World of Hidden Phoenixes Chapter 18
The orphan army had already galloped to their location and stood on opposing sides with Xiao Yin’s troops. Pin Laoda dodged the cavalry attempting to outflank him, and jumped off his horse, picked up the fallen Hua Zhu Yu, and got up on the horse again.
Xiao Yin still stood on his horse and didn’t go to chase. His handsome face seemed to be covered with ice and coldness. He only lightly moved his hand, yet Hua Zhu Yu’s shoulder burst into immense pain.
She frowned as she looked and her expression immediately changed to that of shock. The on golden-feathered arrow’s feathers, there was a thin white thread of silk. Under the moonlight, it seemed to let off a faint light. The other side of the string was tied around Xiao Yin’s finger.
Barbed arrow! The arrow Xiao Yin had shot her with was a barbed arrow.
Before, she had heard that the North Kingdom had a type of barbed arrow. The tip of the arrow had a barb. Once you have been shot by it, it cannot be immediately pulled out; only sharp weapons can be used to dig it out of the skin. This arrow also has its uses in taking a life. The thread which was latched to the arrow’s feathers and the attacker’s finger, was extremely tough. A normal weapon could not break it. And so, once you have been shot by it, escape is not possible.
“This is a barbed arrow. Tonight, I will not be able to escape. Quickly take the orphan army and leave. If you dally any longer, you will not be able to escape.” Hua Zhu Yu hurriedly said.
“No, under general’s orders, even if I die in battle, I must bring you away.” Pin Laoda said in a heavy voice. He reached out his weapon and sliced it toward the thread. Hua Zhu Yu’s shoulder felt pain, yet the thread was still straight – it had not broken at all.
“Even if you die in battle tonight, you will not be able to save me. Quickly leave! While there’s life there’s hope!” Hua Zhu Yu coldly said. Her voice carried an aura of authority that made people find it hard to argue against; made people naturally follow her orders.
(E/N: The exact Chinese idiom used was 留得青山在，不愁没柴烧 (liú dé qīng shān zài，bù chóu méi chái shāo))
Pin Laoda only felt that this person’s words made him mysteriously think of another person. He felt an empty sort of pain in his heart.
Hua Zhu Yu jumped off the horse. She took off her silver hairpin and viciously stabbed it into the horse’s flank. The horse let out a cry and rapidly carried Pin Laoda into the dark night.
(E/N: In ancient China, women always wore ornaments in their hair which explains how she has a silver hairpin)
She finally turned around and looked at the rider on the black horse. Xiao Yin only coldly looked back without saying a word. His eyes which were like amethysts gave off a flash of sharpness and anger than made people want to cower in fright.
The horse quickly galloped over and surrounded Hua Zhu Yu. Xiao Yin lifted his hand and -like a female who was sewing – slowly and very gracefully wound the thread around his finger. A loop. Another loop.
Everytime he wound the thread, Hua Zhu Yu’s shoulder would let off a pain akin to having her shoulder teared off. With every loop he made, she was forced to walk closer to Xiao Yin.
The distance became closer and closer. Xiao Yin suddenly stopped winding the thread. His purple eyes narrowed slightly and flashed with darkness.
Hua Zhu Yu felt a bad premonition. Xiao Yin softly whistled. His black horse began to run. Being tied by the thread, Hua Zhu Yu had no choice but to run with the horse. She ran with her life on the line. She knew, she must not slow down. Once she did so, the arrow would be deeply pulled out. At that time, her shoulder – even her whole left arm- would become disabled.
The moonlight was suddenly bright and suddenly dark, like the horse rider’s unfathomable expression and emotions.
Luckily, the horse did not run very fast. It seemed like Xiao Yin did not want her to die. However, the horse was not slow either. It ran at the highest speed she could reach. Additionally, there was also that tearing pain in her shoulder. This was simply unbearable torture.
When the horse had run to Xiao Yin’s imperial tent, Hua Zhu Yu could not even guess how long she had run. Sweat dripped from her forehead; it rolled past her cheeks and moistened her rouge.
Xiao Yin jumped off from his horse and strode into his tent. Hua Zhu Yu could only follow after him into the tent with fatigued steps.
A surge of a heavy atmosphere seemed to be added to the tent’s spring-like warmth with the entrance of the two.
“Tell me. Who are you?” He coldly said with his back still faced to Hua Zhu Yu.
“Who am I? Is it really that important?” Hua Zhu Yu quietly said. Her voice was clear and her tone was cold. It was vastly different from the delicate and soft tone she had used in front of him before.
Xiao Yin looked back in surprise at his zither prost.i.tute.
It was still the same person, yet he felt that there was some part of her that had become different. She didn’t have the original coquettish-ness that a prost.i.tute carried. She solidly stood with a straight back. Her face still carried the thick makeup, yet her rouge had been washed over by sweat, making it only a ma.s.s of colors, but instead, it only served to bring out the beauty of her eyes more.
It was a pair of beautiful phoenix-like eyes and it had the effect of pulling people to its every depths. At this time, her watery eyes contained a glacier-like coldness as she started at him.
Xiao Yin was shocked into stupor.
“You are…” He had a little disbelief in his voice: “You are… Mu Yun Princess? The Mu Yun Princess that was sent out for marriage?
Anyone who could have Hua Mu send out the orphan army was not simple. Yet he couldn’t have imagined that it was actually Mu Yun Princess.
In his eyes, the young miss of a rich family in the South Kingdom who was given the t.i.tle of princess in order to be sent to a marriage alliance; the miss who had been demoted by him to the red tent, couldn’t possibly be the zither prost.i.tute by his side. Not only that, but on the battlefield, she had even used the song of the zither to help the South Kingdom. Even though that day he didn’t know how the South Kingdom had won, however, he always seemed to have the nagging feeling that it was related to his zither prost.i.tute. He had originally thought that she was a spy sent by the South Kingdom. He never could have though that it was her, Mu Yun Princess, Hua Mu’s daughter.
The female didn’t reply, but her beautiful lips hooked into a slight smile – a lazy, arrogant, even mocking smile.
Xiao Yin coldly smiled. She had been thrown into the red tent yet still had been able to continue living despite being a supposedly ignorant young miss of a rich family. THe couldn’t help but re-evaluate her.
But even before that, her strong perseverance which allowed her to endure such humiliation was one which made people view her in admiration. Had it been another woman, she would have probably already suicided.
“You are Hua Mu’s daughter…Very good, very good…Originally, bendianxia thought that bendianxia would be able to defeat the South Kingdom in one fell swoop, however it soon became a deadlock. Your arrival is extremely good. It was exactly on time. Tomorrow, bendianxia will tie you up and drag you to the battlefield. If Hua Mu doesn’t surrender, then bendianxia will have someone strip you.” Xiao Yin said with a cold smile. He called toward the outside: “Lairen! Tie….”
(E/N: ‘Lairen’ is an expression used to called people over. It normally can only be used by people which a relatively high position, which allows them to have subordinates.)
He hadn’t even finished speaking before there was the sound of “You dare!”
Along with the loud call, came the sound of a heavy banging sound.
Xiao Yin’s ears perked up. He thought he heard incorrectly. His wide and disbelieving purple eyes looked around the tent, however there was only him and Hua Zhu Yu!
Since the one who talked wasn’t him, it could only be her.
In all 23 years of Xiao Yin’s life, he had never heard anyone talk so loudly to him. Even his parents had never done so. Additionally she had even said “you dare”!
A normal female, when met with this sort of situation, shouldn’t they beg for forgiveness? Even the more courageous would probably only curse at him.
Yet she had said: You dare!
And had even done so while smacking the table!