Chapter 138: It Was Her, She Insisted on Jumping into the River with the Man Surnamed Shen
Chapter 138: Chapter 138: It Was Her, She Insisted on Jumping into the River with the Man Surnamed Shen
If this posturing buffoon hadn’t insisted on putting on airs, they would’ve been captured long ago, and all this trouble would have been avoided.
And none of this would have happened.
The Qiang Clan chieftain’s eyes flashed with murderous intent. "Go back and tell your Empress to deliver our promised payment within half a month. Or else..."
’He’d like to see if the Empress can bear the weight of treason.’
Li Lu was from a Marquis Mansion, and his aunt was the reigning Empress. He was also cousins with Xie Jinbai. Though they didn’t get along, Li Lu could still throw his weight around. He was a well-respected figure among the young masters of the Capital City’s prominent families, fawned over wherever he went.
Now, being insulted and threatened by a foreign barbarian, he was instantly furious.
But the sight of the other man’s blatant killing intent sent a chill down his spine.
’These people are barbarians who constantly wreak havoc on the borders, raping, pillaging, and plundering.’
’They’re uncivilized and brainless. Once their bloodlust is up, they don’t care about your status. They’d probably dare to kill me for real.’
Fear flickered in his eyes. He stepped aside. "In that case, you all should hurry and go."
’This place isn’t far from Pingzhou City. With such a huge commotion, Xie Jinbai, who’s stationed in the city, could discover them at any moment. It really was a bad idea to let these members of an Alien Clan handle the capture.’
Seeing him so compliant, the Qiang Clan leader laughed loudly and clapped him on the shoulder. "If all the nobles of Great Yue were like you, we wouldn’t be in this state of endless war."
"..."
Li Lu’s face twisted for a second. Shrugging the hand off his shoulder, he didn’t take it as a compliment in the slightest.
The surrounding guards wore even stranger expressions.
They were all household soldiers recruited by the Marquis Guangping Mansion, essentially guards who worked for a salary, not slaves bound by an indenture contract.
’Though they were loyal, they never imagined that one day they would be cooperating on a mission with an Alien Clan.’
’This was simply...’
The Qiang people had no way of knowing what they were thinking, nor were they in the mood for pleasantries. They turned to leave.
Just then, the sound of frantic hoofbeats echoed from a distance.
A colored flare briefly lit up the sky, which was pouring with rain.
Li Lu’s face filled with terror. "Xie Jinbai is here!"
Xie Jinbai had actually come!
’Did Liu Yue betray us, or...’
"Quick! Let’s go!" Li Lu was in a panic. He scrambled onto his horse, gripped the reins, and prepared to flee.
WHOOSH.
An arrow whistled through the air. The sharp point pierced Li Lu’s shoulder, knocking him from his horse. The arrow’s momentum didn’t stop there; it drove through his body, pinning him to the blood-soaked, muddy ground.
At the other end of the stone bridge, Xie Jinbai appeared.
His aura was chilling. Astride his horse, longbow in hand, he galloped toward them.
The once-arrogant Qiang people were already scattering and fleeing for their lives.
Liu Rong led his men in pursuit.
The warhorse reined to a sharp halt in front of Li Lu. Xie Jinbai swung himself off the horse and casually tossed his longbow aside.
"Where is she?"
Li Lu lay immobilized in the mud. As the cold rain poured over him, he could only watch the God of Killing approach, his jaw trembling too violently to form words.
"Where is she!"
Xie Jinbai’s patience lasted only a breath. He suddenly lashed out with a kick, stomping on Li Lu’s other, uninjured shoulder blade.
A wave of excruciating pain washed over him. Li Lu shrieked, "Cousin, spare me! I never wanted to harm your wife! It was her! She insisted on jumping into the river with that Shen fellow."
’Jumped into the river...’
Xie Jinbai froze. He grabbed the man on the ground, hauled him onto the bridge, and demanded, "You’re saying they jumped?"
