Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress

Chapter 183: Chapter 182: One Against Ten_1

“Yes, a few years ago I lost all my martial arts skills and became a cripple!” She gazed at the already exhausted Yun Poxing. “But I heard there was someone named Yun Poxing who feared the name of my Bai family army deeply, like a child fearing his father! To bolster his courage, he gathered such cowardly scum from Nanyan to create momentum and secretly colluded with my grandfather’s deputy, Liu Huanzhang, assembling a million troops with all sorts of devious schemes to wipe out all the men of my Bai family!”

“So I thought… even if I’m a cripple, I could still put in all my effort to behead you! But it’s a shame, this cripple hasn’t even exerted any force, and you’ve already fallen apart and become a fish on my chopping block… ready for me to butcher. It’s truly disappointing!”

Her eyebrows were cold and clear. “It seems that without the aid of Nanyan, without Liu Huanzhang passing messages, Yun Poxing is not even as good as a crippled woman!”

Yun Poxing’s eyes were wide with rage, and he clenched his teeth. “You insolent brat, you’ve insulted me too much!”

“To you, stating facts is to insult you too much?!” She glared at him angrily, gritting her teeth. “You beheaded my seventeenth brother and desecrated his corpse. Is that not an enormous insult?! Even though you used plots and schemes to kill my grandfather and the men of my Bai family, as a marshal of an enemy country benefiting your homeland Xiliang, I respect you. But as a seven-foot man, to wield a knife against a ten-year-old child, behead him, and then desecrate his body! You are not worthy of being human! I despise you!”

Yun Poxing thought of the ten-year-old child of the Bai family who still carried an unyielding spirit before his death. He gritted his teeth and shouted, “In battle, it doesn’t matter if one is a child or an old man. Once you pick up a knife or sword, you are a warrior! Where is there so much compassion?!”

As soon as Yun Poxing finished speaking, an arrow whistled through the air, penetrating his knee in an instant. It was so fast that even a phantom could not be seen. Blood spurted, and Yun Poxing cried out in pain, cold sweat dripping, glaring at Bai Qingyan.

“Marshal!”

The remnants of the Xiliang soldiers drew their swords, but under the threat of the Bai family generals, they did not dare to move.

“This arrow is for my seventeenth brother!” Her eyes were cold.

Another arrow followed, piercing Yun Poxing’s right knee, causing him to kneel awkwardly.

“This arrow is to make you kneel and apologize to my seventeenth brother!”

“If you want to kill me, then kill me! I, Yun Poxing, am not afraid!” Yun Poxing roared.

“Kill you?” She tightly grasped the Sun-shooting Bow. “Killing someone as useless as you with no strength to fight back would be too insulting for my Sun-shooting Bow.”

“Young General Bai! Use my knife! I’m not afraid of Yun Poxing’s blood defiling my treasured blade!” Cheng Yuanzhi said firmly, drawing his treasured sword and offering it. “If it gets dirty, I’ll clean it and use it again!”

Unable to endure the humiliation, Yun Poxing gritted his teeth, drew his scimitar, and attempted to slit his own throat.

“Clang—”

Before Yun Poxing’s scimitar could touch his throat, an arrow struck his wrist, causing the scimitar to fall to the ground.

“Marshal!”

The remnants of the Xiliang soldiers had red eyes, glaring at Bai Qingyan like cornered mad dogs.

“Yun Poxing, I’ll let you go today…” she said.

“Young General Bai! Don’t! He killed the Marshal, killed the Vice Commander! How can we let him go?!” Cheng Yuanzhi’s eyes were wide with disbelief. He had waited for this moment for so long, wanting to flay Yun Poxing alive and behead him. How could she let him go so easily?!

She didn’t change her tone, only suppressing her hatred as she looked at the stunned Yun Poxing. “I give you three years. Return to Xiliang and prepare. In three years… bring all the men of your Yun family to attack. If you do not come, I will lead the Bai family army straight into your country, slaughter your Xiliang people, wipe out your Xiliang imperial clan, and butcher your entire Yun clan, leaving no chickens or dogs behind!”

