Chapter 746: [Zi Shi San Ke] (Lower)

Bat swarms flew to the upper inner court, Wu Zhengfang led thirty soldiers to fire upward. The bat swarms, having prior experience, already had a countermeasure; their flight altitude exceeded the range of the Tiger Standard Battalion's soldiers, and the bat swarms gathered more and more, forming black clouds that continually swelled and circled above the inner court.

Hu Xiaotian dismounted, handed Xiao Hui to Xiong Tianba to look after, let Zhou Mo and him continue guarding the outer court, while he went to the inner court to observe the situation. Dong Tianjiang also led his soldiers to the inner court to join the others. Looking at the bat swarm in the sky, Dong Tianjiang furrowed his brows and shouted loudly: 'Spare no expense to protect the princess's remains!'

At this moment, the bat swarm in the sky finally launched its attack; the black cloud fell from the center downward, looking from afar like a huge black arrowhead, rushing at astonishing speed toward the palace where Princess Anping's remains lay.

Dong Tianjiang roared: 'Fire cloud arrows, at the ready!' In an instant, nearly a hundred fire cloud arrows shot into the sky; most of the fire cloud arrows hit the bat swarm, and the huge black arrowhead ignited, flames rapidly spreading upward, forming a soaring fire pillar in the void. The momentum of the falling fire pillar did not slow but instead accelerated, plummeting straight down like a comet.

Hu Xiaotian silently thought, 'Not good.' If that fire pillar fell into the palace, it would be disastrous; wouldn't Xi Yan's corpse be blown to ashes? Although he knew this scene was likely orchestrated by Xi Yan herself, he still felt some worry for her safety.

Dong Tianjiang's face changed; he sprang forward first, his body darting out like a leopard, an arrow. Hu Xiaotian followed suit. Dong Tianjiang intended to rescue Princess Anping's remains before the fire pillar hit the palace, while Hu Xiaotian's purpose in following was fear that Dong Tianjiang would discover the secret. If necessary, he needed to intervene and disrupt his actions.

The two rushed into the palace one after another; although their movements were extremely swift, they were still a step behind the plummeting fire pillar. The fire pillar struck the palace roof, emitting a tremendous roar, and a huge fireball about one zhang in diameter pierced the roof and fell into the palace.

Dong Tianjiang and Hu Xiaotian were dazzled by the firelight, their eyes flashing. Even so, they saw the fireball strike the bed where Princess Anping's remains lay; the fireball exploded upon impact, a deafening blast sending flames and sparks flying. Seeing the fireball smash through the roof and crash into the palace, both realized something was wrong and immediately retreated outward. Although they retreated in time, they were still flung backward by the explosion's powerful shockwave.

Many soldiers guarding outside the palace were also thrown sideways by the airwave, tumbling in disarray, wailing cries rising, the scene descending into chaos.

Hu Xiaotian and Dong Tianjiang had just fallen to the ground when they saw a broken column over two zhang thick and wide enough to encircle with arms, spinning and hurtling toward them. They had no time to get up; Dong Tianjiang roared, raised his right fist, and smashed fiercely at the column—Boom! —smoke and dust rose, wood chips flew. Dong Tianjiang's domineering strength shattered the broken wooden column, sending it flying sideways. Hu Xiaotian exhaled in relief; regardless of whether he admitted it, Dong Tianjiang had resolved a crisis for him in the critical moment. Hu Xiaotian picked up the fallen Hidden Edge Sword from the ground and quickly rose to his feet.

At this moment, smoke and dust gradually cleared, and the groans of wounded soldiers around could be heard. Hu Xiaotian silently sighed, 'No wonder Xi Yan warned me not to come near here; I didn't expect this girl's methods to be so vicious.' Looking again, the palace where her corpse was stored was already ablaze with raging fire.

Dong Tianjiang was also covered in dust and ash, staring blankly at the burning palace after the explosion, his eyes glazed. He had just taken charge of escorting Princess Anping's coffin back to Dakang, and now he'd run into trouble—it was as if someone had dealt him a blunt blow. He shouted loudly: 'Put out the fire! Quickly rescue the princess's remains…'

Before his words finished, he saw a huge black shadow shoot up from the burning palace.

Everyone looked up and saw a Lan-clad person wearing a golden mask, standing proudly on the back of a black giant eagle, holding a white-clad girl in his arms, the girl lying in the crook of his arm. Hu Xiaotian's keen eyes instantly recognized the girl as Xi Yan; his heart jolted. 'Damn, what game is this?' Xi Yan, Xi Yan, today you've completely bewildered me.

Some of Dong Tianjiang's subordinates had already begun to draw bows and nock arrows. Hu Xiaotian, worried that Xi Yan might be harmed, hastily urged: 'Do not harm the princess's remains.' Dong Tianjiang made a gesture to cease fire.

At this moment, the bats in the sky swarmed toward the Lan-clad person, enveloping the black giant eagle and the Lan-clad person within, and the newly formed black cloud slowly drifted toward the northwest of Yongdu City.

Dong Tianjiang roared: 'Damn thing, leave the princess's remains!' He ordered someone to fetch horses, then galloped out of Qichen Palace, pursuing the dark mass of bat clouds in the sky.