Li Lu nodded frantically, terrified Xie Jinbai would throw him off as well. He rushed to explain, "I said I was only inviting your wife to be a guest and that I wouldn’t harm a single hair on her head! But everyone else present had to die. She refused to stay and chose to jump with Shen Tingyu, holding onto each other as they went."
On the surface of the bridge lay a blood-stained, plain-colored cloak.
This was where they had jumped.
Below, the river was murky and turbulent, its rapids raging.
’She...’
An endless wave of terror washed over him, and all strength suddenly drained from Xie Jinbai’s limbs.
Li Lu fell to the ground. With both shoulders injured, he could only try to crawl backward.
He hadn’t even moved a full step before his ankle was crushed under a boot.
Xie Jinbai shattered his leg bone with one stomp, then leaped.
"Your Highness!"
"My Prince!"
The figure in black, in full view of all his soldiers, jumped.
The next moment, the soldiers on the bridge who could swim began to jump in, one after another, like dumplings being dropped into a pot.
...
「On the other side.」
The feeling of weightlessness vanished the instant they hit the water, the turbulent river instantly swallowing them both.
Cui Lingyao felt the suffocating pressure of being submerged. There was no time to adjust; a powerful current immediately seized their bodies and swept them forward.
If Shen Tingyu’s arm hadn’t been clamped tightly around her, the initial impact would have torn them apart.
In a current this fast, swimming skill was of little use.
All they could do was let the current take them.
Shen Tingyu held her close, doing everything in his power to steer her away from the sharp rocks that littered the riverbed. When he couldn’t avoid them, he used his own body as a shield.
Cui Lingyao buried her face in his chest and held her breath.
But she wasn’t a martial artist and lacked the lung capacity. She held her breath until she reached her breaking point, and just as she was about to gasp, a hand gripped her jaw.
The lips of the man beside her covered her own, passing a breath of air into her lungs.
Cui Lingyao’s eyes flew open. Before she could even process her shock, a massive wave crashed down on them. The arm around her waist trembled, its grip loosening as if its strength had failed.
Only then did she remember that Shen Tingyu was injured.
He had been cut across the back with a long blade.
The arm around her waist grew progressively weaker, and those clear, handsome eyes slowly drifted shut...
Before his strength gave out, he had given her his last breath.
Cui Lingyao’s heart trembled. She clung to his waist for dear life, refusing to let them be separated.
The pressure of the rushing water, combined with the suffocation from the lack of oxygen, made her internal organs ache.
’Am I going to die?’
’Die in this world that isn’t mine...’
’And I dragged down... Shen Tingyu.’
Another massive wave struck.
Darkness claimed Cui Lingyao’s vision, and she lost consciousness completely.
Her last thought before succumbing to unconsciousness was, ’I can’t let go.’
...
The sky, like a torn seam being slowly stitched together, began to clear. The torrential downpour that had lasted for so long tapered off, finally stopping completely.
The dark clouds scattered piece by piece, but the sky remained dim and gray.
There was an oppressive feeling, as if the storm could return at any moment.
Cui Lingyao was jolted awake by the cold.
Soaked to the bone, she had been washed ashore by the current.
The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Shen Tingyu lying not far away.
He was facing her, lying on his side beside a large rock. The river’s lingering waves lapped against his body, but he remained motionless, his fate unknown.
Cui Lingyao tried to call his name, but the moment she opened her mouth, a metallic, sweet taste filled her throat, and a sharp pain shot through her entire body.
’Why does it hurt so much?’
Her lungs, especially, ached so badly she could barely breathe.
Her body trembled as she forced herself to her feet, staggering toward him.
Only when she got closer did she see how badly he was injured.
The gash ran from his shoulder down his back, so deep the bone was visible.
After being soaked in the filthy water for so long, the flesh around the wound had split open and turned a ghastly white.
The sight alone was gruesome.
In addition, his clothes were shredded in numerous places by the rocks on the riverbed, and his body was covered in bruises.
Cui Lingyao fell to her knees and reached out with a trembling hand to check if he was still breathing.