The forest was deathly silent. Xianglan dared not move a muscle, her body trembling so violently that she rustled the leaves of the low bushes beside her. As she slowly shifted her position, she suddenly touched something. Looking closely, she realized it was a hand. Following the arm upward, she found herself face-to-face with a corpse—eyes wide open, expression twisted in terror and despair. Xianglan paled in horror, clamping a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream while biting down on her handkerchief to keep her teeth from chattering.
Lin Jinlou lay motionless in the snow, his mind crystal clear. Earlier, he had spotted the character "Lu" engraved on an arrow shaft. Lu Shaotang’s troops were known for their skilled archery, and since his fall from power in Jiangnan, he had sought refuge in the capital under the Second Prince’s wing. The Second Prince had long coveted the crown prince’s position, and tonight, with the crown prince away from the capital and defenses weakened, he had seized the chaos to stage a rebellion. The Jinwu Guard, traveling light without heavy armor, had been slaughtered in these woods, becoming wandering ghosts adrift in the wind. Lin Jinlou inwardly thanked his luck for having already dispatched his subordinate to deliver a message; otherwise, the rebel ambush with arrows would have claimed countless lives, and any attempt to break through to report would have been fraught with peril. Then he cursed under his breath—they were outnumbered, and with Xianglan in tow, his options were limited. His priority now was to find a way to get her to safety.
After a moment of silence, Xianglan felt her heart leap into her throat, the tension becoming unbearable. Suddenly, arrows whistled through the air, thudding into tree trunks. These were fire arrows, glowing like tiny lanterns that flickered in the northwest wind, faintly illuminating the forest. Seeing only a dozen or so fire arrows, Lin Jinlou immediately grasped that the rebels were not numerous either. With only two men left by his side, he knew they couldn’t take on a hundred, but each Lin Family Army guard was worth ten ordinary soldiers—victory was still within reach. Quietly, he picked up a fallen Yanling blade and hurled it outward. The sword clattered onto the open ground ahead, and an arrow instantly whizzed down beside it, its feathers quivering.
Lu Shaotang sat astride a tall horse not far away. With the emperor cracking down on the Second Prince’s secret dealings with officers of the Five Military Garrisons, the Second Prince had no choice but to strike while the emperor was critically ill and the crown prince absent from the capital. Lu had been tasked with ambushing the Jinwu Guard here. After the skirmish, the cavalry had headed for the suburban Five Military Garrisons, while he left forty or fifty men to mop up the battlefield and await the main force. To his surprise, emerging from the dense woods, he spotted flames at the forest’s edge and immediately ordered arrows to suppress the threat.
Growing impatient, Lu Shaotang sent a dozen men forward to investigate. Lin Jinlou tightened his grip on his sword hilt, watching as the rebels drew nearer to Xianglan’s hiding spot. With a sudden roar, he leaped up, seized one rebel, and flung him violently away. The man crashed into a tree with a thud, impaled through the heart by an arrow embedded in the trunk. After a few convulsions, his head lolled sideways. Chaos erupted instantly. The other two Lin Family Army guards sprang out, engaging the rebels in combat, while another twenty or so rebels surged forward.
Trained in martial arts from childhood and seasoned in life-or-death battles, Lin Jinlou fought with divine ferocity. His broadsword moved like lightning, sweeping through the enemy with overwhelming force. Soon, the rebels lay defeated on the ground. The survivors, awed by his prowess, hesitated to advance.Lu Shaotang was greatly shocked, thinking, "In the dead of night, what kind of celestial being has arrived, to be so formidable?" He then ordered the archers to shoot flaming arrows again for illumination, and was astonished to discover that the person besieging them was none other than Lin Jinlou. Gnashing his teeth, he sneered coldly, "Good, good, good! I was just worrying about having no way to settle scores with you. Today, you’ve barged into hell with no door to enter!" He commanded the archers beside him, "Fire the arrows!"
