“The reinforcements have arrived.”
Panic spread among the Fire Moth Party and the imperial troops. They all looked to their leaders, realizing that with so many reinforcements, their numbers were no match.
The once-confident camp descended into chaos. Everyone had been acting independently, and now they only cared about saving themselves.
The imperial troops were originally positioned on the outskirts, now struggling with the Half-Face Ghosts pushing through them. However, they maintained their posts, making it nearly impossible for Shen Du to escape.
But without orders from Mo Qianzi, the imperial troops continued to restrain themselves from attacking Shen Du, while despising the Half-Face Ghosts for their cowardly retreat.
Shen Du took advantage of the chaos to pull out the arrows from his body. He tore a strip of cloth from his robe to roughly bandage his arm. Blood quickly seeped through the makeshift dressing, but Shen Du paid it no mind as he surveyed his surroundings.
The Half-Face Ghosts’ morale had collapsed, their formation in disarray. Lai Luofu was indecisive and disorganized, and her orders to capture Shen Du were largely ineffective. In contrast, Mo Qianzi remained much calmer, directing his troops to form ranks and resist the incoming attack, only instructing a few to keep an eye on Shen Du. He seemed unaware of Shen Du’s presence, as if certain he couldn’t escape.
Were these truly reinforcements?
Shen Du’s mind raced with as many doubts as the others. His thoughts moving quickly, he seized an opportunity to slip behind Mo Qianzi.
Mo Qianzi was arranging for someone to scout ahead when a cold wind swept by. Before he could react, a gleaming short dagger was at his throat, and Shen Du emerged from behind him.
Lai Luofu rushed over upon hearing the news, confronting Shen Du.
Her injuries meant she was no match for Shen Du in a fight, which was why she had first retreated when the chaos broke out. She had intended to call others to capture him, as the fear Shen Du instilled in her heart had never faded.
Moreover, seeing the imperial troops surround Shen Du after the Half-Face Ghosts, she had assumed it was foolproof. In this situation, Lai Luofu strongly suspected Mo Qianzi of holding back.
Truly incompetent and harmful, she thought. If she had known, she should have killed Mo Qianzi first.
With someone holding a blade to his throat from behind, Mo Qianzi showed no sign of panic. He raised a hand to stop the imperial troops from approaching and calmly said:
“Shen Du, you can’t escape.”
As he spoke, he glanced at Shen Du’s wound from the corner of his eye. Blood had long since soaked through his clothes, and Shen Du’s lips were pale. He was clearly at the end of his strength.
Even if he wasn’t killed, he would die from blood loss.
“Do you remember when we were young? We were about the same age, the closest of friends, always together. We even promised that after we married, we’d live next door to each other and arrange marriages between our children.”
“Shut up. Tell them to disperse,” Shen Du pressed the blade closer to Mo Qianzi’s throat.
But Mo Qianzi remained unmoved, chuckling, “Shen Du, this is a good opportunity for revenge. The massacre of your family, hundreds of Shen clan lives… I still remember the cries of those dozen or so young children, all brutally killed by those villains.”
Shen Du interrupted him: “I will avenge my family’s extermination myself, but I absolutely won’t stoop to your level, engaging in the slaughter of innocent civilians.”
Before Mo Qianzi could speak again, Shen Du’s gaze fixed firmly on Lai Luofu.
Lai Luofu’s heart skipped a beat under that stare, involuntarily taking a few steps back.
“What do you want to do?” she asked.
“The antidote!”
Lai Luofu’s eyes darted around, her teeth clenched behind her mask as she chose to play dumb: “What antidote?”
Very well.
The dagger in his hand shifted slightly, pressing even closer to the neck of the man before him. Mo Qianzi was forced to speak: “He wants the antidote for ‘Breaking the Cocoon to Become a Butterfly.'”
Lai Luofu’s eyes widened in disbelief, unable to fathom why Mo Qianzi would help Shen Du ask for the antidote. Her hand pressed against her belt, extremely reluctant.
Shen Du couldn’t be bothered to waste words with her: “If you don’t hand over the antidote, Mo Qianzi will certainly die.”
Lai Luofu looked at him but remained silent.
It seemed she wouldn’t believe it until she saw the coffin.
“The reinforcements have arrived. Without Mo Qianzi, how long can you rabble hold out? And you,” he looked at Lai Luofu with disdain, “how long can you last? You’re injured. You should know best how powerful my arrow was.”
As his words fell, Lai Luofu’s right chest throbbed with pain. The agony of flesh tearing as the arrow was pulled out replayed in her mind.
Lai Luofu narrowed her eyes, her anger flaring as she shouted: “I am immortal, how could I possibly be injured?”
“So you won’t hand it over,” Shen Du stated matter-of-factly, the corner of his lips curving slightly. His deep eyes gleamed in the night as he glanced briefly at the horizon before coldly saying,
“Then don’t blame me.”
