Chapter 125
Fan Changyu followed Xie Shiyi and others and hurried to the villa, but he was still a step late.
The entire villa was engulfed in flames. Several corpses covered in blood were lying all over the place at the gate. The blood on the steps looked both desolate and glamorous in the firelight.
Fan Changyu rushed into the courtyard with a glimmer of hope to look for someone: "Qianqian?"
She searched several rooms but didn't see anyone. Finally, she saw the cook who had been knocked unconscious at the kitchen door. She picked her up and helped her out of the yard.
When Xie Shiyi led his men to count the blood-stained corpses at the door, they found that one of them was still alive, so they quickly took out a life-saving pill and gave it to him to take.
The man opened his eyes weakly, and seeing that it was his own people, he quickly explained the whole story: "Someone disguised himself as the Blood-Cloaked Rider and attacked the other courtyard. We couldn't tell the enemy from the enemy, and I was at a disadvantage for a while..."
Xie Shiyi asked, "Where are Huang Zhongsun and his mother?"
The man pointed vaguely in a direction: "East... east..."
Xie Shiyi hurriedly reported the discovery to Fan Changyu, who ordered a small number of people to stay here to deal with the aftermath, while the rest continued to chase eastward.
The villa was built on the outskirts of the city, so it was impossible to seal off the entire city and conduct a carpet search. If they couldn't catch up now, they might completely lose any trace of Yu Qianqian and her son.
Fan Changyu was extremely anxious. He mounted his horse, whipped the horse hard, and continued to chase eastward.
The Blood-Cloaked Riders were all former scouts. Seeing that the gauze on Fan Changyu's simply bandaged arm had been stained red with blood, Xie Shiyi comforted him, "Captain, don't worry too much. There are new wheel tracks on the ground. They kidnapped Huang Zhongsun and his mother in a horse-drawn carriage. We can catch up with them."
Fan Changyu didn't respond, his lips still tightly pursed.
Yu Qianqian is one of her few friends, and Baoer is even more important to them. Xie Zheng has now come to Beijing, and she cannot let anything happen to Yu Qianqian and her son.
After chasing for more than ten miles, a volley of arrows suddenly shot out from the dense forests on both sides of the official road ahead.
Fan Changyu quickly raised his sword to block. The Blood-Cloaked Riders who were accompanying him were all elite warriors. Although they were not injured, some of the horses they were riding were hit by arrows and fell down.
Xie Shiyi said with hatred: "They must have heard the sound of horse hooves and left some people here to ambush in advance!"
Fan Changyu glanced at the dozens of Blood-Cloaked Riders left after the ambush, and said to Xie Shiyi, "I'll lead the others to continue the pursuit, and you deal with those people in the woods."
Xie Shiyi also knew that recovering Huang Zhongsun and his mother was the top priority, so he hurriedly said, "Then Captain, be careful!"
Fan Changyu, wearing a blood-stained robe, rode his horse and galloped straight through the official road. Arrows from the woods on both sides flew towards them, and they could only raise their swords to block them.
If anyone was accidentally hit by an arrow, they would roll to a hidden place and work with Xie Shiyi and the others to clear out the enemies in the dense forest.
In this way, Fan Changyu finally led some people out of the rain of arrows blockade on the official road.
They continued to chase along the wheel tracks, and after running a few miles, they saw a dozen riders escorting a horse-drawn carriage speeding along the official road.
Fan Changyu shouted, "Is there anyone who is good at riding and shooting? Get out of the way of the carriage and shoot me!"
She had read several military books, and although she could not remember the contents of the books word for word, she had been in the army for a long time and had fought in more than a dozen battles of varying sizes.
When chasing an enemy, it is often all about momentum. If the momentum is strong enough, you can scare the enemy off even if they are far away.
After reaching a certain distance, chasing and shooting arrows at the same time is undoubtedly the best way to create momentum.
With the suppression of bows and arrows, and the fact that the carriage on the opposite side could not run as fast as the war horses carrying people alone, they could only spare seven or eight riders to stop Fan Changyu and others.
