Chapter 81: The best strategy is to attack the enemy's strategy
The moment the boulder fell, Feng Yanyuan realized that this was a Jedi "tailor-made" for him - he had powerful internal strength and fierce palm wind. If he were in an open area, he could sweep away thousands of troops, but in this narrow canyon, the rocks were loose, mud and water were mixed, and the power of the palm wind became a hindrance.
Looking up, the cliff face at this point was sheer, like a deep well, impossible to climb even with light kung fu. However, a few feet above, there was a thicket of trees, perfect for ambushing archers—a truly perfect location. If they hadn't been momentarily deceived, how could they have entered the canyon so easily? This Gongsun Bai truly put on a good show!
Amidst the swaying shadows of the trees, a figure stood with his hands behind his back, laughing wildly. He was clad in black armor, a jade belt around his waist gleaming coldly. It was none other than Prince Zhao's henchman—Liu Huai, the Yuzhou governor who had "invited" Feng Yanyuan into his residence before the Shouchun Banquet.
"Hahaha! Man proposes, God disposes. Your Highness, this is truly Heaven's will to destroy you!" Liu Huai laughed loudly, his voice shaking the canyon. "The heavy rains of the last few days have loosened the rocks. The cliffs of Luohun Gorge have long been unable to bear the weight. I heard that the Third Young Master Feng's palm wind is so sharp that it has the power of a tiger's roar and a dragon's roar! Come on! Just use it! Let me see how many rocks you can shake off with this palm!"
He paused, letting out a provocative "Oh," and pointed upwards at the crumbling ridge, a sinister smile playing on his lips. "See that? There's a flood that's been building up there for three days, just waiting for a break. If Third Young Master Feng gets carried away and strikes down with a single blow... oh, by then, the mountains will collapse, the earth will crack, the flood will rage, and there'll be no remains left at Hulao Pass—this 'illustrious reputation' will truly be passed down through the ages!"
Feng Yanyuan frowned.
The situation was clearly a dead end - if they used their internal energy to block the rain of arrows, the shockwaves from their palms would cause the mountain to collapse, and a flood would pour down, burying everyone under the mud and rocks; if they simply waved their swords to block it, it would be like a mantis trying to stop a chariot when the arrows were raining down, and sooner or later they would end up being pierced by thousands of arrows.
He narrowed his eyes and gazed at the end of the canyon. The exit was only a hundred feet away. If he pushed hard to break through, he might have a chance of protecting the prince and fighting his way out. However, the soldiers behind him could only stay here and die.
Commander Xiao suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood foam, his eyes bloodshot: "Bah! Bandits, even if they are wearing the official's coat, they are still thieves! That Gongsun Bai is even more despicable! He pretends to be kind and righteous, but he has the face of a jackal!" He drew out his ring-handled sword with a clang: "You rats, you are not worthy to talk to me here!"
"All is fair in war." Liu Huai gave a sinister smile. "If not, why would you all be so happy to walk into a trap? Forget it, why discuss military strategy with some dying men?"
Before he finished speaking, he hooked his finger, and the bowstring on the cliff top shook like thunder, and a rain of arrows poured down with a shrill sound of breaking through the air.
Commander Xiao shouted sternly, "Young Master Feng, lead the prince out quickly! Men, cover the rear!"
Arrows rained down like locusts, and the feathered arrows broke one after another wherever the blade passed.
The King of Huainan reined in his horse and looked back.
Commander Xiao, his armor soaked with blood, laughed three times, shaking the canyon: "I bid you farewell in this life! In the next life, I will be your horse's stirrup!" Before he finished speaking, another hail of arrows came at him. He swung his sword to split them apart and shouted fiercely: "Go!"
The thirty-seven guards roared in unison, forming a shield wall with their flesh and blood, vowing to carve a bloody path for the prince with their bodies.
Suddenly, the rain of arrows stopped.
Everyone was startled and looked up at the same time.
