The group spent one night at Xu Youru’s residence. That evening, Xu Youru was summoned away — it wasn’t clear which faction within the Slayer King’s army had called for him.

But it was nearly dawn before Xu Youru returned, looking extraordinarily worn and haggard.

That night he had likely rushed between many places, making contact with numerous people in an attempt to stir the Slayer King’s army into greater disarray.

When he returned, he told Li Chi everything had been arranged. Once daylight came, they would be able to leave the city.

He handed Li Chi a token permitting entry and exit from Wulai City. With this in hand, they could leave at any time.

The pretext used was one no one could object to. Since no one had yet come to open hostilities, Gan Daode’s funeral affairs still had to be handled properly.

At this moment, everyone wanted to appear attentive and dedicated — only by demonstrating wholehearted devotion to the late king’s funeral arrangements would one have standing to speak of the matters that would follow the king’s affairs.

To give the king a grand burial naturally required finding a propitious site with auspicious geomantic properties — that was the mission Li Chi’s group was assigned.

Xu Youru said to Li Chi: “The Young Master said that assisting Prince Ning in killing Gan Daode is a matter of absolute priority. If Prince Ning has any further needs, please speak freely.”

Li Chi shook his head: “There are none.”

Yu Jiuling at the side asked: “Master Xu, why not come back to Jizhou with us? You surely won’t be at ease staying here in Blue Province.”

Xu Youru smiled: “Though I wouldn’t call myself a man of perfect loyalty and righteousness, I still understand my duty. So I cannot go.”

Yu Jiuling started to persuade further, but Xu Youru shook his head: “If it were the Young Master’s order, I would naturally comply. But if it is the urging of all of you — I’m afraid I must respectfully decline. Time has neither a fixed length nor a fixed brevity; each person must see things through to their own end.”

He cupped his fists: “You depart today, and I still have many matters to attend to. I don’t have the convenience of seeing you off properly. Allow me to bid farewell to all of you here and now.”

Li Chi sighed: “If you stay, you’ll most likely die.”

Xu Youru did not deny it.

Though he held an extraordinary position within the Slayer King’s army, that depended on who was in charge.

If Gan Daode had not died, Xu Youru’s standing within the Slayer King’s army would naturally be secure, and no one could casually provoke him.

But Gan Daode was dead. Among the commanding figures of the Slayer King’s army, every one of them wanted to grab the seat of the top chief and sit on it.

Xu Youru had become a figure of crucial weight. Whichever side he stood on would have a greater chance.

Yet no one had the assurance of definitely being able to bring Xu Youru to their side.

Even if one of them believed Xu Youru would certainly become their aide, what of the others?

Seeing Xu Youru stand at someone else’s side — the first one they would want to eliminate would also be Xu Youru.

Such a critically important person, and yet he commanded no troops of his own — so if he could not be claimed for one’s own use, naturally it would be better to eliminate him. He couldn’t be allowed to fall casually into someone else’s hands.

Li Chi said: “If following us back to Jizhou causes you difficulty, you might also temporarily leave Blue Province and find somewhere safe to wait, until Cao Lie sends someone to find you.”

“There’s no need.”

Xu Youru said: “The Young Master’s letter said he wishes to wander the four corners of the world. No one will be able to find him, and he won’t go looking for anyone either. So the commands I am to carry out remain unchanged — to stay in Blue Province and work toward the larger scheme. If I cannot work toward triumph, then I work toward defeat — let them all fall, let them all turn on each other in mutual slaughter…”

Li Chi looked at Yu Jiuling: “Can’t talk him out of it.”

Yu Jiuling made a sound of acknowledgment: “It’s a good thing we’ve never been ones to rely only on persuasion.”

Xu Youru immediately looked at Yu Jiuling: “What do you mean by that?”

Yu Jiuling said: “Persuading someone is a matter of reasoning. When reasoning doesn’t work, we generally resort to force.”

Dantai Yanjing, while they were talking, had already quietly moved behind Xu Youru and brought his palm down against the back of Xu Youru’s neck.

Xu Youru spun around sharply. Dantai Yanjing saw that the palm strike had somehow failed to take effect. He stared as Xu Youru stared blankly back at him, and was himself taken aback for a moment.

