Chapter 864 Xuanyuan's Guardianship (First Update)

Not to mention Gu Jiao's confusion, Tang Yueshan was completely clueless as well.

This old ghost king named Xuanyuan Qi is clearly on the same side as Gu Jiao. The two get along quite well. One is the great general of the Xuanyuan family, and the other is the new commander of the Xuanyuan Iron Cavalry.

Ah, I almost forgot that Xiao Heng is the Crown Princess's biological son, so this girl and Xuan Yuanqi are actually related!

"Hey! Stop fighting!"

Tang Yueshan rushed over to stop him, but Xuan Yuanqi's second attack was too fierce. He was a step too late, and the power of that attack had already landed on Gu Jiao!

Gu Jiao swung her silver spear again to defend herself.

In the instant the weapons clashed, even sparks were generated!

Tang Yueshan was unsure whether to worry about Gu Jiao's safety or whether the Jin army outside would hear their movements.

"Girl, hold on for a bit, I'll go check on her!"

Tang Yueshan awkwardly carried the child in his arms and ran to the crevice outside the cave, where he listened carefully to the sounds coming from the back of the mountain.

The patrolling Jin troops had already left, probably transferred to dig tunnels in the village.

He let out a long sigh: "Alright, you two keep fighting."

Uh, no!

What are you fighting for!

They're all on our side!

Tang Yueshan continued to go back to the cave to mediate the fight.

In the short time it took to exchange blows, Gu Jiao had already fought seven or eight moves with Xuan Yuanqi. Apart from barely managing to block the first two moves, she was defeated by Xuan Yuanqi in every subsequent one.

When Tang Yueshan came in, she had just been sent flying by Xuan Yuanqi's palm strike, crashing into the rock wall behind her and spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Tang Yueshan was shocked. No way, this girl had never suffered such serious injuries while fighting on the border of Zhao Kingdom!

Is Xuanyuan Qi serious?

He wanted to kill the girl?

Are you crazy?!

Without giving it much thought, Tang Yueshan's eyes darkened. He leaped into the air and raised his palm to attack Xuan Yuanqi!

Xuanyuan Qi glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, then turned around abruptly and met his palm strike with a palm.

The terrifying force, like exploding gunpowder, exploded wildly within Tang Yueshan's body. The child in his arms cried out, and his eyes trembled as he hurriedly used half of his inner strength to protect the infant in his arms.

In this way, Xuanyuan Qi's internal energy irresistibly invaded his dantian.

He landed on the ground, felt a sharp pain in his chest, and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Don't come any closer." Gu Jiao used her silver spear to support herself as she stood up, her eyes showing no fear. She casually wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and pointed the silver spear at Xuan Yuanqi. "I'll defeat him myself."

This was probably the most arrogant thing Tang Yueshan had ever heard in his life.

Defeating a monster like Xuanyuan Qi? Girl, are you sure you didn't break your brain?

Everyone has their own expertise. Tang Yueshan's forte is archery. In archery, even ten Xuanyuan Qi wouldn't be a match for him. But when it comes to one-on-one combat, Tang Yueshan is no match for Xuanyuan Qi.

It's not that Tang Yueshan's martial arts skills are bad, but rather that Xuan Yuanqi's martial arts skills are too terrifying.

During his years on Ghost Mountain, he had reached an incredible level, and even Long Yi could not easily harm him.

Gu Jiao, panting, looked at Xuan Yuanqi with eyes as unyielding as a wolf: "At least I held out for two moves against you. Back in the graveyard... I couldn't even withstand a single move. Now, I'm getting serious, so you'd better not—"

Snap!

Before he could finish speaking, he was sent flying by Xuanyuan Qi's sword.

Gu Jiao: "..."

Just as she was about to crash into the stone wall again, Gu Jiao turned around, kicked off the stone wall with one foot, and leaped up, wielding her spear to attack Xuan Yuanqi!

From this moment on, she stopped playing defense.

Offense is the best form of defense!

Gu Jiao fired shot after shot, bringing the Seven Styles of Xuanyuan to their fullest potential.

Tang Yueshan was dumbfounded. The little girl's martial arts skills were much better than when she was in Zhao Kingdom.

What kind of marksmanship is that? It's incredibly powerful! Even Xuan Yuanqi was forced to retreat!

Xuanyuan Qi only retreated briefly before launching an even fiercer attack on Gu Jiao.

All escape routes were blocked. If Gu Jiao couldn't withstand his move, she would die by his Qingfeng sword!

But she had already used up all of the Seven Forms of Xuanyuan; she had no more moves left.

Did Xuanyuan Qi really want to kill her?

Or was it just to scare her?

If it's the latter, then he should realize that she has reached her limit, and she has no chance of taking his attack.

Xuanyuan Qi showed no sign of stopping; his long sword flashed like a rainbow as he slashed fiercely toward Gu Jiao's head!

Gu Jiao sensed the approach of death; she could already see herself bleeding profusely, her head flying off and rolling on the ground with a clatter.

"Gu Jiaojiao, when you come back, we'll get married."

"Jiaojiao, are you going to war again?"

