Zhao Hanzhang glanced at the overgrown small path and decided to trust Fu Tinghan, so she led the troops in turning onto it.

This small path had very few people on it. The vast majority of refugees were heading south, but some either had other places to seek refuge or felt they couldn’t survive among the refugee crowds, so they changed direction.

Seeing Zhao Hanzhang holding a bloody severed head in her hand, they turned and ran, disappearing without a trace in moments.

Seeing how few people there were here, Zhao Hanzhang found him a good spot, used her blade to dig a pit, and buried him.

Shi Lei watched this and couldn’t help but mock, “Lady Zhao is so compassionate, killing him yet still digging a pit to bury him.”

Zhao Hanzhang heard his sarcasm but didn’t mind. After burying the head, she said, “That’s right, useless compassion, but I just wanted to do it.”

Shi Lei immediately fell silent, his expression somewhat complicated as he looked at Zhao Hanzhang.

Though his mouth mocked, in his heart he admired her, even felt somewhat convinced. Those who would accomplish great things must be not only ruthless but also compassionate.

With compassion comes a broader perspective; with ruthlessness, one can accomplish great things.

Shi Lei knew his own shortcomings. He was illiterate and had never studied. Much of what he learned came from listening to stories about famous people, but this wasn’t enough. Especially after facing Gou Xi and Zhao Hanzhang, he deeply understood that his weakness lay in education.

Although Gou Xi ultimately lost to him, Shi Lei himself knew that Gou Xi wasn’t simply defeated by him alone—he was defeated by the general tide, defeated by his own actions.

If the Xiongnu army hadn’t attacked with full force, if Gou Xi hadn’t acted recklessly for two years and completely lost popular support, Shi Lei couldn’t have beaten him.

Thinking of how before this he had been chased around like a homeless dog by Gou Xi…

Whether in military command or strategic outlook, Gou Xi far surpassed him. Shi Lei had seriously considered this—he didn’t believe his martial skills and talent were inferior to Gou Xi’s. His only deficiency was in family background.

He hadn’t studied and become literate from childhood like Gou Xi, with many military texts to read.

The same was true of Zhao Hanzhang. She was born into an aristocratic family, and though a woman, she had been well-read in classics since childhood. Now it seemed she had also studied military texts, so she didn’t need to stumble through mistakes to know how to command troops. The Zhao Family Army was famous for strict military discipline, not taking even a thread from the people, deeply welcomed by the common folk.

Most importantly, she demanded this of the Zhao Family Army, yet the army’s loyalty remained very high. The two had fought many times, and naturally Shi Lei had also captured Zhao Family Army soldiers.

But among the captured soldiers, regardless of rank, few betrayed intelligence about the Zhao Family Army or truly surrendered to him. Even when faced with execution, they remained stubbornly silent.

Shi Lei was different. From a minor clan leader, a farming village youth, he suddenly became a slave, then a bandit. All his behaviors were learned through his own exploration.

So he liked to entice people with benefits. To rally his troops’ morale, when his subordinates enjoyed killing prisoners, he let them kill. When they enjoyed killing civilians, he didn’t stop them, even allowing torture and cannibalism. Because these were favored by capable subordinates he valued, he turned a blind eye.

Not to mention plundering and such.

As long as they would risk their lives for him, he would even lead the plundering himself. He truly did enjoy pillaging things.

Therefore, prisoners from Shi’s army could easily change allegiance, because as long as they could stay alive and there were benefits, they would do it—this was the behavioral and thought pattern cultivated in the army.

Shi Lei had never before thought anything was wrong with this, but Zhang Bin had said they couldn’t continue such reckless behavior. If they wanted longevity, they must govern the army and the people.

Governing the army required strictness; governing the people required compassion.

But from the start, he had deviated on both these points. The latter was manageable—compassion could be demonstrated over time with enough effort. But governing the army was different. Suddenly changing policy would not only make soldiers uncomfortable but could cause rebellion from dissatisfaction.

So changing required even harsher methods, along with sufficient time and bloodshed.

He had stumbled through so many detours to glimpse a bit of the mountaintop, yet Zhao Hanzhang had seen the full view of the peak from the beginning. So although her Zhao Family Army was clearly less fierce than his, they could defeat him at every turn.

