One person, one horse, one sword—if one held the will to die, then one was invincible.

Zhu Qing alone fought six opponents and for a time actually held the advantage.

Xie Zhifei’s eyes wavered violently. He had originally prepared for certain death, but at this moment, a thread of hope for survival arose.

Who didn’t want to live?

How wonderful living was—seeing mountains and waters, seeing clouds and rain, and being able to see the person one loved.

The long saber in his hand instantly became sharper.

Not just Third Master who was injected with adrenaline by Zhu Qing’s arrival—Ding Yi and Li Buyan took down several black-clothed figures in succession.

The situation suddenly reversed. Lan Chuan smiled with excitement, but the next instant she heard Zhu Qing shout loudly:

“Third Master, take Yan Miss and leave first!”

Lan Chuan’s smile instantly froze on her face.

Only then did she realize that Zhu Qing’s arrival could only sustain them temporarily—the enemies were simply too many.

Xie Zhifei made no move, still fighting hand-to-hand with the black-clothed figures.

He understood Yan Sanhe’s character too well—she absolutely wouldn’t allow herself to carry even half a life more on her conscience. Living alone…

“Leave, Master!”

“Young Miss, go quickly!”

The two shouts were heartrending.

If Ding Yi’s shout wasn’t enough to make Xie Zhifei resolve decisively, Lu Da’s hoarse roar made him suddenly understand—living and dying together was the choice of Yan Sanhe and himself, while protecting their master with death was the choice of loyal guards.

His thoughts instantly changed.

Xie Zhifei leaped up, landed beside the carriage, and with his long saber slashed downward, severing the reins.

He cut down with one saber a person approaching, then mounted the horse with a flip.

At this moment, Tang Yuan in the pavilion also moved. She grabbed Yan Sanhe’s hand and pulled hard forward.

Caught unprepared, Yan Sanhe was pulled into a stumble. Just then Xie Zhifei drove the horse over, his hand scooping under Yan Sanhe.

Lan Chuan quickly jabbed the horse’s hindquarters with her soft sword. The horse, feeling pain, bolted like an arrow released from a bow.

The black-clothed leader, seeing the two escape, let out a long whistle issuing commands.

Zhu Qing anticipated they would give chase and shouted: “Block the road!”

Two words resulted in a formation.

Zhu Qing, Lu Da, Ding Yi, and Li Buyan each feinted a move, jumped out of the fighting circle, and lined up in a row, blocking the road completely.

Want to chase?

Come then—first step over our corpses.

Lu Da’s back was covered in blood.

Ding Yi’s left shoulder was pierced by a sword, the blade still in the flesh.

Li Buyan was slightly better off, just a slash on her arm.

Most severely wounded was actually the late-arriving Zhu Qing.

Four or five saber wounds covered his body, blood continuously flowing out. His sword-gripping hand trembled violently, but in the depths of his pupils was a light that shook the heart.

Third Master said they, master and servant, could walk forward no more steps—these words were correct. He accepted them.

The latter sentence was wrong.

The premise of accepting Heaven’s will was having a life left to accept.

Zhu Qing turned his head to glance quickly at the distance, lightly exhaling one word from his mouth: “Kill!”

Before the sound even fell, the four charged toward the flood-like black-clothed figures.

Swing swords.

Kill people.

Pierce through.

Get pierced…

Clang—

The long sword slipped from Zhu Qing’s hand. A black-clothed figure’s sword thrust with a squelch into his flesh. The instant it pierced, his hands gained strength as if experiencing a final surge of energy.

He broke the sword hilt, thrust it into the black-clothed figure’s heart, then neatly pushed him away and went barehanded to meet another black-clothed figure.

Dying for Third Master—a death worthy. Only wronging the First Young Miss.

He had originally wanted to guard the First Young Miss for life.

Thinking of the First Young Miss, a trace of smile appeared on Zhu Qing’s face. At this moment, two black-clothed figures attacked, sword blades thrusting from above and below…

Pain came. Zhu Qing thought he mustn’t fall, but his body wouldn’t obey.

The instant he fell, he heard the sound of horse hooves.

Like an army of thousands.