"But fighting is hard, I don't want Jiaojiao to suffer!"

"You can only eat three a day, no more. I'll come back after you've finished them all."

...

She wants to go back...

She can't die here!

A cold glint flashed in Gu Jiao's eyes, a wave of heat surged through her chest, and her mind exploded. As if driven by instinct, or as if she had practiced countless times, she suddenly gripped the silver spear in her hand, spun around from above her head, and slashed down at Xuan Yuanqi's longsword with the force of splitting mountains and seas!

Tang Yueshan's breath caught in his throat!

With a crisp sound, weapons clashed, sparks flew, Gu Jiao's spear slashed across Xuan Yuanqi's green sword, her toes pushed off the stone wall behind her, she flipped in mid-air, and aimed straight for Xuan Yuanqi's brow!

Her speed suddenly became unbelievably fast, and even Tang Yueshan could only catch fleeting afterimages.

Clang!

Xuanyuan Qi blocked her spear and grabbed her neck with his bare hands: "You lost."

Gu Jiao: "No."

Xuanyuan Qi frowned, looked down, and saw that Gu Jiao's other hand was holding a dagger and pressing it against his dantian.

Xuan Yuanqi's murderous aura faded, and he said calmly, "Reaching this point is already quite good."

Gu Jiao was exhausted and used her silver spear to support her body.

She had actually lost. Her dagger pierced his dantian, which would only seriously injure him, while if he had broken her neck, she would have died on the spot.

Tang Yueshan finally realized what was going on. Holding the child, he looked at Xuan Yuanqi with a grim expression: "So, you were testing her martial arts skills? You were too ruthless! If she hadn't been able to use those last two moves, she would have been dead by your blade!"

Xuanyuan Qi didn't speak, but turned around and walked deeper into the cave: "All the mechanisms in the passage have been activated, we can go now."

Black Wind King came over and nuzzled Gu Jiao soothingly with his head.

Gu Jiao took a breath and watched Xuan Yuanqi's figure disappear without turning his head, a strange feeling welling up in her heart.

Xuanyuan Qi hadn't held back at all, as if he was certain... she could use those two moves.

However, the Xuanyuan family's spear technique clearly only has seven forms; the last two forms were something she came up with in a moment of inspiration.

Is this guy trying to unlock my potential?

I can't think of any other possibility.

After regaining some strength, Gu Jiao turned around to pick up the things that had fallen to the ground during the fight.

"Huh? Where did it go?"

She searched around.

"What's missing?" Tang Yueshan asked.

“A small booklet,” Gu Jiao said.

She had memorized the information from Gongsun Yu's study, and fearing she might forget it, she drew all the images in her mind while waiting for Xuanyuan Qi to wake up.

That was something extremely important, concerning the victory of the entire battle and the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Pucheng.

"Found it, it's here!" Gu Jiao bent down and picked up the booklet from a crack in the rocks. She opened it and checked it to make sure she hadn't missed any pages before she and Tang Yueshan led their warhorses to catch up with Xuan Yuanqi.

They entered a relatively tall passage through a stone door, but it was still narrow enough for two people to walk side by side.

Furthermore, both the Black Wind King and the Black Wind Riders must lower their heads, otherwise it will be difficult for them to advance.

Neither horse had been trained to burrow through tunnels. Once inside, the eight-year-old Black Wind Rider was the first to become uneasy, and Black Wind King also felt a growing discomfort.

Gu Jiao turned around and stroked its mane reassuringly: "It's alright, boss."

Black Wind King forced himself to calm down, and Tang Yueshan also quietly comforted his warhorse the whole time. He had never coaxed his own son like this.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, they finally reached the exit.

Xuanyuan Qi pressed the mechanism, and the cool moonlight shone through, while a cool night breeze swept over them, allowing everyone to breathe in the long-lost fresh air.

The tunnel had ventilation openings that connected to the ground and were covered by grass or thorns, but the ventilation was poor, and everyone was sweating from the stuffiness.

The three men and two horses emerged from the tunnel.

This is an abandoned village, surrounded by mountains on three sides, with the official road to the north.

They came out of a cowshed, less than 100 meters from the main road.

"Well then, farewell." Gu Jiao said goodbye to Xuan Yuanqi.

Without saying a word, Xuanyuan Qi came to the side of Black Wind King, stepped on it with one foot and straddled it with his thigh, and sat down!

Gu Jiao blinked.

Xuanyuan Qi extended his hand to Gu Jiao with a blank expression.

Gu Jiao was stunned for a moment, then arrogantly stretched out one of her little paws and said, "Didn't you say you weren't coming with us? What? You're not staying behind at Ghost Mountain anymore?"

"I've changed my mind," Xuan Yuanqi said calmly, then pulled Gu Jiao onto the horse.

Gu Jiao sat behind him.

It was quite sudden.

Black Wind King: Master, you should lose weight.

Xuanyuan Qi: I want to eat horse meat tonight.

Black Wind King: ...Wrong answer, let's try again. Little Zhan Jiao, you should lose weight.

Jiaojiao: (⊙o⊙)

(End of this chapter)