The silence was temporary. Everyone present was stunned by Fanli's seemingly delirious muttering. However, in the next mont, Fanli spread his large hand, pushing the sleeping Helian Baozhu directly towards the blind man. At the sa ti, Fanli lifted his feet, and the two giant axes he had underfoot were hooked up. Without any hesitation, Fanli rushed forward, quickly seized the axes, then, using the montum, his arms pressed down, and the axes split in two different directions: one aid at Gesang's forehead, the other at his lower body. In the slightly cramped cave, Fanli's movents were so graceful that his clumsy physique was invisible.
Gesang's eyes narrowed. Previously seated cross-legged, he abruptly pushed off with his legs and shot backward, choosing not to confront Fanli's twin axes head-on with his own flesh and blood. Warriors indeed possess formidable physiques. While the cultivation path of the wild people isn't identical to that of orthodox warriors, their body refinent thods are quite similar. The legendary "indestructible vajra body" isn't a myth, but it's a level achieved by warriors at their peak. Only cultivators like Shatuo Queshi and Tian Wujing could, for a short period, ignore weapons striking their bodies in the chaos of battle purely through their physical resilience.
However, Fanli pressed his advantage relentlessly. He hurled one axe directly at Gesang while, with his right hand, he swung the other with the force of a mountain-cleaving blow, following up his attack. This simple maneuver revealed a desperate resolve to trade life for life, risking everything for the kill! Whether he was genuinely simple-minded, no one truly knew. But when it ca to fighting and killing experience, not a single one of the seven demon lords had ever truly been bested.
Gesang sidestepped, dodging the thrown axe, but this left him unable to gather sufficient qi and blood. Facing Fanli's second axe, he could only retreat again. Seizing the opening Fanli had created, the blind man, carrying Helian Baozhu, rushed out of the cave. Xue Three, A Ming, and Zheng Fan followed close behind.
"Take Master Yao and go!" Mr. Chen shouted to Miss Su beside him. He drew his sword, and a beam of Sword Qi shot out, streaking past Fanli's back towards the enemy.
Fanli sensed the attack. Instead of advancing, he retreated, perfectly yielding his position. He left Gesang, who had been forced back twice and was just about to counterattack, to face Mr. Chen. Mr. Chen engaged Gesang, while Fanli himself rushed out of the cave.
By the ti Fanli rushed out of the cave, before he could even catch his breath, he saw a group of soldiers in green armor appearing on the periphery. They had already surrounded the place.
"Enemy attack!!"
In the distance, Ah Tong, who had been on watch on the outskirts and had fought his way back, now bloodied, let out a furious roar, only to be instantly beheaded by an officer from behind. As for Ah Mu, his fate was likely sealed as well. They were the most unfortunate. Despite their vigilance while scouting, they never anticipated that an inescapable trap had already been laid here, nor did they imagine that the foremost warrior of their own settlent was actually a traitor.
Seeing the nurous enemies, the blind man imdiately shouted, "Break through to the east! There are fewer people there." In the dark of night and completely surrounded, their only glimr of hope to break out lay in following the blind man's directions.
Upon hearing this, Xue Three was the first to charge into the forest to the east. Miss Su, carrying Yao Zizhan in her arms bridal style, saw this and also dashed eastward. Yao Zizhan was remarkably compliant. He knew his only option now was to be obedient; as for maintaining his dignity, he couldn't care less.
Not far away, the armored soldiers of the Situ Family were already charging toward them.
"ROAR!"
Fanli let out a bellow. Instead of using his remaining axe, he hoisted a large boulder from in front of him and hurled it directly at the approaching crowd.
"CRASH!"
A Ming seized the mont and lunged forward. He held no weapon, but his fingernails always found and accurately pierced the unarmored parts of his opponents' bodies. Soon, four or five armored soldiers of the Situ Family had been struck down by A Ming.
"CLANG!"
Zheng Fan parried the soldier rushing at him with his saber. His qi and blood flared, making him significantly faster and more powerful than these armored soldiers. After deflecting the opponent's weapon, he followed through with a swift slash, his blade slicing into the soldier's neck. He then kicked the body away and turned to face the next attacker.
"My lord, retreat!"
The blind man's voice resounded in Zheng Fan's mind.
"Their numbers are increasing!"
Zheng Fan glanced back at the cave. Just then, a figure shot out from within. Several beams of sword light flashed, and the three armored soldiers in front of Zheng Fan were instantly cut in half at the waist.
Mr. Chen glanced at Zheng Fan and grabbed his shoulder with one hand, clearly intending to take Zheng Fan with him.
Zheng Fan didn't resist. Alright, if you want to give a lift, go ahead. Who wouldn't want a free ride?
However, an extrely powerful arrow suddenly shot out. Mr. Chen was forced to alter his movent; his sword swept out horizontally, slicing the arrow in two. Imdiately after, on the periphery, rows of archers and crossbown suddenly advanced.
"Go on your own! Head east!" Zheng Fan yelled at Mr. Chen, then turned his head and shouted, "A Ming!"
A Ming's figure instantly appeared, moving alongside Zheng Fan.
"SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!"
