L'hibiscus comme peinture - Chapitre 30
Just as Saint Chi was distracted, Ao Jun quickly seized the opportunity and ordered a retreat through the Gate of Life. Jin Xuan understood and ordered the army to split up and retreat through the Gate of Life in turn.
By the time Sheng Chi came to his senses and tried to beat the drums again to trap Long Xuan's army, it was too late; Long Xuan's army had already withdrawn from the formation.
Yelü Ying stared in disbelief at the Longxuan Army, who had been struggling trapped in the formation just moments before, now retreating with lightning speed. Impossible! Sheng Chi had clearly said that no one could escape the Heavenly Stems Eight Trigrams Formation. Why? Why did this happen? Mo Jun, Mo Jun, it was Mo Jun again! She helped Ouyang Jinxuan escape; she ruined all his plans. His red eyes were fixed on the white figure on Tianri Slope, now dripping with cold sweat, weary but smiling contentedly. Why? Are you that concerned about Ouyang Jinxuan? No, I'm not reconciled. You are mine. Ouyang Jinxuan must die today.
"Pursue!" Yelü Ying raised his Fire Cloud Sword and ordered a chase. The scattered Cangliao army quickly regrouped and followed Yelü Ying forward. The war drums on Tianyue Slope also stopped. In an instant, the sky cleared, the battlefield returned to silence, and the terrifying atmosphere vanished without a trace...
Seeing that everything had finally turned around, and that as long as Jinxuan and the others withdrew from the Heavenly Stems and Eight Trigrams Formation, they would be fine, Aojun on Tianri Slope breathed a sigh of relief. He finally put down the flute in his hand and realized that his hands were covered in cold sweat and that beads of water had seeped from his forehead. As soon as his tense heart relaxed, he felt so exhausted that he almost collapsed.
"Strategist, be careful." Seeing that Ao Jun was about to fall, Yi Tian quickly supported her, speaking respectfully and worriedly, his eyes filled with admiration and concern as he looked at her.
"I'm fine, Yi Tian, thank you for the flute." Ao Jun smiled slightly to indicate that she was alright and returned the bamboo flute to Yi Tian.
"No...no need," Yi Tian stammered, blushing. He felt embarrassed when he saw Ao Jun smiling at him.
"Yi Tian, why is your face so red? Did you get sunburned? Let's go back to camp! The prince and the others are safe now. I've already sent Yi Han to meet them." Ao Jun said, looking at Yi Tian's suddenly flushed face.
"Okay." Yi Tian tried to speak in a normal tone, but his flushed face betrayed his feelings.
The two figures slowly disappeared on Tianri Slope, and Sheng Chi was nowhere to be seen on Tianyue Slope either. Everything seemed to have returned to normal, except that the corpses scattered all over the battlefield, the rivers of blood, and the eerie atmosphere all told people that a brutal war had just taken place here.
Meanwhile, Ouyang Jinxuan led his troops in a continuous retreat. Although it was a retreat, the troops were disciplined and orderly, no longer displaying the chaos of the previous battle. However, Yelü Ying led his army in hot pursuit and was about to catch up. Given the current state of both armies, once they caught up, Longxuan's army would undoubtedly suffer heavy casualties.
Just as the Cangliao army had caught up with the Longxuan army, thousands of archers suddenly appeared from the hillsides on both sides and fired a barrage of arrows at the Cangliao army that was chasing them. In an instant, a rain of arrows fell down, and the soldiers in front fell to the ground one after another.
Yelü Ying deflected the arrows with his sword while watching Ouyang Jinxuan lead his troops out of his sight with hatred. Although he had more troops, the enemy occupied the high ground, making it impossible for them to advance. Going downhill would only result in more soldiers being killed.
"Withdraw." Helpless, Yelü Ying could only order a retreat. The 100,000-strong army slowly and orderly withdrew. Yelü Ying glanced at the direction where Long Xuan's army had disappeared, narrowed his eyes, and smiled wickedly. "Ouyang Jinxuan, you've escaped today, but you won't be so lucky in the future. Don't think you're safe just because you escaped. In the end, only I will be victorious."
Seeing that the Cangliao army had disappeared from sight and the army's advance had slowed down, Jin Xuan finally breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that they were now safe. His injured left arm was still bleeding, and most of his robe on the left side was stained bright red. He was pale and frighteningly pale from blood loss, and his vision was getting darker and darker. He was about to collapse.
Wei Ziqi, who was standing beside the prince, noticed that something was wrong with him. He was startled when he looked and exclaimed, "Your Highness, are you alright?"
This exclamation alerted the other generals, who noticed that their prince was seriously injured. They all asked with concern, "Your Highness, how are you?"
To reassure them, Jinxuan wanted to tell them that everything was alright, but he was already losing consciousness and his vision went black as he fell off his horse.
His mind was gradually becoming clouded; he could only hear voices calling his name, but he was truly exhausted and longed to rest. As his eyes closed completely, he seemed to see a white figure holding him with a worried expression. He wanted to open his eyes to see if it was real, but he couldn't. With his eyes closed, he fell into eternal darkness.
]
The Strategist and the Princess: Battlefield Chapter 32 - Qimen Dunjia
He vaguely heard someone talking beside him. Jinxuan wanted to open his eyes to see, but he felt completely exhausted and had no strength left. He didn't know how long it was before he felt he had the strength to open his heavy eyelids.
"Why hasn't Your Highness woken up yet? Didn't the military doctor say that Your Highness was out of danger? Why hasn't he woken up yet?" It sounded like Zhao Zhiyang's voice.
"Zhiyang, don't rush! You'll disturb the Prince by being so loud," Wei Ziqi said, trying to stop Zhao Zhiyang. Turning to look at Jinxuan, he noticed that Jinxuan's eyelids seemed to twitch before slowly opening. Overjoyed, Wei Ziqi immediately went to the bedside and exclaimed in surprise, "Your Highness, you're awake?"
