Chapter 696 - 286: Pursuers Close In, Strange Speed (Part 2)

However, it didn’t quite seem that way, since all these guards, including the civilian servants, could run fast enough to match the marching speed of horses, which was somewhat terrifying.

Though the horse hadn’t really started running.

Aside from their marching speed, the speed at which Captain of the Guard Yun Teng just thrust his spear was embarrassingly fast, and Chen Ping felt that he couldn’t match that speed now. When striking, he would be at least fifty percent slower than the opponent.

This was evident enough when you saw why Han Xiaoru had to adapt her big pot into a hammer technique.

Winning by clumsy tactics over skillful ones, using slow to counter fast.

Not because Han Xiaoru liked to fight this way, but simply because her speed was too slow, and in frequency and speed of attacks, she was indeed at a disadvantage.

"Rebellion, rebellion, what are you standing there for? Take them all down."

At this moment, Yun Teng had finished spitting blood and felt his entire body in severe pain, suffering from exhaustion and injuries, unable to exert any strength, even walking was a struggle, let alone riding a horse.

He shouted orders angrily.

The surrounding was silent.

The guards looked at each other, and no one moved.

Instead, they looked at Han Xiaoru with more reverence.

Indirectly looking at Chen Ping, their eyes were filled with admiration.

In the army, although the hierarchy was strict, respect was given to the strong.

Previously, Yun Teng was the best at fighting, and among the guards, he held the highest position, and everyone, regardless of whether they liked it or not, had to obey orders.

Now, he was beaten down like a dead dog, his dignity lost.

Plus, getting wounded like this while fleeing made it difficult to keep moving, not to mention resisting pursuing soldiers.

Do they have to assign two people to take care of him?

That’s absurd, isn’t it?

This time, all the guards and servants looked at Yun Teng with a bit of pity.

Clearly, Yun Teng was well aware of this. His eyes wandered, unwilling to see the piercingly painful looks from his subordinates.

He looked toward the direction of the carriage, only to find no reaction, his face alternating red and white. Looking back at Chen Ping, his expression was twisted, and his gaze was filled with extreme resentment.

If looks could kill, Chen Ping felt he might have already died seventeen or eighteen times.

Unfortunately.

They couldn’t.

Now, Yun Teng was merely raging in helpless anger.

No need for revenge, the situation ahead would make him understand what regret and despair truly were.

Because, the pursuing soldiers behind were already coming close.

Chen Ping could faintly feel a slight tremor of grass leaves, and though the sound of hooves hadn’t reached here yet, it was already foreshadowed.

"Huh..."

A moment later than Chen Ping, Han Xiaoru’s eyes also sharpened slightly. She turned to look at Chen Ping, thus confirming that she hadn’t felt wrong.

She casually dropped the black pot in her hand, picked up the narrow-blade spear made of refined iron that Yun Teng dropped, leaped up onto the horse, sat firmly behind Chen Ping, and gently urged the horse forward, ignoring the clamor around them.

With this brief delay, now not only Chen Ping and Han Xiaoru could feel the cavalry approaching, but anyone whose ears were even slightly sharp could hear the sound of hooves and feel the trembling ground.

The old driver leaped swiftly, covering the distance to the side of Chen Ping’s horse in a few steps with surprising agility.

The old man’s face bore a strange expression as he bowed to Han Xiaoru, "Brave one, please protect the young master’s carriage from the enemy cavalry."

"You asked the wrong person..."

Han Xiaoru’s face flashed with slight shame and anger, "Also, old man, your eyes aren’t serving you well."

What brave one?

Your whole family is brave.

Though she indeed was rather strong, Han Xiaoru felt a bit aggrieved.

The eye mucus is big enough that you can’t tell a man from a woman?

The old man suddenly realized something, quickly turned to Ji Mingyue, and bowed apologetically: "Young lady..."

At least he still remembered this little girl, who was kicked off the carriage by the young master earlier, nearly cracking her head open, probably harboring some resentment in her heart.

Presumably, this was the reason behind the "wrong person request" as said by the woman who was even more robust and valiant than a man.

"Rather than wasting time here, why not think about how to face the enemy?"

Ji Mingyue smiled charmingly as she spoke.

