101: Standoff and Bitter Struggle

"I remember telling you during the day that I would make you regret this!"

With that simple sentence, Ming Tian's fury surged to its peak. Ming Tian's appearance was clearly beyond De Yi'ao's expectations. Then, the arrival of Yin Chan, An Luo, and Zhao Yu caused the facade of righteousness on De Yi'ao's handsome face to shatter. His features twisted, his jaw twitching as he stammered, "How... how did you all get out?"

As soon as he spoke, Feng Mowang, who had been at the back of the group, stepped forward. De Yi'ao immediately understood what had happened.

"Mowang! You actually dared to betray me!!!!" His voice roared like a maddened beast. He surely had not anticipated that the opportunity he had spent three years agonizingly waiting for would be ruined by the young apprentice he had trained for those same three years.

"Master." The boy, Feng Mowang, looked at him with eyes full of pleading. "Weren't we supposed to fight for the people of Yangzhou? Isn't our creed based on honor and integrity? Why have you become so obsessed with power? Why would you betray your friends for the sake of power?"

"Shut up!!!" De Yi'ao waved a hand, sending the stacked bowls on the table flying.

Seizing the moment, Ming Tian shouted, "Mo'er, come here!"

Mo'er, who had thought she was seeing ghosts, finally snapped back to reality. She scrambled from under the table, and before De Yi'ao could stop her, she had lunged into Ming Tian's arms. "Master!"

De Yi'ao was truly enraged now. He drew his Miao saber, his slender frame erupting with a burst of strength rivaling An Luo's. With a single strike, he cleaved the wooden table—along with the iron sleeve-arrows resting upon it—clean in two. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared murderously at Feng Mowang. "You... you brat, you actually dared to betray me!!"

Looking at the shattered remains of the sleeve-arrows, Ming Tian shook his head in regret and cast a pleading look at Yin Chan. Yin Chan merely pouted and shrugged dismissively. "I'll make you an upgraded version when I have the time."

Xiao Xinzhu, having witnessed it all, looked up in confusion. "My Lord, what is going on? Didn't he say you were taken by the Jie tribe..."

"The Jie tribe?" Ming Tian pressed Xinzhu’s face back against his chest, savoring the warmth, and chuckled. "Your husband is sometimes too trusting—that’s just because I’m a good person. How could you be fooled? Just think about it..."

Ming Tian glared at De Yi'ao, his own anger no less intense. "There are only twenty-some Jie tribesmen in all of Yangzhou; how could they possibly kill me? I may not be an undefeated general, and I have lost before... but I never expected to be brought down by a two-faced traitor like you!"

Hearing this, De Yi'ao boiled over. He brandished his blade and shouted, "Ming Tian, you’re ruthless! You actually managed to buy off my men! You’ve got guts! But... if I can't have the Princess, I won't let her become a stumbling block for me either!"

He gestured to the twenty-five burly men present, his Miao saber pointing straight at Ming Tian’s throat. "Kill everyone except for the Princess! Leave her to me..." Mid-sentence, a grotesque smile broke across his twisted face. "As long as I take her, I can still become the Princess's consort and command the Di tribe all the same!"

Though Xiao Xinzhu did not understand the full sequence of events, she grasped the gist of De Yi'ao's intent. A rare, warm fury clouded her snowy features. "In your dreams!" Those three words expressed her iron resolve.

Seeing this, De Yi'ao’s face twisted with violent greed. "That’s not up to you... Attack!"

At his command, the twenty-five men drew their blades in unison and charged at Ming Tian's group. If Ming Tian still had his sleeve-arrows, he might have been able to put up a fight alongside Zhao Yu, An Luo, and Feng Mowang. But now, without them, and facing opponents who had been trained by Yin Chan—gaining a massive leap in combat skill—the numerical disadvantage made victory impossible.

Ming Tian glanced left and right at the empty street, his heart growing anxious. *Damn it! Has Cui Jue not arrived yet?*

"Yin Chan, take Mo'er and Xinzhu and go!" He pushed Xinzhu and Mo'er toward Yin Chan. Yin Chan knew she lacked the combat prowess to fight, so her only role was to avoid becoming a burden; she grabbed Xinzhu and Mo'er and began to retreat.

"Master! Master!!" Though reluctant, Mo'er, being pulled along by Yin Chan, could only turn back and cry out in longing.

Ming Tian, An Luo, Zhao Yu, and Feng Mowang blocked the entrance to Le Xiaomi’s, stalling for as much time as they could. Ming Tian knew that for Cui Jue, cooperating was the best chance to crush the resistance organization; a man of Cui Jue’s leadership caliber would never abandon him over personal grudges. His only hope now was that he would arrive soon.

Facing the wave of thugs, the four of them could only defend with all their might. But the disparity in numbers was too great. Almost immediately, the four of them were forced back after only a single exchange.

How tightly coordinated were those twenty-five men? Their blades moved like the teeth of a meat grinder, attacking without leaving a single gap! Ming Tian shoulder-checked one man, using a joint lock to snap his arm and seize his blade, but at the same moment, another man’s sword was already closing in from the side. Ming Tian parried, but the difference in raw strength was too vast; he was light in stature and was sent flying two or three meters back, rolling onto the ground.

