Chapter 190 There's no escaping it.
Early the next morning, with all the luggage prepared, the imperial entourage led the way out of Yunfu Mountain, followed by more than a hundred vehicles, and set off in a grand procession towards the capital.
Once outside the Yunfu Mountain area, the temperature immediately dropped, and thick winter clothes and cloaks were put on again. In Aze's carriage, Rui Rui was playing with Fu Yi. He had begged Meng Guanqi and Li Xiaoxiao for a long time before they agreed to let him take Fu Yi home to raise.
Aze also liked Fuyi, the little dog, but Rui Rui wanted it first, so he couldn't fight with him for it.
He planned to return to the palace and ask the Empress to let him keep a small dog by his side.
Li Xiaoxiao did not ride in the carriage with them. She wore armor and rode her horse alongside the carriage to maintain order, occasionally running back and forth to check if there were any other carriages or isolated Imperial Guards.
By noon, the convoy had traveled fifty kilometers from Yunfu Mountain. It was lunchtime, and the imperial guards at the front found a flat meadow near a stream where the convoy stopped to fetch water and cook.
After being jostled around in the car for a while, the passengers were eager to get off and stretch their muscles. Once the car stopped, almost everyone stood in front of it, swinging their arms and twisting their waists, chatting in small groups, and then walking to the riverbank to enjoy the scenery.
This is a stream flowing down from the mountain. The banks of the stream are covered with thick snow, but the water is clear and flowing, making people want to drink from it. The servants took out their water bags to fetch water and put it in the stove in the cart to boil.
Because it was during a journey, although the stop was for cooking, apart from the emperor, empress, crown prince, and a few high-ranking officials, everyone else brought their own dry rations. They would boil some hot water and tea and eat their dry rations, and then they would be home by evening.
As for the Emperor and Empress, the imperial chefs naturally set up stoves and lit fires on the spot to cook food.
The ingredients were prepared on Yunfu Mountain, and the stove was built and the food was cooked on the spot. Soon, the aroma of the food filled the air.
As a third-rank military officer, Li Xiaoxiao was fortunate enough to dine with several big shots. She first filled a bowl for Aze and then gave a bowl to Rui Rui. The two children sat on small stools and ate with relish. Every now and then, Rui Rui would secretly take a piece of meat from his bowl and share it with Fu Yi, who was always circling around him.
Being able to eat a hot meal and drink a bowl of hot soup in the snow in the dead of winter has a kind of picnic fun. Li Xiaoxiao had just taken a bite of her food when she noticed Fu Yi suddenly squat down and make a threatening whimpering sound towards the mountains.
Li Xiaoxiao quickly put down her bowl, walked over to Fuyi, and patted its head: "Fuyi, what's wrong?"
Fuyi kept backing away, its whimpering growing louder and louder, until finally it stood up and barked loudly towards the mountain.
Fu Yi's shouts attracted the attention of the others who were eating. Li Xiaoxiao's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately realized something. She threw down her bowl, drew the long whip that was always wrapped around her waist, and shouted, "Something's happening! Imperial Guards, Qilin Army, protect the Emperor!"
Before the words had even finished, and before the Imperial Guards and the Qilin Army could react, the vegetation at the foot of the mountain nearby trembled. A silver wolf as big as a calf leaped into the convoy almost like lightning. Blood splattered instantly, limbs flew into the air, and several Imperial Guards were flung high into the air, their mangled limbs falling to the ground.
The hundreds of ordinary gray wolves following closely behind the silver wolf also rushed into the crowd and began to bite. Caught off guard, the group was attacked and scattered. The crowd fled in all directions, with screams and cries filling the air.
Li Xiaoxiao pushed Aze, Meng Guanqi, and Ruirui towards the Emperor and Empress, and shouted, "Don't panic, these are just ordinary wolves! Pang Shi! Reorganize the troops and protect His Majesty and the others!"
Her body swept away like a gust of wind, heading straight for the silver wolf.
It led only an ordinary wolf pack. The strength of the leader and several successful daytime raids made them temporarily forget their animalistic instincts. That's why the wolf pack dared to attack humans, who outnumbered them several times over, during the day. Only if the silver wolves were restrained would they be able to awaken their instincts and retreat out of fear.
Li Xiaoxiao didn't have time to think too much, so she could only leave everything else to Pang Shi, while she picked up her whip and headed straight for the silver wolf.
The silver wolf was incredibly fast and ferocious. By the time she reached it, the area within two zhang around it was like a living hell, littered with entrails and corpse fragments. Officials, eunuchs, and even imperial guards and Qilin Guards who witnessed this horrific scene were so terrified that they had completely lost the ability to resist and could only be slaughtered by the silver wolf like puppets.
