"Yenaier!" Just then, a shout came from the other side.
Turning to look, they could just make out Xibizete's face through the gaps in the crowd. His eyes, set in that normally calm, crimson face, were now filled with agitation and turmoil.
Yetos raised a hand to signal him to stay back.
He turned to Qi Qing and said, "All right. We'll accept your terms and let you leave here safely."
"Let's go," Zeng Mu told him.
With Yenaier held hostage, Qi Qing followed the two men through the chaotic battlefield unharmed. Blades and spears could not so much as graze them, and the sea of people could not touch them. With every step, the crowd ahead parted like waves.
Qi Qing started out limping, then hurried along faster and faster, until his shoulders trembled slightly and his steady grip began to waver. Zeng Mu quickly brought over a warhorse and gestured for him to mount. Qi Qing did not refuse. He leaped onto its back and galloped onward, still holding Yenaier hostage.
Within a dozen breaths, the warhorse broke free of the crowd and headed toward the deserted south gate.
Clop, clop, clop! Hooves thundered in rapid succession as the horse abruptly raced out of the city. Zeng Mu and Yetos stood where they were, watching horse and rider recede into the distance, their expressions growing increasingly tense.
Qi Qing was about to leave the reach of their elemental power. At that point, if he wished, he needed only to twitch his fingers to take Yenaier's life. They would have no way to catch him in time.
Of course, if something that terrible really happened, the two of them would pursue him for ten days and nights if necessary, abandoning the army behind them to catch him and tear