Hong Ying, carrying A'yi on her back, charged into the military encampment. Before she could locate the main camp, a vast horde of soldiers suddenly surged toward them from ahead.
Looking at their formation alone, one could not see its ends.
The thunderous sound of footsteps sent agonizing tremors through Jiu'er's chest.
A'yu had said that just ten men could form a Thousand-Man Strength Array. How many were in front of them right now?
Probably around ten thousand?
Jiu'er was a bit frightened, but Hong Ying remained remarkably calm. She noticed a detail: their armor was mismatched and disheveled.
"They're scrambling to respond—they won't be able to form their array!" Hong Ying stepped forward and charged straight at the enemy formation, shouting to A'yi, "Blow them up!"
A'yi wore an excited grin as she rubbed a packet of explosives and hurled it out.
It flew far, detonating in the enemy rear. The earth shook violently, and a massive cloud of blood mist erupted instantly.
Over a thousand soldiers were killed on the spot, with countless wounded. Splattered flesh and gore rained down. The front ranks fell into total chaos—some retreated, some halted, while others gritted their teeth and kept charging forward.
Watching them shove, crash into, and trample one another, Hong Ying had her answer.
"They're all greenhorns! None of them have seen battle before!" Hong Ying abruptly changed direction, veering away from the front to steer clear of the blast radius.
A'yi was in perfect sync, hurling explosive packets into different sectors of the army formation. Explosions boomed in succession, and in the blink of an eye, the formation of over ten thousand men was transformed into a sea of blood.
The first enemy detachment was nearly wiped out. As Hong Ying pushed deeper into the encampment, an iron chariot over two meters tall and eight meters wide came rumbling forward.
Hong Ying was startled. "Is that a Wu Chong Fuxu?"
Ordinary people wouldn't recognize such a machine. The Wu Chong Fuxu was a type of ancient war chariot equipped with dagger-axes, spears, repeating crossbows, shears, fire oil, and various other weapons. Back when Hong Ying served in the military, such chariots were already extinct; she had only seen descriptions of the Wu Chong Fuxu in ancient military treatises.
A'yi didn't know what a Wu Chong Fuxu was, but she could tell it was a First-Class Weapon.
"Yingying, be careful—"
Without waiting for A'yi's warning, Hong Ying immediately skirted around the chariot, using Unimpeded Passage to pass right through the drill ground's perimeter wall and arrive at the workshop area.
As she passed through the workshops, Jiu'er counted them: five workshops in total.
Her mother had once said that according to the customs of the Shang State, one workshop was allocated for every ten thousand men. Just how many soldiers were stationed in this camp?
While she pondered, another troop of soldiers arrived ahead, numbering around ten thousand as well.
This detachment was noticeably calmer. They held their ground, nocking arrows to their bowstrings and waiting for Hong Ying to draw near.
A'yi immediately hurled explosives at them. After a deafening blast, the bombs exploded, reducing the surrounding workshops to rubble.
Some soldiers were wounded; some who had three heads had two blown off.
Yet these soldiers remained standing. One had his torso ripped open, intestines spilling all over the ground, but he still stood upright.
Jiu'er took a quick glance. A'yi had thrown two packets of explosives, yet the number of dead soldiers probably didn't exceed a hundred.
And even the bodies of those killed hadn't been blasted to pieces—they seemed to still be standing.
How had their physical resilience become so terrifying?
Was it purely because they maintained their formation?
"Loose arrows!" a centurion ordered, and a volley of feathered shafts rained down like a storm.
Hong Ying and Jiu'er dodged using their footwork and the Carefree and Unfettered technique. After the volley passed, Jiu'er had taken two arrows, and A'yi was covered in grazing cuts.
An arrow pierced through Hong Ying's shoulder, and another struck the crown of her head, deflected by her spear tip.
Hong Ying was a battle-hardened veteran; getting wounded on the battlefield was nothing new to her, but the speed and force of those arrows still caught her off guard.
*Is this the Thousand-Man Strength Array?*
A'yi threw more explosives, inflicting some casualties, but wounded and corpses alike remained standing within the ranks—not a single one collapsed.
