At the west gate of Hanzhong, there were fewer than 500 defending troops. After the fierce battle during the day, the Xue family's army had been steadily retreating, and their number was now less than 30,000.
The defending soldiers had initially been wary of the arrival of the Cloud Prince, fearing that he might come to seize power and overshadow the Crown Prince. However, given the current dismal situation, the arrival of Prince Shangguan Yun had instead become a glimmer of hope for everyone.
Shangguan Yun sent someone to the military camp to inquire about the whereabouts of Luo Xunlong and Jingzhe. The messenger reported that after asking around, they had no idea where the two were.
Daylight gradually dawned. When Wei Dongling woke up, she saw Cuihuan lying beside her, silently shedding tears. Wei Dongling sat up abruptly and asked, "Huanhuan, what's wrong?"
Seeing that Wei Dongling had woken up, Cuihuan hastily wiped away her tears with her sleeve and choked out, "It's nothing. I'm just a bit worried about Brother Long."
Wei Dongling felt a pang of sadness in her heart. She was also worried about Luo Xunlong. Suddenly, she remembered that she had felt drowsy after drinking Ruan Niang's flower tea the previous night. Wei Dongling quickly got out of bed and asked, "Where are Ruan Niang and the others?"
Cuihuan lowered her head and didn't look at her. She got up, put on her clothes, and replied softly, "Everyone went to defend the west gate last night. Let's have something to eat and then go and check it out!"
Wei Dongling felt a sense of unease. Did they need to drug her to go to the west gate at night? But seeing Cuihuan put on her shoes and socks and walk out of the room, she had no choice but to quickly tidy up her clothes and go downstairs to eat.
The innkeeper's wife knew she couldn't persuade them, so she gave up and had someone make two bowls of mutton offal soup for them.
After finishing the mutton offal soup, the two rode their horses straight towards the west gate.
From afar, they saw Shangguan Yun standing on the tall city wall of the west gate. Wei Dongling and Cuihuan quickly stepped forward and saluted.
Shangguan Yun and Pinhao had been defending the city with the soldiers all night. At this moment, fatigue was clearly visible in their eyes. Wei Dongling couldn't help but feel concerned and said, "Prince Yun, go back and rest for a while?"
The defending soldiers had been trying to persuade Shangguan Yun all night without success. Now, seeing Wei Dongling say this, they quickly chimed in in agreement.
Shangguan Yun nodded in response, but he didn't move.
Wei Dongling added, "If you're really worried, go to the street corner and have a bowl of noodles to warm up, and then come back to stand guard."
Shangguan Yun nodded and went down the city wall with Pinhao.
Seeing that Prince Yun had finally agreed to go down and rest for a while, the defending soldiers silently wiped the sweat from their brows and said to Wei Dongling, "Miss, you two should also go down and rest!" Anyway, you're not of much use here.
Cuihuan stepped forward and curtsied, smiling gently, "We'll leave soon. We won't cause any trouble for the brothers."
Only then did the defending soldiers stop saying anything.
Wei Dongling stood on the city wall, looking at the overlapping mountain ranges in the distance. She felt secretly anxious and asked Cuihuan, "Where's Ruan Niang?"
Cuihuan was taken aback for a moment and then honestly replied, "She went to look for Brother Long and Jingzhe."
Wei Dongling's face changed, and she said dejectedly, "She went alone?"
Cuihuan remained silent.
Wei Dongling's heart sank. Luo Xunlong and Jingzhe were missing, and now Ruan Niang hadn't returned either. If something happened to them, how could she explain it to everyone when they returned to the capital?
Suddenly, Cuihuan saw a small black dot rapidly moving towards them in the distant sky. She thought she was seeing things, so she rubbed her eyes and looked again. The small black dot looked like a horse galloping towards them. Cuihuan quickly nudged Wei Dongling beside her and said, "Miss Wei, look! What's that?"
Wei Dongling looked in the direction of Cuihuan's finger and saw someone riding a horse in the distance. It was too far away to tell who it was.
The guards on the city wall soon saw the rider approaching from afar. Uncertain whether it was a friend or foe, they drew their bows and aimed at the small black dot.
