A muffled sound was heard!
Like a sharp metal thorn stabbing into dozens of stacked wet papers, the arrow shot into the chest of a bodyguard beside the luxurious carriage. The bearded young man covered his bleeding chest and fell down.
At the moment when Ning Que shouted that the enemy was under attack, the well-trained bodyguard of the princess quickly reacted. The bodyguard bravely jumped onto the shaft of the carriage and blocked the window of Her Highness's carriage. He did not know where the arrow would be shot, but he knew that Her Highness inside the carriage must be the enemy's first target, and he could not let Her Highness's life be threatened.
The brave bodyguard made the right bet, and the price he paid was his young life.
"Enemy attack!"
"Protect Her Highness!"
"Shield!"
The bodyguards roared angrily and in shock.
Countless arrows shot out densely from the depths of the dense forest like a rainstorm, and they whistled as they instantly caused the whistling sound of the wind to vanish without a trace, causing it to seem extremely terrifying.
Ning Que, who was still some distance away from the circle, immediately lay down. At the same time, he did not forget to throw Sangsang and the maidservant who followed him out of the tent.
He fell heavily in the forest, but he did not feel much pain because the ground was covered with hundreds of thousands of years old rotten pine leaves on the Northern Mountain Road. With his face against the slightly cool leaves, he listened to the dense sounds of arrows piercing through the air in front of him, and occasionally listened to the sound of arrows flying over his head. He silently calculated the number of archers and the number of arrows they used.
The entrance of the Northern Mountain Road was surrounded by the angry and anxious shouts of the bodyguards, the orders to set up defenses, and the extremely heavy sound of shields being set up. The big shields made of carriage boards were inserted into the edge of the shafts by the bodyguards, which played a great role.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The arrows fiercely pierced into the simple wooden shields, making a dull sound like a war drum, but it was more frequent and terrifying than the craziest war drum. From time to time, some arrows shot through the gaps of the simple wooden shields and hit the bodyguards, causing a muffled groan. Unfortunately, the horses that were hit by the arrows were not as fierce and strong as the men of the empire, and fell to the ground in pain and wailed.
The sound of arrows piercing through the air, the sound of arrows hitting wooden shields, the muffled groans of people, and the mournful neighing of horses were mixed together, turning the camp that was previously shrouded in warm twilight into a Shura Hell.
Xiu!
An arrow fiercely shot into the mud less than half a foot in front of Ning Que, splashing soil and gravel on his face, instantly leaving a red mark. However, his facial expression did not change at all. He quietly crawled on the rotten pine needles, looking through the gaps between the leaves, over the shaft of the arrow, and at the distant Northern Mountain Road in the south.
The enemy did not choose to launch an ambush in the dense forest of the Northern Mountain Road, nor did they choose to attack at night. Instead, they chose to attack in the evening when the caravan had just arrived at the entrance of the Northern Mountain Road. Even though Ning Que had a natural intuition for danger since childhood, he still did not think of this.
Dusk was the time when people were most likely to relax and their guard was at its lowest. Moreover, the convoy was about to meet the Gushan Commandery's reinforcement team, so it was inevitable that people would relax a little. These enemies must be taking advantage of this.
Vaguely, he saw many figures appearing in the dense forest on both sides of the Northern Mountain Road. Based on the previous calculation of the density of arrows and what he could see, he roughly estimated the number of enemies to be about 60.
After all, they were in the territory of the Tang Empire, and the enemy wanted to assassinate His Majesty's favorite Fourth Princess. Whether for the sake of secrecy before or after the assassination, the enemy could not use a real large force, so they could only choose the most loyal Men of Sacrifice.
Since they were Men of Sacrifice, the number of them naturally could not be too large. However, Ning Que was very clear that in a fight on the battlefield, the more people there were, the more powerful they would be. On the contrary, a team composed of all fearless Men of Sacrifice was the most difficult to deal with.
The bigwigs of the empire arranged such a shocking assassination. In addition to Men of Sacrifice, they might even ask cultivators to help. Thinking that he might see the battle between those powerhouses on the battlefield today, Ning Que inexplicably felt a kind of inexplicable excitement in his heart, and then he felt an unprecedented fear.
"How unlucky I am." He muttered as he turned around to glance at the maidservant beside him. He noticed that besides the panic and bewilderment that had appeared in her eyes in the beginning, the young lady had actually swiftly calmed down, and he couldn't help but silently praise her in his heart.
The enemies on both sides of the dense forest had already poured out. Those men in gray Tang army uniforms did not cover their faces. They were waving the standard steel knives in their hands and pouncing forward at high speed like a pack of wolves. Since they did not hide their identities, it was obvious that one side would be completely slaughtered.
The fierce barbarians around the convoy were the Horse Gang subdued by Her Highness on the grassland. They had long been stimulated by the previous arrow rain. Some of them raised their short bows and began to shoot rapidly, while others screamed and pulled out the machetes at their waists to meet the enemies.
Suddenly, there was a fierce sound of blades colliding at the entrance of the Northern Mountain Road. In the muffled groans and wild roars, people from both sides fell down from time to time. The tips of the blades stabbed into their chests and abdomens, and the blades cut open their throats. Blood sprayed from the men's bodies and dyed the already wet leaves red.
