The roles of prey and hunter suddenly reversed, and in an instant, offense and defense swapped positions.
Qi Wang was furious, rage surging like wildfire from his chest to the top of his head. He glared at Qi Yuan, his eyes brimming with murderous intent.
It was all his fault. He should never have harbored any illusions about this woman.
She was nothing but a heartless fox—no matter how good you were to her, she would always be thinking about how to sink her teeth into you and tear off a piece of your flesh.
Bai Hu anxiously reached out to pull Qi Wang. At this point, he could no longer care about matters of rank and propriety.
The soldiers here didn’t even recognize Qi Wang. Instead, they mistook them for bandits.
They were surrounded by danger on all sides!
If they were the least bit careless, they could die here without even knowing why!
Qi Wang still had some sense left. Though his rage had almost driven him mad, he quickly made a decision, letting Bai Hu and Qing Long drag him away.
The secret guards were all brutally trained, naturally far superior to ordinary soldiers. After a brief moment of panic, they quickly stabilized their formation and carefully protected Qi Wang as they retreated.
Madam Zou was pale with fright but quickly ran toward Madam Xie and the others.
When she saw Xie Qiniang’s injured leg, tears immediately streamed down her face. “Qiniang, are you alright?”
Fortunately, she had a good relationship with the Prefect’s wife and had even offered up half of Zou Xiaopeng’s family fortune to persuade her to help, which made the Prefect bring troops to Huichang.
Otherwise, the entire Xie family would likely have been wiped out by now.
How could Xie Qiniang be alright?
She was a delicate girl who had never experienced hardship. Now, struck by an arrow, her lips were pale, and her consciousness gradually faded as she collapsed.
Madam Xie screamed in panic, “Qiniang!”
The bond between mother and daughter was unbreakable. Seeing Xie Qiniang injured and unconscious was as if her very life had been taken away.
Qi Yuan quickly stepped forward, crouched down, and sealed several of Xie Qiniang’s acupuncture points. She then turned to Madam Zou. “Please have someone fetch a doctor to check on Miss Xie. Though it looks serious, it’s actually just a flesh wound and won’t affect her ability to walk in the future.”
At this moment, Madam Zou practically saw Qi Yuan as a deity. Hearing her say this, she immediately expressed her gratitude repeatedly, “Thank you, Lady Qi! Thank you, Lady Qi!”
Qi Yuan didn’t have time to respond. She dashed outside and saw Qi Wang and his men mounting their horses and retreating under the cover of the secret guards. She immediately turned, seized a horse, and vaulted onto its back, galloping away at full speed.
She had already reset her previously dislocated arm. Although it still ached, the pain was nothing to her.
Her only goal was to catch Qi Wang.
The person who hurt you will only keep hurting you. She would not waste her time on resentment, nor would she waste it on forgiveness.
What she wanted was to send him straight to the Western Paradise, to ensure he would never have another chance.
The fierce wind whipped her hair and stung her face, but it didn’t slow her down in the slightest.
The other soldiers were soon left far behind. Qi Yuan’s horsemanship was dazzling.
Zhuque, who was covering the retreat, was drenched in cold sweat, but no matter how hard he rode or how fiercely he whipped his horse, he couldn’t shake off Qi Yuan’s ghost-like figure.
In the end, he grew desperate and fiercely stabbed his dagger into his horse’s back.
The horse’s front legs buckled, and Zhu Que was thrown from the saddle.
With his past skills, even a fall like this wouldn’t have been a serious problem.
But this was different—this was a split-second life-or-death moment.
Qi Yuan had already caught up and, without mercy, fired a sleeve arrow straight at him.
One shot pierced his throat. Zhu Que collapsed without even managing to cry out.
Bai Hu’s eyes nearly burst with rage. He couldn’t help but shout, then gritted his teeth and stared at Qi Yuan.
She was just one person. So what if she was skilled?
Two fists can’t beat four hands. They were all battle-hardened killers. Could it be that dozens of them would be afraid of a woman?
If word got out, people would laugh themselves to death!
He gritted his teeth and ordered Qing Long, “Protect His Highness. I’ll take my squad to kill that wench!”
His squad had ten men—surely enough to take down Qi Yuan!
But just then, sharp whistles echoed from the surrounding hills.
In the next moment, both sides of the slopes were swarming with people.
Qing Long grabbed his arm with a grave expression and shouted, “Protect His Highness first!”
Qi Yuan yanked on the reins, forcefully bringing her galloping horse to a sudden halt and sharply changing direction.
Half of Zou Xiaopeng’s fortune had been sent to the Prefect to secure immediate military aid.
The other half had, of course, been given to the bandits.
Not only were they paid, but they were also tipped off that a fat target would be passing through their mountain.
Who would ever refuse more silver?
As for the bandits, why would they ever keep their word?
Even in the dim moonlight, they could see that the man surrounded by guards was someone of wealth and status—his golden crown gleamed brightly.
The bandits let out earth-shaking war cries as they charged at Qi Wang, who was fiercely protected by the secret guards.
The secret guards fought desperately to defend him as they fled in chaos.
In both his past and present life, Qi Wang had never been so utterly humiliated. His heart was full of seething hatred, but at this moment, his resentment and his status were utterly useless.
All he could do was desperately flee under the life-risking protection of Qing Long and Bai Hu.
Who knew how long they had been running when suddenly a horse charged down a slope and rammed straight into Bai Hu’s steed.
Startled, the horse reared up, and Bai Hu was thrown from the saddle.
But unlike the delicate Liu Mingzhu, Bai Hu reacted instantly as he fell, drawing his sword and slashing at Qi Yuan’s horse’s leg.
The horse buckled and collapsed, but Qi Yuan rolled across the ground, immediately aiming another sleeve arrow at Bai Hu.
Bai Hu ducked to evade, and Qi Yuan seized the chance to charge straight toward Qi Wang.
Half of the secret guards had already fallen during the earlier pursuit by the soldiers. Later, a third were lost during the bandit ambush.
The number of guards around Qi Wang was now drastically reduced.
And Qi Yuan’s sudden charge caught them completely off guard. She actually managed to leap onto Qi Wang’s horse.
The moment he felt Qi Yuan press against his back, Qi Wang’s scalp went numb. Without thinking, he flung his hidden sleeve darts.
But Qi Yuan had been prepared. She seized his wrist and swept it aside—the darts struck the secret guards rushing over to rescue him.
Qi Yuan gripped a dagger in her right hand without hesitation, aiming it directly at Qi Wang’s throat.
Qi Wang’s heart nearly stopped. For a moment, his whole body was overcome with terror.
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