Part 2
Outskirts of Chang’an.
This was a manor built halfway up a nameless wild mountain. The courtyard was open, the road outside was flat, and dense, tall mixed trees surrounded the courtyard, wrapping it tightly.
A winding path led to this place.
The night was deep, and the small path was soaked in a large patch of blood like splashed ink.
The rusty smell of blood permeated the air. The fierce battle just now was vivid in memory. Cao Mingfang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead vigorously and ordered the surviving able-bodied servants to clean up the corpses lying everywhere.
“Too… terrifying.” Cao Mingfang dared not even recall.
They had just arrived at the estate and unloaded the goods to restore their identities.
The gate of the manor was blasted open by a long spear. Xie Qianli had killed his way to their faces.
Both sides tacitly understood the truth, no need for confrontation. Cao Mingfang immediately organized men to besiege him.
They had many people, swords, spears, and bows. Xie Qianli was alone.
Moreover, this manor was a retreat Feng Yong had planned long ago. Not only were there the original servants of the Feng Residence, but Feng Yong had also used money to buy a large number of rebels as private soldiers, protecting the manor like an iron bucket.
But they still underestimated Xie Qianliās power.
The crowd surrounded him, a wall of people forming a ring, yet anyone who touched the long spear was stabbed through! Wails rang incessantly; silver light and blood light flashed in chaos!
In the end, those seemingly brave and fierce private soldiers saw Xie Qianli take one step forward, and they took one step back. The ring of people moved back a step with him.
Under the moonlight, the white robes and silver armor had lost their original color. Xie Qianli was like an Asura claiming souls, climbing up from hell to the human world.
The fierce battle lasted for almost an hour. Feng’s family soldiers suffered countless casualties, but Feng Yong had not yet shown his face. That Feng Yong, afraid of death and slippery, had left Chang’an earliest to come to the estate. But fearing further changes, he hid deep and tight after arriving, not showing himself.
Up and down the mountain, reinforcements continued to arrive. Minions approached in waves.
“Cast the net! Cast the net!”
Suddenly, a shout burst out in the manor.
Private soldiers lying in ambush on the watchtowers around the manor spread out dense fishing nets from top to bottom. A huge net covered the sky and earth.
Layers of fishing nets overlapped. The nets were extremely tough, good at overcoming hardness with softness. They restricted Xie Qianliās movement and also trapped countless Feng family soldiers inside the net!
Cao Mingfang made an immediate choice, ordering the hidden sentries to loose arrows.
Arrows fell like rain. Inside the fishing net, people fell layer by layer. Xie Qianli, like a trapped beast being hunted, was finally covered by the fishing net and surrounded by Feng family soldiers again.
“Release the smoke! Quick, release the smoke!”
Smoke rose.
Cao Mingfang covered his nose with his sleeve and held his breath. Seeing Xie Qianliās tall body fall like a collapsing snow mountain, a sharp light burst from his eyes. He thoughtāWhat kind of achievement is this?
He had captured the general who quelled the Green Ox rebellion, the fierce general who became famous under heaven at seventeen. He had captured the Duke of Ying, Xie Qianli, whose name made enemies tremble on the battlefield.
Cao Mingfang was unspeakably ecstatic. He proudly ordered the strong servants: “Tie him up tight. Quickly go report to Prime Minister Feng.”
Two strong servants left to obey the order.
Then Steward Cao ordered courtyard torches (tingliao) to be lit around the manor. He ordered a group of servants to tie Xie Qianli to a wooden rack. Several servants combined their strength to lift the Swimming Dragon Glaive, planting it in the middle of the courtyard like a display.
The shaft of the Swimming Dragon Glaive reflected the firelight on its edges. From top to bottom, it was still dripping blood.
At this moment, the manor gates opened. Two teams of death warriors cleared the way. Surrounded and protected by them, Feng Yong paced over from the other end of the courtyard.
Feng Yong squinted with his hands behind his back. He was slightly chubby, possessing a bit of a smiling appearance, but otherwise, completely unremarkable everywhere!
Who could have imagined that it was precisely his insatiable greed and rampant accumulation of wealth that caused such heavy losses to the court?
“Prime Minister Feng.” Cao Mingfang hurriedly trotted over to claim credit. “This kid was too hard to catch. A hundred or so of our men died before this lowly one led the capture.”