Long-handled weapons have more advantages on horseback. Fan Changyu picked up the Mo Dao hanging on the horse's back and swept it horizontally. The shadow guards who were attacking her head-on had no choice but to move to the side before they could get close to her.
The Blood-Clothed Riders who had been rigorously selected were not comparable to the ordinary soldiers who had accompanied Fan Changyu out of the city that day. Even though their martial arts were not as good as Xie Wu's, they would not be easily knocked down. Several of them could hold back a shadow guard together, which was much better than the situation when Fan Changyu had to face more than a dozen shadow guards alone that day.
Fan Changyu took advantage of the fact that most of the shadow guards who came to block the road were dragged down by the blood-clothed cavalry, slapped his horse's butt hard and chased after the carriage in front.
A shadow guard who was riding a horse and protecting the side of the carriage suddenly drew his bow and shot arrows at Fan Changyu. After Fan Changyu cut off an arrow with his sword, he bent down as much as possible and stuck to the horse's back because the horse was moving too fast.
Seeing that he could not hit Fan Changyu, the other side shot arrows directly at the warhorse she was riding.
When Fan Changyu's horse was hit by an arrow and fell to the ground, Fan Changyu was only two meters away from the carriage of Yu Qianqian and her son.
She gritted her teeth, threw the rope and hooked it onto the eaves of the carriage. When she jumped off the horse's back, she was pulled towards the carriage by the force of the rope.
The shadow guards riding horses around the carriage swung their blades at Fan Changyu, but Fan Changyu rolled on top of the carriage to avoid the blows. Half of the roof where she had been lying was split open.
Yu Qianqian's panicked cry for help came from the carriage. Fan Changyu grabbed the rope with both hands and swung down. He kicked the shadow guard driving the carriage away, lifted the curtain and said comfortingly: "Qianqian, don't be afraid, it's me!"
In the car, Yu Qianqian held onto the window sill with one hand and held Yu Baoer tightly with the other, and asked in shock, "Changyu?"
Just as Fan Changyu responded, the shadow guard who was riding the horse parallel to the carriage swung down with a knife. Fan Changyu quickly leaned back, and the knife finally hit the door of the carriage.
Fan Changyu raised his leg and kicked the man under the armpit. The man was stunned at first, and the next moment he felt that half of his ribs on his chest seemed to be broken by that kick. He fell off the horse with his hands covering his armpit and a look of pain on his face.
Fan Changyu sat up and controlled the reins to make the carriage go back, and he did not forget to comfort Yu Qianqian: "Don't be afraid, I won't let them take you away!"
Yu Qianqian glanced through the car window at the shadow guards who were chasing and besieging them relentlessly, and said calmly, "We can't go on like this, Changyu, take Bao'er and drive away!"
Before she could push Yu Baoer towards Fan Changyu, the horse pulling the carriage was shot in the front leg by one of the shadow guards.
The warhorse neighed and galloped forward, causing the entire carriage to fall upside down.
Yu Qianqian and her son were thrown out of the carriage. Fan Changyu protected them both by herself, but her back hit the rocks on the side of the official road hard. Her face turned pale with pain and she was unable to stand up for a long time.
After the heavy carriage dragged on the ground for a distance, most of its weight fell on the edge of the cliff. Finally, the carriage fell off the cliff along with the horse with an arrow in its front hoof.
Yu Qianqian crawled up and found that Fan Changyu's clothes on his back were all torn by the rough rock. When she touched it, her hands were wet with blood. She was so anxious that she burst into tears: "Changyu, how are you?"
Fan Changyu struggled to open her eyes and saw the shadow guards protecting the carriage approaching. She half sat up with her sword in hand, staring coldly at the nameless shadow guards who were less than three feet away from her, and ordered Yu Qianqian: "Hurry up!"
The Blood-Cloaked Knight, who was fighting against the other nine Shadow Guards who were blocking the way, relied on their numerical advantage and had a vague upper hand. As long as they ran to the Blood-Cloaked Knight's side, they might still have a chance of winning.
Yu Qianqian knew that she didn't know martial arts, and if she stayed at this time she would only become a burden to Fan Changyu. She looked at Fan Changyu with tears in her eyes, and finally had no choice but to cruelly take Yu Baoer's hand and run towards the Blood-Cloaked Rider.