Wei Dongling's gaze was firmly fixed on the horse. As the horse got closer, the figure on the horseback was quite familiar. It seemed that Ruan Niang had brought someone back. The person behind her was clearly weak and seemed to be seriously injured, slumping against Ruan Niang.
Who was injured? Wei Dongling's heart skipped a beat. Without hesitation, she leaped off the tall city wall.
Seeing her jump, all the guards were stunned, afraid that the girl was going to jump off the city wall and commit suicide. This girl was clearly on familiar terms with Prince Yun. If something happened to her, how could they explain it to Prince Yun?
Just as they were exclaiming in surprise, they saw Wei Dongling's body flutter like a startled swan. Her toes lightly landed on a big tree outside the city wall, and then with another leap, she disappeared in a flash. Her speed was astonishing.
Wei Dongling tiptoed and ran at full speed. In a short while, she reached Ruan Niang's side.
Ruan Niang dismounted from the horse and carried Luo Xunlong, who was covered in blood, on her back. Seeing this, Wei Dongling's heart was wrung with pain. She sobbed and called out, "Uncle Luo! How are you?"
Luo Xunlong weakly opened his eyes on Ruan Niang's back, pointed at the distant mountain, and murmured, "Jingzhe... might not be able to come back..."
Not be able to come back? Wei Dongling felt a sense of panic.
Ruan Niang's beautiful dress was covered in bloodstains. No one knew how much effort she had put in to find Luo Xunlong during this long night.
Seeing Cuihuan chasing after them, Wei Dongling quickly waved at her, signaling her to take them back. Then she mounted the horse and turned around, galloping in the direction that Luo Xunlong had pointed.
Ruan Niang shouted anxiously, "Girl! Don't be reckless. Come back quickly!"
Wei Dongling ignored her. She didn't want Jingzhe to fall like this! She was going to bring him back!
Yu Zixi, if you want to fight, then fight! But none of my family members can be missing!
Seeing Luo Xunlong so badly injured, Cuihuan grabbed his hand and sobbed uncontrollably.
Ruan Niang was both anxious and annoyed that Wei Dongling wouldn't listen to her advice. She was so angry that she wanted to curse. It wasn't until she saw Shangguan Yun and Pinhao galloping on their horses in pursuit of Wei Dongling that she felt a little more at ease.
In the dense forest among the rocks, Jingzhe was running nimbly from rooftop to rooftop and making a long-distance dash. A large group of iron cavalry were chasing after him.
During the day, he and Luo Xunlong had sneaked into the enemy camp to fight and disrupt the enemy's morale. At night, they had quietly sneaked into the enemy's grain depot and set fire to the grain. Although these two heroic men had only known each other for a few days, they felt that they had hit it off immediately and cherished each other deeply because of their close cooperation over the past day and night.
Facing hundreds of thousands of iron cavalry with fewer than 50,000 troops of the Xue family, they didn't know how many of them would survive. They could only do their best to fight bravely against the enemy.
Luo Xunlong was born with great strength and was slightly better at martial arts. He had saved Jingzhe several times at the risk of his own life in times of danger. Until they were chased after setting fire to the grain depot at night, seeing that they couldn't both escape unscathed, Jingzhe silently glanced at Luo Xunlong and then deliberately went in the opposite direction to lead away a large number of pursuers, which allowed Luo Xunlong to be rescued by Ruan Niang, who had arrived in time.
At this moment, Jingzhe was standing in the dense forest, covered in blood and exhausted. He knew that he couldn't hold on for much longer.
Looking back on his life, did he have any regrets?
Yes.
When he was young, he shouldn't have made a living by killing people like a butcher. Even if he had just found a random teahouse to work as a handyman, it would have been better than living a life on the run for so many years.
It wasn't until that year when he was touched by Wei Jiang and his daughter that he realized that the lack of family affection in his childhood was the biggest regret in his life.
God knows how much of a shock it was to Jingzhe when that girl, Wei Dongling, said that as long as he was willing, the Su Mansion would be his home.
He had thought that he would have to wander around homeless for the rest of his life. But when that girl said those words, her eyes were firm and shining with a hazy light, which instantly warmed his heart.