Chapter 191: You didn't want me, so why are you bothering about my life or death?

You finally showed up!

That golden-light battle armor gleamed especially bright on the dim city walls, as if heaven had taken pity, a ray of sunlight fell on him, making his divine might appear vast and formidable, not to be underestimated!

Prince Rui's voice carried suppressed anger, mixed with the excitement of prey finally caught in the net. He stared fixedly at that golden figure, as if he wanted to devour the opponent alive.

Black Stone Mountain had let him escape by luck, and the army camp's trap had also been evaded by him; this time, with two hundred thousand troops massed outside Tongzhou, he wanted to see where Xiao Jingyuan could flee now!

Prince Rui slowly raised the spear in his hand, its tip pointing at the golden figure on the city tower, and proclaimed loudly: "Listen, all troops! Whoever can behead that person today, I will make him a marquis, award him ten thousand taels of gold, and grant him a thousand mu of good farmland! After taking Tongzhou, you may freely take whatever riches are in the city!"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers' blood boiled instantly.

Two blaring bugle calls sounded, and the soldiers shouted loudly: "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

On this side, the Prince Rui army roared: "Level Tongzhou! Straight to Jingcheng!"

The opposing Tongzhou army responded: "Defend Tongzhou! Execute the traitors!"

Shen Shuangning and the others in the rear could hear the shouts of killing from several li away, and their hearts involuntarily jumped.

The Prince Rui and Tongzhou armies were fiercely engaged at the front, unaware that someone had raided their rear.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" the soldiers guarding the rear suddenly shouted.

The enemy troops are heading for the supply depot, hurry!

The area around Shen Shuangning's military tent was heavily guarded.

Inside the tent were more than a dozen women dressed exactly like her, all exceptionally skilled, monitoring her movements day and night.

Roars rose and fell, and outside the tent chaos soon erupted.

While most of the surrounding soldiers had been lured to the supply depot, a unit of cavalry clad in silver-light battle armor came charging in!

They moved as swiftly as ghosts; a flash of blade sent Prince Rui soldiers crashing to the ground, and in an instant they broke through the outer perimeter of the camp.

The rear guards were mostly old, weak, and injured troops; most had been drawn to guard the supply depot, leaving only a handful around the tent, who were quickly cut down and scattered by the silver-armored cavalry.

Blood spattered onto the tent, casting a cruel dark hue in the sunlight.

Not good! They're coming for us!

A death warrior let out a low shout, immediately grabbed Shen Shuangning and ran outward; the other decoys also scattered, confusing the view.

Shen Shuangning was dragged by a female death warrior through the chaotic camp, her feet often stepping on scattered weapons and corpses, making her tremble repeatedly.

She knew they had come for her; regardless of whether they were Xiao Jingyuan's people, she could not stay by Prince Rui's side any longer.

"Don't move! If you cause trouble again I'll kill you!" the female death warrior's voice was ice-cold and piercing, her fingertips almost digging into Shen Shuangning's flesh.

Not far away on a gentle slope, Xiao Jingyuan reined in his reins; the tall black horse pawed the ground uneasily in place.

Beneath the qing ghost mask, he furrowed his brows, swiftly scanning the scattered gray-clad women below, trying to discern something.

"My lord, should we send men to capture a few first?" the personal guard beside him asked quietly.

At that moment, Xiao Jingyuan's gaze narrowed.

Just then, beside the tent, a woman seized a dagger and lunged to stab another woman!

The motion was somewhat hasty yet utterly resolute; though the dagger missed vital spots, it sliced a deep wound to the bone on the female death warrior's shoulder, instantly staining her gray clothing red with blood.

The death warrior never expected Shen Shuangning to conceal a dagger on her person.

How could she know? The dagger was originally thin, pressed tightly against her wrist; during the earlier search they had focused on her waist and bosom, overlooking her slender wrist.

The female death warrior reached back to seize the blade.

Shen Shuangning shoved her hard, lifted her leg to run, but unexpectedly the opponent grabbed her skirt's hem, causing her to stagger and fall to the ground.

Prince Rui had specially ordered this skirt with tightened hem to hinder her, making running very inconvenient.

Shen Shuangning stomped hard on the death warrior's face; taking advantage of the pain-induced loosened grip, she lifted her hand and slit the skirt's hem with the dagger, the torn fabric falling to the ground, finally no longer impeding her run.

Having broken free, she instinctively grabbed a handful of dust from the ground and flung it backward.

That female death warrior had never dealt with such a sneaky trick; immediately the dust blinded her eyes, she stumbled for a few breaths, then flew into a rage and threw the hidden weapon from her hand.

With a crisp 'clang', the hidden weapon was blocked by something.

