The men on the wooden walls watched as the fires in the Shanhai Army camp gradually dimmed, as though beams of light were rising skyward along with the dying flames.

Qiao Mo and the others had bought time for the villagers of Mengyuangu with their lives — perhaps a day, perhaps a few days.

But even if it had been only a single breath, that time was beyond any measure of worth.

Dozens of lives lost — were they merely dozens of lives?

They were dozens of complete human lives. If they had all survived, how full and vivid might each of those lives have been?

And the Shanhai Army, now stripped of their siege equipment, seemed to have only one path left.

A frontal assault.

At this moment, Lü Wuman still appeared to betray no outward shift in emotion — yet his rage was no longer something he could suppress.

“Xu Heihu,” Lü Wuman said slowly, “take the city.”

“Breach it. Turn everyone inside into mincemeat.”

Xu Heihu acknowledged the order at once, leading the Shanhai Army forces in a ferocious assault on Mengyuangu.

This battle between the villagers and the bandits began at nightfall — and when the following nightfall came, it had still not ended.

The Shanhai Army had ample manpower; they could rotate their troops in waves. The greatest strength on Mengyuangu’s side was their courage.

Even now, having been reduced to this state, what was truly staggering was that the villagers of Mengyuangu — men, women, old and young alike — not one of them chose to retreat.

In their hearts, whatever Uncle An decided was always right.

Xiao Qi had no way of knowing how much Uncle An had given to Mengyuangu over those long years past, to have earned such unconditional trust from the villagers.

Just thinking about it — Uncle An must have worked so hard, all these years.

After the second night came to an end, having suffered losses of at least a thousand men, the Shanhai Army finally pulled back.

Outside Mengyuangu’s wooden stockade the ground was carpeted with corpses. Without enough ranged weapons, the defenders could only strike once the enemy had closed in, and the hardship and danger of that was not something that could be conveyed in a few words.

The bodies on the ground told the whole story — they had used the most rudimentary defenses and the most primitive weapons to inflict the maximum possible damage on the enemy.

Look at the corpses of those bandits on the ground: some were crushed to death by rolling logs, some were smashed by stones, others stabbed through with dung forks, or hacked apart by vegetable cleavers…

These men had massacred innocent villagers many times before, and never once encountered resistance like this.

At first, such resistance enraged them, made them more brutal — but when the resistance continued to hold, fear crept in.

At the start, they had thought to themselves: going up to kill some peasants — how hard could that be?

But after paying a gruesome price, they grew afraid. Afraid that the next man to charge up and be beaten to death might be them.

This was how morale shifts — morale lives in the hearts of men.

Inside the Shanhai Army camp, Lü Wuman sat with his eyes closed, apparently unwilling to say anything further. His intent toward Mengyuangu was plain enough.

No matter how difficult, he would take Mengyuangu. No matter the cost, he would slaughter every person inside.

“My lord…”

Xu Heihu ventured: “Perhaps I should wait until dark and try a night raid?”

Lü Wuman did not open his eyes. His tone sounded calm: “I don’t care how you go about it. I only look at results. You were the one who came to me asking to lead the assault on this place. I gave it to you — so give me an answer. And if your answer is wrong…”

He slowly opened his eyes and looked at Xu Heihu. “I have already given you one chance to redeem yourself. I will not give a second.”

Just then, outside, a rider came galloping into the camp, dismounted, and ran quickly to the entrance of the command tent.

“Report, my lord — the Haoxiao King requests your immediate return to the Western Capital.”

Lü Wuman looked at the messenger. “What has happened?”

The messenger replied: “There has been an incident with the Baishan Army. The Haoxiao King had already successfully received the Baishan Army’s surrender — all eighty thousand troops capitulated and turned over their weapons… but that same night, a portion of the Baishan Army suddenly revolted and fighting broke out. This caused the other units of the Baishan Army to follow suit, and the Haoxiao King’s forces were caught in a sudden attack and suffered heavy losses…”

“Oh?”

Lü Wuman’s expression shifted. “Is there something crucial here that you have left out?”

