The foot soldiers were getting menacingly close, and Zu An dared not waste any more time. Knowing that Qiao Xueying was in no state to ride a horse by herself, he carried her in his arms and mounted one of the horses.

Using some cloth, he tied Qiao Xueying to himself before kicking the horse’s flanks, urging it to gallop around the approaching formation of foot soldiers.

Qiao Xueying was deeply embarrassed by the way they were sitting. The two of them were face-to-face on the horse, like lovers. To prevent her from being jostled off the horse, Zu An had wrapped her thighs around his body, so that she was sitting squarely in his lap.

Fortunately, she was petite, and Zu An was still able to see the road ahead of them.

Even though it was difficult for her to accept, she knew that this was the most logical solution to their predicament. If he’d left her, she would have been torn apart by those terracotta foot soldiers. She was simply too weak to ride a horse by herself, too weak even to hold onto Zu An with her own strength. This was the only position they could adopt so that she would not excessively hinder his movements.

Still, it didn’t change the fact that this position was extremely humiliating. She was too ashamed to even speak, so she simply leaned her head against his shoulder and feigned unconsciousness so as to avoid the awkwardness.

Meanwhile, Zu An wasn’t in any mood to enjoy the intimacy of their position. He was just glad that Qiao Xueying was light enough that she did not prove too much of a hindrance.

He skirted around the formation of soldiers, searching for an opening to strike. 

When the footsoldiers noticed that he had moved to their flank, they immediately turned to face him. However, this was within Zu An’s expectations. He continued circling around their formation, shining his flashlight in their direction and waiting for an opportunity to strike.

The archers had continued to fire on Zu An in hopes of suppressing him, but the horse was moving too fast for their arrows to land properly. On top of that, the archers were severely limited in their movements because of the fear instilled in them by the light from the Magical Flashlight.

As the formation of the terracotta soldiers fell into disarray, the archers gradually lost their coordination, and their arrows became far less threatening.

Zu An galloped around, executing all sorts of fancy maneuvers, such as the famous ‘S’-shaped and ‘B’-shaped movements. Despite this, it was only when he was on the brink of puking, having grown nauseous from all of the twisting and turning he was doing, that he finally saw a small opening he could capitalize on.

He immediately seized the opportunity and charged forward, approaching the rear of the formation from an angle, heading to where the archers were taking cover. He knew that he had to get rid of the archers first, to prevent their long-ranged attacks from becoming a problem when the soldiers regained their composure.

The furious charge of the warhorse scattered the formation of archers and threw them into a panic.

Zu An leaped off his horse, sending it running headlong into the rest of the foot soldiers to buy him some time. He seized the opening, turning into a blur of motion and reaping the lives of the archers around him.

The archers had posed a significant threat when at a distance, but once Zu An managed to get up close, they were no more than docile sheep waiting to be slaughtered. They were far less skilled than the infantry and cavalrymen in close-quarters combat. On top of that, Zu An’s swift and unpredictable movement made it impossible for them to even nick his sleeves, let alone stop his rampage.

All the while, Qiao Xueying remained tied in front of him like a koala bear latched onto a tree. In order not to affect his movements, she gathered whatever little strength she had left to cling tightly to him.

She tried observing his movement skill closely, hoping that she could figure out the crux behind it now that she was seeing it up close, but it only ended up making her giddy. So, she decided to turn her head to the side and listen to the sounds around her instead.

Somehow, listening to the crisp sound of his dagger cleaving through the bodies of the archers one after another sounded oddly pleasing.

It’s fortunate that the young miss isn’t around. His valiant image would surely… 

After some time, the noise around her subsided, and all she could hear was Zu An’s heavy breathing. She opened her eyes and saw all of the archers collapsed on the ground. However, Zu An had sustained considerable injuries as well. No matter how weak the archers were, they had still held a decisive numerical advantage, so they weren’t completely helpless against him.

Qiao Xueying noticed that all of the wounds were on his back, and a jolt of shock ran through her heart. “You must have suffered many injuries while protecting me.”

“I couldn't possibly have used you as a shield, right?’ Zu An shrugged. “Besides, I was the one who tied you in front of me. How embarrassing would it be for me if you were to suffer an injury right before my eyes?”

Qiao Xueying bit her lips.

“Oh right, do you have any restorative medicine?” asked Zu An. 

He had been injured even before the battle had begun, and he had only been able to deal with the archers thanks to the effect of the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra. However, these new injuries he had sustained left him in an even weaker state, and he could sense that he was quickly approaching his limit.

It was good that he had managed to deal with the cavalrymen and archers, but he estimated that there were about five hundred foot soldiers left. In his current state, there was very little chance of him surviving long enough to deal with them all.

“I don’t have any left,” replied Qiao Xueying guiltily.

She had been thrown from one battle to the next, suffering serious injuries in every one of them. This meant that she’d had to use her restorative medicine very frequently, and had quickly run through her supply.

“I guess I can only wish myself all the best.” Zu An took in a deep breath before charging into the throng of foot soldiers. He held onto the Magical Flashlight in one hand, intending to use it to open up a path for himself, while tightening the grip of his other hand around the Poisonous Prick.

Under normal circumstances, even a fifth rank cultivator like Shi Kun would stand no chance against all of these terracotta soldiers, but there was still a small sliver of hope for Zu An. Their formation had fallen apart thanks to his earlier efforts, which allowed him to weave around them with his Sunflower Phantasm. The Magical Flashlight was also an invaluable resource when it came to getting him out of dicey situations.

On the other hand, the terracotta soldiers were thoroughly enraged. They never expected that both their cavalry and their archers would actually be wiped out by two individuals. On top of that, these two had the audacity to charge headlong into their ranks.