Jiu'er was well-versed in array formations, and she realized this wasn't just a matter of physical resilience. As long as these men remained standing, the formation would not break.
And so long as the formation held, the combat power of the Bandit-Subduing Army would not diminish in the slightest.
If even A'yi's explosives couldn't knock them down, what else could?
Jiu'er couldn't think of anything!
"Yingying, let's go around them."
Hong Ying gritted her teeth. "What are you talking about? What did we come here for? Go around where?"
They had come here to wipe out the Bandit-Subduing Army. The enemy was right in front of them; what was the point of going around?
A'yi didn't know fear. Clutching her explosives, she let out a wild laugh. "Sister, we're not going around—let's blow them all to hell!"
*Creak—groan—*
Jiu'er looked back: the Wu Chong Fuxu had caught up.
*Screeech—*
From the roads on both sides, several chariots of varying designs closed in simultaneously. Jiu'er couldn't name them, but Hong Ying recognized every single one.
One chariot featured an elevating mantis blade array, whose blades could extend, retract, and shift shape continuously—this was the Mantis Blade Fuxu, heavily infused with Blade Cultivator techniques.
Another chariot was clad in heavy armor, concealing an entire carriage of arrows—this was the Repeating Crossbow Great Fuxu, harboring Arrow Cultivator techniques.
There were several smaller chariots with simpler armaments, each carrying three long spears and a halberd—these were Spear and Halberd Light Chariots, concealing Martial Cultivator traits. Nimble and agile, they were used to plug gaps left by the larger war machines.
Hong Ying felt a fierce premonition of danger. Every single one of these chariots was a First-Class Weapon. Once they completed their encirclement, finding an escape route would be nearly impossible.
The centurion barked, "Loose arrows!"
The soldiers loosed another volley. Braving the arrow rain, Hong Ying unleashed Sever the Path to Forge a Way against the enemy lines.
She knew that breaking their formation was paramount, and Sever the Path to Forge a Way was the best method she had.
The faces of several soldiers in the front rank contorted in agony, their life extinguished in an instant.
They were dead. With Hong Ying's mastery, Sever the Path to Forge a Way was enough to tear their bodies apart, yet their corpses remained mostly intact. Even with their chests split wide open, both feet remained firmly planted on the ground.
Sever the Path to Forge a Way had failed to disrupt their array.
The Thousand-Man Strength Array could actually withstand Hong Ying's technique through such a simple mechanism.
Some soldiers in the rear ranks could barely keep their balance. As soon as their feet shifted slightly, they hurriedly looked down and stepped right back into place.
There was something beneath their feet!
Jiu'er had sharp eyes and saw clearly: the things on the ground were neither weapons nor mechanisms—they were markings!
Hong Ying was right—these men truly were greenhorns!
They relied on floor markings to maintain the array; without them, they couldn't find their positions.
This was why the Bandit-Subduing Army had to be gathered for intensive drills: the Thousand-Man Strength Array had extraordinarily strict requirements for soldiers' positioning.
As this realization struck her, Jiu'er darted across the ground gathering fallen arrows. She took six more hits in the process; even with a puppet's body, she was badly damaged.
Stumbling, she gathered a clutch of arrows. Hong Ying had no idea what she intended, nor did she have the leeway to help her right now.
After the arrow volley, the centurion commanded, "Channel your thoughts!"
The soldiers prepared to employ thought arts. If so many men unleashed thought arts together, they would scramble the brains of all three women!
Jiu'er suddenly hurled the gathered arrows straight into the enemy formation. The shafts plunged into the dirt, harming none of the soldiers.
Hong Ying had no clue what Jiu'er was doing.
The enemy soldiers were equally puzzled, looking down at their feet. The arrows indeed hadn't hurt them, but beside their boots, they saw markings—markings that were supposed to be firmly under their feet!
How had the markings been exposed?
That meant they were standing in the wrong spot!
The soldiers hurriedly shifted their stances. When a left foot covered a mark, another mark appeared beneath the right foot. Markings that should have been stepped on securely could no longer be covered properly.
Taking advantage of the commotion as they adjusted their formation, Jiu'er yelled, "Blow the bastards to hell!"