Halfway up the mountain, the Yuzhou Governor stood stiffly behind a boulder, his hands slightly raised. Behind him, a cyan figure suddenly appeared—Yun Yuan, dressed in a tight suit, his claws made of black gold gleaming coldly. His fingertips, sharp as eagle claws, were firmly pressed against the Governor's throat.
"Young lady..." Liu Huai's fingertips moved slightly downwards, as if reaching for the hidden weapon at his waist.
"Your Excellency, Governor, please do not act rashly." Yun Yuan's voice was chilling. "This claw is tempered with peacock gall. I'm timid. If my hand trembles for a moment..."
Liu Huai froze and laughed dryly, "Madam, what the heroine said is... everything can be discussed..."
"I think Mr. Gongsun's earlier proposal is a good one." Yun Yuan tilted her head slightly and said softly, "Leave a way out for both sides—after all, they're both princes. Who knows who will win in the end?"
"That's right! That's right!" Liu Huai responded hurriedly, pointing his trembling finger at the valley entrance, "Look, aren't they almost out..."
When the Huainan prince and his entourage saw Yun Yuan restraining the governor, they immediately understood what was going on. Whips whipped, they sped out of the valley. Their hooves trod over the gravel, sending up a shower of sparks, and in a flash they had reached the canyon's exit.
Yun Yuan caught a glimpse of everyone escaping danger, and just as her tense nerves were about to relax, she felt a sudden tightening of her wrist—Liu Huai had actually backhanded her pulse point, with such force that it practically shattered her bones! Before she could react, a powerful palm force had already slammed heavily into her heart.
"Bang!"
Yun Yuan flew backward, her back slamming hard against the rock wall. Her internal organs felt like they were being shattered by a giant hammer, a fishy, sweet taste welling up in her throat, and she spat out a mouthful of blood. The rubble from the rock wall fell, mixing with the blood that had spilled from her mouth, creating a glaring crimson in the dust.
"Being able to climb up this Tiger Cliff silently... I thought you had some skills, but is this all you can do?"
Liu Huai approached, his toes touching her chest. Yun Yuan felt a surge of blood in her throat, but she swallowed it back. Seeing this, Liu Huai maliciously pressed down with the tip of his boot, and her ribs cracked softly under the weight.
"Tsk tsk, what a pretty young lady." His sinister eyes wandered over Yun Yuan's pale face. "It's a pity that you risked your life to save her...your masters escaped without even looking back."
A mountain breeze, carrying the scent of blood, swept across the cliff. Liu Huai suddenly raised his foot and gave a fierce kick. The girl's body slid over a dozen feet, scraping against the gravel, and came to a stop at the edge of the cliff. Half of her sleeve was already hanging in the air, rustling in the wind.
Liu Huai's sneer was still on his lips when a roar like a dragon's roar and a tiger's roar suddenly exploded in the canyon!
"boom--"
The violent gust of wind swept over like a raging wave. Before Liu Huai could even scream, he was blown away by this terrifying internal force. With his clothes fluttering, he fell into the deep cliff like a crow with broken wings!
The archers on the cliff face were still in shock when they saw a figure approaching like a ghost - Feng Yanyuan's clothes fluttered, his eyes were bloodshot, but he didn't even bother to look at them. He just picked up the dying Yun Yuan.
The archers were so frightened that no one dared to shoot a single arrow.
At this moment——
“Boom!”
The mountain suddenly shook violently, as if a dragon had turned over, and the rock layers roared as they could not bear the weight. In an instant, loose boulders broke and tumbled, carrying a torrent of water with them, crushing the cliff bottom like a divine punishment! Before Liu Huai could even reach the Fallen Soul Gorge, he was instantly engulfed by this destructive force.
The archers on the cliffs were horrified and fled in all directions. However, the mud waves surged over them in the blink of an eye, instantly sweeping them into the murky torrent. Boulders collided, mud roared, and the entire Soul-Falling Gorge trembled under the fury of nature, instantly transforming into a sea of mud and rock that devoured life.
