Lin Chong's Women's Cuju Team

When Yelü Wen led Geri and the wolf pack to the imperial garden closest to the football field, they saw the wolf king being besieged by Ning Zhanyan and several Song generals in armor. The wolf king was clearly struggling to fight alone and was at a disadvantage. His face was pale and his eyes were fierce.

Upon seeing this, Yelü Wen immediately commanded the wolf pack to attack Ning Zhanyan and his group. However, Ning Zhanyan had anticipated that Yelü Wen would bring the wolves into the palace, and the moment he saw Geri, he immediately jumped out of the battle circle. He turned and shouted towards a rockery and waterfall in the Imperial Garden, "Launch fire arrows!"

As soon as Ning Zhanyan finished speaking, he quickly ran away and hid behind a tall locust tree in the Imperial Garden. At this moment, the Imperial Guards who were waiting in the shadows in the Imperial Garden received their orders and drew their bows and arrows to surround the Wolf King, Yelü Wen and others, and hundreds of burning fire arrows were fired at the wolf pack.

The wolves immediately let out a series of painful howls, so loud that even the distant palace walls were shaken, causing a lot of red paint to fall off. The palace eunuchs and maids were so frightened that they quickly covered their ears and hid, fearing that they would be attacked by the wolves.

Yelü Wen watched as his wolf pack fell, riddled with arrows, into the smoke. His eyes were red and swollen, and his face was filled with sorrow. He hadn't expected Ning Zhanyan to have laid an ambush with archers to kill his wolves. Now, it seemed unlikely that he and the wolf king could escape the palace. He felt sorry for his "precious wolf army," after all, training these wild wolves had taken him many years of effort.

Seeing the numerous dead and wounded wolves, the wolf king quickly said to Yelü Wen, "Wen, now is not the time to grieve. Geri is still here, isn't he? You trained him to be unafraid of fire. Get down and let him carry me away from the palace first. You cover my retreat!"

Upon hearing the wolf king's words, Yelü Wen knew perfectly well that the wolf king intended to abandon him and flee alone. However, this was his adoptive father, the man he had sworn to serve for life, and therefore he had to protect the wolf king's life. So, Yelü Wen gently stroked Geri and whispered a few comforting words in its ear. Geri's gaze became firm, and it obediently allowed the wolf king to sit on its back, ready to carry him away.

At this moment, Du Rushuang also followed the smoke and came over. Through the thick smoke, she saw Geri and the wolf king on its back. She shouted, "Wolf King, you can forget about escaping the palace! Lord Shen has already laid a trap. You will definitely not leave alive today!"

"Oh? A net of heaven and earth? It seems I won't be able to escape today without seizing a protective talisman," the Wolf King said coldly to Du Rushuang. As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly rode Geri towards Du Rushuang.

"No! Geri, look carefully at who I am!" Du Rushuang shouted loudly at Geri the Gray Wolf.

However, the horrific sight of the wolves being shot down by rockets, their corpses piled up like sandbags, had ignited Geri's hatred. He now trusted no one but Yelü Wen. Seeing the girl's image reflected in his eyes, he went berserk, pounced on Du Rushuang, and bared his sharp teeth, intending to bite her neck.

Upon hearing this, Yelü hurriedly shouted sternly to Geri in the distance, "Geri, don't hurt Shuang'er! She loves you the most. She often feeds you fat chickens and washes the dirt off you. Have you forgotten all of this?"

Geri seemed to understand Yelü Wen's words. The girl's image was reflected again in its scarlet eyes. It lowered its head and glanced at Du Rushuang's face, seemingly hesitant. However, the wolf king sitting on Geri's back did not hesitate. While Du Rushuang was talking to Yelü Wen and Geri, he secretly put his large knife to Du Rushuang's neck and pulled her forcefully from the ground to his front.

Yelü Wen only snapped out of his daze when the gleaming blade stung Du Rushuang's eyes. The Wolf King was taking Du Rushuang hostage; he intended to use her to ensure his own safe escape from the palace. Yelü Wen knew the Wolf King was a ruthless man who wouldn't even spare his own family, and he panicked. He hurriedly shouted to Ning Zhanyan and the others who were rushing over, "Don't provoke the Wolf King! Shuang'er is in his hands!"

