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Chapter 83: Difficult to Save Oneself

No wonder Yun Chu had felt so guilty toward her before…

Li Yunli slightly tilted her head, as a surge of memories flooded her mind, making her brain feel as if it were on the verge of explosion, carrying a pain that seemed to emanate from the deepest parts of her nerves.

She felt a dead silence in her chest. Though she stood before the noisy city gates, her soul seemed to have been exiled to a desolate and silent plain. Everything she saw had turned to gray, and everything she heard was nothing but silence.

She could only hear her own voice.

“But you said you would never betray me again.”

Her voice was not loud, and with two armies confronting each other, Yun Chu, standing several feet away, could not hear every word. Yet from Li Yunli’s expression, he could tell that she was utterly disappointed in him.

A sharp pain surged through his chest.

Yun Chu stood before the Wei army, with Ah Si at his side, sword in hand. He had long since lost the ability to choose.

“I…”

“That’s right.” Li Yunli let out a soft chuckle, but the smile vanished in an instant, replaced by the familiar indifference that Yun Chu once knew. She withdrew all her regret and said coldly, “From beginning to end, all you ever said was that you would keep me alive in the hands of the Wei people. Nothing more.”

With that, she grabbed the sword from the soldier at her side and drew it with a sharp clang.

Yun Chu’s fingers, which had been tightly gripping the reins, suddenly loosened.

His mind echoed with the conversation he had with Ah Si on the way here.

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“Wasn’t the ambush supposed to happen on the day of the spring hunt? Why today?”

Riding swiftly through the streets of the Chu capital, Yun Chu’s voice was calm and steady, like a commander whose plans had been disrupted. If one listened carefully, there was even a trace of displeasure.

That tone, that expression—it was as if he had never abandoned his revenge, as if he had always been standing with these people.

Ah Si let out a short, mocking laugh. Yet beneath the ridicule was an unmistakable excitement at the beginning of their long-planned vengeance. Even his laughter carried a hint of reckless joy. “Third Highness, do you really not know? We’ve been waiting for your message for days, but we received nothing!”

Yun Chu frowned.

He knew full well that Zheng Siyian did not trust him. It was only because the Wei people placed such high regard on royal bloodlines that he had been reluctantly kept alive.

Now, Ah Si had likely started keeping a close watch on him as well.

“Zheng Xiang is afraid I’ll sabotage the plan?” Yun Chu shot Ah Si a cold glance, his tone filled with disdain. “He’s overthinking it. As long as I’m alive, as long as I still have the trust of the Grand Princess, I will wait for this day. Drive on!”

With a firm pull on the reins, his horse leaped over the debris-strewn streets.

His gaze remained locked on the path ahead.

The city gates were close. This short distance was all the time he had—he had to find out where Zheng Siyian was!

The scenery rushed past him as the Wei army cleared the way, opening a path.

Ah Si grinned. His warhorse was nearly keeping pace with Yun Chu’s steed, as if he had anticipated this response. “Your Highness, there’s no point telling me this! Zheng Xiang sent me to keep an eye on you. Kill that woman first, then slaughter the capital! Only then can you meet him!”

Yun Chu let out a cold laugh and spurred his horse ahead.

“I don’t need you to remind me! I’ll take her life myself!”

A force powerful enough to slaughter an entire city?

The only thing Yun Chu could hear now was the whistling wind. The capital’s alleyways flashed by. If Zheng Siyian planned to “meet him” after the city was bathed in blood, then he couldn’t be far.

But where would he be?

The alleys were countless, the main streets numerous, and the east and west markets filled with throngs of people.

Where could he be hiding?

Suddenly, a blaze of light burst into view.

The fires had burned out, but the lingering ashes still stirred embers in the air.

With a sharp tug on the reins, the horse skidded to a halt.

Yun Chu gasped, the words caught in his throat as he locked eyes with the tightly assembled Imperial Guards.

Li Yunli stood in the center, her gaze cold and emotionless. She leaned against her bow for support, standing firm as she looked up at him.

“I’ve long heard of the great Wei Third Prince. If I am to fall here today, will Ah Han’s blood once again be placed upon the altar for you to feast on?”

A shock ran through Yun Chu’s entire being.

“You… remember everything?”

But amidst the battlefield, where two armies faced off with an ocean of blood between them, he could no longer hear what she was saying.

All he could see was her cold expression as she resolutely drew her sword, pointing it directly at him.

“Kill them!”

The Grand Princess’s voice was filled with unyielding fury. With her command, the soldiers of the Imperial Guard braced themselves, lifted their blades, and charged forward!

Yun Chu had no way to explain himself. The Wei soldiers behind him had already clashed with the enemy!

The two nations’ armies collided once more, steel against steel, sparks flying in all directions!

Yun Chu gripped his sword and charged forward!

A cavalryman from the Imperial Guard lunged at him with a spear!

Clang!

Yun Chu met the strike head-on, but his sword was three degrees lower than before, merely grazing the cavalryman’s shoulder armor.

“Ah Yun!”

His shout was swallowed by the deafening clash of weapons. On a battlefield, there was no room for hesitation. Yun Chu twisted his wrist, blocking another spear strike from his left!

“Stop him!”

A cavalryman suddenly shouted!

His charge was too fierce. The soldiers who barely survived his blade shrank back in fear, quickly raising their weapons to block his path.

“He’s after Her Highness!”

“Stop him!”

“Kill him!”

Yun Chu violently slashed away the weapons in his path, bending low to use his horse’s agility to evade an incoming strike. He swung his sword upward, deflecting the next blow.

“Let! Me! Through!”

Through clenched teeth, he shoved the obstructing soldier aside with a powerful parry.

“Your Highness!”

From the chaos of the battlefield, Xiao Linjia’s hand hovered over the hilt of his sword. He glanced at Li Yunli, awaiting her order.

The Grand Princess’s eyes were unwavering. Just as she had faced countless enemies before, the one standing before her now was merely another enemy that needed to be eliminated.

“Go,” she commanded.

“Understood!”

Xiao Linjia spurred his horse forward, sword raised!

Clang!

“General Xiao!” Yun Chu met his sword head-on, his voice urgent. “I did not orchestrate this! I must speak with Her Highness! Let me through!”

Xiao Linjia, a mountain of strength, flipped his blade and countered. “Never!”

With that, he thrust his sword forward. Yun Chu swiftly retreated, barely dodging the lethal strike!

Boom!

A market stall beside them collapsed in a flurry of broken wood!

“You can stop me, but at least deliver my message! These Wei soldiers—there’s something wrong with them—”

Yun Chu exhaled heavily, tasting blood on his lips. His vision darkened.

A heavy club struck his back, sending pain surging through him.

He barely managed to turn, retaliating with a sword strike that sliced through the club like butter.

The disarmed soldier stumbled back into the chaotic melee.

Gritting his teeth, Yun Chu looked back.

Li Yunli, standing amidst the battlefield, stared at him with a gaze as cold as ice.

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