Suo Hanyi was instantly struck with terror. His wife, Yang Hongyi, had indeed fallen into Suo Lun’s hands.
Although she was absolutely unable to wake up, if by some chance she did and exposed his shameful deeds before everyone, he would truly be ruined beyond redemption.
He took a deep breath, thinking of a way to respond.
If it truly came to that, he would have to insist that his wife Yang Hongyi and Suo Lun had been having an affair, which was why she was slandering him. But even so, it would not clear the suspicion from himself.
So once his wife truly woke up, it would truly be completely hopeless. Then could he shoot her dead the moment he laid eyes on her?
No, he could not. Because if he shot Yang Hongyi with an arrow from the city wall in full view of everyone, everyone would suspect it was his doing.
Suo Hanyi gritted his teeth fiercely, thinking to himself, “So what if Yang Hongyi exposes me? I will insist on her affair with Suo Lun and play the role of a victim. After all, among the rumours I spread to slander Suo Lun was the accusation of seducing his own sister. One more Yang Hongyi makes no difference.”
Moreover, even if his reputation suffered damage, there would be no truly substantial impact.
After all, the army following him was already completely bound to him in terms of interest. As long as he could kill Suo Lun, even if the soldiers and civilians of Tianshui City saw through his true face, what could they do? They would still be powerless and at his mercy.
The common people had always been the most foolish and weak.
Having convinced himself, Suo Hanyi put on his armour, strode out of the city lord’s manor, mounted his warhorse, and rode towards the city wall.
…
When Suo Hanyi arrived at the city wall, the area outside the city was already densely packed with Suo Lun’s… army.
If this could still be called an army.
More than ten thousand men, all of them riffraff and ruffians, their faces covered with black cloth, standing in crooked and disorderly ranks, holding all manner of weapons, in complete chaos.
Soon, Suo Hanyi caught sight of his wife Yang Hongyi’s figure on the back of an enormous lion-tiger beast, still unconscious as before.
Instantly, Suo Hanyi let out a long sigh of relief. His wife had not woken up. Good, good.
And on the lion-tiger beast at this moment, there was also a man. His lecherous hand was on his wife’s lower waist.
Instantly, Suo Hanyi nearly exploded. His wife had been in Suo Lun’s hands for more than half a day. Who knew what obscene things he had done to her.
“Suo Lun, I know it is you.” Suo Hanyi roared in fury, “If you have any guts, remove that face covering.”
Suo Lun, on the back of the lion-tiger beast, rubbed back and forth across Yang Hongyi’s lower abdomen, staring lazily at Suo Hanyi on the city wall. He did not reply, nor did he remove his face covering.
Suo Hanyi’s voice trembled, “Suo Lun, I did not believe the rumours outside that you raped your stepmother and concubines, and forcibly violated your own sister. Seeing you today, you are indeed worse than a beast. Yang Hongyi is another one of your sisters. For you to act like this truly breaks my heart. How can I face my foster father in the underworld?”
Suo Lun still did not respond. Instead, he placed his hand on Yang Hongyi’s chest, gently kneading it, then looked at Suo Hanyi with a provocative gaze, neither admitting nor denying that he was Suo Lun.
Suo Hanyi stared at the hand on his wife’s bosom, truly enraged to the extreme. Although he loved Suo Ningbing, Yang Hongyi was after all his wife. He was still filled with possessiveness towards her. Now, being held in Suo Lun’s embrace, touched above and below, he was nearly splitting his eye sockets.
But the play still had to be performed to the end.
Suo Hanyi’s eyes brimmed with tears, “Suo Lun, if you were merely dissolute in matters of women, that would be one thing. The people of Tianshui City are all your subjects, yet you actually led bandits to plunder and torment them. How could your heart bear it? A beast like you is unfit to be the city lord of Tianshui.”
These words elicited a tremendous resonance.
The soldiers on the city wall and the refugees behind it shouted in unison, “Down with Suo Lun, down with Suo Lun.”
“Long live City Lord Suo Hanyi…” This was clearly a plant.
But immediately after, countless voices responded, shouting loudly, “Long live City Lord Suo Hanyi.”
Hearing the cries of the people, a smug smile appeared at the corner of Suo Hanyi’s mouth. He truly had to thank Suo Lun for the havoc he had wreaked upon the territory of Tianshui City. Now he was even more the people’s choice.
At this point, even if Suo Lun entered Tianshui City, he could not be the city lord. Instead, he would be drowned in the spittle of countless citizens.
“Suo Lun, remove your mask, return my wife to me, and beg for forgiveness from all the elders and fellow villagers,” Suo Hanyi shouted loudly. “Then, confine yourself in the Suo Clan Discipline Hall to reflect upon your faults, and you may still keep your life. Otherwise, do not blame me for cleaning house on behalf of my foster father.”
With that, Suo Hanyi slowly drew his greatsword.
And just at this moment, Yang Hongyi in Suo Lun’s embrace suddenly trembled, her eyelids fluttering, as if she were about to wake.