Just as it was about to snatch another Imperial Guard in its mouth, Li Xiaoxiao's whip arrived just in time, lashing out at the silver wolf's neck.
The silver wolf seemed to have never expected that anyone would dare to resist it. She caught it off guard, and a tremendous force came from the whip, pulling its body into the air and sending it flying horizontally towards her. The next moment, a dagger appeared in her hand and stabbed towards its head.
Li Xiaoxiao held nothing back; this attack used almost all of her strength. The dagger struck the silver wolf's skull, but broke in two with a clang.
The silver wolf was unharmed.
Her heart sank.
She forgot that even bullets had difficulty penetrating the fur of this interstellar war wolf, let alone the fact that she was only holding a melee weapon.
Its only weaknesses are its eyes and mouth.
She could only kill it by stabbing it in the eye or directly into its brain from inside its mouth; ordinary attacks were useless against it.
She actually forgot about something so important and wasted a great opportunity.
She should stab its eyes!
Although it didn't pierce its skull, the silver wolf had already sensed Li Xiaoxiao's power; it felt threatened for the first time.
It broke free from the whip's restraints, landed on all fours, and stared coldly at the person who dared to jump out and attack it, making threatening growling noises.
It sensed something different about this woman, something very familiar.
They were so familiar with each other that it felt like they came from the same place.
Undeterred by her unsuccessful first attack, Li Xiaoxiao threw away the dagger in her left hand, drew the remaining short sword, gripped the sword in her left hand and the whip in her right, and charged at the silver wolf again.
The silver wolf, relying on its strong and agile body, dodged her attack, and Li Xiaoxiao was caught in a fierce battle with it.
The only good news was that she had stalled it. After a brief moment of panic, Pang Shi had recovered. He rushed forward and killed two wolves with two slashes, then shouted, "Don't panic! Reorganize your formation and protect His Majesty! These are just ordinary wolves. We can kill them. Why the hell are you retreating!"
As he cursed, he killed two more wolves. When the Imperial Guards and the Qilin Army on the outskirts saw that the general had killed four wolves in a row, they reacted immediately. Some drew their bows, others drew their swords, and they began to fight the pack of wolves. The situation quickly turned around. Although the Imperial Guards also suffered casualties, because they outnumbered the wolves, the number of wounded and killed also began to increase.
Li Xiaoxiao was right. The wolves had charged into the crowd because they relied on the wolf king's power to launch a decisive attack. However, the wolf king was held back, and the overwhelming crushing power of the previous attacks was no longer seen. The wolves finally began to regain their instincts; they were terrified.
This group of humans was unlike any they had attacked before. They wore sturdy armor and wielded sharp weapons. Their kind were quickly cut down and fell into pools of blood. The number of corpses increased rapidly, and the wolves began to howl for help. Their attacks were no longer as fierce as when they first arrived, and they began to wriggle and try to retreat.
Silver Wolf had also noticed the change in the situation. It leaped out of Li Xiaoxiao's attack range, raised its neck and let out a long howl, signaling to continue the attack. The wolf pack, which had already intended to retreat, stopped in their tracks and dared not go back.
Li Xiaoxiao took a breath and shouted, "Keep killing! Kill more than half of them, and they will no longer obey the wolf king's commands."
The Imperial Guards and the Qilin Army were greatly encouraged. The archers assembled and marched forward, arrows raining down, piercing the bodies of wolves one by one. The soldiers following behind finished off the remaining wolves, killing all the ones that were still alive. Their superior numbers and equipment finally came into play. The wolf pack dwindled, and corpses littered the ground. The remaining wolves were finally frightened and turned to flee up the mountain.
The cavalrymen spurred their horses and gave chase, continuing to shoot down the fleeing wolves with their bows and arrows. Except for three or four that ran particularly fast and hid in the forest, which could not be caught, all the other wolves were killed.
A cheer erupted from the crowd, seemingly celebrating their victory, but their jubilation vanished in an instant as Silver Wolf lunged at Li Xiaoxiao. Everyone thought she would dodge, but she did not.
She managed to dodge most of her body, but the silver wolf bit her arm. Just as it was about to tear her arm apart, the short sword in her hand pierced its eye.
The eyes were the most vulnerable part of the silver wolf's body. It immediately released its grip, but then lashed out at her neck with a claw. Li Xiaoxiao dodged to the side, avoiding the fatal blow, but the wolf's claw landed heavily on her shoulder, causing her armor to fall off and blood to gush out.
Everyone stared in disbelief at the scene before them. What had just happened? Li Xiaoxiao, the strongest fighter in the Great Wu, had actually suffered such a serious injury? How could this be?!
