Chapter 708 Brothers

Everyone around squinted at the sudden, sharp silver light, but Yuwen Ye instinctively opened his eyes wide, watching the sharp light brush past him from behind, the wind it stirred up making his sideburns fly.

It's Yuwen Qian!

Yuwen Ye turned his head and saw his elder brother holding a bow, his gaze even colder than the gleaming arrow. A silver light shot out from his hand, flashing past everyone's eyes before flying straight towards the steed beneath Wang Shaoqiu!

Immediately following was a long, piercing scream, and Wang Shaoqiu's terrified cry.

The horse was struck in the neck by an arrow and immediately collapsed, causing Wang Shaoqiu, who was on the horse, to scream and fall to the ground as well!

However, he reacted very quickly. The moment the horse fell to the ground, he immediately released the reins and rolled on the spot, thus avoiding being crushed by the fallen horse.

But just as he was falling over, almost simultaneously, another cold light suddenly shot from upstream. It was an arrow as fast as lightning, but because Wang Shaoqiu was falling backward, it missed and shot towards his back from where he had been sitting on the horse!

It hit Wang Shaoji squarely on the shoulder!

"ah!"

A scream rang out, and Wang Shaoji's eyes widened in pain as he nearly fell off his horse. However, because they had been traveling all night and were exhausted, they had all wrapped the reins tightly around their hands. So when he almost fell off his horse, the tightly wrapped reins held him up to one side of the horse's back.

However, the skin and flesh of his palm could not withstand such a strong tear, and the tiger's mouth immediately split open, blood splattered everywhere, and he screamed in pain!

The people around panicked immediately.

Not only them, but everyone around Yuwen Ye was also taken aback, staring wide-eyed at their surroundings—

Where did the arrow come from?

Just as everyone was still in astonishment, Yuwen Ye seemed to sense something and immediately turned his gaze to the upper reaches of the river. There, on a riverbank, reeds grew in abundance, though many had withered, they were still densely packed. Yuwen Ye's eyes were like torches as he stared intently at the reeds. After a long while, a vague figure slowly revealed its familiar outline.

It's Shang Ruyi!

She had followed us without us noticing and had hidden herself there, holding a longbow in her hand!

That was when they returned from the Western Turks. The horses given to her were those ridden by soldiers, and each horse was equipped with a bow and arrow. However, the journey was uneventful, so they were not used and remained idle.

Unexpectedly, she actually—

Yuwen Ye stared wide-eyed at the figure that was still somewhat timid, as if it dared not truly reveal its "true form" to him at this moment. Recalling the moment when the two arrows were shot out almost simultaneously, he couldn't help but clench his teeth tightly.

At that moment, a gasp from the other side disrupted his concentration.

He hurriedly turned around and saw that the soldiers behind them had witnessed Wang Shaoqiu fall from his horse and Wang Shaoji being shot by an arrow. The men they led were all rushing to the other side of the river. At this moment, the men who were lying in ambush on the Water God Mountain also noticed the commotion and rushed down the mountain. They saw cold light flashing in the forest, as if the people inside had drawn their swords and drawn their bows.

It looked like the two groups were about to clash!

A great war is about to break out!

But--

Yuwen Ye immediately turned to look behind them. Although they had brought quite a few people, they were scattered along the way, and there were not many people who could catch up with the people at the front. So at this moment, there were only a few hundred people gathered on the west bank of the river. However, Wang Shao and the people left on the Water God Mountain numbered at least tens of thousands.

This is simply not a war we can fight!

However, Wang Shaoji has already been hit by an arrow, and Wang Shaoqiu has fallen from his horse. If we do not press our advantage, we fear that there will be endless troubles to come!

Moreover, judging from their appearance, they were clearly exhausted after a night of desperate escape. If they charged up now, they might have a chance, but once the people on the mountain came down, they would have no chance.

Therefore, the only chance is—

But his quiver was already empty!

With a sudden tightening in his chest, Yuwen Ye turned around and said to Yuwen Qian behind him, "Big Brother!"

At this moment, he did not call him "Royal Brother," but the words "Elder Brother" were heavier and louder than ever before. Yuwen Qian seemed to be suddenly awakened from a dream, and hurriedly withdrew his gaze from the shadowy figure in the reeds. When he looked at Yuwen Ye again, he instantly became clear-headed.

He quickly turned his hand, pulled an arrow from the quiver on the saddle, and drew the bowstring again!

However, his fingertips froze when he aimed at Wang Shaoqiu.

Really...

But in that instant of hesitation, the enemy seemed to spot figures moving in the reeds as well, and someone shouted, "Ambush! Go quickly!"

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Yuwen Qian gritted his teeth and suddenly released an arrow!

Just as the arrow in his hand flew out, Wang Shaoqiu, who had rolled into the middle of the river and was already soaked by the icy water, suddenly dodged and pounced on Wang Shaoji on the other side.

At this moment, Wang Shaoji's hand was about to be torn in two by the reins. As he struggled to untie the reins, Wang Shaoqiu suddenly grabbed his arm.

Blood gushed from his shoulder where he had been shot, and he screamed in agony.

"you--"

Just as Wang Shaoji was about to open his mouth and curse, Wang Shaoqiu suddenly pulled him over and shielded him. With a "whoosh", the arrow shot by Yuwen Qian hit Wang Shaoji in the chest!

At that moment, everyone was stunned!

Even Yuwen Qian was dumbfounded. His hand, which was tightly gripping the bow and arrow, froze, and the longbow immediately tilted to one side.

Those around the Wang brothers were terrified and shouted, "General!"

"Sir, you—"

"What are you doing?!"

Wang Shaoji was also stunned. At this moment, he couldn't even care less about the tearing pain in his chest and the bone-chilling cold. His eyes reddened, and he slowly turned his head, his eyes bloodshot, staring at the brother behind him who had been using him as a shield, the brother he had rescued from Taiyuan City just last night. His pale lips trembled uncontrollably, and after a long while, he finally managed to squeeze out a single word: "You—"

But it was all too late.

Before he could even utter a second word, he felt himself being dragged off his horse and fall heavily into the river. In an instant, the river water, mixed with the blood flowing from his body, turned pink, creating a splash more than a meter high. The blood-red wave swallowed him up in a flash.

Even in his dying moments, his eyes remained wide open as he watched his brother, amidst the ensuing hail of arrows, frantically climb onto his horse's back, clinging desperately to its neck, shouting "Retreat!" as they raced towards the Water God Mountain.

The rest of the people, seeing that he was no longer moving, all followed Wang Shaoqiu and fled desperately.