Chu Dingjiang raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”

An Jiu explained, “I think you’re restless. You want to retire now because you’re looking for a place to settle, but once you do, you’ll grow tired of the quiet life.”

Chu Dingjiang paused, slightly stunned. “An Jiu, you…”

“Don’t be so surprised,” An Jiu said, her face blurred in the darkness, but her voice clearer than ever. “I long for a peaceful life, but even in peace, I feel agitated, bored, and sometimes even murderous.”

An Jiu once had a three-month vacation, but when she finally experienced the life she thought she wanted, it wasn’t as fulfilling as she had imagined. Perhaps it was because of how the organization had trained her from the beginning, intentionally instilling some misguided ways of dealing with things. This made the restlessness in her blood increasingly uncontrollable.

The primary challenge of retirement for her was becoming a normal person, so there was no rush. As for Chu Dingjiang’s ambition to make his mark on the world, it wasn’t any easier to cure than a mental illness.

Stars hung low over the plain as two figures moved swiftly through the night, with a troop of cavalry carrying torches in hot pursuit not far behind.

“Halt!” someone from the cavalry shouted in Chinese.

An Jiu glanced back. With her keen eyesight, she could see that the cavalry was chasing two women on horseback, not addressing them.

“Is that the woman you saved today?” Chu Dingjiang asked, able to guess the situation without looking back.

“Yes,” An Jiu replied.

Chu Dingjiang slowed down. “Yelü Jinglie is like a wolf. If the assassination attempt had succeeded, that would be one thing, but failing won’t end well. These two managing to escape the city is already quite a feat. Let’s lend a hand.”

An Jiu gave him a skeptical look.

“These two are from Weiyue,” Chu Dingjiang explained. “I recognized them back at the restaurant.”

“When do we act?” An Jiu asked, frowning as she counted the Liao cavalry. “There are two hundred riders and four experts at the ninth level.”

This Yelü Jinglie had mobilized such a large force just to chase down two women. It was clear he wouldn’t rest until the assassins were dead.

“Wait a moment. I’ll go back for a sneak attack and grab two horses. You use your crossbow to attack from the front. Once I succeed, stop. We can’t do more than divert some of the pursuers,” Chu Dingjiang said, disappearing into the night as he spoke.

Initially, fleeing on foot would be faster than on horseback, but after an hour of non-stop running, they would likely suffer qi exhaustion. At that point, facing four experts with abundant internal energy, Chu Dingjiang’s advantage as a Huajing master wouldn’t be significant. Even if victorious, it would come at a cost. Therefore, securing horses first was the best strategy.

Seeing two riders at the rear of the formation silently fall from their horses, An Jiu seized the moment before the Liao cavalry could react to fire her crossbow.

The lead Liao rider fell with a loud crash, causing chaos in the ranks.

“It’s an ambush!” someone shouted.

The Liao cavalry immediately halted.

The two Weiyue women saw a glimmer of hope and urged their horses on more desperately.

Chu Dingjiang hung to the side of a horse, out of the Liao army’s sight. From their perspective, it looked like two riderless horses running wild in the open field.

The Liao troops were momentarily confused, with no time to wonder why two horses had suddenly appeared.

As the two horses approached An Jiu’s ambush point, she leaped from a tree, mentally calculating the speed as they drew near. As they passed under the tree, she landed smoothly on horseback.

Seeing An Jiu successfully mount, Chu Dingjiang also swung onto his horse.

The entire sequence happened in mere moments. As the Liao forces reacted, they immediately gave chase.

An Jiu and Chu Dingjiang rode in a different direction from the two Weiyue women, forcing the Liao cavalry to split their forces.

Drawing away half the pursuers was all An Jiu and Chu Dingjiang could do. The rest was up to the two Weiyue women’s fate.

They rode at breakneck speed, outpacing most of the Liao soldiers, but two managed to keep up.

One pursuer drew level with An Jiu, about ten zhang apart and slowly closing the gap.

An Jiu leaned forward, steadying herself as best she could, and raised her arm crossbow to aim at the pursuer.

The Khitan were skilled horseback archers, but at such frenzied speeds, even they couldn’t hit a target. The Liao rider was unconcerned.

In this situation, many factors had to be considered. An Jiu had to calculate wind speed, the opponent’s forward velocity, and arrow speed. She needed to shoot where the target would be at the moment of impact, and the rider’s lack of evasion saved her some trouble.

As the distance shortened, An Jiu’s lips curled into a smile amid the shaky view.

She fired three arrows in rapid succession, each at a slightly different angle.

The Liao rider scoffed, drawing even closer. However, in the blink of an eye, he was horrified to see three gleaming arrows not far to his left front, clearly on target.

Unfortunately, it was too late to rein in his horse.

As the horse carried him forward at full gallop, he tried to dodge, leaning back just as one arrow grazed his throat while another struck his horse in the eye!

Blood sprayed as the horse neighed in agony, running wildly without direction. The Liao soldier was violently thrown from his mount.

“Hiya!” An Jiu cracked her whip, urging her horse on as she rejoined Chu Dingjiang, who had just dispatched the other pursuer.

In the howling wind, they exchanged a glance and rode south.

After about three hours, they entered Song territory.

The eastern sky began to lighten, with only the morning star still brilliantly visible in the dim light.

They finally slowed their pace. As the morning air grew chilly, Chu Dingjiang took off his outer garment and tossed it to An Jiu.

An Jiu caught the clothing, still warm from Chu Dingjiang’s body heat. She hesitated for a moment before putting it on. For An Jiu, who had endured far worse than this cool breeze, even wearing thin clothes in icy conditions, the feeling of being cared for was pleasant.

They rode in silence, both smiling as they recalled their slightly awkward escape.

“Ha, it’s not bad to play around like this occasionally,” Chu Dingjiang laughed.

An Jiu, swimming in his oversized clothes like a blanket, retorted, “Don’t act cool. I saw how pale your face got.”

“Cheeky girl, I was worried about you,” Chu Dingjiang flicked her forehead lightly, then self-deprecatingly added, “Though I’m impressed you could tell my face paled at all.”

Chu Dingjiang wore a human skin mask, his tanned skin hardly noticeable in the night, not to mention his messy beard. It was indeed difficult to discern his complexion, but An Jiu had caught a glimpse of his relieved sigh at one point, hence her teasing.

Upon returning to the Hebei camp, they went to see Ling Ziyue first.

After learning about the Liao army gathering at Xijin Prefecture, Ling received detailed reports from the army’s scouts and immediately began preparing for battle. By now, the preparations were mostly complete. He should have been resting, but with the weight of responsibility on his mind, he had tossed and turned all night, sleeping less than half an hour.

If the Liao army possessed a large number of powerful crossbows, the Song army’s flesh and blood defenses might not be enough to hold the border, let alone avoid a mountain of corpses!