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At this point, Yuan Cixian was no longer panicking. The other party had set up such a trap, which meant that they knew her very well, but she had no idea about their identities. She had to calm down before she could come up with a way to deal with it.
Her eyes slowly swept over the uninvited guests: there were about twenty-five men in total, all riding good horses, all dressed in tight clothes and shorts, with burly builds, and black masks covering their faces. They were using the Mo Dao, which was famous for its long handle and suitable for dealing with cavalry. From a distance, there seemed to be no special patterns on the blade.
They did not give her much time to think. The leader raised his hand and cut the trip rope with a knife, then swung forward, and the soldiers on both sides rushed forward and killed Yuan Cixian's guards.
Yuan Cixian was surrounded and didn't say a word. Shi Cui knew she was observing the enemy's situation, so she didn't interrupt her. Cao An also didn't talk much, so the two of them rode their horses and brandished their swords in silence to drive away the black-clothed men who wanted to get close to her.
Although the Yuan family's guards were good fighters, they were no match for these well-prepared people. They chopped and slashed with long-handled Mo Dao, and soon they were all knocked off their horses. In a short while, the bloody smell was everywhere. When a guard's head was chopped off by the Mo Dao, and blood flowed out of the broken wound, Yuan Cixian, who was unmoved by the wind and rain, finally turned pale.
She had indeed been in the army and had seen the tragic scenes of corpses and the suffering of the people, but she had always been protected by her father and had only watched from afar, rarely witnessing such a scene of slaughter. Even when she rescued her father last time, she was commanding from afar. The brutality of these people's methods really frightened her.
It has been raining a lot in this area recently, and not long after the two sides fought, the originally clear sky became much gloomier, with flying sand and rocks all of a sudden, and it was as dim as dusk.
She glanced at the sky, took a few breaths amid the sound of swords piercing flesh, avoided looking at the blood and corpses on the ground, calmed down, and whispered to Shi Cui, "Look at their formation."
Shi Cui had followed Yuan Cixian for many years and had a tacit understanding with her. She understood it immediately. Although the fight between the two sides was not like a military battle, a smart killer would not attack randomly even if he had the upper hand in order to reduce casualties. Therefore, even if it looked scattered, there must be a pattern to follow.
At a glance, she discovered a crucial point. The enemy's goal was to kill people, so they should charge forward, but this formation was like a pair of wings. They were killing while protecting someone.
Yuan Cixian saw that she had noticed something and continued in a low voice: "The leader is just a cover, not the real leader. That person may be their master. You cover for Brother Cao and kill them."
When Cao An heard this, he exchanged glances with Shi Cui, then said, "County Lady, be careful," and rode out on his horse.
Facts proved that Yuan Cixian's guess was correct. Seeing that Shi Cui and Cao An were coming with great momentum and were about to attack the dragon's lair, the other side had to slow down the pace of killing and gather some people to protect the master. In this way, the few remaining people on Yuan Cixian's side breathed a sigh of relief.
But unexpectedly, at this moment, raindrops began to fall.
The heavy rain was so strong that it was almost impossible to open one's eyes. Shi Cui and Cao An were forced to slow down their slashing, and thus, their plan to capture the leader first was doomed to fail. The two faced an endless stream of killing moves. While busy with slashing, they looked back anxiously to see what was happening. They saw that the Yuan family guards behind them were gradually losing. Yuan Cixian had no choice but to dismount and pick up a sword to fight the enemy himself.
Soon, all ten guards were killed, and in the pouring rain and fog, only her slightly thin figure was left.
Yuan Cihan had learned martial arts but had never killed anyone. In front of these well-trained killers, a few moves were not enough. Besides, two fists could not beat four hands, so he was defeated soon.
A killer on horseback bent down and grabbed her, holding her tightly in front of him, then whipped the horse and galloped out as if he wanted to be the first to score.
Seeing this, Shi Cui took a knife from the enemy without caring and hurriedly chased after him. Cao An wiped the rain off his face and desperately blocked the swarm of killers for her.
Yuan Cixian was held hostage by the man behind her and was jolted along the way, unable to move at all. She panted for a while and managed to say, "If you don't want to die, rein in your horse."
Because her whole body was soaked by the cold rain, her voice was slightly trembling. The man ignored her.
