Pei Qiancheng gritted his teeth: “Tonight, no one can think of saving Yuwen Zhiji! No one!” Speaking thus, he charged at Yuwen Zhiji again with his broken blade. Du Ruhui desperately drove back the soldiers attacking them and desperately held back Pei Qiancheng: “Don’t go—that person’s martial arts are formidable, you’re no match for him!”
“I don’t care!” Pei Qiancheng said like a madman: “I must avenge my big brother!”
“What General Pei most hoped to see was your safety, not your throwing your life away in vain. Come with me!” As he spoke, he forcibly dragged him away. The latter kept struggling, refusing to leave no matter what.
Yuwen Zhiji said coldly: “Du Ruhui, while this general is helping you hold back Cui Guangde, leave quickly and don’t meddle in other affairs.”
Du Ruhui met his cold gaze: “Please, General Yuwen, do me another favor and let me take Pei Qiancheng away.”
“No!” Yuwen Zhiji deeply understood the importance of eliminating threats completely, so he refused outright. After pausing a moment, he added: “If you don’t leave now, when Cui Guangde recovers, you probably won’t be able to leave.”
Before Yuwen Zhiji finished speaking, earth-shaking sounds of iron hooves suddenly rang out from outside the city. Li Shimin’s voice carried from afar: “My great army is now beneath the city walls. If General Yuwen doesn’t want to clash with weapons, please let them go!”
Yuwen Zhiji’s expression changed as he said coldly: “What was previously agreed to with you didn’t seem to include Pei Qiancheng’s life.”
Li Shimin’s lips curved slightly as he called out loudly: “General Yuwen needn’t say more—will you release them or not?!”
Yuwen Zhiji hesitated, wanting to kill Pei Qiancheng yet not wanting to face Li Shimin’s “fifty thousand troops” head-on. After pondering for a long while, he finally decided to sacrifice the small for the large, saying to Du Ruhui: “Before I change my mind, leave immediately!”
Du Ruhui secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, those two thousand troops had arrived in time, otherwise he really couldn’t have intimidated Yuwen Zhiji. He grabbed Pei Qiancheng: “Let’s go!”
Pei Qiancheng remained motionless: “Without taking Yuwen Zhiji’s life, I’m not going anywhere!”
“He has death guards protecting him. Not only can’t you kill him, you’ll throw your life away in vain.” Facing Du Ruhui’s persuasion, Pei Qiancheng roared: “I don’t care! In any case, I can’t just watch my big brother die and do nothing.”
Du Ruhui lowered his voice: “As long as the green mountains remain, there’s no fear of lacking firewood. As long as you live, there will eventually be a day for revenge. Moreover, when General Pei pulled at your clothes earlier, he didn’t want you to die in vain. Won’t you even follow General Pei’s final wishes?”
Pei Qiancheng stared fixedly at Yuwen Zhiji in the distance. He was unwilling to let the murderer of his big brother go like this, but Du Ruhui was right—going now would only mean dying in vain, bringing joy to enemies and pain to loved ones!
“I promise you, as long as I Du Ruhui have one breath left in me, I will definitely help you take this revenge. If I violate this oath, may I be reborn as pigs and dogs for all eternity!” These words from Du Ruhui finally made Pei Qiancheng resolve himself, and he slowly retreated with Du Ruhui.
This action caused a trace of disappointment to flash through Yuwen Zhiji’s eyes. If Pei Qiancheng hadn’t listened to reason and continued charging over to kill him, he could have naturally eliminated him and prevented future troubles forever. What a pity.
Seeing the city gates gradually closing and the figures of Yunyi and the others gradually disappearing, Cui Guangde desperately killed the soldiers blocking his way while roaring: “Kill them! Kill them all for me! Don’t let a single one escape! Whoever kills them, I’ll offer all my family wealth with both hands! Kill!”
Cui Guangde’s words undoubtedly moved those soldiers. The wealth of the Cui family, one of the seven clans and five families—how could it be less than millions or tens of millions? Never mind all of it, even one percent or even one thousandth would ensure they lived comfortably for the rest of their lives.
