“Hey, kid, come over here!”

The person calling out with a raised voice carried the tone of habitual command, shouting loudly.

Baozi, with his back turned to Li Han and the others, inwardly groaned.

Finding it troublesome, he hadn’t worn a mask since leaving Yingdu. Now he was in trouble, wasn’t he?

That old man Li Han harbored a deep hatred toward his mother. If he was recognized, would Baozi become a pan-fried bun, xiaolongbao, soup dumpling, or big meat bun…?

Thinking of pan-fried buns, for the first time in his life, Baozi didn’t drool but shivered instead.

There was no helping it—what had to be faced still had to be faced. Delaying would be even more unwise.

Baozi turned his head.

Naturally, he began trotting over.

Unexpectedly, the wet mud by the riverside was slippery. Baozi stepped and slipped, falling with a splash into a mud pit by the river’s edge.

“Waaaah!!!”

The five-year-old child began crying loudly, pounding the ground frantically with his small fists, splashing muddy water everywhere—all over his face and clothes. His pretty little face immediately became a muddy mess where you couldn’t see his eyebrows or eyes clearly.

Hearing the commotion, Youtiao’er came running from afar. Seeing Li Han, he was startled for a moment, then raised his arms and rushed over, hurrying to help Baozi up while trembling: “Young Master… did you hurt yourself falling?”

“Smack! Smack!!”

The wronged little master swung his muddy little palms dripping with yellow mud water, delivering a pair of brilliant golden slaps left and right, instantly covering Youtiao’er’s small dark face with yellow mud as well—a spectacular sight.

With his back to Li Han, Youtiao’er winked at Baozi while tremblingly apologizing nonstop: “Young Master… it’s this servant’s fault…” He bent down to carry Baozi on his back. Baozi buried his face in Youtiao’er’s shoulder, still crying incessantly.

Around Li Han, the several generals and advisors who had called out saw the slovenly appearance of these two mud-covered children and frowned, stepping aside. Li Han had been intently watching the enemy camp across the river with furrowed brows. He merely glanced at them casually and indifferently before continuing to speak with the advisors beside him.

The pair of pitiful master and servant walked away with no one paying them attention.

Only after reaching the tent did Youtiao’er breathe a sigh of relief, still shaken: “That was close, that was close… fortunately, Master, you smeared mud on your face.”

While changing clothes and washing his face, Baozi asked, “Has he seen you before?”

“I’ve seen him twice from a distance, but don’t worry, Master. These nobles never look properly at servants like us. I was afraid he’d recognize you, but fortunately he didn’t notice.”

“Mm…” Baozi changed into clean clothes and sat on the bed thoughtfully.

“Looking at the opposing camp’s formation, a decisive battle is inevitable,” a advisor said in the deep dark night, squinting at the enemy camp across the river with its neat arrangement and similarly twinkling starlike fires. His expression showed some worry. “What does the Duke plan to do?”

“He’s planning a quick decisive battle—I won’t let him have his way,” Li Han’s expression was coldly sinister. Thinking of his beloved son’s tragic death, he felt his whole body turn cold while fierce fire rose in his chest.

That fire had been burning since the moment Li’er was torn apart by the crowd.

The fire burned so that he couldn’t sleep through the night, tossing restlessly. How many times had he sat up abruptly in the middle of the night, trembling all over and grinding his steel teeth to pieces—Li’er was dead. He had nothing left to hope for in life. His only thought for the rest of his days was revenge.

Now, across the river, his mortal enemy who had killed his son was blocking his path again—very good! He had been worried about not having a chance to kill him personally!

His gaze fixed venomously on the opposite side, wishing he could tear out his burning, grief-stricken heart and smash it hard onto Zhao Moyan’s head, making him taste the agony of being burned alive, unable to live or die!

He would strip off his skin inch by inch and burn it as an offering to Li’er!!

But before that, he was willing to endure, willing to wait—except for Cao Guangshi, no one knew that he had secretly contacted the Northern Wei border general Ran Mindao. With the condition of ceding Pingzhou upon success, they had agreed that he would attract the attention of both Pingzhou and Lingzhou camps from the front while the Northern Wei army would circle around through Dezhou, cross the river, and attack Lingzhou’s rear. Then they would strike from both sides. When that time came, with Pingzhou caught between enemies front and back, what could they be arrogant about?

