Xiao Jingnan somehow drew out a short sword and handed it to her. "Can you use this?"
Li Wanming nodded. "Yes."
"I knew that a girl raised in the army in Min would not be a delicate flower in a greenhouse," Xiao Jingnan said with a smile. Then he pointed at the figures in front of them and told her, "They're good at archery and skilled in hand-to-hand combat, but their lower bodies are weak."
"Since we can't shake them off, we might as well fight to the death. There might still be a chance of survival."
"Judging from their steps, the one in the middle should be their leader. I'll go straight for the one in the middle. You take the chance to rush out and attack the lower body of the one on the left, then quickly strike back."
"If we can disable three out of the five, dealing with the rest will be easier."
Li Wanming tightened her grip on the short sword and nodded nervously.
She really wanted to tell Xiao Jingnan that although she was indeed raised in the army and had been to the bandit strongholds in Min, she was too lazy. Her martial arts skills were always very sloppy and far from those of her parents and second sister.
As for that time when they went into the mountains to suppress the bandits, it was all so confusing. She didn't even know what had happened when the bandits surrendered...
Afterward, when her mother wanted to write a battle report and asked her for details, she stammered for a long time but couldn't explain clearly.
However, this wasn't the time to talk about these things.
Even though Xiao Jingnan was still smiling, she could feel the cold killing intent around them.
Just like wild animals in the jungle, she had an instinct when facing danger.
She knew that life and death hung in the balance right now.
"Attack!"
Xiao Jingnan pushed off the ground with his feet and leaped forward like a swift, skimming across the ground.
The sword light sliced through the night like a lightning bolt, swift and agile.
In an instant, blood spurted from the assassin's throat.
With his eyes wide open, as if he hadn't even reacted, he collapsed to the ground.
Li Wanming was also quick.
Following Xiao Jingnan's instructions, she lunged forward at the same time, stabbing the short sword into the calf of the assassin on the left.
The rain was hazy, and the vines were dense.
The assassins' vision was not clear, and they were actually hit by the two of them in a flash!
Xiao Jingnan turned around and stabbed, killing the assassin on the left with a single sword.
Li Wanming's short sword slid to the right and pierced into another person's knee.
Xiao Jingnan's long sword came down...
The two of them cooperated seamlessly. In the blink of an eye, they really took out three of them!
The remaining two looked at them and hesitated.
Xiao Jingnan held his sword loosely with the tip pointing down.
He looked tired, with a sneering smile on his lips. "Do you still want to fight?"
His face was terrifyingly pale. It seemed that the running had triggered his old illness. He was breathing a little unsteadily, and even his usually rosy lips had lost all their color, leaving only a faint, almost invisible pink.
However, his pair of black pupils were even colder and more menacing, almost eerie.
"If you don't want to die, get out of here!"
The two assassins glanced at each other and fled in a hurry.
Xiao Jingnan didn't let out a sigh of relief until their figures disappeared into the night.
He wrapped the soft sword around his waist again and gasped for breath.
His black hair was messy, sticking to his jade-like face and neck.
A splash of blood on his cheek trickled down with the rain, making his beauty seem a bit shocking, as if he was a jade-faced Asura who had just returned from hell.
He slumped down, gasping for air.
Endless weariness filled his peach blossom eyes. He gave Li Wanming a faint smile. "I've scared you, wife... I'm so stupid."
Only then did Li Wanming notice that he was shaking.
He was shaking badly, almost uncontrollably.
She rushed forward and hugged him, only to find that his back was wet.
It wasn't the rain...
The wetness was mixed with warmth and stickiness.
It was bright red blood.
Xiao Jingnan had been injured at some point. The sharp arrow had sliced through his skin, leaving a three - inch - long wound on his back shoulder! The flesh was turned over, and the bone was visible.
Leaning on her shoulder, almost enveloping her, Xiao Jingnan said softly, "Don't worry, wife... It's just a scratch. I didn't get hit by the arrow. I'm already very lucky."
Looking at the bright red on her hands, Li Wanming couldn't help but cry out loudly. "I'll take you home! I'll take you home! You must hold on. I'll take you home right away!"
She helped Xiao Jingnan up, draping one of his arms over her neck, and moved forward with difficulty in the torrential rain.
The rain was too heavy. She couldn't see the direction clearly. All she could feel was the vastness of heaven and earth, and it was pitch - black all around.
Xiao Jingnan murmured in her ear, "First... find a place to take shelter from the rain..."
Li Wanming wiped the rain and tears from her face and just wanted to cry. Where could she find a place to take shelter from the rain in this desolate mountain?
But she couldn't cry.
Her husband was waiting for her to save him.
Xiao Jingnan's voice sounded again in her ear. "Banshi Mountain... It's in the southwest of the capital. Go north... You can get back to the capital... Look at the leaves. The dense side is south... The sparse side is north..."
This was a necessary skill for distinguishing directions in the wild, and all the military officers were required to know it.
But Li Wanming had learned it very sloppily.
At that moment, she really hated herself. Why hadn't she studied hard back then?
Relying on her parents and elder sisters, she had only cared about playing... Did she really think they could protect her for a lifetime?
There was a protruding rock in front, and there seemed to be a small depression underneath that could block the wind and rain.
Li Wanming was overjoyed and quickly helped Xiao Jingnan forward.
Maybe she walked a bit too fast. She slipped, and the two of them fell awkwardly into the mud.
Li Wanming struggled for a long time before finally standing up. Just as she was about to pull Xiao Jingnan up, she saw a cold light in front of her. It was a long, slender sword pressed against Xiao Jingnan's neck.
One of the assassins who had fled had actually come back!
Li Wanming cried out in panic. "Don't kill him! He doesn't know anything. You want to kill me!"
No matter how stupid she was, she knew that the pursuit all the way was because she had stumbled upon the matter of the Princess. They wanted to kill her to silence her.
But the assassin's sword still pressed against Xiao Jingnan's throat. With just a slight movement, it would pierce his skin and let his blood splash on the spot.
"You were already injured just now. You were just bluffing... I almost got deceived by you," the assassin, dressed in black and with a masked face, had a hoarse and unpleasant voice.
A faint smile spread across Xiao Jingnan's lips. He said casually, "Sir, you've been chasing us all the way and waited until now to make your move. I really admire your patience."
"You knew I was following you?"
"Sir has been lurking in the Jinwu Guards for a long time. You must have been waiting to take my life. How could you give up such a good opportunity?"
The man was finally moved. "You know who I am?"
Xiao Jingnan smiled again. "Sir is very agile and light - footed. Even in this torrential rain, you're as light as a butterfly. Such skills are not something the Jinwu Guards can train. And this sword of yours..."
He lowered his eyes and looked at the long, slender sword like a bamboo slice on his throat, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
"It's as narrow as a bamboo and as thin as a cicada's wing. If I'm not wrong, you're an assassin from the Ghost - Wailing Path in the southern border. But I don't know how you managed to get into the Jinwu Guards..."
What was the Ghost - Wailing Path?
What were the Jinwu Guards?
What was he talking about...
Li Wanming looked completely bewildered.
The rain had lessened a bit.
By the faint light of the rain, she saw that there seemed to be a colorful halo around Xiao Jingnan, making him look hazy and otherworldly, not like an ordinary person.
He tilted his head slightly in the hazy rain halo and winked at her.
Suddenly, she calmed down.