He shouldn't have doubted Qin Chu; Qin Chu had said he would never abandon him.
Just as Qin Rui was feeling pleased, he suddenly heard Qin Chu shout sternly, "Qin Rui, get down!"
Qin Rui immediately sensed the danger and crouched down on his horse.
A whooshing sound flashed overhead, and a long sword flew past his hair, circling around him. If Qin Rui hadn't pulled the horse's head aside at the last second, the warhorse would have been beheaded by now.
He, lying prone on his horse, must have been either dead or seriously injured.
The gleaming blade whistled past Qin Rui's horse, circled once in mid-air, and landed steadily in its master's hand.
A man jumped down from the watchtower in front of the camp; it was Ti Rong.
At this moment, Qin Chu was very close to Qin Rui. He picked up the bow and arrow on his horse and shot three arrows in quick succession. Two of them went towards the other two Xiongnu soldiers, and the last arrow hit Ti Rong's feet, blocking his advance.
As Qin Chu and Qin Rui's horses met, Qin Chu reached out to pull Qin Rui onto his horse, but the tall man in black armor rushed over with a sword, slashing between Qin Chu and Qin Rui.
Qin Chu immediately jumped off his horse and shouted to Qin Rui without turning his head, "Run!"
As he spoke, he drew his sword to block Ti Rong's approaching blade.
The man gave him a dazzling smile in the darkness. Every move he made was filled with murderous intent, yet his words seemed to be flirting: "You love me so much that you came all this way to have a late-night talk with me by candlelight?"
Qin Chu's dark eyes were sharp, and he was not fooled by Ti Rong's ambiguous words.
He glanced at Qin Rui, who had already disappeared, and stared at the man in front of him: "From the beginning, your target was Qin Rui. Whether it was when you came to me last time or when you led the Xiongnu invasion, both you and Prime Minister Lin wanted to kill Qin Rui."
His tone was certain, and the man didn't refute him, but a hint of appreciation appeared on his lips: "As expected of you, you actually found it."
Qin Chu had no intention of talking to him any longer. He flicked his longsword, knocked the man back, and then tried to mount his horse and leave.
But Tyrone persisted relentlessly.
Amidst Qin Chu's relentless attacks, the man even risked injury, tilting his head to look into Qin Chu's eyes, and asked with a smile, "Then... knowing that I didn't come specifically to see you, General Qin, are you even a little bit disappointed?"
Qin Chu gave a cold "heh" and rudely kicked him.
Tijon rolled away, wiping the blood from his cheek, and smiled with a half-closed eye, seemingly genuine: "What if I told you you were wrong, and that I captured him this time to lure you here?"
Qin Chu didn't believe it at all.
He remembered what Lin Xiang had once said: he said he wanted to kill someone.
Qin Chu hadn't expected that this person also had their own mission, and had been pondering who they were supposed to kill.
Lin Xiang's attitude towards Qin Rui was indifferent, which is why Qin Chu had overlooked Qin Rui at the time. However, it was only after Qin Rui was captured by the Xiongnu that Qin Chu suddenly remembered those words.
He looked up at Ti Rong and asked, "Why did you kill Qin Rui? What was his relationship with you? Have you been staying here all this time on another mission?"
He asked earnestly, but the man replied nonchalantly, "Guess."
As he spoke, he moved closer to Qin Chu, seemingly wanting to steal a kiss on Qin Chu's cheek when Qin Chu wasn't looking.
Qin Chu pursed his lips, wanting nothing more than to chop the person up.
He was about to ask something when he heard a familiar whooshing sound.
A short arrow flew straight toward Ti Rong on the opposite side, grazing his iron armor and forcing the distance between Ti Rong and Qin Chu to increase slightly.
Qin Chu and Ti Rong subconsciously looked in the direction from which the short arrow had come, but suddenly there was another short sound of an arrow rubbing against the air, and a dark shadow shot in from a completely different direction.
It was the same short arrow of the same type, but this time Tijon was momentarily careless, and the arrow grazed his chin, leaving a wound.
Blood immediately seeped out. Ti Rong raised his hand to wipe the blood from his cheek. He was about to say something with a smile when his expression suddenly changed, and he immediately raised his hand to cover his throat.
His lips quickly turned bluish-purple, his throat tightened, and he couldn't utter a single word.
This short arrow was poisoned.
The thin clouds in the sky parted, casting a beam of moonlight onto the spot where the second arrow had been shot.
Behind a thick, withered tree, a thin child emerged. He held a small crossbow with a short arrow loaded, and his dark eyes seemed to have turned light gray, with only the central pupil remaining frighteningly black. He stared coldly at Tijon.
The pain on Tirong's face lasted only a moment.
He licked his fingers, which were stained with poisonous blood, and a mocking smile returned to his lips.
But the next moment, as if worried that he wasn't completely dead, another short arrow was shot over.
The short arrow was shot with great accuracy, piercing directly through Tiron's neck.
The tall man finally fell to the cold, hard ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The restless crowd finally quieted down, and the sudden reversal even left Qin Chu somewhat stunned. He didn't immediately approach the fallen Ti Rong, but instead frowned and looked at Qin Rui behind the tree.
