Scourge Messenger

Chapter 131 Encounter
Four days later, Qishan.

The rumbling sound of the road echoed in the distance. Rabbits by the roadside looked around and then darted into the bushes with a whoosh. Three fast horses galloped past, startling a flock of birds in the forest.

Suddenly, a horse foamed at the mouth, went limp, and collapsed to the ground. The girl riding it couldn't help but scream. Fortunately, her companion immediately reached out and grabbed her collar, thus averting a fatal accident that killed both horse and rider.

"Thank you, Miss." Shi Dong, still shaken, sat behind and tightly hugged Yao Shiyuan's waist.

"Miss, why don't we take a break? We've run far enough," Wu Qiu said. "Sa Lu Zi is almost at her limit too."

"No, we can't stop for even a moment before reaching the Shu Road Mountain!" Pharmacist Yuan said resolutely, "Even if it kills Sa Lu Zi, we'll do it!"

Wu Qiu stroked the yellow-maned horse beneath her and found its muscles trembling, its eyes purplish-red, and its nostrils flaring—it had clearly reached its limit. She made up her mind: "This horse can't go on for much longer. Shi Dong, you take good care of Miss from now on. I'll help Miss distract the pursuers."

"No!" The apothecary roared, his eyes bloodshot. "I said we'd escape together, and not one of us can be left behind! Don't act on your own. If I wanted to run, I would have already. If you dare betray me, I'll never forgive you for the rest of my life!"

“Miss…” Wu Qiu’s eyes were filled with tears, a mixture of gratitude and shame: “We have been a burden to you…”

"Bullshit! If anyone's been implicated, it's the pharmacist family!" Pharmacist Yuan scolded, then softened her tone: "Just do your best, leave the rest to me!"

At that moment, her ears twitched, and her face turned extremely pale. A few seconds later, Wu Qiu and Shi Dong also heard the sound of horses' hooves behind them, and their faces turned deathly pale.

"drive!"

"drive!"

The pharmacist and Wu Qiu wielded their whips with all their might, but their horses were already at their limit, and no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't squeeze out any more strength. Shi Dong turned to look behind her and saw that the black dots following behind were getting bigger and clearer, and she could even see that the pursuers at the front were already nocking their bows and drawing their arrows!
"careful!"

Whoosh! The bowstring twanged like thunder, and the arrow pierced the sky like lightning! This was no exaggeration; the arrow fired by the pursuers truly transformed into a streak of yellow lightning. As it traveled further and further, the area affected by the lightning arrow grew larger and larger. When it approached Yakushi-en, the lightning arrow was like a storm, even stirring up billowing dust on the ground!

Evasion is futile. Even if the pharmacist could dodge, Sa Lu Zi and Shi Dong would be charred by the aftershocks of the lightning arrow!
With a flick of her wrist, the pharmacist retrieved a steel spear from her storage ring. She shouted, grabbed Shi Dong, twisted her waist, turned, and thrust forward, precisely striking the arrowhead. The arrow shattered instantly, exploding into a dazzling, lightning-like burst of light!
However, the firework was so large that it engulfed them all. Wu Qiu and Shi Dong, who had no protective tokens, couldn't help but groan. The two horses even foamed at the mouth and fell to the ground, unable to get up again.

"What a brilliant counterattack!" The people behind laughed heartily. "There aren't many people in the Zhou Kingdom who can counter the Thunder Fang Arrow like you!"

The pharmacist instantly rose from the ground, took out a bottle of blood-replenishing pills from his robes, broke them in half, and fed them to Wu Qiu and Shi Dong. During this time, the pursuers had caught up with them and surrounded them at the crossroads.

When the maids recovered, they looked up and saw a group of masked soldiers on horseback. They were all first-level messengers, and all of them wore protective helmets with masked faces!
The three elite forces of the Central Plains were the Masked Guards, the Evil Ghosts Protectors, and the Black-Clad Warriors. The man leading the Masked Guards was a gentle and refined middle-aged man. He carried a large bow on his back, a curved sword at his waist, and a large spear on his horse. However, unlike the Masked Guards who wore heavy armor, he wore only animal skin armor and looked more like a hunter from the mountains.