“That hurts…”

Xu Youru said two words to Dantai Yanjing, and then crumpled limply to the ground.

Seeing Xu Youru collapse, Dantai Yanjing finally let out a breath — otherwise he would have started doubting his own abilities.

Everyone hoisted Xu Youru onto the carriage. They were still wearing Slayer King Army uniforms, and no one blocked them as they left. It was only at the city gate that they were stopped for inspection.

Yu Jiuling made an elaborate show of authority toward the Slayer King Army officer guarding the gate: “Master Xu is going out of the city personally to find a propitious burial site for His Highness. He was up all last night without sleep and has just now drifted off in the carriage. You are absolutely not to make any noise!”

The gate-guarding officer checked Yu Jiuling’s token, but wasn’t fully satisfied and still wanted to look inside the carriage.

Yu Jiuling glared at him, then opened the carriage door to reveal Xu Youru lying inside, clearly fast asleep.

“Master Xu is truly overworked — sleeping so deeply.”

The officer remarked with feeling: “Look how exhausted he is — I doubt even calling out to him would wake him.”

Dantai Yanjing at the side said: “Mm. Calling out definitely won’t wake him. I’m more confident than you about that.”

The inspection found nothing amiss and they were waved through. The convoy showed no urgency, exiting the city at an unhurried pace.

They walked like this for about ten-some li until the Slayer King Army personnel were no longer in sight, and then began to pick up speed.

By the time the sun was slanting toward the west, Xu Youru finally stirred and woke.

He opened his eyes, looked around, and then his expression changed drastically: “You cannot take me with you. The moment they discover I’m no longer in the city, they’ll certainly dispatch troops in pursuit. With me still in the city, they won’t chase after you. Without me in the city, they might come after you at any moment.”

Li Chi said: “We didn’t go north.”

Xu Youru froze.

Li Chi smiled: “We made a loop. Right now we’re heading west. We’ll travel a few days and then turn north.”

“That’s far too reckless!”

Xu Youru said: “If anything happens to all of you, the Young Master will blame me for not being careful enough.”

Li Chi said: “He’s not coming to Jizhou — how would he even find out to blame you?”

Xu Youru said: “I am the Young Master’s man…”

Before he could finish the sentence, Li Chi smiled and said: “He’ll eventually be my man. You’ve simply arrived a bit earlier than he has.”

Xu Youru opened his mouth and found he had no idea how to refute that.

Yu Jiuling said in a sincere tone: “Master Xu, you’d best settle down and come back with us. Otherwise we’ll have to resort to certain methods.”

Xu Youru instinctively rubbed his neck — still rather sore.

Yu Jiuling said: “Violence is wrong. We only resort to it when absolutely necessary. But we’ve prepared a sufficient supply of knockout drugs.”

He pointed at something beside Xu Youru — a very large paper package, which if it were all knockout drugs would amount to at minimum five catties.

Xu Youru sucked in a sharp breath.

Yu Jiuling said: “See, all of that was prepared for you.”

Xu Youru: “…”

Yu Jiuling said: “But we’ve always been ones to win people over through virtue. We almost never force anyone against their will — generally we don’t press if someone refuses once.”

Xu Youru sucked in another sharp breath.

If they gave him at least five catties of knockout drugs, what state would that leave a person in?

Li Chi spoke seriously: “Don’t frighten Master Xu. Master Xu — he’s deceiving you. Not all of it is knockout drugs.”

Xu Youru let out a breath of relief.

Li Chi said: “About half of it is laxatives. Knockout drugs and laxatives together ought to be even more effective — too disoriented to walk, too weak to run.”

At this moment Xu Youru could not help but begin to worry about his future life among these people. How could they all be like this… how could every single one of them be like this!

—

After they left, what chaos Blue Province descended into was no longer their concern. Li Chi had no plans to attack Blue Province at the moment.

Let the Slayer King Army people fight over the spoils. And it wasn’t just them — Blue Province still had several kings of its own.

With Gan Daode dead, the Slayer King’s army would certainly fall into internal strife. When outside enemies then came pressing in, the rebel forces on this front would suffer grievous losses to their strength.

