Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 269: Thousand Soldiers Stunned

After Hu Lie was severely injured, the sandstorm around them began to weaken, and even the natural sandstorm was almost gone.

The two limped around to look for the horses.

Before this, everyone had been chasing after Yue Hongling on horseback. When the sandstorm began, Yue Hongling dismounted and went back to fight. She had no idea where her horse had gone after she dismounted it, and everyone else’s horses had been scattered by the sandstorm. Perhaps Batu managed to gather some, but many were likely still scattered all over.

The two of them were extremely lucky. They quickly found the horse that Zhao Changhe had been riding earlier on. It was not his Snow-Treading Crow, as it was still back at Lady Three’s inn. This horse was from Batu. It was just an average horse, but it did carry his things. It was honestly a pleasant surprise that everything was still on it.

Zhao Changhe rushed over and grabbed the horse without a word, then turned to look at Yue Hongling.

Yue Hongling’s face was expressionless.

Without saying a word, Zhao Changhe reached and lifted her onto the horse.

Yue Hongling bit her lower lip and turned her head slightly, reaching out to pull him. “Come up.”

Zhao Changhe did not hesitate, grabbing hold of her hand and using it to jump onto the horse’s back. He then held her from behind.

Even mounting a horse left them both exhausted, and their wounds were still bleeding profusely.

In the distance, the army approached. A shout could be heard coming from the army, “That’s Yue Hongling! She’s injured! Don’t let her escape!”

“Capture those two!”

“Get ready to shoot!”

“Go!” Ignoring the pain, Yue Hongling pulled the reins and spurred the horse to gallop away.

Zhao Changhe’s hand wrapped around her waist, and he leaned in to inspect her wound. Suddenly, he tore off the cloth around her wound, revealing the entire wound and the fair flesh around it.

Yue Hongling knew what he was doing and remained silent, letting him continue what he was doing.

Not long after, the sensation of water drenching her wound made Yue Hongling scream in agony. Her elbow instinctively moved, trapping Zhao Changhe’s head under her arm.

Zhao Changhe grunted but didn’t say anything.

Yue Hongling quickly let go. “Sorry... Did it hurt?”

“Not really, but it stinks.”

Yue Hongling: “?”

Any embarrassment and remorse she felt vanished instantly. Before she could even curse, a cool sensation washed over her wound, indicating that medicine had been applied onto it.

Then, a layer of soft cloth was used to bandage her wound, alleviating much of the pain.

Yue Hongling felt a bit dazed as she tried to recall how many times he had been injured in front of him, only to be bandaged by him afterward. Then, she gave up. It’s one too many, that’s for sure.

Every time she was at her weakest, he was there by her side, taking care of her. It was as if the heavens were whispering in her ear, “Yue Hongling, people are not made to be alone. You need a companion to face the challenges of life together.”

Unlike before, when he could not do much to help her, causing her to regard him as a younger brother, this time he had undoubtedly helped her significantly, though his mouth had indeed become much less sweet and more prone to cursing others.

While she was in a daze, Zhao Changhe had already tended to his own wounds. He sighed deeply and unslung the bow on Yue Hongling’s back, planning to use it himself.

Turning to look around, he saw that the army was almost within shooting range.

This was nothing strange. How could an average horse carrying two people outrun them?

Zhao Changhe drew the bow and released an arrow with a swift motion. A general fell, causing a stir among the troops.

There are probably more coming...

Seizing the momentary confusion within the army chasing them from behind, Zhao Changhe hurriedly said, “This isn’t going to work. I may have been able to flee with Yangyang back in the day, but we can’t pull that off now. This time, there’s an entire army chasing after us. Head north, along this mountain ridge. We should head toward the mountain range in the distance.”

Yue Hongling responded, “Hiding in the woods won’t help... I’ve been to where you’re saying, there’s nothing but barren mountains without even a single tree there. And they might be more familiar with the terrain there than we are.”

“I don’t plan on relying on trees or whatever. There’s a secret area there that they might not know about.”