Unable to stand due to the pain, Yun Poxing looked up at the ferocious yet composed woman in front of him, his heart filled with dread.

“Clear a path!” She raised the Sun-shooting Bow, commanding the Bai family army to open a path for Yun Poxing.

“Young General Bai!” Cheng Yuanzhi knelt with his fists clasped, “We cannot let Yun Poxing go! We must avenge the Bai family army!”

“Young General Bai! Don’t let him go!”

The soldiers of the Bai family stepped forward with indignation, showing their determination not to let Yun Poxing go.

Her bloodshot eyes swept over the unyielding soldiers, and she roared, “Those who disobey will be executed! Clear a path!”

Military orders were as firm as mountains. Even though the soldiers of the Bai family resented it, they had no choice but to step aside, grinding their teeth and glaring angrily at Yun Poxing.

With both legs unable to walk, Yun Poxing was supported by the remnants of the Xiliang soldiers. He looked at Bai Qingyan. “You’re really letting me go?”

“You only have three years! I hope that in three years, you will be a bit stronger… Don’t let me win as easily as today.”

After speaking, she stepped aside, and the soldiers of the Bai family unwillingly made way.

Despite Bai Qingyan’s words, the Xiliang soldiers were still uneasy, surrounding Yun Poxing with drawn swords, cautiously and vigilantly passing through the Bai family soldiers who wished to devour them alive.

Quickly, the remnants of the Xiliang soldiers carried Yun Poxing out of the valley. A sturdy Xiliang soldier picked up Yun Poxing and sprinted into the night, as if afraid the Bai family soldiers would regret it.

“Young General Bai, why did you let him go?!” Cheng Yuanzhi couldn’t help but ask in grief and indignation. “Though it was a military order, I am not reconciled! Yun Poxing beheaded the Vice Commander and displayed his head in their camp to shame the Bai family army! Young General Bai is the Vice Commander’s eldest daughter… How could you let the enemy who killed your father go?!”

Bai Qingyan stared into the darkness, her fists clenched tightly. It was not until Yun Poxing was out of sight that she turned to Cheng Yuanzhi, suppressing her immense hatred. “I know General Cheng is not reconciled. All the soldiers are not reconciled! My grandfather, father, uncles, and brothers died so tragically! Am I reconciled?! I am even less reconciled! But if I did not let Yun Poxing go today, in this battle of the southern border, the Crown Prince would not leave a single Bai family soldier alive!”

In the roaring cold wind of the secluded valley, the woman’s resolute voice echoed, “Do you think, why did the Emperor allow King Xin, who has never been on the battlefield, to supervise the army with the gold medal and command arrows when my grandfather went on an expedition? Why did King Xin dare to force my grandfather to go out and meet the enemy?! Why did King Liang dare to forge letters accusing my grandfather of colluding with the enemy and treason?! Because the current Emperor and the treacherous sycophants in court have long viewed the Bai family army as a ferocious tiger at their bedside, and they wish to eliminate it quickly! Why?! Because you are the Bai family army! Because you raise the black sail white python flag! Because they see the Bai family army as Bai family’s private soldiers! Because the Bai family army is too brave! Because the Bai family army can take on ten enemies! Because the great name of the Bai family army… shakes the nations! Because no one in the Jin Kingdom can match the prestige of the Bai family army!”

“Bai Qingyan can still stand here today to live and die with you all in battle! We must kneel and thank General Fang Yan! Kneel and thank General Yue Zhizhou! Kneel and thank the loyal servants of the Bai family, Wu Zhe and Ji Tingyu! It was they who sacrificed their lives to send the military records back to Dadu City, clearing the name of my grandfather from the stigma of acting arbitrarily for military achievements! Clearing him from the crime of treason and collusion with the enemy! Forcing the Emperor to severely punish King Xin and give justice to my Bai family, and leave the Bai family widows alive!”