—So this leader had feigned terror to distract him, allowing the riders hidden behind him to fire the signaling arrows while he was off guard.
—What kind of soldiers possessed such cunning and courage?
At this point, Huo Xiao Di knew he could not show mercy.
When the faint spray of blood misted the air, it seemed even the sun retreated behind the clouds. The riders, once so proud and formidable, now lay lifeless on the ground.
Limping slightly, Huo Xiao Di stepped over the bodies of the fallen soldiers, sprawled chaotically across the dirt.
Suddenly, his foot hit something hard. Looking down, he saw the secret portrait-scroll of the Xiang Yang Prince’s manor lying in the mud. It must have fallen from the leader’s robes when he was struck down.
After a moment of hesitation, Huo Xiao Di used his sword to flick the scroll into his hand. Without examining it, he tucked it into his own robes and went to help Zhan Ri Fei up.
Zhan Ri Fei shook his head and said weakly, “Go. They won’t catch you.”
Huo Xiao Di said, “I’ve dragged you into this. How can I leave you behind and not care for you?”
Zhan Ri Fei replied weakly, “You didn’t drag me into this. You don’t understand… they’re not actually after—”
Before he could finish, a surge of internal energy reversed within him, causing dizziness and blurring his vision. He could not utter another word.
Without another word, Huo Xiao Di hoisted Zhan Ri Fei onto the horse’s back. Zhan Ri Fei, barely conscious and utterly powerless, was unable to resist.
* * *
The sky had brightened. The sun rose higher and higher, piercing through the lingering low-hanging clouds and dispersing the biting morning wind.
The intense sunlight struck Huo Xiao Di’s face, and sweat seeped from every pore.
“You—won’t—get—away—!”
Those sinister words still echoed in his ears.
—Who exactly were these soldiers?
Huo Xiao Di’s eyes burned with a wild intensity. Under his urging, the warhorse galloped furiously.
Finally, with a sorrowful neigh, his horse collapsed to the ground, frothing at the mouth and utterly spent. It lay motionless, its tear-filled eyes seeming to gaze at him in despair.
Moments later, Zhan Ri Fei’s horse also crumpled to the ground, unable to take another step despite Huo Xiao Di’s desperate urging.
Huo Xiao Di felt a pang of deep regret.
—When he left the canyon road, he should have switched to the warhorses of those iron-blooded cavalry. Why hadn’t he thought of it sooner?
He looked back at the open road behind them. The flat, unmarked path betrayed their trail, a clear signal to any pursuers.
Terror flickered in Huo Xiao Di’s eyes. Summoning strength from somewhere deep within, he hauled Zhan Ri Fei onto his back and began running blindly, too panicked to consider the direction.
The wind howled, and the harsh sunlight stabbed at his eyes, making them water uncontrollably.
Pain throbbed faintly in his chest as his internal energy churned erratically. He pushed his light-footed technique, “Glimpse of the Soaring Phoenix,” to its very limits.
Now, he finally understood the taste of desperation. Zhan Ri Fei’s body seemed to grow heavier with every step, while the pain in his injured leg struck him like lightning, sharp and searing.
But he dared not stop.
—In broad daylight, after the signal arrows, the enemy would soon be upon them.
The road curved, and up ahead, a small farmhouse came into view. Outside it stood an old, weathered granary.
The sight of the granary made Huo Xiao Di’s legs feel as though they had turned to lead, heavy and stiff, refusing to move another step.
He had no choice but to stop.
Gritting his teeth, Huo Xiao Di supported Zhan Ri Fei and, with a powerful leap, rushed into the granary.
The tall granary was old and chaotic, appearing abandoned and unused for years. Even the entrance doors had large cracks, as if they had weathered decades of neglect.
Once inside, Zhan Ri Fei, leaning heavily on Huo Xiao Di, could no longer hold himself upright and collapsed limply to the ground. The wound on his back, worsened by the Matriarch of Han Shui’s palm strike and the jolts from their escape, was now bleeding profusely, unchecked.
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