For a brief moment, the scene fell into a strange stasis, as if two different eras were meeting for the very first time. The members of the hidden clans stood frozen, completely unable to wrap their minds around what had just happened.
"Krr... crack, crack, crack..." A protracted groan echoed through the air before a final, resounding boom—the earthen building Qu Zongyan had just darted into abruptly collapsed.
A massive plume of dust billowed upward.
Wen Jifei kept his rifle steady, making only a slight preparatory motion as if to turn his head and look... Bang! In the very same breath, he snapped a sudden shot toward the eaves at an entirely different angle.
A white silhouette grazed the passing bullet and shrank back in a heartbeat.
It faded into silence, making no further move.
The square quieted once more. Relying on the lingering terror of that shot, along with his sharpshooting and predictive senses, Wen Jifei maintained temporary control of the field. Han Qingyu glanced back at Lin Qiangqiang's group and whispered, "You should leave first."
On the surface, their current situation seemed manageable, but in truth, it was worse than before.
Only the three of them knew the strict limits on Wen Jifei's bullets and their true lethal threshold. Meanwhile, their opposition had gone from a single super combat power to one super combat power plus a dying one.
Under these circumstances, if Qu Zongxing threw caution to the wind, accepted that his life was forfeit, and launched one final, desperate charge to create an opening for Qu Zongyan, Han Qingyu and his companions would essentially be forced to confront two supers at the same time. The myth and terror of the gun would be stripped bare, knocking its deterrent effect down several rungs.
Not to mention, the enemy still had so many bodies on the plaza to throw into the meat grinder.
The only reason they had a reprieve was that the crowd was utterly at a loss, Qu Zongyan had issued no orders upon arriving, and Qu Zongxing, having just managed to stop his bleeding, suddenly found himself wanting to live.
He had been born into a warlord's family, possessed super combat power, and harbored grand ambitions to contest supremacy over the realm. He was deep and calculating, having bided his time for decades, only to make a dazzling entrance the moment he tore off his disguise...
This should have been the glorious opening chapter of a dragon rising from the marshes.
Yet in less than three minutes, someone had walked right up to him and blasted him point-blank. And now he was about to die? Qu Zongxing could not bring himself to accept it.
"I said, get out of here first. Their attention isn't on you, so you have a chance to escape," Han Qingyu urged again under his breath.
"Okay," Lin Qiangqiang replied softly. She looked back at the throngs of people across the square, then turned her eyes toward the traces of blood still clinging to the corners of Han Qingyu's mouth. "But we want to help. Just a little. We... were dead men anyway."
"What could you possibly—" Han Qingyu started to snap, but checked himself. With a helpless sigh, he softened his tone. "I really can't look out for you right now, you understand?!"
Met by his gaze, Lin Qiangqiang flushed with embarrassment and gave a meek nod.
Han Qinglou, oh Han Qinglou, would it kill you to be a little gentler to a young girl? Can't you hear how tense and trembling her voice is when she talks to you? Wen Jifei thought to himself.
Without turning around, he let out a wry, helpless chuckle behind the scope and teased, "Little girl, how about this: give us a cheer before you run off, and we'll call that your contribution, all right?"
"Huh? I..."
Lin Qiangqiang pondered this seriously. Given Major Qing's attire and their undercover status, shouting an Azure slogan here probably wasn't suitable... With time slipping away, she clenched her fist and called out in a low voice:
"Down with feudal superstition!"
"Beautiful," Wen Jifei said, slowly adjusting his aim.
Lin Qiangqiang looked nervously toward Han Qingyu.
"Very good. Go on, then." Han Qingyu finally cracked a smile. "No need to thank us anymore. But once you're out, remember—never tell anyone you saw us, got it? Not a single soul."
Lin Qiangqiang nodded vigorously.
At his urging, the seven Azure soldiers turned and readied themselves to pull out.
They're... just leaving? What about me?! Pang Jinghe watched in silence, screaming internally, It's over! Everything is ruined! Once the chopping starts, I'll be the weakest link here. I'm dead meat!
Just moments ago, he had been weeping with relief, thinking he was finally safe. Coming back had seemed like a sure bet to earn some extra brownie points and goodwill. But the moment he arrived, damn it all, another super had dropped out of the sky. The regret was eating him alive.
"Old Pang," Han Qingyu called out.
