“What happened?” Qin Yu pushed open the bedroom door and was met with a tense, sword-drawn confrontation.
She hadn’t been able to hear clearly from inside the bedroom, only catching the sounds of a commotion outside.
“You, get over here!” Lu Han roared, pointing at Qin Yu as she stepped out.
“No!” Qin Yu reflexively grabbed a longsword from a nearby weapon rack, dropping into a defensive combat stance.
Qin Yu shot a glance at Luo Shangyu, her eyes signaling a silent plea: ‘We need to move now.’
Luo Shangyu took a step forward, sparks dancing at the tip of her staff.
“Fine, Luo Shangyu. You truly are rebelling!” Lu Han said venomously.
He immediately turned to the soldiers around him and shouted, “A reward of 100 gold coins to whoever takes Luo Shangyu’s head! And beside her is Crown Prince Qin Yu of the Chengji Empire — 100 gold coins for her head as well!”
The soldiers standing near Lu Han were momentarily stunned into silence upon hearing Qin Yu’s identity.
Qin Yu felt her face flush, the heat of embarrassment burning her cheeks.
Regardless of whether Lu Han was merely guessing or was entirely certain of her identity, his public declaration was as good as an official confirmation from the Kingdom of Yiyong.
“Enough, now is not the time to worry about your identity,” Luo Shangyu said, patting the dazed Qin Yu on the shoulder.
“First, we deal with these soldiers!”
Seeing that the soldiers were no longer stunned and were beginning to move, Qin Yu steadied her stance.
“Aren’t they your personal troops?” Qin Yu asked.
“They… were bribed by Lu Han!” Luo Shangyu began channeling a magical battle technique, using her free right hand to pull Qin Yu along.
“Let’s go!”
Facing the layers of pursuers blocking their path, Luo Shangyu didn’t show the slightest hint of panic.
She fired a magical fireball, and in an instant, a large group of the surrounding soldiers collapsed.
“Move!” Luo Shangyu grunted, dragging Qin Yu as they fought their way through a gap in the crowd.
“Catch them!” Lu Han commanded loudly.
In an instant, the entire military camp turned into a chaotic mess.
Soldiers ambushed them from unexpected spots behind every tent, making it impossible for Qin Yu and Luo Shangyu to guard against everything.
Several times, the tips of blades brushed right past Qin Yu’s cheeks.
Even though Luo Shangyu was a Seventh-rank Quasi-god Mage and could have used large-scale magic to slaughter the enemy soldiers, she was unwilling to do so.
For one, many of these soldiers were her former subordinates.
More importantly, she had to ensure she had enough mana to deal with the potentially more powerful pursuers who would surely follow.
Luo Shangyu could only focus on breaking through the encirclement while suffering the least amount of cost.
She shielded Qin Yu with one hand while carving a bloody path forward with the other.
“Aren’t we going the wrong way?” Qin Yu asked as she was led along.
She felt like Luo Shangyu wasn’t heading toward the main gate.
“We need to seize warhorses. Otherwise, are we really going to walk all the way back to the Chengji Empire on two legs?”
“But you can use magic! We can fly!”
“We have to save mana. There’s no telling if Lu Yun and Lu Han will send more powerful mages to hunt us down later.”
Luo Shangyu swung her staff, clearing a path through the soldiers.
Her display of power made the others wary, and they hesitated to get too close.
In this manner, Luo Shangyu quickly led Qin Yu to the unit’s stables.
Luo Shangyu destroyed the door lock with a single strike, and Qin Yu rushed inside to lead out two warhorses.
With Luo Shangyu’s help, Qin Yu managed to mount her horse with some difficulty.
Luo Shangyu leaped onto her own horse and shouted to Qin Yu, “Hold on tight, we’re picking up speed!”
The warhorses galloped toward the camp’s main gates.
Many soldiers were sent flying by the impact of the charging horses, crashing heavily onto the ground.
“Go after them, quickly!” Lu Han stepped out from Luo Shangyu’s Central Army Tent and screamed at the soldiers in the camp.
