Peach Blossoms in Chang'an

Chapter 286: Crisis 4, Life and Death 1

Blood stained the soldiers' armors and the eyes of Wu Tao and Hu Bugui. Chang'an City, their home, was suffering an unprecedented disaster.

"Pass my order, set out immediately to help Chang'an!" Hu Bugui's voice was as cold as ice. He knew that they had to race against time, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.

The sound of horse hooves was like thunder, and the dust was rolling up. Wu Tao and Hu Bugui led their guards and galloped all the way, finally arriving outside Chang'an at dusk. The scene before them was shocking.

The city gate was breached, raging fire shot up into the sky, thick smoke billowed, covering half the sky. Shouts, screams, and the sound of weapons clashing intertwined, like hell on earth.

"Kill——" Hu Bugui led the way and rushed into the enemy camp. Wu Tao followed closely behind, the long sword in his hand flying like a blooming blood-red lotus, harvesting the lives of the enemies.

However, the number of enemies was too great, like a tide, one wave after another, seemingly endless. The remaining leader of the mysterious organization, wearing a black cloak, hid in the crowd and directed the killing.

"Hu Bugui, Wu Tao, you didn't expect this day to come!" A cold voice came from a distance, with deep hatred.

Wu Tao and Hu Bugui looked in the direction of the sound and saw a handsome man in purple clothes with a hint of evil standing on the high city wall, looking down at them. Next to him stood a masked woman, whose face could not be seen clearly, but from her cold eyes, one could sense the strong murderous intent.

"Who are you?" Hu Bugui asked in a deep voice.

"It doesn't matter who I am. What matters is that today is the day you die!" The man in purple laughed loudly towards the sky, his laughter full of madness and pride.

"Just you?" Hu Bugui sneered, "You think too highly of yourself."

"Humph, whether I think highly of you or not, you will soon find out." A cold light flashed in the purple-clothed man's eyes, "Do it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, countless archers suddenly appeared on the city wall and shot at Hu Bugui and others below the city. At the same time, the city gate opened again, and another group of men in black poured out and surrounded them.

The situation was reversed in an instant, and Wu Tao, Hu Bugui and others were surrounded and trapped in a bitter battle. Although they were highly skilled in martial arts, they gradually felt a little powerless in the face of such a fierce attack.

"Protect the prince, protect the princess!" Li Xiaoyao shouted, leading Xingchen and Yueying to fight against the enemy's attack.

"Xiaoyao, be careful!" Xingchen and Yueying shouted anxiously.

However, at this moment, a cold arrow broke through the air and headed straight for the stars.

"Xingchen!" Li Xiaoyao's eyes were bloodshot, and without thinking, he stood in front of Xingchen... The cold arrow, carrying the breath of death, pierced Li Xiaoyao's chest fiercely, and the blood instantly dyed his clothes red.

"Xiaoyao!" Xingchen and Yueying's eyes were bloodshot, and their heart-wrenching cries resounded through the sky.

Li Xiaoyao turned his head with difficulty, looking at the stars and the moon, and a pale smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, "Stay alive... Protect the prince and princess for me..."

Before he could finish his words, his body fell down weakly, his eyes slowly closed and never opened again.

“Xiaoyao——!” Xingchen and Yueying fell beside Li Xiaoyao, tears streaming down their cheeks.

Wu Tao and Hu Bugui watched Li Xiaoyao fall down, their hearts filled with grief, but they had no time to care about anything else because the enemy was still attacking frantically and they had to concentrate to save their lives.

"Xiaoyao, I will definitely avenge you!" Hu Bugui's eyes were red, and the sword in his hand was like a storm, reaping the lives of the enemies.

"Prince, Princess, we can't go on like this. There are too many enemies. We will be exhausted sooner or later!" a general shouted anxiously.

Hu Bugui took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. "You are right. We must find a way to break out."

Wu Tao looked at the chaotic battle in front of him, and an idea suddenly occurred to him, "Your Majesty, I have an idea!"

She whispered her plan into Hu Bugui's ear.

After hearing this, Hu Bugui's eyes lit up, "Okay, let's do it!"

"Everyone listen up, split the troops into two groups!" Hu Bugui shouted loudly.

"Your Highness, what are you going to do?" the generals asked in confusion.

"The king will lead the army to face the enemy head-on and draw the enemy's firepower, while the princess will lead Xingchen, Yueying and some elite troops to find the lair of the remnants of the mysterious organization and disintegrate them from within!"

"My Lord, this is too dangerous!"

"This is an order!" Hu Bugui said in a firm tone, leaving no room for doubt.

He knew that this was the only way to break the current deadlock.