Night wind blew through the courtyard, causing the torches to tremble violently.
The shaking firelight illuminated Xie Qianliās blood-stained face. Even in a disadvantageous position, his handsomeness could not be hidden, along with the tragic sense of a beast at a dead end.
A basin of cold water was splashed!
Breaking the effect of the drug, Xie Qianliās nose bridge and eyelashes were all stained with water. His profile was upright as he raised his head. His eyes were blood red, his voice terribly hoarse: “Feng Yong…”
He wanted to move, his gaze ready to tear Feng Yong apart, but his wrists were confined by hemp ropes, so he could only struggle.
Seeing this situation, Feng Yong clapped his hands and laughed: “Capturing Lu Bu alive at White Gate Tower was nothing more than this.”
“Little General Xie, Great Qin is declining day by day; the fall of the nation is imminent. Therefore, I only seek wealth in my life and do not wish to make enemies. If you hadn’t chased here alone, you could still be your Duke, controlling the Dragon Martial Army. How stupid are you?”
Every laugh line on Feng Yongās face revealed a chilling coldness.
Behind Feng Yong were cartloads of wealth looted from the people, not yet stored away.
Xie Qianli didn’t say a word. When Feng Yong approached, the muscles all over his body tightened under the armor, and he tried to struggle for a few more moments.
But the hemp rope seemed too thick. The contrast between his posture of wanting to kill his enemy and his powerlessness fueled Feng Yongās arrogance.
Feng Yong approached and said, “You are a fool, and so is your father.”
“He had the dignity of a Duke, was the Emperor’s son-in-law, yet he chased those illusory fames.”
“The little Emperor’s money, the Dragon Martial Army’s funds, and the family assets the Duke of Ying’s residence gave to the courtānot just these, now they are all in my hands.”
“They are either dead or suffering a living hell. The only winner is me. You all usually call me a waste, a rice bucket, but now who is happier than me!?”
The repression of being despised for years, mixed with the regret of sudden wealth with no one to share it withāFeng Yong shook his head with hands behind his back, then drew a short knife from a death warrior’s waist.
The blade was extremely thin, flashing with cold light.
Feng Yong walked out of the death warriors’ encirclement until he was face to face with Xie Qianli.
He raised the knife and stabbed fiercely into the gap of Xie Qianliās armor!
Xie Qianliās face instantly turned pale, a string of blood beads trickling down.
Feng Yong gripped the handle tightly and grinned sinisterly: “I won’t stab your vitals. I’ll cripple your strength to struggle. If Ying Xi sends people to chase, the bargaining chip for the final conditions will be your life.”
Instantly, bone-piercing pain mixed with Ying Xiās name.
Falling into Xie Qianliās heart, what floated before his eyes was the brilliant spring day, the sea of magnolias.
That Emperor who was once within reach but now high above, that young Emperor he had misunderstood and hated countless times… every time, gave him the same answer: “Xie Qianli, Zhen believes in you.”
Believes…
Xie Qianli lowered his eyes, an imperceptible smile hooking the corner of his lips.
Just on this ‘belief’ alone, he couldn’t let Feng Yong remain at large!
Xie Qianli suddenly raised his gaze, his eyes sharp as blades.
Feng Yong instantly retreated, letting go of the short knife. His pupils reflected Xie Qianli exerting force with both arms, causing the wooden rack to tremble.
Immediately after, the wooden rack was pulled out of the ground. Xie Qianli, carrying the wooden rack weighing hundreds of catties on his back, slammed forward viciously!
Feng Yong screamed and fell several feet away, almost frightened into fainting: “Hold him down… he’s going to break free…”
Several death warriors rushed up together.
Xie Qianli threw himself onto the courtyard torch, enduring the pain to roll into the fire. The fire burned through the hemp ropes, firewood rolling everywhere.
Xie Qianli had blood at the corner of his mouth, blood seeping from his armor gaps. He snatched a weapon from a death warrior.
Logically, with such heavy injuries, he should be dying, yet he turned from an Asura into the God of Death.
He drew the blade, and two people fell heavily in front of him.
Xie Qianli coughed up blood. With a stubborn madness, he said resolutely, “Feng Yong, I was baiting you.”
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