But however much money there was, one had to be alive to enjoy it. With Yuwen Zhiji and his death guards watching from the side, whoever dared help Cui Guangde would be reduced to bones in the next moment. So no matter how much they yearned, they could only think about it and dared not act.
“Bang!” The two city gate doors closed tightly together, completely cutting off everything outside the city. Cui Guangde flew into a rage, veins bulging on his forehead, as he roared at Yuwen Zhiji: “You helped them escape—my Cui family will fight you to the death!”
Facing his threat, Yuwen Zhiji smiled mockingly. The seven clans and five families… they sounded impressive, but in this chaotic world, without military power, they were just fish on a chopping board, only fit to be slaughtered by others. Moreover, since Cui Guangde knew that Pei Qiantong intended to rebel against their Yuwen clan, he himself must also be involved. So even if Cui Guangde didn’t oppose him, he wouldn’t let the Cui family continue to exist.
Cui Guangde desperately killed the soldiers blocking his way, his entire body splattered with blood. It must be said, he truly deserved to be someone who had once followed the late emperor in conquering the realm. At such an advanced age, he was still fierce as a tiger, unstoppable.
However, even the most fierce tiger couldn’t match a large pack of hunting dogs. As his blade became dulled from cutting down enemies, the wounds on his body also increased. As for the men he had brought, seven or eight out of ten were dead, with only a few still desperately resisting.
Cui Guangde knew in his heart that Yuwen Zhiji intended to kill him—he probably wouldn’t survive this night. Having lived most of his life enjoying countless wealth and honor, he wasn’t afraid of death, but before that, he must avenge Ji’er.
After killing another soldier, he suddenly turned and ran toward the city tower. Reaching the battlements, he viciously thrust his broken blade into a soldier’s chest, seizing a bow and arrows from his hands. By the moonlight above, he drew the bow and aimed at Yunyi, who had already retreated more than ten zhang from the city gates.
“Go die!” With these two words, Cui Guangde suddenly released his grip. The pitch-black arrow came through the air with a sharp whistling sound, aimed directly at Yunyi’s back. If this arrow hit, Yunyi would surely die.
“Look out!” Du Ruhui was the first to spot this arrow, but he was several zhang away from Yunyi and couldn’t possibly rescue her in time, only able to shout a warning.
Yunyi hastily turned around, but unfortunately it was too late—she couldn’t dodge and could only watch helplessly as that arrow shot toward her. Just when she thought her life was over, a hand firmly grasped the arrowhead only one inch from her chest.
“Drip! Drip!” Blood fell to the ground from that palm cut by the arrowhead. The one who had timely grasped the arrow and saved Yunyi’s life was none other than Li Shimin. His cold eyes stared at Cui Guangde on the city wall, who was filled with regret at failing to take Yunyi’s life.
Seeing this, Duan Zhihong hastily said: “Second Young Master, quickly let go! This subordinate has hemostatic powder here—you should apply it immediately to stop the bleeding.”
Li Shimin threw down the blood-stained arrow and extended his hand: “Bring me a bow and arrows!”
“Second Young Master…” Before Duan Zhihong could continue, Li Shimin said again: “Bring them immediately.”
Seeing him speak thus, Duan Zhihong could only helplessly take a bow and arrows from a soldier and hand them over. As soon as Li Shimin took them, he immediately nocked an arrow to the bow, aiming at Cui Guangde who was drawing his bow again on the city wall. Almost at the same moment the latter shot his arrow, he too released his bowstring. The sharp arrow became a dark streak, shooting forth with lightning speed, soon meeting the other in mid-air.
Under everyone’s gaze, the arrow shot by Cui Guangde was split in two by Li Shimin’s arrow, falling powerlessly to the ground, while the other arrow maintained its fierce momentum. In less than a breath, it had reached the city wall and embedded itself squarely in the center of Cui Guangde’s chest.
Looking at Cui Guangde on the city wall, who kept struggling to stand up again, Li Shimin said expressionlessly: “The person I, Li Shimin, want to save—no one may kill!”