Si Caogui and Lin Chaoqing stood back-to-back, both breathing heavily, surveying the rooftops.
The crossbowmen on the roofs had stern expressions, each capable of drawing a hundred-pound bow, their arrowheads gleaming coldly under the moonlight.
The Imperial Guard originally surrounding the two pulled back their horses to avoid accidental harm.
Unwilling to sit and await their fate, Lin Chaoqing shouted softly, "Follow me, don't be a sitting duck!"
The two charged again at the Imperial Guard, but a voice suddenly called out coldly from the rooftops, "Hold!"
Feathered arrows pinned down the ground before them, forcibly separating them from the Imperial Guard.
The rooftop voice commanded again, "Prepare!"
The crossbowmen drew feathered arrows from their quivers but only knocked and did not shoot.
The Imperial Guard on the long street retreated several dozen steps, leaving the two alone, as the tension of the bowstrings creaked ominously, freezing them in place.