A'yi hurled her explosives. The first packet detonated in the enemy front ranks, toppling hundreds of soldiers to the ground.
The second packet exploded in the rear ranks.
Even rookies had tiers. The soldiers in the rear were far worse than those in the front; a massive swath collapsed instantly, shattering the array!
The third packet detonated right in the center of the formation. Severed limbs and shattered bones surged outward on a wave of blood. A'yi wiped the blood from her face and laughed uproariously. An entire unit of the Bandit-Subduing Army was reduced to a field of wet, sticky gore.
"A'yu, what trick did you just pull?" A'yi helped Jiu'er up from the ground.
Jiu'er gasped for breath. "Our dad... back then... definitely fought like this."
"Our dad—" A'yi seemed to realize something. "Maybe I shouldn't just keep tossing explosives."
Hong Ying grabbed A'yi and Jiu'er and bolted.
They couldn't afford to get tangled up with the remaining First-Class Weapons.
And they couldn't spare the soldiers who had yet to form up.
Clutching her explosives, A'yi smiled even more radiantly!
Rookies had tiers; any soldier who still hadn't assembled into formation by now would be slaughtered, no matter how many there were.
Hearing A'yi's laughter, those soldiers almost wanted to smile along with her.
Smiling, they strained to think: *We have to assemble the array... must get into position quickly... whatever we do, don't stand in the wrong place...*
*Boom!*
They heard explosions, watched chunks of flesh and bone take flight before their eyes.
***
Qiao Yi was still waiting for the outcome from Haocheng when Que Yuhan, Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, arrived to report: "My lord, Dingye City is under attack! The Qingrui Battalion has suffered heavy losses!"
"How heavy?" Qiao Yi trembled. The very thing he feared most had come to pass.
"We are still investigating." The Ministry of War didn't dare give a figure, but Qiao Yi already had a grim estimate.
These men were members of the imperial clan.
If tens of thousands of imperial clan members died, what would the fallout be?
"Dispatch reinforcements to Dingye City immediately! Put the Difeng Battalion and Cuihuo Battalion on full alert!"
As Que Yuhan was about to transmit the order, Qiao Yi grew uneasy. "I will accompany you to the Ministry of War!"
Stepping out into the street with Que Yuhan, a wave of cold air made Qiao Yi shiver violently.
Que Yuhan said with concern, "My lord, it is freezing tonight. You should put on an extra winter robe."
Qiao Yi glanced around. This chill was peculiar; it wasn't merely the cold weather.
A man knelt by the roadside, head bowed. "My lord, the General of Martial Valor reports for duty."
*General of Martial Valor?*
Qiao Yi kept his composure. His mind was consumed by the Bandit-Subduing Battalion, and for a moment he couldn't place the man before him.
Que Yuhan, however, remembered. When Qiao Yi had conducted the enfeoffment ceremony with sacred earth in Haocheng, Que Yuhan had been present.
"General Liu, why have you returned to Chaoge instead of guarding your post in Puluo Province?" As he spoke, Que Yuhan glanced cautiously at Qiao Yi, wondering if General Liu was on a classified mission under Qiao Yi's orders, and whether he had just spoken out of turn.
General of Martial Valor Liu Bufei.
Qiao Yi remembered him now.
Back then, he had appointed thirteen local tutelary spirits to Puluo Province, led by Liu Bufei.
Liu Bufei had returned to report.
In Que Yuhan's eyes, abandoning his post to return to Chaoge without permission was a breach of military orders.
In Qiao Yi's eyes, defying military orders wasn't the main issue.
The crux was that, by Qiao Yi's deduction, Liu Bufei had already been killed by He Jiaqing.
Could his deduction have been wrong?
Qiao Yi asked, "General Liu, what business brings you back to Chaoge?"
Liu Bufei wore a bewildered look, shaking his head repeatedly. "Lord Qiao, this subordinate does not remember who General Liu is. This subordinate does have a matter to report, but this subordinate has forgotten what it was."
He claimed he didn't remember who General Liu was.
Forgetting his mission was baffling enough—could he have forgotten his own name as well?
