Aoyama

Chapter 279: The Master's Arrow
The fire in Guyuan City was raging and was still spreading to the north.

The wind in the dark night blew the burning smell in the city far away, and the streets were filled with smoke, which was spicy and pungent.

On Kule Street, more than ten Tian Ce Army cavalrymen armed with spears surrounded Li Xuan and six civilians.

Li Xuan could only hold the sword in his right hand and hold the little girl under his armpit with his left hand, constantly changing directions to protect the people behind him.

A cavalryman of the Tian Ce Army raised his spear and stabbed at the old man behind Li Xuan. He was quick-eyed and quick-handed and stabbed the tip of the spear with his sword, making a sharp sound of metal clashing.

The spears were shaken by the sword, and the hands of the Tian Ce Army cavalry felt numb. They immediately retracted their spears and warned in a serious tone: "Be careful, it's very tricky."

A Tian Ce Army cavalryman held the reins, looked down at Li Xuan from a high position, and sneered, "You can't even protect yourself, and you still want to be a hero?"

Li Xuan panted heavily and said, "Guyuan City is already yours, why do you still want to kill them all? These people will be your people in the future, why can't you leave them a chance to live?"

The Tiance Army sneered, "How do I know if there are any spies from the south among them? Guyuan is one of the nine frontiers, it is of vital importance, how could we leave hidden dangers like the stupid frontier soldiers? Clear the whole city and let us northerners come!"

Li Xuan felt mixed emotions. Even the people of Jing Dynasty knew this truth, so why didn't the border troops of Ning Dynasty know it? How could the border troops be so short-sighted that they let so many northerners in to destroy the Great Wall just to collect taxes!
But he still retorted: "General Hu is also for the livelihood of the border troops..."

The Tian Ce Army cavalry looked at each other and suddenly burst into laughter, as if they had heard a huge joke. "It was that dog thief Wen Tao who let the northerners into the city to do business. What does this have to do with Hu Junxian? The General Hu you mentioned has been exchanging letters with my commander-in-chief for several years. Even the mountain road that led us into the heart of your Ning Dynasty was led by his confidant!"

Another person on horseback said arrogantly: "It turns out that you are the real idiot. You didn't even know you were sold out! The so-called 'opening the gates to save the people of Guyuan' is all a cover-up. It's just a rhetoric used to fool his border soldiers. Hu Junxian has long wanted to offer Guyuan to our dynasty!"

Li Xuan was stunned: "How could this be? How could this be!"

The Tian Ce Army's cavalry saw that he had lost his mind, and in an instant, four of them raised their spears and stabbed him!

Ding Ding Ding Ding!

The long sword in Li Xuan's hand shook out a gorgeous sword flower, and actually blocked the four spears that were stabbing at him one by one.

A spear was cut off by a sword, and when the tip of the spear fell, Li Xuan kicked it out.

But the tip of the spear pierced into the buttocks of a man's horse with the force of wind and thunder. The horse was frightened by the pain and almost threw the Tian Ce Army cavalryman off its back.

No one expected Li Xuan to be so difficult to deal with. Even when they were distracted, they were helpless.

Just when Li Xuan was about to take the opportunity to kill the Tiance Army's cavalry, a sharp whistling sound was heard in the distance, and a sharp arrow arrived in an instant.

The arrow came in an extremely tricky way, forcing Li Xuan to draw his sword and defend himself, blocking the whistling arrow.

Someone in the Tiance Army said in a deep voice: "He is not a border soldier, he may be a great official in the realm of seeking the way! Wait for the whistling arrows to call people over, and then surround and kill him together!"

At the same time, Li Xuan was also startled: this was just an ordinary Jingchao cavalry squad, but some people were attacking the heart, while others were supporting from a distance. Both the offensive and defensive forces were so dense that it was frightening, and there was no flaw at all.

As the whistling arrows sound, more Tian Ce troops will come to surround and kill them.

Li Xuan looked around silently and asked in a deep voice: "You just mentioned Hu Junxian's matter just to confuse me, right? You are just ordinary soldiers, how can you know the military secrets?"

A Tian Ce Army soldier rode his horse around Li Xuan and the refugees, and said slowly: "This matter is no secret in our Tian Ce Army... You are not a border soldier, are you from the Yulin Army? I am a little curious, why are you the only one here? Where are your colleagues? Did they all abandon you and run away? Why not surrender to our Tian Ce Army, and you will have wealth and glory."

Li Xuan suddenly recalled Chen Ji's indifferent and distant eyes, but quickly regained his composure. He knew that the Tiance Army soldiers were stalling for time and waiting for reinforcements, but there was nothing they could do.

No, we can’t delay any longer!

He took a step forward, trying to break the formation by force.

But as soon as he moved, the Tiance Army soldiers immediately thrust their spears at the refugees, shocking him so much that he had to retreat to defend. In the darkness in the distance, another whistling arrow flew over, almost grazing his scalp.

A Tiance Army soldier laughed loudly and sneered, "As expected, they are a dandy army, soft-hearted and soft-hearted! A dignified Xundao Realm official is trapped here by a few of us for a few insignificant civilians. What a waste!"

These people have grasped Li Xuan's weak spot, and as soon as he makes a move, they will immediately attack the refugees to deal with him. These people are extremely cautious and will never attack before the reinforcements arrive!
Li Xuan wanted to abandon the refugees, but when he turned around and saw the refugees in tears, he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

But a Tian Ce Army cavalryman sneered and said, "If you have a heart of a bodhisattva, why do you come to the battlefield? Remember to reincarnate into a rich man in your next life, and don't seek death again."

