Inside a side hall on the perimeter of the imperial villa, the teacup in the hand of Marquis of Xiang Wang Qian cracked with a sharp snap.
Here, too, was a projected image. Whatever appeared on the sand table in the grand hall was mirrored here as well, transmitted through an auxiliary device tied to that replica of the Heaven-and-Earth Chessboard.
He watched the projected image as the Liao Clan changed into red armor, watched their leader cast an art to alter the warriors' appearances, watched the Crown Prince's troops block their path, watched the Crown Prince's vice-general lose his head in a single stroke, and then watched the imperial soldiers collapse into an utter rout under the Liao onslaught. Only through the greatest self-control of his life did Wang Qian refrain from crushing the teacup in his grip.
"Trash! Useless trash, the lot of them!" Wang Qian ground out through clenched teeth.
That dharma treasure saber was an ancestral heirloom of his clan. Trading upon Prince Fu's royal favor, he had slipped this cheat-level weapon into the hunting contingent. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that in the blink of an eye, Prince Fu's force would be wiped out and the treasured saber would fall into the hands of the Liao Clan.
Immediately after, this band of Liao used the captured saber to slay the Crown Prince's vice-general and, under their stolen guise, annihilated the Crown Prince's troops. Wang Qian could well imagine what the Crown Prince was feeling at this very moment.
Inside the villa's grand hall, the Crown Prince gripped the armrests of his seat, his knuckles whitening slightly. Aside from that, he showed no sign of distress, though he could not resist glancing toward Prince Fu, unable to conceal the disgust in his eyes.
In the projection, the Crown Prince's troops were slaughtered and scattered in a chaotic rout. Aside from a dozen-odd skirmishers who had bolted the moment the battle began, none escaped the Liao Clan's pursuit. In mere moments, the entire force was annihilated. The combat strength of several officers in the ranks was shockingly weak, inferior even to Prince Fu's subordinates.
The King of Jin cast a glance at the Crown Prince and said, "Making broad connections is a good thing, but one must associate with people who are actually useful."
The Crown Prince hurriedly rose and bowed. "Royal Father's instruction is just!"
The King of Jin said indifferently, "Sit. No need for such pointless formalities."
The Crown Prince's palms grew faintly damp with sweat. He quietly wiped them twice against his robes, his heart as desolate as the autumn chill.
Officers who participated in the Autumn Hunt could show their faces before the King of Jin. If they performed well, there were military merits to be won, and with enough luck, they might even secure an official post on the spot. Consequently, the officer slots allotted to the Crown Prince had been hotly contested.
The Crown Prince had always prided himself on broadly recruiting talent; his estate was already overflowing with retainers, making enfeoffments and rewards quite a strain. As a result, the officer slots for this hunt had long been carved up among various factions.
Who could have foreseen the bizarre turn of events in this year's hunt? Not only had the Liao Clan ambushed them in imperial army uniforms, but their overall strength had surged astronomically. Multiple adepts at the mid-stage or even late-stage had appeared one after another—and not ordinary Dao Foundations either. Judging by their combat strength, Heaven Tier was the bare minimum baseline, and there might even be immortal foundations among them. And now, they even held a treasured saber!
How could such people have been cast into the Autumn Hunt? Moreover, all powerful Liao Clan figures were supposed to take poison pills suppressing their Dao power cultivation, so how could their full power be restored?
Amid these bizarre developments, those unlucky fellows who had come merely to gold-plate their resumes didn't manage to reap any military merit; instead, they lost their lives, making a massive spectacle of themselves right in front of the King of Jin.
To be fair, the defeat of the Crown Prince's force was truly through no fault of their own, nor had their response been flawed. Setting up three treasure vaults was intended precisely to encourage competition; there was no first-come, first-served rule. Whoever seized it owned it; arriving early was pointless if you couldn't defend it.
Thus, when the vice-general appointed by the Crown Prince saw that Prince Fu's troops had just fought a great battle, with the blood still wet on many of their armors, the thought of contesting it naturally arose. Though he did not understand why Prince Fu's force would leave hundreds of Liao alive, such walking military merits could hardly be passed up. Not to mention, relations between the Crown Prince and Prince Fu were hardly warm to begin with.
