The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 1058 - 1058 513 Sortie (First Update)

Chapter 1058: 513 Sortie (First Update) Chapter 1058: 513 Sortie (First Update) About a quarter of an hour later, the forest, thick with the scent of blood, quieted down.

Out of a group of twenty, nineteen were gone, leaving only the last black-clothed person trembling and kneeling in the snow.

Gu Jiao looked down at him from a position of superiority, the tip of her Red-Tasseled Spear pressed against his heart, “Amongst the consort’s men, there’s an extremely capable sworn brother. Where is he?”

The man in black was startled upon hearing this. It seemed he hadn’t quite recovered from the enormous slaughter and took a long while to realize what Gu Jiao was asking.

He swallowed his saliva, and with a trembling voice, he said, “Young hero…”

Wait, this was not a young hero!

It was a maiden!

Indeed, she was clearly a maiden!

Even without a change in voice, the difference between a boy’s and a girl’s voice is quite significant. He had been so terrified by the young figure before him that he had even forgotten to listen carefully to her voice.

The fear in the eyes of the man in black did not diminish upon realizing his opponent was a girl; on the contrary, it intensified.

What kind of maiden could be so fearsome?

Could it be a sworn brother only the nobles of Yan Country possess?

The institution of sworn brothers originally stemmed from Yan Country. The other five nations would recruit or buy these sworn brothers from Yan Country at a high price, but none of them were of the most formidable sort. Only their consort, through a fortuitous chance, had acquired a noble’s sworn brother from Yan Country.

“Little… Miss…”

The man in black didn’t know whether to address her as a hero or a maiden. He hemmed and hawed for a while before finally stammering out, “Are you asking about the Heavenly Wolf?”

“Heavenly Wolf?” Gu Jiao repeated indifferently.

Quite the name, to be called something so ostentatious.

Gu Jiao noticed that a hint of fear almost involuntarily flashed in the eyes of the man in black when he mentioned the Heavenly Wolf.

“Is he that powerful?” asked Gu Jiao.

The man in black replied, “Powerful? The combined sworn brothers of the consort and the Prince barely stand a chance against him alone!”

Gu Jiao was not sure whether the sworn brothers of the consort and the Prince were all at the level of the four she had encountered earlier. Honestly, those four were not weak, but also not exceptionally strong.

On the other hand, the fact that Tang Yueshan had mentioned earlier that three of the Dragon Shadow Guard had been injured by this sworn brother was somewhat noteworthy to Gu Jiao.

Gu Jiao did not know whether his ability to defeat three Dragon Shadow Guards meant he could only defeat three, or that he only had three to fight against.

In any case, regardless of which it was, the power of this sworn brother was fearsome.

“Where is the Heavenly Wolf?” Gu Jiao asked.

“At… at the consort’s residence,” the man in black said with terror shaking his heart, perhaps guessing that Gu Jiao might not understand, he further explained, “It’s not far from the Governor’s Mansion. Go straight out of the main entrance of the Governor’s Mansion, and it’s about two miles to the east.”

Gu Jiao ended his life with a thrust of her spear, searched a few bodies for valuable items as was her routine, picked a horse for a ride, and galloped toward Lingguan City.

She didn’t know if she had been infected, but she still took some precautions before entering the city.

The entrance to Lingguan City had been breached by the Gu Family’s army, and fierce fighting was underway within. Gu Jiao took a detour, heading directly to the consort’s residence.

The flames of war had not spread to this area yet, but news of the battle must have spread throughout the city. Every household had closed doors and windows, the streets were deserted, with not a single civilian wandering about.

The sounds of Gu Jiao’s horse’s hooves echoed loudly in the streets, while soldiers marched from the direction of the Governor’s Mansion to reinforce the front.

Gu Jiao did not engage them head-on.

Her target was the Heavenly Wolf.

As she neared the consort’s residence, Gu Jiao dismounted and left her horse in an alley.

The last time Gu Jiao had come to the Governor’s Mansion in Lingguan City, she had passed by this place without knowing it was the consort’s residence.

There were differences to be noted.

At least, when she passed by this place before, there weren’t so many soldiers guarding it. This time, an entire troop nearly surrounded the residence.

This action raised some interesting questions.

Lingguan City was under attack, the Gu Family army was at the city gates, facing off against the remnants of the former regime in a battle of life and death, where every soldier mattered. Yet, the consort had assigned such a large force to guard the residence.

He was surely defending against more than Gu Changqing and the Gu Family army, but also his own uncle and the soldiers of Chen Country.

Should the remnants of the former regime be defeated, Princess Ning An would become their only bargaining chip against the Zhan Country court. The Prince would certainly want to use Ning An as a shield or bargain with the Chen Country army.

