Teacher Li was struck without any warning whatsoever — this was perhaps the greatest betrayal human trust had ever inflicted upon him.

The palm carried tremendous force, and Teacher Li already had injuries on his body. When he hit the ground, he was unable to rise for a moment.

And in the same instant he was sent flying, Qi Lu had already pressed that one finger into the center of Li Chi’s chest.

Li Chi’s face went white in an instant.

The next moment, Li Chi was struck by a massive force and sent tumbling backward — he rolled across the ground several times and then slid two more paces before coming to a stop.

“Hm?”

Qi Lu frowned.

First came a flash of surprise — why had Li Chi not died?

Then understanding arrived, and he muttered to himself: “Just how terrified of death are you?”

Li Chi’s forehead was instantly beaded with sweat from the pain. He looked down at his chest — there was naturally no visible finger mark on his robes, but he knew very well that beneath the fabric, the protective mirror over his heart had shattered.

And not only the protective mirror. The jade armor he wore beneath it — one of its plates had been broken by that single strike as well.

Yes, Li Chi had a jade armor — Gao Xining’s jade armor.

Gao Xining had never been particularly fond of wearing jade armor, mainly because it made her figure look somewhat bulky. She was a young woman, after all. But she listened to Li Chi, so she had worn it regardless.

Later, Gao Xining had acquired a flexible inner armor — far lighter and thinner than the jade armor, yet with comparable protective strength.

So after Li Chi gave his jade armor to Teacher Li, Gao Xining had given her jade armor to Li Chi.

Even so, had it not been for the protective mirror, that one finger which shattered the jade plate would have been enough to gravely wound him.

Yu Jiuling drew his blade and slashed at Qi Lu’s throat. His bladework was honestly unremarkable — but he was fast enough.

As the blade swept across, Qi Lu raised a hand and flicked a finger against the flat of the blade. Yu Jiuling’s weapon immediately flew out of his grip.

The next moment, that same finger drove toward Yu Jiuling’s throat.

This was the most dangerous moment Yu Jiuling had faced in all his years. Life and death hung in the span of a single breath.

And in that very moment, Yu Jiuling erupted with the greatest burst of potential he had ever produced in his life, and in a feat that defied belief, he dodged that finger.

Dodged it — but not completely. The finger grazed his neck, and it was as though a blade had carved across him. A line of blood immediately opened across his throat.

“Ninth Sister, fall back!”

Li Chi called out at once.

Yu Jiuling flipped backward through the air, reaching into the deerskin pouch hanging at his waist at the same time, seized a handful of quicklime powder, and flung it forward.

“Dirty tricks.”

Qi Lu, in his long robe, retreated two steps to avoid the scattering cloud of lime powder.

He had barely steadied himself when a long spear came lunging from the side — like a thunderclap, fast and domineering.

Qi Lu slapped a single palm downward onto the speartip. The spear was knocked out of control, and the point drove hard into the ground.

Xiahou Zuo was nearly thrown over the handle by the resistance; it took sheer arm strength to brace himself upright.

The next moment, several crossbow bolts came flying at Qi Lu — perfectly aimed, some for the throat, some for the center of the chest.

Qi Lu raised his left arm, and his wide sleeve fanned outward like a sail billowing full of wind, puffing out in an instant. With rapid successive sounds, it swept all the crossbow bolts aside.

He glanced ahead. Inside the encampment, Ning Army soldiers were already charging toward them.

Qi Lu’s brow furrowed slightly. He murmured: “Calculated so well, and still I could not kill you… Your life is truly charmed.”

With those words he turned and swept away. A single disorienting flash — and he was already two zhang distant. His figure rose and fell in succession, and within moments he had vanished from sight.

“Call for people — pursue him!”

Li Chi surged forward.

He understood clearly: if this person was allowed to escape today, the threat would be endless from this point on.

Teacher Li had also risen by then. He drew a deep breath and glanced at his shoulder.

His left shoulder had taken a palm strike. He estimated the bones of his left arm were broken — as good as losing the use of one arm for the time being.

Yet he simply drew that deep breath and accelerated, charging after Li Chi.

If this person escaped again under these circumstances, it was not a matter of face. It was that from this point on, the danger would be endless and unrelenting.

From first contact to when Qi Lu retreated, the whole thing had lasted no more than five or six breaths.

Yet in those short five or six breaths, Qi Lu had truly shaken everyone to their core.

And his decisiveness had been equally staggering.

Unable to kill in one strike — he immediately withdrew from the encampment without hesitation or delay.

Even though with his ability, one more attempt might well have killed Li Chi. He had no intention of trying.

Because this was a military encampment. No matter how strong he was, he could not cut his way out once surrounded by the Ning Army’s soldiers.

He might kill many of them. But ultimately he would be cornered and overwhelmed.

In those few breaths, so much had happened — and yet many people had not fully processed it.

Xiahou Zuo had been stopped by that single check — the speartip had plunged deep into the earth, and both his arms ached with bone-deep soreness.

Teacher Li’s left arm could no longer move; the bone was broken.

Li Chi’s chest had taken that finger strike, and even with the protective mirror and jade armor, the center of his chest throbbed with wave after wave of breathlessness.

Yu Jiuling had been forced back by a single finger, blood flowing freely from his neck.

Yet in those same few breaths, no one had entertained even the thought of retreating.

The instant Qi Lu turned to flee, Li Chi called out — *chase him.*

And then, in that same instant — Teacher Li drew a deep breath, glanced at his left shoulder, and charged after Li Chi.