This was the first time Qin Chu had ever seen Qin Rui kill someone. The child showed no panic on his face, and his hand holding the crossbow did not tremble at all.
His face was calm, even with a hint of chilling ruthlessness, completely different from how he usually appeared in front of Qin Chu.
"you……"
A hoarse, rough voice came from the ground; it was Tijon speaking.
He saw Qin Chu's gaze turn to him, and a smile unconsciously tugged at his bluish-purple lips. The smile quickly turned mocking, yet also mischievous, as if he were enjoying the spectacle.
He seemed to want to say something, but before he could speak, his usually smiling eyes lost their luster.
Qin Chu was taken aback again.
Having experienced so many worlds together, although Qin Chu often wanted to tear this thing to pieces, this was the first time he had truly witnessed this person's death.
Lin Xiang was killed by Qin Chu himself, but he was in poor condition at the time and only wanted to escape with Qin Rui as quickly as possible, so he did not pay any attention to Lin Xiang.
Now, looking at this person who could fight him to a draw and who could infuriate him to the point of explosion, Qin Chu felt a complex emotion unexpectedly welling up inside him.
"elder brother!"
Qin Chu felt a sudden weight on his body and looked down to see Qin Rui rushing towards him.
The cold expression on the child's face had faded, replaced by worry and joy at seeing him.
"Didn't I tell you to go first?" Qin Chu patted Qin Rui's head.
Qin Rui turned to look at Ti Rong lying on the ground, hugged Qin Chu tightly, and whispered, "I'm afraid you're in danger."
Qin Chu didn't say anything more. He bent down to pick up the child and mount the horse, but then he saw Qin Rui take two steps toward Ti Rong's corpse and then pull out the dagger tied to his leg.
Qin Chu: "..."
Although he knew that Qin Rui particularly hated Ti Rong, and was also pleased that the child hated what he hated, wasn't it a bit too much to whip the corpse after it died?
"What are you going to do?" Qin Chu pressed down on Qin Rui's shoulder.
The child looked up at him innocently, but said something terrifying: "Cut off his head. He's a general of the Xiongnu, brother, this is your achievement."
Qin Chu: "..." That seems to make a lot of sense.
Qin Chu turned to look at the camp not far away, then bent down and picked up the token that symbolized Ti Rong's identity.
"Alright." Qin Chu lifted Qin Rui onto the horse. "If we don't leave now, it will be too late."
Qin Rui looked up at Qin Chu but didn't say anything.
Sure enough, he guessed right; this man definitely held an extraordinary place in Qin Chu's heart.
but……
Qin Rui nestled in Qin Chu's arms and gave a small smile.
It's alright, he's already dead.
The shock was only momentary, and Qin Chu quickly recovered from the complex emotions of witnessing Ti Rong's death.
Because he knew very well that evil deeds live on for a thousand years, and he might see this person alive and kicking again in the next world.
Far from the Xiongnu army's camp, Qin Chu led Qin Rui on horseback along the road.
The moonlight was bright, casting a silvery glow over the horses. The night outside Cangqing Prefecture was quiet, with only the clatter of hooves breaking the silence.
After a frantic search and a fierce fight, Qin Chu was now lost in the silence and did not want to speak.
Qin Rui's emotions had been going up and down all day. Now he was buried in Qin Chu's arms, his cheek pressed against Qin Chu's cold, hard armor, but he didn't want to move away for even a moment.
The two rode on horseback for a while longer when Qin Chu suddenly spoke up.
"He had a gun and a dagger with him, so how did he get tied up? Didn't he even know how to call for help?"
Qin Rui froze. He looked up at Qin Chu, remembering the panic he had felt earlier, and explained in a low voice, "I thought you had listened to the General and abandoned me."
Qin Chu immediately raised an eyebrow, and Qin Rui turned around and softly admitted his mistake.
"Brother, I was wrong..."
"I shouldn't have doubted you; it was my fault."
"Brother, don't be angry..."
Qin Chu had intended to teach him a lesson, but the three consecutive apologies came crashing down on him without any backbone, leaving Qin Chu no room to get angry.
He glanced at Qin Rui silently, realizing for the first time that this kid was quite cunning.
Qin Rui was cautious; he subconsciously wanted Qin Chu to let the matter drop, but what was bound to happen would happen anyway.
He heard Qin Chu ask, "Why did you react so strongly to the General's words?"
Qin Rui remained silent for a while, then tugged at the cloak on Qin Chu's armor and began to knead it.
After a while, he whispered, "Didn't the General already tell my brother?"
"But I want to hear what you have to say."
Qin Chu's indifferent yet reassuring voice descended from above, and Qin Rui remained silent for a long while.
He remained silent for so long that Qin Chu couldn't help but sigh, patted his head, and said, "Never mind, wait until you think about it..."
At this moment, Qin Rui suddenly spoke up: "Brother, I killed someone."
The atmosphere between Qin and Chu paused slightly.
He didn't interrupt Qin Rui, but listened quietly.
The child nestled in his arms, his dark eyes wide open, and calmly recounted as if telling someone else's story: "I killed someone right after I was born. My birth came at the cost of someone else's life."
"I killed my mother."
His still-childish voice echoed in the air, speaking the most unbelievable things in the most ordinary tone.
Qin Chu slowed down.