Author: 哔哔 (Bi Bi) / Jin Gang Quan

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 14

This time, they hurried on for a full day and night, arriving deep among towering, uninhabited mountains. The trails were rugged and narrow, and the horses could no longer climb any higher, so they left the horses at the foot of the mountain with one man to guard them. Under Wen Heyi’s lead, the rest relied on their own legs to scale the heights.

They hadn’t slept all night. After spending most of the night climbing, they reached the summit just as daybreak was beginning to lighten the sky.

Along the way, Huo Fenghua had crawled with both hands and feet. His palms were cut open in several places by brush, and he was miserable. Now he was disheveled and weak, clinging loosely to Wen Heyi as he said, “Martial Uncle, I can’t walk anymore.”

Wen Heyi said, “You’re a dignified imperial prince. What kind of sight is this?”

Huo Fenghua waved a hand. “I’m done being one. I’ll give the position to you, old man, all right?”

Wen Heyi shot him a glance. “Stop fooling around. We’re already at Luofeng Ridge.”

Huo Fenghua lifted his head and looked at the layers of mountains in the distance, green peaks piled upon peaks. A thought suddenly came to him, Luofeng Ridge. Just hearing the name felt ominous for Feng Tianzong. Was the plan really to bring down that surname Feng here?

Wen Heyi kept moving. Huo Fenghua grabbed his arm and had him drag him along for a stretch. Two soldiers in armor and helmets approached from ahead, saluted Wen Heyi, and led them farther in.

After they walked some distance along the ridge, Huo Fenghua saw numerous soldiers lying in ambush in the grass ahead, along with two huge boulders that would’ve taken several people hugging them together to encircle.

A tall man wearing silver dragon armor strode toward them. He looked to be in his thirties, with rugged, imposing features and an impressive bearing. When he saw Huo Fenghua, he drew in a deep breath, dropped to one knee, and said in a deep voice, “Shao Feijie, Grand Marshal of Xichou’s forces, pays respects to His Highness the Eldest Prince!”

Before Huo Fenghua could respond, Shao Feijie had already raised his head and looked at him intensely. It was obvious he and Wen Heyi had already coordinated long ago, planning to disguise this useless Second Prince as Xichou’s Eldest Prince.

Wen Heyi pinched Huo Fenghua’s lower back.

Huo Fenghua let out a soft “ow,” and reluctantly said, “Marshal Shao, please rise.”

Shao Feijie stood, glanced at Wen Heyi, and said, “In urgent times, we act as necessity demands. My troops are currently lying in ambush for Feng Tianzong. We’ll speak of ceremony after we return. Your Highness may observe the battle from the side for now.”

Huo Fenghua nodded. “I understand. Marshal Shao, do what you need to do. Don’t worry about me.”

Wen Heyi said, “I’ll protect Your Highness.”

Shao Feijie gave a slight nod and turned back toward the cliffside.

Huo Fenghua also walked to the edge and leaned over to look down. Below was a long, narrow ravine, squeezed between peaks on both sides. The entrance was extremely tight, and deeper inside it ended in a dead end.

The two boulders he’d seen earlier were meant to be pushed down once Feng Tianzong and his men entered the ravine, sealing off their retreat.

At that moment, Huo Fenghua heard faint hoofbeats. His whole body tensed as he strained to look outward. He could feel the soldiers lying in ambush on the ridge tense as well. Everyone entered a state of readiness, and not a single sound was made.

Feng Tianzong led fifty personal guards and ran into a two-sided ambush by Xichou’s forces, who deliberately drove them toward Luofeng Ridge. When they retreated all the way to the ravine entrance, Feng Tianzong took one look at the towering peaks on both sides and knew there was an ambush.

He shouted, “We can’t retreat any farther!” and was the first to wheel his horse and charge back to the front. The long whip in his hand snapped out, coiling around a Xichou soldier and flinging him onto jagged rock. In an instant, blood burst out and the man died with his eyes split wide.

His whip rose again, spattered with enemy blood, sweeping through the soldiers before him. He pointed forward and roared, “Kill them all! No one retreats!”

Huo Fenghua could vaguely make out the two armies below, but he still couldn’t see Feng Tianzong. He couldn’t help moving toward the ravine entrance, drawing close to the boulders and craning his head to figure out which one was Feng Tianzong.

Wen Heyi reached out and grabbed his belt, yanking him back. “Do you want to fall?”

