The Empress’s Gigolo

To the south of Jiangbei City, hundreds of winged cavalry warriors were riding on their mounts and searching for people who had yet to return.

At every section, there was a person wearing a night vision device.

With this thing, as long as something emitted heat, it would be unable to escape their eyes.

After experiencing the invasion of Great Xia as well as the war between the north of Great Xia and the winged cavalry, the winged cavalry was already accustomed to some of the convenient and practical modern gadgets.

For example, the radio stations, walkie-talkies, night vision devices, binoculars… At the moment, the walkie-talkies couldn’t be used, so it wasn’t possible to contact other teams at any time. This caused the winged cavalry to feel somewhat inconvenienced. After all, it was easy to turn thrift into extravagance, but difficult to turn extravagance into thrift.

Fortunately, the night vision devices and binoculars could still be used. This meant they didn’t immediately revert to their original state.

“There are people 500 meters to the southwest. One person just escaped while the other one is lying on the ground.”

Immediately, someone went to check out what was going on.

“The fallen person has stopped breathing. He just died, but the body is still warm.”

A moment later, that winged cavalry spoke again and stated, “There are five people fighting two kilometers away. Surround them! Don’t let them escape!”

“Su Xing, it seems that your reinforcements are arriving. Today, I’ll spare your life. I’ll retrieve your head another time!” said one of the five people who was struggling in the distance. Although the winged cavalry hadn’t arrived yet, the sound of hooves could already be heard.

Among the five people in the field, one of them was the chief of the Lingshan Sect, Su Xing. There was also another person who was wearing clothes that belonged to the Lingshan Sect.

Both of them had injuries on their bodies, but compared to Zhan Changkong, they were in much better states.

“Want to escape? Where are you escaping to?” Su Xing, who was at a disadvantage, laughed grimly. [Hoisting Sword] was the most formidable move that those from the Lingshan Sect could use to trap an enemy. A gust of sword wind surrounded and trapped the two in their current locations.

“The winged cavalry stopped a distance away? If that’s the case, we shall kill you first!” An ominous glint was seen in both of their eyes when they realized that the winged cavalry didn’t approach them.

However, when they took action, the both of them refrained from colliding with Su Xing’s sword.

Seeing that the winged cavalry didn’t make their way over, Su Xing panicked. Immediately, he yelled at the top of his lungs, “The Lingshan Sect is here!”

Fortunately, another person whistled loudly at this time and alerted Su Xing.

This time around, the two trapped people became anxious and immediately attacked violently.

“Let’s give it our all! You obstruct him,” one of them shouted. Soon after, his momentum continued to rise. Then, he yelled, “[Fragmented Stars]!”

After that, an icy-cold light ray rose from his hand. In the darkness, this light ray caused all of them to be unable to open their eyes.

Su Xing’s expression changed drastically, and he rapidly retreated.The sword in his hand was practically invisible—only his arms could be seen waving incessantly as he clashed with that icy-cold light ray that separated the darkness.

When that icy-cold light ray disappeared, Su Xing stood rooted to the ground and gasped for air. Visibly deep wounds could also clearly be seen on his body.

“Leave! Retreat now!” The man who had just attacked was ghastly pale.

Another person supported him and said, “Chief Su, I’m sure we’ll meet again someday!”

As they spoke, the two retreated into the darkness.

Countless sword gleams caused the two of them to retreat at a faster speed, and they looked at the darkness in shock.

“Leaving? Where are you leaving to? There’s no need to meet again someday. Just stay here.” Along with the voice of a rough man, silhouettes that were much wider than ordinary people appeared out of the darkness.

Dozens of silhouettes surrounded the five of them.

Su Xing was elated and slightly suspicious. How did they arrive so quickly?!

“Winged cavalry…” one of them said while trembling. He was in agony.

The winged cavalry warrior at the front, who was wearing a night vision device, sneered and asked, “Do all of you want to die now or after hanging from the top of the city wall for a few days?”

In any case, no matter what they chose, they would still die.

The winged cavalry didn’t want any captives!

“Let’s fight until we die!” The three men looked at one another and dashed toward the surrounding silhouettes.

Immediately, three winged cavalry warriors welcomed them.

After a while, there were only severed limbs on the ground as well as several broken blades.

