After several nights of a bumpy carriage ride, Xiao Yuanting was about to vomit.
Since leaving Tongzhou, he hadn’t been gone long before he encountered a deadly ambush. Two groups fought to the death, with heads and limbs rolling all over the place. Xiao Yuanting had never seen such a scene before. His legs gave out, and he rolled down a slope. He was hanging from a tree for several days, on the verge of starving to death, when someone finally found him.
However, the person who came was not from the Jinyiwei, but Xiao Cheng’s confidant, Jiang Weide.
At that time, Xiao Yuanting still didn’t know what had happened. But because he trusted Jiang Weide, he didn’t think much and followed him. Little did he know, they would travel day and night without rest, eating and sleeping in the open air. Several horses died from exhaustion, and a group of Jinyiwei chased them the entire way. Amid the fights, he was captured and recaptured by these two groups, seemingly suffering all the hardships of a lifetime.
In the end, Jiang Weide managed to take him back. None of these people intended to harm him, so Xiao Yuanting had no strength left to resist. He only covered his mouth and vomited, saying, “Uncle De, where are we going?”
“I can’t take it anymore, Uncle De.”
“Jiang Weide! Find me an inn to rest for a night, ugh…”
But no matter what he said, Jiang Weide only replied, “Young master, don’t blame me. You’ll understand once you see the Duke.”
Xiao Yuanting didn’t understand. His father had returned from the south after defeating the enemy and was now supposed to be comfortably settled in the capital. What grudge existed between the Jinyiwei and Jiang Weide? Why were they both relentlessly pursuing him? There had to be some misunderstanding.
But what kind of misunderstanding could it be?
Feeling a bit uneasy, he thought about the dreamy and blissful days of the past few months, a vague sense of foreboding creeping in, though he dared not think further.
During the latter part of the journey, Xiao Yuanting inexplicably became quiet and stopped complaining. When the carriage finally stopped, he hurriedly jumped out and clung to a pillar at the inn’s entrance, vomiting as if he wanted to throw up his very lungs.
Jiang Weide saw the imperial troops on the road and immediately realized what had happened. He cautiously pushed Xiao Yuanting inside, saying, “Young master, after the long journey, rest at the inn first. This place is not as bustling as the capital, and things outside are not peaceful now. So don’t wander around—take good care of the young master. I’ll be back soon.”
Two attendants took the order and stayed close to Xiao Yuanting, escorting him upstairs.
Seeing this, Xiao Yuanting felt even more uneasy.
Dongxiang County…
He had visited this place with his father when he was young, but only once and had no other memories of it.
When they reached the second-floor room, he hesitated at the door and asked, “Is my father also in Dongxiang County? Has something happened, or is he here on imperial orders to suppress bandits?”
The attendants remained silent, like two mute men.
Feeling discouraged, Xiao Yuanting was about to push the door open when two men dressed as scholars passed by in the corridor.
One of them said, “Who would have thought that the rebel would hide in our Dongxiang County for years? It’s truly incredible.”
In that instant, the words hit him like thunder.
Xiao Yuanting’s hand froze on the door, his body trembling.
—
For three consecutive days, the mountains were littered with corpses.
Xiao Cheng took advantage of the terrain, while the court’s side had superior numbers. With both sides cancelling out each other’s advantages, it was a brutal exchange of life for life, strong assaults met with strong defenses. Eventually, the camp was breached, but the defenses inside were still strong. The camp that had been peaceful just two days earlier was now engulfed in cannon fire, with the inner camp becoming the last line of defense.
The sound of cannon fire was now close at hand.
For Zhou Baihu, this was the sound of salvation.
As soon as Huo Xian went missing, the inner camp launched a rigorous search. They were outnumbered and couldn’t fight directly. Zhou Baihu’s tunnel had been discovered, cutting off their escape route. They could only hide in the camp, waiting for reinforcements to break in.
But the inner camp’s defenses were too stringent. They narrowly escaped capture several times, only to have Huo Xian lead them back to their original cell.
Zhou Baihu, exhausted, lay on a pile of straw, panting heavily. “We finally escaped, so why are we back here?”
Huo Xian sat against the stone wall, his face pale in the dim light. He said, “There’s an old saying: ‘It’s darkest under the lamp.'”
Zhou Baihu thought for a moment and said, “True.”
He didn’t notice anything unusual and relaxed his tense body. “The outside is probably more chaotic than here. It’s good to hide here. When the court’s troops break in, the inner camp will be in chaos. Then we can crawl out through the tunnel. It’s the end of the lunar year, a good omen!”
He tore a piece of cloth from his clothes to bandage his injured arm and asked, “Hey, are you okay?”
Huo Xian replied, “Mm,” and closed his eyes. “They won’t find this place for a while. Let’s sleep.”
He turned away, listening to Zhou Baihu mutter “such a big heart” before gritting his teeth. The faint light from the iron window illuminated Huo Xian’s slightly furrowed brows and the sweat on his temples.
A faint groan escaped his lips, causing Zhou Baihu to glance over suspiciously. But Huo Xian’s steady breathing soon dispelled his doubts.
Zhou Baihu shook his head and also closed his eyes for a nap.
In the enemy camp, they hadn’t slept for three days. Even someone as tough as Zhou Baihu couldn’t hold out any longer and took the chance to rest.