Ning Zhanyan and the imperial guards behind him were shocked to see that the Wolf King had taken Du Rushuang hostage. Ning Zhanyan immediately ordered the archers on the outer perimeter: "Listen carefully, all of you! Without my order, you are not allowed to fire another arrow. This woman is my own sister; you cannot harm a single hair on her head!"

The imperial guards and archers replied in unison, "Yes, sir!" Most of them were actually soldiers from the Ministry of Justice and people from the Zhenyuan Escort Agency. They had seen Du Rushuang before and knew that she was Ning Zhanyan's sister, so they dared not act rashly.

Seeing that Ning Zhanyan and the others dared not make things difficult for him, the Wolf King held a knife to Du Rushuang's throat and rode on Geri's back slowly toward an archway in the Imperial Garden. Just when the Wolf King thought he could escape with Du Rushuang as his "protective charm," he unexpectedly encountered another group of soldiers at the archway, led by Shen Daoyuan.

When Shen Daoyuan saw that the Wolf King had taken Du Rushuang hostage, he was surprised. Du Rushuang, on the other hand, calmly said to him, "Lord Shen, please tell your soldiers not to cause any trouble! I haven't traveled all over the world yet, and I don't want to die so soon."

Shen Daoyuan couldn't help but admire Du Rushuang's composure and quickly ordered the soldiers behind him to make way. Seeing this, the Wolf King's face lit up with smugness, and he provoked Shen Daoyuan, saying, "Shen, I never expected you to be so cunning, actually joining forces with Ning Zhanyan and the others to plot against me. You've ruined my plans for today. When I return to Jin, I will definitely lead troops to attack the Song Dynasty. And Zhou Chengquan, I will personally kill him too!"

Upon hearing the Wolf King's words, Shen Daoyuan curled his lip and said to him, "Wolf King, stop dreaming! Do you think those tens of thousands of Jin soldiers you've stationed at the border are still alive? I think the news of the Jin's defeat in the football match has already reached the border, and your Jin generals will launch a surprise attack on our Yanmen Pass according to your plan."

"But what you don't know is that General Zhou saw through your plot long ago and secretly buried hundreds of Netherworld Orbs near the walls of Yanmen Pass. The Netherworld Orbs that Ning Zhanyan improved only need to be exposed to the scorching sun for five hours, and then a person walks on them lightly, and the gunpowder inside the Netherworld Orbs will be detonated. Now, judging by the time it takes, all your Jin soldiers should have been blown to bits by the Netherworld Orbs."

Upon hearing Shen Daoyuan's words, the Wolf King's eyes flashed with despair and anger. He glared at Shen Daoyuan and said excitedly, "Impossible! What you're saying is definitely a lie. I don't believe it. Zhou Chengquan was clearly trapped deep in the desert by my scheme. How could he possibly be guarding outside Yanmen Pass? And how could you possibly transport such a large batch of Nether Spheres to the border without anyone noticing?"

"Believe it or not, I advise you to release Miss Du quickly, otherwise even if you leave the palace, you will never be able to leave the capital. My 20,000 troops guarding outside the city are not just sitting around doing nothing," Shen Daoyuan said to the Wolf King in a threatening tone.

Upon hearing this, the wolf king's eyes blazed with madness. He tightened his grip on the knife and slowly slashed a blood-red gash across Du Rushuang's snow-white neck. Blood immediately seeped out and dripped onto Geri's forehead, staining the tuft of gray hair in the center of his forehead red.

"Godfather, no! Don't hurt my Shuang'er!" Yelü Wen cried out in shock at the bloodstain on Geri's forehead. He frowned as he looked at Du Rushuang, whose neck had been slashed by the wolf king.

Yelü Wen exchanged a glance with Du Rushuang, then immediately turned away, unable to meet her eyes. He saw the hatred and reproach in Du Rushuang's eyes. Yelü Wen's eyes reddened. His adoptive father actually wanted to kill the woman he loved. How could things have turned out this way? He had clearly risked his own life to help the Wolf King escape; he had clearly handed Geri over to the Wolf King. How could he be so cruel? Had he really done something wrong? Shouldn't he have helped his adoptive father?

Blood continued to seep out, dripping incessantly, like spring rain in March nourishing the parched earth. Du Rushuang gritted her teeth, not uttering a sound, her eyes fixed on Yelü Wen. Geri seemed to sense Du Rushuang's hatred and Yelü Wen's sorrow as well. Suddenly, it leaped with all its might, struggling to throw the wolf king off its back.