising his blade to strike.

Zhan Peng drew his longbow with astonishing speed; the feathered arrow shot out, piercing straight through the enemy's left eye. The enemy's blade was only a cun away from Zhan Peng's neck. A moment later, Zhan Peng would have been beheaded.

Zhan Peng remained extremely calm, his expression unchanged, his body turning in place while simultaneously nocking his bow, firing three arrows in rapid succession like a volley gun. He shot dead three enemies approaching them, each arrow aimed at the throat's vital point. He chose this target because in battle many wear armor, yet the neck is the weakest; on a life-and-death battlefield, a single sure strike is crucial, otherwise endless trouble will follow.

At this moment, Hu Xiaotian heard a faint voice in his ear say, "Go right! Follow my guidance!" From the voice he recognized it must be Xu Mi Tian without doubt. Hu Xiaotian felt both startled and delighted; it seemed the saying "one day as husband and wife, a hundred days of kindness" held true, and at the critical moment, this comrade-in-arms Xu Mi Tian proved reliable.

Hu Xiaotian told everyone, "No need to cling to battle. Let's first escort the princess away from here, then we'll talk."

Zhou Mo and Zhan Peng heard Hu Xiaotian's voice, both realizing their duty. They regrouped and returned to Hu Xiaotian's side. The battlefield was filled with swirling dust, making it impossible to tell where they were, let alone which way to go.

Zhou Mo was well-versed and experienced in warfare; Zhan Peng, a hunter by birth, had a natural instinct for danger, yet this terrain was new to them all, and none dared act rashly. On the contrary, Hu Xiaotian showed great familiarity with the surroundings, leading the retreat in an orderly manner with ease. Zhou Mo secretly admired him, thinking that despite his young age as the third brother, he possessed a natural leader's bearing, able to stay calm and composed in such sudden circumstances, and to command with certainty—unaware that Hu Xiaotian's assured command was entirely due to Xu Mi Tian's guidance behind the scenes.

The battlefield was thick with dust and smoke, loess pillars everywhere like a maze; Hu Xiaotian could not possibly distinguish them clearly on his own, but thanks to Xu Mi Tian's guidance, he led the group forward, eventually meeting up with the Tang family brothers along the way.

Hu Xiaotian became the group's backbone, leading them winding through the peak forest gorge; soon they reached a large open area, though they did not know where they were, at least they could temporarily avoid the danger of collapsing loess pillars.

Zhan Peng had his men disperse, and together with a few skilled archers light on their feet, he climbed the tops of the surrounding loess pillars to watch the surroundings.

Princess Anping heard the shouts of killing continuously coming from afar; her pretty face turned pale, her lips lost color, and she instinctively grabbed Tang Qingxuan's hand. Tang Qingxuan comforted her, "Elder sister, don't worry; we'll be fine for now."

The Tang Iron Han brothers came to Hu Xiaotian's side and said together, "Sir Hu, what should we do?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "Use stillness to counter movement; pay attention to underground disturbances." Because the enemy had just launched an attack from below, Hu Xiaotian remained uneasy; he looked around, hoping to locate Xu Mi Tian's hiding place—she must be nearby, but he did not know exactly where she was concealed.

Once again, Xu Mi Tian's voice came to his ear: "Are you looking for me? Don't waste your effort."

At this moment, a warrior shot a signal arrow into the sky; not long after, Wen Boyuan led his men to join them here. Ironically, this attack caused greater losses to Wen Boyuan and his trusted warriors; though the battle was brief, thirty-one of his men died on the spot and over fifty were wounded. It was a heavy loss—had they not sent out the signal, they would still have been trapped in the swirling loess.

Continuously gathering on this open ground, the scene quickly became noisy and crowded; anguished roars and the groans of the wounded intertwined. Long Xi Yue, though she had previously endured two attacks, had never before witnessed such a bloody, cruel sight; seeing this, her heart filled with shock and fear, a strong urge to vomit surged up, she turned away and vomited with a "wa!" sound.