However, Wu Qiu and Shi Dong were maids of the Duke of Jin's mansion. Although they were still of lowly status, they had seen more of the world than most powerful families. They recognized the illustrious identity of the middle-aged man in front of them at a glance. He was a powerful figure whom even the Duke of Jin had to respect!
“Miss…” Shi Dong tried to grab Yao Shi Yuan’s sleeve, but she quickly let go, looking down at the dirt on the ground, her voice trembling with fear as she cried out, “Miss…”

"Miss, don't worry about us." Wu Qiu didn't cry, but her voice trembled: "You should run away quickly. You can escape on your own."

"What a deep bond between master and servant." Respect shone in the middle-aged man's eyes. "Aren't you afraid?"

Of course they were afraid. The masked soldiers' gazes were undisguised, their eyes seeming to pierce through their thin clothing, stripping them bare like two naked lambs. The thought of their impending fate made Wu Qiu and Shi Dong tremble. They had heard of the fates of women abducted to military camps… The Duke of Jin's banquet was frequented by military officers, who shared the rare entertainment of the camp as anecdotes, sometimes even grabbing a dancer to perform, drawing cheers and applause from the crowd.

Suddenly, Shi Dong reached out and hugged Yao Shi Yuan's leg tightly. Wu Qiu forgot her fear and shouted, "Shi Dong, Miss has been so kind to us! What are you trying to do?!"

The pharmacist looked down at Shi Dong, whose eyes were already blurred with tears and whose face was full of fear.

"Miss..." she sobbed, "Please... please kill me."

Wu Qiu was stunned, and the middle-aged man's eyes also underwent a subtle change. The pharmacist reached out and pried Shi Dong's hand away, saying calmly, "Leave the rest to me."

“Miss…” Wu Qiu wanted to persuade him further. “You’re all stupid, I don’t blame you.” The pharmacist looked at the middle-aged man: “Do you think he’s not making a move because he’s kind? He’s waiting for me to escape. He wants me to escape so he can slowly deal with me with the Thunderwood Bow until he’s exhausted my spirit jade. This is his favorite way to slowly bleed his prey, step by step forcing it into a corner. It’s safe, wonderful, and he has victory in his grasp.”

"It's hard to find a true friend in life." The middle-aged man laughed. "If you were to inherit the token of the Ba River Pharmacist family, you would surely become a pillar of our Great Zhou, a golden beam that holds up the sea, and it's even possible that you would reach the Foundation Establishment stage and protect the country. If you were given a few more years to lead the army, I'm afraid even the Six Pillars of State would be unable to do anything to you... Unfortunately, your father offended too many people who shouldn't have been offended."

"Hunter Helan Que!" The Pharmacist gripped his steel spear tightly, his powerful blood surging with overwhelming fighting spirit. "You think you've already won?"

“If you need to protect these two burdens, I really don’t see how you have any chance of winning.” Helan Que raised his hand, and the masked guard immediately pulled out a steel crossbow that was already cocked from behind him: “Don’t worry, these crossbow bolts will not be fired all at once, but will only be fired occasionally when you and I are fighting.”

Wu Qiu Shi Dong immediately realized the other party's sinister intentions and couldn't help but curse, "How despicable!"

"If you've got the guts, then fight this lady fair and square!"

The Pharmacist could easily shield them from the crossbow bolts, but at the same time, she would constantly distract the Pharmacist, preventing her from fighting at full strength. Helan Que was already a third-level cultivator, and now he had come from the military town with all the necessary tokens. His strength, experience, and background far surpassed that of the Pharmacist. Yet, he was still resorting to such underhanded tactics, maximizing their value as hostages.

