Startled, Huangfu Mi immediately gripped her sword and stood up, shielding Meng Wan behind her. Huangfu Yi stood beside them, his eyes fixed on the group of people, wary and menacing.
"Seventh Brother, what should we do?"
Huangfu Mi stared intently at the group, his hand gripping Meng Wan's tightly. Seeing their hostile demeanor, he raised his voice and asked, "Who are you people?"
The leader said, "We are here to take your lives."
Huangfu Yi asked, "Who sent you?"
The man sneered, "Is that even a question? Don't you know who you've offended?"
Huangfu Yi glanced at Huangfu Yi: "Empress?"
"Haha, enough with the nonsense. We're just following orders. Please forgive us, gentlemen!"
A gust of wind blew by, and the leader suddenly raised his hand. Huangfu Mi immediately went on high alert, watching him intently. The leader jogged a few steps and swung his sword at Huangfu Mi, who drew his own sword to block it, forcefully pushing the man back. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he aimed a horizontal slash at the man's abdomen. Unexpectedly, the man possessed superb lightness skills, leaping back a few steps and landing steadily.
Huangfu Mi shielded Meng Wan behind him, looked at Huangfu Yi, and whispered, "I'll cover you for a while, you take Wan'er and go first."
Meng Wan's heart tightened with the arrival of that person. Huangfu Mi held her tightly, and looking at Huangfu Yi, she felt like a burden. She wished she had learned some martial arts, even just a little, so she could protect herself and not be such a drag on others.
As they spoke, the man crouched down, using the cushioning of his landing, and swung his knife at Huangfu Mi's shin. Huangfu Mi grabbed Meng Wan's arm, turned, and with a swift upward flick of his sword, deflected the man's blade, then suddenly turned and swung towards the man's neck. The man remained calm, constantly twisting his wrist to parry Huangfu Mi's fast and ruthless sword, while simultaneously taking steps backward. Huangfu Mi sensed the man's profound skill; the tiger's mouth holding the sword was numb from the impact. To onlookers, it seemed Huangfu Mi had the upper hand, but in reality, he was struggling to keep up with the attacks. Seeing this, the remaining men drew their swords and rushed forward.
Upon seeing this, Huangfu Yi hurriedly took Meng Wan from his hands and then rushed off towards the horses.
Wanting to break through the encirclement, Huangfu Mi watched as the two landed steadily on their horses, and only then did he feel a little relieved. He then took his sword and thrust it fiercely at the group of people.
Only the whistling wind filled their ears as a fierce battle raged, swords flashing and tracing elegant arcs. A gentle breeze brushed past their ears, and with a clang, their swords clashed, sending countless sparks and shockwaves flying. The man swung his sword, forcefully blasting away Huangfu Mi's powerful attack. But it wasn't over yet; he swung his sword a second time, a golden arc of battle energy transforming into a bolt of lightning that struck Huangfu Mi!
Meng Wan had already run quite a distance with Huangfu Yi. Several assassins who tried to catch up were swiftly eliminated by him. Looking at the situation behind her, Meng Wan felt extremely anxious. She gripped the hem of her clothes tightly, bit her lip, and her heart was pounding. The arc of light was about to hurt him. She shouted, "Huangfu Mi, be careful!"
Huangfu Mi blocked the attack with his sword again, shouted to Huangfu Yi and Meng Wan to hurry up and leave, then raised his sword and stabbed at the man's lower abdomen. Then, while the man blocked the sword to his lower abdomen, Huangfu Mi pulled out a short sword from behind and stabbed it into the man's chest.
The man hadn't expected this move. Seeing the short sword already upon him, he slightly turned, and the sword pierced his shoulder. He stumbled backward. Huangfu Mi grabbed his longsword, ready to strike again, but the man dodged, pulled darts from his robes, and hurled them in quick succession. Huangfu Mi quickly blocked them with his sword, then leaped towards another group of horses. At that moment, the man suddenly attacked, severing the horse's leg. Blood splattered, the horse lurched forward, and Huangfu Mi, caught off guard, was thrown off balance, hurtling heavily towards the cliff edge.
Meng Wan was stunned and shouted, "No—" Before she could finish speaking, Huangfu Mi's figure was already slowly descending. With his last bit of strength, he was still shouting, "Go quickly, you all go quickly, don't come back!"
