41: Chapter 41 Beautiful women have always had tragic fates (12)

12

Bai Qingxue only had time to see one soldier thrown out of the formation circle, their life or death unknown.

Before she could react, she heard that clear and melodious voice shout again: "The Snake Left Eye is here!"

Bai Qingxue immediately urged her horse forward, only to see Bai Zhaoyan pull a triangular military flag from her bosom, raise it high, and issue the order to attack.

The 101 soldiers on the opposing side, who had been ready and waiting, suddenly moved.

When Bai Qingxue first set up the formation, she had trained the 101 selected soldiers. Similarly, Bai Zhaoyan had done the same, except she required them, no matter what, not to step even half a pace in front of the formation before she raised the flag; otherwise, they would be dealt with according to military law.

Just moments ago, when the situation was extremely dangerous and she was being surrounded and attacked by the opposing side, they had broken into a cold sweat for her, but military orders were as immovable as mountains, so they could only remain motionless.

But now, seeing the military flag waving in her hand, it was finally time for them to strike!

The soldiers on Bai Zhaoyan's side had been holding back a stifled frustration. Just a moment ago, watching their commander being surrounded and attacked, they had been helpless, which was incredibly stifling. Now, they could return everything in full.

Settling scores and grievances, they dragged the opposing Snake Core and Snake Left Eye, who had been knocked to the ground, into the circle surrounded by sturdy shields and gave them a sound beating.

Bai Qingxue wanted to intervene, but she was at the Snake Tail position, and the whip was too short to reach.

Right now, her Snake Core and Snake Left Eye were gone, nowhere to be seen, their life or death unknown. At this moment, she couldn't worry about that; she only wanted to know how to plug the Snake Core position and reshape the formation.

But before she could make a move, the opponent was faster.

Like a flash of lightning, in the blink of an eye, the Snake Right Eye was also plucked out by that long spear, thrown out of the formation, and once again dragged behind by the opposing soldiers waiting nearby.

With this, the three primary formation eye positions had been seen through.

The rest of them were all panicked. How could that long spear be so formidable? It seemed as if it had eyes of its own; it hit every target it aimed for, and every strike was precise.

The first to fall into chaos were the two wings of the Snake Body. The left and right rear wings wanted to flee for their lives, while the front wings were still attacking. Formations inherently demand rigor and cannot tolerate the slightest error, but what about now?

The two wings were going in opposite directions. Especially in such an orderly formation, once one branch moves against the grain, the flaw becomes particularly obvious in the eyes of the one breaking the formation.

Even though Bai Qingxue had ordered the drums to be beaten to change the formation and quickly fill the gaps, the formation was still in chaos.

Now, Bai Zhaoyan didn't even need to personally find the key positions of the four limbs of the Snake Body; the two rear wings were already exposed, and she only needed to aim the spearhead at the two who were fleeing.

Before the spear tip even reached them, it had already scared the two members of the Snake Body's rear wings into falling to the ground, and they were instantly captured by the soldiers on Bai Zhaoyan's side.

Seeing this, the left front wing could no longer care about attacking; they immediately knelt on the ground, blocking the head of Bai Zhaoyan's horse.

"So obedient?" Bai Zhaoyan blinked at him, a faint smile rising at the corners of her lips. The man was instantly dumbfounded, staring at her blankly with a look of obsession in his eyes, feeling dizzy. Was this seeing a real-life fairy?

She held her spear horizontally and knocked him aside with a moderate force; the rest would naturally be handled by her soldiers.

With three of the four supplementary limbs gone, the right front wing was unable to support the situation alone and could no longer pose any threat. He gave up the attack, turned around, and ran desperately toward the direction of the Snake Tail.

Bai Qingxue was so angry she nearly vomited blood: "What an idiot! Is he afraid others won't know where the Snake Tail formation eye is?"

Although it would have taken some time, she could have found the formation tail, but she hadn't expected this result—he had exposed the formation tail directly! She extended her spear, swept across the area, and knocked down both the right front wing who had just fled over and the formation eye of the Snake Tail together.

Seeing that if the fight continued, this snake would truly become a dead snake, Bai Qingxue cursed Bai Zhaoyan inwardly for being too cunning. She had thought victory was in her grasp, but she hadn't expected that she would ultimately be lulled by her initial display of weakness.

In reality, Bai Zhaoyan breaking this One-Character Long Snake Formation was not as easy as Bai Qingxue thought. The original One-Character Long Snake Formation was an ancient formation, and she had seen it in ancient texts in this world, so she knew what she was doing.

