The emperor and the princess start to move again. It doesn't matter where they're heading to. What's important is that they can get farther from the ones hunting them and also find their way out of the woods.
The sun is about to set too. This puts them at more disadvantage. When it gets dark, they'll be forced to stop. Since tonight is going to be a new moon, there will be no light to guide their way.
However, stopping for the night doesn't mean they're safe. Who knows? There might be some wild animals that will attack them during their sleep. But if they go on, they might get attacked by these animals instead.
Whatever they do, it seems they're only bound to face danger. It seems they're cornered, a checkmate.
Princess Yin Xiulan already stopped crying. However, she's not saying anything. She's still down and worried for Liu Chen. Her restlessness only makes her feel worse. She can't explain it but she has a bad feeling.
On the other hand, Emperor Yin Renshu hopes that they can use their spiritual powers. He made a hand seal and fortunately, his spiritual energy flows as it should be.
"Xiulan." The emperor turns his head to look at his sister. "Can you feel your normal flow of spiritual energy now?"
Princess Yin Xiulan closes her eyes and tries to concentrate. After some time, she opens her eyes again and responds to her brother. "Mn. It's circulating normally again." She reaches for her fan and looks at it. "But we lost them now. How can I help him? We don't even know where are we."
"Don't worry, Xiulan. As soon as we get back to the imperial palace, we're going to bring reinforcements and help him and his unit to eliminate those traitors." Emperor Yin Renshu tries to comfort his sister.
"But when are we going to reach the imperial palace? We're lost... in the middle of this damn forest." Princess Yin Xiulan replies in a cold tone without even looking back at her brother. "I hate myself for running away. The enemy was just right there, and we run away!"
She looks so tired and about to pass out anytime soon. The emperor never saw his sister like this so he wants to cheer her up even just a little bit. Unfortunately, whatever he says, it seems it would only worsen her distress.
Emperor Yin Renshu massages his temple. Now that the princess is acting like this, he can't also break down, or else... or else, he might not going to see Xu Zhengming again.
"Xiulan, try to understand the situation. We can't defeat them all! We may be able to keep up against them despite their count but we're not a hundred percent sure. We can't let those traitors successfully kill us! Hang on there, okay? We can make it through."
"..." Princess Yin Xiulan didn't say anything any further but the emperor saw how his grip on her holy weapon tightened.
A long silence enveloped them. Too silent that Emperor Yin Renshu heard something. It's the sound of horses running. The longer he listens, the sound gets loud.
"Did you hear that? This is bad, let's go!"
Emperor Yin Renshu and Princess Yin Xiulan made their horses gallop. They don't know who are those but since their lives are in danger, they decided to get away as far as they can.
"Renshu!" The princess calls. "What if it's Liu Chen and his men? Shouldn't we confirm who are those first?"
"I don't think that's a good idea. And besides..." Emperor Yin Renshu gestured which made her look back. A small group of men runs in their direction, with a man leading them. "I don't think that's Lieutenant General Liu who's leading them."
The general narrows her eyes, trying to make her vision clearer. When she confirmed who that person is, she gritted her teeth. "It's Lieutenant General Song."
She can't help but get worried. Where's Liu Chen? What happened to him? He didn't get himself killed, right? He's not weak. He's her favored lieutenant general, her confidant, and a good friend after all.
"Xiulan, look out!" Her brother yells which made her look ahead again.
What greeted the general surprised her that she let out a gasp. Fortunately, she managed to stop her white horse in time before it's too late. What's ahead of them is a cliff. It's about five times higher than the Lotus Hall's height!
Since they lost themselves, they didn't know that they're actually heading towards a ravine.
It didn't take too much time for Lieutenant General Song and his men to come close enough to the two to block their way, cornering them. It's either they charge head-on or jump off from the cliff.
"Your majesty, General, you have nowhere to go now. I suggest that you surrender yourselves to us." Lieutenant General Song said in a mocking manner. It's clear that he doesn't pay his respects to his majesty and her highness the first princess.
Emperor Yin Renshu sneered. "You still bothered yourself with the formalities, huh? You're a shameless traitor."
"Your majesty, please don't take it to the heart. I am merely fulfilling the orders I received." Lieutenant General Song speaks as he gets off his horse.
"Who the hell gave you the command to kill me, your commander-in-chief, and your general?!" The emperor yells.
Orders? There are only two persons who can give him, a lieutenant general, an order. It's either the General, Princess Yin Xiulan, or Commander-in-Chief, the emperor, which is either him or Yin Wenyan.
His Majesty thinks about it thoroughly. His sister, Yin Xiulan isn't dumb to order his men to kill her and her brother. It's the same case for Yin Wenyan. Then who is it that ordered him?
As he thinks further, he realized one thing. There is someone else who possesses this kind of authority.
"The grand empress dowager..." The emperor whispers in the thin air.
"That's right." The lieutenant general confessed when he heard the audible whispers of the emperor. "So don't hate me for this. Blame your insane grandmother instead."
Lieutenant General Song draws the sword that's hanging on his hips.
"Don't come any closer!" Emperor Yin Renshu sways his hand, igniting a line of fire that separates the two parties.
Song Li's side takes a step back when the blaze rises as high as his hip level.
"I'll roast you all alive if you dare take a step closer." Emperor Yin Renshu exclaims.
"Alright. This distance is fine too." Lieutenant General Song gestured his hand and the remaining soldiers he had all took the bow on their torso and stretches it with an arrow aiming at the two of them.