For the Jizhou Ning Army, this was naturally good news.

—

Around midday, Li Chi’s group stopped somewhere to rest. In the distance, they could see a convoy moving rapidly westward along the main road.

That convoy was not very large — about sixty or seventy people — and from the look of them, they were probably not Slayer King Army either.

Li Chi’s group was in the forest. Those people had not the faintest awareness of their presence, apparently in a great hurry to reach somewhere and not pausing in the slightest.

Li Chi stood behind a tree watching. In the convoy, one figure was slumped prone over a horse’s back — apparently an injured person.

All of a sudden a sense of familiarity struck him. Li Chi’s mind flashed with a sudden recognition.

Yuan Jianli.

That set of clothing — it should be Yuan Jianli.

That fellow had truly managed to cut his way out from layer upon layer of encirclement…

Li Chi drew a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the impulse to give chase.

For now it was best not to invite any further complications. He didn’t know whether among those who had rescued Yuan Jianli there were other Sacred Blade Sect masters of high ability.

If he gave chase recklessly, Li Chi knew his own side would certainly take casualties.

Gao Xining stood at Li Chi’s side. She said in a calm tone: “There will come a time.”

She smiled with a touch of pride: “The Tingwei Army is built for exactly this — eliminating dangers before they arrive, resolving problems before they surface.”

Li Chi smiled: “You’re a little proud.”

Gao Xining pouted: “Nonsense… I’m very proud. Enormously proud.”

Hearing the words “enormously proud,” not far away Yu Jiuling gave a start and immediately looked back toward Gao Xining: “I’m not coming over!”

Gao Xining was taken aback and looked back at Yu Jiuling: “Not coming over to do what?”

Yu Jiuling gave an awkward laugh: “The words ‘enormously proud’ were a bit overwhelming… When you said those three words, big sister, I couldn’t quite hold it together.”

Xiao Zhang Zhenren burst out laughing.

Yu Jiuling: “What are you laughing at?”

Xiao Zhang Zhenren said: “You couldn’t hold it together — weren’t you holding it together quite nicely the other day? I thought it looked rather enticing.”

Yu Jiuling: “You animal!”

Gao Xining opened the bundle and took out some provisions: “Are you talking about these?”

The provisions were the enormous steamed buns she had made in that batch.

Everyone looked at Yu Jiuling. Yu Jiuling tilted his head back toward the sky, and after a long while said, word by word: “What price do I have to pay to ensure that when we get back to Jizhou, every single one of you keeps your mouth shut about this matter?”

Li Chi said: “Then you only need to do one thing.”

Yu Jiuling said: “Boss, name it!”

Li Chi picked up two of the enormous steamed buns and handed them to Yu Jiuling: “You carry them on display the whole way back to Jizhou, and we guarantee we’ll never bring this up again.”

Yu Jiuling opened his mouth. Somewhere in the indistinct distance, it seemed as if he might be about to cry.

—

While the group rested and ate lunch, Gao Xining walked over to Li Chi who was keeping watch on the outer perimeter, and bumped his shoulder with hers.

Li Chi asked: “What is it?”

Gao Xining asked: “Do you… like enormously big ones?”

Li Chi: “Ahem!”

Gao Xining looked down at herself, then let out a soft sigh.

If hers were enormous, then disguising herself as a man would truly be trouble — the very fact that she could disguise herself as a man so convincingly meant she couldn’t possibly be enormous.

“I wonder…”

Gao Xining exhaled softly and said: “What it would take to make you feel satisfied.”

Li Chi’s heart raced. A flush crept across his face. His breathing grew gradually heavier. To conceal himself, he tilted his head back and looked at the sky: “Maybe it’s not something you need to do. Perhaps… it’s something I need to do.”

Gao Xining, though momentarily uncertain what Li Chi meant, was certain he was being somewhat shameless.

Li Chi tilted his head back at the sky and suddenly smiled: “I… actually don’t particularly like enormous ones. What I like — is yours. Everything about you is just right.”

He had thought that after saying this, Gao Xining would certainly be delighted.

Smack!

Gao Xining rapped him on the skull: “You are absolutely being an absolute scoundrel!”