Chapter 50 Two Arrows
Wen Yao gripped the reins tightly, her breathing quickening slightly from the violent jolting of the horse's back. She straightened her back and looked up at the city gate. Her heart pounded as her eyes met Lou Chengyi's figure. All her suspicions from today were confirmed.
Deep in the alley, at the wonton stall, Lou Chengyi's face, shrouded in the steam, instantly became incredibly real. Through the mist, Wen Yao saw his thin lips straighten, a lingering emotion between his brows. Sharp and indifferent, cold and stubborn, he perfectly matched the tall man now standing on the city wall, arrow in hand.
Her heart sank at first, but then she felt relieved as if a stone had fallen to the ground.
Well, that's what happened.
Wen Yao thought.
But he was so cruel that he left and even burned down the Qiongyu Tower.
The business he had personally cultivated for many years was burned to the ground on the day he left. Without any regrets or looking back, he burned his boats and crossed the river, as if he wanted to burn Tianshui's dark past along with the two magnificent red silk towers.
This is very similar to what Lou Chengyi would do.
He had possessed a strange stubbornness and ruthlessness since childhood, a child practically a wolf cub. Wen Yao could see his vigilance and silence, and even the glint of hatred in his eyes. Even after all these years, nothing had changed. Before Lou Chengyi's eyes, there hung a bloody figure, dangling by a thread, desperately clamoring for him to return, to the vast grasslands of Northern Liao. There, he could avenge his grudges and settle his grievances.
The factory supervisor's horses were all good, and his men had some experience in martial arts, and were also quite skilled in riding and archery. Song Mingde, who was closely following Ning'er, soon succeeded in leading his men to catch up, surrounding her when she was only a short distance from the city gate.
A sickly red flush appeared on his pale face. He looked up at Lou Chengyi, who for some reason stood motionless on the city wall. A smile slowly appeared on his lips, and he said to the guards beside him, "Go out of the city gate, climb the city wall from both sides, and surround the rebels from three directions."
The Lingyu Guards and Huben Army that followed behind remained motionless, watching as the blue-clothed soldiers in front of them quickly split into several waves and rode towards the city gate to capture the rebels.
Wen Yao stared at Lou Chengyi for a while, then lowered his head and looked away, urging the horse forward with a light scolding.
She squeezed into the circle of guards surrounding Ning'er. The guards around her subconsciously tried to stop her, but Prince Yan was right behind Wen Yao. The next time they moved, the surrounding Feathered Guards, many times their number, immediately looked over with eager eyes.
No, we are all arresting people together. What are we doing?
Zhao Xuanxu reined in his horse and entered the encirclement, standing beside Wen Yao with a calm expression. He didn't look at Ning'er, but like Song Mingde, he raised his eyebrows and looked directly at Lou Chengyi standing on the city wall.
This man had known A Yao for a long time. A Yao had lived in seclusion in Liuye for many years, and it seemed that she had also exchanged letters with him.
Song Mingde is the most reliable person in doing things.
A layer of ice formed between Zhao Xuanxu's tender eyebrows, and he thought calmly.
It would be best to kill him on the spot and get rid of this great threat to him.
Ning'er and the two people beside her were now blocked from all directions. They were surrounded by the factory supervisor's minions, and behind them were Wen Yao and Zhao Xuanxu, who had just arrived.
Ning'er looked at the people around her and sighed softly, her face devoid of the fear of defeat. From the moment she used herself as bait to divert the attention of the various forces in Bianliang City, she knew she would most likely not escape. She had already hidden her poison sac in her teeth, ready to be on the road immediately if captured.
Her master had saved her life, bringing her back to Qiongyu Tower after she had been nearly beaten to death by the madam. Now, returning the favor to her master, traveling light and free from torture, was a beautiful thing.
It’s a pity that the two people who came to support me will also die here today.
Ning'er blinked slowly, came back to her senses and looked at Wen Yao, her brows relaxed and she showed a touching and gentle smile.
