Yanshan Camp.

Zheng Gongru was eating his midday meal when a subordinate came to report: a woman had arrived from the foot of the mountain, turning up directly at the outer gate and claiming to be a relative of the eighth master from his home village.

Zheng Gongru was puzzled. What relative from his home village — which home village?

He assumed something might have happened at home, perhaps his mother sending someone to find him in a hurry. He quickly had the woman brought up — but when she was led to his door, he found he didn’t recognize her at all. He held up a hand to stop her outside.

“Who are you?”

Zheng Gongru asked, his voice guarded.

“Please dismiss the others, Eighth Master.”

Chudong said, “I have urgent matters to report to you.”

Zheng Gongru had no intention of letting a stranger this close. This woman had appeared out of nowhere — he had no idea what she was here for.

Seeing the wariness written across his face, Chudong lowered her voice. “Dafang Town.”

Those three words made Zheng Gongru’s heart seize.

The men around him were all trusted subordinates — he wasn’t worried about being overheard.

So Zheng Gongru said, “Come inside then. Speak freely — the people here can all be trusted.”

He waved a hand, signaling for his men to close the door behind them.

Chudong stepped in and said, “Eighth Master, I was hired by your mother to go to Jizhou and kill the man you wanted killed. But something went wrong.”

Zheng Gongru’s expression shifted, though he kept his composure, sitting there calmly with his tea. “What went wrong?”

Chudong said, “After we arrived in Dafang Town, we successfully eliminated the targets there. Then your man Zhang Chaozhen went into the city to gather intelligence and send Li Chi a message — with the intention of luring him outside the walls.”

Upon hearing this, Zheng Gongru was entirely convinced. The plan he and Zhang Chaozhen had put together was exactly that — an outsider could never have known.

“And then?”

Zheng Gongru asked.

Chudong said, “Then… Zhang Chaozhen personally led men to deliver the message to Li Chi, but was seen through. They were all captured by Li Chi. Under pressure, Zhang Chaozhen broke and gave us up.”

Zheng Gongru’s composure shattered. He shot to his feet. “So Li Chi already knows it was I who arranged the attempt on his life?”

Chudong nodded. “Yes. Zhang Chaozhen led Li Chi’s people to our hiding place. Li Chi had overwhelming numbers — in the ensuing assault, all my senior and junior siblings were killed by Li Chi’s men. Your men either fled or died. If I’m not wrong, not a single one has dared come back to face you.”

Those men had indeed not come back.

They had originally planned to return and report — but then they thought about it: those formidable fighters who had been hired to do the job had been left to hold their position, yet they had abandoned it and fled. If those hired fighters returned to Yanshan Camp and went to see the eighth master, there might be repercussions later. Those hired fighters were powerful warriors — the eighth master would surely not make trouble for them.

As for the men Zhang Chaozhen had recruited — they’d been in it for the money, not their lives. They’d put their heads together and decided it was simpler to find a mountain somewhere and set up their own operation.

After Zheng Gongru heard all of this, he sat silent for a long time. The dread inside him was already indescribable.

His greatest advantage in dealing with Li Chi had been that Li Chi didn’t know who he was — didn’t know he was now the eighth master of Yanshan Camp.

Now Li Chi knew. Given Li Chi’s character, he would probably come straight back to Yanshan Camp — might not even bother to see Yu Chaozong first — and just cut him down…

I have to go.

That was Zheng Gongru’s first thought.

I have to leave. Right now. He had spent these past years diligently honing his martial arts, but he was under no illusion that he was a match for Li Chi.

If Li Chi truly came back, even Yu Chaozong couldn’t stop him from killing someone. Just think of how Li Chi had behaved back at the academy — a penniless nobody, still unable to hold back that first day…

At that moment, he heard the woman say through gritted teeth, “I want revenge. My senior and junior siblings were all killed by Li Chi. I will avenge them, no matter what.”

Zheng Gongru nearly let slip what was almost on his tongue — then go avenge them yourself, what does that have to do with me?

But the words reached his lips, and something shifted in his mind.

In that instant he saw two possibilities.

First — would Li Chi really come back right away?

Given the current state of affairs, if Li Chi returned to Yanshan Camp to kill him, he might not be able to get back to Jizhou afterward. Li Chi cared most about the people around him — the thought of them trapped in Jizhou might well be enough to stop him from acting on impulse.

Second — this woman was so driven by the desire for revenge that she’d come to find him. Did she perhaps have some way of killing Li Chi?

With that thought, Zheng Gongru made an effort to calm himself. He said to Chudong, “If Li Chi doesn’t die, neither of us will ever be safe. You came back to find me — have you already worked out some kind of plan?”

Chudong said, “Eighth Master, give me some men, and I’ll kill Li Chi.”

Zheng Gongru thought to himself: You want men from me — if I had men to spare, would I have needed to hire people like you to go after Li Chi?

But aloud he said, with great seriousness, “My men can’t be deployed at will — they belong to the camp’s forces. Any movement requires the chief’s authorization. Do you have anyone you can use? If so, the cost is no object — I can provide the funds.”

Chudong thought to herself: So you’ve got nothing either — I was expecting that as an eighth master of Yanshan Camp, you could casually mobilize several thousand troops.

The two looked at each other. In that moment, they each read something in the other’s expression, and both felt a flicker of disappointment.

Yet in the same moment, both of them also seemed to realize: apart from each other, there was really no one else to turn to.

When there is only one option, no matter how poor, it is also the best option.

Let’s take the gamble.

In that moment, Zheng Gongru made a decision.

If Li Chi didn’t dare come back, he still had his opening. He didn’t have men to call on directly, but his greatest advantage right now was that he was the one at Yu Chaozong’s side.

If Li Chi was trapped inside Jizhou, the situation inside the city was bound to become chaotic. It might not be without opportunity.