An archer hesitated and said, "The rain of arrows is merciless—we don’t know if it might harm our own brothers—"
Lu Shaotang gave the archer a cold glance and waved his hand, signaling him to say no more. Suddenly, he drew the saber at his waist and, with a "thud," slit the archer’s throat. The man collapsed stiffly to the ground without even a grunt.
Everyone was stunned. Lu Shaotang raised the saber high and shouted, "Fire the arrows! Fire the arrows! Fire the arrows!"
At his command, arrows flew like rain, and for a moment, agonized cries filled the air before falling silent shortly after.
Only the wind, carrying a whistling sound, swept through the swirling snowflakes.
Lu Shaotang still had over a dozen men left, all archers. He ordered them to draw their bows fully and cautiously led them forward on horseback, advancing slowly. The closer they got, the clearer the scene of corpses strewn everywhere became—bodies twisted and piled layer upon layer, with blood flowing like a river. Suddenly, a dark cloud obscured the bright moon, and a blood-soaked figure rose from the pile of corpses, like a fearsome demon from a battlefield, sending chills down everyone’s spine.
The archers were terrified, their fingers trembling, and a dozen arrows whizzed through the air, enveloping the bloodied figure. However, the blood-soaked man actually lifted two corpses to shield himself, and the arrows thudded into the dead bodies. Then, Lin Jinlou’s voice roared, "Lu Shaotang, if you have the guts, come and fight me to the death!" With that, he stretched out his long arms, and with two loud thuds, he hurled the corpses at the rebels, instantly knocking several to the ground. Such astonishing arm strength was both awe-inspiring and terrifying. Seizing the rebels’ momentary panic, Lin Jinlou charged forward, striking with elbows, fists, palms, and kicks, quickly felling several more. The archers, skilled only in long-range attacks and not close combat, immediately fell into chaos.
Lu Shaotang shouted, "Don’t panic! Stay calm!" But in the dim moonlight, blades, spears, and swords swung wildly in all directions, and the air was filled with a cacophony of curses, screams, and warnings.
Lin Jinlou killed seven or eight more men but felt his strength waning. He thought to himself, "I’ve already been wounded by arrows and shouldn’t prolong the fight. It’s better to lure them into the forest so Xianglan can escape. Life and death are fated—if she’s destined to survive, she’ll make it through." With this thought, he shouted loudly, "Lu, you dog traitor! If you have the nerve, follow me and let’s see what you’re made of!" Having said that, he turned and ran toward the forest.
Lu Shaotang would not let him escape and immediately urged his horse forward, leading his men in pursuit.The sound of hoofbeats faded into the distance. Xianglan trembled uncontrollably as she crawled out from behind the bushes, her face already streaked with tears. Staggering to her feet, she wiped her tear-stained face roughly, feeling utterly wretched and terrified to the extreme. The howling northwest wind whistled in her ears, yet she had no idea where to go, only wishing to flee this living hell as quickly as possible. Just then, several agonized screams echoed from the forest, prompting a sudden thought: "Lin Jinlou could have escaped alone with his men, yet he stayed to fight for my sake, luring the enemy into the woods. When he ran past earlier, his steps were unsteady—likely wounded by sword or spear. If I abandon him now, what kind of person would I be?" For some reason, her heart swelled with overwhelming emotions, and a profound grief seized her. Tears flowed even more freely, and she wiped them again with her sleeve. "I'll follow quietly," she resolved. "In a critical moment, I might be of some help. One should repay a drop of kindness with a flood of gratitude—I'll do my utmost, even if it means repaying with my life." Shivering, she unfastened her cloak, turning the black lining outward and wearing the bright red felt inside. Clutching a blanket in one arm and holding the foot warmer, she picked up a blade from the ground and hugged it to her chest before darting into the dense woods.
By now, Lin Jinlou was embroiled in a fierce battle, his eyes bloodshot with killing intent, his savage nature unleashed like a tiger breaking free from its cage and descending the mountain. With his left hand, he wrested a single saber from an opponent; with his right, he raised and swung it down, cleaving through the man’s skull as if slicing melons and chopping vegetables. The man died instantly. Lu Shaotang let out a frantic cry, part alarm and part fury.
