Chapter 2091: Sacrifice
The Qin brothers were about to continue arguing, but King Liang got impatient and had the guards drive them out.
Xie Xiu looked at the two of them with a big smile, remarking, “Didn’t I already tell you that it’s useless to talk to him?”
Qin Yongde harrumphed. “Pah, who does he think he is? If not for the fact that something happened to the Qin clan, would he ever have been able to boss people around and do whatever he wanted like this?”
“Watch what you say!” Qin Guangyuan immediately stopped him. “We're in troubled times right now. Please don’t bring more trouble onto our Qin clan.”
“I really can’t stand him. He says that he's worried about the cooperation between the two sides, but isn’t he just doing this to fawn on that Bluefield Country Lord?” Qin Yongde continued in annoyance.
Xie Xiu nodded and said, “That Bluefield Country Lord is indeed pretty.”
Qin Yongde’s eyes darted around. He put his arm around Xie Xiu's shoulder and said, “Brother Xie, you’ve always been good with women. What do you think about trying to get closer to that country lord?”
Xie Xiu replied with a bitter smile, “I like human women, okay? Also, there was nothing different in that Bluefield Country Lord’s eyes when she saw me. Do you know why?”
“Does that even matter? Do you expect her to love you at first sight or something?” Qin Yongde asked in confusion.
Xie Xiu smiled, saying, "And that's why you still don’t understand women well enough. The look in their eyes can reveal a lot of things. Even though this humble one isn’t that handsome, I still think I have a bit of charm. If a woman has no reaction when they see me, there can only be two possibilities.”
“Which two possibilities?” Qin Guanyuan asked curiously.
“One, she's blind. Two, she already has someone!” Xie Xiu answered with a sigh. “Bluefield Country Lord is clearly not the former, which means she's clearly the latter.”
There was something else that he didn’t say, which is that when they first met, Tushan Yu had already told him that she came because the regent entrusted her with this task. With Zu An’s nature, it would be weirder if there was nothing between them.
Qin Yongde said with a smile, “With your skills, even if they have no feelings for you, you can still get closer to them.”
Qin Guangyuan’s expression became serious as he said, “Nonsense. How could you do something so indecent?”
Just then, a curious voice called out, “What kinds of indecent affairs are you talking about?”
Two beautiful figures drew closer. One carried the grace of a wise and virtuous lady, while the other was dressed in golden armor. Their figures were especially tall and slender. They were none other than Xie Daoyun and Murong Qinghe, who had also joined the operation to assist the Fiend races.
The men's faces immediately heated up. How could they still continue talking about this? They could only change the topic. “It’s all because that King Liang is too despicable. He’s not willing to assign troops to scout our surroundings.”
“What else can we do? Our people have patrolled every day and can’t take it anymore,” Murong Qinghe said in worry.
They all came from military clans, after all, so they still had some servants traveling with them who had been sent over to assist in the fight, and also to protect the young masters. It seemed that perhaps King Liang was deliberately targeting them, as he never listened to their advice. They were worried that something would happen, so they could only lead their own people on patrols. Even so, they really were too few in number. They had to continue the march during the day and patrol the surroundings at night. Even their tough bodies couldn't handle it anymore, and gradually, complaints emerged from their ranks.
Qin Guangyuan said gravely, “My brothers can't take this much longer, so let’s let them rest first. The three of us will take over sentry duty today.”
Xie Xiu couldn't help but complain, “Sleeping too late will ruin the skin of a beautiful man like me!”
Qin Yongde put his arm around Xie Xiu's shoulder and secretly gave it a squeeze, asking, “Then are you going or not?”
“I’ll go, I’ll go…” Xie Xiu said with a miserable expression.
Xie Daoyun and Murong Qinghe both blurted out at the same time, “We’re going too!”
Xie Xiu was stunned, asking, “Big sis, why are you going?”
The Qin brothers also quickly advised Murong Qinghe against the idea. They knew that she was the childhood sweetheart of Chu Youzhao, so they were worried that something could happen to her.
Xie Daoyun smiled warmly and said, “I’m not some weak and delicate daughter. Of course I have to do my part as well.”
Murong Qinghe brandished the spear in her hands and said, “I spent a lot of time in the military and am already used to these kinds of things. Big sister Xie and Ican look after each other too.”
When they saw how stubborn the young women were about this, and thought about how they had to patrol all around at night even though they really did lack manpower, the three men could only agree.
…
Soon after, night fell. The Qin brothers each brought some subordinates to patrol one direction. Xie Xiu was placed in charge of one direction alone, while Xie Daoyun and Murong Qinghe were both placed in charge of the last direction.
The area the two women were assigned to spanned around two kilometers. They didn’t notice anything strange. Besides, it had been quite peaceful recently, so they couldn't help but relax a bit.
“It seems the Qin brothers were worrying excessively after all,” Xie Daoyun said with a smile.
“Big sister Xie, these are all things that a qualified military officer should do. Perhaps it might be useless ninety-nine times, but as long as it's useful once, it can save the lives of everyone in the army,” Murong Qinghe explained.
“Ah, it seems I was too ignorant,” Xie Daoyun said, feeling a bit embarrassed.
“Big sister Xie speaks too seriously,” Murong Qinghe said in consolation. There weren’t many women in the army camp, so the two of them were frequently together and had grown much closer than before. “By the way, big sister Xie, I heard that you used to frequently follow big brother Zu in his adventures. Can you tell me some stories about what happened?”
