Li Honghan led twenty Light-Armored Cavalry in pursuit at full speed. He had already stationed ten men in ambush at the Cloudlink Mountain pass, where the party escorting Princess Yingyue would inevitably be stopped. He seemed to smell blood already. This time, he would slaughter every last one of them and make Hu Xiaotian taste suffering. Even he could not explain why he hated Hu Xiaotian so much. Perhaps it was because his pride had repeatedly suffered setbacks before Hu Xiaotian, or perhaps because he had watched that once-naive youth swiftly grow into a regional overlord whose achievements had long since surpassed his own. That was precisely what he could not bear.
Whoosh! A feathered arrow tore through the curtain of rain like a streak of cold lightning, screaming as it hurtled toward Li Honghan's mount with astonishing speed. To shoot the rider, first shoot the horse; to capture the bandits, first capture their chief. Though galloping at full tilt, Li Honghan could still watch all six directions and listen on all eight sides. The torrential rain caused him considerable trouble, but it did nothing to blunt his instinctive response to danger.
The Narrow Long Saber at Li Honghan's waist sprang from its sheath like a startled swan. With a sweep of his right hand, the blade traced an elegant, graceful arc. Rain scattered across its surface, blurring its icy gleam into a hazy, desolate shimmer. The saber cut through the air with a shrill whistle and struck the arrow shaft with unerring accuracy. Blade and arrow collided with a sharp crack!, like the snap of a whip. Li Honghan felt his wrist go slightly numb, astonished by the force behind the shot. Struck by the saber, the arrow veered from its course and plunged crookedly into the muddy ground.