Suo Hanyi was nearly frightened out of his wits. Yang Hongyi absolutely, absolutely must not wake up. Once she woke, with her hatred of evil, she would certainly tell everything. Then he would truly be ruined beyond redemption.
Instantly, Suo Hanyi dared not perform any longer. He roared loudly, “Kill this scourge, capture Suo Lun alive.”
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”
Instantly, ten thousand arrows flew from the city wall, pouring down like a torrential rain.
These arrows were still a hundred paces away when the rabble around Suo Lun turned ashen with fright, their legs going weak. If not for the hundred or so Suo Clan warriors holding the rear, they would probably have fled long ago.
Seeing this, Suo Hanyi let out a cold laugh. Such rabble, even if there were a hundred thousand of them, would be useless.
“First and Second Cavalry of the City Guard, follow me out of the city to kill the bandits!” Suo Hanyi ordered loudly.
“Understood.” On the city wall, cavalry in full armour shouted in response.
A quarter of an hour later, the city gates slowly opened.
Suo Hanyi, clad in golden armour and a red robe, like a war god, led two thousand cavalry charging out of the gates, rushing towards Suo Lun’s ten thousand bandit army.
The more than ten thousand rabble around Suo Lun were half money-grubbing militia and half riffraff and ruffians.
How long could these more than ten thousand rabble hold out against Suo Hanyi’s two thousand cavalry?
The answer was… half a minute!
Suo Hanyi’s warhorse had just charged out of the gates, still several hundred metres from the more than ten thousand rabble, when they were so terrified by his momentum that they lost their wits. They no longer cared about the post-battle reward of gold coins, nor the shouts of the Suo Clan warriors behind them. They simply turned and ran.
Instantly, the area outside the main city of Tianshui became a complete mess.
The more than ten thousand rabble fled in all directions, afraid they had not grown two extra legs.
Seeing this, Suo Hanyi’s cold laugh and contempt deepened. Suo Lun, this fool, was indeed nothing but a good-for-nothing wastrel. To actually expect to seize the city with these more than ten thousand rabble. It was absurd that Princess Zhi Ning had described him as so formidable.
“Kill…” With a thunderous roar, Suo Hanyi swung his greatsword, slashing towards the fleeing rabble.
In mere moments, several dozen people died beneath his blade, and not a single corpse was intact. They were either split in two from the middle or cut in half at the waist.
Kill, kill, kill…
Only through frenzied slaughter could he quench his raging heart.
A few minutes later, his entire body was covered in blood, like a god of slaughter, striking terror into all who saw him.
And the elite cavalry under his command also reaped the lives of the rabble like killing machines.
As Suo Hanyi was killing with relish, a nearby guard suddenly shouted, “My lord, Suo Lun has run off with your wife.”
Looking up, under the escort of a hundred riders, Suo Lun was riding the lion-tiger beast, desperately fleeing towards the east.
“Shameless, incompetent…” Suo Hanyi sneered.
A wastrel is a wastrel. Leading more than ten thousand rabble to attack the city, yet before the battle even began, he had fled.
“Think you can escape? Dream on.” Suo Hanyi slapped his horse’s rump and shouted loudly, “Charge, capture Suo Lun alive, rescue the lady.”
Instantly, the more than two thousand cavalry closely followed behind Suo Hanyi, pursuing the fleeing Suo Lun.
On the battlefield, over a thousand corpses already lay. The surviving temporary troops hired by Suo Lun with gold coins were so frightened they soiled themselves, running about like headless flies, wailing like ghosts.
…
Under the protection of a hundred clan warriors, Suo Lun continuously fled towards the east.
He rode a lion-tiger beast, whose speed far exceeded that of a warhorse, so even with all his might, Suo Hanyi could not catch up.
Yet he deliberately maintained a distance, neither too far nor too near, trailing Suo Hanyi and always keeping a distance of about a thousand metres.
And the clan warriors beside him rode ordinary warhorses. But what was extremely extravagant was that there was a place to change horses every less than a hundred li.
The furious Suo Hanyi pursued relentlessly, constantly changing horses.
Fortunately, his elite cavalry each had two horses. Otherwise, in this kind of galloping, they would have collapsed from exhaustion long ago.
After pursuing for two hundred li, the strategist beside him suddenly said, “City lord, could this Suo Lun be feigning defeat? Is there an ambush ahead?”
Suo Hanyi let out a cold laugh. Where would Suo Lun get an ambush? His main army was all outside Tianlang Pass. The troops he had on hand definitely did not exceed one or two thousand.
This pursuit continued for over three hundred li.
Suo Hanyi noticed that the warriors around Suo Lun grew fewer and fewer.
In the end, there was only Suo Lun himself.
However, his lion-tiger beast was far too fast, and its stamina was far too great. Suo Hanyi had already changed horses five times, yet still could not catch up no matter what.
Moreover, Suo Lun’s lion-tiger beast suddenly accelerated, faster and faster. In mere minutes, it disappeared without a trace.