Shen Shuangning didn't know what had happened behind her, only feeling a chill on her neck, and she dared not look back.

She sprinted forward with all her might; a figure on a black warhorse burst through the dust and mist, galloping straight toward her.

She couldn't make out who the man on the horse was, but a strong intuition drove her steps, and she ran toward him without hesitation.

The man's eyes were sharp, he held a bright spear and threw it toward her——

The spear swept over her head, carrying a fierce gust, and pierced straight into the chest of the pursuing female death warrior. She widened her eyes in disbelief, crashed heavily to the ground, and lost all breath.

When the horse was still some distance from Shen Shuangning, the man on its back slightly bent his waist, his long, strong hand reaching out to her, knuckles distinct.

Shen Shuangning's heart leapt to her throat; just as she was about to reach out in response, the man seized her waist, exerted force with his arm, and lifted her securely onto the horse's back.

In a whirl, Shen Shuangning found herself seated before the man, her back pressed against his warm chest.

As the horse passed the death warrior, the man drew back his hand and the spear returned to his grip.

Blood dripped from the spear tip onto the ground, spreading a small dark-red stain.

Hooves pounded, corpses littered the ground amid the clamor of battle; Shen Shuangning's frantically pounding heart could not calm, the hand gripping her waist exerting such force it seemed to want to fuse her into bone and blood.

Shen Shuangning suddenly recalled something, quickly pointing to the military tent where Su Wan hid, her voice urgent: "Su Wan is in there too!"

Xiao Jingyuan then blew a whistle with his right hand, signaled to his personal guard, and immediately several silver-armored guards galloped toward that spot, while he himself took Shen Shuangning and left without looking back.

The few death warriors tasked with guarding Shen Shuangning, seeing this, immediately wanted to give chase, but unexpectedly a volley of arrows shot from the dark struck them down on the spot; they could only watch helplessly as the hostage was rescued.

The battle noises in the camp gradually faded behind them.

Soon, the man rode his horse to a secluded mountain hollow and set Shen Shuangning down.

Both wore masks, hiding all their expressions behind them.

Shen Shuangning spoke first: "Xiao Jingyuan?"

The man did not move, merely standing still; his gaze passed through the eye holes of the qing ghost mask and fell upon her face.

The other person didn't speak, and Shen Shuangning suddenly felt uncertain.

If it were Xiao Jingyuan, hiding his head and showing his tail in the enemy camp earlier could be understood as not wanting to be made a target, but now only the two of them are here—why remain so silent?

As she wondered, the man raised his hand, his fingers unfastening the mask's hidden clasp, and took it off for her.

The setting sun fell on her face; she instinctively narrowed her eyes, and when she lifted her gaze, she saw a familiar, handsome face.

He held that blue ghost mask in his hand.

"Why come to Quanzhou? Don't you want to live?" Xiao Jingyuan lowered his eyes to look at her, his voice sounding a little hoarse.

Shen Shuangning answered as a matter of course: "I came to find you!"

Before he decided to do this, he had already arranged a retreat for her, but he never expected she would come to find him.

"What do you want from me?"

Xiao Jingyuan seemed to be questioning her, yet also appeared confused, his face cold and hard, but his eyes fragile.

Shen Shuangning said: "Of course I came to see if you're dead."

"What if I really were dead?" the man's gaze fixed on her, as if some long-suppressed emotion were surging beneath his eyes.

Shen Shuangning had already thought this through, and without hesitation replied: "Then I'll find your corpse and bring it back for a proper burial."

"In what capacity?" Xiao Jingyuan asked, following her words.

Shen Shuangning found him bewildering, why so many questions? But she patiently said: "We're husband and wife—what do you say?"

Xiao Jingyuan pressed his lips and said: "You don't want me, do you? Why bother about my life or death?"

Shen Shuangning was about to retort, "When did I say I don't want you?" when she suddenly remembered she had said she would leave him after the two-year period ended.

Her chest felt inexplicably tight, sore and astringent; Shen Shuangning turned her gaze away, her voice dropping a few degrees: "Isn't it not yet time? I naturally ought to care for you."

As soon as her words fell, the man seized her chin and kissed her deeply.

This kiss was more intense than any before; when it ended, Shen Shuangning's lips felt numb, and she knew without looking they were swollen.

Yet kissing her wasn't enough; the man lowered his head and bit a spot on her neck and shoulder, a layer of blood color spreading in his eyes.

Shen Shuangning winced from the pain and couldn't help cursing: "What madness have you gone into now?"

Xiao Jingyuan finally released his grip, his jaw still seeming tense, that excessively handsome face somewhat pale, he lowered his eyes to look at her and murmured: "How can you be so good?"