Que Yuhan frowned. "General Liu, military matters are no laughing matter. Think carefully before you speak."
Liu Bufei remained blank.
Qiao Yi asked, "First tell me, where did you come from?"
Liu Bufei thought for a long while before replying, "I came from the Great Crucible."
Que Yuhan was appalled. "Why speak of the Crucible? General, if you have urgent business, let us proceed to the Ministry of War to discuss it in detail. Do not utter such nonsense here!"
Liu Bufei shook his head. "I am not speaking nonsense. I just came out of the Crucible. I was in there for a very long time..."
Qiao Yi employed a Watcher technique and found that Liu Bufei wasn't lying. His own deduction hadn't been wrong after all.
The Liu Bufei before them was no living man—he was a deceased spirit. Because he had been tempered in the Great Crucible, he appeared more substantial than ordinary spirits.
Que Yuhan said in horror, "General of Martial Valor, are you saying... you were murdered?"
Liu Bufei stared blankly at Que Yuhan. "No one harmed this subordinate. This subordinate only remembers having something to report, and so returned to Chaoge. But upon arriving in Chaoge, I did not know what to report. After lingering in the streets for a while, I entered the Crucible..."
He had little memory left. His soul had clearly suffered grievous damage before death; an incomplete deceased spirit like him, if tempered a few days longer in the Great Crucible, would have lost all consciousness entirely.
Que Yuhan looked at Qiao Yi, whose face had darkened grimly.
After a brief silence, he gave the order to Que Yuhan: "Leave the reinforcements for Dingye City to the Minister of War. You, gather our forces immediately and come with me to Ninefold City!"
***
In Ninefold City, beside the Great Crucible, He Jiaqing carefully held a lotus leaf on the furnace.
Under He Jiaqing's control, this leaf could not close normally, and numerous deceased spirits took the opportunity to escape from the Crucible.
The Great Crucible was covered in countless mechanisms. Trying to tamper with it was something that none of the three—Old Train, Lian Buda, or He Jiaqing—had the ability to do alone.
Even with their concerted efforts, actually touching the lotus leaf brought immense danger.
The leaf He Jiaqing chose was well-selected: not too large, but in the optimal position, leaving room to work.
Old Train's craftsmanship was flawless; whether with saw or blade, he cut at the most precise locations, with force and speed measured to perfection.
Whenever they encountered mechanisms they simply couldn't evade, Lian Buda splashed oil to help them slip past.
Yet even though the leaf was now severed, with only this final step remaining, He Jiaqing dared not move his hands. He felt an invisible force still controlling the leaf.
Old Train also warned him, "Be extremely careful. One wrong move, and all three of us will end up inside the lotus core!"
"We have to wait for the right moment before we can pull the leaf free." Sweat poured down He Jiaqing's face. He had pieced together some of the pattern, but he had no certainty about when the opportune moment would arrive.
Time ticked by. The wind from the lotus core was about to shift toward them.
Old Train sensed danger looming—not just from the core, but because someone had likely noticed the anomaly at the Great Crucible. If someone led troops here, it would be almost impossible to fend them off, given the countless First-Class Weapons in Chaoge.
He Jiaqing knew he couldn't wait any longer. He looked at Old Train and Lian Buda. "Seniors, I'm making my move."
Lian Buda asked, "How confident are you?"
"Thirty percent," He Jiaqing answered truthfully.
"That won't do!" Lian Buda panicked. He pulled a bitter green from his pocket, shoved it into He Jiaqing's mouth, and made him chew it down.
The herb was so bitter that He Jiaqing's cheeks trembled.
"Is this Granny Ku's vegetable?"
Lian Buda nodded.
Old Train chuckled. "Aren't you two separated?"
Lian Buda sighed. "Aren't we doing something monumental here? If I ask for a vegetable, she'd still give it."
Lian Buda had originally planned to save this bitter green for when they made their escape, but the dire situation forced him to bring it out early.
In Kucaizhuang, Granny Ku was cooking when an intuition suddenly struck her heart.
She set down the pot in her hands, carefully picked a fresh green bitter plant, and stroked it for a moment.
The leaves yellowed, and the bitter herb withered away in seconds.
