"Your Highness is too kind."
Shen Jintang pretended not to notice the sarcasm in the Crown Prince's tone and quietly agreed.
Her sword tip drooped slightly, and rainwater flowed down the blade.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gu Zhixing using the broken sword to support himself, slowly climbing up. His bloodied fingers slipped on the hilt, but he stubbornly tried to stand up.
Shen Jintang looked at his straight spine, then slightly turned her gaze away, no longer looking at him.
The Crown Prince also noticed the glances between Gu Zhixing and Shen Jintang. Then he looked at Shen Jintang and said, "Do you want to die with him?"
The prince's voice came through the rain, carrying a hint of playful mockery, like a cat toying with a mouse.
He walked slowly forward, the toes of his gold-threaded python-patterned boots crushing the corpse of a bodyguard, producing a chilling sound of bones cracking.
Shen Jintang smiled slightly, raindrops dripping from her long eyelashes: "Your Highness, I don't understand what you're saying."
"I have always cherished talent." The Crown Prince suddenly raised his hand, and the guards all took a half step back.
He stared intently at Shen Jintang and said, "I have heard about what you did in Yanzhou, so I intend to give you a hand and a chance to turn over a new leaf. Your future will definitely be much better than it is now."
At the edge of the cliff, Gu Yanqing suddenly coughed violently and spat out a mouthful of blood.
Gu Zhixing hurriedly supported him, but the wound on his shoulder reopened, staining half of his sleeve crimson.
Shen Jintang chuckled softly, her laughter ringing out crisply in the rain: "Your Highness is indeed magnanimous. But..." She suddenly looked up, a cold glint flashing in her eyes, "Your mind is probably not quite right."
The prince's smile gradually froze.
The faint sound of horses' hooves could be heard in the distance, but it was drowned out by the thunder.
"It seems Shen Siyan is determined to die." The Crown Prince slowly raised his hand, and the archers around him immediately nocked their arrows. "What a pity..."
“It’s no pity.” Shen Jintang suddenly interrupted him, the blade of her sword slicing through the rain and pointing at him. “Hasn’t Your Highness ever wondered why I was able to find this place so quickly?”
A cold smile curled at the corner of her lips. "Because I never put all my chips in one place."
As if to confirm her words, the sound of orderly hooves suddenly came from the mountain path.
The prince suddenly turned around—
In the torrential rain, a troop of black-armored cavalry charged up the cliff like a black torrent.
The horses' hooves pounded the slippery rocks, splashing up mud and water taller than a person. These cavalrymen were clad in full armor, their faces adorned with ferocious masks, revealing only their murderous eyes.
cavalry?
Where did Shen Jintang get his cavalry?
The crown prince had doubts, but anger quickly took over.
"You, Shen Jintang! How dare you delay!" The Crown Prince's face instantly turned ashen, and the veins on his forehead bulged. "Kill them all! Leave no one alive!"
Before he finished speaking, the dozen or so axemen surrounding the Gu brothers had already raised their gleaming broadswords.
The blade gleamed coldly in the rain, about to strike.
Just as Shen Jintang was about to rush over to save the person, she suddenly heard a "whoosh" sound as air was being cut.
Three sharp arrows shot from different angles, their arrowheads drawing three silver streaks in the rain.
She quickly turned around and swung her sword. With two crisp clangs, the two arrows were cut off and fell to the ground.
The third arrow grazed her ear, leaving a trail of blood, and a few strands of her severed hair drifted away in the wind.
Ignoring the burning pain in her ears, she pushed off the ground and lunged at the prince like an arrow.
This reckless act worked—the six bodyguards immediately turned around and stood in front of the prince with their swords raised.
A gap suddenly appeared in the encirclement surrounding Gu Zhixing.
"Run!"
Shen Jintang's shouts were swallowed up by the thunder.
She watched as Gu Zhixing dragged the semi-conscious Gu Yanqing, struggling to break through the encirclement amidst the flashing swords.
The steel blades of the Crown Prince's personal guards gleamed coldly, grazing Gu Zhixing's throat several times before shattering his jade crown that bound his hair with a "crack," causing his black hair to fall loose over his shoulders.
Down the mountain, the black-armored cavalry had already charged to the mountainside.
Upon seeing this, the crown prince suddenly snatched the longbow from the guard beside him, nocked an arrow, and drew the string.
"I will personally send you on your way!"
"Watch out!" Gu Zhixing suddenly pushed Gu Yanqing away from his arms.
With a muffled "thud," the arrow pierced his right shoulder, and blood instantly soaked through his clothes.
He groaned and knelt down on one knee in the mud, only to see two guards forcing Gu Yanqing back towards the edge of the cliff—
"Yan Qing!"
Gu Zhixing lunged forward and grabbed his best friend's wrist tightly.
At that very moment, the soil on the edge of the cliff suddenly loosened and collapsed.
He used all his strength to throw Gu Yanqing to safety, but he himself slid backward due to the reaction force.
Gravel and soil fell down with a "whoosh," and his body was already hanging above the bottomless abyss, clinging to the precarious tree roots on the cliff edge with only one hand.
"Gu Zhixing!"
Shen Jintang's scream pierced the rain.
Ignoring the blade flashing behind her, she abruptly abandoned all defense and leaped towards the edge of the cliff.
Just as Gu Zhixing's fingers were about to slip away, she gripped his wrist tightly.
"Snap—"
The immense impact caused half of Shen Jintang's body to slide off the cliff.
With her left hand gripping Gu Zhixing's wrist tightly, she plunged her longsword into the crevice in the rock with her right. The steel blade bent into a breathtaking arc under the pressure, sparks flying as the blade rubbed against the rock, burning her hand and tearing her skin.
"You..." Gu Zhixing hung precariously above the abyss, rain mixed with blood dripping from his fingertips, splattering onto his pale face. "Let go..."
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