And even if Li Chi did come back, there were still ten-odd days before that could happen. Ten-odd days to make some preparations.

“Come with me,” Zheng Gongru said to Chudong. “I know where to find a force that isn’t part of Yanshan Camp.”

Chudong asked, “Where?”

Zheng Gongru said, “You’re from the northern steppe — have you heard of the Northern Fiend?”

Chudong nodded. “The greatest bandit of the northern steppe. Of course I’ve heard of him — though he never came near our part of the region.”

Zheng Gongru said, “Did you know the Northern Fiend is dead?”

Chudong was startled. “Dead?”

Zheng Gongru said, “I was the one who cut off his head. He’s dead — but his mounted bandit force is still active in that area.”

Chudong said, “If you’re the one who killed the Northern Fiend, your martial skill must be extraordinary. Why do you need outside help? And besides — you killed the Northern Fiend. If his men see you, their first instinct will be to kill you for revenge. And you expect to command them?”

Zheng Gongru smiled. “What they want is money and prospects. I’ve had my eye on that force for a while now, and I’ve kept men watching them. They’re struggling to keep going. Offer them a future, and they’ll fight for it — in other words, they’ll fight for silver.”

Chudong thought it over and said, “If you’re sure it can work, I’m willing to make the journey.”

“Then it’s settled.”

Zheng Gongru stood up. “Wait here, and don’t go wandering. I’ll go seek an audience with the chief and explain that I need to go out on some business. We leave at first light tomorrow.”

—

Meanwhile, in Youzhou.

Luo Geng looked out over the dense rows of soldiers filling the training ground, then looked along the line of iron-armored generals standing at the front of the formation. He exhaled slowly, then stepped forward.

“My son went to Jizhou to aid Zeng Ling and was humiliated for it — and now he is being held there, unable to return. He went to help the man, and this is how Zeng Ling repays him. This is an insult I, Luo Geng, cannot swallow.”

He paused, then raised his voice. “Men of Youzhou — whether it is my son or any one of you: if someone wrongs us, humiliates us, I, Luo Geng, will not be the turtle who pulls his head in and takes it. Whoever provokes us — we will show them how Youzhou soldiers kill.”

He pointed to the great banner beside him. “Plant this flag on the walls of Jizhou City, and use Zeng Ling’s head to consecrate it!”

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

The soldiers on the training ground roared, their voices crashing like thunder.

What kind of man raises what kind of soldiers. Luo Geng was bellicose and supremely arrogant, and his troops were no different. In their view, no one beneath the Youzhou army’s blade had ever been able to stand firm — and in all their years, they had never known defeat.

“Follow me to Jizhou.”

Luo Geng swung up onto his horse. “When my great army arrives — if the gates are not opened, I will put the city to the sword.”

“Kill!”

The soldiers raised their arms and roared as one.

That day, fifty thousand Youzhou troops set out.

It was also the day Luo Geng, Cui Yan, and Liu Li had agreed upon. The other two armies were already moving toward Jizhou.

In terms of distance, the army marching out of Youzhou needed only a few days to reach Jizhou’s outer walls. Even moving slowly to protect the supply train, they would arrive within ten days.

—

Jizhou City. The Military Governor’s Residence.

Zeng Ling’s face was as pale as paper. He looked at his commanders Liu Ge and Jinzu and wanted to curse someone — but didn’t know who to curse, because none of this had anything to do with either of them.

“Three thousand Tiger-Leopard cavalry — vanished in a single night?”

He paced back and forth across the room, his voice tight with fury. “These aren’t one or two men — you can’t hide them through a crack in a dog’s door. Three thousand soldiers, with warhorses! They cannot have left the city. Hiding three thousand people is no easy matter. I refuse to believe they can’t be found.”

He drew a long breath, stopped, and looked at Liu Ge. “Keep searching. Turn Jizhou City inside out if you have to. They must still be here — I want them found.”

Liu Ge bowed and strode out.

After Liu Ge left, Zeng Ling turned to Jinzu. “When Xiahou was here, Liu Ge and Li Chi’s people were close. That’s why I had you run the test on Li Chi before — I don’t doubt Liu Ge, but I need to be careful.”

Jinzu said, “I understand your reasoning, my lord.”

Zeng Ling said, “Now go to the carriage house and pay a call on Tang Pidi. See if they’re still there. Luo Geng’s three thousand Tiger-Leopard cavalry have disappeared — if Li Chi’s people have also vanished…”

Jinzu said, “I’ll go at once.”

“Wait.”

Zeng Ling said, “If you get to the carriage house and Li Chi’s people are still there, give them my message — tell them it’s time to go. If they’re unwilling to leave, I’ll have to move against them.”

Jinzu’s gaze shifted for a moment. He truly had no wish to come to blows with Li Chi’s people — but the situation had turned so quickly he had little choice.

His heart ached as though cut by a blade, but he could only follow orders. As he walked out, he told himself he had to find a way to reason with Li Chi.

“Understood, my lord.”

He bowed and left the study.

Zeng Ling sank into his chair, spent. No matter how he had calculated it, he had never accounted for the Tiger-Leopard cavalry simply disappearing.

Ever since the killing of Prince Yu, Luo Geng’s son had kept his three thousand Tiger-Leopard cavalry out of the main Jizhou army encampment. Zeng Ling had had men watching the Luo estate at all times, fearing what Luo Geng’s son might do.

And then last night, it had happened. Luo Geng’s men had suddenly struck, killing all of Zeng Ling’s watchers outside the estate. Then three thousand Tiger-Leopard cavalry slipped away under cover of darkness.

Zeng Ling had mobilized troops immediately to seal off their escape — but word came back that Luo Geng’s son’s forces had simply vanished inside the city.

—