Tonight there was fog, so the enemy wouldn’t launch a general offensive, but it was a good opportunity for a surprise attack. Li Han smiled coldly—what was there to fear about surprise attacks? Once the enemy was prepared, surprise attacks lost their meaning.

He had been making small-scale contact with the enemy and spreading rumors, falsely claiming he would divide his forces to attack Lingzhou’s camp, forcing the enemy not to dare launch a large-scale general offensive. His purpose was only to delay the decisive battle until the Northern Wei successfully crossed the river.

Calculating the Northern Wei army’s marching speed, Li Han revealed a slight smile, saying casually: “That boy Zhao Moyan, no matter how capable, only knows those feminine and cunning scholarly tactics. As for military formations and the art of war’s deceptions, how could an eighteen-year-old youth understand? His Majesty is young himself, so he also promotes children… children…”

He suddenly stopped, showing a thoughtful expression. When he mentioned the word “children” just now, somehow a flash of inspiration crossed his mind, as if something had quickly passed by but vanished in an instant, too fast to catch.

The staff watched him in surprise, calling softly: “Duke?” Li Han waved his hand, carefully retracing his memory. Which word had he been saying when that inspiration struck?

Children…

Child…

There was a child just now…

That face…

Suddenly alarmed, his face even contorted. Li Han’s breathing became rapid. He grabbed the advisor beside him and said urgently: “That child just now, that child just now—what did he look like?”

Looking at Li Han with complete bewilderment, the advisor stammered: “I couldn’t see clearly—his face was covered in mud. He seemed to be only five or six years old, and his eyes appeared very large and lively.”

Eyes… Li Han tried hard to recall the child’s appearance in his mind, comparing it with the image that had suddenly flashed by earlier. That thought was too absurd, yet that face was too similar!

He remembered the child’s eyes—very few people had eyes with such clear darkness, bright and brilliant, that one could never forget after seeing them once!

He suddenly turned around and ran at full speed.

Rushing straight into the main camp, Li Han grabbed a soldier and asked: “Where are those children staying?”

The soldiers pointed in surprise. Li Han waved his hand, and his personal guards immediately surrounded the small tent.

Although they didn’t understand why the Duke looked so serious as if facing a great enemy when clearly just two children lived in the tent, the guards still surrounded the tent completely.

Li Han strode over, his long blade unsheathing with a sharp sound. His eyes flashed with murderous intent and excitement, several times brighter than the blade’s gleam.

“Swoosh!”

He used his blade to lift open the tent flap.

…

“Where are they!”

Seeing the empty tent at a glance made Li Han furious. Seeing everyone shaking their heads in confusion made him roar uncontrollably: “Useless fools! You can’t even watch a child!”

Everyone held their breath, not daring to speak.

Someone in the crowd said timidly: “The Third Young Master’s servants lived here. The Third Young Master might know where they are.”

Li Han immediately waved his hand: “Go find the Third Young Master!”

The guards had barely run a few steps when they encountered Cao Guangshi hurrying over with an anxious and angry expression. He stamped his foot: “Sheng’er didn’t ask permission—he stole my command arrow and quietly took three thousand cavalry to cross the river for a surprise attack!”

Li Han’s expression changed. He turned sharply to look at the opposite bank. After a long moment, he stamped his foot hatefully, gritting his teeth, his cheek muscles bulging as he squeezed words through his teeth: “This trip will surely fall into the enemy’s trap! Guangshi, it’s too late to say anything now. There’s only one way left that can save Sheng’er and even bring us great victory!”

Cao Guangshi, who had been despairing and anxious with a face like death, immediately asked: “What?”

“Find that child!”

That night, Youzhou’s military camp remained sleepless all night. Countless soldiers came and went, searching tent by tent. The camp was filled with a tense atmosphere.

Since dinner had already been served, the cooking soldiers’ tent and the areas where grain and fodder were stored only had a few soldiers lazily standing guard, with no one around.

The camp was too large—the searchers hadn’t reached here yet, but it would be soon.

In the largest haystack, there was suddenly a series of small rustling sounds, then a large head poked out.

