When Xiao Changtai was intercepted, his expression became even more twisted and furious. His attacks toward Xiao Huayong were lethal. At this moment, Shen Xihe galloped closer and shouted: “Beichen—”
As soon as she called out, the horse charged toward the two men. Xiao Huayong, who had been in a deadlock with Xiao Changtai, quickly dodged and pushed Xiao Changtai away with force. Caught off guard by Xiao Huayong’s sudden withdrawal, Xiao Changtai almost stumbled forward. Seeing the horse charging toward him, he twisted his feet and spun backward, barely avoiding Shen Xihe.
A malicious thought arose in his mind. As his body leaned back, he swept his sword out, intending to knock Shen Xihe off her horse. He thought that if he could capture Shen Xihe, who knew no martial arts, Xiao Huayong would naturally surrender. However, he never expected that this was exactly what Shen Xihe had been waiting for. The moment he leaned back to face her, she threw a handful of powder that scattered all over his face.
The choking, pungent fragrance made his hand falter. The horse had already swiftly passed by him, and in an instant, he had inhaled a large amount of the powder. Dizziness immediately overtook him, his eyelids suddenly felt as heavy as a thousand pounds. After taking one last blurry look at the sky above, he toppled over.
Xiao Changtai’s collapse threw his subordinates into panic, and Mo Yu and Mo Yuan quickly subdued them.
Shen Xihe pulled the reins and turned to look at Xiao Changtai’s subdued subordinates, her eyes growing cold: “Kill them.”
There was no use keeping them alive, as these people had worked together to try to kill Xiao Huayong.
Driving her horse forward, she extended her delicate white hand to Xiao Huayong. Though he had numerous wounds, fortunately, none were serious. He revealed his white teeth in an enchanting smile and grasped her hand, leaping onto the horse.
After Xiao Huayong was seated securely, Shen Xihe turned the horse around and headed back in the direction they had come from, with Mo Yu following closely behind.
Mo Yuan hoisted the unconscious Xiao Changtai onto a horse and followed behind with several guards.
“Please don’t be angry with me?” Xiao Huayong embraced Shen Xihe from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder, pleading softly while feeling the horse’s jolting movements.
Shen Xihe pressed her lips together, remaining silent.
She was extremely angry now, though she couldn’t quite explain why. Xiao Huayong had good intentions, using this opportunity to clear out all of His Majesty’s thorns in the Northwest. She should be grateful, but when she thought of how he had risked his life for this, and how she had just witnessed him in danger, she burned with anger. Yet she had no right to criticize him, so she remained tense, her expression cold.
“Youyou…”
“Whatever you have to say, save it for when we return,” Shen Xihe coldly interrupted him.
When she arrived, she noticed another group of people waiting outside. These people had deliberately let her enter, but for Xiao Huayong’s sake, she had no choice but to rush in despite knowing the danger. Now that they had captured Xiao Changtai, these people were waiting for both sides to be wounded before swooping in to reap the benefits.
These people must have been sent by His Majesty. There were more of His Majesty’s hidden forces in the Northwest than they had imagined – Pei Zhan had already brought over a thousand men from another direction, and here several hundred more lay in ambush!
“I must speak,” Xiao Huayong knew that the Blessed Peace Emperor would never have everything within his expectations. The emperor would always make two-handed preparations, ensuring to the greatest extent that his prey wouldn’t escape his grasp.
He hadn’t arranged for people to approach the area where Xiao Changtai had set his trap because Xiao Changtai was vigilant, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t made preparations further back – otherwise, why would he have come alone to seek out Xiao Changtai?
In truth, Xiao Changtai wasn’t much to fear. He had brought the Haiedong eagle with him, but he never expected the eagle would be called away by Shen Xihe. If not for that, he wouldn’t have experienced such danger just now. Naturally, this was something he couldn’t tell Shen Xihe.
“I’m very happy that Youyou came to help me,” Xiao Huayong now seemed like a willful child, showing none of the decisive ruthlessness or mature steadiness he had displayed while dealing with Xiao Changtai.
The Haiedong eagle circled overhead, and Shen Xihe had already noticed its direction had deviated from its original path. Though her memory was excellent, Shen Xihe didn’t hesitate – she chose to follow the eagle’s direction.
“Youyou, you’re ignoring me,” Xiao Huayong held Shen Xihe tighter, complaining somewhat pitifully.
Shen Xihe didn’t want to respond to Xiao Huayong. She had a knot of anger in her chest, and she feared that if she opened her mouth, she would say harsh words to him.
“Youyou, look – even though you knew I was in danger, knew that coming to help me would put you in danger too, you still came to find me without hesitation,” Xiao Huayong said tactfully.
His implied meaning was: you risked yourself for me and I didn’t get angry at you, so don’t be angry at me either.
This only made Shen Xihe more furious.
Just as Shen Xihe was about to say something, an unexpected change occurred. Xiao Changtai, who should have been unconscious for much longer, suddenly opened his eyes and struck out at Mo Yuan with his fist. Fortunately, Mo Yuan reacted quickly and dodged, but Xiao Changtai took the opportunity to roll off the horse.
Shen Xihe and the others quickly pulled their horses to a halt. Xiao Changtai had been holding onto consciousness through sheer willpower. Though he had just awakened, he had inhaled quite a bit of the sleeping fragrance and his head was very dizzy. There was no way he could escape from so many of Shen Xihe’s people. He rolled down the hillside.
Seeing this, Xiao Huayong gave a cold laugh and blew his bone whistle. The Haiedong eagle swooped past and quickly intercepted Xiao Changtai. When Xiao Changtai tried to struggle, the eagle became annoyed. Having been trained, it knew its master wouldn’t allow it to kill this living thing. It flapped its massive wings once, knocking the man unconscious again.
Xiao Changtai was soon back in Mo Yuan’s custody. This time, to prevent any further incidents, Mo Yuan bound him securely.
However, their commotion had attracted the attention of the ambushed men. These people began pursuing and surrounding them from all directions, but Xiao Huayong’s arranged forces engaged them, preventing them from catching up to Shen Xihe.
Among these pursuers was a particularly fierce leader who managed to break through the encirclement and chase madly after them. Seeing the distance shortening, Xiao Huayong drew Shen Xihe’s bow, turned around in one fluid motion to lean against her back, and shot an arrow – all in one smooth sequence.
The bow had been made specifically for Shen Xihe and wasn’t quite suitable for Xiao Huayong’s hands, yet he hadn’t expected that young man to be able to dodge it. This raised Xiao Huayong’s estimation of him.
A fierce general trained by His Majesty – Xiao Huayong narrowed his eyes. Just as he was about to dismount to personally finish this man, a crimson figure flew past them, landing in the center and blocking the pursuer’s path.
Xiao Huayong raised his eyebrows upon seeing Xiao Changying. He wasn’t surprised at all.
He didn’t care if Xiao Changying guessed his relationship with Xiao Jueson. After he had given His Majesty reassurance through the Fifth Prince’s hands, someone as clever as the Fifth Prince would naturally suspect the connection between him and Xiao Jueson, though at most they would only guess at some private collusion between the two.
Since Xiao Changying wanted to step forward, Xiao Huayong would accommodate him. Instead, he patted the horse’s rump, making it speed away.