Zhao Yi placed his hand on the wooden door, as if he was about to open it and go out, and said softly, "You guys hide inside."

Zhao Cheng counted through the crack in the door and said, "There are five of them. Don't go out."

Zhao Yidao said, "This wooden door can't stop us."

Zhao Cheng said, "It's dark in here, and the space behind the door is narrow. We can back up, and it would be easier for you to kill them one by one as they come in."

Zhao Yi was taken aback for a moment, then said, "Young Master, you are very clever. This is a good idea."

Zhao Yi himself was a child, but he didn't look down on children like others did. Although Zhao Cheng was only eight years old, he thought Zhao Cheng's method was good, so he didn't hesitate and stepped back.

The five men in black hesitated for a moment outside the wooden door before finally kicking it open and rushing in.

Clang!

Bang! Bang!

"ah--"

Zhao Cheng hugged Zhao Yan. They couldn't see anything, but they could hear the sounds of fighting coming from the darkness.

The sound stopped after a short while.

Zhao Cheng whispered, "Zhao Yi... Zhao Yi?"

"Young Master, I'm still alive." Zhao Yi's voice came from the darkness, but it sounded somewhat uneasy.

"Phew..." Zhao Cheng breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhao Yidao said, "The person outside isn't dead. There are so many corpses piled up here. We can't stay here any longer. Quickly think of another place."

Zhao Cheng thought for a while and said, "Zhao Yan, think again, are there any other places where you can play hide-and-seek with Zhao Zhan?"

Zhao Yan said, "This is the best and most secluded place..."

Before he could finish speaking, more men in black ran in from outside the door, even more than before.

"Hide well."

Zhao Yi said something softly, and Zhao Cheng then heard the sound of Zhao Yi wiping a knife on the corpse.

Before Zhao Yi had finished killing this group of people, more men in black ran towards the wine cellar. As more and more people entered the inner courtyard, Zhao Yi and Zhao Cheng realized that Lian Zhongyi's situation was probably not good either.

Zhao Cheng and his group had no chance to change locations. Zhao Yi didn't even have time to rest. He stood guard at the wooden door, ready to hold off ten thousand men.

Zhao Cheng clenched his small fists tightly in the darkness, but he was powerless. He was close to Zhao Wu and could hear Zhao Yi's increasingly rapid breathing, and even Zhao Yi's subconscious soft gasp.

He knew that Zhao Yi must be injured.

The man in black only went in and didn't come out, causing some panic among the people outside the wine cellar. Someone said to the man in black whose Achilles tendon had been severed, "Are you sure there are only three children in here?!"

"I'm sure! There's only one kid who's really good at fighting, and the other two must be Zhao Huan's sons!"

"What are you afraid of? Capturing Zhao Huan's two sons at once, that's a huge achievement!"

"If you don't take action now, the credit will go to someone else!"

"Kill them quickly!"

While the man in black hesitated, Zhao Cheng asked, "Zhao Yi, are you seriously injured?"

Zhao Yidao: "It's alright."

Zhao Cheng said, "If... I mean if, you can't hold on any longer, just tell me, and I'll go and negotiate with them."

Zhao was taken aback for a moment, then asked doubtfully, "How do we negotiate?"

Zhao Cheng said, "I will reveal my identity. I am the eldest son. If they capture me alive, they can use me to threaten my father. A living eldest son of the Dragon Commander is more useful than a dead one. I will make a deal with them, forbidding them from killing you and Zhao Yan. If they do not keep their promise, I will bite my tongue and commit suicide!"

Zhao Yidao said, "Young Master, your idea is good and brave, but you are too naive. These people will not negotiate with you."

Zhao Cheng said, "We should at least give it a try."

Zhao Yidao: "No. Even if they agree, I won't agree."

Why?

"If they really use you to threaten your father, wouldn't that harm your father?"

Zhao Yi shifted his body slightly, and Zhao Cheng, using the light and shadow outside, saw half of Zhao Yi's face. It was a face covered in blood, with even a bright red bloodstain on it.

It was exceptionally ferocious.

"I'm sorry, I can't do anything that would be detrimental to your father."

Zhao Yi turned around, his back to the Zhao brothers again, and said, "Young masters, please rest assured, I promised your father that anyone who wants to harm you will have to step over my dead body!"

Zhao Cheng stood there, stunned, his whole body trembling.

Zhao Yan felt his brother trembling and had just seen Zhao Wu's face.

He knew that the knife wound on Zhao Yi's face was fresh, inflicted to protect them.

Zhao Yan's face was wet with tears, but he didn't make a sound. He had promised his brother and Zhao Yi that he wouldn't cry.

Seeing the men in black enter one after another, Zhao Yi raised his knife again.

At this moment, he had no idea that thirteen years later, on a certain night, he would be protecting Zhao Cheng in the same way he was tonight.

One cannot advance through wind and rain alone.

...

"kill--"

"Kill all the traitors and rebels!!!"

At the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), the sky was no longer so dark. Zhao Huan led his men back from Jing Palace to launch a counterattack against the enemy.

Upon returning home, seeing the corpses lying haphazardly, some even piled up like mountains, Zhao Huan was filled with rage.

Since his family moved into this apartment, it had never been so devastated.

From the front to the backyard, everything was connected by corpses, without even a single step of space!

Behind the back gate, Lian Zhongyi was still directing the few remaining Dragon Spear Guards to hold out, while Zhao Huan flanked the enemy from behind and ordered He Zhi and Yang Taozhi to enter the inner courtyard to provide reinforcements.

There were too many enemies scattered throughout the mansion. It took a full hour of fighting before the entire mansion finally quieted down.

Although the backyard was not as badly damaged as the front yard, it was still a terrible sight.

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