Li Xuan shook the long sword in his hand, and the long sword made a loud sound: "If we can't protect the people behind us, what's the point of our cultivation?"

The Tiance Army laughed and said, "The young masters of the Dandy Army can only say such nice words... Huh!"

Before he finished speaking, a handful of blood suddenly splashed on Li Xuan's face. Li Xuan looked up suddenly, only to see the Tiance Army soldier who had just spoken with his eyes wide open, an iron arrow pierced through his mouth, and blood flowed down from his open mouth.

Everyone turned around in surprise and looked in the direction where the iron arrow came from!
The marksman missed?

Impossible! Every sharpshooter in the Tian Ce Army has the ability to shoot an arrow through a target from a hundred paces away. Even if the arrow is blown off by the wind, it will not hit their colleagues!
Someone in the Tiance Army shouted angrily, "Hide! The archer's bow has been taken away..."

With a bang, an iron arrow pierced through the man's chest and abdomen. The iron arrow was so powerful and heavy that it was even more powerful than the Tian Ce Army's sharpshooter!

Li Xuan was confused: What on earth was going on? Who was lending a helping hand?
He didn't have time to think about it. Seeing that the Tian Ce Army had a flaw, he immediately swung his sword to break the formation.

I saw a Tian Ce army soldier hanging sideways on the horse, using the warhorse to block the direction of the iron-framed arrow, but Li Xuan raised his sword and swung it, the blade fell along the gap between the helmet and the shoulder armor, and cut off the opponent's head!

For a moment, Li Xuan and the arrow-pullers hiding in the dark attacked from the north and south. Li Xuan, with a furious look in his eyes, flew up and down in the crowd, and in just a few breaths, he had thrown the Tiance Army's formation into chaos.

"Go! Find the centurion!" A Tiance Army cavalryman hung sideways on his horse and fled, hoping to join the reinforcements. But an iron arrow shot from the night sky and lightly hit the reins.

The reins broke, and the Tiance Army lost its leverage, and the upper body could not stop falling down. When his head popped out from under the horse's belly, an iron arrow came and pierced his head.

Tian Cejun's left foot was hung in the stirrup, and his body was dragged farther and farther by the warhorse.

Li Xuan's pupils suddenly contracted.

Today he had fought with many Tian Ce Army archers, but he had never seen such fierce archery skills that were hard to guard against.

After Li Xuan killed the last Tian Ce Army soldier, he couldn't help but turn his head to look towards where the iron-framed arrow came from, but there was only the pitch-black night there, and he couldn't see clearly who was drawing the bow.

Is he a spy planted by the Ning Dynasty in the Jing Dynasty? Or is he a skilled officer in the border army?

Faintly, Li Xuan saw a dark shadow leaping over the roof, getting closer and closer.

Li Xuan didn't know whether they were enemies or friends, so he had to stop the refugees behind him, holding his sword and waiting with bated breath.

The next moment, he suddenly exclaimed: "Chen Ji?!"

In the dark night, on the eaves, Chen Ji had at some point changed into the black armor of a sharpshooter from the Tian Ce Army, and wore a pheasant-tail helmet, with a black pheasant tail raised high, pointing directly at the crescent moon above his head.

But Chen Ji was seen holding a bow in one hand and an arrow in the other, with two quivers hanging on his waist. It seemed that he had killed two sharpshooters in the dark!
"why you?!"

Li Xuan was amazed. He thought that even the sharpshooter of the Tian Ce Army might not be able to shoot an arrow that pierced the reins of the galloping horse.

The key point is, he never thought that it would be Chen Ji who came to save him... When they passed by the entrance of the alley before, it was Chen Ji who warned him with his eyes, so why did he turn back now?
Li Xuan murmured: "You..."

Chen Ji's eyes slowly swept over Li Xuan and the refugees, and he said calmly, "Why don't you leave quickly?"

Li Xuan quickly carried the little girl on his back and turned to run north. But after running a few steps, he heard the sound of horse hooves coming from the front. It must be the iron cavalry of the Tiance Army guided by the whistling arrows!
He carried the little girl on his back and ran west again. The sound of horse hooves was also heard from the west.

Li Xuan stood still and listened attentively, and suddenly found that the Tian Ce Army cavalry were galloping from all directions, leaving him with no way to escape.

He looked back at Chen Ji bitterly: "I'm sorry to have held you back, why don't you just run away by yourself? With your skills, they shouldn't be able to stop you. But can you take this girl away? She's still young..."

Chen Ji looked at him strangely, then pointed northwest: "Go from there, cross an alley, and then go north."

Li Xuan shook his head: "People are coming over there, we can't escape. These Tiance troops are hard to deal with. If we get stuck by them, no one will survive."

Chen Ji did not answer. He took out three whistling arrows from his quiver, put them on the bowstring, and shot towards the east.

The shrill scream faded away into the darkness.

Li Xuan was startled. He heard the sound of iron hooves that were originally running towards him suddenly become chaotic and changed direction in an instant towards the direction where the whistling arrows were going.

The whistling arrows are the flag orders in the dark night, guiding all the Tiance troops to fight!

Li Xuan's eyes widened, and he finally understood Chen Ji's intention to assassinate the two sharpshooters. With the whistling arrows in hand, he didn't even need to deliberately avoid the Tiance Army, and he could make the Tiance Army give way to him!
This kid is so brave, taking such a risky thing, but it actually works!
Li Xuan hurriedly said to the refugees: "Hurry, follow me!"

He ran to the northwest alley with the little girl on his back. Before entering the alley, he couldn't help but look back, but saw that there was no trace of the figure on the eaves.

(End of this chapter)