“It wasn’t all that often. It was just once or twice,” Xie Daoyun said. When she started to talk about Zu An, she became a bit shy.
The two women quickly started chatting with each other while continuing the patrol.
After an unknown amount of time passed, a shrill arrow suddenly whistled in the distance. The two women's expressions both changed, as the arrow came from Qin Guangyuan’s direction, and it was a special whistling arrow used for alarms. Thus, they both quickly rushed in that direction. Qin Guangyuan only had a few guards with him, so they knew it would be really dangerous if he really encountered an enemy attack. Xie Daoyun tossed out a few talismans to apply to Murong Qinghe’s body, and Murong Qinghe immediately sensed that she had become much faster. The two quickly rushed to the scene.
There, the Qin brothers were sitting back to back, wounded. Their few personal guards had already collapsed in pools of blood, and the corpses of many Fiend soldiers were surrounding them. The reason why they hadn't been completely annihilated by the numerous Fiend soldiers around them was because Xie Xiu was risking his life to protect the two brothers.
Xie Xiu’s fingers were like lightning as chess pieces fired out like bullets, taking down Fiend soldiers with each strike. Not even the best of the armor they wore was able to stop his attacks. Even so, there were just too many Fiend soldiers around them, accompanied by several officers who were quite powerful. Even with the help of formations, Xie Xiu was gradually pushed into a disadvantageous position.
Murong Qinghe shouted as she thrust her spear. She immediately rushed to Xie Xiu's side to defend against several Fiend soldiers attempting to ambush him. Her golden armor was elegant, and she had long and slender legs; when they saw that, the eyes of the surrounding Fiend soldiers immediately lit up. As they charged, they became a bit more excited.
Xie Daoyun quickly activated her talismans, and support skills quickly manifested to assist her companions. Talisman formations lit up in the air one after another, clearly weakening the incoming attacks.
However, dozens of crossbow bolts flew from the distance. The enemy was clearly no pushover; they realized how much of an impact Xie Daoyun had on the battlefield and didn’t want to give her a chance to activate them fully. Helpless to do anything else, Xie Daoyun could only withdraw the formations, taking out some talismans to defend herself. In that instant, a group of Fiend soldiers quickly rushed up to her. Their cultivation wasn't low at all.
Xie Daoyun was a rune and formation master. Given enough time and distance, she could wipe out this small troop all on her own. However, in such a situation, no one would give her the chance to use all of her powers. She was quickly surrounded by peril.
Xie Xiu and Murong Qinghe quickly supported her, one from a distance and one from up close. Unfortunately, there were enemies all around them as well. They were soon caught within the enemy’s ranks, and the space they could use to fight back grew smaller and smaller, while the pressure they faced only increased. They felt more and more despair. Judging from the scale of the enemy army, this was clearly not the main force and was just meant to stall them. As for where the main force was headed, that went without saying.
The group thought about the human army that was completely defenseless several kilometers away. If they were ambushed in the middle of the night, they were probably going to be completely wiped out!
Even so, they didn’t have the freedom to think about all of that, because a dark figure swiftly flew out from the Fiend soldiers' camp at extreme speed. Even though everyone in the group did their best to defend and retaliate, they were still wounded.
Just then, a bat-like monster appeared, hanging upside down on a tree. It looked at the FIend soldiers with disdain and remarked, “You all really are trash. You couldn’t even deal with these people yet? Thank goodness the Second Prince sent me here.”
The soldiers were all really angry, but they didn’t dare to offend it. They knew that the monster was the Blackhair Bat, an emissary from the alien monsters. It was incredibly strong, and it liked to suck out blood essence from its targets. If they died in its hands, that would definitely be indescribably painful.
Then, the Blackhair Bat looked at Xie Daoyun and the others greedily and said, “You cuties are quite lively, especially those three young ladies. Your tender flesh will definitely be delicious.”
Xie Xiu exclaimed furiously, “Open your damned eyes, I’m a freaking man!”
He took out a chess board and was about to attack when he suddenly staggered. He fell to his knees, hissing, “Poison!”
As soon as he said that, Xie Daoyun and Murong Qinghe also both felt dizzy. They looked at the wounds on their arms and saw black blood already starting to come out.
“Heh heh, beautiful ladies, accept my warm embrace and become my slaves!” Tthe Blackhair Bat cried out. Naturally, it wouldn't let such a good chance go and immediately rushed over. When it spread its wings, they immediately extended ten meters outward, instantly surrounding the two women.
Xie Daoyun tried to summon something, but the poison activated and she couldn't move at all. She was full of regret. It seemed like she still lacked real fighting experience… If she had immediately exerted herself to use the Record of High Firmament, perhaps the battlefield would be entirely different.
A decisive look flickered through Xie Xiu’s eyes. Several black and white pieces flashed around him, and Xie Daoyun and Murong Qinghe appeared at his side, while he appeared inside the Blackhair Bat’s wings. This was an ultimate skill that Hei Baizi had researched through chess theory, Substitution! Depending on the state of the game, as long as he believed that there were enough benefits, he could sacrifice a piece. Although usually, someone else was used as the sacrifice, the user was now treating himself as the sacrificial piece.
“Noooo!” Xie Daoyun cried, naturally recognizing what the skill was. When she saw her little brother face death in her place, she immediately felt endless despair.
“Hm? That’s interesting. But I’ll just eat you first and then slowly enjoy those two beauties after,” the Blackhair Bat said, then laughed sinisterly.
It was about to devour the young man in its arms when a resplendent sword descended from the sky, nailing its head to the ground.
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