Zhan Zhao Adventures - Chapter Six (Part I)

Chapter Six: Crane Rushing to the Sky (Part I)

The morning wind was howling.
 
Unknown when, a layer of faint dark clouds had already surged up at the horizon; just a moment ago it was still sunlight filling the sky, yet at this time even heaven and earth seemed to have darkened down.
 
Within the wind, a meaning of rain was mixed, still resembling an invisible demoness, blowing a tune that disordered the chords of people's hearts, blowing cold the hearts of those departing, blowing away the souls of the passersby, and blowing to a boil the blood of the youth.
 
The departing person is already far, the passerby has already gone, where does the youth remain?
 
The carriage and retinue of Old Mother Hanshui had long since vanished without a single trace, and Chang Hongbi's silhouette had long since completely scattered at the ends of the earth. Little Brother Huo, however, still from time to time turned his head, gazing at that path of no return that was departing far away from him.
 
From now on to the ends of the earth and corners of the sea, the human world is vast and boundless; when meeting again, it is unknown until what time it will be. When meeting again, it is unknown whether this youth still remembers him? Remembers this yellow-jacketed passerby who had once held up a bamboo umbrella in the rain to support him up?
 
The road before his eyes had already become flat and straight, appearing as if one glance could not find its end, straight to the point that one could gaze to the ends of the earth. The hanging cliffs and precipitous stone walls on both sides towered high into the clouds, iron-like in their steepness.
 
The black steeds of the Feiyun Riders, however, because of galloping for a long time, had already puffed and spurted out white mist from their nostrils.
 
The injury and pain upon his left leg covertly assaulted him again. Within Little Brother Huo's eyes, tears suddenly filled up.
 
Only, if he turned his head, he would see Zhan Rifei's silent eyes.
 
This black-clad youth, even though his face was already as pale as a dead person's, and even when riding upon a horse, the injury and pain had already made him unable to even straighten his waist, yet that pair of black eyes that were like the dark night still seemed to look through everything, and fathom everything, yet were again filled with understanding and warmth.
 
Little Brother Huo turned his head away, swiftly used his sleeve to wipe his eyes, and said in a soft voice: "Having taken the Linglong Honey, are you perfectly well or a bit better?"
 
Zhan Rifei said: "You rest assured, I am not so easy to just die. Have you not heard that even cats have nine lives? If I died, how could I be worthy of the miraculous elixir and marvelous medicine of Linglong Villa?"
 
Little Brother Huo finally laughed out. Only, this smile was also possessed of a downcastness that could not be restrained: "I have only heard that good people do not live long, and bad people leave a harmful legacy for a thousand years."
 
Zhan Rifei sighed loftily: "I, on the contrary, am the first time to be called a bad person by someone else."
 
Little Brother Huo said: "Could it be that you are a good person? Don't forget, yesterday you still almost became a ghost beneath my sword——"
 
Before he finished a single sentence, his countenance had already changed.
 
Before long, from afar, a sound rang out. It was rapid horse hooves sounds, and moreover, the ones coming were more than one steed and one person.
 
——Who is the one coming? For what do they come?
 
Little Brother Huo let out a soft sigh. The further away from Xiangyang, it seemed as if troubles also became more and more.
 
On both sides of this road, there was not even a place to avoid for a bit. The flat, connected, and straight main road would moreover allow the oncoming guests to see himself and Zhan Rifei very early. At this moment, even if they wanted to lead the horses to avoid them, it was already too late.
 
The ones coming were indeed a total of ten-odd riders. The horses were fine horses, and the people were fine men.
 
The riders upon the horses were robust and brave, fierce and martial, powerful and agile. Within the flying, leaping, and moving, there was a kind of high spirit that no one could check or suppress.
 
They were clearly all experienced in a hundred battles, exceptionally calm and collected.
 
Little Brother Huo let out a breath of relief. These people were clearly absolutely not ordinary soldiers of the Great Song, but judging by the dress of these people, they were not the imperial guards of the Xiangyang Prince's Mansion.
 
He knew that the bloodstains upon his body would arouse other people's doubts, but meeting on a narrow path, they could no longer avoid it, so they might as well just take a chance on luck.
 
These ten-odd soldiers, gazing from afar at Little Brother Huo and Zhan Rifei's appearance, indeed possessed some suspicion. One of them, appearing like a chief, as if taking out a roll of drawing from his bosom, looked and looked again toward Little Brother Huo's direction.
 
"It is him! It is that person on the drawing sent by the Prince!"
 
Readily pocketing the drawing into his bosom, with a wave of his hand, shouting, the ten-odd people had already galloped their horses and pounced up, forming a situation of encirclement.
 
The ones coming were indeed trouble. Little Brother Huo secretly let out a sigh. Ever since leaving the Xiangyang Prince's Mansion, his troubles had never broken off.
 
He clamped his horse's belly; that black steed let out a long neigh, its four hooves like flying, and had already rushed toward the oncoming people. A strand of black brilliance suddenly reflected so that heaven and earth also seemed to change color——Little Brother Huo's "Yinyang'an" was already in hand!
 
This peerless divine weapon of Linglong Villa, having blood-sucked multiple times over successive days, seemed to have already awakened the demon that tightly attached itself upon the black sword body; at this time it unexpectedly seemed to emit low, shallow laughter.
 
Zhan Rifei was also just about to draw his sword in hand; during a single lifting of his hand, his chest felt stifled, the Qi and blood within his body overturned and surged, dragging the severe pain beneath his left flank to stab up like lightning, and inside his ear, a booming sound instantly went off. Following that, a blackness came before his eyes, and he had already plunged headfirst down below the horse, and at the location of the wound upon his back, fresh blood even more so spurted and burst out.
 
