Gu Moran's face was pale.
This time, he was truly afraid.
He had been afraid ever since the system alarm went off half an hour ago.
He galloped wildly along the way, breaking two whips in the process, blurring the shadows of trees and lights along the route.
One thought kept running through my mind.
Is it too late?
Is it too late?
Is Gu Moli still alive?
The system notifications flashed repeatedly in my mind as a continuous red light.
[Host, the target, Mei Zhongjun, has taken a black medicine, temporarily raising his martial arts level to the Second Rank, but his life force is rapidly depleting.]
[ Gu Moli's life is in danger.]
[Detected that the Mei Clan brothers are preparing for a desperate, all-or-nothing attack.]
When Gu Moran landed, her gaze passed through the torches and corpses filling the courtyard and immediately fell upon the arrow holes and broken bricks on the south wall of the main house.
Behind the wall, there was the sound of a knife striking metal.
And his sister.
This guy took the black medicine and has already reached the Second Rank.
Fortunately, Zhen Meili brought a powerful weapon.
This heavy crossbow was already incredibly powerful, and the addition of gunpowder further enhanced its explosive force.
While not as ferocious as guns and cannons, it's sufficient for dealing with flesh and blood in the shadows.
"So, are we going to fight or not?"
Zhen Meili had already set up the heavy crossbow, aiming the muzzle at the south wall.
"Break the south wall."
There's someone inside the wall!
"I've calculated the location; I'm going to shoot right there!"
Upon hearing this, Zhen Meili pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Mei Boqian finally came to his senses.
"Who are you? How dare you break into the Marquis's residence at night?!"
Gu Moran didn't even look at it, and flicked his finger.
Shut the hell up!
With this single finger, Mei Boqian's upright hair ornament was knocked off.
The next moment.
The armor-piercing iron arrows had already flown out, dragging their strings. The egg-thick arrow shafts struck the three-inch-long brick wall, causing a section of the wall to collapse first, followed by a shower of bricks and mortar.
Just as Mei Zhongjun pressed the knife against Gu Moli's head, the wall behind him cracked.
He glanced at it from the side.
But he was hit on the back by half a wall panel.
The dagger slipped from his hand, and he slammed into the bedpost.
The armor-piercing iron spikes grazed his right shoulder, pierced his flesh, and pinned him to the thick, carved wooden pillar.
The bed shook violently from the impact, and dust fell in clumps from the curtains.
Gu Moli raised her hand to block the falling wood chips, her ears filled with the sound of bricks and stones hitting the ground.
Mei Zhongjun is still struggling.
He gripped the arrow shaft with his left hand, his fingers clenched tightly, trying to pull himself off the pillar. His wound was torn open, and blood flowed down his waist and abdomen, pooling on the ground.
"You think you can kill this princess?"
Gu Moli walked out from the corner of the bed, her voice trembling, but she enunciated each word clearly.
Mei Zhongjun raised his head, his scarlet eyes fixed on her.
"You... you better not get cocky..."
A flash of sword light streaked in through the gap in the wall.
Lin Qingdai stepped onto the broken bricks and landed. The sword blade circled around Mei Zhongjun's right wrist. Without any extra movements, the tip of the sword twisted along the wrist bone and severed the tendon.
Mei Zhongjun's right hand fell.
Murong Xue rushed into the house, sweeping her spear horizontally until the blade pierced the backs of his knees.
Mei Zhongjun bent over, his legs nailed to the bedpost.
He opened his mouth and let out a roar, his throat filled with broken, breathy sounds.
"I told you not to pretend to be lame!"
Murong Xue drew her spear and stepped back, the tip of the spear drawing two streaks of blood.
"You've been pretending for so many years, yet your legs are more agile than mine!"
Along the way, Gu Moran briefly explained the importance of the matter.
Murong Xue detested such treacherous and cunning people.
Gu Moran stepped over the broken bricks and entered the house.
He rushed straight towards the corner of the bed.
He stopped in front of Gu Moli.
I saw that my younger sister's sleeve was torn by the arrow shaft, her hair was covered in ash, her face was deathly pale, and she was still clutching the curved copper hairpin in her hand.
Gu Moran's hands began to tremble.
