Seeking revenge

  Zheng Zhicheng's face was slapped with a whip, but he couldn't get angry. He looked gloomy, his fingers were pinched white, and he returned to a house in the Beifeng Academy, smashing all the furniture inside into pieces, but this could not vent his anger.

  "How dare she ruin my face! I must take revenge on this little wretch! Have they entered the North Mountain now?"

  Zheng Zicheng's vicious curses.

  His more than a dozen male and female attendants knelt inside and outside the house, each one silent as cicadas in winter.

  "I reported to the young master, I rushed after them on horseback, but Princess Wu's group was riding swift and powerful horses, my horse's strength was weak and couldn't catch up. I chased halfway, just about to give up and return, when I saw them suddenly change direction, not entering the deep mountains of Beishan, but heading towards the southwest postal road instead. After seeing their direction clearly, I didn't dare to delay, immediately returned to report to the young master!"

  A man rushed over quickly.

  "Xīnán yìdào? ...... Tā méi yǒu qù Běi Mèi Shān shòuliè?!""

  Translation: "The Southwest Post Road? ...... Didn't she go hunting on the North Mei Mountain?!"

  Zheng Zicheng was taken aback, his furious expression reined in, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. "Bring me the map!"

  Several maids hastily spread out a paper map on the table.

  "Southwest Post Station!"

  Zheng Zicheng's fingers slid along the map, "Along the southwest post road, passing through several small towns, she has been living in the prosperous Wang City and will not be interested in these few small broken cities. Going further, the end of the post road is the Town Far Guan of Wu State. This is an important pass at the northern border of Wu State, which is currently at war with Ning State. Where did she go and what did she do? Could it be a secret mission from the state master that sent her to Town Far Guan?"

  Zheng Zhicheng furrowed his brow and pondered, "Who is currently garrisoning Zhenyuan Pass?"

  "Report to the young master. The current guardian of Zhenyuan Pass is Ma Renshan, the eldest son of the Ma family. He is a third-rank general and leads five thousand troops in defending Zhenyuan Pass."

  "Good!"

  Zheng Zhicheng's face twisted into a gloomy smile, "Send a message to Ma Rusan via carrier pigeon, tell him that his younger brother Ma Ruoyuan was killed by Ye Chen, and Ye Chen is on the way to Zhenyuan Pass with the little princess. He will definitely avenge his brother and send troops to intercept them. The sweat-blood horse is the best breed in Wu Kingdom, if no one intercepts them, I really won't be able to catch up. As long as Ma Rusan can hold them back for a day or two, I'll be able to catch up! Prepare the horses, let's go to Zhenyuan Pass!"

  "Yes, young master!"

  Wu Xiaogong and Ye Chen, Yan Han, Wei Xunyu galloped along the post road.

  Yan Han and Wei Xunyu followed closely behind the princess as her guards.

  Ye Chen was scouting ahead.

  "How can there be so many refugees?!"

  Ye Chen galloped swiftly on horseback, a shocking sight to behold.

  As they journeyed on, they drew closer to the border of Wu State, and encountered more and more refugees in tattered clothing. Emaciated and gaunt, they often dragged their families along, with crude donkey carts or ox carts carrying entire households towards the interior of the country.

  Occasionally, one could still see wealthy families, large groups of armed guards, and horse-drawn carriages carrying their belongings on long-distance moves.

  Even some disheartened fugitive soldiers could be seen, their armor in disarray, mingling with the refugees.

  Ye Chen had long heard of the wars between Wu Guo and its neighboring countries. However, the Beishan Academy was located in the heart of Wu Guo, and Ye's village was nestled in a remote mountain corner, far from the war-torn areas, so he had never felt such a strong atmosphere of war.

  They were four people riding precious horses, rushing towards the direction of Zhenyuan Pass, attracting many starving refugees' suspicious glances. However, the precious swords and sabers they carried made them dare not have any improper thoughts.