V84
Meng Wan was stunned, watching that face, so familiar to her very bones, slowly disappear before her eyes, along with his voice, vanishing into the wind. She cried out in alarm, "No—"
He made a move to jump off the horse, his mind filled with only one thought: save him, save him!
His body was firmly restrained. Huangfu Yi stared in shock with a tense expression, but in the end, reason prevailed. Behind him were the pursuers who were closing in. If he and Meng Wan dismounted, they would both die!
So he raised his hand and chopped hard at Meng Wan's neck, who was struggling in his arms, and Meng Wan collapsed limply into his arms.
Huangfu Yi then glanced down the cliff. It was shrouded in mist and bottomless. If Seventh Brother fell like that, he would probably die without a burial place!
His fists clenched, his heart filled with sorrow, but he could only grit his teeth, pull hard on the reins, squeeze his legs against the horse's belly, and with a loud shout, the horse galloped away like the wind.
--
Meng Wan seemed to be having a long dream, in which she and Huangfu Mi walked side by side on a deserted path.
The surroundings were completely quiet, with no one around, only the rustling wind and the faint sound of falling leaves drifting leisurely down.
Everything was so beautiful, but at that moment, her hand suddenly went empty. Turning her head, she saw that Huangfu Mi had somehow broken free from her hand and was standing several feet away, quietly watching her with an empty expression, devoid of any emotion.
She couldn't help but feel a pang of panic.
That was an unfamiliar expression to her, as if he were looking at a complete stranger. That shouldn't belong to Huangfu Mi, so she quickly stepped forward, wanting to see clearly. But no matter how close she got, the distance between them remained unchanged. She moved forward, and he retreated. This repeated several times until his figure disappeared from her sight.
Meng Wan suddenly sat up.
What came into view was a completely unfamiliar room, large but also very empty, with a bed, a table, a few chairs, and nothing else.
She touched her forehead in confusion, looked around the room, and frowned. Where was she?
The door was gently pushed open, and a person walked in. Clearly not expecting her to be awake, Huangfu Yi was visibly startled, then quickly stepped forward: "You're awake!"
His tone was filled with undisguised joy!
Meng Wan frowned even more deeply as she looked at Huangfu Yi's handsome face, which overlapped with Huangfu Mi's face in her dream. Suddenly, she remembered something.
"Where is Huangfu Mi?"
This sound made Huangfu Yi's expression change slightly, but he didn't respond. He simply handed the medicine bowl to her and said, "Drink the medicine first, and your head won't hurt so much."
Meng Wan didn't reach out. The scenes before she fainted flashed before her eyes, and she suddenly raised her head: "I'm asking you, where is Huangfu Mi?"
Huangfu Yi's expression turned noticeably more unpleasant. Under Meng Wan's stunned gaze, he gritted his teeth and said, "I'm sorry, at the time, all I could think of was taking you away. Otherwise, with my strength alone, I wouldn't be a match for them at all, so..."
Meng Wan opened her mouth, wanting to say something but unable to make a sound. She just stared blankly at Huangfu Yi for a long time without uttering a sound.
Seeing this, Huangfu Yi became even more worried and wanted to go forward to comfort her, but Meng Wan suddenly got off the bed and walked out without even putting on her shoes.
Huangfu Yi hurriedly followed and grabbed her arm. She ignored him, but he wouldn't let go. After a few attempts, she got angry and shouted, "Let go! Let me go!"
Huangfu Yi knew she couldn't bear this blow, but so could he. His seventh brother had fallen right before his eyes, and he couldn't even save him. He was devastated.
However, this was not the time to be sad. The woman in front of him, who seemed dazed, was even more upset than he was, so he could only try to remain calm and maintain his composure.
"You can't go out. The Queen's people are still looking for us everywhere. Going out now will only be suicide."
"Let go! I told you to let go!" Meng Wan ignored everything, almost completely losing her reason. She struggled and shouted, "I'm going to find him! Let me go! Huangfu Yi, let me go!"
She couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe Huangfu Mi would leave her like this. Hadn't it happened before? They said he fell off a cliff, but that was just a ruse to mislead the enemy.