"Retreat!"
A loud roar came from the direction where the arrows were shot.
With blood reflecting in her eyes and stray hairs flying around her temples, Nan Shiying pulled at the corner of her lips, revealing a cold, ferocious smile. She shouted to her surroundings, "Leave no one alive!"
"Yes!"
The Xuan Guards, led by Xuan Wu, suddenly surged out, encircling the retreating black-clad figures from behind.
Xuan Wu drew his sharp sword and swung it forward, roaring, "Kill!"
The Xuan Guards and the black-clad figures immediately engaged in a fierce battle. The sounds of combat shook the heavens, the clash of weapons accompanied by roars, echoing through the streets.
Suddenly, a black-clad figure, using the recoil from clashing weapons with a Xuan Guard, swung his long saber towards the carriage.
Xuan Yi, who had been guarding Nan Shiying, met the attack with his sword.
"Clang—"
The sword and saber collided in mid-air, sparks flying.
Just as Xuan Yi became engaged in combat with the black-clad figure, three more black-clad figures appeared in front, behind, and to the right of Nan Shiying, forming a circle around her. One of them swung a segmented whip, its shadow like lightning, lashing the air with sounds like firecrackers.
The whip lashed out at Nan Shiying. The black-clad figure wielding it wore black gloves. The segmented whip he swung was different in color from ordinary ones, as if soaked in potent poison. Each segment gleamed with a dark, cold light.
Nan Shiying shifted her shoulders slightly, moving back with unhurried grace. The whip's shadow grazed past her nose, carrying a foul, fishy odor.
The whip was poisoned, highly poisoned!
Failing to strike, the black-clad figure swung the segmented whip again.
Nan Shiying grabbed Yin Silan and used her as a shield. The black-clad figure's pupils contracted. He quickly pulled back the segmented whip, which retracted mid-swing. In the end, it only kicked up dust at the black-clad figure's feet.
"It seems they don't want you dead!"
Blood flowed slowly from Yin Silan's collarbone and chest. Her blood-soaked clothes clung to her skin. Yin Silan's face was pale, her body trembling, her pupils already dilated as she looked at Nan Shiying.
She moved her lips, too weak to speak.
"Oh, you're dying!"
Nan Shiying exclaimed, feigning surprise and covering her mouth. She smiled at the black-clad figure holding the segmented whip in the distance and said, "Why did you pull back just now? Didn't you forget that the arrowhead that pierced her collarbone was poisoned?"
"She would have died long ago!"
Nan Shiying smiled brilliantly, a hint of laughter in her eyes. However, juxtaposed with the blood on her face, it appeared bizarre and terrifying.
She was like a ferocious ghost, waiting to devour, anticipating their descent into a abyss of despair.
"Breakout!"
It was the same loud voice that had shouted "Retreat!" earlier.
But the moment the word "breakout" was uttered, the black-clad figures did not strive to break outwards. Instead, they turned and charged towards Nan Shiying.
The opposing side clearly intended to capture the leader first.
Nan Shiying, unhurriedly, took out a packet of powder from her怀 and, just as slowly, opened it. Finally, with deliberate calm, she scattered it around her.
Then, she stood her ground with composure, showing no regard for the black-clad figures rushing towards her.
"Ah—"
Yin Silan, beside Nan Shiying, let out a piercing scream. As if in a final surge of energy, she suddenly crawled to Nan Shiying's feet. Then, her body twisted like a rope, or like a worm pinned to the ground.
As her painful wails continued, she slowly dissolved into a pool of blood under everyone's gaze.
The black-clad figures immediately stopped their advance, daring not to take another step forward.
Nan Shiying looked at the clothes that had not melted by her feet, her expression turning extremely grim. She hooked the clothes with her toes, kicked them away, and then, looking up, she smiled at the halted black-clad figures and made a gesture. "Come, come and catch me!"
As she spoke, she scanned her surroundings, appearing to look at the black-clad figures rushing at her from all directions, but her gaze actually fell behind them.
She seemed to be searching for something!
A sword light flashed. Xuan Wu swung his sword, slicing open the throat of one of the black-clad figures. Since the Princess Consort had ordered them to kill without mercy, there was no need to keep any alive!
"Assault outwards!"
The black-clad figures could only grit their teeth and retreat outwards, facing the fierce offensive of the Xuan Guards.
The battle raged from one end of the street to the other. At the end of the street, a carriage suddenly appeared. The young groom driving it was pierced through the heart by a hidden weapon thrown by a black-clad figure and fell from the carriage. The horse, startled, reared up, whinnying, and then, out of control, charged towards Nan Shiying's carriage.
"Mother... Divine Doctor Feng!"
Xuan Yi's eyes widened in fury. He cleaved his sword through the black-clad figures attempting to entangle him, stamped on the ground, and leaped onto the runaway carriage. He yanked the reins, attempting to control the horse, but the galloping steed showed no signs of stopping.
Seeing this, he stepped off the carriage and onto the horse's back, holding his long sword backward, and fiercely thrust it into the horse's neck. A single thrust pierced the horse's throat, blood gushing out like a fountain. The horse let out a mournful cry and collapsed. Under the force of the impact, the carriage's wheels lifted off the ground. The carriage flipped over the horse's head and, pulled by the connecting ropes, slammed heavily onto the ground, its roof facing down.
Just before the carriage hit the ground, it split down the middle. A figure in moon-white robes leaped out of the carriage into mid-air. Stepping on the shattered fragments of the carriage, she landed gracefully on the ground with the lightness of a swallow alighting on a flying horse.
"Chase!"
Xuan Yi turned back to control the carriage. The black-clad figures who had been fighting him seized the opportunity to escape, and Xuan Wu led his men in hot pursuit.
Nan Shiying dismounted, circled the carriage, and looked at Yu Chengxuan, who stood in a pool of blood, fanning himself. Sunlight fell on his shoulders and the fan. Perhaps it was the glint of the hidden weapons embedded in the fan's ribs that caused a visual distortion, but Nan Shiying momentarily thought she saw a familiar figure who had passed away hundreds of years ago.
That person, like him, was fond of wearing moon-white brocade clothes.
"Brother Feng!"
Yu Chengxuan closed his fan and walked towards Nan Shiying through the blood.
Nan Shiying shook herself from her reverie. When she looked at Yu Chengxuan again, her gaze was filled with suspicion and scrutiny. However, as Yu Chengxuan approached, she hid the doubt on her face and flashed a brilliant smile, cupping her hands. "So, it's Your Highness the Seventh Prince. Why didn't you bring more people with you when you traveled? Thankfully, you weren't injured. Otherwise, I truly wouldn't know how to explain myself to your officials and people of Da Li."
Nan Shiying's voice was laced with a smile and a hint of sarcasm. His appearance was far too coincidental!
Yu Chengxuan smiled and said, "What prince and princess talk. Brother Feng can just call me Brother Yu. As for people..." Yu Chengxuan's words trailed off as the sound of footsteps came from behind him. Guards, led by a general of Da Li, advanced with weapons in hand.
Nan Shiying raised her eyebrows slightly.
He was quite thorough in his planning. However, the more meticulously everything was arranged, the more it indicated that there must be something amiss.
The Da Li general rushed to Yu Chengxuan's side, his hand resting on the saber at his waist. His gaze fell unkindly upon Nan Shiying. Xuan Yi stepped in front of Nan Shiying, his sword dripping with blood. The blood dripped onto the ground drop by drop. Perhaps it was because he had just finished killing, but Xuan Yi's killing aura was so dense it was almost tangible.