Tang Qingxuan is no better off; don't let her spoiled nature fool you—she has never witnessed such a bloody scene before, and seeing the warriors' miserable state and hearing their wails, her legs went weak.

Hu Xiaotian had the two of them go inside the carriage to rest, out of sight, out of mind; not seeing this bloody scene might make them feel a bit better. Princess Anping suddenly recalled that Zi Juan and Snowball's whereabouts were unknown, because Tang Qingxuan was in the same carriage as her, Zi Juan had taken Snowball to another carriage, naturally she was very worried, and said to Hu Xiaotian: "Zi Juan is missing, Zi Juan is missing."

Hu Xiaotian comforted her, saying: "Don't worry, I'll immediately take people to find her."

Wen Boyuan at this time was also covered in dust, no trace of his former suave appearance on his body. This sudden attack left him overwhelmed; the danger posed by the enemies lurking underground was not actually the greatest, most of our side's casualties were caused by the fallen loess pillars, the loess pillars standing thick around suddenly turned into burial places, many of his warriors didn't even have time to react before being buried under the loess.

The damned Hu Xiaotian, meanwhile, stood unscathed before him; Wen Boyuan secretly sighed that this kid had a lucky life. Several retainers helped the Minister of Rites, Wu Jing Shan, emerge from the swirling dust; Wu Jing Shan was so frightened by the recent events that his soul fled his body, and he could hardly move his feet.

Hu Xiaotian feigned concern and stepped forward: "Oh dear, Sir Wu, Sir Wu, what happened to you?"

Wu Jing Shan wanted to speak, but he was too terrified, still stuttering and unable to utter a word. Seeing Hu Xiaotian, he suddenly recalled the earlier words he had told himself: if he had agreed with Hu Xiaotian's proposal and insisted on taking the route through Wuxing Commandery, he would not have encountered such danger.

Wen Boyuan came over to greet him: "Sir Wu, are you alright?"

Wu Jing Shan's belly-full of fear and resentment finally burst out; he gave a cold snort: "Thanks to General Wen's favor… I, old man… haven't been killed by a scheme yet…"

Wen Boyuan was no fool; he immediately sensed something off in his tone, Wu Jing Shan clearly bore a grudge against him. He furrowed his brows, not having time to argue with Wen Boyuan, and said to Hu Xiaotian: "Is the Princess alright?"

Hu Xiaotian laughed mockingly: "It's hard on General Wen to still be thinking of the Princess; the Princess is right here, waiting for General Wen to protect her."

From behind came Tang Tiehan's voice: "Some people are probably too busy looking after themselves!"

Wen Boyuan's face flushed and paled alternately; although he had anticipated a possible ambush in Fenglin Valley, he never expected it to happen this way. Although he successfully repelled the bandits' advance, his troops suffered heavy casualties, and he lost face in this battle. Those bandits came and went quickly; after launching the attack, they vanished without a trace.

At this moment, scattered warriors began to return one after another, delighting Princess Anping; Zi Juan was among them, holding Snowball, returning unharmed, master and servant reuniting, they naturally burst into tears, embracing each other.

More than fifty wounded warriors lay on the scene awaiting treatment; the army medic was overwhelmed, and Hu Xiaotian had the little eunuch fetch his medicine chest, then carried it over to help.

Zhan Peng also stayed beside a burly man, his good friend Zhao Chongwu from the Divine Strategy Manor; in the recent melee, Zhao Chongwu took two arrows to his shoulder and arm. There were over fifty wounded warriors, but the army medic was only one, naturally unable to cope, and moreover the medic's skill in treating external injuries was only at an elementary level.

While Zhan Peng helped Zhao Chongwu staunch the bleeding, Hu Xiaotian approached with the medicine chest, smiling and asking: "How is it?"

Zhao Chongwu said: "I can hold out!" His forehead was drenched in cold sweat, obviously in great pain.

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