This smile was not like that of the usually smart, capable and well-mannered Miss Ning'er. It was more like the look on Yun Yan's face when he whipped and created a circle of sparkling river lanterns for Wen Yao that day.
"Still laughing, how shameless!" A foreigner beside him sneered, "You're wasting your life in Tianshui by helping the Liao devils."
He said this not necessarily because he was loyal and brave, but most likely just a sarcastic remark made by a smooth-talking barbarian.
Ning'er's smile quickly faded. She was silent for a moment, then said, "I was born during a time of turmoil. My mother sold me to a trafficker in exchange for rice and wheat to raise my younger brother. Since then, I have repaid her for bearing me."
"Tianshui never raised me. When I was helpless and struggling, Tianshui showed me no favors. It was my master who saved my life, provided me with food and clothing, and kept me alive. Isn't that the same with you? If you were a wealthy family in a peaceful and prosperous era, why would you become a factory supervisor and be criticized? I am guilty of treason and deserve death. There is no way to defend myself. But if there is an afterlife, I don't want to be a human being, not like a weed in troubled times, with no control over my life or death."
Banzi gritted his teeth, feeling that this woman had hit a sore spot for him. He became angry and didn't want to listen to her anymore. He grabbed a chain from his sleeve and was about to go forward and grab Ning'er.
Wen Yao kicked her boots, spurring her horse to block Ning'er, and reached out to press down on the chain. Her grip was so strong that the young man couldn't struggle. He looked from her to Zhao Xuanxu, who, though not looking at her, was still very present, and a hint of wariness and fear appeared on his face.
Wen Yao turned her back to Ning'er, smiled at Fanzi, and discussed with him: "You can wear this in prison. Girls like to be coquettish in the past. When we go back to the street, there will be so many people around. It's not a good idea to wear a chain-"
Wen Yao's words suddenly caught in her throat. Her eyelids twitched, and an inexplicable, sharp sense of danger surged within her. Almost driven by a powerful instinct, she drew her Xingyi Sword and turned abruptly.
The arrow whizzing through the air was so fast.
"Don't move!" Wen Yao's pupils shrank, and she shouted immediately. She rolled off her horse and raised her hand, slashing down the arrow from mid-air. The Xingyi Sword collided with the fierce internal energy of the arrow, emitting a humming sound.
But Wen Yao's uneasiness did not disappear with the arrow falling to the ground. As she fell to the ground, she suddenly heard a subtle sound of a sharp weapon penetrating into flesh.
The man actually shot two arrows in total.
One arrow is in front, and the next arrow is shot two breaths later, following closely behind at the same angle and direction.
Ning'er obeyed Wen Yao's words and remained motionless. Then another arrow pierced her heart like tofu. Her mouth dropped open, her eyes wide with surprise as she felt the feathers at the end of the arrow scrape against the living flesh of her chest.
The power of the ten-stone bow combined with the archer's extraordinary internal strength made this last arrow extremely terrifying, far more powerful than the first arrow.
After easily piercing Ning'er's body, the arrow's momentum did not decrease at all, and it rushed straight towards Zhao Xuanxu who was right in front of her.
Wen Yao knew that Lou Chengyi had always had the habit of practicing archery.
The air was filled with the strong fragrance of wisteria. Day after day, Lou Chengyi spent his days in the empty room on the seventh floor of Qiong Yu Tower, splitting the arrows that were nailed to the bull's eye one by one.
She was upset because when Wu Chongguang went to find him, he teased him and told him to stop practicing, saying that the distance was too short and the speed was too slow, and no results would be achieved.
She hadn't expected that the arrows Lou Chengyi had shot in front of her were merely harmless playful displays of relaxation. This arrow was now incredibly powerful, having accumulated power from the city wall to this point. It could pierce even stone, let alone flesh and blood.
