signingbooks #418 - Bloody Land
#418 - Bloody Land
Just now, when Liang Jin, together with the garrison commander and the squad leader, were fighting, the reason they felt Liang Jin only possessed fifth-rank strength was entirely due to the 《Thousand Faces Mystical Art》.
Liang Jin had to suppress his strength by a large realm in order to maintain the disguise effect of the 《Thousand Faces Mystical Art》.
But now that he had been exposed, Liang Jin no longer continued to disguise himself.
In an instant, his face rippled like the surface of water, beginning to twist and change. His bones emitted a faint cracking sound, and his flesh seemed to be pulled and reshaped by invisible hands. His facial features reassembled, and his figure also changed accordingly.
In the blink of an eye, Liang Jin transformed from the appearance of Zhuying back to his original self.
At the same time, his aura of strength surged like a raging tide, rapidly escalating, wave after wave.
The garrison commander stared at Liang Jin, whose aura had drastically changed, his eyes wide with terror, and he exclaimed in a trembling voice:
"You… who exactly are you?"
The continuously rising terrifying aura, like tangible pressure, caused the garrison commander's heart to beat rapidly, and his back was already soaked with cold sweat.
The squad leader, however, had already recognized Liang Jin. A hint of realization flashed in his eyes, followed by endless excitement, and he shouted loudly:
"He is the great bandit Song Jiang!"
Upon hearing this, both the garrison commander and Zhao Chuxia were so shocked that their mouths hung open, their faces filled with disbelief.
Zhao Chuxia was even more enlightened. No wonder that person wanted to monopolize the grain and ruthlessly kill the officials. It turned out that he was not the famous constable Zhuying at all, but a daring thief!
At this moment, the squad leader's eyes were filled with excitement, as if he saw a great achievement beckoning to him:
"Good, Song Jiang, you stole the grain from the prefect and the Six Doors commander, and now you dare to steal our silver!"
"Today, we will capture you and claim credit with the imperial court!"
If he were facing the famous constable Qinfeng, the squad leader would definitely be extremely apprehensive and would not dare to attack easily. After all, he knew that Qinfeng, as a third-rank expert, possessed strength far beyond his ability to contend with.
But facing this Song Jiang, the situation was completely different.
At this moment, the squad leader could clearly perceive that even though Song Jiang's aura was continuously rising, it was only maintained at the fourth-rank level.
Now, there were two fourth-rank martial artists present, including himself and the garrison commander. They were two against one. In the squad leader's view, capturing this great bandit Song Jiang was as easy as picking something out of a bag!
"Princess, you go out first!"
The squad leader turned to look at Zhao Chuxia and shouted urgently:
"Garrison commander, we'll attack from both sides!"
With that, he eagerly waved his saber forward, the blade flashing with a fierce aura, directly approaching Liang Jin.
The garrison commander also responded loudly, gripping the weapon in his hand tightly, and launched an attack towards Liang Jin together with the squad leader.
The two cooperated tacitly, attempting to force Liang Jin into a desperate situation from both sides.
But Liang Jin was not flustered at all, a confident smile on his face. He laughed heartily while steadily meeting the two.
The laughter echoed in the camp tent, filled with disdain.
Seeing the opportunity, Zhao Chuxia seized the chance to escape from the tent.
She knew very well that the fighting between these three fourth-rank martial artists would have a huge range of impact. With her own seventh-rank martial artist strength, she simply did not have the ability to stay.
Zhao Chuxia acted very cautiously. While the war puppet Huang Xingzi was slaughtering the servants and guards outside, she had quietly slipped to the side.
She walked quickly through the camp tent, encountering many panicked maids along the way. They only heard shouts of killing coming from the tent, but they knew nothing about what was happening.
So when the maids saw Zhao Chuxia, they rushed forward, bowing and waiting for Zhao Chuxia's orders.
"Get out of the way! All of you, get out of the way!"
But Zhao Chuxia, as if she had gone mad, slapped them away with several slaps.
At this moment, she only wanted to quickly get away from this place. How could she be blocked by these maids?
Zhao Chuxia remembered very clearly that the great bandit Song Jiang also had two brothers, and also had the "Flying Swallow Divine Thief" Yan San Niang and her gang of thieves together.
Now the guards around her were almost killed, and she could not expect the garrison commander and the squad leader to protect her safety.
So she decided to leave here in advance.
As long as she successfully joined up with the reinforcements from the Prince's Mansion, who in the world would dare to touch her?
Zhao Chuxia had already sent someone back to the Prince's Mansion to send a message last night. She was confident that as long as she got into the carriage and headed towards her fief, she would definitely be able to meet the reinforcements soon!
It was strange to say that when Zhao Chuxia regarded Liang Jin as Zhuying, she was not in a hurry to escape, and hated that Zhuying to the bone.
