The long spear he originally held in his hand suddenly became as heavy as a boulder. His hands were aching as he tried to hold it up with all his strength, but as soon as it was above his head, the spear came crashing down!
A chilling sensation pierced through his chest at this moment—he looked down to see a bright long sword had plunged into his chest, with half left outside, and the hilt was held in Pei Zhan’s hand!
Lian Yi looked at him in disbelief. He was also a General of Dayue, and among the younger generation of the Lian Family, a military general’s family, he was one of the most valiant. When Pei Zhan led the army that defeated their Dayue, he disdained Pei Zhan, thinking it was merely luck!
Therefore, he followed Lian Yang without hesitation to prove that Pei Zhan’s strength was nothing special!
Yet, he hadn’t even truly engaged Pei Zhan in combat, and he was already defeated at his hands!
"I knew your father; I personally took his head. You look quite like him, so seeing your face reminds me of him."
Pei Zhan withdrew the sword.
A rush of blood splattered and soaked Lian Yi’s garment.
Lian Yi gritted his teeth, shouted, and charged toward him.
But Pei Zhan turned his horse without hesitation and chased after Lian Yang.
Lian Yi fell to the ground, struggled twice, and was finally pinned beneath Cheng Chili, who caught up with him and stepped on him, rendering him unable to move.
Pei Zhan leaped to the other side, where Lian Yang was already engaged in battle with Liang Zhi.
Both sides were in the midst of a fierce battle. Pei Zhan raised his bow and arrow again and shot toward Lian Yang’s back.
Lian Yang turned back to dodge, but the arrow hit him at the waist.
The force of the arrow drove him forward, and he immediately toppled off his horse!
Pei Zhan galloped forward, pointed his long sword at the ground, twisted his wrist, and after an earth-shattering scream, Lian Yang’s wrists and ankles were covered in blood, his veins entirely severed.
Liang Zhi and Gao Changyuan rushed up, took the document full of handprints that Lian Yang handed over, and then pulled out several other papers with fingerprints, old and new, from their robes, matching them one by one with Lian Yang’s handprints. Then they looked up and replied heavily, "It’s him!"
"Search him!"
Gao Changyuan immediately grabbed Lian Yang’s collar, rummaged through, and found the half Tiger Talisman.
Pei Zhan took it in his hand and saw it was identical to the one he had previously described to Luo Zhao.
The Zhou Army had killed their way into the Dayue Imperial City. After capturing Duan Ruo, they had left remnants waiting to restore power, which was unexpected to Pei Zhan.
In reviewing the events of the past year, the ambition to restore power by Lian Yang and his party was closely related.
Duan Ruo’s group was so insidious, and Lian Yang was even more so. Only Luo Zhao had seen Lian Yang’s true face, and if they hadn’t prearranged his handprint for verification, how could they be reassured?
If the person surnamed Lian made another cunning attempt to escape like a golden cicada shedding its shell, wouldn’t there still be future troubles?
Capturing Lian Yang and obtaining the Tiger Talisman was the way to cut off their hopes!
Pei Zhan tucked the Tiger Talisman into his robe and sheathed his sword, "Take them back!"
He then looked to the other side, where the two Commanders of the rebel army were facing Dongzi’s forces head-on. Meanwhile, Yang Yi was tangled up with Wu Chengping.
After Lian Yang and Lian Yi fell, the two thousand troops Wu Chengping had dispatched beforehand had already fallen into chaos. From a distance, Wu Chengping saw the Tiger Talisman fall into Pei Zhan’s hands. Clenching his steel teeth, he fought desperately!
He had betrayed Dongzi, putting forth considerable effort just for this Tiger Talisman, and now all was in vain. How could he resign himself?!
But he couldn’t break through at all.
There, right in front of him, stood a man and horse silhouetted against the light, tall and mighty like a deity. Bow drawn tight, he aimed at Wu Chengping, eyes resolute as the surrounding towering mountains!...
"Yang Yi..."
Wu Chengping had only heard of this name, the eldest Imperial Son of Great Zhou, who had once been imprisoned in Dayue for five years. Yet, those five years of chains had not crushed him, then in his early teens, and he escaped Dayue! He had secretly stirred turmoil several times! Clearly, as the legitimate Imperial Son of Great Zhou, the pinnacle of power should have been easily accessible to him, but he preferred to remain in exile until another crisis befell Great Zhou!...
How could there really be someone not greedy for power?
They and Lian Yang were all people tirelessly pursuing power here!
"Commander, watch out!"
A warning suddenly came from the soldiers nearby. Wu Chengping snapped back to attention, only to see an arrow had already flown from Yang Yi’s hand. It was coming straight for his face!