The new intelligence corps was to be built upon the foundation of the Ning Army and had been given a new name — the Bureau of Military Secrets.

After all that had transpired, the Yongzhou Army’s advance into Jingzhou had been checked. Their plan of racing to Jingzhou at speed was no longer so easily achieved.

Li Chi’s grasp of the broader strategic picture was precise enough to give Han Feibao no end of headaches.

—

Ning Army Main Encampment.

Xiahou Zuo was heading toward the riverbank carrying a small folding stool, his personal guard trailing behind with his fishing rod. After the great battle, the Ning Army had set up defensive positions along the river, while the Yongzhou Army camped on the opposite bank. The two sides could see each other clearly across the Tuotuo River.

Xiahou Zuo had barely reached the riverbank when he spotted Li Chi and Gao Xining climbing off a boat — these two were genuinely fearless, apparently having gone out onto the river by boat to observe enemy positions.

The moment Li Chi saw Xiahou Zuo, he grinned. “Here is a commanding general who, while on official military duty, abandons his post to fish on the riverbank. It has been a long time since I docked anyone’s salary — ah, what a fine way to begin a good day.”

Xiahou Zuo: “…”

Gao Xining said: “Tell him quickly that the fish you catch are for him. That’s what he’s been waiting for.”

Xiahou Zuo said: “My sister-in-law really does treat me better.” He turned to Li Chi. “The fish I catch, they’re all yours.”

Li Chi said: “Openly attempting bribery — and in a public setting at that. This adds to your offense. Originally I would have docked one month’s salary, now it shall be a full year.”

Xiahou Zuo was completely at a loss.

He looked at Gao Xining again, beat his chest and stamped his feet. “How could I have believed you? You’re even worse than he is.”

Gao Xining said: “Brother Xiahou, the way you say that — it sounds like you’re only just finding out that I’m worse than him.”

Xiahou Zuo gave a dismissive grunt.

Li Chi sat down beside Xiahou Zuo and held out his hand. “But if the fishing rod is in my hands, then this becomes *my* affair — it has nothing to do with you.”

Xiahou Zuo immediately thrust the rod into Li Chi’s hands.

Li Chi looked at the rod in his grip, let out a sigh, then said: “First, you were fishing on the riverbank during official military duties. Then you attempted to bribe me with the fish you caught. When that plan failed, you even tried to drag me into your corruption — Xiahou, oh Xiahou, this offense is now worth two full years’ salary.”

Xiahou Zuo: “Did the two of you just lose money on that boat trip, and now you’re trying to claw it back from me?”

Li Chi said: “How can you harbor such suspicions about me? You should know me by now. What does losing or not losing money on my end have to do with whether I squeeze money out of you?”

Xiahou Zuo: “…”

The three of them were still idly chatting when a column of cavalry appeared on the opposite bank — clearly a Yongzhou Army commander who had also come to the river’s edge to observe the military situation.

Li Chi studied them carefully. The man leading them was dressed in silver armor and rode a tall, blue-gray horse.

Li Chi said: “Fine horse.”

Xiahou Zuo said: “I’ve heard Yang Xuanji’s horse is excellent as well. And so is Chu Emperor Yang Jing’s.”

Li Chi said: “Do you want them?”

Xiahou Zuo said: “Of course.”

Li Chi said: “Then I’ll find a way to bring them to you.”

Xiahou Zuo: “How confident are you?”

Li Chi said: “Depends on how large a deposit you put down. The more you pay, the more confident I am.”

Xiahou Zuo: “Forget it.”

Li Chi said: “No matter — I’ll pay the deposit for you. I’ll use the two years’ salary I docked from you as the deposit. If I don’t get you that horse, I’ll refund the deposit.”

Xiahou Zuo: “What the—”

Li Chi stood, gazing at the young silver-armored general on the far bank. Was this the puppet that Teacher Li had described — someone propped up by those people entirely from behind?

The thought brought a flicker of unease. Teacher Li had not sent word back in a very long time. Neither had Yu Jiuling.

Since the two of them had departed, Yu Jiuling had returned once to Youzhou City — after that, not a single message had come from either of them.

“Got one!”

At that moment, Xiahou Zuo reeled in a fat fish — the kind that looked to weigh three or four jin, its tail slapping the air with loud, sharp smacks.

Li Chi looked down at the fish, and something seemed to stir in his mind. His gaze grew distant.

—

At that same moment, roughly less than three hundred li from where they stood, inside the borders of Liangzhou.

In a mountain manor, countless bodies lay strewn across the ground.

Teacher Li stood in the courtyard, his body unable to straighten, gasping for breath with exhaustion.

There were several bloodstains on him. His injuries were not light.

In this world, how many people were capable of wounding Teacher Li?

About seven or eight zhang away from Teacher Li, a man in a long robe was pinned to the wall by Teacher Li’s sword — suspended at nearly a zhang’s height, head hanging low, blood still dripping slowly down his robes.

Not far away, Qi Lu lay on the ground, also gulping great breaths of air. His shoulder bore a deep gash. His injuries were no light matter either.

“I see you weren’t lying to me.”

Teacher Li said between heaving breaths. “You really are the weakest fighter among them.”

Qi Lu lay there and curled his lip. “You should be grateful I chose to stand on your side. If it had been one-on-one, you could have killed him — but you’d have been bedridden for months afterward.”

Teacher Li raised his head to look at the hanging corpse. He had long anticipated that none of these people would be ordinary fighters — but he had not expected every single one of them to be this formidable.

If they kept fighting like this — relying on the fact that these people would split up and picking them off one by one — there was still no guarantee against unexpected mishaps.

“Hey!”

Teacher Li called out to Qi Lu: “Can you turn another one of them?”

Qi Lu sat up and gave Teacher Li a look that said *are you an idiot*.

