When the sound of the zither echoed, Su Rong, Zhou Gu, and the others were already in intense danger.
Shen Yi’s golden needles were exhausted, and as she eyed the encircling Poison Doctor Sect members, she was filled with regret. Had she known today’s circumstances, she would not have kept an unborn child as a burden. If she had decided to end her pregnancy, she would not need to be rescued now by Su Rong, who was seriously injured.
Su Rong saved her, but then Zhou Gu was left to guard two people, quickly adding two more sword wounds to his body.
Protecting two people, coupled with his serious injuries not fully healed yet, had dampened the full power of his double-handed sword. Outnumbered and outmaneuvered, they were losing, increasingly pushed back. Zhang Yun, wielding the Frost Cold Sword, though powerful enough to slice through iron as if it was mud, was also suffering from serious unhealed wounds. His sword-wielding arm was growing heavier, and he was growing more anxious. He was unable to break free to protect the three of them as the distance between them widened.
Seeing the critical situation, a Dark Guardian bit down on his teeth, set himself on fire, and charged towards the members of the Poison Doctor Sect who were surrounding Su Rong and Zhou Gu.
The display of such valor jolted Su Rong and the others with its intensity.
Su Rong’s eyes instantly welled up with tears.
Zhou Gu gritted his teeth, pulling Su Rong and yelled, "Run!"
Thanks to the Dark Guardian’s self-immolation and fierce battle, he managed to buy Su Rong and Zhou Gu some precious moments.
The three of them managed to break through the siege and took off running. But they were only a few steps out when Luo Yan, casting aside Fen Ling, madly pursued them. Fen Ling’s sword struck Luo Yan on the back, but Luo Yan barely paused before charging at Su Rong and Zhou Gu, swinging his sword wildly.
Shen Yi cursed angrily, "Take off, you lunatics! I’ll hold them off!"
"Run!" Su Rong forcefully pulled Shen Yi along.
Shen Yi took out her hairpin and threw it towards Luo Yan.
Luo Yan blocked the hairpin with his sword and then aimed another strike at Zhou Gu’s head.
Taking advantage of the gap created by the self-immolating Dark Guardian, Zhang Yun reached the three of them and swung out his Frost Cold Sword, blocking Luo Yan’s curved sword. But that left him exposed to the strikes of the Poison Doctor Sect.
In that critical moment, Lang Ying threw out his Treasure Sword. The sword struck and deflected the enemy’s blade, saving Zhang Yun, but he took a hit himself and stumbled, falling to the ground.
It was then that the sound of the zither rang out with a ripping kind of intensity. From the walls of Heiya Pass, it shot out, piercing through the air and the eardrums of those present. All who heard were instantly struck with a sharp, piercing pain.
Luo Yan was the first to succumb, screaming out in pain as his head felt like it had exploded.
Zhou Gu could barely stand to endure it, his hands almost instinctively reaching to cover his ears.
The same was true for Shen Yi.
But Su Rong, her eyes lit up with joy. She pulled Zhou Gu and Shen Yi along, even managing to yank Zhang Yun who was on the verge of dropping his sword to cover his ears. She shouted loudly, "Retreat!"
Fen Ling and the Dark Guardians, due to their training under Xie Yuan, understood that this was a rescue attempt by Xie Yuan, despite the intense and chaotic melody. Ying Yue and Ye Guixue realized the same, their eyes meeting in silent agreement to take the opportunity to kill the Crown Prince Yuan Zhao.
Prince Yuan Zhao of Dawei, however, would not be so easily killed. Despite the disruptive melody, he only felt more wide awake, especially with his Dark Guardians, who were specially trained, managing to hold their ground. Seeing that he could not kill Luo Yan, Fen Ling led the Dark Guardians to help Ye Guixue while also considering that if they could kill the Crown Prince Yuan Zhao, their troubles would truly be over.
