Scourge Messenger

Chapter 320 Prelude
The iced tea was gulped down, even spilling from the corners of my mouth because I drank it so fast, as if parched land was yearning for rain.

In a small shop in the Guiding Lands, Ying Rushi crushed a bottle of red tea and let out a long sigh of relief, as if she had been given a new lease on life. Beside her were various snack bags; having not had a proper meal for so many days, she was starving, and the first thing she wanted to do upon arriving in the Guiding Lands was to fill her stomach.

You should think that you're basically safe here.

It's impossible for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to enter the Demon Gathering Land. Ying Ru can recuperate here for five days, and then find any door to leave. Even if Ying Le wanted to block the door, he could only block one place at most, and the other places could only be guarded by the Hundred Guards. However, Ying Ru has the Shadow Spider Boots and the "Escape into Emptiness" technique. Although he can't defeat the Hundred Guards, escaping their blockade is still a piece of cake.

Of course, there is another possibility: that Ying Le might send people into the Demon Gathering Land to deal with him, or even send the Hundred Guards, but this is unlikely.

The reason why the Hyakubo Guards are the strongest forwards in the world is because of their numbers. When the number of members is reduced to dozens or even just a few, the Hyakubo Guards are not as strong. The only problem is that the Thorn Reflection is more troublesome, but the destructive power and the ability to distribute damage will be greatly reduced.

After days of pursuit, Ying Rushi had already killed dozens of Hundred Guards, rendering the Hundred Guards squad no longer a threat to her. Ying Le was just crazy, not stupid; if she really wanted to send out Hundred Guards, she would definitely send dozens or even hundreds.

However, with a large number of people, the commotion could not be concealed. Moreover, the Demon Gathering Land was a complex urban area. Ying Rushi was certainly not foolish enough to confront the Hundred Guards head-on. He could simply step on his Shadow Spider Boots and run away, as there were places to hide everywhere.

Therefore, no matter what moves Ying Le makes, they are all within Ying Rushi's ability to handle.

Clutching the Heaven-Slaying Sword, she relaxed completely, lounging lazily against the snack cabinet, her eyelids drooping. She had slept very little these past two days, firstly because Ying Le was chasing her, and she had to keep moving; if Ying Le discovered her return to the exact location of the Thieves' House, she would be effectively blocked from exiting; secondly, it was also because she was terrified of sleeping.

She had a strange premonition that every time she dreamed, she would drift further away from herself and closer to Ying Le.

These days, Yingru has been thinking about Ying Le during her free time, but not about her cruelty, her bad policies, or her military achievements. Instead, she is thinking about the Ying Le of the past, the Ying Le she has never met and who only exists in her memories.

As a child, she was a princess doted on by her parents. When she first fell in love, she had a lover she liked. In her teenage years, she was a Foundation Establishment seed that was famous throughout the Central Plains. At a young age, she was as famous as Li Long of Zhou and Jie Julu of Liang... But later she became 'Li Long and Jie Julu were once as famous as Ying Le'.

How spirited and arrogant she was! Even from just a few words from others, one could imagine the unparalleled beauty of the young Ying Le.

Ying Rushi considers herself a rising star among the younger generation of Qi. Murong Hui and a few others are only slightly better than her because they have more resources. But when it comes to talent, Ying Rushi is not modest. She is confident that no one of her peers can surpass her.

However, compared to Ying Le more than a decade ago, Ying Rushi could only feel that he was far behind.

But the girl will eventually grow up, achieve foundation building, become a real person, and ascend the throne as emperor.

The girl who loved playing with cats, loved beautiful clothes, and might even have dreamed of becoming a bride and having children, became a tyrant on the throne, a dark cloud hanging over the land of Qi.

Does becoming cruel lead to growing up, or do all grown-up people become cruel?
Ying Ru felt only sadness.

When she was very young, Ying Rushi vaguely remembered that she had a very close aunt who would bathe her, sleep with her, cry and seek her aunt's affection when she wet the bed, and seek her aunt's comfort when she cried after being scolded by her parents for being naughty... But later her aunt disappeared.

My aunt has disappeared.

She cannot lose her way along with them.

