The stunningly beautiful woman in white smiled slightly, “Why don’t you try to find out where Prince Beidi carried out the Blood Massacre of Three Thousand Li?”
The man with the blurred face shook his head and said helplessly, “These past few days, I’ve walked every part of Chu Prefecture, observing the flow of fortune, but I still haven’t found the location where Prince Beidi slaughtered living beings. However, the heavenly omens tell me it’s in Chu Prefecture.”
The woman in white retracted her world-toppling charm. Her long, straight eyebrows furrowed slightly as she pondered, “He’s racing against time with us. Once the essence of blood is fully refined, it will be impossible for us to stop him. At that point, the only way to prevent Prince Beidi from advancing to Second Rank would be to kill Mu Nan Zhi.”
“However, Mu Nan Zhi is with that boy. If you want to kill her, you mages will have to do it yourselves. Heh, being resented by someone with great fortune is very detrimental to one’s destiny.”
“By the way, do you think the Supervisor knows about Prince Beidi’s scheme? If he does, why is he indifferent? I suddenly suspect that Mu Nan Zhi and Xu Qi An being together might be the Supervisor secretly pushing things along.”
The man in white sneered, “You can keep guessing. When you guess his plan, the heavenly omens will react, and the Supervisor will come. I’m sure I have a way to leave, but as for you, don’t expect to keep that fox tail of yours.”
The woman in white indeed showed some apprehension and didn’t say anything more about the Supervisor.
“Three days. We must find the location where Prince Beidi slaughtered living beings within three days, or everything will be set in stone,” the woman in white mused. “I have an idea.”
The mage who didn’t reveal his true appearance gazed at the distant mountains and rivers, continuing her thought, “Xu Qi An?”
“Yes, and no,” she smiled faintly, stroking the smooth long fur of the six-tailed white fox. “You think Xu Qi An’s great fortune can guide us, which is indeed a line of thought. But my idea is that it seems everyone has overlooked Wei Yuan. He’s the only strategist who can match the Supervisor on the chessboard. Why don’t we keep an eye on the diplomatic mission?”
The man in white scoffed, “Since you know he can match the Supervisor, you should know that the diplomatic mission is just a front. I’ve never underestimated Wei Yuan; I just can’t gauge his attitude on this matter.”
“Wei Yuan is a statesman, and also a rare military talent. He won’t view issues from a simple perspective of good and evil. If Prince Beidi advances to Second Rank, the northern region of Great Feng will be secure, and might even be able to pressure the barbarians to the point where they can’t breathe.”
“These years, Wei Yuan has been fighting in the court while patching up the gradually weakening empire. He should hope to see Prince Beidi advance.”
“But Prince Beidi’s actions have crossed a line. Whether Wei Qing Yi tacitly approves or secretly stabs Prince Beidi in the back, heh, even Prince Beidi himself probably isn’t sure.”
At this point, the white-robed mage snorted coldly, “That fool is still heading west.”
The woman in white gently tossed the six-tailed white fox from her arms and said softly, “Go notify the demon horde to quickly enter Chu Prefecture, gather in the mountains and forests, and await orders.”
The cute and small white fox fell off the cliff. In the process, its body expanded, its round fluffy form elongated, and in an instant, it transformed into a giant fox ten feet long. Its body lines were smooth, its limbs strong, and its fox tails behind it were like a peacock’s open tail.
It ran wildly on all fours, moving through the void as if on level ground, quickly disappearing into the distance.
…
On the westward journey, Xu Qi An dozed off in the cool shade of a tree. In his dream, he was rolling in bed with a stunningly beautiful woman, while a young general in white led thousands of troops in and out seven times.
“Huh…”
Xu Qi An opened his eyes. The tree shadows swayed, and the light spots were fragmented. The beauty from his dream gradually overlapped with the Princess Consort who had appeared briefly that night.
This made him unsure whether it was because he hadn’t been to the courtesan quarters for too long, or if the Princess Consort’s charm was just too strong.
This woman was like a poison. One look and she stayed in his mind, impossible to forget.
Thinking of this, he turned his head to look at the Princess Consort leaning against the tree trunk, her head tilted as she dozed off, and her face of ordinary beauty. Xu Qi An immediately felt as clear as ice, unmoved even if the sky were to fall.
A different kind of post-clarity feeling welled up in his heart.
“Hey, hey, wake up.”
Xu Qi An woke up the Princess Consort, watching her open her confused eyes, and urged, “We can reach the next city before lunch. Let’s go improve our meals a bit, and see if we can kill a few more barbarians or your husband’s spies along the way.”
The Princess Consort frowned, not very happy to hear the words “your husband.” She rolled her eyes and snorted.