A volley of arrows rained down. Zheng Fan sprinted frantically eastward, with A Ming keeping pace, arrows thudding into A Ming's body one after another. A Ming remained unfazed, like an emotionless machine built to absorb projectiles.
However, once they escaped the imdiate vicinity of the cave and entered the eastern forest, the pressure on Zheng Fan and the others lessened considerably, perhaps because Xue Three's earlier charge had disrupted the ambushers' formation. After another fierce skirmish, they plunged deep into the forest and resud their desperate flight.
In fact, after sprinting for a quarter of an hour, they could no longer see any pursuers behind them. Yet, no one had any intention of stopping; they pushed themselves to keep running with all their might. This dense mountain forest was unsuitable for cavalry operations, so everyone knew very well that their survival and escape from the encirclent now depended entirely on their own two feet.
Fortunately, on Zheng Fan's side, apart from the useless Yao Zizhan, the others were all individually capable. Even Miss Su, herself an Eighth Rank martial artist, managed to keep up with the group while carrying the burden that was Yao Zizhan.
Helian Baozhu, who had been in the blind man's arms, had already been handed over to Fanli. The blind man, running with his ntal force, moved with an effortless speed, almost as if he were skimming across water.
This grueling run continued for what amounted to nearly three hours. Finally, Miss Su could hold on no longer. Still clutching Yao Zizhan, she collapsed, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Clearly, the prolonged sprint had caused her to severely overdraw her qi and blood.
Seeing this, the others also stopped to rest and catch their breath. Zheng Fan spat on the ground, his lungs burning with excruciating pain. Each breath felt as if soone were stabbing them from the inside with fine needles.
It wasn't that he hadn't experienced thousand-li forced marches before, but those had been on warhorses, with each man having two mounts. Now, relying purely on his own legs, the level of exhaustion was utterly different. After sitting down, Zheng Fan licked his lips, which were cracked and bleeding.
"My lord, have so water."
Xue Three promptly offered a waterskin.
Zheng Fan nodded, took the waterskin, and gulped down several mouthfuls, only to imdiately retch it all back up.
Indeed, many professionally trained long-distance runners can sustain their pace for extended periods, but they do so maintaining their own rhythm. Zheng Fan and his companions, however, were fleeing for their lives in a desperate sprint, which was an entirely different kind of exertion.
A Ming sat beside Zheng Fan, drinking from his special waterskin. He took small, deliberate sips. It wasn't that A Ming was being stingy with the blood; rather, if he drank too quickly, it would spill.
Zheng Fan turned to look at A Ming and asked, "What about the arrows that hit you?"
A Ming replied, "They were too heavy. I pulled them out while we were running."
Zheng Fan patted A Ming's shoulder. "Thank you for your hard work."
He was referring to the earlier mont when A Ming had shielded him from the volley of arrows.
A Ming shook his head and said with a sigh, "If you were at the Sixth Rank now, My lord, I wouldn't have had such a hard ti."
Zheng Fan chuckled. "Heh, being that blunt, are we?"
"It's a pity there's no cara," A Ming continued. "Otherwise, we could capture this mont. Then, next ti you advance in rank, My lord, we could flip through an album and reminisce together about these glorious old days."
"Rest assured, I'll keep it in mind," Zheng Fan said.
A Ming retorted, "The subtext of that, My lord, is that you don't really an it."
Hearing this, Xue Three, who was still eager to curry favor, imdiately interjected with displeasure, "A Ming, how can you speak to My lord like that? It's an honor for us subordinates to shield My lord from arrows! If I hadn't been clearing the path ahead, I would have shielded him myself!"
"You?" A Ming scoffed.
"What about ?" Xue Three retorted.
"If you were shielding him," A Ming said, "I'd be worried you'd protect his head but leave his arse exposed."
"..." Xue Three was speechless.
Zheng Fan stood up and walked over to Mr. Chen, who was sitting there, tearing open his shirt. There was a visible indentation on his left chest.
"How's your injury?" Zheng Fan asked.
"I took a punch from him, and he took a sword blow from ," Mr. Chen replied.
"So, no loss?"
Mr. Chen nodded. "Actually, I ca out slightly ahead."
"Looks like your skills have improved again, huh?" Zheng Fan remarked.
"Mhm. After I recovered from that punch I took from that fellow last ti, I felt my cultivation realm had improved considerably."
What else could he say? Zheng Fan thought. Aside from being a bit too straightforward, Mr. Chen was practically the template for a different kind of protagonist. As long as he wasn't killed by a major villain, he'd have an epiphany and level up imdiately after recovering from his injuries.
It was just a pity Mr. Chen was from the Qian State. If not for this conflicting allegiance, Zheng Fan felt he would definitely try, by any ans necessary, to recruit him.
Just then, Miss Su suddenly spoke up, "You Jin people are all unreliable!"
Before Zheng Fan and the demon lords could react to her outburst, Yao Zizhan, looking rather apologetic and apprehensive, quickly cupped his hands in a salute to everyone around. "Heroes of Yan State," he pleaded, "this foolish woman isn't quite right in the head. Please, don't take her words to heart or stoop to her level."
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