Upon hearing her shout, Lian Heng leaned against the door and declared righteously: “Rest assured, Young General. A man of honor knows what he should and shouldn’t do. Even under orders from His Highness the Crown Prince, this humble servant will never let them harm a single hair on the Prince’s head!”
With a twitching corner of her mouth, Feng Yue spat lightly and said: “Who’s worried about him getting hurt? Look at his bloodthirsty appearance – if you escort the Crown Prince away first, you could even claim credit for protecting him! I called you over because I want you to find a way to send a message to Madam Qiu, telling her that I’m being held captive in the Prince’s mansion. Ask them to find a way to rescue me!”
Startled by these words, Lian Heng turned his head in disbelief: “You’re being held captive here?”
“Yes!” Feng Yue gritted her teeth: “Can’t you tell?”
“…” He really couldn’t tell, considering she was staying in the Prince’s main chamber. Weren’t captives usually locked up miserably in woodsheds?
After a moment of silence, Lian Heng nodded, then his attention was drawn to the tense and intense fighting in the courtyard.
Now that someone would deliver her message, Feng Yue relaxed and leisurely leaned against the door, squinting at the scene outside.
Yin Gezhi excelled at fighting multiple opponents. Even facing over a hundred soldiers, he showed no fear. Instead, he bare-handedly seized a sword from someone nearby, using his shoulder strength to knock that person and those standing behind him far back.
His force transitioned from gentle to fierce. Anyone with discerning eyes could see this man’s profound internal energy. However, some soldiers in uniform who were mere opportunists and understood nothing rushed at his back, only to have their throats sliced by his reverse sword strike.
Fresh blood sprayed. The blood mist instantly spread, choking enough to make one want to vomit.
When he was seizing weapons, Yin Chengyue and the retainers still had some hope, relieved that the Prince appeared to show restraint and seemed unwilling to kill. However, in the next second, hot blood splattered over, soaking their robes.
Drawing in a sharp breath, the retainer who had just encouraged the Crown Prince fell silent, staring at the man who appeared like a god of death, unable to regain his composure for a long while.
How could there be such a terrifying person? The opposing soldiers had filled the entire courtyard, yet he still dared to resist.
Why wouldn’t he resist? Yin Gezhi had been in a terrible mood lately. While Feng Yue could cry it out, he couldn’t, and all that pent-up frustration was nearly suffocating him! With such a perfect opportunity presenting itself, how could he not cut down a few “carrots” to vent his anger?!
Those who dared to move against him, he wouldn’t even regard as human – they were all carrots, able to cut two with one stroke! The few who rushed forward weren’t worth his attention, so his movements slowed, his eyelids half-lowered, like Guanyin holding flowers and vases, looking at them with compassion.
However, those waiting to strike from behind probably thought their chance had come. They charged forward with their swords raised!
The sword in his hand had become dull, and Yin Gezhi impatiently threw it aside, reaching out to catch a blade swinging down at his head. His fingers were like stone, actually gripping the blade and wresting the sword away.
This sight startled Lian Heng, who quickly looked at his hand, but saw not a trace of red, realizing his finger strength must have been sufficient to prevent the blade from cutting down.
Impressive!
With the blade in hand, Yin Gezhi swept it horizontally. The few who had charged forward quickly hadn’t reacted yet, their bodies still habitually stumbling forward, but their heads had already rolled to the ground! The smell of blood instantly became thick, the scene horrifically resembling hell! Before anyone could scream, the blade whistled through the air, directly cutting several more presumptuous people in half at the waist. Blood mixed with yellowish-green fluid sprayed onto the ground, causing Yin Chengyue nearby to turn away and vomit.
“Quickly… quickly help This Prince leave!”
The retainer was also terrified, no longer offering rash suggestions, and helped him slip away from behind the crowd. But before leaving, he shouted: “By order of His Highness, whoever obtains the Prince’s right hand shall be rewarded with a thousand taels of gold!”
Where there are great rewards, there are brave men. Those who were about to retreat now surrounded him again, aiming directly for Yin Gezhi’s right hand.
Letting out a cold laugh, Yin Gezhi breathed slightly, threw away the dulled blade, and seized a new one to continue cutting. As if venting, his strikes now had no particular technique – he would slash wherever he saw an opening, cut whoever displeased him, each strike cutting through bone and flesh, drawing continuous screams of agony.
Lian Heng couldn’t help but admire: “Truly worthy of being called the legendary Great Demon King…”
“Commander Lian,” Feng Yue reminded him with a calm face: “He’s cutting down your men.”
Lian Heng sighed: “Haven’t you heard? These men are here for the gold, not my regular personal guards at all. When I asked at the training grounds who was willing to come with me to surround the Prince’s mansion, they volunteered, saying they were loyal to the Crown Prince. So it’s not for me to worry about them.”
Feng Yue raised an eyebrow: “You didn’t bring your guards?”
“The Crown Prince’s order defies reason,” Lian Heng said: “That being the case, I couldn’t put my brothers in a difficult position. Whoever wanted to come could come.”
So Commander Lian could also act against regulations at times? Feng Yue sighed thoughtfully, looking outside again where Yin Gezhi seemed to be tiring somewhat. The blade in his hand had dulled again, frustrating him greatly. He threw it away and kicked back an advancing soldier several steps.
