Chapter 1445 - 1120: A Familiar Voice

In this moment, more than Xiao Yuansui’s worry, Wo Xue, seated behind Yu Wenye, was utterly terrified.

Unlike those enemies in front, although she was sitting behind Yu Wenye, and that tall, broad figure seemed to block out all danger, at such close distance she could clearly smell the thickening scent of blood on him, and could see even more clearly that one of Yu Wenye’s hands had been completely dyed red with fresh blood.

His wound was still bleeding continuously.

When he cut through that arrow just now, his wound must have torn open!

Though that spear had not seriously injured him, at a time like this, how could a wounded Yu Wenye possibly withstand so many enemies before him? How could he withstand Hua Ziyang’s second arrow?

But it was already too late!

Just as Wo Xue was burning with anxiety, that arrow had already shot over, turning into a streak of cold starlight before their eyes!

Yu Wenye’s hand, which had been raised high when he cut through the first arrow, now came crashing down. Though his movement was slower than when he had severed the first arrow, there was still a clear clang as the arrow struck the blade. A flash of cold light burst forth, and that arrow rebounded abruptly, flying off at an angle and thudding into a clump of reeds nearby.

"Your Highness!"

Wo Xue felt as if her chest was about to explode from her pounding heart, and she couldn’t help but cry out softly.

For a moment, the entire wasteland fell silent. Everyone could only hear the howling cold wind, the surging river in the distance, and the violent pounding of their own hearts. Then came Yu Wenye’s urgent and heavy breathing, drumming against Wo Xue’s heart like war drums.

The second arrow had been blocked as well!

But she could feel all the more clearly that Yu Wenye’s movements were much slower than before, which was why this second arrow had not been severed but had instead struck the blade and been deflected. The hand with which Yu Wenye gripped the blade dropped down, and the arm that was usually as steady as a rock was now trembling ever so slightly. Fresh blood once again soaked through his clothes and once more ran along his arm, dripping to the ground one drop at a time.

With a wound like this, there was no way he could block a third arrow, let alone deal with Xiao Yuansui and his men!

By now Wo Xue could no longer remain calm at all. She even wanted to swing down from the horse and, relying on her own skills, carve out a bloody path for Yu Wenye. But the moment she moved, her body froze.

Not only did she feel her old wound split open; more importantly, Hua Ziyang in front raised his hand once more, drew the last arrow from the Arrow Tube at his back, and slowly pulled the bowstring.

This time, he seemed to have calmed down.

Although the second arrow had also been blocked by Yu Wenye, this second failure did not make him angrier. From pinching the arrow’s fletching, to drawing it out, to nocking and drawing the bow, and then aiming at the man before him—he performed each movement with meticulous care. He was no longer as resentful and agitated as before, when his hand had trembled so much it seemed no longer his own. That failed shot felt as though it had cast off something that should never have been on him.

Now, incomparably calm, he fixed that tiny shard of cold light at his fingertips on the man who stood resolute in the cold wind.

Yu Wenye’s breathing grew heavier and heavier.

This was not the first time someone had aimed an arrow at him like this. In fact, on the battlefield in the past, it was not unheard of for him to keep hacking down enemies even with several arrows in his body. But this was the first time he had truly been driven to a dead end and yet did not, as he had in the past, simply risk everything in a single desperate battle, killing to his heart’s content.

Because he could not stop thinking of Shang Ruyi, who was still trapped in Xiao Yuansui’s main camp.

Tonight, he had still failed to rescue her.

Having reached this point, he no longer wished to fight a battle of mutual destruction. Even if he had to take risks, he had to be fully prepared, because he was no longer that solitary Yu Wenye of the past. He was now Prince Qin of the Dasheng Dynasty, high above the masses, only one step away from the position he desired. More importantly—

He still wanted to rescue that person alive and walk the road ahead by her side.

With this thought, Yu Wenye endured the searing pain in his shoulder, which felt as if it might snap at any moment, and once more tightened his grip on the Mo Blade in his hand. Then he clearly heard the sound of his shoulder wound tearing open. Blood gushed out, flowed slowly down his arm, and dripped to the ground one drop at a time.

That sound reverberated in his ears like war drums.

Seeing the now-calm Hua Ziyang and smelling the gradually thickening scent of blood on the wind, Xiao Yuansui seemed to sense something as well. He gazed calmly and coldly at Yu Wenye’s figure ahead, which was almost merging into the night, listening to his heavy breathing drum in his ears like war drums, and said, "Perhaps, I can spare your life."

"..."

"So long as you surrender."

"..."

"In that case, perhaps you can still live to see her—she is indeed very important to you, isn’t she?"

He uttered these last few words with an especially icy sharpness, even less gentle than that poem he had written for Lu Xiao. He himself could no longer quite tell whether, by saying this, he wished to capture Yu Wenye alive without further bloodshed, or to have Hua Ziyang end this lifelong enemy with a single arrow, or perhaps to force Yu Wenye into giving himself a dignified end.

If it were to come to that, what would become of Shang Ruyi?

At that moment, his thoughts suddenly grew inexplicably disordered.

It seemed this inner turmoil also rattled him. His breathing and heartbeat grew heavier as well, echoing Yu Wenye’s rapid breaths, thudding against his eardrums like war drums. For a time, it was as if he could no longer hear any other sound, as though the entire world, this tranquil night, had been shaken still by that drumbeat.

Gradually, he sensed that something was wrong.

The people around them seemed to hear that rumbling as well, and could not help but cast anxious glances about. Only Hua Ziyang’s hands remained steady, that shard of cold light fixed unerringly on the center of Yu Wenye’s brow, as if waiting only for a command, or for some destined instant, to bring down this greatest of enemies.

Yet even so, he too heard the commotion around them.

It was not his own heartbeat, nor Yu Wenye’s breathing, nor the growingly panicked murmurs and questions of the people nearby, but some real sound drawing closer to them, as though the very ground was trembling.

What on earth was happening?

Just as Xiao Yuansui and his men—and even Yu Wenye—could not help but knit their brows and lift their eyes to gaze into the distance, they saw that behind them, from within the ink-black night, there gradually came a clear drumming of hooves. The wind was churned up, slashing toward them like blades and swords. Within the wind, a familiar, slightly childish voice shouted loudly, "Charge!"