This formation is mainly divided into three parts: the formation head, the formation body, and the formation tail. The formation head can be further divided into four parts: the snake head, the snake's left and right eyes, and the snake core.

In the original ancient formation, the key to breaking it lay in preventing the head and tail from connecting for a joint attack. Once a surrounding circle is formed and continuously tightened, the general breaking the formation will be trapped to death within it. Preventing the head and tail from connecting mainly involves limiting the capability of the two wings.

But as soon as Bai Zhaoyan entered the formation, she discovered that it had been modified. The snake's two wings were clearly strengthened, and she had added attacks from four limbs within the Snake Body.

Once an offensive stance is formed, they sometimes separate and sometimes interweave, attacking in coordination; it looks like a One-Character Long Snake Formation, yet also like a Two Dragons Emerging from the Water Formation, and perhaps it could even transform into other formations later.

Her initial chaotic fighting was indeed chaotic; this formation seemed to combine more than one type, but no matter how it changes, it ultimately has a primary formation structure. Bai Qingxue's formation was essentially still based on the One-Character Long Snake Formation; it was a highly aggressive formation. The key to breaking a Long Snake Formation is—hitting a snake requires striking its seven-inch mark. Her poking here and feinting there was exactly her feeling out the snake's seven-inch mark.

At this moment, her martial arts skills came in handy. They could talk about the courage of a brute all they wanted, but if she had been even slightly lacking, she wouldn't have lived to find the Snake Core; she would have been pierced into a hedgehog and buried within the formation.

She was not the original Li Yuan, who was delicate and weak, nor was she a novice who had only studied martial arts for two years.

The title of a martial arts prodigy in Uncle Fu's words was merely because she already possessed superb martial arts skills. She had experienced thousands of years, and in the long river of time, she had seen too much and learned too much.

The Snake Core was plucked out, the Snake Left and Right Eyes were poked "blind," the four limbs were destroyed, and the Snake Tail was severed. Bai Qingxue had originally been suppressing the formation at the Snake Tail. Now, with the entire formation head and formation body destroyed, and only her half remaining at the formation tail, even if she wanted to wag the tail, there was no one to coordinate with her front, back, left, or right.

Bai Qingxue secretly hated this. How on earth did she find the Snake Core and the Snake Left and Right Eyes hidden within the ranks!

But she didn't have time to think carefully. She still had to continue supporting the entire formation. The first two attack formations had been broken through; the next step was primarily about defense. She had to immediately change the formation, shifting from attack to defense; otherwise, if she waited for her to launch a desperate counterattack—

Speak of the devil.

She saw the girl in black across from her, one hand pulling the reins, the other holding her spear horizontally in front of her, her aura extremely imposing, shouting at her: "It's my turn now."

The spear is the leader of all weapons. As the saying goes, one inch longer is one inch stronger; the long spear is inherently the weapon with the highest win rate in terms of aggressiveness.

And Bai Zhaoyan's spear technique had absolutely reached a state of purity, a realm where she could come and go as if no one were there, because the Wisher she had been in one of her past lives was a renowned descendant of the Overlord Spear, and the Overlord Spear was known as the ancestor of all spear techniques. The offensive momentum contained within it nurtured an unimaginable, lethal power.

Among them, the Nine Fatal Spears were nine types of killing moves, which were aggressive spear techniques. In her spare time, she had integrated the Chain Spear, Plum Blossom Spear, Twin Spear, Throat-Locking Spear, and others, continuously improving and refining them, which gave her the current precision and lethality where nine out of ten strikes were fatal.

However, when breaking this One-Character Long Snake Formation, she had still held back her strength, only knocking those soldiers aside to be captured.

She took the lead, holding the long spear, weaving through the crowd, and headed straight for the position where Bai Qingxue was at the Snake Tail.

People on the watchtower saw that girl in black, long spear in hand, all her offensive moves seemingly transformed into flower stamens dancing in the sky, drifting and falling, giving people the illusion that she was not fighting a war, but scattering plum blossom petals.

But those were no flower petals; that was the spear tip being danced to shake out seven sharp edges, resembling seven plum blossoms, making one dazzled and unable to parry.

Bai Qingxue saw the soldiers blocking in front of her falling to the ground one after another, and she was still cursing inwardly, wondering why the Jiangnan soldiers were so weak, rolling into a heap after being tapped lightly.

But when it was her turn to receive the moves, she realized how difficult it was!

Bai Zhaoyan's spear tip was flexible and ever-changing, pressing step by step, and the force was even more astonishing; it didn't match the flowery, showy moves she had imagined at all.