But when she learned that the person was Song Jiang, Zhao Chuxia ran away without the slightest hesitation, and the hatred in her heart quickly dissipated a lot.
Several servants had been waiting by the carriage, ready to serve the princess at any time.
Zhao Chuxia immediately shouted remotely at the servants:
"Quickly prepare the carriage!"
"I need the carriage immediately!"
Upon hearing this, the servants immediately connected the horses and carriage deftly, ready to welcome Zhao Chuxia.
But the next moment, the servants suddenly changed their expressions and looked at Zhao Chuxia behind them in horror.
Zhao Chuxia also heard a loud noise coming from behind her.
"Boom!!!!!!"
The sound shook the sky and the earth, as if to shatter the entire world, causing her to look back involuntarily.
She saw that a strong energy collision seemed to have occurred in the distance of the camp. A dazzling light flashed, followed by a powerful shock wave.
This shock wave, like a raging wave, immediately swept across the entire camp. Wherever it went, the curtains of the tents were torn apart, sweeping in with a cloud of dust.
Zhao Chuxia hurriedly reached out to block in front, trying to resist this powerful force.
"Whoosh!"
The shock wave roared and passed in an instant.
Zhao Chuxia was blasted back two steps by the powerful force before finally standing firm.
After all, she was a seventh-rank martial artist, and she had some strength. But even so, this shock wave still made her feel a burst of palpitation.
When she looked up, she saw that a raging fire had already started burning in the camp. Obviously, the furnaces in the tent where the silver was being recast had been overturned, and the scorching flames spread rapidly, causing many tents to be ignited.
Rolling thick smoke rose up, shrouding the entire camp in a terrifying atmosphere.
At the same time, a scream rang out:
"Ah!!!!"
Along with the scream, an figure was seen flying into the sky, screaming and falling towards this side in a parabola.
Zhao Chuxia hurriedly squatted down slightly, and the figure immediately roared past her head.
"Bang!!!!"
The figure slammed heavily onto the luxurious carriage dedicated to the princess, and the huge impact shattered the entire carriage.
Due to the excessive force of the collision, the carriage fragments splashed everywhere, and those sharp wooden thorns and sawdust were like sharp arrows shooting in all directions.
The first to suffer were the horses, which screamed after being hit by the fragments, broke free from their reins, and fled in all directions.
And those servants who were waiting by the carriage suffered miserably. They screamed and fell in the flying fragments, and those who were unlucky even lost their lives.
When Zhao Chuxia looked back, she saw that the entire carriage was completely shattered, and there was even a large pit on the ground.
The garrison commander was lying in the big pit, covered in blood, his breath weak.
"Lord Garrison Commander!"
Zhao Chuxia hurriedly ran over, looking at the seriously injured garrison commander in a panic.
"How could this be… Did the squad leader capture Song Jiang?"
Zhao Chuxia asked anxiously.
She really couldn't understand, didn't the two sides just start fighting? Why did this garrison commander look like he had already been seriously injured!
The garrison commander was now unable to move, blood constantly flowing from his seven orifices, staining the ground beneath him red.
After hearing Zhao Chuxia's voice, he barely opened his eyes to glance at her, then weakly said:
"That Song Jiang... his strength... is too terrifying! He is definitely... not someone we can defeat!"
"Head... he can't hold on for much longer... Your Grace... run!"
After saying that, the garrison commander's head drooped, the last breath in his chest exhaling from his mouth and nose.
He had completely entered the realm of death.
Zhao Chuxia watched the garrison commander die before her eyes, her fear intensifying, as if an invisible hand was tightly gripping her throat.
A series of terrified screams rang out again.
It was the person with the metal skull mask coming!
The long sword in his hand dripped with blood, each drop falling to the ground as if announcing the arrival of death.
The blood droplet in his other hand still had a large amount of bone and flesh fragments clinging to its inner and outer blades, making it look incredibly terrifying.
"P-Protect Her Grace!"
A nearby attendant shouted in alarm.
Many attendants and maids immediately stepped forward, trembling.
They were long accustomed to obeying orders, and even more accustomed to being servants, dedicating everything to their masters.
They even felt that sacrificing themselves to save the princess at this time was worthwhile.
Because the princess and the prince would definitely treat their families well in the future.
So, despite the extreme fear in their hearts, they still stood in front of the person with the metal skull mask.
And what awaited them would be cold swords and blades.
In an instant, the chaotic sounds of footsteps, falls, and screams rang out again.
The sound of blades slicing through flesh, accompanied by people's screams, echoed in the air, sending chills down the spine.
Zhao Chuxia ran without looking back.
She didn't care about the lives of these attendants and maids.
In her heart, her own life was the most important thing.
"Horses? Where are the horses?"
Zhao Chuxia couldn't help but shout.
However, the situation was now chaotic, and no one came back to answer her.
She could only run and search.
