The cavalrymen now looked at them as if viewing dead men. “You think you few can kill us? Not to mention our reinforcements are right behind us—even without reinforcements, you Central Plains two-legged sheep are no match for us.”
The speaker looked Zhao Hanzhang up and down, his mind stirring. He licked his lips and said, “Although she’s a bit fierce, fierce women are the most fragrant! Hahaha, little lady, Central Plains men have no backbone. Why don’t you follow me instead? Don’t worry, I definitely won’t make you go to the battlefield to kill people.”
The others burst into laughter upon hearing this, staring at Zhao Hanzhang and looking her up and down.
Zhao Hanzhang placed the head in her arms at the base of a tree, gripping her dagger with the blade reversed. She raised her chin slightly and said, “Have me follow you? Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?”
She beckoned to them with a smile. “If you want me to follow you, you must at least be able to beat me. That way I’ll fear you, rather than constantly plotting to kill you.”
The leader’s smile faded from his face, his gaze settling heavily on her. “Provocation—nicely done.”
Though he knew it was provocation, he still took the bait. He was confident he could subdue Zhao Hanzhang.
He jumped down from his horse, looked at the great sword in his hand, then smiled. “I’ll give up the horse advantage, but I won’t give up this weapon.”
Zhao Hanzhang gripped her dagger tightly, staring at him warily. She had learned martial arts, and the original owner had also learned. During this time, she had completely integrated with the skills in the young girl’s memories. However, having learned didn’t mean she could defeat someone who had truly fought and killed on the battlefield.
But at this moment, Zhao Hanzhang’s blood was boiling. Her eyes bright, she stared at him, not feeling afraid but rather somewhat excited.
The guards on the side grew anxious, calling out, “Sanniang!”
The other four riders immediately pointed their swords at these guards, sneering. “Our team leader wants to fight her. We’ll let you live this quarter-hour. So you’d better be sensible—otherwise, we’ll send you to hell right now.”
One guard heard this and realized they couldn’t help much. So he unbuckled the sword at his waist and threw it to Zhao Hanzhang. “Sanniang, take the sword!”
Zhao Hanzhang reached out to catch it. After looking it over, she drew the sword and looked at her opponent. “Then let’s try.”
With that, her sword thrust directly toward his throat. He smiled contemptuously, easily blocking her sword and deflecting it, then powerfully slashed at her.
Zhao Hanzhang dodged with extreme speed, nimbly returning her blade to strike at his waist. His downward slash had used too much force to pull back for defense in time, and she actually landed a hit on him.
Her first strike seemed unremarkable—not much power, not much speed. But after drawing out his move, her sword technique became extremely efficient. Combined with her very fast movements, she temporarily gained the upper hand.
In just a few exchanges, Zhao Hanzhang had stabbed him three times. The wounds were neither deep nor large—she would strike and immediately retreat, slippery as could be.
But creating wounds naturally meant pain. He was tormented badly by this pain, and his moves became even more fierce and tight. Taking advantage of an opening, he closed in two steps to get close to Zhao Hanzhang. His blade slashed at her body repeatedly—a completely no-mercy, kill-on-sight fighting style. For a moment, Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t create distance, but she could dodge left and right with extreme speed. Her evasive movements synchronized almost simultaneously with his attacks—clearly she was anticipating his moves.
Zhao Hanzhang retreated continuously while dodging. When she touched the tree behind her, she spun with extreme speed to hide behind it. His blade slashed down viciously. This time it didn’t come at her front but from the side—precisely avoiding the tree…
Zhao Hanzhang heard the wind of the descending blade. Knowing she couldn’t dodge in time, she instead risked mutual destruction by turning her sword point and exposing half her shoulder to him. Her blade thrust viciously backward from beside her body. At the same time, she heard the sound of something cutting through the air behind her…
Zhao Hanzhang felt resistance at her sword point. She gritted her teeth and pushed forcefully backward, deepening the sword’s penetration. Then she waited to feel the pain of being slashed.
Her body felt no pain at all. Zhao Hanzhang paused, then immediately turned around. Her sword was stabbed into his abdomen. His blade was still raised high. His eyes were wide open looking at her. Half an arrow shaft protruded from his back, pointing directly at Zhao Hanzhang’s face.
Seeing this arrow shaft, Zhao Hanzhang’s heart leaped with joy. Her reinforcements had arrived?
Unable to close his eyes in death, he gripped his blade and lunged forward. Zhao Hanzhang immediately dodged behind a nearby tree, seeing the somewhat familiar arrow fletching on his back. She immediately raised her head to look around.
Only then did she discover the scene had descended into chaos. The rebel infantry following behind had already arrived, but they hadn’t come of their own accord—they were being driven here. Zhao Qianli gripped his great sword, cutting them down one by one like watermelons. Meeting Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze, he shouted loudly, “Sanniang, don’t be afraid! I’m coming to save you right now!”
Zhao Hanzhang indicated she wasn’t afraid. She turned the corpse on the ground face-up and pulled out the sword still embedded in it.
Blood splattered on her hem. She could now look at it without changing expression.
“Teacher Zhao—” Fu Tinghan dodged the arrows and blades flying chaotically on the battlefield, riding his horse over. Seeing Zhao Hanzhang covered in blood, he grew nervous and jumped down from his horse to examine her. “Are you injured?”
“No,” Zhao Hanzhang blocked his inspecting hands. “It’s all other people’s blood.”
Fu Tinghan breathed a great sigh of relief. “That’s good, that’s good. We went back to the Zhao residence to find you—your house was already empty. We only found markings on the wall inside the west corner gate, and that’s how we knew you’d gone to chase the main army.”
Zhao Hanzhang saw the orderly fighting people in the field and was slightly stunned. “How are there so many people, with such good coordination too?”
Fu Tinghan said, “They’re your family’s retainers.”
“Oh, right—Uncle Qianli was ordered to summon the retainers into the city. These are the Zhao family’s retainers kept outside?”
Fu Tinghan nodded. “When we fought our way out, we encountered two groups of rebel troops and lost some men. These are what remain.”
He paused, then lowered his voice. “The matter of your grandfather giving you private troops probably can’t be hidden anymore. Forced by circumstances, Uncle Qianli combined the two forces.”
Zhao Hanzhang nodded, not too concerned. “No matter. Once we pass the area where rebel troops are rampant, we’ll turn toward Runan and not travel with them.”
So whether Zhao Zhongyu and Zhao Ji knew no longer mattered—as long as she could control these men, that was enough.
Moreover…
Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze fell on those retainers fighting bravely with orderly advance and retreat. She wanted to abduct them.
These men were far more useful than the household guards. At least they could follow orders and prohibitions.
Zhao Qianli had brought quite a few people. Combined with their elite training and the best weapons and armor, they quickly defeated this rebel force. Only a few scattered individuals escaped, and they probably couldn’t cause much trouble anyway.
So Zhao Qianli didn’t pursue them. He had his subordinates collect the spoils of war and count the dead and wounded. He himself ran over to Zhao Hanzhang, his face full of anxiety. “Sanniang, why are you alone here? Where are the Heir, Second Miss, and Erlang?”
—