Lin Jinlou fought like a madman, his single saber dancing like silver shards, its eerie glimmer flashing swiftly as a phantom. Blood sprayed everywhere, and before long, the rebel soldiers lay dead, their bodies dismembered, heads severed, chests torn open, and limbs hacked apart.
Seeing that the rebels had drained much of Lin Jinlou’s strength, Lu Shaotang rode forward on his horse, raising his blade. With a resounding "clang," the two weapons collided. Lu Shaotang, positioned at a high vantage point, held the advantage of terrain. The impact sent a numbing shock through Lin Jinlou’s hands, forcing him back several steps. Lu Shaotang struck again, and Lin Jinlou blocked four or five blows in succession, retreating steadily until his back hit a tree. With a "pfft," he spat a mouthful of blood, his body too weakened to support itself. His legs turned limp, barely able to hold him upright, and he slid down the trunk to collapse on the ground.
Just then, the clouds parted, revealing the bright moon. Moonlight filtered through the forest branches, and Lu Shaotang saw the feathered arrow embedded in Lin Jinlou’s chest, his breath labored like an ox’s, his entire body drenched in blood. Lu Shaotang threw back his head and laughed heartily, his chest swelling with triumph. Dismounting, he strode over to Lin Jinlou and looked down on him from above. "Never imagined this, did you?" he taunted. "Today, you’ll die by my hand. Once I chop off your dog’s head, I’ll make a stool out of it."
Lin Jinlou gasped for breath, his body twitching intermittently from the excruciating pain. With a "pluck," he yanked the arrow from his chest, blood spurting out. Yet a faint, cold smile touched his lips. "You killed three of my personal guards today," he said.
Lu Shaotang raised an eyebrow. "So what? Are you planning to appeal to the King of Hell after you die?"
Lin Jinlou shook his head slightly, his voice icy. "These three followed me to suppress bandits and resist invaders, risking their lives to protect our home and nation. Today, you killed them. As their master, I will avenge them by killing you."Lu Shaotang stared at Lin Jinlou with a stunned expression, scrutinizing him from head to toe several times. Seeing him so disheveled and weak, he found Lin Jinlou’s words utterly fantastical and couldn’t help but sneer, bursting into loud laughter. When his laughter subsided, he raised the large blade in his hand and stabbed it twice into Lin Jinlou’s left and right shoulders with a "thud, thud." Gnashing his teeth in hatred, he spat out, "With this, how can you kill me? How can you kill me? Back then, you drove me out like a stray dog—did you ever imagine you’d end up like this today?"
Suddenly, Lin Jinlou leaped up and lunged at Lu Shaotang, crashing into him forcefully. The two tumbled to the ground and rolled over. Lin Jinlou struggled to his feet, staggered backward a few steps, then lost his balance and collapsed into the snow, gasping violently for breath.
Lu Shaotang stood up, trembling all over, and looked down in disbelief. A feathered arrow was embedded squarely in his heart! Blood gushed out steadily. He glanced at Lin Jinlou, then at his own chest, mustering his last ounce of strength to pull the crossbow bolt from his waist and raise it. By then, Lin Jinlou had no strength left—he couldn’t move a muscle, not even lift a hand to wipe the blood from his lips. He thought to himself that he would probably die here today and closed his eyes.
Thud.
Lin Jinlou opened his eyes. He saw Lu Shaotang kneeling on the ground, his throat making gurgling sounds. The crossbow bolt clattered to the ground, but he couldn’t utter a single word. With wide, staring eyes, he pitched forward and collapsed, a large blossom of blood spreading across the snowy ground. Xianglan stood behind Lu Shaotang, holding a large blade in her hands, trembling like an autumn leaf in the cold wind.
(First update; Xiao He’s Weibo: Search for He Yanshan on Weibo.)
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