When Xu Qi An crouched down, she obediently climbed onto his back.
After being tsundere for a while, the Princess Consort wrapped her arms around his neck, not looking at the quickly receding scenery, and tucked her head down, saying softly, “Hey, can you beat Prince Huai? How do you plan to deal with him?”
Although she had been attracted by his momentarily revealed aura at that time, the Princess Consort could still face reality. She was very curious about how Xu Qi An would deal with Prince Beidi.
If Xu Qi An said, “I plan to kill Prince Beidi with one slash,” she would decide to persuade him not to do such a foolish thing as throwing his life away.
Xu Qi An replied irritably, “I plan to stab his wife, white blade in, green blade out.”
“?”
The Princess Consort was bewildered for a moment, then suddenly realized what he meant. Her willow-leaf eyebrows stood on end, and she clenched her fist and hit his head hard.
Thump, thump, thump!
She kept hitting him all the way.
…
Chu Prefecture Guard.
Yang Yan, accompanied by Censor Liu, stopped outside the military camp. The so-called military camp was not the usual tents.
Except when marching, the troops stationed in various places all had dedicated barracks, no different from ordinary civilian houses.
Normally, the number of guards in a prefectural city ranged from five to six thousand. Border prefectural cities had between ten to twenty thousand guards.
For a prefectural city near the border like Chu Prefecture, with Prince Beidi’s augmentation, the number of guards reached thirty-six thousand.
These thirty-six thousand men were troops that Prince Beidi could directly command in a short time. As for the garrisons in various parts of Chu Prefecture, as the Commander-in-Chief of Chu Prefecture, Prince Beidi could also command them, but it required going through a procedure.
The seal of the Chu Prefecture Military Commander!
Yang Yan and Censor Liu sat on horseback, baking under the scorching sun for an hour. Even their horses underneath were snorting from the heat.
Censor Liu was listless, his lips cracked as he lay on the horseback, saying weakly, “Constable Yang, let’s… let’s go back first. This official is about to be dried into human jerky.”
Just then, a guard came out, his hand on his sword hilt, and announced loudly, “The Military Commander invites the two of you in.”
Censor Liu was relieved, exhaling a turbid breath as if deflated, and scrambled off the horseback, almost falling.
The two followed the guard into the military camp, passing through several barracks until they came to a large courtyard with two sections.
Entering the courtyard, they met the Chu Prefecture Military Commander, Duke Yinguo Que Yong Xiu, in the reception hall.
Que Yong Xiu had a remarkably good appearance, with handsome features and a short beard. However, he was blind in one eye, and his remaining eye had a sharp and arrogant gaze.
He sat upright in a large chair, holding a teacup, his single eye coldly fixated on Yang Yan. “Isn’t this Wei Yuan’s adopted son? What are you doing in my military camp?”
Yang Yan, being the expressionless person he was, naturally wouldn’t be angered by this. Without even blinking, he said flatly, “Investigating a case.”
Que Yong Xiu asked, pretending not to know, “What case?”
Yang Yan replied coldly, “The Blood Massacre of Three Thousand Li. I want to see the Chu Prefecture Guard’s camp exit records.”
The reason for starting the investigation with the Chu Prefecture Guard was that when the diplomatic mission arrived at the northern border, they naturally came to Chu Prefecture City first, following the principle of proximity. Moreover, the thirty-six thousand troops of the Chu Guard were all Prince Beidi’s confidants.
They were also the main force of Chu Prefecture.
If the barbarians carried out a Blood Massacre of Three Thousand Li, Prince Beidi would certainly have to send troops to fight, so the camp exit records would be evidence. The movement of troops is a complex task.
It’s not as simple as just leaving the camp; the corresponding supplies, equipment, and so on, all leave traces.
Given Prince Beidi’s control over Chu Prefecture City, there might not be any clues left, but they still had to investigate. Otherwise, the diplomatic mission would only be able to stay at the courier station drinking tea and sleeping.
“What Blood Massacre of Three Thousand Li!”
Que Yong Xiu stood up, slamming the table, startling Censor Liu.
This Duke strode to Yang Yan, pointing at his nose, and cursed loudly, “I have followed Prince Beidi, guarding Chu Prefecture for over a decade. Do you, the adopted son of that eunuch Wei, think you can just come and investigate as you please?”
Yang Yan didn’t respond, looking at him expressionlessly.
“When I was killing enemies on the front lines, guarding the border, you were lying in the beds of beautiful women in the capital. Now you come here talking about some Blood Massacre of Three Thousand Li. Bah! Go back and tell Wei Yuan, tell those pedants who only know how to wield writing brushes, if you want to frame me, frame Prince Huai, keep dreaming.”
