CHAPTER 505: CHAPTER 499: HIT BY AN ARROW

Two heads popped out at the end of the alley, then several members of the Zhao Family Army with big knives turned around and saw him, shouting, "What are you yelling for? Haven’t seen a dead man before? Hurry up and run, the South City is over there."

The young man heard this, clutched his bundle, and ran in the direction they pointed. The people behind him also followed, dodging the corpses on the ground.

Zhao Shu clicked his tongue, glanced at the corpse lying on the ground, and still led his men to drag the body to the deep end of the alley, throwing it inside, so it wouldn’t scare people.

As soon as they finished tossing the corpse and turned around, they saw a woman with three children trembling, staring at them.

Zhao Shu was silent for a moment, then had to bend down again to drag the corpse lying on the ground to one side, barely making half a path, and gestured to the mother and children: "Go ahead."

The woman carried a bundle on her back, held one child in her arms, and tremblingly pulled the two other children past the corpse, and past Zhao Shu, then stumbled and ran away.

Zhao Shu touched his face and said, "Am I really that scary?"

"Centurion, your beard is too long."

"What do you know, this is called manliness. Ugh, why am I talking to a kid whose hair hasn’t even grown completely?" Zhao Shu shouldered his big knife and called to everyone, "Hurry up, hurry up, keep searching, see if there are any Xiongnu left, find them and kill them all."

"Yes!"

Killing is not fun at all; people die on both sides. Zhao Shu followed Zhao Hanzhang out of Zhao’s Castle.

But Zhao Hanzhang never gave any special treatment to clan members in this regard, and Zhao Shu and Zhao Hanzhang’s relation... is somewhat distant, so he fought his way up step by step.

Until now, there were only two people left around him who joined at the same time as him; the rest came and vanished, and he sent off batch after batch of comrades.

This batch was just incorporated.

Because it was an alley fight, Zhao Shu was experiencing it for the first time, so they were very cautious. Every time they reached a new street, they would peek and observe for a while, confirming that ordinary citizens came out before moving forward. If they saw Xiongnu soldiers looting, they would weigh their options—fight if possible; if not, Zhao Shu would lead them to quietly leave and find other teams to cooperate with.

This all counts as battle achievements, and the citizens they escorted out also count.

As Zhao Shu and the Zhao Family Army roamed between the East City and West City, organizing citizens to leave while killing looting barbarians, the emperor in the Imperial Palace was so excited that he personally ran up to the battlements.

The ministers who followed him also stumbled and ran up. General Pei, who was commanding from the battlements, immediately pressed their heads down. Arrows whooshed past above them, and one official failed to dodge in time and got hit by an arrow.

The emperor’s face turned pale upon seeing this, yet he did not retreat. Instead, he grabbed General Pei and asked, "Do we have reinforcements?"

General Pei said, "The buildings obscure the view, I can’t see the situation at the end of the street, but by the sound of things, yes, we have reinforcements, Your Majesty, Yu State’s Zhao Family Army has come to aid us."

Tears instantly flowed down the emperor’s face as he cried, "Someone has indeed come to save the throne. We’re saved, we’re saved."

Fu Zhi looked worried, wondering if Zhao Hanzhang had come, had Ting Han also come?

Zhao Zhongyu was equally stunned, not expecting Zhao Hanzhang to lead troops to save the throne; people were momentarily bewildered.

With one roar from the Zhao Family Army, not only did the people regain hope and start fleeing outside Luoyang, but the soldiers in the Imperial Palace also revived their morale, staunchly fending off Wang Mi’s attack once again.

Wang Mi was furious, gnashing his teeth—why couldn’t they break through the Palace gates?

Zhao Hanzhang rode forward, trotted up to Liu Cong, smiled, and said, "General Liu, be careful now. My spear is sharp. If you’re injured again, you might not survive."

Liu Cong snorted coldly and kicked his horse’s belly, speeding toward Zhao Hanzhang. Zhao Hanzhang also controlled her horse forward, two clangs as she blocked Liu Cong’s swinging blade, her long spear snaking forward, bypassing his knife, aiming for his chest...

Zhao Hanzhang struck quickly and retreated swiftly, passing Liu Cong with both pulling their reins.