The more he thought about it, the more unwilling and aggrieved Shi Lei felt, so he continued in silence.

Zhao Hanzhang grabbed a handful of dirt and rubbed her hands, wiping away the bloodstains, then stood up and said, “Let’s go.”

This way, they were much more harmonious with the refugees on this path. Aside from their armor being somewhat conspicuous, their clothes were equally dirty and disheveled, weak and powerless, on the verge of death (crossed out)…

When Zhao Hanzhang and her group avoided the main road to head toward Wu’an County, they certainly didn’t expect that after Zeng Yue ran off, he didn’t return to Wu’an County but instead turned back to find her.

He rested for one night, then just as dawn broke, led people back, thinking that although Zhao Hanzhang had fallen behind him, once she escaped she would surely return to Wu’an County. If he went to meet her, he would definitely find her coming toward him.

But after running forward for an hour, he didn’t encounter Zhao Hanzhang. Instead, he ran into many routed soldiers—some from the Zhao Family Army, and also… from Shi’s army.

When a military officer suddenly appeared among a group of fleeing ordinary soldiers, everyone grabbed their swords, wooden clubs, and stones. Compared to a proper battlefield, this childlike skirmish ended, Zeng Yue’s troops grew somewhat larger, so he led them back to the battlefield in high spirits.

But there, aside from corpses by the roadside and some bloodstains, nothing remained. The battlefield had been cleaned exceptionally thoroughly. Footprints were chaotic, going in all directions. He crouched to examine them for a long time but gained no useful information.

The soldiers sent to search the bodies returned to report: “General, we didn’t find the Governor, nor Minister Fu.”

The newly surrendered soldiers also ran back and said, “We’ve searched everywhere. No Grand General, and no Bandit Zhao either.”

Zeng Yue’s gaze shot toward them like an arrow. The surrendered soldier immediately corrected himself: “We found no trace of the Shi bandit, nor Governor Zhao.”

Zeng Yue said expressionlessly, “Don’t let this happen again. Also, next time when reporting, our Governor should be mentioned before the Shi bandit.”

The surrendered soldier obediently lowered his head in acknowledgment.

Only then did Zeng Yue seriously consider what to do.

Standing on the battlefield, with silence all around, his master was nowhere to be found.

Zeng Yue was extremely anxious, completely unsure which direction to search.

The Governor would definitely return to Wu’an County, definitely return to Wu’an County. And from here to Wu’an County, there was only this one road to take, unless… the Governor wasn’t free to move.

At this thought, Zeng Yue’s eyes reddened.

The world was so vast and so chaotic—where could he find her? If the Governor met with trouble out here…

As soon as the thought flashed through his mind, Zeng Yue spat twice, pushing it down. After thinking it over, he still felt he needed to inform Advisor Ji of this matter, so he turned and led his men back toward Wu’an County.

Zhao Hanzhang’s group, bringing along the severely wounded Shi Lei, walked and stopped repeatedly. It wasn’t until afternoon that they emerged from the mountain and saw the official road not far away. Everyone’s eyes brightened.

Lying on the cart, jostled nearly to the point of losing his three souls, Shi Lei also perked up. Then, Zhao Hanzhang suddenly swished her blade forward, and bandits jumping down from the slope, about to recite their classic lines, instantly choked on their words.

Except for Zhao Hanzhang, everyone else was startled by the people suddenly jumping down.

Those hiding on the slope behind trees saw that the people below weren’t speaking, so they all pushed aside tree branches and jumped down: “What’s going on? Aren’t you professional bandits? Can’t even shout your lines?”

The people jumping down one after another saw Zhao Hanzhang and were startled. Seeing Shi Lei on the cart, they were even more shocked. The one who had spoken pushed aside the people in front dissatisfied, then locked eyes with Shi Lei on the cart.

Immediately his knees went weak, and he dropped to the ground with a thud: “Gen… General!”

Then catching sight of Zhao Hanzhang with her blade, his eyes widened. He stumbled back two steps, then realizing something, shot up with a swoosh and drew his blade, shouting: “Bandit Zhao, you dare harm my lord! Prepare to die!”

—