He’s underestimating us!

You have successfully trolled the Terracotta Soldiers for 9… 9… 9… 

The foot soldiers surged forward like a giant wave, crashing down onto Zu An.

Using his Sunflower Phantasm, Zu An skillfully dodged their attacks while finding opportunities to strike back. If he found himself cornered, he would point the flashlight around him randomly, hoping to intimidate the footsoldiers and buy himself some room.

He was like a small leaf floating on the surface of stormy waters. It looked as though it would sink at any moment, but despite the odds, it still remained afloat.

Zu An couldn’t tell how long it had been, but his arms were growing heavier and heavier. He was incredibly thankful that he was wielding a dagger. Despite the shortness of the blade, its light weight allowed it to be maneuvered quickly, without taking too much of a toll on his stamina. If he’d been holding a sword instead, there was no way he could have lasted this long.

Even so, it didn’t change the fact that his cultivation was only at the third rank. While both Sunflower Phantasm and the Elementary Swordplay didn’t consume too much ki when executed, his ki reserve was still limited, and was on the verge of depleting after such a protracted battle.

Every strike seemed ten times more arduous than usual.

He began to regret not spending all of his Rage points before entering the Earth Seal. Even if he hadn’t obtained some sort of cheat artifact or skill, it would have been good enough to receive some Ki Fruits to raise his cultivation.

He’d just been too afraid of exposing his Keyboard earlier on. After all, Qiao Xueying was by his side, and the unfathomably powerful Mi Li was keeping an eye on him. If it could save his life, though, he would have much rather exposed the existence of the keyboard to the rest of the world.

However, it was already too late for regrets. He was surrounded by enemies, and the slightest bit of carelessness would result in his death. There was no way he could fight them off while drawing the lottery simultaneously.

At this moment, ten terracotta soldiers thrust their halberds toward him, and he quickly used Sunflower Phantasm to dodge to the side. Unfortunately, in his exhausted state, he missed his intended destination, and ended up stepping on a broken terracotta warrior’s leg.

It was a fatal error. He lost his balance and stumbled sideways.

There was no way the terracotta soldiers would miss this golden opportunity. Multiple halberds immediately shot toward Zu An’s body.

In order to protect Qiao Xueying from crashing to the ground, he had instinctively positioned himself in a way such that her body was above his own, and exposed. At this rate, the halberds would pierce her first.

So, Zu An used his dagger to deflect two of the halberds, but he had no time to deal with the remaining two of them. Left with no choice, he raised his left arm to block the incoming blades.

*Pu!*

Two halberds pierced through his left arm in a spray of blood and flesh. Strength leaked out from his left hand, and he lost his grip on the flashlight.

More terracotta soldiers marched up, brandishing their halberds.

Knowing that he was truly on the verge of death, Zu An roared in fury as he severed the shafts of the halberds lodged into his arm with his dagger before rolling sideways, with Qiao Xueying still tied to him. This allowed him to dodge the attacks coming his way in this critical moment.

He continued to execute a series of movements using the Sunflower Phantasm to regain his momentum, but he was still unable to shake off the terracotta soldiers chasing after him. Left with no choice, he squeezed the last remnants of his ki and executed Grandgale one last time, allowing him to instantaneously move a hundred meters away and escape the encircling terracotta soldiers.

Despite having survived, he couldn’t bring himself to feel relieved at all. His ki had been completely depleted, and he had lost the Magical Flashlight as well. He wasn’t even able to pull it back into the Keyboard, perhaps because of the distance between them.

His vision was beginning to blur as well, and he knew that this was a side effect of the overwhelming fatigue, as well as having lost too much blood.

“It looks like we’re really going to die here together…” murmured Zu An as he gasped for breath. 

He couldn’t even find the strength within him to remain standing. He slumped to the ground and watched helplessly as the terracotta soldiers charged his way.

Unexpectedly, Qiao Xueying didn’t respond to him. She stared at his arm, still bleeding profusely, and the tips of the halberds still lodged into his flesh. 

She lowered her head and remarked softly, “You might have been able to defeat them if you hadn’t brought me along with you.” 

Zu An shook his head and replied, “Even if I didn’t bring you with me, I still wouldn’t be able to defeat so many of them. My cultivation is too low for me to deal with so many soldiers at once.”

Qiao Xueying’s eyes were still focused on his bleeding arm. “Why did you block that attack for me? You could have lasted a little longer if you hadn’t done so.”

Zu An groaned in dismay as he remarked weakly, “Argh, it maddens me just to think about it. Indeed, why did I do that? It’s not like you’re my wife, so why did I even try to save you? If I had another chance to do it all over again, I’d surely hurl you at them so that you would take the blow for me. Goddamnit, it angers me just thinking about it…”

Looking at the resentful air he was putting on, Qiao Xueying burst into laughter. “Really, you always come up with the most inappropriate responses to situations. It’s no wonder why you’re so hated.”

“Hey, I just saved your life, right? The least you can do is stop being so foul-mouthed…” rebuked Zu An.

Before he could finish his words, Qiao Xueying suddenly raised her head and planted her soft lips against his.

Zu An’s eyes went wide in shock. 

This time, he had to admit that her mouth didn’t taste foul at all. On the contrary, there was even a hint of sweetness.

However, he couldn’t understand why she would kiss him at a time like this. Could she have been lusting after my body all along, and lost all resistance to my charms now that we’re on the verge of death?

It was a long while before their lips parted. Qiao Xueying’s pale cheeks were flushed red. She was about to say something when Zu An suddenly exclaimed in horror, “That was my first kiss!”

Qiao Xueying stared at him, speechless.

You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for 999 Rage points!