She retreated, and she advanced. She advanced? She couldn't advance even half a step; instead, she was constrained by her everywhere.

After several such back-and-forth exchanges, even if Bai Qingxue were slow, she would have discovered the clues!

She could clearly have knocked her down with one strike, yet every time she was about to fall to the ground, she would rely on the strength of the spear shaft to knock her back onto her horse.

She could only barely parry her attacks, with no time at all to check the wounds on her body. Her white dress was already covered in dirt and holes, and her aching body told her that she must be covered in cuts and bruises.

How hateful! That person simply wouldn't give her a quick end; this was clearly just toying with her!

"Bai Zhaoyan! I will kill you!" Humiliated to this extent, Bai Qingxue had lost all face; where was there any trace of her unblemished Saintess image? At this moment, her eyes were already bloodshot with rage, and she wished she could tear the person before her into a thousand pieces!

Bai Qingxue completely abandoned the tail position of the formation, raised her long sword, and lunged towards her chest.

The next moment, the sword was mercilessly knocked to the ground.

Zhao Yan finally let her go and stopped toying with her. She swung the spear shaft and knocked her off her horse. The latter lost her balance, rolled twice on the ground, and after struggling to steady herself, crawled on the ground in a sorry state.

"Qingxue!" Chu Yao leaped down from the observation deck, dashed straight toward the flash of white in the arena, knelt down, and pulled her into his arms.

Zhao Yan sat astride her horse, withdrew her offensive, executed a perfect flourish with the spear in mid-air to finish, held the spear with one hand, and looked down at the person before her with disdain.

Bai Qingxue's pristine white dress was stained with specks of blood, naturally from being pricked by Bai Zhaoyan's spear tip during the fight. She huddled in Chu Yao's arms, her long hair disheveled, completely devoid of her usual arrogance and cold aloofness.

"Qingxue, are you alright?" Seeing Bai Qingxue's dazed, sorrowful, and grieving appearance, Chu Yao felt a pang of pain in his heart. His Qingxue was proud and confident; when had she ever worn such an expression?

Chu Yao frowned as he looked at Bai Zhaoyan and demanded, "Who told you to hurt her?"

Even though he had once been stunned by the beauty of the person before him, he and Qingxue had known each other, understood each other, and fallen in love over the past three years. He naturally believed she was of the Bai Clan, and they had already pledged their lives to one another. Whether for love or for the support of the Bai Clan, he would not abandon her at this moment.

Zhao Yan scoffed, "If I hadn't fought back, the one dead in her formation would be me."

"Aren't you fine?" Chu Yao shouted angrily.

"Heh..." Zhao Yan's expression turned stern, her gaze like a torch. Suddenly, the spear in her hand thrust straight toward Chu Yao's waist and abdomen. Chu Yao was startled, his eyes filled with disbelief; he hadn't expected her to be bold enough to actually dare to take action against him.

Chu Yao was not weak in martial arts, and he quickly retreated to dodge. However, in this retreat, he forgot about Bai Qingxue in his arms, and she fell back to the ground, her pretty brows furrowing in pain, looking even more disheveled.

Facing Chu Yao's furious face, before he could demand an explanation, Zhao Yan smiled brightly and teased, "Why are you dodging, King of West Chu? Did you forget about Miss Bai in your arms? I was just joking with you. Look, you and Miss Bai are fine, aren't you? Why be so angry?"

"Qingxue, I didn't mean to dodge; I thought she was going to ambush me..."

This was simply making things worse.

Bai Qingxue lowered her eyes, and the emotions within them were indiscernible.

Seeing her remain silent, Chu Yao felt annoyed and grew even more hateful toward the culprit before him, wanting to step forward.

Wei Qingli pressed down on his left shoulder, not letting him advance a single inch, "King of West Chu, since this is a competition, spears and swords have no eyes, and injuries are unavoidable. Furthermore, before the competition, Miss Bai and Zhao Yan already signed a life-or-death agreement. If Zhao Yan hadn't wanted to show mercy just now, it would have been normal even if she had killed her."

"Wei Qingli! Dare you say you weren't planning to stop this competition just a moment ago?"

"That was then, this is now."

Chu Yao still wanted to seek Li Nanxi's agreement, but unfortunately, Li Nanxi's entire attention was focused on Bai Zhaoyan at this moment, with no intention of diverting it in the slightest. In Li Nanxi's eyes, there was only amazement and admiration for the person before him.

"You all go too far! Just you wait! Qingxue, let's go!" On someone else's territory, Chu Yao endured until he nearly bit through his teeth. He bent down, picked up Bai Qingxue in his arms again, turned around, and strode away.