Huo Fenghua gave a dry laugh and pointed to a straight-backed figure below, dressed in purple-gold armor with a dark cloak. “Is that Feng Tianzong?”

Wen Heyi looked at him like he was crazy. “Isn’t he your husband? You’re asking me?”

Huo Fenghua said, “I’m Huo Fengnian. What husband do I have?” Even as he spoke, he kept trying to peer at the man. There was mist in the mountains, and the distance was too great, so he still couldn’t make out Feng Tianzong’s face.

Even though Feng Tianzong had fallen into an ambush, his fifty personal guards were all elite. Under his lead, they counterattacked with all their strength. On top of that, the ravine entrance was long and narrow. Xichou’s two thousand ambushers were gathered outside the mouth of the ravine and couldn’t form a true encirclement. For a time, they actually couldn’t force Feng Tianzong’s group back. The fight stalemated at the ravine mouth. In the chaos of battle, the soldiers lying in wait on the summit didn’t dare shoot arrows either, afraid of hitting their own men.

Tao Yifei stood beside Shao Feijie and asked, “Marshal Shao, what do we do?”

Shao Feijie’s eyes were sharp, locked on the battlefield. “Don’t worry. No matter how fierce Feng Tianzong is, he only has fifty men. We’ll fight a war of attrition. Even if he refuses to back into the ravine, sooner or later he’ll be worn down to the last man.”

But they’d still underestimated just how ferocious Feng Tianzong was. With only a single long whip, he’d already slaughtered countless enemies at the foot of Luofeng Ridge, and he showed no sign of fatigue at all. He also knew that if he fell into a tight encirclement, being attacked from front and back would be even worse. So he held the ravine entrance tightly, neither advancing nor retreating, focused only on killing.

Shao Feijie’s expression grew heavy. Suddenly he called softly, “Heyi?”

Wen Heyi turned his head and said, “Feng Tianzong may have reinforcements.” Otherwise, why would he keep holding out when he knew it was ultimately a dead end?

That was exactly what Shao Feijie feared.

Huo Fenghua had never seen such a bloody scene. He sat down by the cliff, gripping a vine with one hand as he looked down. His feelings were complicated. It was as if he both wanted Feng Tianzong to die here and wanted to see him escape. Yet whether Feng Tianzong lived or died, with Su Zeyang’s temperament, he probably wouldn’t be willing to come back for him. Thinking of that made Huo Fenghua feel even more dejected.

Just as the battle reached a deadlock, a wave of agitated cries rose from outside the ravine. Huo Fenghua immediately leaned out to look. On the battlefield below, a figure in white had appeared.

The man in white held a long sword. Stepping on the heads and shoulders of Xichou soldiers, he drifted in from outside the ravine, charging straight into the very center of the battlefield. With a light leap, he landed before Feng Tianzong’s horse. Sword light flashed, and he killed a Xichou soldier in a single strike.

Huo Fenghua clearly heard Feng Tianzong cry out, “Zeyang!”

Su Zeyang’s white robes fluttered. His sword was so fast it was almost formless. In the blink of an eye, he’d already killed two or three men. Only then did he lift his head to glance at Feng Tianzong and give a slight nod.

Huo Fenghua stood up at once. He’d seen it clearly. Even though Su Zeyang moved quickly, his left leg still couldn’t put in full strength. He definitely wasn’t fully healed. The words “Watch your leg” almost burst out, but he forced himself to swallow them.

Su Zeyang’s sudden appearance caused a slight shift in the battle. Feng Tianzong and his personal guards seemed to regain momentum at once, letting out deep shouts as they vowed to break out of the encirclement.

Shao Feijie’s face grew even grimmer. Suddenly he said, “Drop the rocks!”

Tao Yifei froze. “But that could injure our own soldiers.”

Shao Feijie didn’t speak. He only looked toward Wen Heyi.

Wen Heyi nodded.

Shao Feijie made his decision. He grabbed the command flag from a personal guard at his side and swung it. “Drop the rocks!”

“No!” Huo Fenghua immediately tried to stop them. “You can’t drop the rocks!” What kind of joke was this? It would crush Su Zeyang!

Wen Heyi raised an arm to block him. “It’s none of your business. Just watch.”

As he spoke, Huo Fenghua saw three or four soldiers work together, using wooden poles to pry at the two massive boulders on the summit. The stones soon began to wobble, tilting toward the ravine.

