Chapter 308 Guarding (1)

Although startled by his niece’s unexpected ferocity, Hua Pingyang, a man seasoned by age and dignity, couldn’t simply stand idle while the younger generation took the reins. Pride and responsibility burned within him.

He was no novice in the gentlemanly arts—perhaps not a master of all, but archery was his strength. Yet now, stripped of bow and arrow, he stood unarmed and vulnerable. His sharp eyes darted around the alley until they landed on a sturdy stick near the entrance. Without hesitation, he lunged for it, his movements decisive and urgent.

Mistaking his intentions, the black-clad thugs assumed he was fleeing. One broke away to pursue him, but Hua Zhi wouldn’t have it. Breaking free, she intercepted the pursuer with unflinching courage, yelling, “Get inside now!”

Hua Pingyang snapped out of his hesitation, slapping himself hard across the face, the sting clearing his thoughts. These people were clearly targeting the Hua family – what was more important than informing his family to prepare for defense!

But his enemies weren’t fools. They wouldn’t let him slip through their grasp. Seeing him heading towards the Hua family, several of them came to surround him with ruthless intent.

"Jia Yang!"

Jia Yang immediately disengaged and rushed towards them, cracking his whip. The men who had been cornering him naturally didn't want him to interfere and chased after him.

Jia Yang, with a crack of his whip and a cold, determined glare, abruptly broke away and charged toward the chaos without hesitation. The thugs surrounding him, sensing his intent to intervene, weren't about to let him slip so easily. With snarls of anger, they tore after him, their movements frantic and their focus unrelenting.

Hua Zhi, sharp and calculating, wasted no time. As the men in black were fixated on the glint of her dagger, their eyes tracking its every motion, they failed to notice the subtle shift in her other hand. Gripping a slender, lethal hairpin, she feigned defense with the blade and then, with unflinching precision, drove the hairpin deep into the throat of one of the attackers. Blood sprayed in a macabre arc, but she didn’t even flinch. Without sparing a glance at the crumpling body behind her, she pivoted with deadly grace, closing the distance between her and Jia Yang. Intercepting his pursuers with a ferocity that left no room for hesitation.

She knew she couldn't save her uncle alone – Jia Yang was needed!

With the commotion outside, Hua Zhi deliberately raised her voice, sharp and deliberate, demanding attention.. How could the Hua family possibly remain oblivious to what was happening?

Meanwhile, Dongzi and Liu Cheng, the ever-watchful guards accompanying her, inched the door open just enough to peek through and relay the escalating tension to the family anxiously gathered in the courtyard.

The moment Hua Pingyu realized his daughter was out there, he surged forward, ready to intervene. But Hua Yizheng stopped him with a firm hand and a single directive: "Don’t stand in Zhi’er’s way."

"But—" Hua Pingyu faltered, his voice trembling as his eyes glistened with unshed tears. Sure, they'd heard whispers of her knowing a bit of self-defense, but in his heart, she was still the same sheltered girl he'd watched over her entire life.

How skilled could she be?

Hua Yizheng, with a barely concealed fury, clenched his hands into tight, trembling fists, the muscles in his arms straining beneath the fabric of his sleeves. His voice, cold and resolute, cut through the air. "I’m not going anywhere. As long as there’s breath in me, the Hua family stands firm. We’ll weather whatever storm comes our way—no matter the cost, come what may."

Hua Pingchen stepped forward slightly. "Shouldn't we hide? With such a commotion, help will soon arrive."

Hua Yizheng’s voice grew louder, fierce and unwavering. "Let them come. Even if every last one of us falls today, the legacy of the Hua family will live on, untarnished, unyielding! I want to see the fool who dares to threaten our entire bloodline. Let them come!" His beard quivered with defiance, his eyes burning with a seething rage.

The old man’s words cut through the air with the same sharpness and certainty as the clashing swords outside. The younger members of the Hua family, unlike their counterparts, didn’t flinch or retreat an inch. They stood their ground, their backs straight, with even the loyal servants—those who’d sworn their allegiance—armed with whatever they could get their hands on: sticks, shovels, knives, whatever was available to defend their masters.

Dongzi and Liu Cheng exchanged a look, a silent agreement between them. Without hesitation, they both drew their daggers—old friends they never left behind—and pushed open the door.

In the briefest of moments, as the door creaked open, the sight that greeted them froze everyone in place. The eldest granddaughter of the Hua family, drenched in blood, was surrounded by three men. Her eyes, as she glanced over, burned with fury—cold, sharp, and dangerous—sending a chill down the spine of anyone who dared meet her gaze.

In that split second of distraction, the one that came with the rush of panic, was all Hua Zhi needed. As one man lunged towards her, blade raised to her face, the people around her—already at a disadvantage—watched helplessly. Even the youngest among them cried out in shock. Hua Yizheng, usually composed of calm and control, couldn't help taking a step forward.

In a moment of sheer desperation, Hua Zhi, with a quick shift of her body, allowed the blade to sink into her shoulder, the sharp sting almost unnoticed in her adrenaline-fueled frenzy. The attacker, too focused on his strike, didn't anticipate how quickly she would turn the tables. She, without hesitation, slashed viciously with her dagger, the blade carving through his face in a brutal arc.