On the other side, although Zhao Yu’s sword techniques were incredibly fast, she was helpless against the overwhelming numbers. She was forced to retreat as she fought; though uninjured, her plain robe was slashed in many places, revealing glimpses of her skin.

"AAAAHHH!! Don't you dare go near Miss Yin Chan!!!!" An Luo let out a roar, turning into the ultimate killing machine. This guy could normally only handle three men, but once Yin Chan was involved, he became a mad dog. With two swings, he cleaved two men—heads and blades alike—in two, though his own sword shattered into scrap metal. He immediately kicked a man's blade away, tackled him like a sumo wrestler, and locked him in a bear hug, forcing him to slide backward through the dirt to prevent him from pursuing Yin Chan. Four more men rushed up to push An Luo, but he was like a man possessed, single-handedly pushing back all five of them.

"For Miss Yin Chan!!!"

*Could you not be so obsessive? Every time you shout that, I keep hearing "For Aiur" in my head!*

As for Feng Mowang, An Luo had helped him break through his mental barriers. Though still just a child, he held off three or four men, refusing to give an inch. But they were his former comrades, and several times, when he could have delivered a killing blow, he clearly held back. This child had killed two guards to save Ming Tian, yet now he felt guilty about dealing the fatal strike? Truly, a child’s mind is hard for an adult to fathom.

But Ming Tian didn't blame him. If not for Feng Mowang, De Yi'ao’s scheme would have already succeeded!

Despite barely holding the line and having taken down four or five men, the four of them were struggling against the suicidal ferocity of the twenty remaining attackers. These men, trained by Yin Chan, lacked personal feelings; even when their companions were slashed, they didn't flinch, continuing to swing their blades with reckless abandon. Faced with their tight coordination and relentless, chaotic aggression, the four defenders were burning through their stamina and soon began to flag.

"Kill them! Kill them all! Hahahaha! Let that teach you to defy me!!" De Yi'ao stood at the inn’s entrance, gloating. He glared specifically at Ming Tian with deep-seated resentment.

"Ugh..." Due to his exhaustion, Ming Tian’s speed faltered, and a blade sliced a gash into his shoulder. It wasn't a deep wound, but it was a bad sign. Three men raised their blades simultaneously, striking down from above. Ming Tian hurriedly held his blade over his head to block.

*Clang! Clang! Clang!* The three metallic collisions occurred in near-perfect succession. It felt like Mount Tai crushing down upon him. Ming Tian, whose strength was not his greatest asset, was forced to his knees even with his defense. The webbing of his hands tore from the impact, and he felt as though his arms were about to snap.

On the other side, An Luo’s madness had reached its limit; he was pinned to the ground by eight men working in unison, unable to move.

"AHHHH!!" A sharp, piercing scream rang out. Zhao Yu’s shoulder was run through by a thin blade, pinning her directly to a wooden door panel of a nearby house! Bright red blood stained her green robe with a jarring, discordant color.

Feng Mowang, his strength long spent, had his weapon knocked away and fell to the ground. Before he could rise, a thug stomped his foot onto the boy’s chest. A thirteen- or fourteen-year-old child, no matter how strong, could not withstand the weight of a two-hundred-pound man. His face turned cyan, his lips drained of all color.

Was this the end?

Facing the blades raised by the three men before him, Ming Tian, no longer able to resist, glared at De Yi'ao at the inn entrance and let out a defiant roar!

"DE YI'AO!!!!!!"

Seeing the four of them subdued, De Yi'ao’s face twisted into an ecstatic, cruel grin. "Finish it!! Kill them all!!"

The end had arrived! There was nowhere left to run. Ming Tian, An Luo, Zhao Yu, and Feng Mowang. None of them closed their eyes as the blades descended. *I refuse! How could I possibly die here?!!*

*Whoosh...*

But at that split second, an arrow descended from the sky, piercing the skull of the man in front of Ming Tian.

Immediately following... *Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.*

A continuous, torrential rain of arrows showered down from all directions. Caught off guard, two or three of the thugs were killed instantly. The remaining seventeen or eighteen men recoiled, clustering together and retreating toward the inn entrance.

De Yi'ao froze, staring around in shock, unable to process what had just happened. "Who? Who is ruining my plans?!"

Ming Tian, having cheated death, gasped for air, his lungs feeling paralyzed and his body unable to move. But when he saw the arrow that had landed beside him—crafted with a precision that didn't belong to this era—he smiled. With a thud, he collapsed onto the ground, his tension instantly dissipating.

"Kid, how did you get yourself into such a mess?" From the corner on the right, Cui Jue rode out slowly on horseback, followed by over a dozen men.

Not only that, but from every corner, seven or eight figures dressed in night-crawling gear emerged. By the count, over a hundred people had suddenly filled the empty street. The thugs who had looked so imposing just moments ago suddenly seemed tiny in the face of this hundred-man force.

Watching the nauseatingly smug look on Cui Jue’s face, Ming Tian shook his head helplessly. "Bastard, you’re too slow! You bring so few people after all this time?"

"We’re the Chaos Rippers, not some sect of immortals. Our men need to sleep, too."

"Sleep? Sleep your [Bleep]—get up and let’s go!"

Ming Tian and Cui Jue locked eyes and began to laugh.