However, as soon as Ma Liang dismounted, Xie's soldiers put down their weapons and tiptoed toward the corpse. Just as they were about three meters away, a sudden rumble of thunder was heard, followed by a bolt of lightning that struck the silver-armored general.
With a loud "crack," Ma Liang and Xie Bing instinctively fell to the ground, covering their heads.
He found himself unharmed. When he looked up, he saw the silver-armored general, his body smoldering and charred, yet he remained standing motionless.
Until the black-armored figure opposite him twitched her shoulder slightly, which was noticed by Xie Bing, who had sharp eyes. Xie Bing rubbed his eyes, thinking he was seeing things.
Until the figure in black armor, whose body had been sitting upright, collapsed like a mountain, letting out a miserable cry: "It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!"
Ma Liang's eyes widened: !!!
Xie Bing's eyes immediately filled with tears: "Marshal!!!"
A group of men scrambled over, disregarding their appearance, and rushed to help Xie Lanzhi up. Each man took one arm, and no one dared to let go. They simply lifted Xie Lanzhi up.
Xie Lanzhi woke up at this moment. Her right hand fell on the shoulder of a soldier, who immediately noticed a clear knife mark on the marshal's wrist guard.
The marshal's right palm still had fragments of the long halberd embedded in his flesh, bleeding continuously.
Just as things were about to turn critically, Xie Lanzhi saw that Artur's knife was about to strike his neck. She had already concealed a three-inch-long knife fragment in her hand, which immediately transformed into a flying knife and slit Artur's throat.
Artur felt a chill run down his spine and almost instinctively slashed at her, but no one expected that Xie Lanzhi's right wrist guard had been replaced by Si Xitong, a fact unknown even to Xie Lanzhi herself. Si Xitong feared that Artur would specifically target Xie Lanzhi's right hand, so she replaced it with a light steel guard made by the Ministry of Works.
During that period, in addition to ordering the Ministry of Works to increase production, Si Xitong also ordered the delivery of the newly forged light steel gauntlets. Because the gauntlets were small and easy to forge, they were immediately sent to Jinghua Prefecture, where Si Xitong put on his new gauntlet.
When Artur's sword came down, it was aimed specifically at her right side of the neck. When Xie Lanzhi raised her right hand to block instinctively, it was only five centimeters away from her neck. Artur believed that his sword was so sharp that it could cut off her arm and head together.
He himself was fully armed, his armor impenetrable, covering himself completely except for his neck... Coincidentally, Xie Lanzhi had lost her internal energy, and fighting again would only lead to her death. In the end, she could only rely on the Broken Blade to fight back and kill Artu.
Artu never expected to die from the broken blade of the long halberd, and he was deceived by Xie Lanzhi's violent fighting style. After shedding his inner strength, he charged around recklessly. In fact, she had another advantage: "her throwing knives are extremely accurate".
Artur stopped breathing instantly, blood seeping from his armor. He mustered his last bit of willpower to keep his body from collapsing, but he too breathed his last.
Then a bolt of lightning struck, but it landed on the corpse of the armored man, Artu.
Xie Lanzhi was lifted up. She felt that her right wrist was already weak, but the rolling dark clouds in the sky continued to loom over her, gathering strength and glaring at her menacingly.
She understood immediately.
That bolt of lightning just now struck her.
Xie Lanzhi gave a wry smile: "Put me down, and get at least ten meters away from me immediately. Do not disobey orders!!"
Xie Bing and his men were shocked to hear this, but since the group of men had finally managed to rescue the marshal and she was unable to move, they could not let her stay in such a dangerous place any longer.
So Xie Bing and his men gritted their teeth and pretended not to hear, even if it meant being beheaded later.
Seeing that Tianjing was about to collapse with the force of thunder, Xie Lanzhi was furious and shouted, "How dare you! Put me down right now!"
Xie Bing and his men ignored her and led her out of the hunting grounds, completely unaware that the dark clouds overhead were following them.
Ma Liang was providing cover from behind when he glanced up at the sky and noticed dark clouds looming over them. His left eyelid started twitching uncontrollably, and he couldn't help but curse, "This is really a ghost!"
"Why are these clouds following us?!"
The dark clouds seemed displeased at being insulted by mere humans. A bolt of lightning struck directly at the trees surrounding Xie Bing, seemingly adjusting its angle to hit Xie Lanzhi.
Xie Lanzhi kept ordering, "Put it down! Put it down right now!"
Xie Bing and his men walked even faster, saying, "Marshal, you can't continue to be willful."
"We will only hand you over to the mistress, and you can punish me however you like afterward!"
"The Xie family cannot do without you, and the mistress of the house cannot do without you!"