The reason why there were two arrows, one in front and one behind, was because Lou Chengyi knew Wen Yao too well.
Wen Yao turned her head. The arrow that had pierced Ning'er's body stretched infinitely in her eyes, then slowed down. Then, it felt like an endless amount of blood gushed out of Ning'er's body, soaking her clothes.
Wen Yao's heart choked, and he couldn't even utter a word he wanted to say.
Zhao Xuanxu never carried a weapon, and was used to killing people with his bare hands. Wen Yao felt that this was too bloody and unsightly, and considered finding him a handy weapon to cultivate a habit of killing people hygienically, but he never got around to it.
At this moment, she saw that Zhao Xuanxu reacted extremely quickly, almost turning sideways, and raised his hand to hold the arrow tightly at his side.
The cold iron tip of the arrow was pierced with hideous barbs, instantly shearing away a large swathe of flesh from Zhao Xuanxu's palm, revealing the bones beneath. The blood was dripping, the scene horrific. Zhao Xuanxu's expression remained unchanged, his wrist tense and unwavering, barely managing to hold the arrow's end in check. The tip grazed his cheek, leaving a bloody mark.
Ning'er's eyes widened, her thick, curled lashes fluttering like a butterfly's wings. As if suddenly realizing something, her strength vanished along with the blood rushing out, and she could no longer maintain her balance on the horse. Her lips paled, and she swayed and fell to the side.
Wen Yao moved suddenly, stepped forward and knelt on the ground, gently hugged her body in his arms, and quickly sealed the blood channel to stop her bleeding.
"Master, Master..."
Just as Wen Yao could recognize Lou Chengyi's arrows at a glance, Ning'er had wiped these arrows for Lou Chengyi one by one. Now, when she looked at the arrow feathers in Zhao Xuanxu's blood-stained hand, she also recognized it at a glance.
Ning'er struggled to hold Wen Yao's hand, the blood pouring out of her mouth soaking her snow-white cheeks. She only said this one sentence, then quickly closed her eyes and stopped talking, breathing softly as if in pain.
Wen Yao looked at her, his shoulders hunched, his brows lowered, and he looked rarely at a loss.
She felt around her body, but nothing was there.
Wen Yao had been alone for too long, and he hadn't been injured in a long time, so he wouldn't carry hemostatic medicine even if he had barbecue salt on him.
Because of these two arrows, Song Mingde in front also turned his head to look over here. The surrounding barbarians and the feathered guards and tiger soldiers all drew their swords and stood on high alert in the direction of the city wall, almost ready to charge.
On the city wall, the emerald-eyed man holding the longbow didn't draw any more arrows. He glanced at the area intently, then tossed the bow and arrow to someone beside him. He decisively turned around and led his subordinates to jump down the dozens-foot-high city wall in a clean and swift manner.
There were a few loud horse neighs outside, and the horses' hooves stamped on the ground as they sped away.
Zhao Xuanxu looked at Wen Yao kneeling on the ground. His grip loosened, and the bloody arrow was thrown to the ground, covered in dust. He dismounted and strode towards Wen Yao. As he passed the crowd, he simply said, "Chase."
Powerful and concise.
The surrounding Feathered Guards and Tiger Guards immediately turned around and rode their horses towards the city. The guards gathered around Song Mingde. The red-robed commander glanced at Wen Yao with a slightly strange expression, then turned around and led his men on horseback to chase him out of the city.
As the sun sets at Anyuan Gate, the dead grass that was barren in winter grows everywhere, wetted into a mess by the warm blood.
Ning'er's hand was held by Wen Yao. She gasped hard, gathering some strength. A smile appeared on her blood-stained face. At first glance, she looked no different from usual. "Miss Wen... Miss Wen, can you please... take care of my body?"
"Bury it...under the Qiongyu Tower, deeper." Ning'er's voice, like her heartbeat and breathing, gradually faded until it was inaudible. "I...really have nowhere else to go."
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