Supreme Emperor of Mist

"Join the battle! Our instructions are to provide assistance to the supplies convoy if necessary!" a squadron of two hundred soldiers on horses marched forward with their weapons in their hand. The leading officer of this backup squadron is none other than Shan Xiong Xin.

His arrival at this time was no coincidence but a planned ahead tactic of Sun Wu Jian.

There were two aims behind his late participation in this bandit subjugating mission. Firstly, it was to provide assistance when necessary. Along the way, his troops also could replace the officers if he deems necessary.

As for the second reason, it was to drag the bandits they captured back to Fuyun City. Unlike commoners with low cultivation, slaves like the bandits they captured were considered high-class slaves due to their high endurance.

"Backup?" Wu You stares at Shan Xiong Xin's incoming squadron as he pushes Expert Yi back. He immediately raised his hand and made a signal to his subordinates.

"Ready your crossbows. Fire at the Western direction. Our target is the two hundred or so horsemen!" Wu You's officer instructed. After following the bandit leader for so long, he's not a fool like the others.

"Fire! Fire! Fire!" the close to three hundred bandits pressed the trigger as they sent the volley of bolts at Shan Xiong Xin's squadron.

"S*it! Our assistance is going to turn into a stack of man-made porcupines if the attack hits!" Expert Yi's officer said as he rushed over from the third milestone.

He kept waving the Flag of Wu to call them to a retreat, but to his despair, they even picked up their speed after seeing what he did.

"No! Retreat! There's a volley of crossbow bolts coming! Retreat!" the officer yelled after knowing that his warning has fallen to deaf ears. Despair filled his eyes as he blamed himself for failing to prevent the same thing that happened to their convoy repeat itself on this group of fellow soldiers.

But then, something unexpected happened.

"Put on the amulet and pick up your speed. Left officer, I'll rely on you to protect our remaining soldiers. Officer of the Right, we'll head straight to the bandit's group and provide assistance to Expert Yi." Shan Xiong Xin said.

Suddenly, something unimaginable happened.

The two hundred soldiers split into two different groups. Their unannounced sprint cut the traveling time by half as the Left officer appeared before Expert Yi's trusted aide.

"You're doing good. Let us get to work," Shan Xiong Xin's officer said.

...

"Fire! Keep firing!" Wu You panicked as he witnesses the speed displayed by Shan Xiong Xin's unit. To make sure that he's able to secure an escape route for himself, he immediately put aside the intention to fight against Expert Yi.

But who was Expert Yi?

The more he sees Wu You in that panicked state, the happier he is.

"Where are you going? Since you have already come, then you might as well stay here!" Expert Yi took a treasure out from his Qiankun Pouch and activated it with his remaining spiritual energy.

"Life Exchange Lock!" a fraction of expert Yi Essence Blood was used to activate this weapon. With a price so steep to trigger this Offensive Treasure, its effect is undoubtedly more potent than expected.

Using the dagger in his hand, Expert Yi ruthlessly stabs his own leg. The same knife wound quickly appeared on the bandit leader's leg as he fell from the horse he was riding.

"Argh! You b*stard! I'll make you pay!" he crawled on the ground helplessly. To think that he, the leader of the fifth stronghold, would have a day like this.

"So what if I'm crippled after this battle. As long it was for the glory and honor of the ninth prince, I'll do it no matter how many chances you'll be giving me. Stay here and wait!" expert Yi gave another stab on his other leg.

This time, the pain made tears rolling down from Wu You's cheek. But any feeling of regret nor pain no longer works as the leg belonged to two different horses appeared in front of where he was crawling towards.

"You'll be following us," said Shan Xiong Xin.

...

...

...

"Hu Jia! Hu Jia!" Qin Lan picked up his pace as he pushes the Travelling Thousand Miles in a Step Movement Art to its limit. In a flash, he appeared at where one of the Covert Operation Team members is at.

Lying on the ground was Lu Qing Yun, who had the flesh on her arm ripped apart to a state it was gore to look at. And beside her was Hu Jia. She was lying on top of a pool of blood that seems to be formed from both of them.