She continued, "I have helpers, not far ahead. Your brothers are currently being entangled by my guards and can't catch up. You kidnap me alone, and you will definitely not end up well. What is more important, stealing the credit or saving your life? You rein in your horse first and wait for your brothers to arrive. I won't be able to escape anyway. Isn't this safer?"
The man still didn't say anything, not even a ripple.
Yuan Cixian gave a desperate laugh and raised his voice: "My dear brother, do you not understand what I am saying? I am serious. My people are coming soon. You are walking into a knife's edge. Believe it or not, when I count to three, you will fall off your horse."
Yuan Cixian herself didn't believe this nonsense. She knew that even if she counted to thirty, no one would come to save her. She couldn't persuade him to stop, so she had to say something to distract him and see if there was a chance to push him down.
Her lips were trembling from the cold, and she counted slowly: "One, two..."
The killer seemed to have extraordinary self-control, and even the hand holding her arm did not move an inch. But just as Yuan Cixian shouted "three" in despair, a thunder suddenly sounded above her head. The man groaned and really fell off his horse.
Yuan Cixian’s mind was confused and he looked up at the sky.
Is this possible? Could this be the so-called "thunderbolt"
She was so stunned that she forgot to move. The horse had lost control of its owner and was probably unwilling to carry her. It was shaking and trying to throw her off. When she reacted and reached out to pull the reins, half of her body was hanging outside. It was too late to save her. She fell down with a low cry.
At the moment she fell off her horse, Yuan Cihan thought that since God was merciful, he might ask Thunder God to lend a helping hand to her, so that she wouldn't fall too badly.
And she really didn't fall too badly. Just as she was about to fall to the ground, a pair of hands passed through her armpits and lifted her up. The next moment, she was on another galloping horse, and someone grabbed her waist from behind.
The man questioned her in a deep voice: "Yuan Cixian, is this what you call the riding skills you learned from military training?"
When she heard the voice, she turned around and saw Lu Shiqing's face darkened, squinting at her. She was so cold that her mind slowed down, she forgot to say anything back, and stared up at the sky.
Lu Shiqing was so angry that he laughed: "It wasn't the thunder that struck me, it was me."
She looked down at the hidden arrow in his hand, and understood everything. She asked curiously, "Why are you here?"
"If you don't want me to come, I can throw you away right now."
She quickly shook her head, tightened his arm around her waist, and said repeatedly: "Think about it, of course I think about it! You must save him to the end!"
Lu Shiqing glanced at the blood and mud all over her body, and the raindrops hanging on her long eyelashes, and sighed without saying anything else. However, he tightened his arm around her waist and continued to whip her forward.
Yuan Cixian felt relieved and asked him, "Did you see Shi Cui and Brother Cao when you came?"
He nodded: "They are here to cover me." Then he added, "The two of them can protect themselves, you should worry about yourself, the other party may catch up with you at any time."
She said "oh", folded her arms in his arms and stopped talking.
The rain gradually weakened, but Yuan Cixian was really too cold to bear it, not to mention that Lu Shiqing was also soaked, and it was not warm even next to him. After a long time, she shivered and said, "... Where are we going?"
Lu Shiqing replied: "Do you think I know?"
In this place where neither chickens poop nor birds lay eggs, there is only a straight and desolate road, and no one knows when it will end. Yuan Cixian felt desperate, but an idea suddenly came to his mind. He looked around and said, "Go about ten miles ahead and there will be two forks in the road. You can take the west one. That road was originally a government road. There is an abandoned post station nearby."
Lu Shiqing looked down at her: "How did you know?"
"I stopped there while following you..."
"… "
*
After half an hour, the two men finally arrived at the post station to shelter from the rain. In order to prevent the horse from being left outside and exposing their whereabouts, they led it in and tied it to the stable behind the house.
The post station was originally a small, single-room building with dilapidated doors and windows that could not block the wind. There were also holes made by rats in the corners. If Yuan Cixian had not stopped here yesterday and cleaned it up, it would have been even dirtier. But it was not very clean at the moment, after all, the dust had accumulated for too long.
Lu Shiqing was intimidated as soon as he entered the door.
Yuan Cihan glanced at him and said, "Minister Lu, you are too picky now, so just make do with it." After she said that, she dragged her tired body and fell headfirst onto a roll of straw blanket.