"boom--"
"boom--"
"Boom!" Four thunderbolts rumbled behind the dark clouds, eventually splitting them apart. The dark clouds then dispersed with the wind, revealing the sun. A few faint rays of light finally fell on Xie Lanzhi's face.
Xie Lanzhi's eyes widened in astonishment: "This...is this giving up?"
However, she dared not relax. From the beginning, she had been testing how she would be rejected by the heavens here. At first, it rained and dark clouds covered the sky. Artur did not kill her. Then she was struck by lightning.
Artur took the blow for her, followed by four claps of thunder.
It's completely confirmed that the devastating shock has passed.
Xie Lanzhi fell into deep thought. She had a feeling that things weren't so simple, and she recalled what Artur had told her before he died: "You have no substitute."
A substitute? Aqi found a substitute to shield him from harm, which is why he's still alive, and he can't even have contact with Little Phoenix.
As the protagonist, Little Phoenix is the one everyone is destined to favor. In other words, Artur's implication that she could live a few more years if she didn't stay by Little Phoenix's side reveals a deeper meaning: Xie Lanzhi's presence by Little Phoenix's side had already drawn the attention of Heaven.
By triggering the plot ahead of time and altering its course, Xie Lanzhi essentially shortened her own lifespan. Therefore, Niliupei was her doomed place.
"It seems this adventure was worthwhile; I've gained a lot of information." Xie Lanzhi breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was being escorted out of the hunting grounds, the Duke of Lu, Fu Ling, arrived with his army and saw Marshal Xie being carried out by his own soldiers.
He dismounted and was about to burst into tears when a soldier kicked him in the buttocks, nearly knocking him over.
When Gongfuling saw Marshal Xie crying out in pain, he ordered his men to stop. The group of Xie's soldiers, as if they had eaten the gall of a bear and the heart of a leopard, hurriedly sent him into the main city of Lu to find a doctor.
The official rubbed his eyes, still stunned: "Is the emperor blind, or is the envoy blind?"
The local general standing next to him reminded him, "It seems the intelligence is wrong."
"That means the Emperor isn't blind, it's the messenger who's blind." The official immediately slapped his square face, cursing without regard for his image: "What kind of lousy messenger is he? He can even get a message wrong! When we get back, I'll have him pack his bags and leave!"
Artur and his cavalry all perished in the land of Nilupo.
Ma Liang returned and carried out Artur's body. He saw a large cut on Artur's neck, almost all the blood had been drained, and the wound was dry and hard. The skin was also turning black, and the death was extremely gruesome. Ma Liang couldn't help but shudder.
He casually searched Artur's person and found a letter and a yellow talisman wrapped in red paper. Upon opening it, he saw that it depicted a Tai Sui talisman for bad luck in the coming year.
He then secretly opened the letter and found that the person on it called himself Aqina: Tudi, see this letter as if it were me.
......
There was a brief exchange of concern and pleasantries, followed by a banquet to celebrate Artur's triumphant return.
As Ma Liang was reading the letter, Xie Bing also gathered around him and scanned the area. He even saw Ma Liang's birth date and time on the Tai Sui amulet: June 21st of a certain year.
Xie Bing muttered to himself, "What bad luck! This General Wang is not only our Marshal's mortal enemy, but he was also born on the same day as our Marshal."
"How did you know the Marshal's birthday?" Ma Liang didn't care as he carefully put the letter away, intending to hand it over to His Highness.
Xie Bing said in a matter-of-fact manner, "The Marshal holds a banquet every year on his birthday. Although he didn't hold a birthday ceremony when he first arrived in Tianjing, the clan would prepare to celebrate for the Marshal on that day."
In other words, the Xie family would choose an auspicious day to get together and drink. The Marshal's birthday was one of these occasions.
Artur's body was properly disposed of.
Meanwhile, the Northern Army was unaware of Artur's death.
On that day, Anshan Jun smashed a cup and shouted, "May you have peace and safety every year!"
The Xiongnu envoy hurried into the residence with a letter, which turned out to be a wedding invitation: "Prince, a letter from the motherland says that a birthday celebration will be held for you next month. What do you plan to send this year?"
As a brother, Anshan naturally knew things that others didn't, such as the birthday celebration next month. His brother was actually born in June, but for the past ten years, he had insisted on celebrating his birthday six months earlier.
And this happened every year. After a while, everyone only remembered that December was the king's birthday, and only his close brothers remembered that he was born in the sweltering heat of June.
"When Artur returns, I will..."
Before he could finish speaking, a Hun man stumbled and crawled in, holding up a letter of obituary with a sorrowful expression: "Report...report...General Wang has fallen in battle!"
"General, Artur has fallen in battle!"
