The shrill cries of desperation rose from the direction of the city gate, like the howl of a tormented ghost.
Accompanied by the relentless fall of rain from the sky, the ruthless drops battered Wu Zhen’s form.
Washing the fresh blood from her wounds and mingling with the mud on the ground, the bright red quickly lost its vivid hue.
Wu Zhen clung powerlessly to the city gates, her fingers digging into the cracks, vainly trying to open the hefty doors with her own strength.
It was, of course, a futile effort.
"Hong Wu, I was wrong, please, I beg you, spare my life! There was never any deep hatred between us... Moreover, I am Wu Bie’s maternal aunt—" She turned around and knelt before the black-clad Hong Wu, hands clasped together as she begged pitifully for mercy.
To an uninformed onlooker, this scene would surely paint Hong Wu as cruel, capable of such heartless indifference towards an elderly woman.
Hong Wu, expressionless, sealed the acupoint on her shoulder to stop the bleeding.
Just a moment ago, Wu Zhen, in her desperation to escape, had viciously pushed Hong Wu towards the dancer’s sword.
If the dancer hadn’t pulled back in time, Hong Wu would have suffered even greater injuries.
This treacherous woman!
Surely it was an attack impossible to guard against!
"Save those words for King Yama!" Hong Wu clenched her long sword and raised it high, ready to slit Wu Zhen’s throat when a crisp sound echoed, and a red shadow jumped in to block the descending blade.
Seeing the newcomer, Hong Wu’s face darkened: "Wu Bie!"
Wu Bie stood before Wu Zhen, his eyes cold: "I have not betrayed anyone, don’t overthink it."
He glanced sideways at Wu Zhen, who resembled a foul-smelling rat, his tone chilling: "I only wish to personally avenge Huai Yu, to let her die by this sword—that would be getting the retribution she deserves."
The long sword in Wu Bie’s hand was a coming of age gift Wu Zhen had given to Huai Yu, which Huai Yu had never used.
To Huai Yu, that sword was not meant for her.
It was for her brother, Huai Heng, that Wu Zhen had intended to give it.
Her coming of age day was probably more like a death curse to Wu Zhen.
On the day she gave the sword, Wu Zhen lashed her with a whip seventy-three times.
Every strike was counted by Wu Bie, who stood in the courtyard.
If it weren’t for some unexpected guests arriving, Wu Zhen would surely have whipped her even more.
Wu Bie remained in the courtyard; when Wu Zhen came out, she even casually lashed him with the whip, too.
Wu Zhen was accustomed to cursing everything she disliked, spewing venom that sometimes included even herself.
Only after she left did Wu Bie dare to enter the house and carry the badly beaten Huai Yu to find a doctor.
"Wu Bie, how dare you!" Wu Zhen never imagined that her nephew Wu Bie, whom she had always looked down upon, would seek vengeance against her.
She pointed her finger at Wu Bie, cursing vehemently: "Even you want to seek justice for that worthless girl? She’s nothing but a piece of flesh I gave birth to, indebted to me from the moment she was born. How I choose to handle her is my business; what concern is it to you outsiders? What right do you have to seek revenge on her behalf?!"
"Right?" Wu Bie turned around, sneered and said, "We may not have the right, but with someone like you alive, the world suffers an additional curse!"
The long sword scraped against the ground, producing a grating noise as he advanced step by step towards Wu Zhen.
Wu Zhen could no longer bear it: "Cui Zhi, what are you waiting for? If you don’t show up, I’m going to die!"
During her years at the Marquis Residence, she had not been without her own Hidden Guards.
All trained by Cui Zhi himself.
And she only needed to control Cui Zhi.
Amidst her furious shouts, Cui Zhi appeared with dual blades, standing in front of Wu Bie: "Young Master, please stop."
"Step aside, Cui Zhi!" Wu Bie’s eyes flashed with coldness: "If you block me again, I’ll include you as well."
"Young Master, please halt." Cui Zhi’s expression remained calm as she reminded him again.
Wu Bie wanted to say something, but the Hong Wu behind him started to act aggressively, "Stop the nonsense and kill her to avenge Huai Yu!"
She engaged in combat with Cui Zhi while a group of Hidden Guards appeared, surrounding Wu Zhen in the middle.
Wu Zhen slowly rose from the ground, his posture becoming noticeably more haughty, "Go, kill all these bastards!"
Now, whether it was a human or a ghost, they all dared to seek revenge against her.
Back in the day, at the Northern Border, these people would have to lower their heads and call her madam upon seeing her.
Now, how times have changed!
The great disparity in her heart made Wu Zhen’s eyes fill with madness, "Kill, kill them all for me! Once my son returns, the entire Northern Border will belong to him, and all of you will have to look up to him as your leader!"
"Kill! Kill them all, hahaha!"
"You all must die, pave the way for my son! All of you must die!"
Rain splattered as blades and swords clashed. The two groups were entangled in battle.
Wu Zhen turned around and continued to pull the city gate. She needed to go find her son.
The son she lost because of horse bandits.
If it had been Huai Yu who had been lost back then, would she ever have ended up in such a state?
"My son, your mother is coming to find you..."
The heavy city gate was indeed pulled open by her, and she squeezed out through the gap.
Outside the city gate lay the vast and endless Ironclad Army, with bowmen at the forefront holding their arrows aimed at the gate. Before Wu Zhen could even speak, a sky filled with arrows shot her into a hornet’s nest.
"The Crown Prince decrees that anyone who escapes the city gate will be killed without mercy!"
This night, not a single guilty person would escape from here.
Xiao Pingfeng was indeed a hundred times crueler than Yan Wanqing.
In his eyes, everything was either black or white.
What he liked was white, and what he disliked was black.
Love and hate were clearly delineated.
Anyone who hurt him would pay the price with their life, no matter who they were or what their status was, he simply didn’t care.
Poor Wu Zhen thought that by opening the city gate, she would be saved.
But instead, she met an even quicker end at the gates of hell.
Inside the city gate, Cui Zhi and the others were still struggling to hold on.
But the moment Wu Zhen died, Cui Zhi’s body, which had been standing, suddenly bled from all orifices and fell to the ground. Following her collapse, the remaining Dead Soldiers fell one after another.
The Mother Poisonous Insect was dead; how could the Child Poisonous Insects have any reason to continue living?
Hong Wu sheathed her long sword and turned away indifferently, "Let’s go."
"You go ahead," Wu Bie said, looking at Cui Zhi’s body, "Although Cui Zhi was Wu Zhen’s person, she has always secretly helped Huai Yu. I cannot let her just die here ."
He stepped forward and lifted Cui Zhi’s body, intending to find a place to bury her.
Seeing him walk straight into the heavy rain with the body, Hong Wu didn’t say another word and followed.
On the official road, a beautiful woman with a valiant bearing was riding a chestnut horse at full speed.
Her skin was a healthy tan, different from the usual pale complexion of women, and her bright, dazzling eyes seemed to hold all the stars of the night sky within them.
Behinds her followed a group of brawny men dressed in an assortment of clothes, each one of them looking fierce and intimidating, not at all easy to approach.
This party galloped on horseback, showing no intention of stopping despite the deepening night.