"Wait!"

"What else do you want?" Chu Yao gritted his teeth, "You need to know the consequences of opposing me! I am the king of a region; with your own strength, you want to block our path and make an enemy of me? If it really came to a fight, they might not necessarily stand on your side."

"You're overthinking it." She didn't have the habit of beating a dog when it was down.

Zhao Yan's gaze fell on Bai Qingxue, "Remember our wager!"

Chu Yao clearly felt the person in his arms tremble.

Bai Qingxue gripped her skirt tightly with both hands, gloominess rising in her eyes, and said in a low voice, "I keep my word; since I promised you, I will naturally fulfill it."

"Hmm, I was able to break the formation, so naturally, I understand the key to this formation; it was definitely not luck."

"Although I lost to you, you should know very well in your heart whether I am the Saintess of the Bai Clan or not!" Bai Qingxue said with secret hatred.

"Heh..." Zhao Yan chuckled, scanned the several people around, and said in a cold voice, "I think everyone has already reached a conclusion in their hearts as to who is the true Bai Clan. There is no need for you to emphasize it here. My Bai Clan has always been low-key and has never liked to compete with others or seek the limelight. If it weren't for you pushing step by step, impersonating my clansmen, and ruining the reputation of my clansmen, I would not have easily taken action. This time, consider it a small lesson."

"Bai Zhaoyan, you are shameless!" Even though Bai Qingxue had prepared herself to bow her head temporarily, she was still so angered by her shameless face that her face turned pale, and she spoke without thinking.

"I hope you conduct yourself well, do not appear before me again, and do not claim to be the Saintess of the Bai Clan or a member of the Bai Clan anymore. Let's start from now."

Bai Qingxue wanted to argue and explain, but seeing that the few people present seemed to completely believe her nonsense, she felt despair in her heart. That's right, she had lost! How could the Bai Clan easily lose? Therefore, she was more like a member of the Bai Clan than she was; she had even stolen her identity!

She finally remembered that night before she went down the mountain, when she walked into her senior brother's room to say goodbye. The hesitation in his eyes—what was it that he said to her?

He said: "Qingxue, there are always people better than you, and mountains higher than the ones you see. A wise person knows themselves; you must not be arrogant or conceited, nor should you belittle yourself. I see that your temperament is not yet stable and you are prone to arrogance; now is not a good time to go down the mountain. You still need to temper your character."

She was very unconvinced at the time. The entire Bai Clan believed she was exceptionally intelligent and was the Saintess of the Bai Clan. She was the most excellent existence among this batch of Bai clansmen; what right did he, a sickly person, have to look down on her!

And now?

Bai Zhaoyan, Bai Zhaoyan! My Bai Clan and you are irreconcilable enemies!

After Chu Yao and Bai Qingxue left, Zhao Yan dismounted, handed the weapon to Li Nanxi, and smiled, "Returning the object to its owner."

Li Nanxi gave her an inscrutable look, then took the spear and handed it to the guard behind him.

"Are you hurt?" Wei Qingli had long since looked her up and down, but she was wearing black, so it was truly impossible to tell. Getting closer, he also didn't smell any scent of blood, but he was still worried.

"How could I be?" Bai Zhaoyan grinned, her smile truly brighter than the sun. Wei Qingli stared blankly at her smiling face, remembering her heroic and dashing appearance on the battlefield just now, and the love filling his heart seemed to be overflowing in an instant.

This was the real her!

She looked more suitable in black than in that white attire.

Hong Yun only found out the next day that her Young Master had secretly gone behind their backs to break the formation, and it was the extremely dangerous One-Character Long Snake Formation!

Hong Yun hesitated, "Young Master, don't do this in the future. Putting yourself in danger is truly too risky. If something happened to you, what would Ming Xia, Xiao Qi, us, and Uncle Fu do? Is it worth risking your life just to steal this identity of the Bai Clan?"

"Of course it's worth it! This identity allows us to travel openly through various states, allows us to let go and do our own things without being suspected by others."

As for asking her if she would feel guilty about stealing Bai Qingxue's identity, she would not.

Since the Saintess of the Bai Clan dared to collude with vassal kings, conspire with West Chu, deceive Li Hong, open the city gates, seize her Liang State, and force her parents to their deaths, what morality did she need to speak of with them? Stealing it was fine, and using it was fine.

That she didn't kill her was already an act of mercy.

"Prepare yourself. I believe that with this identity, we should be able to return to Yandu very soon, and be welcomed into the imperial palace with dignity."