Yue Hongling’s eyes lit up. She endured the pain in her abdomen and urged the horse to go even faster.

Meanwhile, Zhao Changhe grabbed three arrows and placed them all on the bowstring simultaneously. He drew the bow and released the three arrows at the same time, accurately taking down three more foes.

But in the next moment, more enemies reached within bowshot, and they prepared to shoot back at them.

Zhao Changhe pressed down on the horse’s back and suddenly leaped backward.

As the sun set in the west and eagles soared overhead, a long bloody saber was swung, swiftly severing heads as bodies then fell to be swallowed up by the vast desert.

Zhao Changhe seized this opportunity when some horses were left riderless to take one of them. He pulled on the reins, turned around, and his saber rose again.

A spear was thrust toward him from the side and the spear was sliced into two. Along with the spear, the barbarian soldier who had thrust the spear was similarly split into two. Blood sprayed all over Zhao Changhe, making him look like a demon that had risen straight from hell.

The fear effect of the Scattering the Gods and Buddhas spread without restraint, instilling the soldiers in pursuit with fear, and causing the horses they were riding to neigh in terror.

“Whoever stands in my way will die!” Taking advantage of the momentary chaos, Zhao Changhe rushed out of the formation, catching up with Yue Hongling ahead.

Yue Hongling looked back while spurring on her horse, the figure illuminated under the setting sun being imprinted in her mind. He leaped back to face the army alone, leaving them in absolute terror in just a few moments, their bows frozen in their hands, their horses unwilling to take another step forward.

Although his hair was disheveled and his body was covered in blood, he looked as dazzling as a god.

It was not until Zhao Changhe had almost caught up with Yue Hongling that the barbarian soldiers and horses seemed to have regained their senses. The general shouted angrily, “What the hell are all of you afraid of?! No matter how strong he is, he’s only one person! If each of us shoots him with an arrow, he’ll turn into a porcupine!”

Only then did the army and horses begin to move again, but their momentum was clearly much weaker than before.

Zhao Changhe gasped for breath, realizing the incredible effects of Scattering the Gods and Buddhas during such situations. It truly was much better to use in such situations than against single skilled opponents.

Unfortunately, he had carried out those bold and seemingly impressive actions whilst severely injured. At this moment, the pain from his wounds was almost unbearable; he barely had any strength left to urge his horse to go faster. He simply had no energy left to even attempt the same actions another time. All that he could do at the moment was to quietly recover, hoping that the recovery ability of the Six Harmonies Art was stronger.

Before long, the enemy cavalry closed in again, and the general raised his hand. “Aim! Shoot...”

“Whoosh!”

A dart pierced his skull from a seemingly impossible distance. Before the general could finish his words, a bloody hole appeared on his forehead and he fell from his horse.

Only then did the army remember that it was not just Zhao Changhe that they were chasing, but also the more formidable Yue Hongling!

She was an expert on the Ranking of Man, capable of throwing hidden weapons with her arm farther than they could shoot arrows with their bows!

Yue Hongling pointed at the army. “Whoever follows us will die!”

The other generals looked at each other and slowed down. Although they knew that charging forward was still their best course of action against the two, who would be willing to sacrifice himself and take a dart to the face?

These two are truly terrifying.

Someone said, “We don’t actually need to surround them. We just need to keep following them so they feel the pressure. They’re injured and they have nowhere to stop and tend to their wounds. Sooner or later, they will fall under the horse.”

Someone immediately agreed, “Right, with all the commotion here, other tribes will also receive the news soon. Chi Li is also looking for Yue Hongling. He’ll probably rush here as soon as he receives the news. We just need to keep pressuring them.”

As the sun completely set below the horizon, the stars and moon shone brightly in the sky.

Under the moonlight, the scene had become extremely strange. Thousands of soldiers and horses followed behind just two individuals, but they maintained an unspoken agreement to stay beyond bowshot from each other, never getting any closer.