Zhao Hanzhang looked at his chest and saw his clothes were torn with a hole, but inside was still armor; evidently, he wasn’t hurt.

Zhao Hanzhang clicked her tongue, "General Liu has gotten smart, knowing my spear is sharp, you even wore a layer inside."

Liu Cong felt his heart hanging high, sensing the threat of death. He hadn’t expected that in just half a year, Zhao Hanzhang’s skills would improve so fast; her spear was so swift just now that he couldn’t catch it.

Liu Cong gritted his teeth and charged at Zhao Hanzhang again.

Zhao Hanzhang’s smile turned solemn, confronting him head-on; she dared to fight Shi Le head-on, was she afraid of Liu Cong?

In the exchange of blows, Zhao Hanzhang grew increasingly exhilarated, her spear striking faster and faster. As Liu Cong feigned a move and slipped past, he suddenly ran, deciding not to fight anymore!

Zhao Hanzhang’s eyes widened; this was the first time she encountered such a situation since arriving in this world. She kicked her horse’s belly to chase him, but compared to Liu Cong’s horsemanship...

Alright, she still couldn’t surpass him; Zhao Hanzhang reined in her horse to turn around, estimating that she was just a step slower than Liu Cong in returning to her army front. Unexpectedly, Liu Cong had already quickly distanced himself from her and shouted out an order, "Fire arrows—"

Immediately arrows shot out from the Xiongnu Army.

Zhao Hanzhang’s pupils contracted, she immediately spun her spear to knock down the chaotic arrows...

The Zhao Family Army behind her saw this and yelled out, "General—"

Ting He and Zeng Yue led the trusted aides forward to rescue, Zhao Family Army at the rear also wanted to rush ahead, but Zhao Hanzhang urgently stopped them, "Fire arrows—"

The Zhao Family Army then organized properly, archers advancing to hold the line.

Zeng Yue and Ting He led the trusted soldiers forward to rescue Zhao Hanzhang, an arrow grazed past Zhao Hanzhang’s spear and pierced her shoulder. Zhao Hanzhang felt a chill in her heart but did not feel the pain.

Zeng Yue caught Zhao Hanzhang and, seeing the arrow in her shoulder, looked shocked, "General!"

Zhao Hanzhang turned back, glaring fiercely in the direction of Liu Cong, and shouted, "Liu Cong, you vile and shameless!"

Liu Cong laughed heartily and said, "General Zhao, there is no deception too cunning in warfare, this is actually your Han family’s military tactics!"

Zhao Hanzhang was escorted back to the army.

Ting He looked pale as she gazed at the arrow in Zhao Hanzhang’s shoulder, "This, this...

Zhao Hanzhang directly broke off the arrow fletching, assessed her own condition, and said, "It’s nothing, this armor is effective."

"General, should we retreat?"

Zhao Hanzhang pressed her shoulder, asking, "Have all the city’s citizens evacuated?"

"No, only some have left, others are still heading toward the South City." Indeed, from the West City and East City to the South City is a distance; this is Luoyang, the Capital City, not just any small county town, taking a couple of moments to walk around.

Here, from the West City to the South City Gate might take about an hour, and the path is not safe.

Zhao Hanzhang gritted her teeth and said, "Pass the order for Zhao Erlang to take my place, before Luoyang’s citizens evacuate completely, we absolutely will not withdraw!"

"Yes!"

Zhao Hanzhang donned a cloak, covering the half of the arrow shaft on her shoulder, and returned to the front lines with her head held high.

Liu Cong was about to order a pursuit to strike the Zhao Family Army hard, but seeing Zhao Hanzhang return, he couldn’t help but narrow his eyes. Zhao Hanzhang reached out and Ting He placed an arrow in her hand.

Zhao Hanzhang twirled the arrow in her hand and spoke to Liu Cong in the distance, "Let General Liu be disappointed; my armor is no less than yours."

She then reached out again.

Ting He hesitated for a moment but still placed the bow in her hand.

Zhao Hanzhang held the bow and drew the arrow, shooting it out; the arrow landed in front of Liu Cong’s horse, firmly striking into the ground, the swaying arrow feathers indicating that it was indeed the arrows of their Xiongnu people.

Zhao Hanzhang proudly retrieved the bow, restrained her restless horse, and said to Liu Cong, "Returning the arrow to General Liu!"