Feng Yan climbed to the top of the mountain at a rapid speed, leaping and moving in the torrent of rolling rocks. He leaped like flying between life and death, and finally landed on the other side of the mountain.
As soon as he found a safe place, he gently put the person in his arms down with trembling hands.
"Yuan'er..."
The girl's hair was disheveled as she lay quietly in Feng Yanyuan's arms. Her face was as pale as paper, and the bloodstains winding around her lips were glaring. Her long eyelashes drooped, and she was completely motionless.
The moment he saw Yun Yuan, he knew her martial arts skills wouldn't scare Liu Huai for long. But Gongsun Bai's calculations were incredibly shrewd. The canyon was narrow, with no jumping fulcrums. Even with his exceptional Qinggong skills, he couldn't directly soar up the mountainside. He could only hurry out of the canyon and search for a side peak that could lead to the cliff.
He didn't delay for a moment, he tried his best, but he was still a step too late.
Hatred gnawed at his heart like a venomous snake—he hated Gongsun Bai, he hated Liu Huai, but he hated himself even more. He hated his own lack of martial prowess, his own foolishness for not seeing through the feigned surrender, his own failure to arrive sooner, his own incompetence for leaving her to face the wolf alone. He truly was the self-important loser his brother had described him as!
The mountain wind whimpered as it swept through the cracks in the rocks. He looked down at the pale face of the person in his arms, and a fishy and sweet taste surged in his throat. He didn't know whether it was his own blood or blood oozing from his gritted teeth.
"Pharmacist...why are you here?"
The heavy voice of the King of Huainan came from behind him. He had never expected such a delicate girl to be so bold, and he couldn't understand how she had followed them all the way without leaving any trace, even arriving before them and discovering the ambush.
The prince slowly squatted down beside Yun Yuan, and the sound of armor rubbing against each other came from behind him - it was Commander Xiao and those soldiers who had escaped death. They stood in a circle in silence, and a solemn atmosphere spread in the mountain breeze.
"Her Qinggong..." Feng Yanyuan began, his voice hoarse, "and the art of concealment, have always been excellent." His fingers gently brushed Yun Yuan's bloodstained cheek, "These are all... skills for escaping."
The last sentence was almost squeezed out from between teeth.
The mountain wind whimpered as it swept by, blowing away his unfinished words.
He wanted to say that these were the skills that allowed her to survive, and that she clearly knew how to protect herself in this chaotic world...but unfortunately, she chose the most dangerous path.
King Huainan slowly closed his eyes.
As the two armies feigned a clash, amidst the flashes of swords and sabers, who would have noticed a light, green figure, as light as willow catkins? She must have taken advantage of the chaos to slip silently across the battlefield. Perhaps she had intended to survey the canyon's terrain first, but she had keenly spotted the crossbowmen lurking in the shadows of the mountainside—those deadly poisoned arrows, those cold rays aimed at their backs. Perhaps realizing it would be too late to turn back and warn, she decided to scramble from the flank, capturing the leader and holding him captive.
Feng Yanyuan whispered her name over and over, his voice shattered by the whistling mountain wind. He clutched her hand tightly, trying to warm that cold wrist, but suddenly felt a dead silence—her wrist had no pulse! He shuddered, hurriedly pressing on the delicate pulse, but after a moment, he could only detect a faint, almost dissipated beat.
This faint vitality almost suffocated him.
Instinctively, his hand reached for her waist—where the sachet of Hanmei Powder lay. His fingertips, just as they touched the embroidery, froze. Hanmei Powder could cure all poisons, but the force of her palm strike was so powerful, it was feared her internal organs were damaged... With this palm injury, what should he do?
A thought pierced my heart like a sharp knife.
Feng Yanyuan's hand was suspended in the air, not daring to check her breath.
The mountain wind whimpered past, picking up a strand of her hair and gently brushing it against his blood-stained fingers. His arms trembled as he pulled her into his embrace, his strength so light that it seemed as if he were holding a wisp of dissipating smoke.
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