Yu Baoer kept looking back at Fan Changyu. There were traces of blood on his young face. His pupils reflected the shadow of Fan Changyu leaning on a long sword and trying his best to stand up in the setting sun. The hand that was not held by Yu Qianqian was clenched into a fist.
On that day, Fan Changyu fought against sixteen shadow guards outside Lucheng. She held out for so long because they left room for her to be captured alive.
She had already been injured today, and now facing these five Shadow Guards who were fighting at full strength was extremely strenuous.
One of the shadow guards saw Fan Changyu being held back by his four companions and went straight after Yu Qianqian and her son.
The mountain road was steep, and Yu Qianqian's dress was complicated, which made it difficult for her to run. She stepped on the hem of her skirt and fell. She was so anxious that she could only push Yu Baoer and hurriedly said, "Baoer, run!"
Yu Baoer refused to leave her alone no matter what, and used her small body as a human crutch to help Yu Qianqian up.
By this time, the shadow guard had caught up.
The Blood-Cloaked Rider also shouted, "Captain!"
It turned out that Xie Wu and Xie Qi got the news from somewhere and rode over in a hurry.
Seeing that it was impossible to bring Yu Qianqian and her son back today, the shadow guard who caught up with Yu Qianqian and her son had a fierce look in his eyes, and suddenly swung his knife at Yu Baoer without any warning.
Fan Changyu was entangled by four shadow guards and couldn't get away. Perhaps because she was a strong mother, Yu Qianqian rushed towards Yu Baoer without thinking when she saw the blade.
The knife hit her back, and the spurting blood splashed all over Yu Baoer's face.
"Hurry...go!" Yu Qianqian's eyes were filled with pain. She could only say these two words with difficulty as she looked at Yu Baoer.
Yu Baoer was completely stunned as she looked at her mother lying in a pool of blood.
That man really wanted to kill him and his mother?
When Shadow Guard found out that Yu Qianqian was blocking the knife for Yu Baoer, he was stunned for a moment. Then, remembering Qi Min's instructions, his face turned particularly ugly again. He quickly took out a bottle of hemostatic powder and sprinkled it all on the knife wound on Yu Qianqian's back.
When Fan Changyu found that Yu Qianqian had been chopped to the ground, he let out a loud shout and slashed several times with his sword to force back the four shadow guards who were besieging him. Then, using the momentum of his running start, he swung his sword horizontally to sweep away the shadow guard who had slashed Yu Qianqian.
She had no strength left, but still wanted to pick up Yu Qianqian and run.
Yu Qianqian weakly held Fan Changyu's hand and said to him with tears in her eyes: "Take Baoer away...Take him away. They won't kill me, but they will kill Baoer..."
Fan Changyu looked at the whole bottle of golden medicine sprinkled on her back. Although she didn't know what was going on, she understood that what Yu Qianqian said was true. She used up her last bit of strength, picked up Yu Baoer, who seemed to be frightened beside her, and ran towards the direction where Xie Wu and Xie Qi were riding their horses.
The four shadow guards who had been fighting with Fan Changyu caught up with them. Two of them helped Yu Qianqian to get up, while the other two raised their sleeves and shot several sleeve arrows at Yu Baoer in Fan Changyu's arms.
Fan Changyu used his body to protect Yu Baoer without thinking.
"Captain!"
Fortunately, Xie Wu and Xie Qi had caught up. Xie Wu had one arm broken, so he jumped off his horse and wielded his sword with one hand to knock down the arrow shot from his sleeve.
Xie Qi drew his bow and shot back a few arrows at the shadow guards on the opposite side.
At the end of the official road, the sound of horse hooves was thunderous. It was Xie Shiyi and others who had just cleared out the shadow guards in the forest and rushed over. The shadow guards who were bitten by the blood-clothed cavalry saw that the reinforcements had arrived and no longer wanted to fight. They took out smoke bombs and threw them to the ground with force. For a moment, dust flew all over the official road.
When the smoke cleared, there was no trace of the shadow guards anywhere.