His heart fell the moment he was greeted by this sight. Holding his fist hard as Qin Lan stepped forward, he slowly put two of his fingers on Hu Jia's wrist.

"Du... Du... Du..."

It was slow to the point there were no different from being dead.

"Master, what are we going to do? Can we do anything?" the servant asked.

"I want nobody to come close to me... Get everyone away." Qin Lan said.

"Yes, master." the servant immediately left. By the time everyone from the Qin Faction knew what happened, the battle between Xiong Jie and the experts has ended with the bandit retreated.

"I'm sorry, expert Shun, expert Xie. My brother wished not to be disturbed right now." Qin Chan sternly stopped Sun Wu Jian's experts from getting closer to them.

"Then... Then please let us know if there's something we can do. We'll move our camp over here to provide the Qin Faction with protection." the two experts offered.

"Then, we'll rely on your protection." Qin Chan accepted their gesture and returned to her meditation.

"Aii... To think that out of so many misfortune, it actually happened on Alchemist Qin's side. Shall we inform his highness about this?" Expert Shun asked.

"Let's... Wait for a while more. The Supplies Convoy is likely here soon." Expert Xie answered.

...

"Damn!" Lu Yi kicked the bonfire in front of him as he failed to control his anger. Huo Zunjie was the same as he barely managed to keep himself in check. His fist was already bleeding from holding them together.

Everyone's emotion was at the lowest right now, as Qin Lan remained quiet where the two girls were lying side by side.

Using almost everything he has, Qin Lan had successfully rescued Lu Qing Yun from walking a step further into the gate of hell. She was awake but still in a weakened state because of what happened earlier.

Two rows of tears were pouring out as she blamed herself for her own weaknesses.

"Young master... You shouldn't save me... What are you going to do with sister Hu Jia now?"

"I'm sorry... I'm very sorry..." Lu Qing Yun kept apologized as she knows no other words to describe her feeling of regret right now.

"Tell me what happened." Qin Lan said. He was holding on to Hu Jia's hand as he listened to what Lu Qing Yun had to say.

"The person that attacked us... Came from the Evil Infant Sect... From what he told us, the Hushan Bandits and Evil Infant Sect are together. I had the advantages when we started fighting. But halfway, his strength suddenly increases by double, almost reaching the pinnacle of first-level Bone Reconstruction."

"An intention to kill us appeared likely when he was very interested in both my Heaven's Strings and Hu Jia's Jade Maiden Sword. We retaliate but ultimately failed as he uses weird martial art to render all our abilities useless."

"My treasure was stripped off from my arm by force. As for Hu Jia, she was stabbed by her own sword a few times as that cultivator decided to test the sword's sharpness using the flesh of its owner..."

"Urgh... Ah..." a hint of pain came to Lu Qing Yun as the sense of pain slowly returned to her.

"Close your eyes and rest." Qin Lan said. After he finished talking, he tapped a few acupoints around Lu Qing Yun's shoulder and forehead to put her unconscious.

"Jia-Jia..." Qin Lan called Hu Jia like how he used to. But he did not get a reply from her at all. The only response he was given was a trail of tears of hopelessness and despair in her heart.

Although she was saved, there's no longer a spirit in her heart because her cultivation has been destroyed by the disciple from Evil Infant Sect. Right now, Hu Jia was even afraid of looking at her own reflection through Qin Lan's eyes, as she felt like dying.

"Just... Let me die... I am no longer worthy of becoming your wife..." she said.

"I'll look for the way. Don't be like this. Did you forget that I am once a cripple as well?" Qin Lan added. His thumb went to the edge of her eyes and gave it a rub to wipe her tears away.

"That's you... Not me... Promise me you'll get married again after I'm gone. Zhou Mei... Zhou Mei is good... You can make her your legitimate wife after I'm gone."

"Jia-Jia, stop talking. Why are you keep pushing me away while I'm telling you everything will be ok?" Qin Lan said.

"I know my own body... You don't need to convince me with lies... I'm sure Zhou Mei would be a good bride. Don't disappoint her and me..."

"Look at you..."