According to the precedent of past hunts, factions often came to blows during these scrambles, and fatalities were not uncommon, yet everyone observed restraint: at most, a few dozen common soldiers died, while officers never lost their lives. How could the Crown Prince's vice-general have anticipated that the other side would strike to kill from the very first move, and with a treasured saber in hand?
In the projection, the carnage had shifted to inspecting corpses and delivering finishing blows. Seeing the Crown Prince's force wiped out, the King of Jin remained expressionless and switched the view to Wei Yuan.
Wei Yuan was meditating on his sword, his broad face utterly blank.
The King of Jin watched for a while, so long that everyone almost thought the dharma treasure had malfunctioned and frozen in place. The image shifted again, returning to that band of Liao. By now, they had stripped all the armor and clothing from the Crown Prince's men, had a portion of their force put it on, and cast arts to change their appearances, transforming into the Crown Prince's men in the blink of an eye.
The corpses were all tossed into a nearby ravine and haphazardly covered with gravel.
Cavalry clad in Prince Fu's or the Crown Prince's colors rode back and forth constantly, scouting intelligence on the surroundings. The Liao leader wielding the treasured saber was clearly versed in the art of war, issuing orders continuously, and in a flash had laid another trap.
From behind a hill marched another force. Their armor was somewhat battered, but every man was fierce and rugged—the Northern Border Army.
They immediately saw two forces confronting each other in the open clearing ahead, beside which were hundreds of bound Liao Clan members. The banners of both sides were distinct: one was Prince Fu, the other the Crown Prince.
Two generals were trading energetic curses, and soldiers on both sides were clamoring; violence seemed imminent.
Yet upon witnessing this scene, the Border Army simply turned around and set off in a different direction, instantly leaving the disguised Liao Clan at a loss.
In the temporary palace hall, that Border Army general breathed a sigh of relief. For this hunt, he had repeatedly warned his men not to snatch things from others or get involved in disputes—especially disputes between princes.
With the Crown Prince and Prince Fu confronting each other, helping either side could easily be misconstrued as picking a side. And the Border Army interfering in the succession struggle was an absolute taboo. His main goal in joining this hunt was simply to show his face before the King of Jin and secure a little extra welfare and military pay. The championship was the business of the three princes.
Seeing that the Border Army had not taken the bait, the Liao leader was not discouraged. While continuing to round up scattered clansmen, he had several dozen remaining Prince Fu troops run ahead while a large detachment of the Crown Prince's men pursued behind, and trailing them were mingled Prince Fu troops and Liao Clan members, escorted by dozens of Crown Prince troops like captives.
Thus, when Prince Wei's force successfully unlocked a treasure vault and was descending the mountain in high spirits, they saw Prince Fu's remnants being hunted down by the Crown Prince's men.
In the grand hall, Prince Wei's smile vanished instantly.
A moment later, the King of Jin switched back to Wei Yuan's timeless, unchanging broad face, staring fixedly at it for quite a while.
Prince Wei was consumed with rage, the Crown Prince had resumed his wooden expression, and Prince Fu had stopped crying; being a child who couldn't hide his feelings, a smile crept back onto his face.
Prince Wei's force was small to begin with, and hoping to play the oriole behind the mantis stalking the cicada, they drew closer—only to be suddenly pincered by Prince Fu's and the Crown Prince's forces at the same time. True to expectation, they were utterly annihilated and generously contributed their armor and weapons.
This hunt had clearly veered off its intended course, yet so long as the King of Jin did not speak, no one dared call a halt.
The view finally shifted from Wei Yuan's broad face back to the hunt, and this time it was the turn of Military Commissioner of Anbei Xu Tongshou.
His troops were surrounded by forces wearing the colors of three princes. When the clash began, his subordinates were still bewildered and hesitant; but the opponents struck to kill from the outset, inflicting heavy casualties in the very first wave. Then, engulfed by enemy forces outnumbering them several times over, they crumbled like an avalanche and were entirely wiped out.
The moment the three princes' forces launched their sudden assault, the view was replaced by Wei Yuan's broad face.
The King of Jin remained expressionless, his breathing steady, simply staring at Wei Yuan's unchanging face for the duration of an entire meal.