Duke Yinguo Que Yong Xiu sneered, “Now, go back to where you came from.”
Censor Liu was furious, pointing at Que Yong Xiu and scolding, “Duke Yinguo, we are here on imperial orders to investigate. Do you dare to disobey?”
Que Yong Xiu said with a cold smile, “Censor Liu can certainly impeach me when you return to the capital.”
He was just that arrogant.
The muscles on Censor Liu’s face twitched, he was furious but had no way to deal with him. He wasn’t the main investigator, nor was he the Provincial Governor, so he had no authority to handle the Duke.
It was even less possible to confront him head-on in Chu Prefecture; he didn’t have that capital. All he could do was to severely impeach the Duke after returning to the capital.
“Let’s go!” Yang Yan turned around, preparing to leave.
“…”
Censor Liu’s anger almost reached its peak. After baking under the scorching sun for an hour outside, suffering greatly, they finally entered the military camp, only to realize the other side had deliberately let them in just to humiliate them harshly.
Want to investigate? Not a chance.
“Wait!”
Que Yong Xiu suddenly called out to the two. After Yang Yan turned back, he smirked, “Yang Yan, you failed to protect the Princess Consort properly, letting her be abducted by the barbarians, her whereabouts still unknown.”
“Prince Huai is very angry. He’s not holding you accountable out of respect for Wei Yuan. But if you admit your mistake and kneel outside the military camp for two hours, I’ll make an exception and let you check the guard’s camp exit records.”
As he said this, Que Yong Xiu’s lips curled in a cold smile, with undisguised provocation.
“This is too much!” Censor Liu was furious, about to demonstrate the verbal prowess of a civil official, to let this uncouth warrior know how all the women in his family had unknowingly lost their chastity.
But he was stopped by Yang Yan’s gaze.
The two turned to leave, with Que Yong Xiu’s arrogant laughter following behind them.
“This is too much, too much…” Censor Liu was so angry that he was about to have a heart attack, his lips trembling, “After returning to the capital, this official will let this brute know the power of a scholar’s pen.”
Yang Yan said calmly, “He was deliberately provoking me. He wants to kill us.”
Imperial Censor Liu was greatly startled: “How can you be sure?”
Yang Yan didn’t answer directly. As he mounted his horse, he lowered his voice:
“Blood Butcher of Three Thousand Li might be more troublesome than we imagined. Xu Qi An’s decision to secretly head north, separating from the diplomatic mission, was correct. If he were still with the mission, he wouldn’t be able to do anything.
“Given his stubborn nature, he could easily fall into Que Yongxiu’s trap. Here, he’s no match for the Duke of Protecting the Nation and the King of Northern Pacification. Death would be his only fate.”
Imperial Censor Liu’s face suddenly turned pale. He then suppressed all emotions and spoke with unprecedented seriousness: “Surely Silver Gong Xu wouldn’t be that unwise?”
Yang Yan shook his head, “A simple provocation wouldn’t work, but…”
If it were like that Silver Gong surnamed Zhu from before, could Xu Qi An still restrain himself?
Imperial Censor Liu didn’t pursue the question further, not because he understood Yang Yan’s meaning, but due to his keen political instincts. He sensed that Blood Butcher of Three Thousand Li was more troublesome than the diplomatic mission had anticipated.
Otherwise, why would the Duke of Protecting the Nation harbor murderous intentions?
…
“Let me tell you a joke,” said Xu Qi An, carrying Princess Consort You Rong on his back as they trekked through the wilderness.
It wasn’t because of being hit on the head. Xu Qi An had summed up the Princess Consort’s traits: petty, timid, tsundere… The latter two were fine, but her pettiness—well, she was sulking and hadn’t spoken for a while.
Xu Qi An felt bored and wanted to chat.
Seeing him soften his attitude, the Princess Consort gave an “Mm” and raised her chin, saying, “I suppose I’ll listen.”
“Once upon a time, there was an ant who loved playing with its legs. One day, it saw a centipede and exclaimed in delight: ‘Holy crap, I could play with these legs for a year!'”
The Princess Consort was stunned for a few seconds before understanding the joke. She burst into giggles: “I’ve never seen a centipede, but it must be an insect with many legs, right? So the little ant was shocked.”
“Yes, yes.”
“What does ‘Holy crap’ mean?”
“…It’s an expression used to show shock.”
The Princess Consort nodded in enlightenment, indicating she had learned something new, and in her heart, she forgave Xu Qi An.
Xu Qi An carried her for a while longer before suddenly stopping in a valley.
“What’s wrong?” the Princess Consort asked.
“Need to pee,” Xu Qi An answered frankly.
The Princess Consort spat and got off his back, turning away.