Bang! Anshan accidentally broke the jade porcelain teapot on the table. He jumped up and grabbed the Hun man, asking, "What are you saying?"
"I'm asking you, what are you saying?!"
Chapter 142 The Exchange of Two Thanks
The story of Xie Lanzhi's narrow escape from death at Niliupei spread throughout the new Tianjing and the southern region.
The matriarch wept with joy that day and began to generously distribute alms to the people of the region, paying attention to the lives of the poor. The old woman knew that her meager efforts could not earn her divine forgiveness, but they could give Xie Lanzhi a glimmer of hope.
As long as there is a glimmer of hope, like in the muddy swamp, one can salvage their life.
Meanwhile, the fortunes of the Xie family in Xin Tianjing improved. Xie Guang, who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and didn't have much time left to live, suddenly developed a high fever that night. Even the doctor thought he wouldn't make it and that they should prepare for his death.
Wang and Xie Cuicui cried until their eyes were swollen, and their son-in-law Lu Ping and his company Mao Gong personally handled Xie Guang's funeral arrangements.
Xie Guang also thought he was going to die. He was both unwilling and reluctant to leave his family. He drifted off to sleep, and everyone thought he had already left.
Xie Xia, a burly man, wept uncontrollably, tears and snot streaming down his face. The entire clan lamented the untimely death of one of Xie's great generals.
The next day, the coffin was ready, and the doctor planned to examine Xie Guang again. He found that Xie Guang's fever had subsided, his breathing was even, and his pulse had returned to a strong state, as if he had been cured overnight by some kind of miraculous elixir.
The doctor was shocked. Xie Guang had just woken up and found the doctor staring at him dumbfoundedly by the bedside. The two grown men looked at each other, and finally, because the doctor got too close and almost kissed Xie Guang, Xie Guang reacted too strongly and punched him.
Finally, the doctor, sporting dark circles under his eyes, personally demonstrated that his patient had recovered. The doctor then informed Ms. Wang.
Wang immediately hugged Xie Guang, crying and hitting him, and the old couple blushed with shame on the spot.
Xie Guang ate a large bowl of porridge afterward, and his appetite returned to normal.
When Xie Xia saw his second brother alive and well at the dining table, he disregarded his status and rushed over to hug his eldest brother. Xie Guang was so frightened by the snot and tears hanging from his nose that he dared not move, afraid of wiping them on himself.
Afterwards, Xie Xia brought Xie Lanzhi back to the capital alive and captured the Xiongnu general, King Artu. Artu was very famous; even though he had never campaigned in the south, his deeds of fighting the civil war and assisting the new king, Aqina, for three years were widely known in the north.
Aqina, the most inconspicuous and weakest prince of the eldest king, was able to overpower the three kings and ascend to the throne, and half of that was thanks to Artu.
The Artur family had been the most valiant generals under the eldest king for three generations, and were considered the foremost warrior family of the northern grasslands. Artur's reputation was further cemented by his ambush and annihilation of the Giant Deer Prince's army of 100,000 with 30,000 troops.
Artu's death is undoubtedly a huge blow to the Hunnic kingdom.
Xie Guang breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't forgotten that the head matriarch had sent him a letter, but he was so engrossed in the news of his terminal illness that he hadn't paid much attention to it.
Now he remembered it was because the matriarch had retired for twenty years and rarely interfered in clan affairs. Even when she did, it was mostly about ancestral worship or, seven years ago, her personal selection of the marshal as the new leader. After that, she never actively intervened in the affairs of the younger generation, remaining in a state of delegating power.
Now he asked his wife to bring the letter again. After Xie Guang opened the letter and read it, he fell silent.
Xie Xia couldn't help but ask him, "Second Brother, what did the First Mistress say in her letter?"
"The matriarch wrote that the old marshal's memorial tablet was broken by the main beam of the ancestral hall, which is extremely unlucky." Xie Guang's face was solemn, clearly showing that he was deeply afraid of the old marshal: "She dreams of the old marshal criticizing her every day, and she wants to kill the marshal, completely disregarding the little bloodline that the father and daughter have left, and insists on taking the marshal's life."
Even though Xie Xia wasn't particularly superstitious, he believed the old marshal would take lives. Even though these thoughts contradicted each other, it was a subconscious belief that almost everyone had this thought: the old marshal, like the marshal himself, had held the power of life and death, killing countless people and leaving countless lives on his hands. He died with intense resentment, taking his last breath.
If such a person were to become a vengeful ghost seeking revenge, no one would be surprised.
Xie Xia said, "We've been in Tianjing for two years now. How far are we from the Southern Region? Can the old marshal really come all the way to Tianjing to claim our lives?"