Chapter 875: You cannot think of the pas (2/2)

Han Yunxi had been yearning for his strength. Hearing his gentle tones calmed her heart. As long as he was cool, she could cool down as well. She wiped away her tears and reined in her emotions, then cleanly inserted needle after needle in a beautiful series of moves!

Meanwhile, Baili Yuanlong had been thrown about multiple times by the snake tail already. Although it smashed his chest and back, he used internal energy to preserve his body and keep his bones intact. His sword had already been tossed to one side and his body was riddled with internal injuries, but this was all he had to deal with the massive tail. He called up his strength and summoned the entirety of his internal energy to stand squarely behind Han Yunxi without budging a step! The snake tail would have to hit him first before it touched the pair in the back.

Slam! Once again, the tail struck down, causing him to spit up a fresh mouthful of blood. He swayed, but gritted his teeth and quickly stood still.

Slam! Another hit. Baili Yuanlong’s body shifted and almost fell backwards as he felt the world spin around him. His vision turned black and he felt tempted to shut his eyes and forget everything, including the wounds on his body. Briefly, the image of Han Yunxi taking charge at the commander-in-chief’s estate flashed through his mind. She had fought for him then, back when she had no relations whatsoever with West Qin. Back then, she was simply QinWangfei, a mistress he’d considered extraordinary.

Slam….! Slam! Slam!

The snake queen went wild with frenzy, hitting harder and faster with each strike. Baili Yuanlong’s blood sprayed all over its tail. He had already prepared himself to die here, so this method of death left him quite content. Just how long was fifteen minutes?

Baili Yuanlong didn’t know. He only felt that his internal energy was all but gone now, and his legs were giving out. He toppled backwards involuntarily as he muttered, “Esteemed wangfei, how long has it been?”

Even he wasn’t aware that he’d called her ‘esteemed wangfei’ again.

If His Highness was simply Tianning’s Duke of Qin, and Han Yunxi just their esteemed wangfei, would everything be much simpler? He was a military man, so he spent his life leading troops to battle and charging to kill their enemies. Things like strategy and tactics were left to His Highness or the results of discussions between advisers and counsellors. More than anyone else, he wished everything could be much simpler. All of his daughters had been married off against their wills. The one he doted on most had changed her name to marry incognito into Northern Li. Even now, no one else but himself knew that the Baili estate once had another eldest young Miss. Mingxiang, as his youngest daughter, had stayed by his side the longest, but suffered the most.

All of this was for the sake of avenging their hatred and reviving East Qin!

What was wrong about him suspecting the West Qin princess? He had already silently accepted His Highness’s stubbornness, but was he supposed to throw his guard out the window, too?

And yet, he had no idea whether he was right or wrong anymore.

Just as Baili Yuanlong slowly fell to his knees, Xu Donglin caught him. He faintly heard the man say, “Someone come, take General Baili up first.”

Then he lost consciousness.

Baili Mingxiang had already reached the top, where Xu Donglin brought the twenty poison guards down with him for the rescue mission. They had wanted to descend long ago, but were afraid to disturb His Highness or the princess if they went. All they could do was endure. Baili Mingxiang didn’t even have to reach the top when he heard her cries for help and knew that the situation had soured. He immediately rushed down and saved General Baili in the nick of time.

The princess was still treating His Highness’s poison, so he guarded them with the twenty poison guards taking turns to deal with the snake queen. All this bought the princess more than enough time.

Meanwhile, the other shadow guards were channeling true qi into Baili Yuanlong’s body to treat his wounds. Yet despite their efforts, fresh blood flowed unceasingly from his mouth. All of them grew anxious at the sight. Baili Mingxiang was kneeling on the side, her tears streaming nonstop.

“Father...father, you have to hold on!”

“Father, you said you would personally lead the troops to conquer Tianning and kill your way into Northern Li! You said you were going to see His Highness ascend the throne with your own eyes!”

“Sobsob...father, you promised the clansmen that you’d personally salvage the bones of the mermaid soldiers from Sandy River after His Highness revived East Qin! You vowed to find their families and erect a monument for all of them!”

“Father, you can’t die...you can’t die…”

--

Some time later, Long Feiye’s poison was successfully treated. The twenty poison guards and Xu Donglin protected Han Yunxi as he took his sword and slayed the queen! Without fear of disturbance, he followed Han Yunxi’s instructions and easily avoided the creature’s poison mist, then hacked the creature into three pieces within three slashes. Then he killed off the snakes on the walls one by one. He stood in front of Han Yunxi afterwards, desperately wishing she could stand up as well and circle her arms around his neck like always. But she only remained paralyzed on the ground. He didn’t dare to inspect her legs, afraid that he wouldn’t be able to accept the aftermath.

Were they really...just broken?

Han Yunxi smiled at him past her ghastly complexion. “It’s fine!”

He didn’t reply beyond sending her a piercing stare for a long time. Faced with each other, just whose heart was stronger than whom’s?