The messenger hesitated visibly — he opened his mouth, then seemed to reconsider.

Lü Wuman said: “If you know something and choose not to say it, can you guess what your fate will be?”

The messenger lowered his head hastily. “It is… the Sixth Chief. After the Baishan Army’s surrender, the Sixth Chief may have been rather too pleased with himself — he drank too much and wandered into the Baishan Army camp, where he seized… seized the wife of one of the Baishan Army’s chiefs, and… publicly humiliated her. As a result…”

Lü Wuman let out a slow breath. “How did the Haoxiao King handle the Sixth Chief?”

The messenger shook his head. “He has not yet been dealt with… no, no — that was when I left; there had been no punishment yet. Perhaps by now…”

Lü Wuman waved a hand. “Return and deliver my reply — tell him I will make my way back as quickly as possible.”

He said nothing more, but inside, his fury had reached its absolute limit. Mengyuangu had already stirred his killing intent — and now, because of the Sixth Chief’s conduct, the Baishan Army had become enemies again.

The Sixth Chief was one of Mei Wujiu’s personal loyalists. For something this grave to have gone unpunished — if left unchecked, something even worse was bound to happen sooner or later.

He and Mei Wujiu appeared to share a close bond, with their alliance on solid footing — but that was before either of them had accomplished anything. Now that the Shanhai Army’s scale had grown ever larger, though the two of them had previously agreed on equal authority, both were keeping score in their hearts.

Summoning him back now was not truly about dealing with the Baishan Army — it was so that Mei Wujiu could withdraw his own forces while Lü Wuman went to clean up the mess. Each man’s army was his own, and neither wanted to take heavy losses.

And even setting aside this incident — the fact that Mei Wujiu had already moved to absorb the Baishan Army was itself an outrage. The timing could only have been deliberate.

Back when Xu Heihu’s men had gone to request reinforcements, Mei Wujiu had told him to get here quickly, saying they should use Mengyuangu to establish the Shanhai Army’s prestige.

But at the time, the eighty thousand Baishan Army troops were already encamped outside their Western Capital, ready to be absorbed at any moment.

They had agreed to receive the Baishan Army together — and to divide the eighty thousand troops equally between them.

Yet the moment Lü Wuman left for Mengyuangu, Mei Wujiu had gone ahead and absorbed the Baishan Army on his own. Could his desire to swallow all eighty thousand men for himself have been any more obvious?

Now that a catastrophe had erupted and the Baishan Army had turned on him, Mei Wujiu didn’t want to take losses from his own forces — so he sent men to summon Lü Wuman back immediately.

“My lord…”

Xu Heihu asked carefully: “If my lord returns to the Western Capital now, what of this place…?”

Lü Wuman let out a cold huff. “It’s not so simple… Listening on the surface, it seems Mei Wujiu wants me back in a hurry — back to fight the Baishan Army, while he preserves his own strength. But he knows I will see through that layer…”

Xu Heihu was momentarily baffled. Wasn’t that second layer exactly what Mei Wujiu most wanted to do?

Lü Wuman continued: “He merely sent someone to deliver a verbal message. He knows I will most likely not rush back to clean up his mess — and if I truly don’t go back, then not a single Baishan Army soldier will end up in my hands.”

Xu Heihu thought it over carefully, and still couldn’t work it out.

Lü Wuman said: “The Sixth Chief has certainly already been dealt with — but Mei Wujiu had his man tell me he hadn’t been.”

Xu Heihu frowned. Were there really that many layers to this?

Lü Wuman went on: “He dealt with the Sixth Chief — and with that move, he will likely bring a portion of the Baishan Army to heel. A few tens of thousands shouldn’t be a problem. If I don’t rush back, he will have the situation well in hand by the time I return. Then he’ll have every reason to tell me: it’s not that he won’t give me any Baishan Army troops — it’s that circumstances at the time were simply too urgent, and he had no choice…”

Lü Wuman gave a cold snort. “This man’s mind is too filthy.”

Xu Heihu said: “Then we should head back right now — there should still be time.”

Lü Wuman looked at him, eyes narrowing slightly. “When did I say you were allowed to go back?”