In that same instant — Xiahou Zuo rolled his arms loose, yanked the long spear free of the earth, and with the muscles of his right arm bulging, hurled the spear after the fleeing figure in the long robe.

In that same instant — Yu Jiuling turned and ran back into the encampment. He was not running away. Li Chi had called out — he was going to rally reinforcements.

In midair, Qi Lu seemed to feel the wind rising at his back. He forced himself to turn in the air — and the long spear was already upon him.

Qi Lu’s brow furrowed. He swept his wide sleeve outward — the spear that had been hurtling toward him with such ferocity was deflected into a spinning rotation, then thudded into the ground with a heavy impact.

Qi Lu had also been knocked off course by the external force and was driven to the ground. He looked at Li Chi — who had, impossibly, given chase — and thought: *weren’t you nearly just killed? How do you dare pursue me?*

He looked back to measure the distance to the Ning Army’s encampment. He was not yet far enough to feel safe. A man of his caliber naturally would not take such a risk.

If one were to say that he had taken a risk in winning Qi Lu’s trust — running off to meet Teacher Li, and even allowing Teacher Li to kill him — that would be incorrect.

He had been confident of escaping. He had even held a two or three in ten chance of turning the tables and killing Teacher Li. And as for the medicine Teacher Li had given him — if he had not recognized what it was the moment he smelled it, he would never have consumed it. Was that a risk?

When he and Teacher Li had fought side by side at the manor, the wound he had taken to his shoulder — the depth, the position — all had been within his calculations. That was not a risk either.

Then launching his surprise attack on Li Chi outside the Ning Army encampment — this was even less of a risk, because he had been confident of killing in one strike and withdrawing at speed under his own power.

But he had failed to kill in one strike. And that meant every single breath he remained inside the Ning Army encampment after that was a risk — because what happened next was no longer something he could calculate to a certainty.

So he had turned and left without a moment’s hesitation. What he had not anticipated was that Li Chi would dare to give chase — a man who had just nearly been killed by one of his fingers, who dared to come after him?

Qi Lu felt a flash of anger. For one brief instant, he had genuinely considered waiting for Li Chi to close the distance and then driving a finger through Li Chi’s skull.

But he had seen the Ning Army’s response speed — cavalry was already assembling.

In short bursts, his explosive speed far surpassed that of a horse. But if he could not shake them loose, no person could outrun a horse over a sustained distance.

Qi Lu paid no further attention to Li Chi. He accelerated forward again, his heart carrying only a sliver of regret.

Back at the Ning Army’s encampment, the Tingwei Corps had already mounted up.

Gao Xining had also leapt onto horseback. Several Qianban officers tried to dissuade her, but Gao Xining called out: “We have been preparing for so long — no one can make me retreat at the moment of battle!”

She waved her hand. “Bring the equipment — pursue him!”

The Tingwei Corps’ black cavalry thundered out.

At this point, Dantai Qijing gave chase for half the way before suddenly realizing something. He turned and swept toward the rear camp.

Not long after, Dantai Qijing arrived at the rear section where the trebuchets were stationed. Before he had even reached them he was already calling out: “Aim for the riverbank position and fire — adjust the range carefully, all trebuchets are to fire!”

The soldiers had no idea what had happened, but military orders had arrived — and they executed them at once.

All the trebuchets were swiftly loaded with massive stones. They had long since precisely calibrated the distance to the riverbank, so with only slight adjustments, the boulders were launched.

Outside the encampment, Qi Lu was sprinting forward at full speed. Li Chi and the others pursued relentlessly. But at that very moment, Qi Lu suddenly changed direction and drove toward the bank of the Tuotuo River.

Li Chi understood immediately. A man as meticulous and decisive as this would certainly have arranged someone on the riverbank to meet him. And whoever was there to receive him would certainly be a Yongzhou Army spy that had not yet been rooted out.

Qi Lu spotted a small boat waiting at the bank. He didn’t recognize the person in it — but he knew it was there for him.

He flew to the bank. “Row — quickly!”

He called out and was just about to board when enormous black shapes began falling from the sky above.

A series of thunderous impacts — boulders rained down. One of them struck the small boat directly and smashed it to splinters.

Qi Lu’s expression shifted. He immediately changed course and sprinted along the riverbank. Li Chi and the others were closing in now, the distance narrowing.

Dantai Qijing had no way of knowing whether his order to launch the trebuchets would accomplish anything. After giving the command, he went to the rear camp, took a horse, and came galloping out.

With no way to cross the river, Qi Lu had no choice but to run along the bank. His escape route was cut off, but he remained largely composed.

With his capabilities, shaking loose Li Chi and the others should not pose a serious problem.

He had a deeper and longer-accumulated foundation than Teacher Li, with more arduous and sustained training — which was why he had developed an ability slightly greater than Teacher Li’s.

And all of them — though they lived in apparent comfort — had spent every single day with fear and anxiety gnawing at them.

They had understood long ago: only by cultivating their own strength to an unmatched level could they avoid being erased.

Yet he had clearly underestimated the Ning Army’s ability to respond.

From the encampment, a flare burst upward. In the daylight it was not particularly brilliant, yet it bloomed quickly into a massive, dense cloud of smoke in the sky — spreading wide.

When that cloud of smoke appeared, it meant every scout and patrol rider deployed outside was to return immediately.

In that moment, Qi Lu’s heart stirred with just the faintest trace of regret.

—