Gu Jiao observed the situation from across the alley for a while until several retainers came riding to the consort’s residence, stopped in front of the main gate. The leader among them took out a token from his waist and said to the guarding soldiers, “The consort has ordered us to move the princess to a safe place!”

The soldiers guarding the place made way.

A few retainers entered the residence.

Since Ning An was to be moved, that sworn brother named Heavenly Wolf would probably also leave to escort the princess.

Gu Jiao decided to wait for his appearance, then find an opportunity to take action on the road.

Gu Jiao waited in the alley for about a quarter of an hour, and then those retainers came out on their horses again. The lead retainer spoke, instructing the soldiers, “You will follow us and escort the princess!”

“Yes!”

The soldiers complied.

Gu Jiao’s eyes grew cold.

The soldiers lined up on both sides, and after a moment, a closed horse carriage drove out from the Residence.

Perhaps it was Princess Ning An who was sitting in the carriage.

Gu Jiao had a clear objective, which was to kill Skypack Wolf.

As for Princess Ning An, if there were a chance after killing Skypack Wolf, she would take her along.

But she would not abandon her mission to kill Skypack Wolf just to save her.

After the carriage left the Residence, a pitch-black steed with the sound of heavy hooves crossed the threshold, ridden by a man in black armor.

Even seated on the horse, one could see that he was tall and straight, taller than most men.

Like Gu Jiao, he wore a helmet with an iron mask, only revealing a pair of eyes that were cold and compelling.

From a distance, his eyes seemed blood-red, exuding a murderous aura that forewarned others to keep their distance.

The moment he rode out, the horses around became restlessly agitated.

Gu Jiao watched him unwaveringly and gripped her Red-Tasseled Spear tightly.

Subsequently, several more carriages left the Residence.

Once they had gone, Gu Jiao went to an alley to retrieve her horse.

To avoid detection, Gu Jiao kept a considerable distance. The snow had stopped, and there were footprints everywhere on the snowfield, so there was no worry of losing their trail.

However, these people were not completely witless; they probably guessed that the traces in the snow would easily reveal their movements, so they didn’t travel long before they split into two groups, and then divided into four at the next crossroads.

“No wonder there are so many carriages; they are meant to confuse pursuers.”

But Gu Jiao wasn’t tracking the carriages; she was following the hoofprints of Skypack Wolf’s horse.

His horse was bigger than the average steed, leaving deeper hoofprints.

It sounds simple, but distinguishing the deeper from the shallower hoofprints among a jumble of disrupted tracks was not easy. Fortunately, Gu Jiao had undergone tracking training with the Organization.

She followed the hoofprints of Skypack Wolf through the districts of Lingguan City and reached the quieter and colder outskirts.

Just as she passed a small hill, Skypack Wolf’s hoofprints suddenly disappeared!

Gu Jiao’s brows furrowed.

The next second, a chill surged from beneath her feet, and an all-pervasive killing intent assaulted her!

Gu Jiao swung her Red-Tasseled Spear with force, blocking overhead!

A loud clang resounded as the weapons fiercely collided, creating sparks of gold in the night.

It was Skypack Wolf!

He had found her!

He had decided to lie in wait here and kill her!

The horse, unable to withstand the tremendous pressure, neighed painfully and bolted forward!

And it was this dash that threw Gu Jiao off balance. She leaned backward and, taking advantage of the momentum, kicked toward Skypack Wolf’s chin!

Skypack Wolf slapped her boot sole!

Gu Jiao leveraged the force to flip backward, using her Red-Tasseled Spear planted in the snow to stabilize herself after the airborne somersault!

Holding the Red-Tasseled Spear, Gu Jiao stood alert in the icy snowfield.

About ten feet opposite her, stood the towering and menacing figure of Skypack Wolf.

Gu Jiao realized she had still underestimated his size.

His weapon, too, was a Red-Tasseled Spear, the same size as Gu Jiao’s, but clearly, it was no match for Gu Jiao’s spear.

His gaze fell on Gu Jiao’s Red-Tasseled Spear, his eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a touch of surprise.

Gu Jiao followed his gaze to her Red-Tasseled Spear; the earlier strike had been terrifying. Any other weapon might have already broken in two.

Yet there was not even a small crack on her Red-Tasseled Spear.

Her sworn brother was loyal, having given her an exceptional weapon!

Skypack Wolf stared intently at Gu Jiao’s Red-Tasseled Spear, his eyes revealing undisguised covetousness and greed.

He coveted her weapon!

Gu Jiao wiped away the snow that had splattered onto her helmet, her eyes cold and defiant as she looked at Skypack Wolf.

Good, I have my sights on your life as well!