Lanqin and Li cleared away all the branches around the fire to prevent it from starting a forest fire. They also gathered many leaves and dry twigs from elsewhere and threw them into the fire, creating a lot of thick smoke.
Lady Li was also afraid of spending the night in the pitch black, and at this moment she disregarded the Crown Prince's instructions and joined Lanqin in pleading for help. After all, no one was telling her to stop Lady Niohuru.
Meanwhile, the Fourth Master, along with his personal guards, had begun searching for Lanqin Li Shi in the dense forest once again.
"Master, look over there, there's black smoke!" Cui Da reminded Fourth Master.
"I see it! It must be her!" When Fourth Master saw the black smoke rising from the sky in the distance, he was no longer so worried.
As Fourth Master spoke, he spurred his horse and galloped off at breakneck speed. Cui Da, Cui Er, and several guards immediately spurred their horses and gave chase. It was getting darker and darker; if they couldn't find them soon, the search would become increasingly difficult.
Lost in his desire to find Lanqin, Fourth Master and his companions were completely unaware that several men were lying in ambush in the darkness not far away. They were all assassins trained by Shi Bingde, ordered by him to intercept and kill Fourth Master in the dense forest.
The Fourth Master's horse smelled the pungent odor in the air, and it slowed its pace and became restless. Soon after, the horses of Cui Da and Cui Er behind the Fourth Master, as well as the horses of the other guards, began to show the same behavior.
"What's wrong with this horse?" Cui Da felt he could barely control his horse. It had not only stopped moving, but it had also started scratching its head and ears in place, extremely agitated.
The wind in the air suddenly changed direction. Fourth Master listened carefully to the restlessness and unease of the horse beneath him, and also heard a whooshing sound coming from the air.
"Dismount! There are hidden weapons!" he roared, then dismounted and rolled towards a tree. Hearing Fourth Master's shout, the others immediately abandoned their horses and scrambled to find cover.
Sure enough, just after they dodged, a flurry of projectiles flew over, striking trees and rocks with clanging sounds. Because it was already late, and the forest was dense, it was impossible to see what had been launched.
assassinate!
The Fourth Prince had encountered similar situations before, but this was the first time someone had actually attempted to assassinate him. And it happened right there in the Royal Western Hills Hunting Grounds; it certainly wasn't someone from outside.
Before Fourth Master and the others could react, several men in black suddenly rushed out from some direction and attacked them.
Fourth Master had already drawn his personal sword for self-defense and was fighting with the newcomers. The others also reacted quickly, and fortunately, they were all armed. In an instant, the once quiet forest was filled with the sounds of swords and spears clashing.
There were ten newcomers, each exceptionally skilled. Fourth Master's side had fewer than ten men, two fewer than them. Moreover, the enemy fought with relentless, all-out effort, regardless of their own lives.
Suicide squad! This is a suicidal tactic designed to kill.
Fourth Master quickly retreated a few steps, landing right next to his mount. He took a signal flare from his riding boot pocket and tossed it into the air.
"Master! You must leave quickly, we'll hold them off!" Cui Da brandished a large knife, fighting with two men in black, yet still shouting to Fourth Master.
Seeing that the signal flare had been launched, potentially summoning reinforcements, the men in black immediately launched an even more frenzied attack. They showed no mercy, quickly felling two guards. Cui Da and Cui Er could only parry, unable to retaliate.
Fourth Master was also fighting two men in black. He was still thinking about Lanqin, who was waiting for him to save her, and he couldn't fall here. But the enemy's longsword gave Fourth Master no time to think, and every move was aimed at his vital points.
Moments later, two more guards were killed by the enemy. The Fourth Prince's side was left with only five men, while the enemy still had eight. Like wild dogs infected with a curse, they pounced on the Fourth Prince again.
Clearly, their target is the Fourth Master.
"Master, you must go quickly! We'll hold them off." Cui Da made up his mind, exchanged a glance with Cui Er, and said.
"The horses are being interfered with by some unknown method and won't run away. They can't escape. Kill them! Today, either they die, or we die!" Fourth Master shouted. He knew that the other side was determined to kill him today.
"Whoever can defeat them today will surely be ennobled and made a duke in the future!" To boost morale, the Fourth Master had no other choice but to use this most direct method. At this moment, the Fourth Master also...
The two guards were also top-notch fighters, and seeing the Fourth Master's solemn promise and the other party's apparent intention to spare no one, they naturally put in their utmost effort. They were fighting for the Fourth Master, and for their own survival to enjoy future wealth and glory. Cui Da and Cui Er, needless to say, had long since entrusted their lives to the Fourth Master, and now they were even more determined.
Five against eight, and the opponents were trained killers, so the brutality was unimaginable. The fighting was mostly about cutting off fingers or inflicting fatal blows; in the end, it was a battle of stamina and who had the best chance of survival.
Because of the protection of the four men, Fourth Master was not badly hurt, but he still took a sword strike to his left waist.
Three of the enemy soldiers fell, but the two guards on Fourth Master's side had also fallen. He, along with the wounded Cui Da and Cui Er, were surrounded by five assassins, each also suffering varying degrees of injury.
They stood there, seemingly waiting for each other to bleed out first. Because both were fighting to the death, neither dared to make the first move, fearing they might reveal their weakness.
"Prince Yong!"
When the Fourth Prince heard the shout, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that the group of men that Consort De had sent out first had seen the signal flare the Fourth Prince had fired and rushed over. There were more than twenty of them, and they immediately surrounded the five men.
The situation took a sharp turn for the worse. Seeing that they could not complete their mission and might be captured alive, the five assassins immediately drew their swords and slit their own throats.
Fast, ruthless, and accurate!
These three words can only describe what Fourth Master saw. The five people who had been staring at him like hungry wolves just moments before had instantly turned into blood-soaked corpses.
"Your Highness, are you alright?" The guards who came to the rescue asked hurriedly when they saw that the Fourth Prince and Cui Da and Cui Er were injured.
"I want to bandage them up." Fourth Master's injuries were the least serious. He had only pulled on his waist by a sword, and the bleeding had stopped by now.
“Master, we are all alright,” said Cui Da and Cui Er.
"Enough with the nonsense!" Fourth Master said.
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