A Change of Tactics

At Song Cui New City, an attendant hurried into the city lord's manor and reported to the young scion, "Young Master Lianxi, Qingming Envoy Su Qian requests an audience." The pale youth gave a start. "The Qingming envoy? He hasn't left yet? Didn't the elders and Mother refuse to see him and kick him out?" "Indeed, but for some reason he refused to leave. Then, somehow, he caught wind of you and came to seek an audience, claiming he has crucial military secrets to discuss with the future city lord." The scion's interest was piqued. "The fellow certainly knows how to curry favor. Still, I am not the city lord yet. Besides, we are right on Qingming's border—why send an envoy at all? If their current Domain Lord had business, couldn't he just come over in person? Never mind. Show him in. I would like to hear what he has to say. You did well not driving him away outright." The attendant hastily replied, "Young Master Lianxi is already overseeing military matters. In time, the position of city lord will surely be yours; in the entire Cui family, who could possibly contest it? Receiving envoys and managing relations between two states is precisely your prerogative." The youth laughed heartily. "You see things clearly. Very well, serve me faithfully, and you will not be treated poorly in the days ahead." A moment later, the attendant escorted Su Qian inside. Dressed in scholar's robes, Su Qian carried himself with refined poise. The young scion was favorably impressed at once and asked, "What military secrets do you have to discuss that you insisted on seeing me?" "I have long heard that you are the future lord of this city," Su Qian said. "Seeing you today, you truly are a paragon among men! I have come by order of the Qingming Domain Lord to negotiate a secret pact with you, but it must be kept in the strictest confidence." "A secret pact? Tell me the details." The youth's curiosity was plain to see. Su Qian glanced at the attendants on either side. "This matter is of the utmost importance. I dare not ask you to dismiss your retinue, but may I step forward to make my report?" The young scion waved a hand. "Come forward." Seeing that Su Qian was merely at the middle stage of the Dao Foundation, with an unsteady aura that suggested at most an Earth Foundation, the attendants made no move to stop him. With the protective artifacts Young Master Lianxi wore, Su Qian could strike him freely while he stood still and fail to harm a single hair on his head. Su Qian took a few strides forward, carrying himself with noble composure and an elegance that charmed those who watched. The attendants relaxed their guard another fraction. He did not stop until he stood just three paces from the young scion. By then, the youth's brows were knit tight; his tolerance for proximity had reached its absolute limit. It was not that he disliked Su Qian, but that he loathed having anyone draw so near him. Su Qian bowed deeply and whispered, "Su here just happens to fancy ones like you—a pretty little rabbit!" Before his voice had even faded, he boldly reached out and stroked the youth's thigh! The young scion shrieked. On sheer reflex, he swept his hand out with all his might. Spiritual power surged like a tidal wave, blasting Su Qian through the air in an instant! Su Qian coughed up blood wildly mid-flight, dead before he even hit the ground. The young scion's hand remained frozen in the air. A few drops of blood had splattered across his jade-white skin, striking and ghastly. Slowly withdrawing his hand, his face went pale as paper. Only after several breaths did he begin to tremble violently, his voice quavering. "He... he dared say such a thing to me... Kill him! Kill him!!" Two attendants rushed over to examine Su Qian's corpse and reported, "Young Master, he is already dead." "What? D-dead?" The youth stared at his hand. The scene from moments before rushed back into his mind, and he shrieked, "Even in death he will not be spared! Drag him out, chop him to pieces, and feed him to the dogs! Hang his head from the city gate!" An attendant ventured cautiously, "Young Master, he was the envoy from Qingming. Shouldn't we inform Madam first?" The youth suddenly waved his sleeve, releasing a flurry of light blades that slashed more than a dozen deep gashes into Su Qian's corpse in the blink of an eye. The nearby attendants barely dodged in time to avoid getting caught in the blast. None of them dared offer further counsel. Several quickly hauled Su Qian's corpse outside, while others scrambled to clean the blood and shredded organs from the hall. One dashed off to report the incident. Meanwhile, the attendant who had brought Su Qian inside stood frozen, his face deathly pale. He had accepted a bribe of a hundred Qingyuan from Su Qian before finding a way to bring him before the young master. How could he have anticipated such a catastrophic outcome? Knowing there was no chance of survival, and terrified of Madam's methods, a bone-chilling dread washed over him. Flicking his wrist, he slammed a palm into his own forehead, shattering his Dao Foundation and sea of consciousness to disperse his soul on the spot. His suicide drew another chorus of gasps across the hall, and the young scion's face turned even paler. Just then, an attractive woman in ornate palace attire approached. Looking at the attendant's shattered skull on the floor, she barked, "What happened here?" Still shaking, the youth stammered, "That man claimed to be an envoy from Qingming, yet... yet he dared humiliate me in public..." Moments later, the woman's face had frosted over. With a flick of her hand, she hurled an ice sphere that blasted the dead attendant's body into fragments. "Men! Flay that Su's corpse and bind his soul! Under no circumstances is his spirit to escape!" The attendants scattered like wind. The woman marched straight toward the main hall of the manor. "Where is Elder Cui?" "The elder went to meet the cargo boat and has not