Before anyone could react, Mo Qianzi sensed something was amiss and shouted:
“Form ranks! Form ranks! Extinguish the torches!”
But it was too late. Countless black shadows descended from the sky, falling into the crowd and slashing in all directions. The once-arrogant Half-Face Ghosts were caught off guard and cut down like melons.
A voice rang out: “The reinforcements have arrived. Surrender now!”
Following this, white mist rose from the forest at the horizon’s edge. Amidst waves of battle cries, countless soldiers bearing flags and weapons surged towards them with the sound of horns.
The footsteps drew nearer and nearer.
Lai Luofu tried to escape in the chaos, but Shen Du, lacking the strength to give chase, could only watch as she fled.
A white flash intercepted Lai Luofu, blocking her escape route. It was Jing Lin.
With Jing Lin’s sword pointed at her, Lai Luofu retreated step by step, her hand slipping into her robe in frustration…
“Ah!”
A small crossbow emerged from Jing Lin’s sleeve, striking Lai Luofu’s restless hand.
“Hand over the antidote.”
Lai Luofu’s mind reeled. Shen Du had asked for the antidote several times, surely knowing this poison was difficult to cure and without the antidote, death was certain. Pan Chi was the only son of General Pan, and while his death meant little to her, for Shen Du, General Pan would surely not let the matter rest.
She was unwilling to give it up, but if she didn’t, she might not escape today.
She had originally thought Shen Du had come alone, but who would have guessed she was the naive one? Had the reinforcements changed their route and arrived early? How had she not received any information?
But on the battlefield, it all came down to strategy. Her ignorance didn’t mean it couldn’t happen.
“Charge!”
The battle cries shook the heavens. They were surrounded.
“Fine,” Lai Luofu gritted her teeth. “I’ll give you the antidote, but release Mo Qianzi.”
Jing Lin looked to Shen Du for instructions.
Shen Du nodded, and Jing Lin sneered, “Agreed.”
Lai Luofu then took out a small porcelain bottle containing the antidote from her waist. Still reluctant to hand it over so easily, she gripped it tightly in her hand.
“Enough talk. If you don’t give it, we’ll capture her and take her back for the reward,” Shen Du declared, clearly out of patience.
Jing Lin responded, raising his sword to strike.
“Here!”
Lai Luofu hurriedly tossed the antidote bottle. The porcelain bottle arced through the air and was caught by Jing Lin.
Taking advantage of this moment, Lai Luofu smiled slyly and slipped away from Jing Lin’s attack range, raising her voice:
“Hurry and release Lord Mo!”
This was an attempt to win over Mo Qianzi’s loyalty.
Jing Lin quickly opened the bottle and held it before Shen Du’s eyes. Shen Du looked at the contents and took a light sniff, confirming it was identical to what Zhu Caiwei had eaten before. Only then did he feel relieved.
Jing Lin replaced the stopper, pressing it with his thumb to reseal the antidote.
The previously silent Mo Qianzi calmly said:
“Now that you have the antidote, why not release me?”
Only then did Shen Du realize something was amiss. After a moment’s thought, he lowered the short dagger, his eyes deep and his voice low: “You knew all along.”
Another statement, not a question.
Mo Qianzi’s eyes showed no change as he said indifferently: “Leave quickly.”
As Shen Du was about to say something, Jing Lin called out: “Leader!” A thousand words were contained in that single cry.
The Half-Face Ghosts had begun to react, and the Imperial Guards they had brought were gradually struggling to hold their ground. Though still having the upper hand, they wouldn’t be able to maintain it for long.
“Go!”
As Shen Du turned to leave, he gave Mo Qianzi a deep look. Mo Qianzi returned the gaze before suddenly barking at him: “Go quickly.”
Shen Du seemed to snap out of a trance and turned to leave.
The black-clad Imperial Guards who had ambushed also swiftly departed.
The Half-Face Ghosts and the reinforcing imperial troops had barely reacted before the fighting was over.
Lai Luofu shouted at Mo Qianzi, who was facing the direction Shen Du had left: “Why aren’t you arranging the troops?”
Hadn’t they heard the horns, the soldiers’ battle cries, the thundering hoofbeats?
Mo Qianzi looked towards the horizon. The smoke was dissipating, the battle cries gradually fading. The soldiers and the sound of hoofbeats seemed to be waking from a dream, slowly disappearing.
“It’s over.”
Lai Luofu couldn’t accept this, her voice changing: “Mo Qianzi, I don’t care if you want to die, but you can’t drag our Fire Moth Party members to death with you.”
She then commanded the Half-Face Ghosts,
“We’re leaving.”
Mo Qianzi didn’t try to stop them. He waved to the imperial troops and returned to his quarters, showing no reaction to Lai Luofu leading her people away.
“Lord Mo.”
Mo Qianzi looked at the confused soldier and sighed: “The reinforcements didn’t come. They… will be back.” This was all the explanation he offered.