"Your Highness..." Wu Tao looked at Hu Bugui worriedly. She knew that the journey would be extremely dangerous, but she believed more in his strength.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. You have to promise me that you will come back safely!" Hu Bugui held Wu Tao's hand tightly with a firm look in his eyes.

"Yeah!" Wu Tao nodded vigorously.

After a brief farewell, Wu Tao quietly left the battlefield with Xingchen, Yueying and a group of elite troops, and ran out of the city.

"Yueying, do you know where the lair of the remnants of the mysterious organization is?" Wu Tao asked.

Yueying nodded, "I know, follow me."

They spurred their horses and galloped towards a dense forest outside the city.

"Princess, it's just ahead." Yueying said, pointing to the depths of the dense forest.

Wu Tao looked up and saw some buildings vaguely visible in the depths of the dense forest, which looked particularly eerie and terrifying in the night.

"Let's go."

Wu Tao took a deep breath, and rode his horse into the dense forest with Xingchen and Yueying in his arms.

In the dense forest, the trees are towering, blocking out the sun, the light is dim, and the atmosphere is eerie.

"Be careful, there may be an ambush here." Wu Tao warned in a low voice.

They slowed down and moved forward cautiously.

Suddenly, there was a sound of breaking through the air, and several sharp arrows shot out from the darkness, heading straight towards them.

"careful!"

Wu Tao reacted quickly, swinging his sword to block the arrow shot at him, and Xingchen and Yueying also dodged.

"Who is it?!" Wu Tao shouted coldly.

"kill--"

What responded to her was the enemy's cold shouts of killing.

"It seems we have been exposed." Wu Tao's eyes were stern, "Prepare for battle!"

As soon as the words fell, countless men in black emerged from the depths of the dense forest and surrounded them...

Yueying pointed to a hidden cave ahead and whispered, "Princess, the entrance is right there!"

In the dense forest, swords flashed and shouts of killing shook the sky. Wu Tao, Xingchen and Yueying stood back to back, struggling to resist the attack of the men in black. These men in black were well-trained and their moves were fierce. Wu Tao and his group gradually felt exhausted.

"Princess, we have to get into the base quickly. We can't waste time like this any longer!" Xingchen shouted anxiously while swinging his sword to block.

Wu Tao frowned, she knew she couldn't continue the fight, she had to find the leader of the mysterious organization's remnants as soon as possible to end the battle. She said to Yueying with a firm look in her eyes, "Lead the way!"

Yueying nodded, and led them to fight and retreat, and finally came to the entrance of the cave. The entrance of the cave was very hidden, and it would be difficult to find it without Yueying's guidance.

"Go in!" Yueying shouted in a low voice and took the lead to slip into the cave.

Wu Tao and Xingchen followed closely behind. As soon as they entered the cave, they heard a loud bang behind them. It turned out that the man in black detonated the mechanism at the entrance, trying to trap them in the cave.

"Damn it!" Xingchen cursed inwardly. The entrance to the cave was blocked by huge rocks, and they were now trapped in a jar.

"Don't panic, let's move forward carefully." Wu Tao observed the surroundings calmly. The cave was pitch black and one could not see one's hand in front of one's face. Faint sounds could be heard coming from a distance, like the sound of some mechanism operating.

Yueying took out a tinder from her bosom, blew it and lit it. With the weak light, they could see the scene inside the cave clearly. The cave was winding and strange patterns were carved on the walls. Every few meters, there would be a bottomless trap. A thin layer of mist covered the trap, making it difficult to detect.

"Watch your step!" Yueying reminded. She seemed to be very familiar with the terrain here, and she led Wu Tao and Xingchen to carefully avoid one trap after another.

"Yueying, have you been here before?" Wu Tao couldn't help but ask.

Yueying was silent for a moment, then said in a complicated tone: "This used to be our training base..."

"Training base?" Xingchen looked at her in surprise. "You mean, you were once a member of a mysterious organization?"

Yueying did not answer, but just quickened her pace, obviously not wanting to mention the past.

After walking for a distance, a stone door appeared in front of us. The door was closed tightly, and lifelike evil spirit patterns were carved on it, which made people shudder.

"It seems that this is the last checkpoint to enter the base." Wu Tao looked at the stone gate in front of him, feeling uneasy.

Yueying stepped forward and observed it carefully, then said in a deep voice: "This stone door is full of traps. If we are not careful, we will trigger the traps. We must be extremely careful."

Xingchen clenched the sword in his hand and said solemnly: "Princess, let me try."

"No, it's too dangerous!" Wu Tao stopped her. The mechanism on the stone door was very sophisticated. If one was not careful, they would be doomed. She couldn't let Xingchen take risks.

"But……"

Xingchen wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Wu Tao, "Trust me, I have a way."

Wu Tao took out an exquisite brocade bag from his bosom. The brocade bag exuded a faint fragrance. This was...