Before long, he was snoring.
Zhou Baihu was completely asleep.
When he opened his eyes again, the sky was full of stars and the moon. Heavy footsteps echoed, jolting him awake. Damn, he almost walked into a trap.
He quickly turned around and said, “Wake up, those people are back!”
But when he reached for the straw, it was empty. Where was Huo Xian?
The wilderness was empty, and the cold wind whistled.
Zhao Yong had moved his command tent to the innermost part of the camp, far from the front lines. The sounds of battle were distant and faint here.
Several cannons were mounted on the watchtower. These weapons were exclusive to the Shenji Camp and required multiple layers of approval for use by generals. Yet here, several were positioned, aimed directly at the outer defensive barriers. Once the fuses were lit, the area outside the defense would be blown to pieces, with blood and flesh scattered and rocks shattered.
In the blind spot between the tents, a muffled sound could be heard.
Relying purely on his strength, Huo Xian strangled a man, stripped off his armor, and put it on himself. With a calm demeanor, he blended into a patrolling team. When he got close to the watchtower, he quietly left the group and headed straight up.
Each watchtower was guarded by two soldiers. Hearing the noise, they turned around. One of them asked suspiciously, “Isn’t it still a quarter-hour until the shift change?”
The people here strictly followed the rules, unlike the lazy guards of the Ministry of Justice prison, and were highly vigilant.
Before he could finish speaking, the other soldier was already warily drawing his scimitar. “The shift change is in pairs. Why are you alone—”
Before the scimitar was fully drawn, sharpened branches pierced through their necks. Their eyes bulged with disbelief and shock. They couldn’t make a sound and collapsed after a moment of struggle.
Huo Xian wasted no time. He kicked the two bodies aside and swiftly loaded the cannon, adjusted the angle, and just as he was about to light the fuse, his arm suddenly hurt. It felt like thousands of white ants were gnawing at his veins, the pain quickly spreading to his organs. He had to prop himself against the platform to avoid collapsing.
Yet, Huo Xian’s gaze remained calm, even showing a hint of murderous intent. It was as if the tightly wound, pain-ridden body wasn’t his own.
After a brief pause, the fuse was lit. With a loud “boom”—
Accompanied by overwhelming screams, the defensive line was blasted open. The soldiers at the forefront were instantly turned into minced meat. The line was breached!
Not from the outside, but from the inside?!
The remaining soldiers immediately retreated and reorganized, all turning to look in the direction of the cannon fire.
The soldiers on the neighboring watchtowers were also stunned, peeking over to see what had happened. They hadn’t received any orders. Did one of their comrades slip?
But then the second and third explosives were launched, tearing a hole in the defensive line.
“No, enemy attack! It’s an enemy attack! Catch him!”
The inner camp was thrown into chaos, with patrolling soldiers rushing over, everyone moving as quickly as possible towards the watchtower.
Huo Xian, however, remained still, his expression focused as he lit the fourth fuse.
The sudden loud explosions almost silenced the sounds of battle outside the defensive line for a moment.
On the opposite cliff, Shen Qingli was taken aback. “What’s going on? Are they fighting among themselves?”
No, that’s not right…
Shen Qingli squinted, looking towards the direction of the cannon fire, and shivered. “That’s—damn it, does he want to die?!”
He quickly covered his mouth and cautiously glanced over at Ji Yuluo, whose face was obscured by the shifting shadows of the trees, her expression unreadable.
The inner camp was blown open, and the previously elevated slope, which had been the biggest obstacle to an assault, was leveled by Huo Xian’s cannons. Nanyue led a thousand infantrymen charging in, further disrupting the already chaotic inner camp.
Xiao Cheng followed closely behind, surveying the almost destroyed camp with cold eyes, his gaze fixed on the figure on the watchtower.
He had never, never taken the Huo family seriously!
The Huo and Xiao families held equal military power, nearly dividing the influence of the capital’s martial families. Everyone spoke of their equality, but the world seemed to forget that the Huo family originated from banditry in the early days of the dynasty!
That brainless group of ruffians, despite generations of refinement, dared to aspire to be equals with the Xiao family?
Especially a mere illegitimate son!
Even though Zhao Yong praised Huo Xian’s abilities, in Xiao Cheng’s eyes, he was just a young upstart who could only spar verbally with his father in court, becoming a laughingstock. All his prestige came from the Eastern Depot.
Without its protection, he should be worthless!
But now, that person stood on the tower Xiao Cheng had built, personally destroying his hard work!
Again and again!
Jiang Weide said, “That’s Huo Xian?”
Xiao Cheng said sinisterly, “Zhao Yong was right. He is a knife. Sharpened, he can kill. But he always overestimates himself, thinking he is the master of this knife.”
“I should have killed him long ago.”
Xiao Cheng drew his bow.
The entire watchtower was surrounded. Huo Xian, facing countless blades, leapt down from the tower.
His gaze swept over the gleaming swords, directly meeting the arrow aimed at his head. The surrounding noise seemed to quiet, the wind carrying the scent of blood. Everyone held their breath, and at this critical moment—
Suddenly, someone rushed out from the corner, shouting, “Dad! Wait, wait, don’t shoot!”