Lü Wenbai suddenly felt that the chair beneath his rear wasn't quite so hard anymore, and his collar was no longer choking him like before.
As a fellow Military Commissioner, at least he still had fifty skirmishers and two hundred bare-bottomed men left.
Night fell, and each party chose a temporary campsite to rest.
The Liao Clan continuously dispatched scouts to gather scattered clansmen, swelling their numbers until four thousand had gathered in the blink of an eye. Armed with the armor and weapons contributed by several fallen forces, plus the opened weapon armory, nearly all these Liao held weapons now. The leaders had acquired two more top-grade dharma implements.
That night, the forces of Prince Ying and Prince Cheng pitched camp and stood guard, performing impeccably. The Border Army utilized the cover of night to keep moving, nibbling away at isolated Liao Clan members in small bites. They did not approach the secret vaults, staying far away from the eastern sector where Prince Fu and the Crown Prince's forces had operated, diligently mopping up scattered merits that others couldn't be bothered with in the southwestern corner, like cats and dogs picking bones beside a banquet table.
The main body of the Liao Clan, centered around disguised scouts, scouted and gathered clansmen throughout the night, sweeping across half the hunting grounds and amassing an army of six thousand!
As night deepened, Wei Yuan finally felt that bizarre sensation of being watched fade away. He immediately rose to stretch his limbs, manifested a cauldron as bright as a mirror, and tidied his appearance before it. Having finished and deeming himself completely flawless from head to toe, he deepened his aura to project the aloof air of an otherworldly grandmaster, sitting down to meditate on his sword once more before that gaze could return.
Just as Xu Wenwu had written: Every day I must reflect upon myself thrice: Am I tall? Am I rich? Am I handsome?
The prying gaze descended; Wei Yuan continued meditating on his sword, his broad face unchanging through the ages.
As dawn approached, the forces of Prince Ying and Prince Cheng crossed paths. After eyeing each other from a distance, they parted ways, Prince Ying heading west and Prince Cheng east.
Prince Cheng's force marched east and predictably ran into the Liao Clan. They pursued a small band of fleeing Liao, only to be lured into an ambush. After a bitter fight, they were annihilated. Prince Cheng's force was exceptionally formidable; knowing there was no escape, they fought to the bitter end, inflicting even heavier casualties upon the Liao.
This time, the King of Jin did not switch back to Wei Yuan's broad face.
Prince Ying's force brushed past a small squad of Liao, separated only by a mountain ridge, neither side noticing the other. That small Liao squad headed north and indeed discovered an encampment. The camp was modest, guarded by only a few dozen men at that moment.
This Liao squad numbered fewer than a hundred, yet every one was at the Dao Foundation level and skilled in combat. They slipped into the camp, killed all the guards, and discovered to their delight that there were two hundred horses in the camp!
At this time, the situation in the hunting grounds shifted once more. The assembled mass of Liao reorganized themselves on the spot, dividing into six thousand-man regiments in just half an hour, each with its own uniforms and banners. Three princes, two Military Commissioners, plus Prince Cheng's force provided exactly six different sets of uniforms.
With the reorganization complete, the saber-wielding Liao leader drew a map on the ground, then pointed his saber toward the northeast corner, saying: "There is nothing here, and defenses are sparse. Outside the hunting grounds, only a two-thousand-man garrison can arrive in time, and they cannot possibly stop us. According to the rules set by the humans themselves, as long as we escape a hundred li beyond the hunting grounds, we will regain our freedom!"
"Will the humans keep their promise?"
The leader smiled. "It doesn't matter. So long as we break out of the hunting grounds, the human garrisons will all converge to encircle and slay us. When that happens, the Great Khan will have an opportunity to return to the grasslands. As long as the Great Khan returns safely, it does not matter if we all perish."
Day had dawned. The leader pointed his saber north and barked, "All troops, advance!"
Several thousand Liao marched out in surprisingly neat formation, looking like a well-trained army.
Wei Yuan, currently meditating on his sword, suddenly felt a sharp pain between his brows, as though the point of a blade were aimed right at his forehead.
Instinct at such a moment was never without cause. Wei Yuan immediately rose and stepped out of his tent, barking: "All hands, full alert! Take up positions! Some blind fool might be coming our way."
Chapter 320