After a while, another thin, dark head emerged from nearby, saying nervously: “Master… why did you come out?”

“Nonsense!” Baozi lowered his voice: “After they search the tents, they’ll come search here. Do you want to be speared to death!”

He looked around, covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief, and tiptoed to the upwind side near those soldiers. He took out something black, placed it in his palm, rubbed his hands together—with a slight pop, a faint black smoke rose from his palm. The smoke drifted with the wind, slowly dispersing to the soldiers’ noses. Before long, all of them collapsed limply.

Baozi clapped his hands and praised: “Bad Mother’s stuff really works well!”

Leading Youtiao’er into the tent storing food and cooking utensils, Baozi found a fire starter, cooking oil, and other items. He found two hollow scallions, stuffing one each for himself and Youtiao’er, then found some pig intestines. Looking at them, he rolled his eyes and grinned with satisfaction, beckoning to Youtiao’er.

“Come here,” he handed the pig intestines to Youtiao’er. “Blow—blow hard for me.”

Youtiao’er was a good eunuch, and the standard for good eunuchs was to do whatever the master said without asking why.

Youtiao’er’s lung capacity was indeed excellent. After vigorous blowing, he created a large string of bubbles.

Baozi had Youtiao’er carry a wooden basin on his back. Looking at the sky outside, he sighed and murmured: “The handsome, elegant, graceful Prince Xiao who stands out like a pear blossom surpassing crabapple blossoms—today his luck is really bad…”

The two left the tent. Just as they were about to run toward the river before anyone arrived, Baozi suddenly stopped, looked at the tent storing grain and fodder, and narrowed his eyes.

Then he quickly circled the tent, spilling a pot of cooking oil he had been carrying everywhere.

Youtiao’er guessed what he wanted to do and trembled, hurrying to stop him: “Master, this won’t work… if fire starts, we’ll be exposed…”

“Burn it! Burn the damn thing!” Baozi viciously spat out a curse: “First light the fire on the westernmost side, then light the fire on the tent on the southernmost side—that’s close to the river. After lighting it, we’ll run!”

“Master… don’t worry about west and south…” Youtiao’er pointed ahead with a pale face and trembling finger: “People… people… they’re chasing us…”

“Bah!” Baozi ran for his life while continuing to spill cooking oil unwillingly. He took out a slingshot from his pocket, lit the fire starter, and with a snap shot the fire starter flying out. It landed precisely on the cooking oil, and immediately flames blazed high.

With Qin Chang Ge constantly strengthening his foundation and his study of the peerless Langhuan secret manual’s internal cultivation techniques, although he was young and hadn’t fully mastered them, he was naturally much more agile and strong than ordinary children. The fire starter wasn’t light, but he managed to shoot it out with a small slingshot.

Running and shooting, dozens of grain storage tents caught fire. When armies were in the field, grain and fodder were no less important than life itself. Immediately a large group split off to fight the fires, but the pursuers had already begun drawing bows and nocking arrows, aiming at that small figure.

“Capture him alive! Capture him alive!” Cao Guangshi and Li Han came galloping on horseback, shouting loudly.

Everyone immediately stopped, but some quick arrows had already whistled out. Li Han’s face paled—although killing that little rascal would be very satisfying, from an overall perspective, he was more useful alive.

The longbows sang with the creaking sound of bowstrings. In the dancing firelight of the darkness, arrows flew like meteors, seeming to crack sparks from the air as they shot straight toward Baozi’s back.

Under everyone’s gaze, that small figure moved swiftly through the rain of arrows with agile posture and quick steps. Being short also helped—most of the first volley of arrows was shot with level arms out of habit, so most missed. But there were also a few archers in crouching positions whose arrows fell like a string of pearls.

The dark blue arrow rain flashed in the sky, clouds torn apart by wind sounds.

That small shadow suddenly stumbled, then rolled down.

Was he hit by an arrow?

Li Han frowned and waved his hand. Immediately people formed a circle and rushed over.

Suddenly a slightly taller dark shadow darted out from behind a tent, throwing a basin with a swing of his arm. The fellow who had rolled down and was playing dead immediately jumped into the basin, and the later-arriving shadow made a flying leap, desperately pushing the basin toward the river!

