Chapter 631 A World-Shaking Arrow!
Just as their eyes met, chaos erupted once again on the battlefield.
Originally, Yuwen Ye had deployed his troops here under cover of night, forming a larger encirclement around the valley entrance, intending to trap all of Yuan An's men and prevent them from escaping. Now it seemed that his plan had indeed taken shape. Although these men were running around in all directions and struggling to break through, they were unable to break through the forces led by Shen Tu Tai and others. In addition, with Yuwen Cheng's troops constantly charging in from within, these men were quickly defeated and subdued.
Seeing that there was no hope of breaking through, these people put down their swords and prepared to surrender, while Yuwen Ye's men began to slowly regroup.
But at that moment, a rider suddenly rushed out from behind them and galloped away!
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Yuan An!
In his recent battle with Yuwen Cheng, although he had the upper hand, Yuwen Ye shot off his right arm with an arrow, causing him to fall from his horse. Immediately afterward, Shen Tu Tai's men appeared and joined forces with Yuwen Cheng's subordinates who rushed out of the valley to surround and kill the remaining soldiers at the valley entrance. In the midst of the battle, everyone forgot about this man's existence.
Unexpectedly, he had been lying in wait. When the encirclement began to tighten, he suddenly got up, grabbed the reins with one hand, and skillfully leaped onto his horse. Then, taking advantage of the crowd's inattention, he immediately fled to the north. To the north of the valley was a large cypress forest, its dense foliage blocking out the sun. Even in broad daylight, walking inside felt like walking at dusk.
Once he rushes in there, it will be difficult to catch him!
Seeing this, everyone was stunned. Shan Tong'er immediately shouted, "Oh dear, that person is trying to run away! Quickly—"
But it was too late!
They had been gradually tightening their formation, with cavalry in front and infantry behind. At this point, the infantry had no chance of catching up with Yuan An, who was galloping at full speed. However, the cavalry—especially Shen Tu Tai and others—were at the very front of the column. If they wanted to chase Yuan An, they would have to run into their own men and separate their own forces first. If their formation was disrupted, and someone inside managed to break out in the chaos, then they would suffer a greater loss than gain!
Oh no!
Even Shang Ruyi frowned at this.
She clearly remembered Yuwen Ye saying that this expedition was not only to relieve Yuwen Cheng's predicament, but more importantly, to encircle and annihilate all the troops that were pursuing Yuwen Cheng, so that none of them could escape and return to Taiyuan to report the news.
Only by blocking the news of their troop deployment can we catch Taiyuan off guard.
But now—
She subconsciously turned to look at Yuwen Ye, but in that instant, she felt that his shimmering eyes seemed to have just withdrawn their gaze from her. She was stunned for a moment, but upon closer inspection, Yuwen Ye's face remained completely expressionless. Especially in the instant he looked ahead, his deep pupils revealed that unchanging, cold, and sharp light.
Is it...an illusion?
But there was no time to think about it. Just as Shang Ruyi was about to say something, Yuwen Ye raised his arm and lifted the Divine Arm Bow that had been hanging down by his side since he fired the arrow!
He wants to—
Shang Ruyi took a deep breath, opened her eyes wide, and watched him draw an arrow from the quiver hanging on the side of the horse's back, and nock the bow.
At that moment, Shen Tu Tai and the others seemed to have realized something as well. Everyone turned their heads, and thousands of eyes turned to him. For a moment, the temperature of their gazes was even more intense than the rising sun, focusing on him alone.
Meanwhile, some people looked anxiously to the other side. Although Yuan An had lost an arm, he was a skilled horseman who had fought on horseback for many years. Even though he had been jolted a couple of times when riding because he was not used to it, he quickly regained his balance. With his intact left arm, he looped the reins around his arm several times to firmly secure himself to the horse's back, and then kept urging the horse to run faster! Run faster!
The horse he was riding was a warhorse that had accompanied him on many battles and was extremely familiar to him. It was a fine steed from Ferghana named "Liuqing". As soon as it broke out of the encirclement, it galloped wildly and truly turned into a streak of blue light. In no time, it had already rushed to the edge of the cypress forest!
It’s over!
Everyone was thinking the same thing.
Even Song Shiyan and the others—although they didn't know Yuwen Ye's purpose in this battle—were extremely frustrated to see an enemy escape. Moreover, this person was Yuan An, the leader of the team that had been pursuing them and had caused them a lot of trouble along the way, yet he had managed to get away!
Especially Yuwen Cheng, who was also suffering from the excruciating pain of cracked palms, clenched his teeth at this moment.
But looking back at Yuwen Ye, who was gradually drawing the heavy bow, the arrow at his fingertips gleamed in the sunlight, a blinding glint in his eyes. He aimed at Yuan An, who was already crouching low, preparing to ride into the cypress grove, his figure almost disappearing from sight. Yuwen Cheng's expression was cold and composed, without a trace of disarray. Though inwardly furious, Yuwen Cheng couldn't help but let a cold smile creep onto his lips.
