He quickly learned just how wise that decision had been. The people on the ground began convulsing and collapsing almost within the blink of an eye. Even after hitting the ground they kept shaking, looking for all the world as though they were in their final death throes. Surely they hadn’t all died?

“They won’t. I said no deaths, so Shao Yao will have shown restraint.”

Jiang Huanran gave a small embarrassed cough — he had only meant to think it, but somehow the words had come out of his mouth.

This one called Shao Yao truly was something terrifying. Far too ferocious!

“Stack them up.”

Yu Tao and Wang Cheng carried out the order. The Sixth Imperial Prince also had his guards go over and help. Before long the bodies were piled into a small mound. The people in the pile had no movement in them beyond the convulsing — at a glance, they might all have been dead.

A gust of wind carried the stench of blood mixed with everything else, and Hua Zhi nearly gagged. She held her breath and endured it without showing any change in expression, then exhaled deeply once the gust had passed.

But the smell of blood would not leave, because the bloodstains were on her clothes, on her hands.

“They’re coming.”

Heavy footsteps approached from a distance. Hua Zhi watched with cold eyes, and her expression gradually became grave. These people…

“First Young Miss, something is wrong with these ones.” Jiang Huanran tightened his grip on the blade he had seized from one of the enemies earlier — not ideal to wield, but still better than nothing.

“Yu Tao, can you make them out? What are they?”

Before Yu Tao could answer, Shao Yao cut in. “Half garrison troops, half regular military. Well, well. This just got interesting.”

She said “interesting” but her face had gone cold. She had received the most orthodox education from childhood, and certain things had long since been carved into her bones — principles, and certain convictions that admitted no compromise. The garrison troops’ role was to maintain local order, and if Mu Yunyang wanted to abuse that, it was at least understandable. But regular military personnel had absolutely no business appearing here in service of a private individual’s interests!

Hua Zhi drew a slow, deep breath. “Put your own safety first. If people die, then they die.”

“Don’t worry, Hua Hua. I’ll leave some of them alive if only to have witnesses for the reckoning later.” All of Shao Yao’s usual laughter had vanished entirely. “Be careful, Hua Hua. These aren’t like that rabble from before.”

“I know.” Hua Zhi tightened her grip on the hairpin in her hand. This piece had been made to her own measurements — slightly longer and sharper than an ordinary hairpin — and it fit perfectly in her hand.

“Xiao Liu, you are not to charge forward. Keep watch over Zheng Bei. Chen Zhen, Chen Shi — keep him secure.”

“Yes.”

The Sixth Imperial Prince gave a reluctant nod. He really was still too weak. Too weak, far too weak!

“Young Master Jiang — shall we put everything on the line?”

Jiang Huanran lifted his chin. “Your company to the death!”

“Then the left flank is yours. Wang Cheng, you take the right. Shao Yao, wide-area attacks. Yu Tao, roam freely. Remember — every strike you make must ensure that person cannot rise again. We cannot afford a battle of attrition.”

Everyone acknowledged the command.

The fire of battle lit in Hua Zhi’s eyes. It was time to fight with everything she had. Even with Yanxi as her backer, that backing was only meaningful if she kept herself alive.

“Charge.”

On the other side, the oncoming group stalled when they saw the pile of bodies. They had not expected their opponents to have struck so ruthlessly — so many lives, and not a single hand had wavered. Once they realized that this side was launching the first offensive charge, they settled their nerves and prepared to meet it. Against opponents this savage they could not afford carelessness — never mind that one of them was strikingly beautiful. At this moment, in their eyes, that person was coming to claim their lives.

These opponents could no longer be taken down with a single blow. Driving the hairpin into flesh felt dull and resistant — breaking through skin, then through muscle, then twisting before withdrawing, and on the pull slashing hard outward. The entire thigh became a bloody ruin. When the hairpin was then driven into the second thigh in exactly the same way, no one could remain standing after such wounds.

Wounding the legs was the best method of attack Hua Zhi could devise — of course, even more effective would be driving it into the throat or the carotid artery. But that would mean deaths, even if it was considerably less work.

Limited strength was Hua Zhi’s weakness. She was the person in their group least able to sustain a prolonged fight. Among the enemy there were those with sharp enough eyes to notice. As the battle wore on she became the target of focus, and once they recognized her as the leader the concentration of attackers on her side grew even greater.

Hua Zhi’s cold smile did not waver. She, Hua Zhi, had never been anyone’s easy mark.

Her response was to strike harder. She stopped going for the thighs and drove the hairpin directly into a man’s neck, then raked it outward with force. Blood shot out in a column, and the man pressed his hands to his throat as he sank slowly to the ground.

For a single moment, everyone on the field froze.

Hua Zhi had already moved on to the next man — same position, same result.

Shao Yao, having scattered all her medicinal powder, let out a laughing cry and uncoiled the decorative whip from her waist, snapping it around a man before slamming him into the ground. Whether he lived or died was unclear.

It seemed to take the opposing side a moment to fully register what was happening, but in those few brief seconds they had already lost more than ten men. Opponents this unyielding were something they had rarely encountered in their lives!

“Fall back!”

“We can’t fall back — Young Master Zheng is still in their hands!”

Clearly it was the military men who had called for retreat, and the garrison troops loyal to the Governor’s compound who had spoken after. Of the seventy men who had come, only half remained.

Yet Hua Zhi had no intention of letting a single one escape. She would not give them any chance to come back.

“Yu Tao — cut off the retreat.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Yu Tao went directly to the rear. The others closed in as well, and even counting Jiang Huanran, only five of them formed what somehow became a circle that held more than thirty men trapped inside.

Hua Zhi led the first charge. Her strength was almost spent.

No words were needed — the moment she moved, the others moved with her. Knowing that their opponents would not let them go, those thirty-some men all began fighting with their lives. For a time neither side could gain ground over the other.

The Sixth Imperial Prince watched with growing anxiety. “Chen Shi, go help them.”

The two brothers exchanged a glance, and Chen Shi quickly left.

By now the people from inside the shelter had also emerged. Bao Xia watched the fighting with worried eyes, wishing she could transform herself into the hairpin in her mistress’s hand.

Wu Xiaoshuang’s face showed open anxiety. Wu Dashuang crouched behind him, sneaking glances at the outside — but she was not looking at Hua Zhi. She was looking at Zheng Bei, lying off to the side.

Zheng Bei had noticed her gaze and began making silent gestures at her with his eyes.

Wu Dashuang quickly drew her head back, then after a moment peeked out again. Zheng Bei was right there waiting, and immediately began signaling her again. She ducked back. This repeated several more times before she stopped hiding — but doing anything more than that was beyond her courage. No matter how hard Zheng Bei’s eyes worked themselves, she did not take a single step.

Meanwhile another group appeared at the dock entrance — roughly twenty people, straggling in, clearly the same quality as those before.

The Sixth Imperial Prince gave a cold snort. A tiger fallen to level ground may be bullied by dogs — but a tiger is still a tiger, not something dogs can match. “Xu Ying, Bao Xia — hold things here. Chen Zhen, come with me.”

“But the First Young Miss said you are not to leave this area…”

“And let them encircle Hua Zhi?” He drew his sword and went straight toward the newcomers. He could not allow them to disrupt the formation Hua Zhi had set up. Chen Zhen had no choice but to follow.

Hua Zhi saw his movement and did not try to stop him. She no longer had the energy for it. And this was just a ragtag bunch — with Chen Zhen protecting Xiao Liu, at worst he would take some injury, but there would be no danger to his life. Some things can only be truly felt by being in the middle of them.