yet returned." The woman commanded sharply, "Pass down my order: muster the troops, assemble the host, and launch a punitive expedition against Qingming!" Shock rippled through everyone present. This was a monumental affair. Yet this middle-aged beauty was the direct great-granddaughter of the Immortal Ancestor, notorious for her tyrannical and overbearing temper; none dared advise against her. In moments, horns sounded continuously throughout the city as warriors poured from the barracks and the host began to gather. Standing atop the review platform on the grand drill ground, the woman glared with feral ferocity. "Why is the assembly taking so long?! What are you useless fools good for? An entire stick of incense has burned, and the troops are still not formed up?" The generals bowed their heads and murmured assent, though inwardly they seethed with discontent. For an army over a hundred thousand strong, being able to deploy in stages within half a day already demonstrated superior discipline. How could they possibly muster within the time it took an incense stick to burn? There was not even enough time to run from the farthest barracks. Not to mention the many heavy infantry units on rotation who were still servicing their armor—merely donning their full gear required at least half an hour. A trusted subordinate flew over and reported, "The envoy's corpse has been flayed, and the soldiers who escorted him have all been captured. However..." "However what?!" The confidant answered, trembling, "The envoy seems to have prepared in advance. We laid down the Soul-Restraining Formation as quickly as possible, but we were still a step too late. His soul was drawn away by some powerful daoist art, forcibly breaking through the formation, and its whereabouts are unknown..." A sharp slap cracked across his cheek. The woman raged, "Useless trash! You cannot even restrain a single soul! What good are you to me? And those Qingming soldiers—what are you keeping them for? Throw them into the Soul-Restraining Formation and flay them all alive! Hang the envoy's corpse on the city gate!" The subordinate dashed off in terror. Shortly thereafter, the Song Cui forces began to march out. Only a few thousand soldiers led the vanguard, followed by piecemeal contingents as they assembled. Even an hour later, units were still setting out, and many had not even had time to pack grain and fodder. At the border of Qingming, three thousand heavy infantry had completed their assembly and were boarding newly developed boat-carriages. Capable of traveling on both land and water, these vehicles had transformed Qingming's elite force: they were no longer called horse-mounted infantry, but carriage-borne infantry. Zhang Sheng stood atop the roof of a command carriage, gazing over the newly equipped force. "It seems we must use an ox cleaver to kill a chicken." Feng Tingyu, who had been half-asleep, jolted awake. "Chicken? Where's the chicken?" Zhang Sheng shook her head helplessly. Just as she was about to explain, an indignant voice echoed in her ear: "Why kill a chicken?" Hearing that voice, Zhang Sheng could only force a bitter smile. "It is merely a conventional turn of phrase, an idiom people are accustomed to using." "People? Why do you humans always want to kill chickens?" Zhang Sheng replied without hesitation, "I will choose a different phrasing in the future!" Only then did the voice sound satisfied. "Though This Chicken and mortal chickens are not of the same species—just as humans and monkeys are not of the same kind—killing chickens for no reason makes This Chicken very unhappy!" Zhang Sheng sighed. "None are killed without reason; they are only slaughtered when it is time to eat." "That is for the best!" With that, the immortal chicken's divine sense finally withdrew. By then, the troops had finished boarding, and light cavalry scouts had long been sent ahead to reconnoiter. Just as Zhang Sheng was about to give the order to advance and receive the returning diplomatic mission, a lone rider came galloping through the air from afar, moving with supernatural speed. This was a Dao Foundation scout pushing a daoist art that merged rider and steed as one. Once invoked, it allowed a horse to cover a thousand li in a single hour; those with profound daoist strength could maintain the pace for two. Yet the mount was certain to perish afterward. It was an art reserved strictly for the most critical military dispatches. Seeing this, a dharma idol general leapt into the air, using his own power to sweep up the scout and bring him directly before Zhang Sheng. His energy nearly depleted, the scout forced himself to remain upright. With trembling hands, he offered a shadow-recording orb and managed only a single sentence: "This subordinate risked his life to record this." Then he collapsed unconscious. Zhang Sheng activated the orb. Upon the unfinished gate tower of Song Cui New City hung dozens of corpses. In the center, Su Qian's body had its head and limbs intact, but the flesh had been entirely stripped from his torso, leaving behind only a ghastly white skeleton. The fifty soldiers who had accompanied him were all strung up along the battlements as well. Zhang Sheng slowly closed her eyes, then opened them again. "Return to camp," she said calmly. Several other scouts returned at that moment, and the dharma idol general reported, "The Song Cui host has marched out of their encampment, heading straight for Qingming!" "Pay them no heed," Zhang Sheng said. "They will turn back halfway on their own." The boat-carriages turned around and made their way back to Qingming. Throughout the journey, Zhang Sheng remained silent. Unable to hold back any longer, Feng Tingyu asked, "Why withdraw? Isn't everything proceeding according to plan?" Zhang Sheng shook her head. "It did not go according to plan. I miscalculated. So now we must take a different approach. I need to go back and retrieve something." "Retrieve what?" "Karmic fire."