She didn't clean up the place when she left yesterday, and there were still a lot of straw rolls, firewood, and a few tinderboxes left on the ground.
Lu Shiqing also knew that what she said was right, so he had to suppress the itchy discomfort all over his body and went to check if the firewood was damp. He finally used a tinder to light a fire, but when he turned around, he saw that she was fast asleep and she didn't respond after calling him several times.
He had no choice but to squat down in front of her and shook her arm: "Don't sleep yet."
Yuan Cixian was awake, but her eyelids were too heavy to open. She waved her hands around and almost slapped him, saying, "I haven't slept all night and have been chased all the way. I'm really tired. Please don't bother me..."
Lu Shiqing dodged her hand, remembering the embarrassing incident last night, coughed, and said, "Dry your clothes before going to bed."
She shook her head and murmured softly: "I'm fine, I'm not delicate, I won't catch a cold... You are more important, just dry yourself..." Then she fell silent.
Lu Shiqing was furious and dragged her and her straw blanket towards the fire.
“Hey…!” Yuan Cixian was awakened by his dragging and reached out to grab his arm, “Stop, stop, stop… I can walk by myself!”
He loosened his hand and pointed his chin to signal her to hurry up.
Yuan Cixian was too tired to stand up, so she had to crawl to the fire using her hands and feet. She raised her head and said weakly, "Minister Lu, how can I dry my clothes with them on?"
"Then take it off." He said with a frown, then turned his back and walked to the corner.
Yuan Cixian glanced at his back and asked hesitantly, "How do I know you won't look back?"
Lu Shiqing seemed to let out a "huh" and imitated her previous words, "County Lady, you are too picky now, so just make do with it."
She sighed and had to take off her outer garment first, preparing to change into her inner garment after drying it. She looked up and saw a circle of water stains under Lu Shiqing's feet. He looked miserable, so she said, "Minister Lu, take off your outer garment and give it to me. It's the same whether you dry one or two."
“No need.”
"Don't be so stubborn. If you catch a cold and fall down, who will take me away?"
Lu Shiqing was so angry with her that he pulled his belt and threw his outer garment behind him without even turning his head.
Yuan Cixian took it and yawned as he roasted it: "I was afraid I would fall asleep while roasting. Please talk to me. How did you know I was in danger?"
He snorted, "Your good dog."
He was traveling peacefully when the animal bit his clothes and dragged him off the carriage. God knows how he could understand the dog's language under such circumstances.
Yuan Cixian was slightly stunned when she heard this. Yes, she hadn't noticed that Xiao Hei seemed to have disappeared a long time ago. Maybe he took advantage of the chaos to find Lu Shiqing to report the news.
"Where's Xiao Hei?"
"How should I know?" Lu Shiqing said impatiently. Why would he care about a dog
Yuan Cixian was speechless after hearing his tone. She felt bad for asking him to flee with her for no reason. After a while, she whispered, "I'm sorry, Minister Lu, for making you get involved in this mess."
Lu Shiqing paused for a moment and said, "I'm used to it."
Anyway, every time she sticks to him, something bad is going to happen.
He just said it casually, but Yuan Cixian didn't know what he was thinking about. After a long silence, he asked, "Do I always bring bad luck to others?"
Lu Shiqing considered it for a moment and gave a more moderate answer: "It's okay."
But he didn't know that in the ears of girls, "okay" is equivalent to "yes". So Yuan Cixian was not comforted at all, but sighed: "If I hadn't insisted on running away, they wouldn't have been sent by my brother to protect me."
Lu Shiqing realized what she was thinking about. He almost turned his head to look at her, but when he turned his boots, he remembered that something was wrong. He turned his head back and said, "It has nothing to do with you."
"Why doesn't it matter?" Her voice dropped.
Lu Shiqing also witnessed the tragic scene when he arrived. It was indeed horrifying. It was understandable that a usually cheerful person would be depressed for a moment. He frowned and wondered how to continue the conversation. After a while, he suddenly smelled a strange smell.
Like something was burnt.
He wrinkled his nose and turned around suddenly, and saw Yuan Cixian sleeping on the straw bed, with their outer clothes piled up next to the raging fire and burned. He rushed over to rescue them, but he only had time to pull out two torn robes.
Lu Shiqing stood up slowly, wearing a thin inner garment, shivering in the cool breeze of mid-autumn.
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