Was it a hallucination?

If he could open his eyes at this moment, he would discover it wasn’t a hallucination.

Five hundred cavalry war horses galloped over led by his Third Master. On horseback were masses of black-armored warriors.

Their expressions varied, but the one thing the same was that each gripped a gleaming large saber.

The Bu Family Army?

No—the invincible Zheng Family Army.

They came on horseback, raising sabers, killing enemies, raising sabers again, killing enemies again. Wherever they went was a human hell.

The black-clothed figures’ defeat came in an instant.

Seeing fewer and fewer comrades, the black-clothed leader pulled a smoke bomb from his chest and smashed it hard against the ground…

…

At this moment in the capital.

The Zhu Family.

Study.

Zhu Yuanmo suddenly sat up from the bamboo couch, breathing heavily in great gasps.

After using dinner, he suddenly felt drowsy, reclined on the bamboo couch for a short rest, but unexpectedly fell into a dream.

In the dream was his birth mother, Mao shi.

Mao shi cried while telling him Yan Miss was in danger—go help quickly.

He had merely frozen for a moment when Mother’s kind face actually transformed into a skeleton, literally scaring him awake.

This was the first time Mother had appeared in a dream since passing away.

How strange—why would he have such a dream? Hadn’t Yan Miss already recovered?

Just then, the door was pushed open.

Second Brother and Third Brother entered one after the other.

Zhu Yuanmo quickly composed himself. “Why did you all come?”

Second Brother Zhu: “Elder Brother, Mother appeared in my dream saying Yan Miss is in danger and told me to help.”

Third Brother Zhu: “I just had the same dream.”

Zhu Yuanmo’s expression immediately became ugly.

All three brothers having the same dream?

He took a deep breath, stood up and walked to the desk, took three copper coins from the drawer, and tossed them on the table.

Three reverse sides—indeed great misfortune.

Zhu Yuanmo closed his eyes. After a moment he opened them again: “Second Brother, personally go to the separate residence and see exactly what Yan Miss’s situation is. Quietly—don’t make a commotion.”

“Yes!”

…

In the cold, desolate rain, a young soldier entered the pavilion.

“Third Master, everything’s cleaned up. A total of fifty-two corpses with no special markings on their bodies. We can’t identify who they are. What do you think we should do with them?”

Xie Zhifei looked at the young man before him, his expression somewhat dazed.

After he and Yan Sanhe rode away, they hadn’t run far before encountering this Bu Family Army.

“What’s your name?”

“This one is Liu Fei. Following General Bu’s orders, I’ve been secretly protecting Third Master. Third Master left in haste. After I received the news, I pursued all the way but was still a step too late.”

Xie Zhifei: “How did Bu Liu anticipate I’d be in danger?”

“General Bu didn’t anticipate—he only said ‘just in case.’ Who knew this ‘just in case’ would really come.”

Liu Fei changed the subject.

“Third Master, who wanted to kill you?”

Xie Zhifei’s gaze looked toward Yan Sanhe at the side.

Yan Sanhe slowly lowered her head, looking at the ground within a square foot, her brain turning extremely fast.

If the Emperor wanted to kill her, he needn’t go to such great lengths—on the day he summoned her to the palace, a cup of poisoned wine or a white silk would suffice.

Moreover, the Emperor’s word was his bond.

Since he’d promised to spare her life, as an emperor he couldn’t possibly go back on his word.

Then, besides the Emperor, who else could it be?

Who hated her to the bone?

At this moment, urgent footsteps came through the rain. She looked up, directly meeting Tang Yuan’s panic-stricken face.

“Yan Miss, Zhu Qing, he… he’s barely hanging on.”

Xie Zhifei blurted out: “What about the medicines Young Master Pei gave us? They’re completely useless?”

In the distance, Li Buyan cried so hard she couldn’t form words:

“Third Master, his injuries are too severe, too severe! Those bruise and bleeding medicines are completely ineffective. He really can’t hold on much longer. What do we do? We need to think of something quickly!”

“Return to the capital immediately!”

Yan Sanhe’s voice trembled as it clearly rang in everyone’s ears.