  "Whenever there is a border war, many refugees flee. This time, the four countries besieged Wu State, and the disaster was even more severe."

  The little princess saw groups of refugees and looked gloomy.

  She rode her horse and saw that among the refugees were deserting soldiers, getting more and more furious, angrily shouting, "The Wu State is under attack by enemy states, in danger every day, you do not think about sacrificing your lives for the country, but instead become deserters! This princess will kill you!"

  The little princess's whip in her hand lashed out at several fleeing soldiers among the refugees.

  A whip cracked, and instantly a fleeing soldier was flogged to death.

  Ye Chen couldn't bear to look at him and turned his head to gaze into the distance. Although it was pitiful, a deserter would have no complaints even if he were killed on the spot.

  "Princess! Spare my life, Princess! Our army was defeated in the front lines, General Ma led the troops to a disastrous defeat, and I was scattered by the enemy. That's why I had to flee." The fleeing soldier rolled on the ground, kowtowing to Wu Xiaogongzhu, shouting for mercy.

  "What? Town Far Pass has fallen?"

  The young princess was shocked and lost her color.

  "It hasn't fallen yet, but it's almost there. General Ma Ruzhang is eager for merit, leaving 1,000 soldiers to guard the city and personally leading 4,000 troops to break out of Zhenyuan Pass and fight against the Ningguo army. However, they encountered an ambush and suffered a great defeat, with only 1,000 remnants escaping back to Zhenyuan Pass. Now there are less than 2,000 soldiers left in Zhenyuan Pass, morale is depleted, how many more days can it hold on?! I'm just a lowly person who followed the general into battle, and luckily escaped with my life, seeing that things were not going well, I mixed in with the refugees as an escaped soldier, please spare my life, princess!"

  The deserter knelt down on the ground and wailed loudly.

  "Ma Rusan, this despicable thing, deserves to die! The Emperor ordered him to defend Town Far Fortress, who allowed him to engage in battle on his own? Ma Rusan is only at the 7th level of Body Refining Stage, and his martial power is not strong. His military leadership skills are even worse than his father, General Ma Baihuguojun, by a factor of ten thousand! He actually didn't know his limits when he went to war. The five thousand soldiers at Town Far Fortress were the best elite troops in Wu State, and the Emperor only let him lead them because of his father's reputation, now they are all destroyed under this useless thing's command."

  The little princess's hands were shaking with anger, almost fainting.

  Ma Renshan is probably trying to learn from his father.

  Ye Chen muttered to herself.

  Han and Wei Xunyu looked at each other, they were just warriors, not generals. However, they also knew that the border town was heavily guarded and could not be attacked, and the four countries surrounded the Wu Kingdom, defending to the death was a stable strategy. If they rashly sent troops out, they would only perish faster.

  "Ling Xiang Gong Zhu, Zhen Yuan Guan has already lost one battle, but Ma Ru Shan still has 2,000 soldiers. The city walls of Zhen Yuan Guan are strong and can hold out for a while longer if we defend it firmly. It's better that we leave Zhen Yuan Guan as soon as possible to find reinforcements. The longer the princess stays here, the more dangerous Wu Guo will be."

  Wei Xunyu softly comforted her.

  "Let's go!"

  The little princess nodded.

  A group of people went towards Zhenyuan Pass.

  Dozens of miles away from the town's distant pass, "Rumble!", a troop of dozens of elite cavalrymen galloped towards them.

  The four young ladies were shocked and stopped in their tracks.

  "Hiss!"

  The cavalry halted.

  First was a young general wearing armor, quite heroic-looking, but having just suffered a defeat, his expression was gloomy. His eyes swept over the little princess, but he showed no emotion and didn't even greet her.

  The young general waved his hand with a sharp horse-cutting knife, pointing at Ye Chen and Yan Han, and asked loudly, "You two, who is Ye Chen?"