He Jiaqing's brow smoothed, and he smiled happily. "Seniors, the timing is perfect! Now I'm eighty percent sure!"
He pulled the lotus leaf free without triggering a single trap. Lian Buda and Old Train breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Missing a leaf, the Great Crucible could not seal shut. Amid the billowing vents of vapor, even more deceased spirits fled from the lotus core.
Old Train took the lotus leaf into his hands. "As agreed beforehand, this leaf belongs to the peddler."
He Jiaqing had no objections; this job was already a success. But just as Old Train and Lian Buda were about to withdraw, He Jiaqing reached for another leaf.
Lian Buda's beady eyes went wide. "What are you doing?"
Old Train was equally shocked. "You want to take another one?"
He Jiaqing said, "Seniors, we got the first leaf, and we've got the hang of the work now. Taking one more shouldn't be too hard."
Lian Buda snapped, "Are you out of your mind?!"
Old Train grew frantic as well. "If we don't leave now, we won't get out at all!"
He Jiaqing had already gripped the leaf. "Seniors, I don't want to go back empty-handed. If we can pluck this leaf, we'll split it among the three of us!"
Seeing the lotus core about to pivot, sweat streamed down Lian Buda's face. "I'm telling you, we pulled it off just now thanks to my old woman's luck! We might not have that kind of luck a second time!"
He Jiaqing was brimming with confidence. "I think the kick from that bitter green hasn't worn off yet. My mouth is still bitter as hell—luck is still on our side!"
Cold sweat drenched Old Train. "He Jiaqing, you are fucking greedy!"
***
Hong Ying, carrying A'yi and Jiu'er, dashed frantically out of the encampment.
Behind them, a squadron of soldiers mounted on iron horses pursued relentlessly, followed by a row of war chariots.
A'yi was badly hurt, Jiu'er was on the verge of fading, and Hong Ying was drenched in blood, both her own and the enemy's.
The pursuers were fast, but they couldn't outrun Hong Ying after all. A'yu shouted through the ear hook, "The entrance location has changed! Run south!"
Hong Ying hastily changed direction, and under A'yu's guidance, she finally brought the two back to the entrance.
Once inside, A'yu's heart ached fiercely at the sight of her two daughters.
Jiu'er smiled. "Mom, it doesn't matter. It's just a puppet body."
A'yi hurriedly shut the entrance and started the machinery; she still had to rush to rescue Li Seven.
"Mom, this time Xiao Yu made a huge contribution! She figured out how to break the Thousand-Man Strength Array!"
A'yu wiped Xiao Yu clean and applied medicine. "Can the Thousand-Man Strength Array really be broken?"
Xiao Yu nodded. "Yes. With a Fool cultivator array, we can scramble the enemy's positioning. As long as their positions are disrupted, their formation can be broken! That's definitely how Dad fought them back then!"
A'yu gave a cold sneer. "Didn't that useless good-for-nothing father of yours die at the hands of the Bandit-Subduing Army? He actually had ways to break their array?"
A'yi said, "If our dad could fight the Bandit-Subduing Army for that long, he had to have some tricks up his sleeve."
"What do you mean, 'our dad'? He's *your* dad!" A'yu snapped angrily. "Don't mention that bastard to me! Just thinking about him pisses me off."
"Don't be mad, Mom," Jiu'er wheezed weakly. "We killed over forty thousand of them. That counts as avenging Dad."
"Over forty thousand?" That number stunned A'yu.
Hong Ying said, "I didn't count precisely, but there should be around forty thousand. Most of them were greenhorns, though. The moment their formation was slightly disrupted, they had no idea how to fight. But there were still over two thousand veterans—those ones were extraordinarily tough. They were the ones chasing us just now. As long as their formation isn't completely shattered, they can compensate on their own, and they coordinate with First-Class Weapons. That's what the real Bandit-Subduing Army looks like."
A'yu continued applying medicine to Jiu'er, saying nothing more.
Jiu'er asked, "Mom, that camp had fifty thousand men, but Old Seven's camp only had twenty thousand. Why such a big difference?"