Some attendants and maids scattered throughout the camp were attracted by her and gathered towards her.
But the person with the metal skull mask followed like a shadow, constantly reaping the lives of all those who blocked his path.
And Zhao Chuxia finally saw the horses!
She was overjoyed and hurried towards the horses, wanting to ride away from this terrible place.
But the next second, she suddenly stopped.
Because she had reached the edge of the carpet, and if she took another step, she would step on the dirty soil.
In her mind, the soil was something that lower-class people touched, and as a princess, how could she be contaminated?
"Quick! Quickly lay down a carpet for me!"
Zhao Chuxia shouted loudly:
"No! No! Quickly bring the horse over here!"
Her voice was filled with panic and urgency.
But no one came to serve her anymore.
Zhao Chuxia turned her head to scold someone.
But she only saw dead bodies everywhere.
The blood pooled from the corpses had already soaked the thick carpet.
Zhao Chuxia stepped on the carpet with a little force, and she could squeeze out the blood it had absorbed.
And the person with the metal skull mask had just slashed down the last maid, then turned his head and looked towards Zhao Chuxia.
The eyes under the metal skull mask seemed to flicker with a cold light, making Zhao Chuxia's hair stand on end, and a chill ran straight from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.
She glanced back at the soil outside the carpet, her face showing entanglement and hesitation.
But faced with a life-threatening situation, she couldn't care about anything else.
"Dirty is dirty!"
Zhao Chuxia gritted her teeth and immediately stepped out, quickly running through the soil on tiptoe.
There was only one thought in her mind, and that was to escape from here.
A violent wind sounded behind her.
It was the metal skull mask person swinging the heavy blood droplet in his hand.
The blood droplet spun rapidly in the air, making a sharp whistling sound.
Zhao Chuxia had already jumped onto the horse's back.
"Giddy up!"
She slammed the horse's buttocks hard, tearing its skin.
Startled and in pain, the horse neighed and immediately started running forward.
However, at this moment.
"Whoosh!"
In the sky, it seemed that some black heavy object was falling at high speed.
Zhao Chuxia instinctively sensed the danger.
With her superb riding skills, she rolled over and hid under the horse's belly at the first moment!
The next moment, the blood droplet fell heavily, smashing onto the horse's head.
Then, the blood droplet took the horse's head into the air and was pulled back.
The headless horse immediately lost its direction, and its headless body did not fall down immediately, but ran a long way towards the camp before crashing down.
Zhao Chuxia rolled on the spot, looking at the tents with the curtains fluttering in the wind around her.
She didn't expect that she wanted to escape from here, but she actually ran back in again.
At this moment, her heart was full of despair and helplessness, wondering if she could still leave this terrible place alive.
Especially...
Everything around was swallowed by deathly silence, and the empty scene made fear spread wildly in her heart like vines.
Too quiet!
Deadly quiet!
Zhao Chuxia's heartbeat was particularly clear in this silence, each beat like a heavy drumbeat, striking her fragile nerves.
There was not a single sound, not a single movement, as if the whole world had died, leaving only her alone, surrounded by endless fear.
This deathly silence made it almost impossible for her to breathe.
Could it be that all the many attendants, maids, and guards in this camp were dead?
Suddenly!
A gust of wind howled past, suddenly rolling up the curtain of the tent in front of Zhao Chuxia.
At the moment when the curtain was lifted high, a familiar figure appeared behind the curtain.
Zhao Chuxia took a closer look and it was actually the Head!
The Head stood quietly in the tent, his figure straight.
Zhao Chuxia was overjoyed in an instant, and the light of hope ignited in her eyes. Ignoring her embarrassed appearance, she hurriedly ran to the Head, panting and said:
"Head, that's great, I really didn't expect to meet you here!"
"How was your battle with that Song Jiang, you guys..."
However, before she could finish speaking, Zhao Chuxia's voice stopped abruptly, as if an invisible hand had grabbed her throat.
Her smile also froze in an instant, and the expression on her face became extremely terrified, because she keenly noticed the strangeness of the Head in front of her.
No matter how she shouted or asked, the Head did not respond in the slightest, but stood there expressionlessly, his eyes empty and lifeless, as if he had lost his soul.
An ominous premonition surged into Zhao Chuxia's heart, her heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and her hands began to tremble uncontrollably.
She couldn't help but slowly reach out her hand, with a trace of hesitation, and gently touched the Head's body.
This gentle touch seemed to trigger a collapse.
The Head's entire body collapsed like a high-rise building that had lost its foundation, and fell heavily to the ground.
"Bang!"
The corpse raised a cloud of dust!
Zhao Chuxia stood there blankly, her mind blank.
After a long while, she finally realized that the Head had already died!
Fear completely overwhelmed her like a tide, her legs went weak, she almost collapsed to the ground, and her heart was full of despair and helplessness...