  "Ma Rusan, you don't even salute when you see Her Highness! What are you trying to do!"

  The little princess Wu Xiao's eyebrows rose, and she shouted.

  "Princess Lingxiang, don't be alarmed. Zheng Zhicheng sent me a message by carrier pigeon, saying that my younger brother Ma Ruyuan was killed by Ye Chen, a commoner student at Beifeng Academy, and Ye Chen is now escorting you to Zhenyuan Pass! I want to see what kind of person this Ye Chen is, daring to kill a member of the Ma family. I don't want to do anything else, just his life, to offer sacrifice to my brother. Princess, surely you won't be trying to protect this commoner?"

  Ma Renshan coldly smiled and said.

  "Ye Chen killed Ma Ruyuan? Is this true?"

  Wu Xiaogongzhu was taken aback and looked at Yan Hanchen and Wei Xunyu.

  "Princess, Ye Chen's junior brother and Ma's junior brother had some disputes, but they were all trivial matters. Ma's junior brother died in the mouth of a gray wolf in the deep mountains of Beifeng during the graduation assessment, which is known to everyone. Zheng Zicheng is probably trying to get Ma Rusan to hold us back!"

  Wei Xunyu reported in a soft voice.

  Yan Han slowly said, "No one has ever seen how Ma Ruyu died. Zheng Zhicheng didn't see it either, he's just talking nonsense."

  "But my brother is dead! No matter how he died, an explanation must be given, otherwise how can the face of our Ma family be maintained?"

  Ma Renshan coldly smiled and said.

  "Hum, you've lost a battle and abandoned 3,000 soldiers, what face do you have left?! If you had lost the Zhenyuan Pass, Father would have certainly sentenced you to death and annihilated your entire clan!"

  The little princess sneered.

  Ma Renshan's face changed suddenly.

  Ye Chen didn't want to drag things out, so he urged his horse forward a few steps and said, "I am Ye Chen! It seems you're determined to kill me today, no need to waste time, come on. I recently just reached the sixth layer of the Refining Body stage and passed the graduation exam at Beimiao Academy. My cultivation is in the middle stage of the Tiger Leaping Knife Technique. Let's see your martial arts skills!"

  "Alright, I'm a seventh-level martial artist in the Refining Body stage! I won't humiliate you either, I'll cut you down with just one hand!"

  Ma Renshan burst out laughing, holding a horse-slaying knife in one hand, patted the horse's back and charged towards Ye Chen at full speed.

  "How shameless!"

  Wu Xiaogongzhu, Yan Han and Wei Xunyu all showed a look of discontent. A 7th layer martial artist in the late stage of body refinement, dealing with a 6th layer martial artist in body refinement, having internal energy or not, that's a natural difference. Even if it was just one hand, it was still bullying.

  "Seven layers......!"

  Ye Chen urged his horse forward, accelerating towards the front, his right hand pressing on the hilt of the Golden Silk Blade, a hint of mockery hidden in the depths of his eyes.

  "Drink! Horizontal blade force chop!"

  Ma Renshan swung his horse-slaying knife horizontally, and a sharp, overbearing blade of air shot out from the knife. If it hit its mark, it would be enough to cut both man and horse in two.

  "Crescent Moon Slash!"

  Ye Chen rushed forward one zhang, and suddenly slashed out. A semicircular arc of knife light, with layer upon layer of heavy knife energy, chopped towards Ma Ruzi.

  "Clang!"

  Golden birds chirp in harmony.

  "Five Paths of Sword Energy! Martial Artist's Eightfold Body Refining?"

  Ma Renshan's face showed a look of astonishment.

  Two swift horses' shadows, almost instantly crossed over each other.

  Ma Rusan slowed down and stopped, staring incredulously at the clear knife marks on his chest armor. There was also a knife mark on the horse's body. "Puff", Ma Rusan sprayed out a handful of blood mist, and both he and his warhorse crashed to the ground.