Hong Ying was worried as well. "What kind of soldiers did Seven run into?"
"The ones he ran into are probably the elite. Even though you had no choice, you might have ended up getting Li Seven killed." A'yu didn't elaborate. Zhao Xiaowan hadn't replied, so it was hard to guess what was happening.
A'yi cranked the valve wide open. "We've already been exposed, so there's no need to be careful anymore! Let's hurry and find a way to get Old Seven back!"
The exit surged forward at full speed. In less than twenty minutes, A'yi found their previous position.
Standing on the hillside, A'yu looked down toward the camp. She could see firelight and smell gunsmoke, but she couldn't hear much sound of battle.
A'yu focused her gaze, blood vessels branching through her eyes. After a moment, she saw vast ranks of soldiers waiting in neat formation within the camp.
Many barracks had been destroyed, but the enemy hadn't suffered too many casualties.
They were scouring the camp, clearly searching for signs of Li Seven and his group.
"Mom, how is Old Seven doing?"
Jiu'er asked A'yu, and A'yu asked Zhao Xiaowan through the ear hook. Zhao Xiaowan gave no reply.
Hong Ying guessed enough of the situation. Without a second thought, she charged straight down the hill.
A'yi called A'yun over and pointed to the control console.
A'yun understood and nodded to A'yi.
A'yi dashed after Hong Ying toward the camp.
A'yu cried out in alarm, "A'yi, what are you doing? Come back!"
A'yi refused to turn back. She had promised Li Seven that she would fight the Bandit-Subduing Battalion with him.
A'yu looked toward the Bandit-Subduing camp once more and caught a faint glimpse of Li Seven's silhouette.
It looked as if Li Seven had nowhere left to run.
***
Li Banfeng ran into the alley between the workshops and the armory, setting his wife and Jiang Ling'er down.
Earlier, when Zhao Xiaowan received word that fighting had erupted prematurely on A'yi's side, before they could make proper preparations, the soldiers in the camp had already begun assembling.
If they waited for the soldiers to form up, detonating the explosives would be useless. Li Banfeng had detonated them early, killing over three thousand men.
The remaining seventeen thousand or so had assembled their battle array. This fight was brutal.
Li Banfeng had hacked and slashed his way across the field before playing hide-and-seek, and now he was cornered into this alley.
His wife was injured, while Jiang Ling'er was in decent shape. Li Banfeng concealed the wounds on his own body, not wanting either of them to see.
A squad of over a hundred soldiers chased them into the alley. Li Banfeng fixed his eyes on the rear of the enemy unit and surged forward with Tread Over Ten Thousand Rivers.
This stomp was executed with exceptional skill, rivaling even Hong Ying.
Out of the hundred-plus soldiers, dead and wounded combined, only twenty or so went down. The rest remained standing, their formation unbroken.
The Bandit-Subduing soldiers Hong Ying had fought were called the Qingrui Battalion—they had never fought a battle, nor had they undergone much training.
What Li Banfeng faced was the Difeng Battalion, the elite of the Bandit-Subduing Army. They were seasoned through rigorous training and had fought in the wars against Tufangren. Though their combat prowess couldn't match the Bandit-Subduing Battalion the peddler had faced back then, these soldiers were in an entirely different league compared to the greenhorns Hong Ying encountered.
Seeing Li Banfeng encircled, Zhao Xiaowan vented steam and sang aloud in a ringing voice:
"A sea of blood billows with crimson waves,
A lone steed charges through ten thousand crags!
The spear thrusts at the Big Dipper, cold stars fall,
Hooves tread the southern skies, purple lightning roars!
*Hoo-loo-loo-loo—!*"
The resounding operatic aria, paired with sweeping steam, slightly disrupted the enemy formation. Jiang Ling'er unleashed a barrage of steel needles strung with silk, strangling over a dozen men within the ranks. Li Banfeng unleashed Viewing Flowers from Horseback, his figure vanishing into an explosion and focusing his mind to detonate once more, pushing his technique to its limit to kill another twenty-odd men.
With more than half of the hundred-plus Bandit-Subduing soldiers dead, they temporarily pulled back from the alley.