Yin Gezhi used to wield a crescent moon blade. Feng Yue blinked, looking around the room, her gaze falling on a wooden box in the corner that was taller than her.
The courtyard wasn’t large and its gate was narrow, so not many soldiers could enter at once. Yin Gezhi didn’t feel much pressure. But people kept coming in continuously from behind, while his weapons kept dulling after cutting down a few people, requiring constant replacement. This greatly displeased him, causing his brows to furrow.
Just as he was missing his crescent moon blade, he suddenly heard a shout from behind: “My Prince, catch!”
Hearing this voice, Yin Gezhi turned back in surprise to see the woman in red robes struggling to lift his crescent moon blade, trying to throw it to him coolly, but lacking the strength. She nearly lost her balance and was almost pinned down by the blade.
In such a serious atmosphere of slaughter, the Great Demon King Yin burst out laughing, startling the surrounding soldiers who were preparing to charge again.
Stepping back, Yin Gezhi flew to the doorway and picked up the long blade.
Barely standing straight, Feng Yue gritted her teeth and said: “I never realized before how heavy this thing was!”
The situation was still dire, so Yin Gezhi didn’t pay much attention to these words, only lowering his head to quickly plant a kiss on her forehead. Then he turned and joyfully returned to the battlefield.
None of the soldiers had time to react, only noticing that the Prince now held a rather imposing-looking blade, so they continued trying to cut off his right arm.
However, the Prince suddenly seemed to become a different person. His expression wasn’t as fierce, but his movements became even faster. The blade was sharp and strong – one horizontal sweep could impale three people’s stomachs simultaneously!
The people behind sensed something was wrong. Seeing that those in front not only failed to wear down the Prince’s strength but were dying faster and more brutally, they hurriedly tried to retreat.
However, Yin Gezhi was caught up in the killing and, with the crescent moon blade in hand, how could he let people leave? He immediately leaped over the courtyard wall to block their retreat path and began another massacre!
Yin Chengyue had been waiting outside the wall for results, but when his royal brother suddenly came out with his blade without warning, he was so frightened that he turned and ran. As he ran, he shouted: “Royal Brother, I was just joking, don’t chase me!”
He hadn’t intended to chase him anyway. Yin Gezhi let him run away, only keeping the retainer behind, stabbing through his heart with one thrust.
The poor retainer, who had only wanted to achieve merit, lost his life over one bad suggestion.
Throwing aside the corpse, Yin Gezhi held his blade and glared at the remaining people who were kneeling and begging for mercy, asking: “Do you want to live?”
“Spare us, Your Highness, spare us! We few didn’t intend to attack!”
“Very well,” the redness in his eyes dispersing, Yin Gezhi said: “Clean up this pile of corpses, send them to the mass grave, and then you can go home.”
“Thank you, Your Highness!” The remaining soldiers were moved to tears! They had thought they would be killed, not expecting the Prince to be such a good person who wouldn’t kill the innocent!
Squatting at the main house doorway, Feng Yue rolled her eyes, thinking these people were truly pitiful. They came offering themselves to be killed by Yin Gezhi, and those who didn’t die had to help him clean up, yet still had to thank him.
The crescent moon blade’s surface gleamed with a blue-green cold light. Yin Gezhi returned with his blade, his black robes dyed even darker with blood. There was blood on his face too. If not for the silver crown binding his hair instead of a helmet, she would have truly thought he had just returned from the battlefield.
“I apologize for the offense,” Lian Heng clasped his hands and bowed to him: “Since the Crown Prince has left, this humble servant will also take his leave. I shall return another day to make amends to Your Highness.”
“Safe journey.” Yin Gezhi nodded, watching him leave, then looked at Feng Yue again.
She gave him a big eye roll and turned to enter the room.
Looking down at the crescent moon blade in his hand, Yin Gezhi smiled and followed her in, wiping the blade clean before putting it away.
“Were you worried about me?”
Knowing he would say such shameless things, Feng Yue let out a cold laugh, folding her arms and speaking without catching her breath: “Who the hell would worry about you? Rather than worrying about you dying, I should worry about you not dying! If you couldn’t guard the main gate and they caught me, my fate wouldn’t be good. When all is said and done, I was just thinking of myself!”
Raising an eyebrow slightly, Yin Gezhi couldn’t help but clap: “Truly worthy of someone who eats three bowls of rice at once – big appetite, long breath.”
Feng Yue turned her head, showing him the cold back of her head!
The air still reeked of blood, and the sky outside had begun to turn blue. There was no point in trying to sleep now. After thinking for a while, Feng Yue said in a muffled voice: “Your father wants to exile you, your royal brother wants to cut off your hand, and you’re still so magnanimous towards them?”
“They are still my parents and siblings,” Yin Gezhi said: “Even if they do wrong, I will settle accounts with them, but I won’t kill them.”
“You and Yi Zhangzhu are truly well-matched,” Feng Yue sneered: “She should be Guanyin, you should be Buddha – why don’t you two go to a temple and save the world!”
“I’m not like her,” Having washed his face and changed clothes, Yin Gezhi now wore white robes. After adjusting his collar, he said calmly: “I’d rather descend to the eighteenth level of hell with you.”
With that, he opened the door and called softly to Guanzhi: “Bring the Prince’s crown, ribbon, and seal. We’re going to the palace.”