These two moved swiftly with smooth coordination as if they had practiced for a long time. In a moment of bewilderment, the basin was already pushed into the river, and then the later child jumped into the water with a splash.

He had something white and bright wrapped around his body that floated on the water. Li Han was furious, pointing at the unidentified floating object in the river and shouting: “Shoot! Sink that basin!”

Immediately another volley of blue arrows rained down, hitting the wooden basin with continuous thudding sounds. Unfortunately, with the flowing water, the basin kept bobbing, so those arrows all missed their mark. The child lying in the basin with his bottom up and hands covering his head refused to let his body show above the basin rim, while the child underwater was apparently still pushing the basin, which continued toward the opposite shore.

Li Han was both furious and astonished—this child’s swimming ability was so good? He could stay underwater this long without surfacing for air? As long as he surfaced, one arrow could kill him. Without someone pushing the basin would just spin continuously in the middle of the water, advancing very slowly, so they would have time to catch him before he reached their side of the riverbank.

What was troubling now was that although soldiers were already launching small boats, at this speed, by the time they caught up, he would probably already be on the enemy’s side of the river.

This river wasn’t very wide to begin with—they could vaguely see activity on the opposite side. The other side remained dark and quiet, making both men anxious as fire—no activity was what was troubling! When Cao Sheng crossed the river for a surprise attack on the camp, there should have been sounds of fighting no matter what, but there were none! Three thousand iron cavalry had just disappeared without a trace? Was the enemy camp not like theirs, made of flesh and blood, but some ferocious giant beast crouching in the darkness with its bloody maw open, silently devouring thousands of people?

Li Han gritted his teeth and reached for the heavy iron longbow on his horse’s back, shouting harshly: “Arrows!”

Three iron-tipped heavy arrows, several times thicker and heavier than ordinary arrows, were immediately brought forward and steadily nocked on the longbow. Cao Guangshi frowned: “Duke, if you kill him, he’ll be useless…”

“I’ll make him fall in the water!” Li Han replied coldly. He released his grip, and the full-moon bow immediately shot out a hurricane and a ray of starlight, rushing toward the wooden basin like thunder.

The basin moved even faster—you could tell the person underwater was swimming forward desperately.

The first arrow entered the water!

A faint childish cry of pain could be heard, and the basin immediately slowed down!

The second arrow followed closely, faster than the first, striking the basin!

With a crack, the iron hoop holding the basin together was shot apart, and the wooden basin fell apart!

The wooden strips scattered with a rustling sound, revealing Baozi sitting on the bottom plate, looking around bewildered because he wasn’t used to being exposed on all sides.

Like a pitiful little dog, he crouched with his bottom up in what remained of the basin’s bottom.

The soldiers on shore exclaimed in unison—what excellent archery and accuracy from the Duke! In the dark night over flowing water, shooting apart the thin iron hoop of a constantly bobbing basin!

The third arrow was already coming, aimed straight at Baozi on the basin bottom!

Li Han’s eyes narrowed—water wasn’t like land; constantly moving targets would cause miscalculations in planned directions. This arrow had originally been aimed at the child’s shoulder, but now it seemed to be heading for his forehead!

…If he died, so be it. Xiao Jue, you killed my son—now this is your retribution!

The arrow came like wind.

Looking up in panic, his large dark eyes reflecting the fierce approach of the deadly arrow filled with terror and anger, Baozi suddenly covered his head and shrieked at the top of his voice:

“Damn you for just watching! I told you to watch! Keep watching and you’ll have no one left to bully!”

Everyone on shore was stunned.

“Crack!”

From the opposite shore, like someone striking a spark in the darkness, or like Pangu’s axe splitting through primordial chaos to reveal light and heaven and earth, a ghostly light flashed. Coming from behind yet arriving first, swift as lightning and thunder, it shot out fiercely!

It struck Li Han’s final arrow directly, splitting it cleanly in half while continuing without losing momentum, shooting straight at Li Han’s face!

Crossing an entire river and shattering a heavy arrow, the incoming arrow’s speed didn’t decrease at all—murderous and unstoppable yet extremely accurate, aimed at Li Han’s throat!

With the river more than ten zhang wide, whose strength and eyesight were so remarkable?

