Huo Qiyuan was not wearing armor. He was dressed in a dark, fitted outfit and rode a pure white, tall steed. His long silver hair fluttered in the wind, making him exceptionally eye-catching.
It was indeed him!
Huo Qixiao looked at the man on the white horse below the city wall with complex emotions. Although he couldn't see his face clearly, he could recognize him by his rare silver-white, flowing long hair and the unique aura of a soldier and warrior emanating from him.
Huo Qixiao was almost instantly certain that this man was the one he had strived for in his past life, only to be able to look up to him from a corner – his cousin, Huo Qiyuan!
Huo Qixiao's thoughts returned to several years ago, to when he encountered him in the no-man's-land. When he heard that Huo Qiyuan was not dead and had become the Regent of the Hua Xia Dynasty, he had pondered this in his mind.
He had seen Su Muqing before. A silver-haired man had been by her side. That man and his guards had worn masks the entire time, so Huo Qixiao did not know his appearance.
At that time, he had also felt that the man's gaze towards him was strange, always feeling somewhat familiar, and also a sense of… dread. But at that time, in his mind, Huo Qiyuan was already dead, and Huo Qixiao had not thought in that direction at all.
Looking at it now, his cousin should have been unaware of the truth of what happened at the King of Biandao's mansion a few years ago, which was why he had let him go in the no-man's-land.
Otherwise, whether it was Su Muqing's strange martial arts skills or her later status as the City Lord of the no-man's-land, it would have been an easy matter for Huo Qiyuan to kill him or imprison him.
Huo Qixiao's thoughts settled. He gazed enviously at the neat rows of vehicles parked behind the enemy forces. He never expected that in just a few short years, the once complex and chaotic no-man's-land would develop so rapidly.
As Huo Qixiao was watching him, Huo Qiyuan was also watching him. Looking at his cousin now, clad in the silver armor of a First Rank General, standing tall below the city wall and looking down at him.
His expression was serious and calm, appearing as if he had been through much training, unlike the good-for-nothing, pampered young master he remembered.
This aura of seasoned experience appearing suddenly on Huo Qixiao, Huo Qiyuan truly hadn't expected. He wondered if he had never truly known his cousin, or if he was simply too good at disguise.
The opposing forces, set on a collision course, had no need for pre-battle taunts. Huo Qixiao stared at the person below for a moment, then waved his hand, and the next second, densely packed archers appeared around the city wall.
This formation clearly indicated they were prepared, but Huo Qiyuan didn't care. He had deliberately released the news about Xu Zhipeng back then to let Emperor Rui and Huo Qixiao know that he had returned… returned to take their lives!
While the enemy forces were on full alert, Huo Qiyuan's side remained indifferent. Seeing the overly quiet enemy below, Huo Qixiao's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
As he pondered what trick Huo Qiyuan was up to, the sky above suddenly darkened considerably. Everyone on the city wall looked up, and their expressions changed drastically in the next second…
What a huge eagle! Its wingspan seemed wider than the city wall. As it flew over their heads, it brought an overwhelming sense of oppression, and in its two sharp talons, it clutched two men dressed in black.
The eagle flew at an extremely low altitude over their heads. Its sudden appearance completely disrupted the plans of those on the city wall. Soon, someone couldn't hold back and raised their bow and arrow, shooting at the low-flying eagle.
One arrow was shot, and a hundred followed. The eagle, facing the barrage of arrows, showed no intention of dodging. Instead, it continuously adjusted its flight posture and angle, weaving through the sharp arrows, playing as if it were having great fun!
The eagle was having a blast. It flapped its massive wings, flying high and low, turning sideways and flipping, while the archers unleashed a volley of shots at it. In the end, not a single feather was lost.
However, while the eagle was enjoying itself, Leng Si and Leng Ao, clutched in its talons, were having a rather miserable time.
At first, they could barely withstand its few twists, but as its maneuvers became more varied and the angles of its flips increased, the two began to struggle.
Especially Leng Ao. When the eagle performed a 360-degree flip, it actually loosened its talons, throwing them out. At that moment, Leng Ao's heart leaped into his throat.
He had only one thought: could this eagle be a spy? It's over! It's over! If they fall, they'll be smashed to pieces. They'll truly be played to death by it.
Just as Leng Ao screamed and closed his eyes, the eagle flipped over and firmly grasped him with its talons. Leng Ao broke out in a cold sweat from its movements, immensely relieved that it had caught him in the end.
"Ba Tian! Are you trying to kill us?" Leng Si wiped his mouth and shouted resentfully. Earlier, when he was in mid-air, he couldn't hold back and vomited, right onto the person next to Wang Bingchang.
Seeing the eagle, which had become playful, Huo Qiyuan was somewhat helpless. He blew a whistle to communicate with the eagle. Upon hearing Huo Qiyuan's command, the eagle let out a long cry, a "chirp," and then flew to a place beyond the archers' reach.
After the eagle stopped its antics, Leng Si and Leng Ao adjusted themselves, then took out the two guns they carried and aimed them at the crowd on the city wall.
Huo Qixiao, not knowing what the two were doing, could only vigilantly stare at the behemoth in mid-air and the two people in its talons.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
Suddenly, two sounds echoed through the void. Due to the open terrain, these sudden sounds were exceptionally loud.
Before Huo Qixiao could clearly see what was happening, he felt a stream of warm liquid splash onto his face. He raised his hand, but before it touched his face, the two men standing beside him fell to the ground with a thud.
"Qixiao, be careful! Lie down quickly!" Wang Bingchang, seeing the bloodstain on Huo Qixiao's face, shouted and pushed him to the ground, holding his head tightly to prevent him from lifting it.
Not long after the two had lay down, two more "bang" sounds rang out. Huo Qixiao's head was pressed by Wang Bingchang's hand, and his face was buried in the face of one of the fallen deputy generals who had been standing beside him, his eyes wide open in death.
In the center of his forehead was a thumb-sized blood hole, from which blood still occasionally dripped. At the back of the heads of the two fallen deputy generals, a pool of dark red blood had gathered, along with a small amount of yellowish fluid.
The strong smell of blood filled Huo Qixiao's nostrils. He forcibly turned his face away, suppressing his nausea, then shook his head and broke free from Wang Bingchang's hand on the back of his head, rolling to the other side with a flip.
Huo Qixiao leaned tightly against the city wall, covering his chest with his hand. His heart was pounding wildly, making him feel as if it would leap out of his mouth at any second.
The direction from which the projectile had been fired, if it had deviated even slightly to the left or right, one of the people lying on the ground would have been himself.