In a sense, those in the army were right. As long as they kept applying pressure, that was enough. It was evident that the pair had sustained serious injuries, and simply treating such injuries superficially was inadequate. As long as the army maintained the pressure, preventing them from stopping and tending to their wounds, they would eventually collapse from exhaustion.

And even if they did not collapse, such large movements would inevitably attract attention. As long as Chi Li and others like him came, everything would be settled.

And indeed, both Yue Hongling and Zhao Changhe were barely holding on. They were completely exhausted, clinging to the last shreds of hope as they raced toward their destination. Without this glimmer of hope to sustain them, they might not have been able to endure so long.

The mountains were extremely distant. Their outlines were barely visible during the day, and now, under the cover of night, they seemed even more desolate and intimidating.

But fortunately, they had each other.

They rode side by side, stealing glances at each other every now and then before quickly averting their gazes.

An unspeakable emotion welled up in their hearts simultaneously—a sense of reliance. As long as the other was by their side, they had nothing to fear.

After an indeterminate amount of time, the night grew so thick that they could barely see the road ahead. Faint sounds of hoofbeats could be heard from the front, indicating that someone was approaching.

Yue Hongling’s expression changed slightly, and she whispered, “There seems to be someone waiting to intercept us ahead.”

As if drawn by her words, the army behind them suddenly accelerated.

Zhao Changhe looked up and saw the mountains ahead.

He quickly retrieved the map given by Yuan Xing, compared it briefly with his surroundings, and then immediately turned his horse to the northwest. “This way.”

The two of them galloped away, merging into the mountainous terrain amidst the converging forces of the pursuing troops from behind and the lone rider ahead.

Chi Li rushed over, only to see the corpses of two exhausted horses lying on the mountain road. There were no signs of their riders anywhere.

Chi Li pointed angrily at the general of the army that had been pursuing Zhao Changhe and Yue Hongling. “A thousand men chasing after two wounded individuals, yet they still managed to escape into the mountains! Absolutely useless!”

The general awkwardly responded, “It’s fine. We know these mountains well. We’ll block off all the key passages. They’re short on food and medicine. They won’t be able to escape!”

Chi Li took a deep breath and looked up at the mountains.

In the darkness of the night, the mountains loomed like a devouring abyss of shadows.

But then suddenly, a golden light shone in the sky, and the Tome of Troubled Time ushered a new announcement.

At the beginning of the ninth month, Yue Hongling, Zhao Changhe, and Hu Lie fought amidst a sandstorm, both sides suffering severe injuries, with Hu Lie walking away with a severed arm.

Zhao Changhe grit his teeth.

Hu Lie still isn’t dead? If a person on the Ranking of Man dies, they’ll be replaced, but that hasn’t happened. Batu, you piece of trash, you weren’t able to kill him?!

Batu, who was fleeing, glanced at Hu Lie, who was bound and unconscious behind him, and sighed. “The Tome of Troubled Times truly can be deceived. Brothers, return to the tribe and prepare to launch an attack on the Desolate Wolf Tribe with all our forces! The Warring Lion shall rise again!”

As a chief of a tribe, Hu Lie’s capture held more significance for Batu than his death did. Zhao Changhe had failed to consider this.

Batu was a brash brawler usually, but today, he had shown a different side of him altogether. Today, he had not been foolish.

The Tome of Troubled Times did not only mention the short battle. Based on Zhao Changhe’s experience when he brought back Yangyang, the tome would provide a comprehensive assessment only after the entire event had concluded.

Zhao Changhe, at the seventh layer of the Profound Gate, fought against an army numbering over a thousand soldiers that was chasing after him. He beheaded enemy troops, seizing a horse from them before resuming his escape. His actions struck terror into the army, forcing them to halt their pursuit.

The Ranking of Hidden Dragons has changed.

Rank 6: Zhao Changhe

The yellow sand covers the setting sun, and the long river reflects the sunset.

Chi Li frowned as he felt somewhat puzzled at this evaluation.

What about Yue Hongling? Why wasn’t she mentioned?