Seeing that Li Xiaoxiao was injured, Meng Guanqi rushed towards her frantically, but Pang Shi grabbed her by the collar and threw her back halfway: "Don't make things worse!"
The Imperial Guards, regaining their senses, immediately fired arrows at the Silver Wolf. But something incredible happened: the arrows seemed to hit a metal plate, falling off the Silver Wolf's body without harming it in the slightest, only making it angrier.
This bizarre situation left everyone bewildered. What kind of monster was this? Why couldn't even arrows pierce its flesh?
With a low growl, the silver wolf completely ignored the arrows that tickled its body and pounced on Li Xiaoxiao, who was bleeding profusely. Pang Shi arrived just in time and slashed the silver wolf's head with his sword. With a clang, the force of the impact forced Pang Shi back several steps, staring in disbelief at the chipped sword in his hand.
His strike thoroughly enraged the silver wolf, which turned and pounced on him with lightning speed. Pang Shi was shocked; no wonder Li Xiaoxiao could only dodge half of her body with such speed—he had absolutely no way to avoid it!
At the critical moment, a long whip rolled out from behind the silver wolf, quickly looping around its neck and pulling its body backward. Its claws slashed across Pang Shi's armor, and the hard armor immediately fell off his body, breaking into several pieces.
Li Xiaoxiao's hand was bleeding, but she still clung tightly to the silver wolf's neck. She said with difficulty, "Pang Shi, run! Get everyone out of here right now, right now. You see, I'm no match for this wolf. If it kills me, none of us will escape! Run, I can still hold it off for a while."
Pang Shi asked in a trembling voice, "What is this thing? What kind of monster is this? Why is it invulnerable to swords and spears?"
Li Xiaoxiao said with a bitter laugh, "Don't worry about what kind of monster it is anymore. If you drag this out any longer, we'll all die here. Stop asking questions and hurry up and get everyone out of here..."
For the first time, Pang Shi felt panicked: "Then what are you going to do? You said you can't beat it..."
Li Xiaoxiao roared, "What the hell can I do? I can only fight it to the death! Today it's either it or me! If you keep dawdling here, I'm about to lose control of it, so run!"
She couldn't even look back before tears streamed down her face, and she said in a trembling voice, "Please, take Meng Guanqi and Rui Rui with you and run away."
This was the first time Pang Shi had seen Li Xiaoxiao in such a disheveled state, and he truly felt that she had done everything in her power. His heart ached, and tears streamed down his face: "Li Xiaoxiao! You must come back alive!"
There was no time to lose. He resolutely turned around and shouted, "Everyone, travel light! Don't bring anything! Those with horses, two people per horse; those without, use your legs! Get out of here immediately!"
He ran ahead of Emperor Hongxing at the fastest speed he had ever run, helped him onto the horse, made the Empress sit behind him, slapped the horse's back hard, and roared, "Your Majesty, ride away!"
The Empress cried out in alarm, "Ze Zhi!"
Realizing what was happening, Wan Quan quickly helped A Ze onto the horse, then sat behind him. A Ze cried out, "Brother! My brother!"
Pang Shi knocked Meng Guanqi unconscious with a single chop to the neck as he struggled wildly toward Li Xiaoxiao. He threw Meng Guanqi onto the horse, picked up Rui Rui and placed her behind him, yelling, "Hold on tight!" He then spurred the horse, and the three of them rode off toward the Emperor and Empress.
He ran and shouted, "Li Xiaoxiao, I left my most beloved warhorse to you. You must come back to me alive, and bring my horse back to me!"
The imperial guards and the Qilin Army, who had horses, each grabbed a civil official and quickly mounted their horses, following closely behind Pang Shi. The few officials and eunuchs without horses screamed and ran away in all directions.
The silver wolf was furious and tried to pounce on its fleeing prey several times, but Li Xiaoxiao blocked its way each time. Her whip seemed to have eyes and could always catch its neck and legs, preventing it from escaping.
The silver wolf's voice grew even angrier, as if it already knew that it couldn't catch up with its prey without dealing with the person in front of it.
It finally stopped being distracted and started circling around Li Xiaoxiao, as if it was about to pounce on her, bite off her throat, suck out her blood, and then tear her apart.
A cold wind blew by, and snowflakes fell one by one. In the vast white snowfield, only Li Xiaoxiao, covered in blood, faced off against a silver wolf poised to pounce.
Li Xiaoxiao murmured, "Let's go, old friend, this isn't the place for our battlefield."
She would risk her life to bring Silver Wolf back to Yizhou.
She brought it here, and she will take it away with her.
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