It took Su Rong seven days to lead fifty thousand cavalry from Wanren Mountain’s Death Valley to Qihuan Mountain, travelling day and night.
On this day, they were fifty miles away from Qihuan Mountain.
A scout reported that a troop was approaching Qihuan Mountain from another direction. It seemed to be the Nangong Family’s forces, which had previously clashed with the Second Young Master Ye at Fengming Ridge, with Nangong Yun leading them.
Upon hearing this, Su Rong immediately commanded, "Hasten our advance and intercept them."
She had received information that Vice General Feng Sheng, along with Cheng Yun, had led forty thousand troops to coordinate with Cu Cheng, the guard of Guyuan County. They had completely controlled the only route from Nanchu to Dawei at Qihuan Mountain, hence delaying them for up to four days. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮
She couldn’t let Nangong Yun arrive first. If Dawei’s secret agents infiltrated Nangong Yun’s forces, given Nangong Yun’s respect for Nangong Yin, he would surely kill Xie Yuan, despite the opposition of Dawei’s people.
Even in the best-case scenario, Xie Yuan would not end up well if he fell into the hands of the Nangong Family. Rescuing him would then become a near-impossible task.
Fortunately, Su Rong’s fifty thousand troops were all cavalry, while Nangong Yun’s forty thousand troops were made up of both cavalry and infantry. Therefore, even though Nangong Yun, along with the three Nangong brothers, set off immediately for Fengming Ridge after seeing the situation turn for the worse in Wanren Mountain’s Death Valley, they reached Dawei’s border almost at the same time as Su Rong, despite leaving earlier.
After Su Rong issued her orders, the fifty thousand cavalry increased their pace. Half an hour later, they intercepted Nangong Yun’s forces from a diagonal direction.
Nangong Yun’s expression turned grim. He had also received news of Su Rong’s arrival and had ordered his men to quicken their pace. However, Su Rong was quicker, and her troops had successfully cut him off.
They were only five miles away from Qihuan Mountain.
They were short by just five miles.
Fen Ling, who led the front of the group, restrained her horse and gazed at the enemy troops and the middle-aged man leading them. With a "hey" of amusement, she taunted, "Nangong Yun, surrender!"
Nangong Yun responded coldly, "In your dreams!"
Fen Ling raised an eyebrow, "You’re ignorant of the situation. Nangong Yin is dead; why are you still resisting? If you surrender, our princess might treat you with respect, considering your ability to command troops."
Nangong Yun wasn’t buying it, "Enough with your nonsense!"
He didn’t believe that his troops, who had taken a shorter route from Fengming Ridge, could be much second to Su Rong’s troops, who had taken a short detour through Death Valley in the Wanren Mountain. Surely her troops were exhausted from travelling day and night?
"Alright, if you want to fight, then let’s fight!" With a wave of her hand, Fen Ling commanded, "Charge!"
The two sides clashed head-on, and a fierce battle erupted without further ado.
Fen Ling led her men directly at Nangong Yun, who was surrounded by a group of secret guards. The strategy was to capture the king first to weaken the enemy. However, Nangong Yun was well guarded by the secret agents of the Nangong Family.
Right after the fight started, Fen Ling recognized her opponents and sneered, "Aha, the three grandsons of the Nangong Family. No wonder Nangong Yun has such confidence."
Su Rong also recognized the three men guarding Nangong Yun. They were all very young and each had unique features. Her eyes narrowed as she remembered the grudge she held against them for almost killing her, and also for trapping the Nanchu King and Zhou Gu in Death Valley, nearly succeeding in killing them.
Recalling old and new grievances, Su Rong decided that she would kill the three Nangong grandsons today, and let them meet Nangong Yu in the underworld. Since they belonged to the grand line of the Nangong Family, they should die together.
Carrying her sword, Su Rong joined Fen Ling. Although Fen Ling targeted Nangong Yun, Su Rong aimed for the three grandsons: Nangong Le, Nangong Zhuo, and Nangong Xi.
Usually, Su Rong didn’t fancy using a sword, preferring to use her golden needles instead. But in the Death Valley of Wanren Mountain, she had exhausted all her golden needles. Later, after taking care of Zhou Gu for a night, she hastily left the Death Valley without having the chance to replenish her golden needles and hurried to Qihuan Mountain.
Naturally, Nangong Yun and the three Nangong grandsons recognized Su Rong. Among tens of thousands of troops, Su Rong stood out despite being surrounded by secret guards, some of whom were women. Her fair hibiscus-like face, gorgeous and delicate, made her look frail and weak. However, it wasn’t until she unsheathed her sword that her extraordinary martial arts skills became evident, somewhat overshadowing even her beauty.
Soon enough, Fen Ling realized that Su Rong had a different target. Reminiscing about an idea, she instantly focused her attacks on cooperating with Su Rong. Their combined attack was so well coordinated that even though they were outnumbered by the three Nangong grandsons, the trio quickly found themselves at a disadvantage.
The common soldiers stayed clear of the fight. Secret agents battled other secret agents, while Fen Ling and Su Rong concentrated on Nangong Yun. However, Su Rong had other plans. She took advantage of a chaotic moment to abruptly pull a hairpin from her hair, broke it into several sections, and threw them as hidden weapons.
Fen Ling and Su Rong coordinated well. As soon as Su Rong had launched her hidden weapon, Fen Ling seized the opportunity. With the three men momentarily distracted, she stabbed her sword into Nangong Le’s heart.
Nangong Le, wide-eyed from the shock, faltered. Fen Ling promptly withdrew her sword, allowing Nangong Le to collapse without uttering a sound.
He had never expected such an outcome. During their confrontation with Zhou Gu at Wanren Mountain’s Death Valley, they had severely wounded Zhou Gu and had almost succeeded in their mission. Now, he had been killed after just a few dozen rounds with Fen Ling and Su Rong.
He had escaped the hairpin-turned-hidden-weapon, only to be impaled by Fen Ling’s sword.
"Fifth Brother!" cried Nangong Xi.
Su Rong seized the moment of their distraction, and her sword met Nangong Xi’s heart. He was unable to dodge in time and stared wide-eyed.
Su Rong, with a cold indifference, withdrew her sword without a word and turned her attention to Nangong Zhuo.
Nangong Zhuo’s expression contorted drastically. He drew his sword and spun around, jumping into the ranks of the soldiers behind him.
Su Rong observed as he vanished into the crowd of soldiers and thought to herself that he was quick on his feet.
Seeing Nangong Zhuo escape into the crowd of soldiers, Fen Ling turned to Su Rong and said, "Sister, we’ll get him sooner or later."
Su Rong acknowledged her comment with a hum.
The battlefield roared with the sounds of the two-sided warfare. Nangong Yun had already lost ten thousand of his troops in previous battles, and now his forty thousand troops were facing Su Rong’s fifty thousand cavalry. Although Su Rong’s troops were somewhat less energetic compared to his, she still held a clear advantage.
Nangong Yun had initially thought he could battle with Su Rong, especially while under protective guard. However, the sight of Nangong Le and Nangong Xi being killed changed his resolve. He hadn’t expected Su Rong to possess such a formidable mastery of martial arts. Without hesitation, he gave the order to retreat.
Su Rong wouldn’t let him get away so easily. Her voice rang out clear and steely, "Kill Nangong Yun; don’t let him escape."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
