Chapter 19

She hurriedly ran back to the imperial army camp when she gave up on trying to find where Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei was in the forest.

While she was running, she could hear her heart colliding violently against her chest. Her legs felt wobbly and about to gave up due to constant running.

It seemed hysterical but all of the trees in the forest looked as if they had transformed into evil giant soldiers garbed in heavy lamellar armors engraved with the demon warlord's seal. Impossible, but even the branches resembled like swords and javelins poised to attack her.

Yan Mei Ling paused for a moment as she struggled to catch her breath. What was happening to her? It seemed that her fear had taunted her vision creating illusions that served only to magnify her already frightened senses. Was this the feeling that the soldiers felt during a skirmish?

She had no time to know the answers to her questions. She had to go back to the camp and tell everyone what she had discovered. Despite her exhaustion, she urged herself to continue running. Her pace kept on increasing as if she was being pursued by the enemies.

'Oh, please keep them safe. Please, please.'

Her mind had suddenly wandered to Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei. Tears started falling from her eyes as a great sadness struck the very core of her heart. Was this how mingled guilt and sadness felt?

If something happened to him, then she would blame herself for he was merely following her to make sure she'd be safe even leaving the camp behind. But she drove him away. .What if he was caught by the enemies or possibly ambushed? Despite the animosity she felt for him, she did not wish for him to be harmed.

She would never forgive herself if something happened to him.

°°°°°

A battle cry.

Dark clouds still canopied the sky making it looked funereal but war did not choose what time it would happen.

The Hsein armies had furtively surrounded the imperial army's camp and began their surprise ambush on the soldiers who were still lethargic from sleep. When Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei had arrived from the forest, he was shocked to see a lot of the soldiers in his command were killed and those who fought weren't even donned in their combat attires just like him but that never deterred him from joining his soldiers in fighting the enemies. He only hoped that it was not too late.

Multiple arrows were hurled at every direction. The chances of dodging away from its fatal pointed end seemed thinner than a javelin's deadly tip.

Steel met steel, the loud clashes of metals sounding sharp and shrill against the ears. Numerous horses' hooves furiously shook the ground, cries of pain and taunting shouts caused a frenzied uproar in the camp.

Boom!

Boom!

Thugsh!

Cannons were fired and as they burst, dilapidated bodies were thrown in all four directions of the wind. Fires were set on the tents spreading rapidly on the others like a wildfire.

The sky continued to weep blood. Dark red blood. Thick crimson blood. Repugnant blood. Raining down like an incessant and raging storm.

'Where is he?' Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei worriedly thought as he fought his opponent when he realized that someone was still missing. His heart was beating rapidly and adrenaline was pumping vigorously in his vein.

He ducked from the deadly steel that would have divided his head from his body and, swiftly, countered by kicking his opponent's hip when he reached his side. When his opponent's knees gave in due to pain, he immediately took the opportunity to stab him on the head. He could feel the skull being drilled and its soft brain being twisted as he urged to go deeper. Blood bathed his opponent's body as it lifelessly fell on the ground the moment that he pulled out his sword.

Unfortunately, the war was not over yet; as soon as he killed one, another came running to him in hopes of stabbing him at the back for he was not wearing any armor making him look like a vulnerable target. But his magnified senses warned him of the impending danger so he somersaulted and was transported to the enemy's back instead. He pivoted to his side and immediately plunged his sword at the exposed part of the enemy, the one unshielded by the lamellar armor. As he pushed his sword, he could feel that its blade had encountered a chain of bones and flesh. He thrusted deeper until the blood furiously flow from the fatal wound. Another down but the enemies seemed both inexhaustible and interminable.

Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei pulled back his sword drom the enemy's body - the sound of broken bones and the splashing of blood was audible. His breathing became labored due to exertion as he desperately scanned the camp to look for Lao Fang amidst the clamor of the war.

'Where is Tang Lao Fang?'

His heart furiously drummed against his chest as he ran in every direction of the camp while dispatching the enemies who unfortunately dared cross his path.

He continued to scan the surroundings, running through the men who were clashing to death.

When he could not find Tang Lao Fang among the soldiers, dread had instantaneously came into his heart, momentarily freezing his senses. A different kind of coldness came into his being and, surprisingly, his vision suddenly became a blur.

This could not be.

Was Tang Lao Fang cornered by the enemies when he left the boy alone in the forest?

A Hsien soldier tried to attack Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei with a sword but he immediately parried the attack. He bent his knees and swept the Hsien soldier with his feet. When the Hsien soldier lose his balance, Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei stabbed him on the heart. The dark red blood of the enemy splattered all over his shirt.

This could not be, his mind repeated. Tang Lao Fang could not be dead. The thought seemed unacceptable that his mind went strongly against it.

"Aggh!" Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei let out an enraged cry as he angrily charged toward a group of enemy soldiers who came to swarm around him. He immediately killed them all by rapidly turning himself around like a tornado, striking them brutally with his sword's blade. Different body parts were torn and thrown - heads, limbs and tendons. He apathetically watched as blood burst from the lifeless bodies like a lava that was spluttered carelessly from the volcano's mouth during a dangerous eruption.

Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei killed several more soldiers - splitting their bodies into half and decapitating their heads. Someone tried to engage him in a melee but he quickly dispatch the foolish person by leaping above the latter's head and ultimately landing on the shoulders. He quickly grip the enemy's neck with his boots and turned himself around, breaking the spine in the process as indicated by the ominous crack.

Despite the violence nor the simmering action in the battlefield, he surprisingly felt numb. It seemed that his heart had stopped pumping blood into his veins and it felt more like an empty dead vessel. Even time seemed to stop for a brief moment; even the people who were fighting each other in the camp.

This could not be.

He shook his head - profound disbelief was clearly etched in his face. He swallowed the painful lump in his throat and held tighter to the handle on his sword. Blood covered its steel like a snake slithering upon a tree branch.

He could feel that his body started to seethe with so much ire that his heart would burst if he couldn't spend it.

"Hsien armies, I swear to the Son of Heaven and my ancestors that you will all die!" He shouted at the top of his lungs as he furiously attack the Hsien army soldiers.

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Sorry for the extremely short chapter. XD