He hurriedly took off his crane cloak, but in his haste, he had to undo the buttons twice before he finally got them on.
As the cloak unfolded and wrapped around Gu Moli's shoulders, his fingers brushed past her temples, removing the wood shavings from her hair.
"Silly girl..."
My throat tightened, and the second half of my sentence got stuck in my throat, making my voice hoarse and broken.
"What are you doing here? How dare you come to a place like this all by yourself?"
Gu Moli raised her head.
She saw her brother.
Not in a dream, not in a letter, but standing right in front of me, still covered in the dust and sweat of a journey.
My nose tingled, and all the things that had been welling up in my eyes all the way over came to the surface.
Her lips trembled twice; she wanted to speak, but couldn't utter a single word.
The copper hairpin fell from her hand and clattered onto the brick surface.
The next moment, she threw herself into Gu Moran's arms.
She clutched the fabric of his shirt tightly with both hands, buried her face in his chest, and trembled violently.
The sobs were muffled, squeezed out bit by bit from the chest.
She had been holding back for too long; once the floodgates were opened, she couldn't stop.
"Brother... brother..."
They can't even spell out a complete sentence.
Gu Moran hugged her, placing one hand on the back of her head and resting his chin on the top of her head.
He could feel the person in his arms trembling, so trembling that no part of their body was steady.
From the capital to Luoyang.
She's incredibly bold.
"Don't cry," he said, his throat dry and parched. "I'm here, don't cry."
Gu Moli shook her head, shaking it very hard, rubbing her face against his chest, her tears soaking a large patch of his shirt.
She never expected him to come.
She had calculated the days; the fastest journey from Yi Prefecture to Luoyang by normal foot would take at least twenty days.
She gave herself fifteen days to thoroughly investigate the Marquis's mansion, obtain what she needed, and present it as a ready-made gift when her brother's army passed through Luoyang.
She hadn't expected it to be so dangerous.
I never expected him to arrive ahead of time.
"How... how did you get here so fast..."
"Actually... I have a backup plan... I won't die."
Her voice was so muffled that it was unrecognizable, and her snot and tears were mixed together; she had lost all semblance of a princess's dignity.
Gu Moran didn't answer, but tightened her grip on his arm.
Zhen Meili poked half her head in from outside the broken wall, glanced at the scene inside, opened her mouth, but swallowed the words that were about to come out.
She pulled her head back, placed her hand on the heavy crossbow, turned around with her back to the hole in the wall, and stared at Mei Boqian and his group in the courtyard, signaling them to shut up, or else they would taste the power of this heavy crossbow.
The room was quiet for a short while.
Gu Moli's sobs gradually subsided, turning into muffled sobs that echoed against his chest.
She loosened her grip on the front of her shirt, took a half step back, and hastily wiped her face with her sleeve. Her eyes were red, and her voice was still trembling.
" Qingwu and the others are injured..."
" Ling'er, come in quickly."
Shen Ling'er strode in from outside the door and walked to Qingwu's side.
First, lift Qingwu's wrist, then Huayi's chest and abdomen, and finally stuff a pill into Shiqing's mouth.
" Qingwu's wrist is fractured, and the arrow poison has entered the wound; we need to seal the meridians first. Huayi's ribs are broken at the root; we need to check her internal organs back in the carriage. Shiqing can hold on for now."
Gu Moran nodded. "Take them all."
Mei Zhongjun leaned against the bedpost, his right wrist hanging down, his legs twitching incessantly.
The effects of the red pill were still churning within her body, and a bloodshot color spread from her eyes to her cheeks. Her breath was strong and weak, like a flickering lamp in the wind.
He stared at Gu Moran, his words escaping his lips, mumbled and unclear.
"Who... who the hell are you... daring to ruin my plans?"
Gu Moran turned around to look at him.
"You dare ask my name?"
He took two steps closer, looked down at Mei Zhongjun was nailed to the pillar, as if he were looking at a fish still jumping on a chopping board.
He struck out with a palm strike from a distance.
[Happy holidays everyone! (ᵕ-ᴗ-) I spent the whole afternoon at the hospital yesterday on an IV drip, and I felt really bad last night, so I took the day off.]