Desert Arc ー Chapter 20 (Part 3): Night Attack
Suddenly, I heard a 'swoosh' sound. My face felt a gust of wind and the whip was hit to one side by something.
"Xiao Hua!"
I opened my eyes. My whole body had already broken out in cold sweat.
A stream of moonlight shone through from where the cloud cover was thin. I saw a familiar figure nearby which was dashing here.
Xiao Xuan?
His movements were nimble and he reached me quickly and wanted to pull me without hesitation. A silver whip flew through the sky and it was directly swung at him fiercely. I cried out in alarm and Xiao Xuan's figure flashed as he dodged.
The mountain breeze blew the clouds away. Under the desolate and cold night sky, two men stood opposite each other on the precipice.
"Commander Ling."
"Your Highness Prince Yan." This manner of address was full of provocation and ridicule.
Xiao Xuan said in a low voice, "Let her go. She has nothing to do with this. If she encounters a mishap, the Xie Family also wouldn't let it go."
The man snorted. "I naturally don’t care about whether she lives or dies. The orders I received were to capture you back."
Xiao Xuan stride one step forward. I suddenly remembered that he had long given his sword to me and I lost it in the woods. He had no weapons on him.
The other party also seemed to have thought of this point and sneered, "Oh yes, Your Highness, how does Three Month Fireworks feel?"
A harsh expression plastered Xiao Xuan's face. "Commander Ling, it seems like that sword of mine really strayed from the mark."
I was shaking and about to fall in the wind. The hand which was clutching the vine was already extremely numb and my calf was also begging to cramp. I tightly clenched my teeth and I gasped rapidly, not making a sound.
Without any presage at all, the other party attacked. The silver whip flew at Xiao Xuan like a snake. Xiao Xuan was agile and evaded it so the whip often brushed past him and didn't injure him at all.
"Your Highness Prince Yan is the protégé of Zhou Chuanhe but what you learned is just dodging?"
Xiao Xuan continued to be unflustered. As he evaded, he kept retreating back and resulted in that person gradually getting distant from me.
The whip hit the floor until the dust scattered all around. Xiao Xuan had retreated until he was beside the woods. In a flash, he pulled up a long vine and entangled it with the other party's whip.
I shut my eyes tightly. That whip brushed the area beside my hand with a 'crack'. The vine I was tightly clinging onto suddenly loosened. My feet slipped and my whole body fell down.
I was frightened until I hollered. Luckily, after falling for a small distance, I stopped again.
Xiao Xuan saw that my situation was urgent and anxiously flew over. The whip was like a shadow that followed him so he had no choice but to get away from it.
"Ling Yang!" He roared irately.
The other party sneered. "Will you save yourself or save the damsel. Your Highness should quickly make a decision."
I had already fallen past the cliff side and couldn't see the scene on top. I only heard the mountain breeze howling and the cracking sound of the whip. My heart was torn with anxiety and gasped quickly. My feet touched nothing and I blindly treaded on the wall of the cliff. The ash and grains of sand rolled down, hitting my face, causing me to be choked until I coughed repeatedly.
"Xiao Hua!" Xiao Xuan was calling me, "Hang on!"
I glanced downwards. The darkness was like an enormous mouth waiting to swallow me. My cold sweat flowed continuously and I shrieked, "I will try my best!"
My hand was almost completely numb. With just a moment of inattention, I slipped down a few centimeters again. I didn't dare to move anymore. I couldn't even catch my breath. I never knew that time passed this slowly.
The fight on top got more intense. I heard that man shout loudly, "None of you are allowed to interfere." I reckoned that his subordinates must have already rushed to the scene.
My two arms were already gradually losing strength and I slipped down inch by inch. Cold sweat was rolling down my cheeks.
I squeezed out the words from between my teeth, "Second Elder Brother…"
I could no longer hang on and my body abruptly fell down.
The wind howled beside my ear and the feeling of weightlessness only lasted for a second. My wrist was strongly caught by a large hand.
I opened my eyes.
Xiao Xuan was grasping my hand with one hand while his other hand was clutching onto that vine.
"Second Elder Brother." I saw the other party's troops surrounding us.
Xiao Xuan smiled at me. "Lass, do you believe in me?"
I returned a smile. "I believe."
Before the sharp sword cut the vine, he released his hand and embraced me. I shut my eyes and tightly hugged him and fell into the darkness together with him.