“Are there any more who escaped?” a winged cavalry warrior asked Su Xing.

“We all escaped separately, so I don’t know everyone else’s situations.”

“Can you lead the way?”

“Sure!”

Thereafter, Su Xing traveled together with the winged cavalry. Throughout the entire journey, there was something which made him extremely astonished. It was the fact that these winged cavalry warriors were actually able to discover living things that were a distance away in the darkness, regardless of whether they were humans or animals. This made their entire journey even smoother.

The source of this was probably the strange thing that was worn over several of the winged cavalry warriors’ eyes.

…

Along with the bodyguards, Ren Baqian arrived at a vacant courtyard. Two doctors from Wu City as well as those who were skilled in Traditional Chinese Medicine were all gathered here.

“Can you save him?” Ren Baqian asked while looking at Zhan Changkong, whose chest was caved in. His body was seriously wounded.

“Even though he’s severely injured, this person is very strong. There isn’t any danger to his life,” one of the doctors said.

“Alright, as long as he can survive.” Ren Baqian nodded and said to a few people from the Lingshan Sect, “Get someone to inform the Golden Ring Residence’s Painting Fairy.”

“The few of you, do your jobs well and you’ll be rewarded.” Ren Baqian nodded at the doctors in the courtyard. He then brought his bodyguards along with him back to his residence and waited for further news.

“Sir, how should we deal with this corpse?” someone asked as he dragged Shan Yu’s corpse. This was the person who had tried to assassinate Ren Baqian just now.

Ren Baqian gestured with his hands as he ordered, “Hang it at the top of the city wall and let the birds have their fill. In addition, arrange for a few people to hide near the corpse. Someone may come to snatch the corpse. Kill on sight.”

Just as he entered the hall, he saw the empress sitting in the middle while sipping on wine.

Meanwhile, the winged cavalry’s captain, Gong Zheng, was actually plastered onto the wall!

“Your Majesty, why aren’t you sleeping yet?”

“I’m feeling bored and want to go out for a stroll.” The empress sized him up, saw that nothing was wrong with him, and felt at ease. Thereafter, she got up from her seat and left.

“The night is still long, and I don’t intend to sleep yet. Why not let your subject accompany you?” Ren Baqian smiled.

“I’m feeling sleepy now!” the empress casually said.

“Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty.” Ren Baqian said while facing the empress’s back.

Just as the empress stepped out, her heel gently kicked the threshold of the door. Next, a chunk of wood immediately brushed past Ren Baqian’s arm… smashing into Gong Zheng’s forehead.

“I can’t sleep.” the empress said faintly.

Ren Baqian smiled, sat in a chair, and replied, “Captain Gong, Her Majesty is leaving.”

“Oh.” After Gong Zheng jumped down from the wall, he realized that his forehead was still swollen. While rubbing his head, he exclaimed, “I almost got buried by Her Majesty! It’s fortunate that you are fine. Otherwise, I would have been buried together with you.”

A night passed. Ren Baqian waited until dawn before he began to receive news. At the same time, a few people were also sent back.

After a couple of hours, the winged cavalry warriors that rode out had all returned.

Counting Zhan Changkong, a total of eight people eventually returned alive from the scouting expedition this time around.

Excluding Zuo Cheng, only seven Earth Wheel experts made it back.

Out of the three people from the Lingshan Sect, two of them made it back. Two out of five people from the Golden Ring Residence made it back as well. The external caretaker, Ling Zekuan, who Zhan Changkong had thought dead, had actually survived.

However, Ren Baqian reckoned that he would be dead if he had been found later.

From the remaining sects, only three out of the 20 people sent out came back!

Ren Baqian comforted everyone for a short while and recorded their achievements before instructing everyone to tend to their wounds.

Although the number of casualties was high this time, it actually exposed some of the other party’s arrangements. Furthermore, a spy like Shan Yu was also exposed.

Otherwise, if they thoughtlessly stepped into the other party’s trap when they attacked, the winged cavalry would probably have suffered an even heavier casualty count.

There was actually a blessing in this misfortune.

At the same time, as these people returned, some information from the Wang Estuary was actually brought back as well.

In addition, they also brought back a few severed heads of the other party’s Earth Wheel experts. These severed heads were then hung at the top of the city wall by Ren Baqian. He wanted to see if he was able to catch a few prey.