Chapter 39 Misty Western Hills (Part 11)

Ling Wei was about to engage in battle when her gaze fell upon the woman's profile. Her pupils suddenly contracted, and a name escaped her lips in shock: "...Xuan Ying?"

That was the most capable commander of her elder sister's personal guards, the late Crown Princess Linghua. How could she be here?!

Ling Wei turned her head sharply to look in the direction they had rushed from. Yun Qi was being protected by the two of them, anxiously looking in her direction.

Yun Qi doesn't know martial arts, so his appearance at this moment only means one thing: these people were transferred by Shen Zhilan. And Shen Zhilan actually managed to use her elder sister's personal guards.

Countless questions and suspicions flooded her mind. Shen Zhilan, how many secrets is he still hiding? His and her elder sister's deaths... Ling Wei's gaze towards Yun Qi was sharp as a knife, chilling to the bone.

Yun Qi met Ling Wei's shocked yet coldly scrutinizing gaze from afar, and his heart skipped a beat. He knew something was wrong; His Highness had recognized Lord Xuan Ying.

He frantically shook his head and waved his hands, disregarding the danger, and scrambled closer during a lull in the fighting, shouting with all his might, "Your Highness! The young master has no ill intentions! These people are here to rescue you! Once the young master arrives, he will explain everything to you! Please believe him this time!"

Ling Wei gripped the knife tightly, her gaze quickly sweeping between Xuan Ying and the others who were fighting fiercely, and Yun Qi, whose face was pale and who was eager to explain.

The rescue was real and tangible. If they hadn't arrived in time, the casualties on their side would have been unpredictable. In a flash, Ling Wei suppressed her turbulent emotions. The battle situation didn't allow her to delve into the details at this moment.

She took a breath, her eyes regaining their composure, and said sternly, "Provide backup, Qing Shu, take men and retrieve the weapons."

Seeing that Ling Wei had temporarily suppressed her doubts, Yun Qi visibly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly signaled to the reinforcements, who immediately threw powerful bows, arrows, and spare swords to Ling Wei and the others.

With the weapon in hand, Ling Wei's spirits lifted, and she instantly entered command mode.

With the addition of this new force, especially the extremely powerful Xuan Ying and others, the battle situation was slightly reversed.

Ling Wei's precise command quickly united the two groups that were originally fighting independently, and the counterattack immediately changed, with swords and arrows aimed at vital points.

The gunpowder packets thrown by the bandits were detonated in mid-air by several cunning arrows before they even hit the ground, sending sparks flying and causing their own men to scream in pain.

Suddenly, tripwires appeared on the ground, and blades flashed from the shadows, slashing at the horses' legs. The horses fell to the ground in panic, and the riders were thrown around in disarray.

In addition, Qing Shu and the others would occasionally unleash bursts of mental energy, targeting bandits when they were gathered or when they wanted to launch a sneak attack, which always managed to throw the enemy into disarray.

Although there were many people on the other side, a dark mass of two or three hundred, their fighting style was rough, relying entirely on ruthlessness and the courage emboldened by gunpowder.

Ling Wei's side only has about thirty people at most, but each one is an elite, with concentrated mental power and perfect teamwork.

If this drags on, while annihilating the enemy is impossible, it won't be difficult to protect Ling Wei and the others, tear open an opening, and allow them to retreat safely.

In the midst of the fierce battle, a dark figure swept up to Ling Wei's side. It was Xuan Ying, slightly out of breath, speaking rapidly: "Fifth Prince, there are too many of them. A protracted fight is pointless. We'll cover their retreat. You take your men and leave through the gap in the northeast corner immediately."

Ling Wei glanced at the northeast direction and saw that the pressure was indeed slightly lighter. Xuan Ying was right; the most urgent task was to break out of the encirclement, not to fight to the death.

Just as she was about to order the evacuation, a dull and intense tremor shook the earth.

In the distance, the light from torches merged into a river of light, and the sound of horses' hooves approached rapidly like rolling thunder.

The main force of the garrison in Fuling County has arrived.

The bandits, who had been launching a frenzied attack, were suddenly doused with ice water. "Soldiers! It's a large contingent of soldiers!" "Run!"