Huo Fenghua lunged to the cliff edge and shouted down, “Su Zeyang, watch out for the rocks!”

Su Zeyang had just killed an enemy commander and landed lightly back on horseback. Hearing the shout, he looked up toward the summit and saw Huo Fenghua standing at the cliff, waving his arms at him.

Seeing that Su Zeyang still didn’t retreat, Huo Fenghua panicked. He rushed over and shoved aside a soldier who was pushing the boulder, trying to stop them. But the boulder was already moving. It swayed at the cliff edge, then began to roll down.

He tried, overestimating himself, to push the boulder back inward. But the rock was far too heavy. Not only did his shove fail to steady it, the huge force knocked him off balance, and he tumbled toward the cliff below.

“Your Highness!” No one had expected him to be so reckless. Wen Heyi immediately shot forward, grabbing a vine hanging from the cliff with one hand, trying to save him.

At the same time, as the boulder rolled down, soldiers on both sides of the fight fell back in alarm.

Only Feng Tianzong suddenly sprang up from his horse. He actually climbed toward the falling boulder. His limbs were powerful and agile. His fingers hooked into cracks in the cliff face, using them to propel himself upward. In an instant he slipped past the rolling rock and reached toward the falling Huo Fenghua.

But Wen Heyi was one step faster. He wrapped an arm around Huo Fenghua’s waist and, gripping the vine tightly, was about to pull him back up when a white figure flashed before him. A silver sword, trailing sword light, slashed toward his arm. Wen Heyi had no choice but to let go, watching as Huo Fenghua fell into Feng Tianzong’s hands.

Wen Heyi hung from the vine at the cliffside, facing Su Zeyang with a cold laugh. “Martial nephew. Long time no see.”

Su Zeyang clung to a jutting rock with one hand. Seeing that Feng Tianzong had already caught Huo Fenghua, he released his grip and dropped back down, calling calmly, “Martial Uncle.”

The distance between them abruptly widened.

Wen Heyi kicked off and sprang back to the summit. The moment he landed, he heard Shao Feijie roar angrily, “Are you out of your mind?”

Wen Heyi turned to look at him.

Shao Feijie’s anger hadn’t faded, but he still forced himself to steady it. “I’m not talking about you. I’m talking about Huo Feng—nian. What exactly is he doing?”

Wen Heyi shook his head. “His heart is no longer with Xichou.”

The falling boulders kicked up a massive cloud of dust. The entire Luofeng Ridge seemed to tremble. Some soldiers who couldn’t get away in time were buried beneath the stones. And Feng Tianzong and his personal guards, now fewer than twenty, were finally trapped inside the ravine, the exit sealed shut.

Now Shao Feijie could order arrows fired and slaughter them all in the deep valley of Luofeng Ridge. But Feng Tianzong held one man in his grasp: Huo Fenghua.

Feng Tianzong carried Huo Fenghua back onto the horse. His long whip coiled around Huo Fenghua’s neck. With a single hard pull, he could take his head clean off. He raised his head and looked up at Shao Feijie. “If you don’t withdraw, I’ll kill Huo Fengnian. We’ll die together.”

Shao Feijie’s eyes went wide. For a long time, he couldn’t say a word.

Pressed close against Feng Tianzong’s chest, Huo Fenghua looked up but still couldn’t see his full face, only the sharp lines of his jaw. Hearing that low, heavy voice, he murmured quietly, “I’m not Huo Fengnian.”

Besides Feng Tianzong, probably only Su Zeyang, standing at the horse’s side, heard that.

Su Zeyang lifted his eyes and looked at Huo Fenghua.

Feng Tianzong’s pupils tightened slightly, but his expression never changed. His whip suddenly cinched tighter. Huo Fenghua’s breathing instantly became difficult. In pain, he raised a hand to claw at the whip around his throat.

Feng Tianzong smiled faintly and asked, “Well?”

Shao Feijie’s face went pale.

Wen Heyi suddenly said softly, “Withdraw.”

Shao Feijie drew a deep breath and said to the guards behind him, “Withdraw.”

The guards raised their command flags and sounded the retreat horn. The Xichou soldiers blocking the ravine began to pull back.

Shao Feijie shouted at Feng Tianzong, “Let him go!”

Feng Tianzong replied loudly, “Once we’re out, we’ll naturally release him. Marshal Shao needn’t worry. Have your ambush withdraw as well.”

Shao Feijie’s voice was icy. “All of you, withdraw.”

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