Xie Zhuo and I were exposed under the blade of the spear.
The black-armored soldier on his tall steed looked like a statue of an indistinguishable divinity or demon in the faint light of the mist.
I still couldn’t see his face within the armor, only that he raised his spear high.
My eyes widened, and the scene before me seemed to slow and stretch, but in reality, there was just a swift “whoosh” as the silver spear passed by Xie Zhuo and me, plunging into the ground. He dismounted, but from the opposite side.
He didn’t kill us.
He gave his horse to Xie Zhuo and me.
Xie Zhuo’s gamble had paid off.
With me on his back, Xie Zhuo skillfully mounted the horse.
“Take the spear…”
At last, I heard the black-armored soldier’s voice, deep and resonant like the sound of war drums.
So when he threw the silver spear beside us, he wanted us to take it?
I turned to look at him, but he had already turned his back on us, facing the many evil spirits pursuing us.
If we took his spear, what would he use?
Just as this thought crossed my mind, Xie Zhuo, now on horseback, reached down and pulled the silver spear from the ground. Then, he threw his sword directly at the black-armored soldier.
Without even turning his head, the black-armored soldier caught the sword Xie Zhuo had thrown, guided by the sound of its flight through the air. Without any unnecessary words, he raised the sword and immediately engaged the pursuing evil spirits in battle.
Xie Zhuo didn’t hesitate either. He held me close, gripped the silver spear, and urged the horse forward, charging toward the city gate ahead.
Their brief encounter—the gift of a mount, the exchange of weapons—showed such tacit understanding that I felt they must have fought side by side more than once in the past…
But there was no time for questions, nor did I have the strength to ask. I bounced on the horse’s back, being carried forward, always forward.
Ahead, “people” kept rushing out to block our way. I couldn’t simply call them evil spirits because… I couldn’t tell the difference.
Xie Zhuo, mounted on the horse, wielded the silver spear, striking down anyone who approached, without mercy or hesitation.
My blurred vision could barely distinguish whether it was black mist or fresh blood that splattered from the “people” killed before us.
Regardless, with the great black horse, our speed had indeed increased significantly.
The inner city wall grew closer, the gate more distinct. Compared to the damaged outer wall, the inner wall appeared too new, and the gate showed no signs of decay. It still stood as imposingly as a mountain, its enormous shadow giving me a heavy sense of oppression.
The closer we got to the inner gate, the more frenzied the pursuing evil spirits became, with howls and screams filling the air.
Just as my ears had grown accustomed to the surrounding slaughter and screams, suddenly, Xie Zhuo urged the horse to leap, seemingly jumping over a small bridge, and all the chaos around my ears disappeared.
Below us, there was only the uneasy breathing of the otherwise calm black horse.
I struggled to turn my head back and saw that we had crossed a small wooden bridge over a long-dried river. This was supposed to be a barrier, but its desiccation had rendered it useless.
The moat… inside the city?
I found it strange, but even stranger was…
“Xie Zhuo…” I watched as all the agitated evil spirits bizarrely stopped on the other side of the small river.
They stared with wide eyes and open mouths, making no sound, but it was precisely this silence that made the moment even more terrifying. “What are they afraid of?”
They had pursued us all this way—surely they couldn’t be afraid of Xie Zhuo and me?
Why didn’t they dare approach the inner city wall?
Xie Zhuo didn’t answer me, but instead pulled me down from the horse.
He held me tightly in one arm, pressing me close to his chest, while with his other hand, he inserted the silver spear into the worn saddle of the horse.
He patted the horse’s neck: “Returning what belongs to its owner.”
With a neigh, the black horse turned and galloped back, its hooves trampling anyone who approached it, until gradually its silhouette disappeared into the mist of the Immortal City.
Xie Zhuo’s gaze was cold as he looked at the bizarre evil spirits who had stopped in the city, then turned forward with me.
“It has taken us far enough; once out of the city, it cannot return.” Xie Zhuo walked toward the tightly closed massive gate of the inner city wall, answering my earlier question—
“They fear what is confined within the inner city wall.”
I didn’t understand…
Then I saw Xie Zhuo raise his hand, spiritual energy surging in his palm. For the first time since arriving in the Immortal City, he was using his spiritual power.
Under the activation of the spiritual energy in his palm, I saw the stone that Xie Zhuo had been keeping close to his body float out from his clothes.
The stone emanated a deep blue light, like flowing moonlight.
The tightly closed city gate’s crevices suddenly glowed with the same light, followed by a “click.”
The gate trembled and, with a thunderous rumble, opened slightly, creating a narrow gap.
Through the gap came the sound of the wind outside, with snow carried by the gale drifting into the city.
The evil spirits behind us, upon feeling the cold wind from outside, scattered like startled birds and beasts. Behind Xie Zhuo and me, there were no more pursuers.
Xie Zhuo withdrew the spiritual energy from his palm, and the stone around his neck fell back.
He stepped forward.