The bandits no longer cared about surrounding and killing Ling Wei and the others; they scrambled to turn their horses around and flee into the depths of the mountains.

Ling Wei's eyes sharpened. How could she let such a good opportunity slip by? She shouted, "Block the east and south directions! Try to capture the leader alive!"

Her gaze instantly locked onto the bandit leader in the chaotic crowd, who was frantically whipping her mount and trying to rush out against the flow of people, protected by several trusted guards. It was the same tall, strong woman who had been shouting the loudest earlier.

At that moment, a troop of government cavalry galloped in, cutting into the fleeing bandits from the flank, further exacerbating the chaos and temporarily isolating the bandit leader and her guards in a small, relatively open area.

Right now.

Ling Wei took the black lacquered bow that Qing Shu handed her. The bow felt solid and cool to the touch, something she hadn't experienced in a long time. Since her martial meridians were damaged and she had barely recovered with that special "treatment," she hadn't touched anything like this in far too long.

Nock the arrow, draw the string, and try to draw the bow.

The initial stiffness lasted only a moment. Then, the power that had been dormant deep within her meridians seemed to be awakened, surging out along her arm and quickly overlapping with the feeling in her memory.

The initial awkwardness receded like the tide, and the familiar sense of control returned to my palms. The taut bowstring hummed and my arms were full of energy. Everything was right.

She drew the bow steadily, like a full moon hanging in the air.

Almost at the same moment, before the horse's hooves had even come to a complete stop, Shen Zhilan's gaze had already swept across the entire field before settling on the figure drawing the bow.

A night breeze blew by, lifting a few strands of hair stuck together with sweat and blood on Ling Wei's cheek, revealing her eyes reflected in the firelight.

......

Time seemed to stretch out and rewind at this moment.

Many years ago, there seemed to be a similar situation. On one occasion, a delegation from a neighboring country visited, and during the banquet, their warriors showed off their horsemanship and archery skills, and their words were quite disdainful of Da Chen.

It was Ling Wei, who was only fifteen or sixteen years old at the time. Dressed in red like a burning flame, she blindfolded herself, mounted her horse without saying a word, and fired three arrows in quick succession. Each arrow pierced the square hole of a copper coin swaying in the wind a hundred paces away, astonishing the entire audience and bringing great honor to the royal family.

He was sitting in the officials' family section, surrounded by young men of similar age from prominent families. He heard someone next to him say in a hesitant tone, "Actually, the Fifth Prince..." Before he could finish speaking, his companion nudged him with his elbow. The young men exchanged glances and let out a knowing chuckle, the restlessness and jeering of young people experiencing their first stirrings of love.

He had only frowned slightly when he heard the laughter, finding it somewhat noisy. But the figure now drawing the bow was completely different from the girl in his memory.

Gone was the ostentation, replaced by a calm, focused concentration; his figure stood tall and solitary, as if capable of cleaving through all chaos and darkness.

Three bowstrings rang out in succession, and everyone felt a blur before their eyes.

The first arrow pierced the rump of the bandit leader's horse, causing the horse to neigh loudly and violently throw its leader off its back in pain.

The second arrow pierced precisely through the bandit leader's right shoulder blade as she tried to get up, pinning her firmly to the ground.

The third arrow pierced the air and struck the guard who rushed to save her master right between the eyebrows. The force of the arrow knocked her backward, and she fell silent instantly.

Three arrows were fired in quick succession, and the bandit leader was captured and fell from his horse in one fell swoop.

The battlefield seemed to fall silent for a moment, with only the crackling of burning torches and the clamor of fleeing bandits remaining.

Ling Wei slowly lowered her arm, her face expressionless, and casually wiped away a little blood that had splattered on her chin.

She turned her head, her gaze sweeping over the bandits who were being surrounded and captured by soldiers. Finally, her eyes met those of Shen Zhilan, who was staring at her from horseback.

A strange and scalding heat swept over her, making Shen Zhilan's fingertips slightly numb.

He snapped back to his senses, instinctively gripping the reins tightly, his palms damp with sweat, yet his burning heartbeat did not subside.