Yet outside the alley, over ten thousand Bandit-Subduing soldiers still held them surrounded.
Jiang Ling'er had used up all her steel needles; her spools of silk thread were completely empty.
Blood seeped relentlessly from several wounds on Zhao Xiaowan's body. Having only recently returned to life, her physical body could barely hold on.
Danger closed in. Li Banfeng activated Discerning Spiritual Sound and listened intently.
The army outside didn't seem to be moving, but the clatter of machinery and grinding axles was ceaseless.
His wife said, "They've likely dispatched First-Class Weapons."
The Difeng Battalion had immense combat experience. Not only were their soldiers brave and skilled, but their commanders were adept at adapting to conditions.
Facing a powerful enemy like Li Banfeng, they had no intention of throwing lives away; they wanted to wear him down piece by piece.
Li Banfeng opened the companion dwelling and said to Zhao Xiaowan, "Madam, take Ling'er and head home first."
Zhao Xiaowan looked at him. "Where are you planning to go?"
Li Banfeng said, "I'll scout around to see if there's another opening to break them."
Zhao Xiaowan took his hand. "Husband, come back with me. As long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to burn. The window for a surprise attack has passed; this battle is already unwinnable. We cannot let emotion rule us now."
Her words swayed Li Banfeng.
If he returned to the companion dwelling, he could guide it away from the battlefield with his mind.
If they truly couldn't fight on, they could retreat unscathed; if an opening presented itself, they could strike back.
Just as Li Banfeng was about to leave with his wife, he heard the companion dwelling murmur in his ear: "Ah Qi, stay a moment longer. I have something to tell you."
What could be so urgent that it had to be said right now?
"Madam, you go home first. I'll be right behind you."
"Husband, don't be stubborn!"
"Don't worry. If I want to leave, I can leave at any time."
After sending his wife and Jiang Ling'er into the companion dwelling, Li Banfeng heard the old man's voice: "Ah Qi, I don't think I can get out."
Li Banfeng was stunned. "You can't get out? Are you lost? Don't you have the positional compass?"
In Li Banfeng's experience, the concept of the companion dwelling being unable to leave simply didn't exist.
"The Thousand-Man Strength Array has variations. The formation those men outside have deployed is specifically meant to trap opponents. I tried several times just now, and I truly couldn't break through."
The Thousand-Man Strength Array could even trap the companion dwelling?
Those soldiers couldn't even see the companion dwelling, nor did they know of its existence, yet they could still trap it?
Li Banfeng finally understood why the peddler had fought such an agonizing battle against the Bandit-Subduing Battalion back then.
"Ah Qi, go home in a moment and throw the key as far into the enemy ranks as you can. Once you're inside, use Broadening the Bridal Chamber to link to the house in Hulu Village and send the whole family over. Not just your wife, but everyone else too. Lai Wuju may be a piece of trash, but she'll definitely have her uses later on, so take her with you. Those old pieces of furniture in the house have more or less gained spirits of their own—take as many of them as you can."
Li Banfeng asked, "What about you?"
The companion dwelling said, "I don't know if Broadening the Bridal Chamber can pierce through the Thousand-Man Strength Array. I'll charge outward through the enemy ranks, getting as close to Hulu Village as I can, and do my best to help you link up to the house there."
"And then?"
"And then..."
The companion dwelling fell silent for a moment, then said, "Brother, you have to stay alive. Your wife was right: as long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to burn."
Li Banfeng lowered his head. The wound on his arm could no longer be hidden, blood dripping onto the ground.
The First-Class Weapons were drawing closer. The companion dwelling urged, "Ah Qi, it's time to go!"
"Go. We're going right now." Li Banfeng pulled down the brim of his hat.
A halo of light rippled outward from the blood on the ground, and shadows materialized at Li Banfeng's side.
"Ah Qi, what are you trying to do?"
Li Banfeng gave no answer. He slipped the key into his inner suit pocket.
The companion dwelling roared, "Get moving! Even I can't break out—what else do you think you can do?!"
"Companion dwelling, wherever I go, you stay by my side. We leave together."
Flanked by a throng of shadows, Li Banfeng charged out of the alley.
Chapter 779