The demeanor was very friendly.

It seemed as if she wasn’t the one kicked off the carriage moments ago.

Of course, precisely because of her attitude that way, the old man felt a chill in his heart.

When a person has clearly suffered great grievance but doesn’t care about it, there’s only one reason: she has no need for resentment, nor to care.

Because, to her, he was already a dead man.

"Young master, he, he..."

The old servant stammered, unsure of how to continue.

He was just a driver and represented nothing. Even if he wanted to apologize on behalf of the young master, he had no standing to do so.

If he spoke out of turn, he might be blamed by the young master later, bringing trouble upon himself.

The young master was not easy to deal with, and the princess in the carriage certainly wasn’t either.

"What exactly are we saving?"

Chen Ping did not pay much attention to the old man, nor did he care about the vaguely hostile gazes from the dozen guards around him. He rode alone with Han Xiaoru and Ji Mingyue, falling behind, not fleeing like the other horsemen and civilians.

It’s not that he didn’t want to escape.

It was that he found he might not be able to outrun them.

Over a thousand riders dressed in black armor thundered behind them like a dark cloud. Amidst the sound of hooves, he could already hear someone shouting loudly.

"Don’t go to Dongyuan, behead for a thousand gold pieces, capture alive to be appointed a marquis."

"Kill those who block the way, surrender and avoid death."

Then, Chen Ping was surprised to see the young master’s black carriage sprint far ahead, quickly increasing the distance.

And those dozen knights and even the civilians carrying bags and luggage sprang forth quickly like rabbits.

"Racing faster than my horse, is this even possible?"

While astonished, Chen Ping began to have doubts.

"Could there be a special reason why the Heaven-Reaching Tower set our identities within this small escape team?"

"What’s special about it? Running fast, does that count?"

With experiences from his past life during the End of Dharma Era, Chen Ping knew better than Han Xiaoru and Ji Mingyue how fast ordinary humans could realistically run.

The ten-second hundred-meter dash is a threshold; reaching nine seconds could almost compete for the world championship.

So, what does it mean for this entire team to run at around five or six seconds?

Chen Ping felt the need to overturn some memories in his mind.

It’s fake; it’s all fake.

No normal human body could do something so unreasonable.

When something seems abnormal, there’s usually something strange going on.

Furthermore, Chen Ping noticed.

Not only was the Prince of Yan’s escape team running incredibly fast.

Even the thousand-strong cavalry chasing them was absurdly quick.

Still far away, they seemed to reach him with the gust of wind.

Although not as fast as the young master’s team, they were much faster than normal men and horses.

"So, exactly where is the problem?"

Thinking this, Chen Ping cast a deep glance at the abandoned Captain of the Guard, Yun Teng.

Besides the three of them, all that was left was this formerly imposing captain.

Struck by Han Xiaoru, his arm bone fractured, with three broken ribs and a kick to the chest injuring his internal organs. Any intense movement left him feeling like his body was falling apart.

Even if he could run faster, he couldn’t run anymore.

He couldn’t even avoid the direct path of the cavalry charge.

But Chen Ping was in a much better condition.

He smiled, "Avoid their sharpness, seize a horse, and form the Three Talents Array."

This was said to Han Xiaoru and Ji Mingyue.

The three had been together day and night, understanding each other’s thoughts. When the two women heard Chen Ping’s command, they immediately knew what to do.

As they maneuvered to the roadside, over a dozen riders charged at them without any hesitation.

Chen Ping turned his horse around, slightly tilting his head to watch the spear pass by his ear, grazing his hair as he held the Bronze Sword slightly sideways.

The fierce armored rider’s throat was slashed, falling off his horse.

Han Xiaoru, meanwhile, bent forward, left hand tapping the horse’s back as she leaped behind the horse, her spear piercing the heart of a following rider.

She flung him into the air.

Ji Mingyue soared like a fairy taking flight, her body spinning as her delicate hand slashed the waist of a bleeding rider, extracting the Bronze Longsword, landing on the horse, urging the horse in circles, forming a circle with swords and spears raised...

Suddenly...

A cavalry squad charged forward, yet fell back down.

Riders surged around them like tidal waves, continuing the chase after the carriage and the escape team, leaving the three riders behind.