The chill of death, like an icicle, pierced Su Nian's very bones in an instant! That cold arrow came too fast and too cunningly, taking full advantage of the chaos caused by the wolf pack and the moment when everyone's attention was drawn to it!
The watchtower wasn't high, but it was enough to make her a conspicuous target. The whistling sound of arrows piercing the air was amplified infinitely in her ears; she could even see the arrowheads, gleaming with a cold, eerie blue light, aimed directly at her heart!
There's no way to avoid it!
"Host!!" 088 issued a piercing alarm in his mind!
In that split second—
A black figure, like lightning tearing through space, swept back from the front of the formation at a speed beyond human perception! It was Helian Jue!
He didn't even have time to turn around completely. Relying on his almost instinctive intuition about danger and his terrifying physical reaction, he swung the dark curved blade in his hand like a shield towards the watchtower!
"clang--!!!"
A deafening metallic clang rang out!
The scimitar's blade blocked the deadly arrow with perfect precision! Sparks flew everywhere! The arrow was deflected to the side by the immense force and, with a "thud," embedded itself deeply into the wooden pillar of the watchtower, its fletching still trembling violently!
Due to the recoil from Helian Jue's all-out throw and his complete abandonment of his own defense, his warhorse was violently torn apart by a giant wolf that pounced on it. The horse neighed in agony and collapsed to its knees! Helian Jue reacted extremely quickly, rolling off the ground, but his left arm was still slashed open by the wolf's claws, leaving a deep, bone-revealing gash!
All of this happened in the blink of an eye!
From the moment the arrow was fired, to Helian Jue throwing his knife to parry, falling from his horse and getting injured, to the wolf pack rushing in... it all happened so fast that there was no time to think!
"Your Majesty!"
"Protect the King!"
The guards and generals finally reacted, letting out shouts of alarm and anger as they desperately moved closer to Helian Jue, engaging in fierce combat with the surging wolf pack! The formation instantly fell into chaos!
Su Nian stood on the observation platform, looking down at the man below who had been in danger to save her, his arm covered in blood but his eyes still cold, smashing the head of a hungry wolf that pounced on him to pieces. Her heart felt as if it were being squeezed tightly by an invisible hand, and it almost stopped beating!
He saved her... amidst a horde of wolves, and at great personal risk!
"Hold the line! Archers, cover the wolf pack from behind! Spearmen, hold the line!" Batu's roar rang out just in time, barely managing to stabilize the collapsing defensive line.
Arrows rained down again, their effectiveness diminished by the slight disruption to their formation, but they still effectively slowed the wolf pack's main charge. The soldiers, fueled by their courage and ferocity, formed a human defense with spears and swords, engaging in a fierce and brutal battle with the rabid wolves.
Helian Jue seemed oblivious to the excruciating pain in his left arm. He snatched a spear from a soldier and, as if possessed by a god of death, each strike killed a hungry wolf! His gaze, as cold as ancient ice, swept across the chaotic battlefield and also over the pale-faced Su Nian on the watchtower.
"Batu!" he roared. "Take a squad and go protect her! Investigate! Find out who fired that arrow just now!"
"Yes!" Batu responded, immediately dispatching a squad of elite guards who rushed toward the watchtower.
Su Nian was tightly protected by her guards. She forced herself to calm down, her sharp gaze sweeping over the chaotic crowd below. That arrow just now… its angle… it came from the rear side of the camp, from the area where those ambiguous-looking tribes were stationed!
Uloran? Mordo? Or someone else?
The timing of the wolf pack's attack and this stray arrow was so perfectly coordinated that it was no coincidence!
[Host! An abnormal energy fluctuation has been detected at the three o'clock position to the side and rear! Two people are quietly retreating, trying to escape in the chaos!] 088 urgently alerted.
Su Nian immediately followed the direction and saw two people dressed in ordinary soldier uniforms, but whose movements were obviously furtive, trying to slip away to the outskirts of the camp under the cover of the crowd and the wolf pack.
"General Batu!" Su Nian immediately pointed at the two men, "Those two are acting suspiciously!"
Batu's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and without hesitation, he ordered, "Take him down!"
Several fierce guards pounced on them immediately! When the two men realized they had been exposed, they drew their short blades and tried to fight back, but they were powerless against the elite guards and were subdued instantly and taken to the watchtower.
The fighting on the battlefield remained fierce. The wolves, numerous and fearless, inflicted considerable casualties on the defending soldiers. Helian Jue, like a pillar of strength, remained at the forefront, his bravery greatly boosting morale. However, the constant flow of blood from his left arm indicated that his condition was declining.
Su Nian glanced at the stalemate below, then at the two captured assassins, her mind racing. Wolf packs…sneak arrows…a coordinated attack from within…this stalemate must be broken!
She noticed that while the wolf pack's attack was fierce, it seemed to lack effective organization and command, relying more on instinct and numbers. And the hidden commander, or rather, the one who lured the wolves into the fray, was likely nearby!
“General Batu,” Su Nian quickly said to Batu beside her, “The wolf pack attacking the camp must be driven by an alpha wolf, or perhaps… it’s being led by someone! Immediately send a squad of the most elite cavalry to launch a counterattack to the northeast, the direction the wolves came from! Don’t linger in battle; the goal is to disperse them or find the leader! At the same time, have the archers concentrate their fire on those wolves that are particularly large and howl abnormally; that might be the alpha wolf!”
