Chapter 13 — The Abyssal King Returns

For three consecutive days after the night of fleeing Vân Khê Trấn, the three of them followed the most remote trails that Bách Uyên could remember from his years of wandering, trying to stay away from the main roads where the Shadow Guard team could easily track them down. They only dared to rest briefly during the day in discreet caves, moving mostly at night under the guidance of Bách Uyên, who, although he no longer had magic power, still retained the sharp instinct to read the terrain of a person who once led an army to conquer all worlds.

On the fourth night, when the three were crossing a narrow valley bordering two mountain ranges, Bách Uyên suddenly signaled to stop, his whole body tensed up like an animal smelling danger.

"Something's wrong," he whispered, his eyes scanning the surrounding mountainsides in the darkness. "This terrain is ideal for an ambush. If I were the pursuer, this is the place I would choose to block my prey's path."

Thục Di was immediately alert, placing her hand on the hilt of her sword, observing the direction his eyes were looking at. "You think they guessed our path?"

"Very likely. Shadow Ve is not an ordinary group. If I were trained like them, I would also calculate in advance the most likely paths of my prey and then prepare a waiting posture," Bách Uyên replied, his voice low but full of calculation of an experienced strategist. "We can't continue through this valley in a straight line anymore."

True to his hunch, just a few moments later, from both sides of the mountain, dark shadows quietly appeared, surrounding the single path in the middle of the valley. Hắc Diệu stood in front, cold eyes looking down at the three people standing in the middle of the siege.

"Not bad, you guys held out longer than I thought," Hắc Diệu spoke up, his voice filled with cold approval. "But at this point this chase should end," Bách Uyên quickly observed the entire situation, counting a total of six dark shadows closing the siege, fewer than the original eight, perhaps the remaining two were injured or sent to search in another direction. He held Thục Di's hand and leaned close to her ear. His voice was so fast and quiet that it was just loud enough for her to hear.

"On the left there is a narrow rock crevice leading down to an underground stream, I saw it when we passed by just now. If I can draw their attention to me, please take Tiểu Yên out that way."

"No, I won't leave you alone!" Thục Di immediately objected, her eyes resolutely not accepting that plan.

"There's no time to argue anymore," Bách Uyên said with a rare decisive voice. "I no longer have magic power, but I have something they cannot predict — the experience of someone who commanded tens of thousands of troops on the battlefield. Believe me," Without waiting for her to refute further, Bách Uyên suddenly shouted loudly, threw a handful of sand and soil towards the nearest group of Shadow Guards, and at the same time rushed in a completely different direction from the direction of the rock crevice he had just shown to Thục Di, deliberately creating chaos to separate the opponent's concentration. Several Shadow Guards instinctively reacted to that sudden movement, slightly disturbing their formation.

In that short moment, Thục Di gritted her teeth, hugged Tiểu Yên tightly, and rushed straight towards the narrow rock crevice as he had instructed. The agile body of an experienced female warrior helped her squeeze through the gaps in the enemy's formation before they could fully react.

Hắc Diệu squinted his eyes, immediately realizing that this was a calculated distraction tactic, not a normal panic reaction. He signaled his three subordinates to chase in the direction of Thục Di and Tiểu Yên, while he and two others turned to approach Bách Uyên, his eyes sparkling with interest at a more worthy opponent than expected.

"It seems you still retain some of the bravery of an old military general," Hắc Diệu said, slowly walking closer to Bách Uyên who was standing in the middle of an empty space, with no way back.

"Battlefield experience doesn't disappear just because of losing magic power," Bách Uyên replied, his voice strangely calm even though he was facing death. He quickly observed the surrounding terrain, noticing a large rock mass precariously above the slope right next to where he stood, precariously balanced by a smaller rock stuck below.

He pretended to take a few steps back as if he was panicking and looking for a way to escape, deliberately leading two of Hắc Diệu's subordinates closer to that precarious rock. At the exact moment the two Shadow Guards entered the exact position he was aiming for, Bách Uyên suddenly turned around and used all his strength to kick hard on the small rock that was balancing the large rock above.

A loud noise rang out when the large block of rock lost its support and rolled loudly down the slope, forcing the two Shadow Guards to quickly jump aside to avoid being crushed. The siege formation was immediately broken in that moment of chaos.

Hắc Diệu, with the reflexes of a top expert, promptly dodged in advance, his eyes fixed on Bách Uyên with a much higher level of caution than before. "Unexpectedly, a mortal without any magic power in his body could use the terrain so skillfully."

"I had to learn how to win without relying on magic power, right from the first days of learning to lead the army, before even inheriting the Seal of Heaven's Mandate," Bách Uyên replied, taking advantage of the chaotic moment to gradually retreat towards a narrow crack in the cliff, where only one person could squeeze through, turning the opponent's disadvantage in numbers into useless.

That uneven fight lasted another moment, Bách Uyên continuously used the dangerous terrain, distraction tricks and accurately judged the opponent's attack path to avoid it, although he was almost hit a few times, his shirt was torn and his skin was scratched in many places.

Meanwhile, at the rock crevice leading down to the underground stream, Thục Di was also facing hot pursuit from three Shadow Guards. She hugged Tiểu Yên tightly with one hand, and with the other swung her sword to defend, her flexible body took advantage of the narrow terrain of the rocky crevice to limit the number of opponents who could attack her at the same time.

"Little girl, hold on tight to my neck, don't let go no matter what happens." She told Tiểu Yên, her voice still remaining calm even in a dangerous situation, making the girl still listen even though she was scared, her small hands clinging tightly to her neck.

A Shadow Guard recklessly rushed closer. Thục Di turned around to avoid it, and at the same time counterattacked with a dangerous sword move that her master had taught her, forcing the opponent to retreat with a wound in his shoulder. But the difference in numbers made her gradually exhausted, cold sweat drenched the back of her shirt.

Just when it seemed like he couldn't hold on any longer, a loud shout rang out from afar, along with the silhouettes of several horsemen riding like a storm, their long spears brandishing and stabbing straight into the Ảnh Vệ formation surrounding Thục Di, forcing them to disperse in formation to avoid.

"Female Knight, we're here to help!" One of the knights shouted loudly, their clothes bearing an old insignia that Thục Di didn't recognize, but right now, any help was as precious as a miracle.

That group of knights, turned out to be the army secretly dispatched by Chu Bách Thành many days ago. After receiving news about the residual magical power and the hunt of Ảnh Vệ, they dived into the human world in the hope of finding Bách Uyên before it was too late, and fortunately, they arrived at the right time.

With that unexpected help, the three Shadow Guards who were pursuing Thục Di were forced to retreat, sending an alarm signal to Hắc Diệu and his two teammates who were fighting Bách Uyên. Realizing that the situation had changed unfavorably, Hắc Diệu quickly ordered the entire formation to withdraw, not wanting to risk confronting a force of unknown scale in the unfamiliar terrain of the human world.

"Consider yourself lucky this time." Hắc Diệu threw back a sentence before disappearing with his teammates into the darkness of the mountains, leaving Bách Uyên standing panting amid the rubble of the battle, his body covered in injuries but still standing.

Thục Di ran over, put Tiểu Yên on the ground, hugged him, her voice trembling because she had just experienced extreme danger. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Bách Uyên replied, although it was clear that his body was shaking from exhaustion and new injuries. He looked towards the group of knights who had just come to the rescue. His eyes suddenly froze when he noticed the old badges on their clothes.

"That is the insignia of the border army, under the command of Chu Bách Thành," he whispered, his voice filled with indescribable emotion, knowing that the loyalty he had given him for the past seven years had finally found its way back to him, right at the moment he needed it the most.