Upon hearing the order, the men moved sluggishly, clearly dragging their feet with a lazy, indifferent attitude.
They didn’t actually want to pursue Qin Yu and Luo Shangyu.
It wasn’t just because of Luo Shangyu’s overwhelming strength, but because she had been their General.
She had been a fair leader and was deeply respected by her troops.
‘We took your money, Lu Han, and we staged a mutiny and betrayed General Luo. We already did enough for you by putting up a show of trying to stop her. Now you want us to risk our lives?’
‘Not a chance.’
Because of this, Luo Shangyu was able to ride far away with Qin Yu without encountering any further pursuit.
When Lu Han saw the state of the soldiers, he knew he couldn’t rely on them.
He also realized that he couldn’t go against the collective will of the army.
Left with no choice, he led 5,000 of his own personal cavalry to chase after Luo Shangyu himself.
***
Only after they had fled for nearly 50 or 60 kilometers did Luo Shangyu finally slow down, letting the horse walk at a leisurely pace.
Qin Yu finally had a chance to catch her breath.
The warhorse had been running at such a high speed that it had taken quite a bit of strength just to cling to Luo Shangyu’s waist and keep from falling off.
The back of Qin Yu’s clothes was soaked with sweat, clinging to her skin.
As the autumn wind blew, she felt a slight chill.
“Where are we?” Qin Yu asked, looking at the towering trees surrounding them.
“Here…” Luo Shangyu struggled to identify their location.
She had simply been heading west the entire time and hadn’t paid attention to their specific coordinates.
“We’ll keep heading west. We’ll know once we hit a town or village,” Luo Shangyu said after her failed attempt to recognize the terrain.
Qin Yu nodded.
She wasn’t familiar with the geography within the Kingdom of Yiyong, and without a map, she could only rely on Luo Shangyu to lead the way.
“I’m a little hungry.” Qin Yu leaned against Luo Shangyu’s back, her voice full of exhaustion.
“What are we going to eat for lunch?”
“That’s a good question…”
The crisis had happened so suddenly that neither Qin Yu nor Luo Shangyu had been able to prepare any food for their escape.
At the moment, the two of them had neither water nor dry rations.
They were, quite literally, out of supplies.
“If we can find some prey, we’ll have meat. If not, we’ll just have to pick some wild fruit.” Luo Shangyu looked helpless.
Despite having no lunch, both Qin Yu and Luo Shangyu agreed that they should rest for a while before continuing their journey.
They happened to step out of the forest and arrived at the foot of a wide, sprawling hill.
The hill wasn’t high, reaching perhaps ten or so meters at most, but it was covered in a layer of yellowing, withered grass.
“Shall we lie down here for a bit?” Luo Shangyu suggested.
“Mm, sounds good,” Qin Yu said, jumping down from the horse.
The grass was soft and dry, warmed by the autumn sun.
“What a nice place.” Qin Yu lay flat on the grass, letting the warm sunlight dry the sweat on her back.
Luo Shangyu dismounted and lay down beside Qin Yu, staring up at the azure sky above.
She felt as if she had finally broken free from the Kingdom of Yiyong.
Returning to her previously leisurely lifestyle, she felt a profound sense of relief.
“Luo Shangyu,” Qin Yu said, turning her head to look at her, “Is there anything you left behind in the Kingdom of Yiyong that you didn’t get to take?”
‘Anything I didn’t take…’ Luo Shangyu thought back carefully.
She and Qin Yu had left in a hurry, so she wasn’t carrying much on her person.
Fortunately, most of her property was kept in her old family estate.
Though many things remained in the Kingdom of Yiyong, none of them were truly important.
Luo Shangyu shook her head and replied, “No, nothing. None of it was that important. It’s all replaceable.”
“I see…” Qin Yu suddenly hugged Luo Shangyu and said, “Thank you for being willing to turn against Lu Han for my sake. It’s because of me that you lost everything…”
“Don’t say that.” Luo Shangyu smoothed the hair of the girl resting against her chest.
“Even without you, Lu Han would have turned against me sooner or later. It was only a matter of time.”
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