Batu paused for a moment, then a glint of light flashed in his eyes. Su Nian's thinking was clear and bold! He immediately looked down at Helian Jue, who was engaged in fierce combat.
Helian Jue had obviously heard Su Nian's words. He parried a wolf's attack with his spear and roared without turning his head, "Do as she says!"
The command was executed swiftly!
A cavalry unit led by Tuoba Ye charged out from the flank like a sharp blade, fiercely rushing towards the rear of the wolf pack! At the same time, the archers adjusted their targets, and a dense barrage of arrows, as if guided by eyes, shot towards several particularly conspicuous giant wolves in the pack!
This immediately disrupted the wolf pack's rhythm! With their rear attacked and the alpha wolf killed, the pack's offensive stalled, and obvious chaos ensued!
The pressure on defense has been greatly reduced!
As the pressure eased, Helian Jue's eyes flashed with a cold light. Seizing the opportunity, his spear shot out like a venomous dragon, instantly piercing through several ferocious wolves in front of him! Covered in blood, he looked like a demon returned from hell. His murderous gaze suddenly turned towards the two assassins being held captive, and towards the direction of their tribe—the Blackwater Tribe region of Uloran!
Urolan's face was deathly pale, and his obese body trembled slightly. He wanted to explain something, but under Helian Jue's murderous gaze, he couldn't utter a single word.
The balance of power on the battlefield began to tilt.
Under the counterattack of the Tuoba cavalry and the tactic of accurately sniping the alpha wolf, the wolf pack finally began to scatter, leaving behind wolf carcasses and wounded soldiers, howling as they retreated into the mountains.
The crisis has been temporarily averted.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but the atmosphere was even more tense than before. The air was thick with the stench of blood, and a silent, palpable tension hung in the air.
Helian Jue tossed aside the spear, now chipped in two, and walked step by step toward the watchtower. Blood was still flowing from the wound on his left arm, dripping from his fingertips and leaving dark red marks on the blood-stained ground. But he seemed oblivious, his deep eyes fixed intently on Su Nian on the platform.
He walked up to the watchtower, and the guards silently made way for him.
He walked up to Su Nian, his tall figure, carrying a heavy stench of blood and a chilling killing intent, completely enveloping her.
Su Nian looked up at him, at his pale yet still cold face, at the hideous wound on his arm, at the surging violence in his eyes that almost devoured her, and... an indescribable, intense emotion.
He suddenly reached out and grabbed her slender wrist! The force was so great that he almost crushed her bones!
Su Nian frowned in pain, but did not struggle.
Helian Jue lowered his head, his forehead almost touching hers, his hot, bloody breath spraying onto her face, his voice hoarse and dangerous, like the low growl of a wounded beast:
"You almost died."
Su Nian looked into his eyes, so close to hers, where her own pale reflection was clearly seen. She answered softly, with a tremor she herself didn't even notice: "It was... Your Majesty who saved me."
Helian Jue stared at her for a long, long time, as if trying to draw her into those unfathomable, icy pools.
Then, he abruptly released her wrist and, with his uninjured right hand, roughly wrapped his arms around her lower back, pulling her forcefully into his embrace!
The hard, cold leather armor dug painfully into her, and the strong smell of blood almost suffocated her. But she could clearly feel his heart beating wildly and erratically beneath his chest.
“Listen,” he whispered in her ear, in a voice only the two of them could hear, each word like a brand, “your life belongs to me.”
"No one is allowed to take it without my permission!"
"Including yourself!"
His embrace was like an iron clamp, carrying a possessiveness bordering on destruction. Su Nian froze in his arms, her mind blank, with only the sound of his strong heartbeat and her own out-of-control pulse roaring in her ears.
He held her for a moment, then abruptly released her, turned around, and faced the astonished crowd below.
His gaze, as cold as ice, first fell on the ashen-faced Ulolan, then swept over the shifty eyes of Modo and the other tribal leaders.
"The Blackwater Tribe colluded with foreign enemies and plotted an assassination. The evidence is conclusive." His voice was not loud, but it was like the pronouncement of death. "Uloran and all his tribesmen involved in this matter shall be executed without mercy."
"The rest of the departments," he paused, his killing intent palpable, "anyone who knows the truth but fails to report it, or who harbors any disloyal intentions... will be punished the same way!"
The cold command, accompanied by the lingering stench of wolf blood, weighed heavily on everyone's hearts like heavy shackles.
Helian Jue didn't look at them again, took Su Nian's hand, and walked down from the observation platform.
"Back to camp."
He left her with two words, took her hand, and led her through countless fearful, awe-inspiring, and complex gazes, across the hunting grounds strewn with corpses, toward the royal tent that symbolized supreme power.
His hand, cold yet strong, stained with undried blood, tightly enveloped her slightly cool fingers, as if proclaiming an unquestionable sense of ownership.
Su Nian, following behind him, looked at their clasped, blood-stained hands and felt a turmoil in her heart.
She knew that some things had completely changed from the moment he shielded her behind him, from the moment he threw the scimitar for her, and from the moment he embraced her in front of everyone.
(End of Chapter 115)
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