Xu Qi An gave her a strange look. Did this woman think he was going to urinate in front of her? What was she thinking, the lewd girl?
He ducked into the dense forest at the edge of the valley. Just as he was about to undo his belt to relieve his swollen bladder, the Princess Consort’s scream suddenly rang out.
At the same time, Xu Qi An caught a commotion from afar, a cacophony of sounds.
Hurriedly tightening his belt, he rushed out of the forest, only to run into the Princess Consort, her face filled with terror and on the verge of tears as she ran towards the woods.
“Xu Qi An, holy crap…” the Princess Consort shouted.
What a quick learner this Princess Consort is… Xu Qi An’s mouth twitched slightly, then he turned his gaze to the distance. He immediately understood why the Princess Consort was so terrified.
Ahead was a giant python, three zhang thick and over ten zhang long, slithering into the valley. Its movement crushed the undergrowth, leaving a clear “trail” behind.
Behind the python were black horses standing over two meters tall, with single horns on their foreheads, blood-red eyes, and flames wreathing their hooves. There were also rats as tall as a man, with bulging muscles, leading countless swarms of rats. Four-tailed white foxes, the size of ordinary horses, led dense packs of foxes.
And that wasn’t all. In the forests on both sides of the valley lurked countless diverse animals: apes, mountain spirits, rock goats, fierce tigers, wildcats… and many more ferocious beasts that Xu Qi An couldn’t recognize.
An army on the march!
“It’s the demon race…”
Xu Qi An immediately pulled the Princess Consort behind him, facing the demon army with utmost vigilance.
The situation before him was unexpected. Xu Qi An hadn’t anticipated encountering such a large demon army. He suspected they might be after him, but his whereabouts had been unpredictable and his actions low-key, making it impossible for such an army to track him.
Regardless, an encounter was an encounter.
At this moment, the python leading the way let out a long hiss and stopped, raising its head high. Its cold, vertical pupils fixed on Xu Qi An.
The four-tailed fox, black horses, rat demon, and other leaders all emitted shrieks or neighs, signaling to each other. Various roars echoed through the forest in response.
Then, the demon army came to a halt.
Gazes from across the valley and through the dense forest fell upon Xu Qi An. Countless malicious intentions surged like a tidal wave, all captured by the martial artist’s sense of danger.
The Princess Consort, pale with fright, her legs trembling, clung tightly to Xu Qi An’s arm as if he were her only support.
Xu Qi An’s mind raced, considering how to handle this dire situation:
“So many auras and none of these demons are weak. Even if I were alone, breaking through would be challenging, let alone while protecting the Princess Consort… Whether they’re after me or not, given the demon race’s nature, they won’t pass up an opportunity to hunt…
“Are these northern demons? A demon army gathering in Chu State? This… Chu State is about to face great turmoil?”
With a deep breath, Xu Qi An lightly tapped the jade mirror’s surface, retrieving his black gold long saber and Confucian spell book.
Holding the Princess Consort’s hand with one hand and the straight long saber with the other, he slowly bit down on the book. Looking around at the demon army, his voice slightly muffled, he addressed the entire gathering:
“Which among you is the leader?”
The giant python spoke in human tongue, its cold pupils fixed on Xu Qi An: “Who are you?”
They don’t know me… They’re not here for me… Xu Qi An felt relieved and said, “I’m just a wandering martial artist, with no intention of opposing you.”
He first made his stance clear.
In these times, it’s better to seek harmony and prosperity rather than engage in violence.
But he misjudged the demons’ nature. Voices echoed from the forest:
“Eat him, eat him.”
“Such powerful blood essence, his flesh would be greatly nourishing.”
“The woman beside him looks tender and delicious too, she could be a snack.”
“Eat him, eat him, crush his bones and suck out the marrow.”
A tidal wave of malice crashed down upon them.
The Princess Consort’s face drained of all color, like a delicate flower in a cold wind, pitiable and helpless.
The python flicked its tongue, its cold pupils gradually replaced by the desire to feed. They were under orders from the Princess to infiltrate Chu State discreetly.
But this man’s blood essence was too tempting.
It seems impossible to resolve this peacefully… Well then, Monk Shenshu’s great tonic has arrived… Xu Qi An sighed, pointing his sword finger to his brow. The corners of his mouth slowly split into a fierce grin:
“Are you sure you want to eat me?!”
At his brow, a point of golden light appeared, quickly spreading across his entire body. A dazzling golden light emanated an aura of magnificence, reflecting in the eyes of the demons.
“The Vajra Divine Skill?!”
Terrified screams erupted from the forest as chaos broke out among the demons.
The leading demon chiefs instinctively retreated.