So, you're nothing special after all.
Thinking this, Yuwen Cheng felt much better and couldn't help but let out a low, cold laugh. Although everyone around held their breath and focused their attention on Yuwen Ye and Yuan An, who was about to disappear, someone still noticed something. Those eyes, always bloodshot and showing signs of fatigue, cautiously looked at Yuwen Cheng.
Yuwen Cheng seemed particularly sensitive to such gazes, and quickly turned his head, only to meet a pair of surprised and cautious eyes.
Nie Chong immediately looked away.
At the very moment their eyes met, someone in the crowd on the other side let out a sigh of frustration.
"well--!"
The two immediately turned around and saw Yuan An crouching low on his horse, while Liu Qing, the horse beneath him, suddenly leaped up and rushed into the cypress forest!
Although Yuan An was quite burly and riding a horse, the dense forest quickly concealed his figure. The soldiers knew very well that even the most skillful archer would lose his advantage once he or the enemy were in the forest. Even the best archery skills would be hindered by the dense forest.
Now, Yuan An was completely free from their encirclement!
However, just as everyone was feeling disappointed and lamenting, and even somewhat frustrated, Yuwen Ye, standing high up, remained motionless. The hard bow had been fully drawn, like a full moon, and the taut bowstring emitted a dangerous low hum as if it were about to snap.
Those around were stunned for a moment when they saw this, but Shang Ruyi, looking into his cold gaze, which was even sharper than the arrow held in his fingertips, seemed to understand something.
She instinctively held her breath and turned to look ahead.
The cypress forest was so dense that Yuan An almost disappeared as soon as he rushed in. Only by looking carefully and calmly could one find traces of him moving around in the gaps between the thick trunks.
At that moment, Yuwen Ye's arrow was aimed directly at a tiny gap in the dense forest.
However, Yuan An did not give him a chance to aim. Even after entering the forest, he did not relax completely. Enduring the excruciating pain, he used his good arm to tighten the reins, directing his horse, Liu Qing, to keep moving forward through the forest. When he saw a thick cypress tree in front of him, almost as wide as a person, he was overjoyed. He hurriedly spurred his horse around it and used the cypress tree as a barrier to gallop wildly.
Just as he completely hid behind the big tree, a glint suddenly flashed in Yuwen Ye's eyes.
Then, he suddenly released his grip, and the divine bow, on the verge of collapse, let out a deafening roar, like a dragon's cry, resounding in everyone's ears. At the same time, the thick arrow transformed into a bolt of lightning, flying out from Yuwen Ye's fingertips in an instant!
The sound of something cutting through the air shook heaven and earth.
And at that moment, heaven and earth seemed to fall silent!
Although everyone's eyes were fixed on Yuwen Ye, no matter how fast one's gaze was, it couldn't keep up with the speed of the lightning bolt that shot out. Everyone felt a flash of light before their eyes, and the light stung their eyes. Some even subconsciously closed their eyes, not daring to look at the result of this arrow.
But before the result came, what came first was a shattering sound.
The arrow, carrying the force of thunder, flew straight out and pierced through the thick cypress tree, creating a hole the size of a bowl in the trunk. The arrow's power was not yet exhausted, and after breaking through the tree, it still emitted a low roar as it flew straight towards Yuan An, who was rushing forward!
Then, it hit him right in the back!
"ah--!"
A piercing scream erupted, as if releasing all the pent-up pain and fear he had endured along the way. The sound echoed throughout the mountains. The arrow's powerful force not only pierced Yuan An through the horse but also threw him off his horse, causing him to fall to the ground.
Blood immediately stained a large area of woodland red.
At that moment, everyone was stunned.
Among them were some who had followed Yuwen Ye in the army in the past, and some who had surrendered soldiers who had participated in the Battle of Fufeng. They had all witnessed Yuwen Ye's skills and knew that Yuwen Ye had a world-shaking divine crossbow in his hand. But even so, they did not expect that Yuwen Ye could shoot such an arrow!
Even Shang Ruyi was stunned.
This is even more powerful than when he fought against Mingdi at Yanmen Pass and wounded Ashina Shali with an arrow!
She stared in disbelief at Yuan An's figure as he fell from his horse, then slowly turned her head to look at Yuwen Ye's still cold eyes. But a splash of red suddenly stung Shang Ruyi's eyes.
It was his hand!
The hand that had just tightened the bowstring and released the arrow was injured at the fingertips!
"your--"
Before he could even utter the word "hand," Yuwen Ye had already clenched his fist, as if he didn't want anyone else, especially those who had already witnessed this scene, to see it clearly again. He coldly tossed the heavy Divine Arm Bow to the person behind him, then glanced at Yuwen Cheng, who was riding slowly towards them with a complex expression.
Then he said, "Return to camp!"
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