Chapter 64 - Reunion

Chapter 64: Chapter 58: ReunionThe cavalry now looked at them as if looking at dead people, "Do you really think you can kill us with just a few of you? Our reinforcements are right behind us, and even without them, you Central Plains sheep wouldn’t stand a chance against us."

The other party looked Zhao Hanzhang up and down, feeling a stirring in his heart, licked his lips, and said, "Though you’re a bit fiery, fiery women are the most flavorful, haha, little lady, the men in Central Plains lack passion. Why don’t you follow me? Rest assured; I won’t let you kill on the battlefield."

The others burst into laughter upon hearing this, gazing up and down at Zhao Hanzhang.

Zhao Hanzhang placed the head she was holding under a tree, gripping the dagger in her hand in reverse, raising her chin slightly, "Aren’t you afraid I might kill you if I follow you?"

She beckoned to them with a smile, "If you want me to follow you, you must at least be able to defeat me. Only then will I be wary instead of plotting all day to kill you."

The leader put away his smile, looking at her with a heavy gaze, "Not bad, using a provocation strategy."

Although he knew it was a provocation, he still stepped in, confident that he could tame Zhao Hanzhang.

He jumped down from his horse, glanced at the big knife in his hand, and smiled, "I’ll give you the horse, but not the weapon."

Zhao Hanzhang tightened her grip on the dagger, watching him warily. She had learned martial arts, so had her previous self, and recently, she had fully integrated with the martial arts of the little girl in her memories. However, learning didn’t necessarily mean she could best someone who fought on real battlefields.

Yet, Zhao Hanzhang was now boiling with blood, her gaze sharp and focused on him, unfearful and instead a bit thrilled.

The nearby guards were anxious, hastily shouting, "Third Lady!"

The other four riders immediately pointed their knives at these guards, sneering, "Our captain is going to fight her, so we are letting you live for another quarter of an hour. So, it would be wise for you to behave, or else, we’ll send you to hell now."

A guard, realizing they couldn’t offer much help upon hearing this, undid the sword from his waist and tossed it to Zhao Hanzhang, "Third Lady, take the sword!"

Zhao Hanzhang caught the sword, drew it out after a glance, and looked at the opponent, "Then let’s try."

With that, her sword went straight for his neck. He smiled disdainfully, deftly parrying her sword and separating it, then hacking hard at her.

Zhao Hanzhang quickly dodged, swiftly countered with her sword, poking at his waist. His hacking force was too great to retract and defend, so he ended up taking a hit from her.

Her first strike seemed unremarkable, not strong, not fast, but after luring him to make a move, her swordplay became extremely sharp with her swift movements, momentarily gaining the upper hand.

In just a few moves, Zhao Hanzhang managed to stab her enemy three times, the wounds shallow and small, as she immediately retreated after landing a hit, slippery as ever.

But the cuts naturally hurt, tormenting the opponent considerably, making his moves more aggressive and tight. Taking advantage of an opening, he took two steps close to Zhao Hanzhang, his knife trying to hack her mercilessly. Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t distance herself but could dodge swiftly to the sides, seeming to predict his moves.

Zhao Hanzhang repeatedly retreated, dodging. When she touched the tree behind her, she quickly turned around behind it. His knife struck down violently, but this time it wasn’t towards her front but her side, narrowly missing the tree...

Upon hearing the sound of the slash, Zhao Hanzhang knew she couldn’t dodge in time anymore and, risking mutual injury, turned the sword tip, exposed half her shoulder to him, and stabbed fiercely backward. At the same time, she heard the sound of something cutting through the air behind her...

Zhao Hanzhang felt resistance on the sword tip, gritted her teeth, and pushed hard behind her, deepening the sword’s depth, then waited to feel the pain from being slashed.

Her body felt no pain at all, Zhao Hanzhang paused, turned around immediately, her sword stabbing into the opponent’s abdomen. His knife was still raised, eyes wide open staring at her, with half an arrow sticking through his back, pointing directly at her face.

Seeing this half arrow, Zhao Hanzhang was delighted. Did reinforcements come for her?

He fell straight forward with eyes full of unwillingness, and Zhao Hanzhang immediately dodged behind a tree, noticing the familiar fletching on his back, she quickly looked around.

Only then did she realize the scene was already chaotic. The chaotic infantry following behind had already arrived, but they were not here by themselves; they were chased here. Zhao Qianli, clutching a big knife, slaughtered them like cutting watermelons. When meeting Zhao Hanzhang’s eyes, he shouted loudly, "Third Lady, don’t be afraid, I’m here to save you!"

Zhao Hanzhang indicated that she wasn’t afraid. She flipped the corpse on the ground, pulled out the still-imbedded sword.

Blood splattered on her clothes, and she could look at it without turning a hair now.

"Teacher Zhao—" Fu Tinghan dodged the arrows, swords, and knives flying around the battlefield, riding his horse over. Seeing Zhao Hanzhang covered in blood, he was a bit anxious and jumped off his horse to assess her, "Are you injured?"

"No," Zhao Hanzhang blocked his checking hand, "it’s all other people’s blood."

Fu Tinghan breathed a sigh of relief, "That’s good, that’s good. We went back to Zhao Mansion to find you, found it empty, and only discovered marks on the wall into West Corner Gate, knowing then that you went after the main force."

Seeing the orderly skirmishers in the arena, Zhao Hanzhang was slightly dazed, "Why are there so many people, with decent coordination."

Fu Tinghan said, "They’re your family’s private army."

"Oh, right, Uncle Qianli was ordered to rally the private army into the city. So these are the troops Zhao Family raises outside?"

Fu Tinghan nodded, "We encountered two groups of chaotic troops while charging out, lost some men, these are the remaining ones."

He paused, lowering his voice, "It seems Zhao Grandpa’s matter of giving you a private army can no longer be hidden; Uncle Qianli compiled the two troops together due to the situation."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded, not very concerned, "No matter, once we pass through the chaotic regions, we’ll divert to Ru Nan, not traveling the same path as them."

So whether Zhao Zhongyu and Zhao Ji knew no longer mattered, as long as she could control these people.

Moreover...

Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze fell on those fiercely killing enemies, retreating in an orderly fashion, wanting to lead them away.

These were much more useful than the household guards, at least they followed orders without question.

Zhao Qianli brought quite a number of men, and being elite-trained, their weapons and armor were top-notch, quickly collapsing this group of chaotic troops, leaving only a few stragglers who posed no threat anymore.

So Zhao Qianli didn’t chase them; he ordered his men to tidy up, check the loot and casualties, and rushed to Zhao Hanzhang with a worried face, "Third Lady, why are you here alone, where are Young Master, Second Lady, and the Second Son?"