Chapter 18: One Hundred Thousand Iron Cavalry of the Yan Kingdom

"There are still a few sesame cakes in my kitchen stove. Shall I get one for you?" Song Ye said to Qin Xuanxi.

He truly had nothing else to offer his newly returned bride; his daily fare was always sesame cakes and tea, and so that was all he had.

"Yes, please! Thank you, little husband!" Qin Xuanxi replied with a radiant smile.

Song Ye went into the courtyard kitchen and brought back two sesame cakes, one for Qin Xuanxi and one for himself. Qin Xuanxi picked up the cake and ate it slowly. Song Ye noticed a sesame seed stuck to the corner of her lips. Though he'd never had a girlfriend before, the countless romance dramas he'd watched in the modern world had taught him that this was the moment to reach out and gently remove the sesame seed from her lips.

He decided to imitate that gesture; after all, Qin Xuanxi was now, in some sense, his fiancée, and such a thing should be reasonable. But as he reached out his hand toward Qin Xuanxi's face, before he could even touch the corner of her lips, he felt his right hand freeze as if turned to stone, unable to move forward even half an inch. An invisible pressure held him in place, and his heart thudded with a strange discomfort, as though weighed down by something heavy.

He understood instantly: this was Qin Xuanxi warning him. She would not allow him any physical contact!

Although Song Ye's current strength was equivalent to a cultivator at the Profound Realm, to Qin Xuanxi, handling him was no different from handling an ant. The plots of those dramas, it seemed, could not be so easily imitated!

Song Ye abandoned his intention to help her clean her lips. His right hand regained some movement, but only enough to withdraw, unable to approach Qin Xuanxi any closer. Once he retracted his hand, his heart eased.

At that moment, Qin Xuanxi raised her own hand and removed the sesame seed from the corner of her lips, then flashed a harmless, brilliant smile. "Little husband, your sesame cakes are delicious!"

Song Ye could only reply with a forced smile, pretending nothing had happened.

This woman who loved to lie had just promised to share a bridal chamber with him in every house in the village, had sworn to bear him many children—yet in truth, she wouldn't even let him touch the corner of her lips!

Indeed, not a word from her could be trusted. Any attempt by a mortal to touch her skin—even so slight as the corner of her mouth—was perhaps an offense in her eyes. She might allow others to see her body, but would never permit anyone to touch it. This was likely her fierce self-protectiveness. After all, in this continent of cultivation, any lapse in vigilance could bring irreparable disaster upon oneself. She had survived to become the terror of the immortal world not only through her efforts, but also through her prudent ways.

Qin Xuanxi hadn't expected Song Ye to be bold enough to try to touch her lips. She certainly wouldn't allow it. Even her two most favored female disciples dared not so much as touch the hem of her robe. She felt that her continual flattery of Song Ye already gave him more advantage than he deserved, yet the boy still dared to push further.

Had she not arrived here today, Song Ye would certainly have died, for Yan Kingdom's hundred thousand iron cavalry were already ten miles away. Even if Song Ye tried to flee now, the cavalry would quickly catch up. But since she was here, she could protect the place, and ensure Autumn Whisper Village survived the ordeal unscathed.

In fact, Qin Xuanxi had already dispatched her two distinguished disciples, Luo Yunshuang and Zhang Qiuyu, to wait ten miles from the village, ready to intercept Yan Kingdom's hundred thousand cavalry.

...

At this moment, outside the gates of Xuanqing Palace,

Zhang Zixuan had just returned to the mountain gate when she heard deafening hoofbeats from afar. She immediately looked toward the source of the sound and saw, in the northern sky, a vast, black mass blocking out the sun like storm clouds. Upon closer inspection, it was actually Yan Kingdom's elite cavalry—one hundred thousand strong.

A senior disciple beside Zhang Zixuan said, "Yan Kingdom's cavalry has finally arrived. This is only their vanguard, but already nearly a hundred thousand."

"Now that Frost City has fallen, it seems Weng City is next!"

Zhang Zixuan followed the direction the cavalry was heading and immediately appeared astonished. "These troops are riding straight toward Autumn Whisper Village! But the tea stall owner is still there—I must hurry and warn him to flee!"

Her senior sister quickly stopped her. "Don't be foolish! Not a single ordinary villager remains within a hundred miles—the people of Autumn Whisper Village have long since fled!"

Zhang Zixuan shook her head. "The tea stall owner truly hasn't left. When I departed from the village, I saw him there!"

Her senior sister replied, "But our master has already instructed us not to interfere in mortal wars. Whether the tea stall owner survives Yan Kingdom's cavalry is his fate—it has nothing to do with us disciples of Xuanqing Palace."

"Senior sister, I only intend to save his life. He's just a simple tea stall owner; his life or death won't affect the outcome of this war in the slightest. Surely our master won't blame me for this," Zhang Zixuan said as she turned and dashed down the mountain.

Her senior sister called after her, "Zixuan, don't be reckless—come back!"

Zhang Zixuan didn't look back. "Don't worry, senior sister, I'll return soon!"

"If you must go, do not provoke the Yan Kingdom army. If master finds out, he won't forgive you, and I'll be punished along with you!" her senior sister urgently warned.

"Understood!"

By the time Zhang Zixuan replied, she was already far away...

...

The one leading the hundred thousand Yan Kingdom cavalry at full gallop was Prince Consort Liao Qing, now the commander-in-chief of Yan Kingdom's invading army against Li Kingdom.

Suddenly, Liao Qing reined in his horse and shouted to the cavalry behind him, "Stop!"

Several deputy generals beside him echoed, "Stop, everyone stop!"

Liao Qing called a halt to the entire force simply because a carriage had appeared ahead of the army.

This carriage was unique in the world—the Winged Rhinoceros Carriage.

Liao Qing had once studied at Taixu Palace, and was considered part of the immortal sect. He naturally recognized the origins of the Winged Rhinoceros Carriage.

The faces of the deputy generals beside him showed fear as they saw the carriage. "That is the carriage of the Demoness—could she be here now?!"

Standing before the Winged Rhinoceros Carriage were two women, one in blue robes and the other in violet.

They were none other than Luo Yunshuang and Zhang Qiuyu, the female disciples of the Demon Lord of Xuan Yuan.