Ye Guixue, who had been groomed in the art of melody by the Nanchu King and Ye Xiang from a young age, also had a splitting headache, but it was still bearable. The moment the zither started playing, he and Yin Yue looked at each other, and with tacit understanding, they too decided to seize the opportunity to assassinate the Crown Prince Yuan Zhao.
Ye Guixue’s attempt to murder the crown prince was not successful. His sword had pierced the prince’s left shoulder but this seemed to jolt the prince into clarity. At that moment, Ye Guixue knew, killing the prince might be out of their reach.
Hence, as Fen Ling approached, he gritted his teeth and said, "Retreat, there will always be another day."
Fen Ling nodded, leading her men and protecting Ye Guixue, they all retreated quickly.
Yuan Zhao, clutching his wound, wanted to burst out and yell "Chase them", but seeing Su Rong, Zhou Gu, and others in the distance already retreating, he held his tongue.
The ordinary soldiers, lacking substantial resistance, had long since discarded their weapons, regardless of whether they were Dawei or Nanchu soldiers.
The secret guards, having received training, were able to endure the intense brief pain, even if they were just regular secret guards.
The same went for the members of the Poison Doctor Sect, at any time, they protected their Sect Master, Luo Yan.
The duration of the control induced by the sound of the zither was short, but it was enough to buy time for Su Rong, Zhou Gu, Ye Guixue, and the others to retreat to Heiya Pass.
After their group had retreated, Xie Yuan released his hold on the zither strings.
Zhang Mao also released the strings, his face deceivingly pale. A gruesome sight was reveals as his fingers bled from piercing pricks. Turning away, he spat a mouthful of blood.
The sound of the zither ceased abruptly.
Xie Yuan glanced at Zhang Mao, handing him a pill.
Zhang Mao swallowed it whole, supressing his bloody breath, and weakly thanked him, "Thank you, Master Xie."
Xie Yuan nodded, gazing at the retreating Nanchu soldiers on the battlefield after the sound of the zither ceased, some Nanchu soldiers really couldn’t get up. He closed his eyes, then commanded,"Count to ten, then close the city gate." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞
On Nanchu’s side, the signal for soldiers to stop fighting kept sounding as soldiers desperately struggled to stand up and dashed into the safety of Heiya Pass. However, about a thousand soldiers couldn’t get up, or had fainted on the battlefield, left outside the city.
After the city gates were closed, Su Rong let out a sigh of relief and then blacked out.
Her injury was really heavy due to Luo Yan’s strike, her excessive blood loss made it impressive that she could hold on until now.
Zhou Gu caught her in his arms, wobbly because of his own fresh wounds, but managed to hold Su Rong steady, although he himself was deathly pale.
"Junior sister." Shen Yi, clutching his stomach, turned pale, he cried out anxiously.
Xie Yuan had descended from the city wall by then, looking at the varying degrees of injuries on everyone, especially Su Rong and Zhou Gu. Their bodies were bathed in blood, leaving him unsure who had bled more.He immediately commanded, "Quick, back to the residence, summon Doctor Zhang to treat them."
Zhou Gu nodded, set his own injuries aside, and began to move while carrying Su Rong.
Shen Yi tried to follow but stopped midway as he turned to Xie Yuan, questioning, "Master Xie, will Dawei continue the siege?"
"They likely won’t." Ye Guixue reassured, "Dawei’s Crown Prince Yuan Zhao is also injured, and his wife Luo Yan is injured severely and has fainted as well."
Shen Yi gave a sigh of relief, "That’s good to hear."
Finishing his sentence, Shen Yi, hand over his stomach, quickly followed Zhou Gu and Su Rong.
Fen Ling wiped the blood off her face with her sleeve and turned to Xie Yuan,"Master Xie, we owe you our lives for your playing today, otherwise we all would have fallen here."
"I’m just glad it was effective and we managed to save you all. But we did lose quite a number of soldiers, it was the only choice we had." Xie Yuan sighed, waving his hand, "You guys should hurry and tend to your injuries, I will handle the post-battle affairs and the defense of the city gates."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