As soon as the battle began, it entered the most tragic stage. But no one retreated or turned around to escape. In addition to killing skills, it was more about the valiant fighting spirit that dared to bleed.
The grassland barbarians loyal to the Princess were extremely good at archery. They were brave but not flustered. They suppressed the enemies' attack in an instant. Figures fell down from the dense forest from time to time. The barbarians screamed and counterattacked, gradually controlling the forest around the caravan formation. Although they were brave, they were still cautious and did not blindly expand their positions.
From any point of view, the tactical choice of these grassland barbarian guards was very correct, at least in Ning Que's view. So he was very puzzled why the maidservant beside him became more and more solemn and gloomy, as if she was worried about something.
After all, these brave grassland barbarians had never experienced the terrible battle in the Central Plains. Thinking about it with worry, she gritted her teeth and was ready to stand up.
Ning Que would not let her expose herself and put himself and Sangsang in a terrible situation. He clenched his right hand into a fist and punched her knee, making her fall down again.
"What are you doing!"
The maidservant stared at his eyes angrily, while her right hand quietly and slowly reached to her waist.
Ning Que looked at the battlefield attentively and did not pay attention to her question. When he noticed the scene in the caravan formation, he thought of a possibility and could not help but feel slightly cold.
The battle at the entrance of Northern Mountain Road was fierce, but there was a strange silence in the caravan formation. The dozen elite Tang bodyguards, who should have been sent to the grassland as a dowry, were like a dozen stone statues, half kneeling around the two carriages.
In front of one of the carriages, the gentle old man in an old robe was sitting with his eyes closed. Under the protection of the bodyguards, he was facing the dark and dense forest.
Ning Que nervously licked his numb lips and stretched out his hand to Sangsang. His palm was wet with sweat.
Sangsang glanced at him and handed over the bow and arrow in her hand. Then she slowly and silently untied the black umbrella on her back and quietly put it on the fallen leaves beside her.
…
…
The battle was still going on. The three of them were separated from the fierce battlefield by the caravan formation. It seemed that the battle between the grassland barbarians and the Men of Sacrifice would not affect them in a short time. But somehow, Ning Que felt unprecedentedly nervous, and the sweat between his palm and the bowstring had gradually dried up.
The dozen bodyguards beside the carriages, half kneeling on the ground like stone statues, looked coldly at the depths of the dense forest. Their slightly dark faces were full of firmness and calmness. Although they were vigilant, they were absolutely fearless.
These Tang bodyguards were from the Yulin Royal Guards of Chang 'an and were specially selected to accompany the Fourth Princess to the grassland. They were naturally the most elite members of the military. But today, in the battle outside the entrance of Northern Mountain Road, their performance was somewhat strange.
When the rain of arrows came from the depths of the Dark Forest, they quickly formed a circular defensive formation and silently hid behind their shields. When the enemy Men of Sacrifice came, they still remained motionless and maintained this posture, completely ignoring the fierce battle taking place around them.
From time to time, the grassland barbarians of the same camp died in front of them, and from time to time, a lifeless body hit the caravan formation with a dull thud. They did not even blink their eyelashes and just stared coldly at the depths of the dense forest, their hearts and bodies as hard as steel.
The bodyguards knelt on one knee on the fallen leaves. They wore cotton shirts, and the edges of the cotton shirts could vaguely see the armor pieces. Their right hands reached behind their backs and tightly grasped the slanted hilts. They stared coldly ahead and surrounded the two carriages behind them.
One carriage was gorgeous and silent. In front of the other carriage, the only old man in the team was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed. He looked very relaxed, with a sword across his knees. The scabbard was old and tattered, just like the old man's robe.
The bodyguards guarded around the old man expressionlessly, as if they could not see the battle around them and could not hear the shouts. Occasionally, when the enemy was about to break into their defensive circle, a bodyguard would pull out his sword and throw himself into the battle.
Because he was outnumbered, the single bodyguard would quickly fall into a bloody battle. But even so, the rest of the bodyguards were not moved. They did not even blink their eyelashes and still refused to leave the old man.
Ning Que did not know why the bodyguards were like this, nor did he know what was hidden in the leaves of the Dark Forest that the bodyguards were vigilantly watching. But he knew that there must be a great horror there.
He vaguely guessed what was going to happen. The gorgeous and cold new world was about to open the curtain and the reality that was about to come made him extremely nervous. His scalp was a little numb, and his index and middle fingers kept silently stroking the bowstring. After a while, his breathing magically slowed down, and his expression became calmer and more composed than before.
The fear of waiting for the unknown danger made the atmosphere extremely depressing. The fierce fighting around the caravan formation and the sound of swords colliding seemed to have disappeared.
At the most tense and critical moment, the window of the gorgeous carriage was pushed open with a squeak. A beautiful young woman poked her head out. Her hair was slightly in a bun, and she looked slightly worried.
Before she could say anything, the cold-looking bodyguard beside the carriage whispered to Her Highness to be careful. Then he quickly reached out and closed the window, blocking her back. Although his expression was respectful, perhaps because of the tense situation, his actions were a little rude.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
