Palace Coup 35

Xie Miaoxuan staggered to her feet. Before her, Xie Yuanju shifted from sitting to crouching.

“I’ll carry you. Although I’ve already drawn out... neutralized the poison, the remnants haven’t been cleared. Moving about will quicken your blood flow and may easily spread the remaining toxins.”

Xie Yuanju had a broad back. Bracing one hand against the ground, he waited for her to climb on.

Once again, she marveled at how considerate he was.

It was impossible not to be moved by such care. Xie Miaoxuan quietly draped herself over his shoulders, lost in thought.

The scenery rushed backward before her eyes.

Before long, they returned to the place where Chasing Wind had fallen.

The ground was a scene of utter devastation. The horse’s body had been torn into pieces. Xie Miaoxuan’s chest rose and fell violently, and the hand gripping his shoulder clenched tight. She was clearly consumed by fury. Xie Yuanju glanced back at her.

They exchanged a look.

“Da Niu must have run into those men.”

This was no time to bury Chasing Wind. Finding Da Niu was more important.

“I want those men dead!”

They followed the traces of the battle. Before long, they saw Da Niu fighting desperately, drenched in blood, with more than a dozen men in black pursuing him relentlessly. Dust covered their bodies.

When Da Niu saw them, he shouted urgently, “My lord, take the lady and leave! Don’t worry about me!”

Neither Xie Miaoxuan nor Xie Yuanju had any intention of abandoning him.

Xie Yuanju steadied Xie Miaoxuan on his back and joined the battle. The situation quickly shifted from Da Niu struggling to hold out to the attackers being forced onto the defensive.

Da Niu finally had a chance to catch his breath. Xie Yuanju gave a sharp whistle, and its clear, lingering note carried into the distance.

The sound of hooves grew rapidly louder. Thunderbolt suddenly burst out from ahead. One of the men in black reached out and seized the reins to restrain the horse, but Da Niu hacked at his arm with a sword, forcing him to let go.

There was still some distance between them. Thunderbolt could not break through the encirclement and reach them.

The horse was clearly closer to Da Niu.

With Da Niu remaining there, he became a burden to Xie Yuanju. Xie Yuanju not only had to carry Xie Miaoxuan, but also had to risk himself to draw the attackers’ hatred and lure them into concentrating their assault on him.

Xie Miaoxuan called out, “Da Niu, mount Thunderbolt and leave first!”

Only then did one of the men in black get a clear look at Xie Miaoxuan. She was the woman who had taken their target away. Since she was unharmed...

A dreadful premonition rose in his heart. If she was safe, then the leader who had pursued her had most likely already died. Gritting his teeth, he reached into his cloth pouch and pulled out a lump of blackened material, which he hurled to the ground.

A tremendous roar thundered through the air.

The earth shook violently beneath their feet.

Xie Miaoxuan straightened in shock and cried out, “Is that... gunpowder?”

Xie Yuanju’s expression also hardened.

The men actually possessed the military-restricted explosive known as saltpeter.

He did not understand what she meant by gunpowder. Increasing his speed as he dodged, he explained, “It is saltpeter. It ignites when exposed to fire, and its power can shatter rocks and mountains. No mortal body can withstand it. It is a restricted weapon reserved for the military.”

Xie Miaoxuan pressed her lips tightly together, her expression dark.

When the dust finally settled, they saw that Xie Yuanju had escaped the blast in time. A deep crater had been blown into the ground, and quite a few of the men in black had been caught in the explosion as well.

It had been a tactic that killed a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred of their own.

The blast had gouged a deep pit into the earth. Thunderbolt could no longer possibly cross it. Seeing Da Niu mounted and refusing to leave, Xie Miaoxuan shouted furiously, “Da Niu, I order you to go!”

“My lady—”

Xie Yuanju immediately barked, “Go back and bring help. Now!”

Scolded by both of them at once, Da Niu gritted his teeth and swung onto the saddle.

“My lady, my lord, wait for me!”

Unable to restrain himself, he looked back once more before spurring the horse away.