Several thousand metres ahead, there was no sign of Suo Lun.
“Argh…” Suo Hanyi roared in fury, unwilling to let Suo Lun escape just like this.
He had finally been about to capture this bastard. If he let him get away now, it would be difficult to catch him again.
Moreover, his wife Yang Hongyi looked as if she would wake up very soon. Once she truly woke up, it would be a nightmare for him, Suo Hanyi.
No, he must capture this bastard and then tear him to pieces!
As for his wife Yang Hongyi? He had been reluctant to kill her before, but now she absolutely could not be allowed to live. Keeping her would only bring hidden danger to himself.
Moreover, he could conveniently pin his wife Yang Hongyi’s death on Suo Lun’s head.
Unwilling to give up, Suo Hanyi continued his mad pursuit towards the east.
Half an hour later, he could already hear the roaring of the sea.
He immediately prayed in his heart that Suo Lun would absolutely, absolutely not escape by boat, for then he would truly be unable to catch up.
Thus, he whipped his horse fiercely and charged onto the beach.
Heaven be praised, Suo Lun was still there. He and Yang Hongyi were both in a small boat. Suo Lun was desperately rowing north, already several thousand metres out.
“Hahaha, Suo Lun, today is your death day.” Suo Hanyi laughed heartily.
Then, he quickly found another boat on the beach.
He was first startled. Why was there coincidentally another boat? And why had Suo Lun not chosen to escape in this boat?
Soon, Suo Hanyi was somewhat relieved, because this boat was relatively large, and with Suo Lun’s strength, he could not possibly row it.
Moreover, even if there was an ambush, what of it? With his martial prowess, he feared no one.
He stepped forward and with a fierce tug, dragged the slightly larger wooden boat out of the sand and into the sea.
Then, he leapt onto the boat with a mighty bound, rowing the oars desperately, pursuing Suo Lun with all his might.
Truly worthy of being a Dragon Warrior. Although his boat was two or three times larger than Suo Lun’s, his rowing speed already exceeded Suo Lun’s.
At this point, Suo Hanyi was drawing closer and closer to Suo Lun.
His gaze was fixed intently on Suo Lun’s figure. His heart grew increasingly fervent, and the killing intent in his eyes grew increasingly thick.
Suo Lun, you are done for. This time, even if you grew wings, you could not fly away.
The two drew closer and closer. Two thousand metres, one thousand metres, five hundred metres, three hundred metres…
However, just at this moment.
The small boat ahead suddenly stopped. Suo Lun stood up and flashed a strange smile towards Suo Hanyi. Then he drew his finger across his throat, making a throat-slitting gesture.
“Suo Hanyi, you are dead!”
Then, Suo Lun bent his bow and nocked an arrow, his spirit locking on.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”
Twenty arrows in rapid succession.
Twenty black gold arrows formed a straight line in the air, all shooting towards Suo Hanyi.
Suo Hanyi laughed heartily. How could arrows shot by a mere Suo Lun possibly harm him?
He swung his sharp sword, slashing and parrying like lightning. In almost an instant, he had cut down all twenty arrows.
However…
When he cut down the last arrow.
“Boom…”
A terrifying energy suddenly exploded, completely ignoring his Dragon Force defence, completely ignoring his armour, and violently assaulting his entire body.
What was this energy?
It was, of course, the terrifying radiation energy devoured in the lake of the Yellow Springs Ancient City.
On that day, he had spent half of it to kill Ji Gang and Tu Lingduo.
And the remaining half, Suo Lun had the Demon Star concentrate entirely within the black gold arrows to deliver a full-force strike against Suo Hanyi.
His entire body assaulted by the terrifying radiation energy, Suo Lun only felt his vision go dark and his body turn cold.
Then, he immediately circulated his entire Dragon Force to force out this terrible energy.
A Dragon Warrior was indeed a Dragon Warrior. When Suo Lun had used half the radiation energy to kill two people that day, Ji Gang had died violently and Tu Lingduo had fallen from her horse, unconscious.
Yet today, this half of the radiation energy striking Suo Hanyi only caused him to sway slightly.
Suo Lun, is this your so-called trump card? Completely unworthy of mention.
Suo Hanyi sneered inwardly, desperately shaking his head to resist the waves of darkness and dizziness, intending to continue rowing and pursue Suo Lun.
But just at this moment!
“Boom!” A stunningly beautiful figure shot out of the water like lightning.
Holding a strangely twisted sword, like a shooting star, she thrust fiercely towards him.
Who, who was this woman? Her martial arts were actually so profound.
She was, of course, Yan Naier, who had been lying in ambush here for a long time.
Suo Hanyi exerted all his strength to suddenly block Yan Naier’s sword.
“Clang!”
As the two swords clashed, the black gold sword in Suo Hanyi’s hand suddenly snapped, flying straight up into the sky.
What kind of sword was in this woman’s hand? It was actually so fearsome that it could even sever a pure black gold sword?
In the time it took to speak, Yan Naier’s second thrust came even more ferociously!