With a cold snort, Li Han didn’t dare return fire. He drew his sword and struck down at the incoming arrow with force, the impact numbing his arm and making him stagger back several steps. Looking up, his gaze showed a trace of amazement.

The opposing camp had such an expert?

Someone in the darkness laughed long and said leisurely: “Your boldness is too great. If I don’t give you a memorable lesson, you’ll continue acting recklessly next time.”

In the voice, a black light flashed—something like a thin rope was thrown out, wrapping around Baozi’s waist with a swoosh. With a graceful lift through the air, the pretty meatball was lightly dragged back into his master’s embrace.

But the master didn’t seem to be in a good mood. He casually threw the retrieved item, and amid a series of squealing protests, the meatball was tossed into another pair of arms that had been waiting.

The meatball immediately burst into tears and threw himself into those arms, desperately nuzzling and rubbing while crying.

“Wuu wuu wuu Youtiao’er is dead…”

“It’s all your fault.” Someone threw over a comment coldly and mercilessly without any sympathy, with an indifferent expression and vicious intent.

“Waaaah…” This time Baozi was truly devastated and cried even more fiercely.

Chu Feihuan frowned at his robes, which had quickly become soaked in a large area, then looked at Qin Chang Ge standing with her hands behind her back, her expression calm. Although he knew Chang Ge wanted to teach this bold little fellow a lesson to make a deeper impression, he still couldn’t bear to see the usually grinning Baozi so devastated. With a gentle sigh, he said: “Stop crying. Do you know what to do next time?”

Wiping his tears viciously, Baozi said: “No next time!”

Chu Feihuan was about to sigh comfortingly when he heard the little fellow say with murderous intent: “Next time I’ll directly deploy troops and exterminate his entire clan!”

…

Baozi glanced at Chu Feihuan’s silent expression and immediately became tragic again, hugging Chu Feihuan’s neck while sniffling: “I understand—I won’t act recklessly in the future. But today, don’t worry about me first. I want to avenge Youtiao’er!”

“Master…”

“Ah! Ghost!”

The person who had just been filled with righteous indignation to avenge his loyal servant turned around to see the loyal servant had returned to life—wet, miserable, pale-faced, tugging at his robe hem while writhing on the ground with a sorrowful face calling to him in the standard pose of a vengeful spirit seeking life. He immediately screamed, jumped up, covered his head, and scurried away.

“Master…”

“Don’t look for me, don’t look for me! Every injustice has its source, every debt its creditor—go find Li Han!” Baozi ran off like a startled rabbit.

The loyal servant looked up at the sky in grief and indignation.

The loyal servant had originally been moved to tears by his righteous master and struggled to come express his loyalty before his bandaging was complete. But his righteous master’s horrified reaction upon seeing him made the loyal servant sincerely feel it would be better if he were dead.

Qin Chang Ge watched her son’s chaotic scurrying with a calm gaze, feeling somewhat annoyed and depressed: This night had been dangerous, tense, and exciting, walking the line between life and death. Student Xiao Rong, was it fun?

But mostly she felt relieved—finally getting her hands on this stinking little brat.

Actually, ever since seeing that cat, she had immediately set many things in motion: arranging ambushes, sending people underwater. Feihuan was responsible for commanding against the surprise attacking boy while she waited by the riverside for the runaway child.

When those three arrows were shot, Qin Chang Ge was furious. She had originally thought that once Baozi’s identity was exposed, Li Han definitely wouldn’t kill him—after all, a living Baozi was much more useful than a dead one. Li Han’s arrows not aiming for Baozi’s vital points was also within her expectations.

When Li Han first shot at Youtiao’er, the soldiers Qin Chang Ge had positioned underwater immediately swam over, used long hooks to grab Youtiao’er, and rescued him. Youtiao’er was only scratched.

With a cold laugh and a wave of her hand, Qin Chang Ge’s voice carried far to the opposite shore:

“Duke, have you been well? I have an old friend here who I’m sure you’d be delighted to meet.”

With a whoosh, a huge bonfire instantly blazed up.

The firelight illuminated a youth’s pale, grief-stricken face.

His dark gaze wasn’t fixed on his father-commander across the river, but stared deadly ahead in one direction, filled with resentment and hatred.

There, Baozi, who had been running around everywhere, stopped in his tracks in a daze.