The men in black tried to stop him, but Xie Yuanju kicked the scattered sword hilts on the ground. They shot through the air and forced several attackers back.

One of the men in black said, “Forget him. This woman was the one who took our target away. Capture her, and that will be enough.”

He reached into the cloth pouch with both hands and pulled out two more pieces of saltpeter.

He threw them around Xie Yuanju, forming a surrounding attack.

Another deafening blast erupted.

Xie Yuanju fought while retreating, but the men in black pursued them relentlessly.

His martial prowess was truly astonishing. Even under such circumstances, he took advantage of every opening and managed to cut down several of their heads.

By the end, only three men in black remained. He was wholly focused on the battle, and Xie Miaoxuan did not dare call out directions. In the confusion, they retreated blindly until they were forced to a halt before a wall of rocks.

The man in black had only one piece of saltpeter left. He waited for the right moment to throw it.

Seeing the terrible losses on their side, with their target nowhere to be found and Xie Yuanju as slippery as an eel, they knew they were no match for him. If he escaped again, they would have no choice but to await execution.

The man stared at the final piece of saltpeter in his hand.

He knew that their leader was dead. Even if the three of them returned, they would almost certainly meet disaster.

Jagged rocks towered before them. Xie Miaoxuan watched helplessly as he hurled the saltpeter toward a massive pile of stones stacked high above them.

He had abandoned all thought of survival and intended to die together with them.

With a thunderous roar, the rocks came crashing down from overhead like a dark, crushing tide.

In the desperate instant, Xie Yuanju could only set Xie Miaoxuan down, turn, and pull her into his arms. He used his own body to shield her from the storm of falling debris.

Something warm trickled into her mouth, carrying a metallic sweetness.

Xie Miaoxuan opened her eyes and saw Xie Yuanju braced above her, supporting a cramped little space with his body.

His blood had drenched her face and clothes.

His eyes were closed. She could not tell whether he was alive or dead.

Forcing herself to remain calm, Xie Miaoxuan surveyed their surroundings. Broken stones hemmed them in on every side. She did not dare move recklessly, afraid that one careless motion might bring down the tiny shelter they still possessed.

Slowly, she reached out and tested his breath beneath his nose.

He was still alive.

She ran her hand over his back and felt the sticky warmth of blood. The injuries there were severe.

Only after she had felt her way over his entire body did she finally release the stale breath trapped in her chest.

She found no sharp stones embedded in him, nor anything that had pierced through his back.

He had suffered no immediately fatal injury.

“Xie Yuanju. Xie Yuanju.”

The young woman’s soft voice reached his ears.

Xie Yuanju seemed to have fallen into a very long dream.

In that dream, his mother was calling to him with tender affection.

Just as he joyfully prepared to throw himself into her arms, a slap struck him across the face and sent him stumbling.

The woman who had been gentle and loving only a moment earlier changed expression in an instant. Hatred flashed from her eyes like icy blades.

His soul seemed to drift outside his body, watching everything as an impartial bystander.

His gaze was filled with bone-deep coldness.

He looked indifferently at his younger self as the child stubbornly struggled to his feet and tried once more to seize the hem of the woman’s robe, like a dog wagging its tail and begging for scraps.

“Mother... Mother...”

“You are a vile bastard, not my child! I have no child like you. Get out! Get away from me!”

Just as he persisted in crawling toward her, only to be shoved away again, a man suddenly seized him by the collar and threw him at the woman’s feet. Grabbing the child by the head, he forced him to face her.

“Changle, do you hate me so much that you would even cast aside the child you bore as if he were worthless? Fine! I thought that once you gave birth to my child, you would let go of the past and live with me in peace.”

“If you hold even this brat in contempt, and he cannot awaken your senses, then what use is there in keeping him? Guards!”

Two guards hurried in from outside.

“Take this brat, whom the princess despises, and throw him into the death camp. Whether he lives or dies, do not report it to me.”

The young child’s eyes filled with disbelieving tears. His lips trembled.

“Father...”