In the forest, screams erupted.
Fifteen elite soldiers led by the Turkic Eagle were ambushed in the woods.
The ambusher, a single person.
Wielding a sharp sword, the attacker’s swordplay was incredibly fast, leaving the soldiers no chance to react. The Turkic Eagle, relying on his saber, managed to block the incoming blade.
“Hoo~ hoo~”
The Turkic Eagle gripped his saber with his backhand, the tip resting on the ground, panting heavily. He scanned his surroundings, his eyes bloodshot.
The fifteen elite soldiers he had brought lay dead beside him. Not a single wound marred their bodies, save for the sword piercing their throats. Blood seeped into the ground, the strong scent of gore filling the air. The cry of vultures grew closer. The Eagle felt a sense of threat, flapping his wings agitatedly.
Failing to kill the Turkic Eagle with a single blow, Ying Yi frowned slightly. He saw smoke signals rising in the distance. With a flash, he moved like wind and lightning, too fast to be captured.
The Turkic Eagle was a formidable warrior on the battlefield, but an army could not truly contend with a martial arts master. He watched the sword leap before his eyes, feeling the gusting wind from the blade brush against his cheeks. All of the attacker's movements seemed to slow down as his senses amplified. He could even see the ripples created by the sword cutting through the air. Yet, with all his might, he swung his saber, letting out a roar like a cornered beast.
However, he was still a step too late.
The sword plunged fiercely into his throat. The Turkic Eagle’s hand froze mid-air. In the last moments of his life, he still wanted to cleave his saber into the attacker’s chest. The saber continued its arc, and when the blade was only half a meter from Ying Yi’s chest, it abruptly stopped, then crashed to the ground.
With the saber, the corpse of the Turkic Eagle also fell.
After the Turkic Eagle’s death, Ying Yi made no further stops, swiftly heading towards the entrance of Changming Mountain.
Poison, feared for its insidious nature.
Poisonous gas swirled around, and everyone who stepped into its range experienced symptoms like weakness in the limbs and dizziness.
Nan Shiying dared not deploy her poison so recklessly by the abyss, fearing that the toxic gas would spread with the wind and be inhaled by innocents, causing widespread casualties.
But this was Liao Territory!
Nan Shiying, holding the saber snatched from a Liao soldier, moved towards the entrance of Changming Mountain. Soldiers shouted and clashed all around, but those who approached her were either decapitated by her saber or impaled through the heart by her sleeve arrows. In a short while, dozens had fallen by her hand.
Eerie!
The Eagle Division soldiers were all brave and skilled fighters, accustomed to the bloodshed of battle. None would utter a word of fear, yet at this moment, they were chilled to the bone by the bizarre scene.
They held their sabers but dared not advance.
A preposterous sight unfolded before them: soldiers, surrounding Nan Shiying and her companion from all sides, yet moving in unison with her steps.
It didn’t look like a siege, but more like protection.
“Celestial Maiden above, your devotee Barton requests your blessings!”
“Celestial Maiden above, your devotee…”
“Celestial Maiden above…”
Suddenly, a soldier clasped his fist to his chest and prayed devoutly.
The prayers spread from one to another, their voices converging to form a wave of sound.
Nan Shiying was slightly taken aback.
Prayers?
Seeking blessings?
Nan Shiying recalled what Shen Xing had said about the Celestial Maiden.
A benevolent cloud descended from above, and a beam of light shone down. Nan Shiying heard a creaking sound originating from her flesh and bones.
The soldiers let out fierce cries. The soldier who had prayed first, enveloped in fierce aura, brandished his saber and charged towards Nan Shiying.
Nan Shiying swung her saber, and the blades clashed. The force transmitted back to her palm from the impact made Nan Shiying’s pupils contract.
What was happening? Her poisonous gas seemed to have no effect?
Could praying to the Celestial Maiden truly grant blessings?
As the prayers concluded, the Eagle Division soldiers, full of renewed vigor, charged relentlessly towards this audacious individual who dared to intrude into their camp and slaughter their men.
One falls, another rises.
Under their fearless, death-defying assault, Nan Shiying lost her earlier composure. Her brows furrowed, her gaze sharp as a blade. Her saber had swung countless times, reaping numerous lives.
Just as she was struggling to cope, two figures descended from Changming Mountain behind the Eagle Division.
Situ Kong leaped like a great roc, entering the fray. He dodged the soldiers’ sabers and swung his own, instantly disrupting the Eagle Division’s encirclement of Nan Shiying.
The life and death of the person before him concerned his own survival. Shen Xing dared not hold back, charging into the battle with Situ Kong.
Their arrival greatly eased Nan Shiying’s pressure.
“Tear open a path!”
Nan Shiying’s eyes were bloodshot, and blood splattered onto her face. She fiercely ordered Situ Kong and Shen Xing, her expression as fierce as a Rakshasa.
Situ Kong and Shen Xing responded. Together, they forcefully carved an opening through the encirclement of the Eagle Division soldiers.
Ying Yi arrived and joined the battle.
His arrival was akin to a wolf entering a sheep pen from the mountains.
Even the elite forces of the Eagle Division were like fish on a cutting board under his sword.
Nan Shiying tossed Xiao Man to Ying Yi. Ying Yi, carrying Xiao Man, fought his way out of the encirclement, protecting Nan Shiying as they charged into Changming Mountain.
In the Eagle Division camp, a sentry’s heart jolted upon seeing the smoke signals rising in the distance.
“Special Duty, Special Duty, trouble!”
Burugude heard the urgent cry from outside his tent. He pulled back the tent flap. His tent faced Changming Mountain, and before his subordinate could even report, he saw the billowing smoke.
His face hardened. He turned, picked up the spear from his table, and led his soldiers towards Changming Mountain.
…
Nan Shiying and the others ascended the mountain and entered the forest. Ying Yi covered their rear, erasing all traces.
Changming Mountain’s terrain was perilous, with high peaks and dense forests. Entering the mountain was like a fish diving into the sea; tracking them would be harder than climbing to heaven.
Ensuring that pursuers would not follow, the group stopped their hurried advance.
“Brother!”
Xiao Man lifted Nan Shiying’s arm, the blood already soaking through the sleeve.
“Does it hurt?”
Xiao Man’s voice quivered with tears. This wound was taken for her.
Nan Shiying stroked Xiao Man’s head, not answering. Instead, she took out a bottle of medicine from her怀 and handed it to her. Xiao Man sniffled, tore off a piece of cloth from her sleeve, and gently dabbed the blood outside the wound before opening the cap and pouring the powder onto her injury.
After finishing, Xiao Man lowered her head and gently blew on the wound, stroking her arm as if coaxing a child. “Blow on it, and it will heal faster!”
A trace of blood adorned the corner of Nan Shiying’s eye. She looked down at Xiao Man, a smile blooming in her eyes. The ferocity that had surrounded her dissipated, and she appeared much softer.
When she was a child and got hurt, Granny Wang would hold her, stroking her head, and gently blow on the wound, saying, “Blow, blow, it won’t hurt anymore!”