Thousand Miles of Bright Moonlight

Chapter 84

This time, Haidu Aling would not let her off.

She knew how he would punish a disobedient woman.

The soldiers quickly answered yes and escorted Yaoying to run away.

The merchants successively abandoned their camels and carts and fled on horseback, while the servants who were responsible for transporting the goods could only madly flee behind them. Sand and dust rolled and covered the sky.

Yaoying was choking and coughing. Raising her head and looking around, she found that Haidu Aling did not rush to kill them, but followed behind with a longbow to herd them away.

He was narrowing the encirclement like he was hunting: first driving the prey into a trap laid out in advance, then hunting them down one by one.

This time, she really couldn't be caught back again.

Yaoying's heart was beating wildly.

They were surrounded on three sides by the Northern Rong soldiers. They galloped with the Hu people, while Haidu Aling from time to time shot five arrows overhead. Every time, a few people would fall to the ground and die. Everyone was anxious to escape, pushing and shoving each other on the road, and finally, all were forced to flee to the bottom of a slight hill.

A war banner waved in the only gap in front. They were surrounded.

The merchants huddled together in place, shivering, their hairs standing on end.

The black-armored knights spurred their horses closer to the valley, the encirclement getting smaller and smaller.

Yaoying was in the center, protected by her own soldiers. The rising and falling sound of screams, curses, cries of pain, and pleas for mercy reverberated in her ears.

Different languages, the same despair.

She suddenly remembered the year when she was five years old, facing the dense mass of black of the enemy army. Xie and Li's personal soldiers firmly guarded in front of her, one by one falling, while she hid under the mountain of corpses until Li Zhongqian came looking for her.

She also didn't know how her elder brother was doing.

Thinking of Li Zhongqian, Yaoying suddenly felt calm in her heart, as if there was nothing to be afraid of in the face of great difficulties.

The headwraps of her personal soldiers had come loose from the squeezing and crowding, and their looks, which were very different from those of the Hu in the Western Regions, soon attracted the attention of the black-armored warriors on the hill.

A scrutinizing gaze fell on Yaoying.

Yaoying raised her head, through the weeping crowd, to meet the sharp, eagle-like gaze of Haidu Aling. A gauze veil covered her face, revealing only her eyes.

Haidu Aling's eyesight was so good that he recognized the personal soldiers. Then, seeing the pair of bright eyes brimming with autumn water, he reacted, suddenly furious.

How could the Han girl appear here?!

Shouldn't she be waiting in the camp?

Haidu Aling's face was as gloomy as water, and he drew his bow and several arrows whooshed into the air. Several Hu merchants beside Yaoying fell off their horses and were trampled into a sorry state by their hooves.

The soldiers blocked Yaoying: "Protect the princess!"

Yaoying withdrew her line of sight, no longer sparing a glance at Haidu Aling.

Fury emerged in Haidu Aling's pale golden eyes and he drew his bow again.

The deep and low sound of a bugle horn suddenly sounded.

Haidu Aling did not pay attention at first. Until another horn sound came, his hands stopped moving, his anger was collected, and he looked up alertly.

He sneaked up on the Royal Court's caravans on the main road, intentionally commanding the soldiers to cover their tracks. Who blew the horn?

The sound of the trumpet stopped for a moment, then another carried on. The sound of horns came from all directions, amassed in one place, and resounded through to each horizon.

It shook everyone's heart.

Not only were their hearts trembling, but even the earth beneath their feet also seemed to tremble with the sound of horns blowing. The clamor and noise gathered together, like a tsunami of thunder rumbling in unison, resounding in the vast and endless world.

The sand and dust that filled the valley suddenly swept away. The sound of the bugle horns was getting closer and closer, and the sound getting lower and lower. With the wind came the faint fluttering sound of banners flying in the wind.

The merchants beside Yaoying froze for a moment, and their faces looked as if they were crying and laughing.

Some people whimpered and sobbed, while more suddenly and loudly bawled.

Yaoying followed the Hu merchants' line of sight. A snow-white flag slowly appeared on the opposite hillside. On the white was a curling and intricate gold pattern: noble, pure, and holy.

Just seeing a corner of the flag, the Northern Rong clad in black armor on this hillside immediately revealed panic-stricken looks, having backed up to the valley.

In an instant, the Northern Rong people's momentum was all gone.

Haidu Aling's face was dark and sullen, and his eyes signaled his subordinates to hold their formation.

The subordinates were helpless. The soldiers were already so frightened they were scared witless. All they wanted was to stay away from that flag. The horses could not control their speed going downhill, so how could the formation still be maintained?

On the distant hill, the snow-white banner unfurled in the wind. The formation of black-clad Northern Rong warriors seemed to be split in half by a large invisible hand. The armor-clad soldiers did not even glance at Haidu Aling, obediently turning their horses around to make way.