"Your Highness is awake?" Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhiyang quickly went to the bedside. Seeing that the prince was indeed awake, he was so excited that his eyes turned red.
"Hmm." Jinxuan responded and tried to get up, but Wei Ziqi quickly helped him sit up.
"Where's the strategist?" Jin Xuan asked Ao Jun as soon as he spoke. He looked around; this was his tent, and only Wei Ziqi and Zhao Zhiyang were around. He remembered seeing the strategist before he fainted, so why wasn't she here? Waking up and not seeing her filled him with a deep sense of loss.
"Your Highness, the strategist is in his tent. Does Your Highness need to see her? Ziqi will go and fetch her right away." The prince looked for Jun as soon as he woke up, so he must have something to ask her. Wei Ziqi turned around and was about to leave.
"No, no need, Ziqi, how many casualties did our army suffer in this battle?" Jinxuan stopped Wei Ziqi when he saw him about to leave. Actually, he didn't have anything to ask her for; he just wanted to see her as soon as he woke up. During his coma, his dreams were filled with her stunningly beautiful figure. He must be going crazy. But then he realized that he really missed her.
"Yes, Your Highness." Wei Ziqi stopped in his tracks, turned around, and saw that the prince had asked about the battle again. He said with a heavy expression, "Your Highness, our army suffered heavy casualties this time. General Zhou was killed in battle, other generals were seriously wounded, and a total of 30,000 soldiers died. Another 40,000 soldiers were wounded. After this battle, our army's morale is low. Especially in the days since Your Highness fell into a coma, the entire camp has been filled with a deathly atmosphere. Everyone is still fearful of that battle." Wei Ziqi still shuddered when he thought of that terrifying formation.
"Understood." Jin Xuan said calmly after hearing this. This result was within his expectations. If it weren't for Jun, probably not only him, but the entire army would not have survived. That formation was too terrifying, like the strange shield and armor described by a legendary figure in the martial arts world.
"Your Highness, what kind of sorcery did Yelü Ying use? I, Zhao Zhiyang, still feel terrified when I think about it." The straightforward Zhao Zhiyang turned pale when he thought of those soldiers who went crazy back then. He had lived for so many years and fought so many battles, but he had never seen such a terrifying formation.
"This is something I don't know either. I suppose only the strategist can answer our questions."
"The strategist?" Wei Ziqi and Zhao Zhiyang asked simultaneously. What did this have to do with the strategist? They were both puzzled as to why the strategist would appear while the prince was unconscious. Wasn't the strategist supposed to stay in the camp? How could he be there? Now the prince was saying that only the strategist knew what was going on. This... they were all confused.
"Didn't the strategist tell you these past few days?" Jinxuan countered. It seemed they didn't know Jun had been to the battlefield. Of course, it was chaotic then; they hadn't had the energy to pay attention to who was playing the flute, and therefore hadn't noticed her on Tianri Slope. But during the days he was unconscious, hadn't they asked Jun, and hadn't Jun told them?
“What did you say? During the days that the Prince was unconscious, the strategist stayed in her tent every day, not coming out or seeing anyone. Ziqi hasn’t seen her since that day either. He only asked Miss Mo to pass on a message for her, saying that the entire camp should remain still, no one should send troops out without permission, the entire camp should be on high alert, and…” Wei Ziqi hesitated as he spoke.
"And what?" Jinxuan frowned and pressed on. Jun hasn't come out to see anyone these past few days, which means she hasn't come to see him at all? Doesn't she care about him at all?
"And he ordered the entire army to retreat thirty li." Seeing the prince's brows furrowing more deeply, Wei Ziqi quickly added, "Your Highness, please don't blame the strategist. The strategist has his reasons for doing this."
“Yes! Your Highness, the strategist didn’t really intend to act first and report later. It’s just that Your Highness was unconscious at the time. Your Highness, please don’t blame the strategist.” Seeing that Jin Xuan didn’t speak, Zhao Zhiyang quickly spoke up for Ao Jun.
For a long, long time, Jinxuan remained silent, only frowning. The two people beside him were filled with worry. The prince and the strategist had finally reconciled; they hoped that no new rifts would arise at this moment!
Actually, they were all worrying for nothing. Jinxuan didn't speak because he was thinking that Junhui's order must be related to that formation. What kind of formation was it that required them to retreat another thirty miles after they had already left the formation?
"Strategist." Just as Wei Ziqi was about to speak up for Ao Jun again, a soldier's voice came from outside the tent.
Still dressed in white, Ao Jun walked in under the gaze of the three. He went to Jin Xuan's bedside and asked softly, "Awake?"
"Hmm." Jinxuan hummed in response and then fell silent.
The prince remained silent, as did Ao Jun, and the other two naturally kept quiet as well. For a moment, a heavy atmosphere filled the air.
Finally, Zhao Zhiyang couldn't bear the oppressive atmosphere any longer and spoke first: "Strategist, the Prince just said that only you can solve the mystery of that strange formation for us. That day..."
Just as Zhao Zhiyang was about to recount what had happened that day, Jin Xuan interrupted him, saying, "The strategist was there that day, and it was the strategist who played that calming melody. Our army was able to safely withdraw from that treacherous formation entirely thanks to the strategist."
"What? The strategist went that day? Wasn't the strategist supposed to stay in the camp?" The two asked in surprise at the same time, then turned to ask Ao Jun.
"That day, after you set off, I went to a small hill near the battlefield because I had been feeling uneasy all day, so I went to take a look. Unexpectedly, I found the Heavenly Stems and Eight Trigrams Formation," Ao Jun said casually, as if he were talking about the weather that day.