542: Lu Xueqi (19)

Lu Xueqi's internal injuries were aggravated.

Blood constantly overflowed from the corner of her mouth.

Her speed gradually slowed down.

Seeing this, Su Han unhesitatingly carried her on his back again: "Excuse me, Junior Sister Lu!"

Lu Xueqi lay on Su Han's back, feeling the warmth and steadfastness from his broad back.

Her heart was filled with mixed emotions.

But at this moment, she couldn't care about much else and could only try her best to adjust her breathing and suppress her injuries.

Bi Yao's eyes darkened when she saw Su Han carrying Lu Xueqi again, but her speed did not slow down in the slightest.

She followed closely beside Su Han, occasionally turning back to release a dark light from the Nine Serenity Mirror to obstruct their pursuers.

Finally, the East City Gate was in sight!

But the city gate was already closed, and torches blazed on the city wall, clearly indicating that they had been alerted.

"What should we do?" Bi Yao asked anxiously.

Su Han's gaze swept around, locking onto a shadowy corner of the city wall: "Up from there!"

He took a deep breath, pushing his speed to the limit.

Arriving at the foot of the city wall, he leaped up, stepping on the wall as if walking on flat ground, and sped upwards!

Bi Yao followed closely, her movement technique equally agile.

Just as they were about to leap onto the city wall, several powerful crossbow bolts shot through the air!

They were city defense soldiers!

Su Han was in mid-air, with nowhere to exert force, and was about to be shot!

"Be careful!" Lu Xueqi forced a surge of True Qi, and the tianya sword swept out, its light deflecting most of the crossbow bolts.

Bi Yao also timely waved her sleeve to bat away one.

But Su Han's old strength was exhausted, and new strength had not yet arisen.

His body paused.

In this instant, the Shadow Fiend Leader and those few Loose Cultivator experts had already caught up to the city wall.

They leaped up, and various attacks enveloped the three of them, whose bodies were momentarily halted!

A matter of life and death!

A fierce glint flashed in Su Han's eyes.

He no longer tried to leap up but gently pushed Lu Xueqi, who was on his back, upwards.

At the same time, he swung his sword in reverse, with a desperate resolve, to meet the Shadow Fiend Leader and others attacking from below!

He was actually using himself as bait to create an opportunity for Bi Yao and Lu Xueqi!

"Su Han!"

"Senior Brother Su!"

Bi Yao and Lu Xueqi exclaimed simultaneously!

A look of determination flashed in Bi Yao's eyes.

Instead of taking the opportunity to climb the city wall, her body sank.

The Nine Serenity Mirror erupted with an unprecedented dark light, like a giant black vortex, blocking below Su Han: "If we die, we die together!"

Lu Xueqi was sent onto the city wall by Su Han's upward push.

She looked back at the danger below and, with almost no hesitation, the tianya divine sword burst forth with an incomparably brilliant blue light.

She desperately activated the initial stance of the Qingyun Sect's secret sword art—the Divine Sword Lightning Leading True Skill!

Although she couldn't fully execute it due to her injuries, the invoked power of heaven and earth changed the very winds and clouds!

"Boom!"

A faint electric light flashed at the tip of the tianya sword.

Although it had not yet fully formed, its majestic heavenly might caused the Shadow Fiend Leader and others rushing up from below to turn pale with fright, their movements involuntarily stalling!

It was this momentary pause!

Su Han and Bi Yao seized this fleeting opportunity!

Su Han's sword stance changed from offense to defense.

He wrapped an arm around Bi Yao's waist, using the recoil from the enemy's attacks below and the deterrence caused by Lu Xueqi's sword drawing lightning.

Their figures shot upwards like meteors, narrowly landing on top of the city wall!

"Go!"

Su Han did not stop.

He grabbed the almost exhausted Lu Xueqi and Bi Yao, whose True Qi was severely depleted, one in each hand.

They leaped down the tall city wall, disappearing into the vast darkness outside the city...

The Shadow Fiend Leader and others pursued them to the top of the city wall, only to see the three figures receding into the distance and the pitch-black wilderness outside the city.

He angrily slammed his palm on the battlement, sending brokened stones flying.

However, he ultimately did not dare to pursue them out of the city on a large scale while having alerted the city's defenses.

The clamor of Heyang City was left far behind.

The three of them fled desperately along a secluded path, until they could no longer see the outline of the city, until the horizon began to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

In a dense forest, Su Han finally couldn't hold on any longer, collapsing to the ground with Bi Yao and Lu Xueqi.

His face was pale, and his breathing was erratic.

The continuous fierce battles and escape had exhausted his True Qi.

Bi Yao and Lu Xueqi were in even worse condition; one had overdrawn her True Qi, and the other's internal injuries had worsened.

The morning sun's rays filtered through the leaves, illuminating their disheveled but relieved faces after surviving the ordeal.

They leaned on each other, panting heavily, no one speaking.

But a strange bond, forged through shared life-and-death struggle, seemed to deepen silently at this moment.

The road ahead was still unknown, but at least, they had once again made it through together.

The morning light was faint, and the forest was filled with the cool tranquility of dawn.

Only occasional chirps of early birds broke the silence.

The three sat leaning against an ancient tree that would require several people to embrace, their breathing gradually calming.

But the atmosphere carried an indescribably subtle tension.

Su Han was the first to catch his breath.

He suppressed the waves of weakness coming from his Meridians, his gaze sweeping over the two women beside him.

Lu Xueqi's face was as pale as paper, with a trace of uncleaned blood at the corner of her mouth.

Her skin, originally as cold and pure as snow, now had no color at all.

She kept her eyes closed, her long, thick eyelashes trembling slightly, as she desperately circulated the Qingyun Sect's Cultivation Technique, trying to suppress the turbulent Qi and blood within her body and the worsening internal injuries.

Her breathing was very faint.

On the other side, Bi Yao's condition was slightly better, but her True Qi was severely overdrawn.

Her pretty face showed fatigue.

She leaned against the tree trunk, her gaze somewhat complexly falling on Su Han and Lu Xueqi.

Especially when she saw Su Han's undisguised worry as he looked at Lu Xueqi, her eyes dimmed slightly, but soon returned to their usual stubborn and lively look.

"We must deal with our injuries as soon as possible," Su Han said in a deep voice, breaking the silence.

His voice was hoarse from the battle, yet it conveyed a reassuring steadiness.

He first looked at Bi Yao.

"Miss Bi Yao, your Nine Serenity Mirror has suffered significant damage.

Can your True Qi still hold up?"

Bi Yao's heart warmed slightly at his words.

She shook her head, feigning nonchalance: "This girl is, after all... Hmph.

This much consumption can be endured.

You should first check on your Junior Sister Lu."

There was a hint of sourness in her words that she herself hadn't noticed.

Su Han nodded.

Indeed, this was not the time for pleasantries.

He moved to Lu Xueqi's side and whispered, "Junior Sister Lu, excuse me."

With that, he extended his right index and middle fingers, gently placing them on Lu Xueqi's slender wrist to feel her pulse.

Lu Xueqi's body trembled almost imperceptibly.

She did not open her eyes, nor did she refuse.

Only a faint blush seemed to flit across her pale cheek, then vanished.

Su Han concentrated, his brows gradually furrowing.

Lu Xueqi's pulse was erratic and weak.

A cold internal energy surged through her extraordinary Meridians, clearly indicating that her old injuries had been severely aggravated.

Coupled with her forceful activation of the initial stance of the Divine Sword Lightning Leading True Skill at the end, it was adding insult to injury.

If not guided early, it might damage her Foundation. (End of Chapter)