Pang Jinghe jumped. "Y-yes!"
"Lead them out."
"Ah, right! Leave it to me!" Crouching to turn, Pang Jinghe hesitated, stood back up, and glanced at Han Qingyu, then at Wu Xu and Wen Jifei. "I'll wait for you guys!"
"Sure, wait and see." Han Qingyu let out a soft cough, wiped away the blood with the back of his hand, and grinned.
Pang Jinghe led the Azure soldiers as they slipped down the back of the bluestone platform.
The crowd stirred, beginning to surge forward.
Wen Jifei gave the muzzle a subtle flick, suppressing the foremost figures, before suddenly snapping his aim toward a seemingly lifeless angle, locking on without a twitch.
At the same time, Han Qingyu and Wu Xu stepped forward, aligning with Wen Jifei to form a defensive line that shielded both their retreat path and Wen Jifei from being engaged in close quarters.
"How are we getting out?" Wen Jifei asked.
"Once they've put enough distance behind them, we run like hell," Han Qingyu said.
"What?!"
"You got a better idea?"
"Nope."
That was simply the reality. They had zero desire to hack Qu Zongyan to death, nor did they care to butcher the crowd before them. Killing them served no purpose whatsoever.
Right now, all Han Qingyu wanted was to get away and see if they could still catch Zhu Jiaming, who had most likely succeeded by now.
...
The sky grew darker, which was for the best. With some difficulty, Zhu Jiaming used his knife-wielding left hand to pop open a dark medicine vial. He sprinkled white powder over the wound on his left arm, hissing as he drew in a sharp breath of cold air.
Then his brow smoothed, and a heartfelt smile spread across his face.
Just moments ago, the very instant the slaughter on the plaza began, he had led his hidden subordinates in a rush toward the Qu clan's secret chamber.
He had pulled it off. Three Bones of Eternal Life were nestled safely against his chest.
Leaving his injured subordinates lying on the ground to await their next opportunity, Zhu Jiaming had fled alone. Nearly thirty years of scouring the land and planting pieces—there were still plenty more Bones of Eternal Life waiting for him out there.
Bending low, the Little Prince moved swiftly through the underbrush on an evasive course... then abruptly halted, looking back toward the firelight of Qu Family Village with mixed feelings.
It was a deeply conflicting sensation.
On one hand, Zhu Jiaming was terrified that Han Qingyu and his group would come back alive to track him down.
On the other hand, he found that he didn't particularly want them to die, either.
Besides, that kid still has three Bones of Eternal Life on him. Zhu Jiaming weighed his thoughts. There was no way he could help them, nor would he be able to even if he tried. Forget it. You're on your own—may luck be on your side.
Turning back, he ran for a few more minutes. Zhu Jiaming looked up at the mountain pass ahead. Once he made it through, the vast expanse of mountains and forests lay beyond, and this chapter of business would be temporarily concluded.
Zhu Jiaming took a step, then froze, pulling his foot back. "..."
There was a sound. A sound that was painfully familiar.
Without even looking back, Zhu Jiaming knew a suit of iron armor was standing right behind him.
Could he really be this unlucky?!
"Oh, Miss Shen!" Tears welled in Zhu Jiaming's eyes as he turned, his expression twisted with panic and distress. "Quick! Major Qing and the others are trapped in the Qu clan village plaza! A thousand men are surrounding them! Hurry, go save them..."
He had an entire spiel prepared—tales of how he had fought tooth and nail to break out and find help.
Shen Yixiu cut him off before he could finish.
The iron armor nodded. "Mm. Then come back with me."
Zhu Jiaming: "..."
In truth, Shen Yixiu had spotted the situation on the plaza, but she had also caught sight of Zhu Jiaming fleeing from the other side.
Faced with a dilemma at the time, she hadn't known what to choose.
So she had asked herself what Han Qingqing would do...
And thus, she had come to intercept Zhu Jiaming first.
"I..." Zhu Jiaming glanced at Shen Yixiu again, an inadvertent touch of appraisal surfacing in his eyes.
Skrr... The steady rasp of iron grating against iron sounded as the armor raised its hand, drawing the knight broadsword from behind its shoulder.
"Qingzi said the Little Prince might be top-tier, too. Care to test it out? I've never chopped a prince before."
Chapter 391