Chapter 223: First Volume_Chapter 223: Mother and Son Reunited

First Volume_Chapter 223: Mother and Son Reunited

The woman didn't deliver a follow-up strike, simply watching the Northern Di raiding cavalry with a beaming smile.

Set against the darkness, that smile of indescribable beauty sent a chill down the raiding cavalryman's back. He wanted to shout out, to warn his companions, but his throat had been slit clean through — not a single sound could escape.

Just as the Northern Di raiding cavalryman's consciousness began to fade, a companion who had followed close behind thrust his fire torch into the ground, hastily catching him and shouting in panic: "Comrade! What's wrong? Was it that old woman? Where is she?!"

The Northern Di raiding cavalryman could make no sound at all. Relying on his last shred of awareness, he stared fixedly at the gap behind his companion.

The companion started, almost instinctively swinging his short ge to slash at the gap.

Unfortunately...

He was still a step too slow.

Before the short ge could cleave into the gap, Li Xiaolan had already seized the initiative, driving the short ge she'd seized earlier at Qingshizicun into the man's shoulder. The flimsy light armor — better than nothing — faced the terrifying armor-piercing power of the short ge like paper, pierced clean through in an instant.

Blood spurted as the cavalryman's body swayed. With his last breath before near death, he let out a furious roar: "She's in the cave!"

At the same moment, Li Xiaolan had already leapt out from the gap, unhesitatingly smashing the short ge into the cavalryman's crown. Before she could even pull it out, she heard a rush of urgent footsteps behind her.

A broad-backed, thick-armed raiding cavalry vice commander, his face fierce and brutal, came striding forward and hurled his fire torch straight at Li Xiaolan.

The instant Li Xiaolan dodged sideways, the vice commander's short ge was already following in its wake.

Li Xiaolan blocked with every ounce of strength she had, but the gap in power was simply too vast. Though she deflected the killing blow, she — along with her ge — was sent slamming bodily into the rock wall by the impact, coughing violently from the shock.

One move decided the victor!

Seeing that Li Xiaolan's fate was sealed, the vice commander's gaze did not relax in the slightest. Gripping his short ge, he hissed coldly: "Woman, where did you learn your assassination-technique? Pursuing you all this way, you've killed seven of my comrades! If I hadn't driven you into this dead end where you couldn't fight freely, who knows how many more would have died before we could take you."

Saying this, endless fury and hatred flickered in the vice commander's eyes. He ground his teeth: "Don't worry — we're only capturing the Cheng Clan of Qin. As for you, I'll chop you into meat paste to lay before the spirits of my seven comrades!"

Though the vice commander burned with rage, his heart was even more shaken.

This woman who looked so delicate was as dangerous as a venomous scorpion!

A task that should have been accomplished with ease had not only dragged on, but cost man after man. Even the vice commander, a veteran of many campaigns, facing such a master of assassination — a true viper — could not help but feel his back go numb.

Li Xiaolan drew a deep breath. Though her gaze remained steady and unwavering, despair had already taken root in her heart.

If she could fight freely, Li Xiaolan had ten thousand ways to make the raiding cavalry vice commander suffer between life and death.

Unfortunately... all along this journey, she had either been hemmed in by cavalry in encirclement and interception, or driven into pit caves — all forms of combat Li Xiaolan was unsuited for.

Now, facing a vice commander of terrifying strength and superb martial skill, Li Xiaolan knew full well she could never best him in a straight, hard clash.

Could it be that Heaven means to destroy my mother and daughter?!

Just as Li Xiaolan prepared to fight to the death, a clamor of urgent shouts suddenly erupted from the rear of the pitch-black Kuangdong.

"Who's there!"

"Not good! Pursuing troops!"

"Border Army?! No... no, it's not the Border Army. Brothers, block them quickly..."

Li Xiaolan and the raiding cavalry vice commander were both stunned at the same instant.

At the same moment, the seven raiding cavalrymen at the rear of the Kuangdong were ambushed without warning by nine guards.

Though the armor-piercing power of the short blades was hardly worth mentioning, the raiding cavalry were all wearing light armor — one slash could still punch a bloody hole through.

Moreover, these guards had been tempered by the devilish training of Tianji Camp and honed by Jing Qianying — their movements were lightning-fast, their methods ferociously violent.

In barely a single exchange, two raiding cavalrymen were stabbed to death in a flurry of blades.

The remaining five raiding cavalrymen, in their panic, hurled fire torches and raised their short ge to defend.

The result...

The guards, who should have been wielding short blades in close combat, suddenly thrust out three long-handled spears.

Three men abreast, perfectly sealing off the narrow Kuangdong. The three long-handled spears, exploiting their length advantage, thrust wildly — and with irresistible force, they stabbed all five raiding cavalrymen to death.

Before the vice commander could even react, the chaotic shouts of his men had ceased.

Then...

Several fire torches used by the raiding cavalrymen were tossed over. The firelight illuminated the pitch-black pit. In the vice commander's moment of stunned distraction, an arrow flew in and struck him squarely in the right shoulder.

Unable to bear the pain, the vice commander's short ge clattered to the ground. Clutching his right shoulder, he was about to roar and fight to the death — when he realized in despair that three soldiers in black brocade uniforms, dressed in strange fashion, were advancing on him with short bows drawn.

The two sides were barely a zhang apart. If the three guards released at the same instant, they could shoot the vice commander dead on the spot.

What good was superb martial skill?

They simply wouldn't give him the chance to fight at close range!

Just as the vice commander closed his eyes to await death, a low command rang out from the direction of the cave entrance: "Take him alive!"

The three guards drew their short bows to the full, aimed at the vice commander's vital points — but did not loose.

Li Xiaolan's heart was filled with astonishment.

Where had these strangely dressed yet incomparably fierce soldiers sprung from?

Border Army?

No! The Border Army had no such elite troops, and right now the Border Army was already under immense pressure defending Bianchui — they had no energy left to dispatch men back to hunt Northern Di raiding cavalry.

Under Li Xiaolan's baffled gaze, a young man in a long scholar's robe — clearly dressed as a literati — suddenly appeared before her.

"Third Sister?!"

Hearing that sudden cry of "Third Sister," Li Xiaolan's whole body went rigid. She hurriedly looked the young man up and down. At first he seemed utterly unfamiliar, but after careful observation, she truly did find that this young man bore some resemblance to the little brother in her memory.

Though Li Xiaolan was in the Ancestral Land, she had long heard of her little brother's various "great feats" in Jingdu.

And now, in her and her mother's hour of peril, he had actually appeared before her...