Hu Xiaotian also took Xiao Hui and galloped after the cloud mass in the sky.

Earlier, the stables had been overrun by poisonous insects, more than half of the horses poisoned dead or injured, leaving only a dozen or so fit for riding. Dong Tianjiang, now thoroughly enraged, spurred his steed, charging like a gale through Yongdu's streets, and in an instant had flung his followers far behind.

Not far out, only Hu Xiaotian remained, riding neck-and-neck with him. Dong Tianjiang secretly marveled, never expecting that the mule under Hu Xiaotian's crotch was truly a treasure, actually able to keep pace with his own fine steed, 'Thousand‑Li Wind‑Chaser.'

Hu Xiaotian looked up and saw that the bat swarm above flew at an unhurried pace, never able to shake them off. He wondered silently: 'Could Xi Yan have deliberately arranged this, intending to lure us somewhere?' He reminded Dong Tianjiang: 'General Dong, there may be a ruse.'

Dong Tianjiang said: 'Even if we must charge into a dragon's pool and tiger's den, we cannot let that thief simply make off with the princess's remains.'

Hu Xiaotian had wanted to dissuade Dong Tianjiang from continuing the pursuit, but he hadn't expected Dong Tianjiang to be so obstinate. Helpless, Hu Xiaotian could only follow along, his heart filled with confusion: 'What exactly is Xi Yan plotting?'

The two chased the black cloud across most of Yongdu City; they were about to catch up beneath the bat swarm when suddenly a white silhouette plummeted from the sky. Dong Tianjiang and Hu Xiaotian hastily reined in their horses, and the white shadow landed about ten zhang ahead of them. Though they couldn't see who it was, they instinctively guessed it must be Princess Anping's remains.

Having fallen from dozens of zhang up, the outcome was predictable—only a 'Boom!' was heard as the white silhouette exploded ahead, splattering into a heap of flesh.

Dong Tianjiang and Hu Xiaotian immediately rushed to the mound of flesh, trying to discern from this pile of meat whether it was Princess Anping. Without modern DNA testing, it truly couldn't be done; Dong Tianjiang concluded that this bloody mess was undoubtedly the princess's remains, and for a moment grief and fury welled up, his eyes nearly bursting.

Hu Xiaotian naturally knew this heap of flesh could not possibly be Xi Yan; it was surely her using another's corpse as a disguise, employing a 'hide the sky, cross the sea' ruse to slip away unseen. He seized the moment to halt the chase, dismounted, and cried out toward the meat pile: 'Princess…… alas…… Princess…… how have you come to this?' Frankly, looking at this mound of meat was rather nauseating; Xi Yan, that demoness, indeed acted without regard for convention.

While Hu Xiaotian feigned lament over the meat pile, Dong Tianjiang did not abandon the pursuit; the bat swarm in the sky dispersed, the black giant eagle bearing the Lan‑clad person continued flying forward, and Dong Tianjiang bellowed: 'Where do you think you're going! Thief, today I won't rest until I kill you! Wah‑yah‑yah‑yah…'

Hu Xiaotian shook his head at the meat pile; certainly this mass was not Xi Yan, and he saw no need to waste emotion. He figured the Lan‑clad person in the air was almost certainly Xi Yan's true self, hastily remounted and chased after Dong Tianjiang, not because he feared Dong Tianjiang, but because he feared Xi Yan would be caught by Dong Tianjiang.

Dong Tianjiang galloped while drawing his bow from behind, nocking and aiming at the giant eagle in the sky; the first two arrows missed, but after the third was released, a anguished cry came from above, and he saw the black giant eagle swoop into a building ahead. When it rose again, the Lan‑clad person was gone from its back; the eagle flapped upward and vanished into the night sky in an instant.

Dong Tianjiang's eyesight was quite sharp; he clearly saw that the black eagle's back bore no trace of the Lan‑clad person, and he loosened his bowstring. At this moment Hu Xiaotian also spurred his horse to his side, panting: 'General Dong, stop the chase; we've found the princess's remains…'

Dong Tianjiang pointed to the imposing mansion ahead and said: 'I saw the black eagle dive into this place; when it emerged, the Lan‑clad person was gone.'

Hu Xiaotian silently sighed, never expecting Dong Tianjiang to be so persistent; judging from what he'd just seen, Xi Yan had countless chances to escape smoothly, yet she had deliberately led them here—though he didn't know what this place was.

Dong Tianjiang drew a Piercing Cloud Arrow from his quiver, nocked it on the bowstring, aimed at the upper night sky, the bow drawn like a full moon, and released it with a soft 'whoosh'.

The Piercing Cloud Arrow soared to the zenith of the night sky, then exploded with a 'Boom!', forming a magnificently brilliant red firework in the night.

One Piercing Cloud Arrow, and ten thousand troops will gather.

As long as they see his signal, the soldiers of the Tiger Standard Battalion will gather here in the shortest time.

Dong Tianjiang and Hu Xiaotian galloped to the gate, dismounted, and looked up to see the plaque above the door inscribed in Han and Hu scripts with the large characters 'Red Mountain Club'.

Updated at dawn, please vote for recommendation! (To be continued…~^~)