“There’s no such thing as despicable in battle,” said the apothecary, showing no anger whatsoever. “If I were in his shoes, I would have done the same. You have to use any means necessary to deal with the enemy; victory is the only justice.”

"Surrender, Princess Zhaorou." Helan Que laughed, "If you surrender, I guarantee your maids will be safe and well, and will be given to good families. But if you lose, I can only regretfully leave them to the guards to deal with."

With bloodshot eyes, the pharmacist roared like thunder and thrust his spear out like a dragon!
But her target was not Helan Que, but the masked guards on horseback beside her!

Clang! Helan Que grabbed his lance and intercepted Yaoshi Yuan's attack. In the instant the weapons clashed, the soldiers' horses neighed and retreated, and the masked soldiers trembled. The battle between the three-tiered messengers was like two monsters fighting; the sound of their weapons vibrating was enough to make one's scalp tingle!
After several rounds, a soldier suddenly pressed the trigger of his crossbow, and an arrow shot accurately at Wu Qiu. Yao Shiyuan immediately drew her spear and deflected the arrow, hitting the soldier's faceplate squarely! She had originally wanted to take the opportunity to kill the soldiers, but Helan Que attacked again, leaving her no choice but to turn back and fight once more!

Soon after, more soldiers fired their crossbows. Although Yao Shiyuan returned to defend in time, Helan Que launched a direct attack. Yao Shiyuan was unable to dodge in time and could only rely on his defensive tokens to defend himself!
Everyone knew what was going to happen next: the Pharmacist's spiritual energy would be continuously depleted due to the mistakes of her two maids. When her spiritual energy was exhausted, all three of them would also meet their end.

“Shidong,” Wuqiu suddenly said, “You’ve always been timid since you were little. When other servants bullied you, you would cry and come to me for help.”

Shi Dong realized something and nodded silently.

"Just like before, let me help you this time." Wu Qiu removed the silver hairpin from her hair with her right hand and stroked Shi Dong's face with her left: "Just close your eyes, it will pass quickly."

"Mmm!" Shi Dong closed her eyes with tears in her eyes, reaching out to tightly place Wu Qiu's left hand on her heart. It seemed to really work; her body stopped trembling, and she seemed truly unafraid now.

Wu Qiu bit her lip until it bled, staring at Shi Dong's throat, and used all her strength to stab the silver hairpin in!

*Clang.* The silver hairpin was knocked away, and Wu Qiu collapsed to the ground as if all her strength had been drained. She looked at the apothecary before her, a pitiful yet self-reproachful expression on her face: "Could you—"

"No!" Pharmacist Yuan howled like a wild wolf. "I told you, leave the rest to me!"

Her mind raced, her eyes darting around, searching for a way out. She refused to believe this predicament could stop her... she refused to believe she couldn't even protect two maids!
Helan Que was also happy to see this happen. The deeper their feelings, the harder it would be for Yaoshi Yuan to escape. Defeating Yaoshi Yuan wasn't difficult; the challenge was how to keep her here. He knew that Yaoshi Yuan had taken a large amount of spirit jade with her before fleeing, and given her resolute and decisive nature, once she made up her mind to escape, only by relentlessly pursuing her for days and nights and exhausting her spirit jade could he possibly succeed. It would be best to deal with her here; if not, he could at least deplete her spirit jade as much as possible, making the subsequent pursuit much easier.

If he were a demonic messenger or had a demonic messenger under his command, handling such a situation would be much simpler… However, Helan Que quickly abandoned this foolish thought. While demonic combat was powerful, it was a dead end. Not to mention cultivating himself, even having demonic cultivators around him would cause him sleepless nights.

The masked guards on the perimeter served as both spectators and walls, forming the hunting grounds. Suddenly, one of the guards noticed something and patted his companion on the shoulder: "What's that?"

His companion looked over and said, "It looks like... a little girl?"

On the other side of the three-way intersection, a little girl with black hair and a thick braid, carrying a sword almost as tall as herself, strode arrogantly toward their hunting grounds.

(End of this chapter)