Xie Shiyi came hurriedly and saw Xie Wu and Xie Qi, and said excitedly: "Fifth brother, Seventh brother!"
Turning around, he saw that half of Fan Changyu's back was covered in blood, and his face immediately changed: "Captain, are you injured?"
Xie Wu and Xie Qi also looked extremely serious. Xie Zheng had told them before he left that after he left, the Blood-Cloaked Cavalry would follow Fan Changyu's lead in everything.
Just two days after he left, Fan Changyu was injured like this again.
Fan Changyu, the real owner, didn't take it seriously and just said, "It's just a superficial wound, nothing serious."
She looked at Yu Baoer, who was protected in her arms, not crying or making a fuss, and seemed to have lost her soul. She frowned and soothed her, "Don't be afraid, Baoer. I will find a way to save your mother."
Yu Baoer buried her head in Fan Changyu's shoulder and did not hear his crying, but her teeth were chattering and her little body was trembling.
Without a carriage, they had to ride horses all the way back. Yu Baoer was frightened and held on to the hem of Fan Changyu's clothes tightly and refused to let go. Fan Changyu then took the child with him.
The guards of the villa were as solid as an iron barrel, but Qi Min's men still found a loophole. After much thought, Fan Changyu decided to hide Yu Baoer in the army first.
No matter how capable Qi Min is, he can't move in and out of the army as if he is alone.
Just as she entered the military camp and settled Yu Baoer, Tang Peiyi sent someone to ask Fan Changyu to come over for something.
Fan Changyu knew that with the big commotion of the Blood-Cloaked Cavalry leaving the city today, it would be difficult for Tang Peiyi to hide it.
Before Xie Zheng left, he said that when things got to the point of no return, he could persuade Tang Peiyi to support Yu Baoer, but it was clearly not that point yet.
Fan Changyu was also troubled for a moment, not knowing whether she should tell Tang Peiyi about Yu Baoer's identity. She sent away Tang Peiyi's personal soldiers on the pretext of treating the wound before leaving, and then called the female doctor A Hui to help treat the wound on her back.
The longer Ah Hui applied the medicine, the more golden beans fell out, which made Fan Changyu very embarrassed. He kept comforting her by saying that he didn't feel any pain.
Ah Hui said, "The Captain is a man, she doesn't shed tears easily, but seeing these injuries hurts Ah Hui, I am crying for the Captain."
Fan Changyu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but because Ah Hui had bandaged her body so meticulously, her entire upper body was wrapped in gauze and she looked like she was almost paralyzed. Thinking that she would be seeing Tang Peiyi soon, she didn't ask for re-bandaging.
When Fan Changyu was lying on the stretcher and carried by two bodyguards to see Tang Peiyi, Tang Peiyi was shocked.
He couldn't even sit still, so he walked over to the bier and looked at Fan Changyu: "Captain Fan, what happened?"
Fan Changyu looked gloomy and said, "There was a serious bandit problem outside the city. I went out of the city to suppress the bandits and accidentally fell off a cliff."
Tang Peiyi called Fan Changyu to ask her why she went out of town. Now that she had confessed, even if she was lying with her eyes open, Tang Peiyi could not ask more questions like he was interrogating a prisoner. He only said, "We wiped out bandits in Jizhou a few years ago. How could there be such a capable bandit that they could injure Captain Fan like this?"
Fan Changyu said with a pale face: "The terrain on the mountain is complicated, I accidentally fell..."
As he spoke, he started coughing bitterly.
Tang Peiyi had no choice but to wave his hand and said, "Alright, alright, go back and recuperate! You are such a fool. If you are seriously injured, you should just send someone to inform them. You even asked them to carry the body here. Who knows what the whole army will say about me!"
Fan Changyu lay on the stretcher and bowed weakly: "I will take my leave..."
She was not good at lying, and because she felt guilty, she didn't even dare to look at Tang Peiyi.
Tang Peiyi blew his beard and glared: "Stop all this pretense and go back to your own tent and lie down!"
Only after being carried out of the central military camp did Fan Changyu quietly breathe a sigh of relief. He had finally gotten away with it today.
The author has something to say:
Changyu (sighs): Telling lies is so difficult...
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