Xu Heihu froze.

Lü Wuman said: “I’m leaving you fifteen thousand troops. Surely taking Mengyuangu is still within your means? I’ll be waiting for you in the Western Capital. Whether you win or lose — the outcomes are naturally quite different.”

He rose and gave the order: “Pack up. Prepare to return to the Western Capital.”

His personal guards immediately set about gathering up the contents of the command tent.

Lü Wuman looked at Xu Heihu: “The Sixth Chief is certainly dead by now — his position is vacant. If you raze Mengyuangu, I’ll give you the Sixth Chief’s seat.”

“Thank you, my lord!”

Xu Heihu immediately dropped to a kowtow.

—

At that same moment, in the Western Capital.

Mei Wujiu sat in his study, watching the jujube dates roasting on the brazier. He was very fond of that smell — the air carried a faintly scorched, fragrant warmth.

The middle-aged man sitting across from him had said nothing for some time, but wore a smile at the corners of his mouth, his expression entirely self-assured.

After a long silence, Mei Wujiu looked at him: “Advisor Mu, are you certain Lü Wuman will come back?”

Mu Fengliu smiled: “Whether he sees through the first layer or the second, he will return to compete for the Baishan Army’s forces.”

Mei Wujiu nodded, then lapsed back into silence. There was still a trace of indecision on his face, as though something remained difficult to resolve.

Mu Fengliu smiled and said: “My lord should understand clearly — the sky does not hold two suns, and the people cannot have two masters. My lord should also know that when two suns contend for radiance, one must be extinguished. So — does my lord wish to yield to Lü Wuman?”

Mei Wujiu shook his head and sighed: “But once I kill him, my reputation…”

Mu Fengliu said: “Only the defeated concern themselves with reputation. The victor’s reputation is never tarnished — because the victor is the one who decides what is said.”

Mei Wujiu was taken aback.

Mu Fengliu said: “Moreover, there is one crucial point in all of this…”

Mei Wujiu immediately asked: “What is it?”

Mu Fengliu said: “The falling out with Shanhe Seal — on the surface, it does not appear to be your doing, my lord. It appears to be Lü Wuman who failed.”

Mei Wujiu was momentarily startled again.

It had been he himself who had urged Lü Wuman to break with Shanhe Seal — but in truth, only the two of them knew this.

On the surface, it genuinely looked far more like Lü Wuman had rebelled against Shanhe Seal on account of his own failures.

Mu Fengliu continued: “Shanhe Seal is still out there — their wealth and resources are formidable. When my lord and Lü Wuman were both in Jizhou, you were doing all the hard work for others, secretly maneuvering to control Li Chi and seize the realm from behind the scenes…”

He looked at Mei Wujiu: “Now it is different. My lord, you are already a king, and you already possess the strength to contend for the realm. If you were to make overtures to Shanhe Seal at this juncture, Shanhe Seal might not refuse my lord’s goodwill.”

Mei Wujiu’s eyes moved slowly, as though weighing the advantages and disadvantages.

Mu Fengliu said: “My lord is now in the position Li Chi once was. Rather than going to the trouble of trying to control Li Chi, Shanhe Seal would be better served by supporting my lord…”

He smiled: “And since my lord understands Shanhe Seal so thoroughly — you can borrow their power, and when the time comes, simply kick Shanhe Seal aside.”

Mei Wujiu let out a slow breath: “Can you help me test the waters, Advisor?”

In Yanzhou and Yuzhou, across thousands of miles of rivers and mountains, they still had no idea that Shanhe Seal’s sect master had already breathed his last.

Mu Fengliu rose and clasped his hands: “I shall exert every effort on my lord’s behalf.”

Mei Wujiu also rose: “Then I thank you, Advisor Mu. Should this succeed, Advisor Mu will be the foremost contributor.”

—

One hour later, in an ordinary residence somewhere in the Western Capital.

Mu Fengliu entered through the gate and spotted the figure standing in the courtyard, staring up at the sky in a daze. He quickened his steps and bowed low.

“I pay my respects to the Young Lord.”

—