Good thing, Princess Yin Xiulan can somehow think straight now and put her guards up. She unfolds her holy weapon, ready to repel the opponents' attack with the wind.
With their spiritual energy flowing properly, they can finally fight back without worrying about losing their lives.
"Where's Liu Chen?" She asks.
"Are you still worried about him even with the current situation you are in?" Lieutenant General clicks his tongue. "I'm afraid he won't be able to see the next sunrise."
"You...!" Princess Yin Xiulan hops from her horse down to the ground. "I'll kill you."
"Please come, General. This subordinate accepts the challenge." Lieutenant General Song points his blade to Princess Yin Xiulan.
Even though he acquired injuries probably caused by Liu Chen, by the looks of it, he seems to be confident that he can defeat her.
"Didn't I tell you that you won't be facing the general unless you kill me?" A familiar voice sounded, followed by a series of horse's footsteps. "I'm still alive."
Lieutenant General Liu makes his way towards the commotion.
"Liu Chen..." Princess Yin Xiulan's eyes suddenly become watery again the moment she saw him.
Her fierceness disappeared in an instant, like a bubble that pops, it leaves no trace.
Lieutenant General Liu looks very pitiful with blood all over his body. The way his pain shows on his face, his slowed movement, and his wobbly legs it seems it's his own blood that he's bathing in.
His left eye is closed and a crimson liquid flows from it. He got wounds on his arms and legs too. But his worst injury is probably his pierced abdomen. He clearly can't fight anymore but he still forced himself to go against Lieutenant General Song.
His reason for fighting isn't clear anymore. He can't buy any more time for the princess and his majesty to escape. He can even barely hold his sword. He's dying. There's no chance of winning but why is he still fighting?
Liu Chen's heartaches... It feels more painful than his serious injuries. He never saw the general cry, nor tried to imagine what she looks like when she's crying. Seeing those streams of tears flowing across her cheeks, he wants to wipe it but he can't.
The legendary princess general, one of the remarkable generals in the history of their dynasty, the first princess of the eighth generation, Yin Xiulan. Who would have thought that she'd cry over her lowly subordinate?
He really made the princess cry, and he can't dry those tears.
All he can do is give her a weak smile, "General, I'm sorry."
Princess Yin Xiulan shakes her head. "Enough. Don't fight anymore. Come here." Her voice cracks again but who cares? All she wants is for Liu Chen to come to her side.
"You really do want to die so much aren't you?"
Lieutenant General Song sways his sword. Fortunately, Liu Chen managed to block it. However, his strength is running out. He's too tired and hurt to fight. He doesn't think he can block another blow, not to mention, counter an attack.
"I said enough!" Princess Yin Xiulan runs towards them, passing her brother's blazing flames.
"Xiulan, don't!" Yin Renshu yells but got ignored by his sister.
Yin Xiulan reached her hand to Liu Chen... but she didn't make it.
Blood gushed out, dripping on the ground.
The sharp sound of metal hitting the hard ground sounded when Liu Chen loosens his grasp on its hilt.
The Lieutenant-General fell down to his knees before falling to the ground with his face first.
Lieutenant General Song's sharp blade cuts Lieutenant General Liu's throat.
"Liu Chen!" She yells at the top of her lungs.
She kneels and picks him up into her arms; embracing him tightly. Loud cries echoed in the woods. Pained screams and a heart scattered. She lost him. Liu Chen, her loyal subordinate, her friend, her confidant, her favorite person... she lost him.
She calls him several times as loud as she can until her voice got hoarse. But no matter how hard she calls for him, it won't reach him anymore.
The traitor Lieutenant General Song was about to sway his sword again, this time aiming for the general's nape. Luckily, Emperor Yin Renshu made it in time. He throws a talisman near the lieutenant general's feet. As soon as he made the hand seal and recited the incantation, the exploding spell activated, distracting him.
It's almost because of this, Princess Yin Xiulan realized what she has to do. She carefully lays Liu Chen's body on the ground before rising up.
Now, grief, hate, and extreme bitterness filled her highness' heart.
She picks up Liu Chen's sword and cuts her palm with it. Blood starts to escape the wound. She then opens her fan and spreads her blood on it, making her white fan stained with crimson.
She performed several hand seals which created a huge spiritual array right above them.
Foreseeing what she's about to do, Emperor Yin Renshu anxiously yells. "Xiulan don't!"
He never saw his sister make such a big and powerful array but from the looks of it, this requires a massive amount of spiritual energy. Qi should never be overused, or else, it would create a back to the cultivator.
It seems Princess Yin Xiulan has become not only blinded by revenge but turns a deaf ear to her limitations as well.
In just one sway of her fan, a strong air pressure blows from the array. As the wind blows hard, it seems to take the form of countless small daggers, falling from the array towards the people below it.  These wind daggers pierced through the small group of traitors, giving them injuries that are much worse than Liu Chen's.
The cliff can't hold on to the extreme pressure of wind, making it crack.
"Xiulan, stop!" But then again, the emperor got ignored.
Just as what his majesty predicted, the part of the cliff where they are standing breaks into pieces which of course, caused them to fall down the ravine.
Only by then did Princess Yin Xiulan lose her concentration which caused the array to disperse and stop the spell.
While falling, she saw Liu Chen's body falling even faster than her. She tries to reach him, touch him once more, envelop him in her arms, but she can't. Too far... he's too far.
The next thing she knows is that Emperor Yin Renshu took a hold of her and pulled her to him. He put his arms around her, protecting her from the impact that awaits them below. Even so, the height of their free fall is just too great that they both lost consciousness when they submerged into the waters.