Teacher Li let out a sigh. “Never mind. I’ll find help myself.”

He walked toward the building nearby, raised a hand, and from his sleeve shot out a thin chain that coiled around his sword hilt. He gave a tug — the sword flew back to him, and the corpse slid off the wall and dropped.

Teacher Li stepped forward and caught the body, then slowly lowered it to the ground. “Don’t blame me. Perhaps what you believed was simply what you believed. I was just the one sent to deal with you.”

He found a long-handled weapon to use as a makeshift spade and dug a hole in the ground, then buried the body inside.

Qi Lu came over to help, cupping soil with his hands and placing it into the grave. In his eyes was a sorrow he was deliberately suppressing.

“I suppose I’m a traitor.”

Qi Lu said.

Teacher Li nodded. “Not ‘suppose.’ You are.”

Then added: “But if your definition is that people from the same place should stand together — then by that measure, I’m a traitor too.”

Qi Lu exhaled slowly.

He murmured to himself: “Being a traitor… really doesn’t sit well.”

A line of white birds flew overhead — the kind that was hard to name. They flew in formation across a blue sky filled with white clouds, a sight that felt oddly harmonious and at peace.

Teacher Li finished burying the body, then reached out and pulled Qi Lu to his feet. “Let’s go. We should find somewhere to have a drink.”

Qi Lu asked: “Only one drink?”

Teacher Li said: “If you’re paying, we can have as many as you like.”

The two of them leaned on each other and left. The many other bodies remained strewn across the ground — they had buried only this one, because in a certain sense, this person had been their companion.

No — their fellow native of the same place.

—

A few days later, a group arrived outside the manor. The man Han Feibao called the Holy Teacher dismounted outside the gates.

He had arranged to meet his companions here, but had been delayed for several days because of the war breaking out between the Yongzhou Army and the Ning Army.

He had not even entered the gate when his expression changed. He pushed open the courtyard door and, at the sight of the bodies on the ground, his eyes went wide.

He stepped quickly inside. He had not gone far before he spotted the new grave.

Standing before it, the Holy Teacher was silent for a long while. Then he bowed three times toward the mound.

—

Ning Army Main Encampment.

Li Chi was in the middle of discussing military affairs with Xiahou Zuo and the others when a personal guard hurried inside and bowed. “General Yu has returned.”

Li Chi startled — and bolted out of the tent on instinct, nearly colliding with Yu Jiuling, who was on his way in.

When Yu Jiuling saw Li Chi, the guilt in his expression deepened. “Boss… I lost him.”

But Li Chi grabbed Yu Jiuling and pulled him into a firm embrace.

Yu Jiuling’s eyes reddened. He had not found Teacher Li. What he had found was a message Teacher Li had left for him — Teacher Li had written that if Yu Jiuling came back and found the note, there was no need to look further, and that Yu Jiuling should go home.

But Yu Jiuling had been worried about Teacher Li. That was his master.

Yu Jiuling had searched for months and found nothing, so he had come back first to see Li Chi and work out what to do next.

Li Chi patted Yu Jiuling on the back. “It’s all right. Nothing will happen to Teacher Li. The fact that there’s been no news — that in itself is good news.”

Yu Jiuling understood what Li Chi meant. But he could not find peace in it.

The two of them entered the tent. Li Chi had just finished arranging food and drink for Yu Jiuling when a guard ran in again — saying that Teacher Li had returned.

This time, both Li Chi and Yu Jiuling leapt to their feet at the same moment.

—

At that very moment, outside the gates of the Ning Army’s main encampment.

Qi Lu, dressed in his long robe, looked out at the Ning Army soldiers and could not help letting out a low murmur: “So this is the army of the Son of Heaven…”

Teacher Li said: “Why do you say that too?”

Qi Lu sighed. “You and I are from the same place. Don’t tell me you’ve never heard the stories about transmigrators and chosen ones of the plane.”

Teacher Li naturally knew.

The story of those two individuals had grown more fantastical with each retelling in later generations — something about a transmigrator who altered the natural course of history and was consequently eliminated by the Chosen One of the Plane. And that Chosen One was said to be capable of summoning meteor storms. Teacher Li had always privately thought — meteor storms… that couldn’t be anything other than Katyusha rockets.

“You…”

Qi Lu looked at Teacher Li. “Do you also believe history should follow its original course?”

Teacher Li said: “If it shouldn’t, then why would it be called history?”

Qi Lu gave a soft sound of acknowledgment. “That’s exactly what I told them. But they said — this isn’t our history. This isn’t even the same world as the one we came from. Since it has nothing to do with us, why should we respect its course?”

Teacher Li said: “From their point of view, that isn’t wrong either.”

Qi Lu exhaled slowly. “So Li Chi is the one who came to correct us — not you.”

Teacher Li startled. He looked at Qi Lu. Qi Lu opened both palms and raised them upward in a lifting gesture, then pressed them firmly down.

“The Grand Archmage.”

Teacher Li gave a slight smile.

Just then, Li Chi and Yu Jiuling came running out together. When they saw the stranger standing beside Teacher Li, both of them stopped short.

And when Yu Jiuling noticed the long robe that person was wearing, his expression shifted sharply.

Teacher Li said: “This is Prince Ning.”

Qi Lu gave a soft sound of acknowledgment, then studied Li Chi with careful, unhurried attention. “I have heard the name of Prince Ning for a very long time. For a very long time I have wanted to see you with my own eyes — because certain things that are destined cannot be avoided. But drawing close to you truly is no easy matter…”

Teacher Li startled.

Qi Lu suddenly struck Teacher Li with a single palm and sent him flying. “Actually — I’m not the weakest fighter.”

Then, in a blur of movement, he extended one finger and pressed it directly toward the center of Li Chi’s chest.

—