At the same time, she dropped low, narrowly avoiding a second attack from behind, her body moving with the grace of a predator in the chaos. The man, now bleeding and reeling from the surprise, stumbled back in instinctive panic.

That split second of weakness was all she needed. Seizing the moment with lethal precision, she thrust her hairpin, sharp as a razor, straight into his eye. The sickening scream that followed was a cry of agony, his hands clutching at the gaping wound as his cries echoed around them.

The group of attackers faltered, momentarily stunned by her ferocity, allowing her to slip through their ranks, rolling effortlessly out of their grasp.

Words are powerful, capable of painting countless pictures, but at the end of the day, they only capture a fleeting moment. Hua Zhi had no time to catch her breath, not even a second of respite, as another threat quickly honed in on her with lethal intent.

And then, just as the air thickened with danger, Dongzi slammed the courtyard door shut, sealing their fate.

Hua Yizheng could barely keep his composure, his heart pounding like a drum in his chest, his voice barely steady as he barked, "Open the door!"

But before the servant could even move a muscle, Hua Pingyu was already striding forward with urgency, yanking the door open. Standing in the doorway, he couldn't deny the gravity of the situation—his daughter was in grave danger, and he saw it all too clearly.

He saw it all—the chaos unfolding in front of him. His fourth brother, desperate to escape, barely managed to dodge the ruthless pursuit, while the two guards threw their lives on the line, standing firm to block the black-clad figures hot on their heels. Without a second thought, Hua Pingyu surged forward, grabbing his stumbling brother, pulling him back into safety, and positioning him right in front of their father.

"Father, their target is the Hua family!"

Hua Yizheng had already put the pieces together, but what had him baffled was this: given his status as a convicted traitor, who the hell could still be a threat to them now?

Suddenly, someone spoke up, "Where is Lu Yanxi?"

Indeed, where was Lu Yanxi?

The person accompanying Hua Zhi was built like a warrior, and the men with him looked just as capable, so where the hell was Lu Yanxi?

Hua Pingyang’s smile was thin, tinged with a touch of bitterness. "There have been enemy night raids. Lu Yanxi has been sent to the border. Jia Yang is the one he left behind to guard Zhi'er."

Hua Yizheng's eyes narrowed, piercing through the chaos. With the border thrown into turmoil and enemies wreaking havoc, the soldiers stationed there had long been summoned to the front lines. In the midst of this attack on the Hua family, any hope of rescue was nothing more than a cruel joke—there was no time for help to arrive. He wasn’t about to buy into the lie of coincidence.

"Sister!"

Hua Baili's shout sliced through the tension, yanking everyone's attention back to the door. There, they saw Hua Zhi, surrounded once more, fighting desperately for her life.

Hua Zhi’s focus was razor-sharp, her entire being locked into survival mode. She fought like a lioness cornered, her every move an act of defiance against the attacker before her. But she knew, she could feel it—the blow coming from behind, inevitable. Just as it was about to land, Jia Yang’s whip lashed out with deadly precision, yanking the assailant away and pulling Hua Zhi from the jaws of danger, a momentary lifeline amidst the storm of danger.

At this point, the men in black had surrounded him, closing in like a storm. The once-advantageous whip was now a liability, its power slipping away as he took a brutal strike to the back. But pain? He didn’t flinch. With a swift motion, he discarded the whip, pulled out his sword, and faced the next wave of attacks head-on, undeterred.

Hua Zhi’s breath grew more labored with every passing second. She knew her weakness all too well—her lack of strength—and the men in black were quick to exploit it. Their strategy shifted, becoming less about aggression and more about wearing her down, aiming to drain her stamina until she was nothing more than a ragdoll in their hands. The game had changed, and they were playing it dirty.

Hua Zhi wasn’t about to let them walk all over her. It’s like that old Chinese saying: “If the mountain won’t come to the man, the man must go to the mountain.”

The black-clad man thought he could escape after missing his strike, but Hua Zhi wasn’t waiting for him to retreat—she took the damn initiative. With a wild surge, she launched herself at him, her hand gripping a hairpin, aimed straight for his face.

The black-clad man instinctively raised his hand to block, expecting the hairpin to be her weapon of choice, but what caught him off guard wasn’t the pin—it was the dagger, hidden in the other hand. He managed to deflect the hairpin, but the blade slashed clean across his neck, and just like that, he dropped, face-first into the ground with a sickening thud.

Everyone around her thought she was finished, drained and ready to collapse—but Hua Zhi had other plans. Barely a breath later, she was back at it, attacking another man with the same vicious precision, the hairpin still her main weapon, the dagger lurking, ready to strike.

This time, the black-clad man wasn’t so naïve. After the first encounter, he knew what to fear. But in a twist of fate, Hua Zhi flipped the script—this time, it wasn’t the dagger that struck fear into him. It was the damn hairpin.

In the blink of an eye, she wiped out two men without breaking a sweat. Hua Zhi’s brutal force left the remaining black-clad figures deflated, completely thrown off balance. That’s when Jia Yang pounced, taking full advantage of their disarray, delivering a strike with deadly accuracy.

By now, just eight of the black-clad men remained, and one of them was already locked in a fierce struggle with Dongzi and Liu Cheng. The fight wasn’t exactly balanced, but the way they held him captive made it damn near impossible for him to escape.