Therefore, while she was still lucid, she wanted to draw a clear line under her life, a line so clear it could be definitively concluded, leaving behind a legacy of glory for the Ying family royal family to remember. A wave-like tremor shook the ground, instantly waking Ying Rushi, who gripped the Heaven-Slaying Sword tightly. Such perfectly synchronized steps, such near-uniform movement speed—no one but the Hundred Guards could possibly be behind it!
And... the speed is unbelievable!

Boom!

As Ying Rushi fled the collapsed house, the Baibao Guards were only about a hundred paces away from her! They were all running at full speed. The heavy black steel armor seemed to be nothing on their bodies. The absence of warhorses did not affect their speed at all. They were chariots and iron cavalry. When mounted, they were the best cavalry in the world. When dismounted, they were the best soldiers in the world. If there was a mountain in front of them, they would move it. If there was a river in front of them, they would stop its flow!

Shadow Spider Boots!
Ying Rushi pushed off with both feet, transforming into a blur as he fled in the opposite direction. Even if they were to fight, they would have to be separated and defeated one by one. Apart from that idiot 'Yan', no one in the world would dare to confront the Hundred Guards head-on!

But at that moment, the sound of arrows piercing the air rang out from behind the Hyakubo Guards, and a rain of hundreds of arrows covered Ying Rushi's front!
Ying Rushi's heart sank.

How many Imperial Guards did Ying Le actually send in to rain down this number of arrows? One hundred? Two hundred? But in any case, when the Imperial Guards exceed one hundred, each of them has a lethality level of three, so every arrow in this rain of arrows can be regarded as a three-level attack!

The area covered by the rain of arrows looked as if the sky had collapsed and the earth had split open!

Even Ying Rushi wouldn't dare to force his way in.

As she changed direction to avoid the rain of arrows, the distance between her and the Imperial Guards drastically decreased to within fifty paces. But Ying Ru Shi remained completely calm. Even though the arrows blocked her path, she could still jump onto rooftops and other places to buy time. The Imperial Guards had no warhorses, and in the complex terrain of the city, how could their mobility possibly match hers?

But at that moment, the front row of guards all pointed and Ying Rushi stepped on the ground, only to find that he had stepped into a mud pit and could not get any leverage from his Shadow Spider Boots!

When Ying looked down, she found that the ground around her had turned into mud. The harder she tried, the deeper she sank, like in a swamp!

The arrow rain also changed direction, aiming at Ying Rushi, who was deeply mired in the mud!
Although it was impossible to escape the rain of arrows, Ying Rushi could still deflect them with her Heaven-Slaying Sword if she reduced the area she was hit. But in that short time, the Imperial Guards had closed to within ten paces. The vanguard at the front leaped up, wielding his great halberd and smashing it towards Ying Rushi with the force of thunder!

Without hesitation, Ying Ru rolled and dodged in the mud. She remained calm even then. While the mud slowed her down, it undoubtedly had a greater impact on the heavily armed guards! When she couldn't avoid the guards' halberds, a cold glint flashed in Ying Ru's eyes. She parried and deflected the halberds with her Yitian Sword, drawing them into the mud. Then, she stepped on the halberd handle, activated her Shadow Spider Boots, and leaped towards the wall in a blur!
A gray light fell, and the wall instantly turned into a pile of mud. Ying Rushi lost her footing again and sank into the mud. Because she had exerted too much force, the mud was so deep that it went up to her calves as soon as she stepped in. But Ying Rushi finally saw the culprit. Among the guards, there was a bearded general who was not wearing a mask, whose left eye was empty and his right eye was only indifferent and calm.

Yang Feng!

The Yang family has an ancestral heirloom, the "Earth Spirit Gauntlet" from the East China Sea, which has the power to turn fossils into mud!
……

...

Yan Qing climbed the high slope, a perfect vantage point overlooking the eastern part of the Demon Gathering Lands. Murong Hui stood there, the fierce wind whipping her hair, gazing at the distant battle, her expression neither sad nor happy.

“A weirdo,” she said.

Yan Qing hesitated for a moment before asking, "Were you calling me?"

"You didn't tell me your name, so I just called you whatever." Murong Hui touched her ring, took out a scroll and handed it to Yan Qing: "This is a map of the Demon Gathering Land. Here you go."

(End of this chapter)