The ones encircling and attacking Little Brother Huo were clearly fine riders trained in an orderly fashion; the moment they saw Zhan Rifei fall from his horse, immediately several riders cast aside Little Brother Huo, flying and pouncing toward Zhan Rifei; the long spears and long knives within their hands, in an instant, then interwove into a crazy, swift, and fierce net of light, cloaking down toward his head in a flash of lightning.
 
Little Brother Huo turned his head to take a gaze, and could not help but let out a startled cry!
 
Under his urgency of situation, his hand trembled; the "Yinyang'an" within the morning wind flew up with a sharp and long cry.
 
That soldier who came riding on the fly, rushing at the very front, was also the fiercest and most ferocious among the oncoming riders. The large knife within his hand was already raised, flashing and glinting with green light beneath the sunlight; his body had already left the horse's back, and borrowing this stampeding power, flew his body down to assault.
 
Only, while his body was still in the air, a pain struck his chest, as if he were bitten by something. Lowering his head to look, a section of a black sword tip had already flashed and passed at the location of his chest.
 
Next, he suddenly saw his own shadow cast upon the ground; near the location of his chest, there was a line of sunlight.
 
——Beneath his own broad and thick silhouette, how could there be sunlight penetrating through?
 
Then he felt that the strength of his entire body had already suddenly disappeared; when he fell down, it was just as if he were an emptied sack.
 
Until he fell down, he did not know how he died. From the beginning to the end, he had never seen blood——that single sword thrust that penetrated through his back did not have bloodstains seeping out.
 
He was also too late to see how the people behind him rolled down and submitted beneath a strand of evil black brilliance.
 
Very quickly, Little Brother Huo's person returned onto the horse's back. As if the one who just now with a single sword pierced through that knife-holding soldier was fundamentally not him. The people encircling and attacking him, the expressions upon their faces were already shocked to the point of being dumbfounded; within this lifetime of theirs, they had probably never seen a movement technique so difficult to fathom by ghosts and gods.
 
——Little Brother Huo precisely liked to look at this kind of expression.
 
Only, these knights seemed to be trained in an orderly fashion; once perceiving that the enemy's martial arts exceeded their own expectations, with a whistle sound, the remaining men and horses were already retreating in a neat and orderly fashion.
 
That person who appeared like a chief, the muscles upon his face had however already distorted, saying in a stammering manner: "You——, you are——"
 
How could Little Brother Huo allow them to retreat with their whole bodies. A slight curl appeared at the corner of his mouth, his body had already flown up, flying his body to charge toward that person who held the drawing roll in his bosom and appeared like a leader!
 
Right at this time, one just heard Zhan Rifei calling out in urgency: "Don't let them release arrows!"
 
Only, beneath heavy injury, his voice was unspeakably weak.
 
During Little Brother Huo's blanking out, it was already too late!
 
Two sounding arrows, mixed with a peculiar and sharp whistling sound, howling, had already flown up to the sky!
 
Little Brother Huo's countenance had already changed: these were clearly sounding arrows for contacting and reporting information. Now that the sounding arrows had gone, the pursuing troops would very quickly follow the tracks and come along!
 
Turning his head again, upon that chief's face, there was already a trace of a hideous smile, saying word by word: "Even if you killed us, you——already——cannot run——away——!"
 
Little Brother Huo's heart felt a burst of coldness. Regarding his own martial arts of Linglong Villa, he was truly far too confident.
 
——It turned out that this person who appeared like a chief intentionally made an alarmed and terrified appearance, for the purpose of precisely attracting his own attention, while by the knight hidden behind his back, taking advantage of his lack of preparation, released the sounding arrows for reporting information.
 
——What kind of soldiers could possess such plotting mind and courage?
 
Only at this time, Little Brother Huo himself also knew, beneath his hand, he must absolutely not retain mercy.
 
When a faint blood light splattered up, it seemed as if even the sun had to avoid into the dark clouds. The knights who just now were still flaunting their power and demonstrating their might, fierce, capable, and flyingly high-spirited, by now had all fallen down.
 
Little Brother Huo walked with a limp across the soldiers who lay fallen on the ground in all directions.
 
Beneath his feet, it suddenly softened, as if stepping onto a hard object. Lowering his head to look, it was unexpectedly that drawing of shadows and shapes of figures secretly transmitted by the Xiangyang Prince's Mansion. Presumably, this drawing roll, at the time when that chief was struck by the sword and fell to the ground, tumbled and fell out from his bosom.
 
Hesitating, Little Brother Huo still used his sword to give a flick, and that drawing roll that had dropped into the mud-water then flew into his hand. He could not care to look closely, readily stuffed the drawing roll into his bosom, and supported Zhan Rifei up.
 
Zhan Rifei shook his head and said: "You leave quickly, they cannot catch up to you."
 
Little Brother Huo said: "It is I who dragged you down, how can I drop you and not care!"
 
Zhan Rifei said: "It is not you who dragged me down, you do not know, actually the one they are pursuing is not——"
 
Before his words were finished, a mouthful of true Qi rushed backward and upward; he could not restrain his head from swimming and his eyes from blurring, and that sentence could no longer be spoken out.
 
Little Brother Huo, brooks no argument, dragged Zhan Rifei up onto the horse's back. Zhan Rifei was groggy and somnolent, his entire body already without a single bit of strength, and could no longer break free.