Chapter 96: Come Back Soon

Victory Pass stood on a broad stretch of level ground between two mountain peaks. It was not merely a wall of bricks and tiles like the Great Wall. It was a city, or rather a giant garrison, a true pass of life and death.

After the fierce battle in the jungle that day, Wu Gang of Luyang Academy had been badly wounded. Though the bleeding had been stopped at the time, his injuries were too severe. That night, once he returned, he collapsed and came down with a fever. His face grew gaunt, and most importantly, he had lost his left arm.

Wu Gang fell into a coma, trapped in nightmares, where the boy named Xiao Sha lay in a pool of blood before Victory Pass beneath the slanting glow of sunset.

But that had not happened. Xiao Sha was still on the road back and had not yet reached Victory Pass.

The small band led their horses along, weary from the journey. The horses were used to carry game, so no one rode them except for one child.

“Home we go! Ha ha!”

The soldiers laughed in high spirits.

Every return home felt like a rebirth.

Victory Pass and Fenggu Pass were close together. This was the very front line of war. There had been no large-scale clashes for years, but in the shadows, the two sides were always sneaking out to raid one another.

This was not a strategy devised by generals.

This was hatred.

If the enemy was not killed, the hatred in one’s heart could not be undone.

“Xiao Sha, you’ve been watching the adults from Luyang Academy for days now. When do you plan to ask them?”

The child was bare-chested, slight of frame, and very dark, as dark as his face. Yet his eyes were large and vivid, impossible to forget.

“Once this battle is over, I’ll perform well on the battlefield. Then I’ll ask the adults of Luyang Academy to teach me the path of cultivation!”

A soldier teased, “Luyang Academy is rather hard to get into. I think East Lake Academy is good too.”

“Hm...” Xiao Sha frowned in thought for a moment, then smiled brightly. “That works! As long as I can get into a cultivation academy!”

“Hahaha!”

“But I still want to go to Luyang Academy. Luyang has lots of pretty sisters, and delicious embroidered perch...”

Whoosh!

Xiao Sha was still only a child, but when the sound of something slicing through the air rang out beside him, the motion with which he drew his blade was as practiced as that of any grown soldier.

It was so practiced it made one’s heart ache.

The lively chatter among the group fell silent at once. Xiao Sha also grew quiet.

“Sound off! Sound off! Is anyone hurt?!”

“Old Wu was hit by an arrow!”

Standing on horseback, Xiao Sha glanced back to confirm the condition of the companion clutching his leg and collapsed on the ground. Though he was the smallest among them, his height on the horse made him stand out all at once.

“One, two, five, nine... seventeen.”

By the time he finished counting silently, his voice had grown lower and lower.

“This isn’t one squad. It’s two.”

“Is that normal?” the soldier beside him asked.

Though Xiao Sha was young, he was already an old hand, while the man beside him was a farmer who had only joined a few days earlier.

“Not normal.” Xiao Sha’s experience told him that without a doubt. “Our mission isn’t hard. We’re only hunting game. Why would the Li army send out two squads?”

Up in the sky, someone was channeling spiritual energy, trying to cut down sword qi.

The others saw it too.

“A cultivator! Run!”

Xiao Sha was yanked down from the horse. The game they had been carrying changed from food into the least valuable burden imaginable, and they threw it all away to lighten themselves.

“Xiao Sha! The Li army has a cultivator. Hurry back and report to the general. Tell him the Li army is moving!”

Smack!

Xiao Sha punched the man square in the face.

“Run my ass! Since the Li dogs are here, of course we cut them down!”

“But they have a cultivator!”

“Then we kill the ordinary ones.”

Xiao Sha turned his head. His small back was both tiny and immense.

“Brothers, once the fighting starts, I need to cut down at least one before I die. Otherwise it’s a total loss. One life for one life—that’s fair. Why not make a fair trade?”

“Kill them!”

...

A few days earlier, Victory Pass had welcomed five mighty figures from Luyang Academy. They were in the prime of life, dazzling and enviable, and they had given every soldier hope of certain victory.

Yet now, standing before General He Jiang were only the Seventh Princess and Chen Mingguang.

The Seventh Princess had her own mission. She had come here to shoulder the duty that belonged to her, even if it meant dying for it.

But Chen Mingguang was different. He was trying to persuade the Seventh Princess to retreat to the rear.

Pointing at the map, General He Jiang said with a grave expression, “Fenggu Pass has five thousand soldiers. Their commander is a man named General Gu Feng. We’ve fought several times. I am not afraid of him.”

“The problem is that Lord Shu is not here at the moment. Gu Feng and his follower Sun Liang are both in the Return-to-Simplicity realm. Originally it would have been two against two, but Ji Lan told me she saw Gu Yue, and there may be another Return-to-Simplicity cultivator accompanying and protecting them.”

The Seventh Princess had changed into simpler, more practical clothing and no longer wore a dress, because war could break out at any time.

“So that means it’s just two against three.”

“It’s not that simple. We have to prepare for the worst...” General He Jiang drew in a breath. Perhaps he was tense, because even the sound of his breathing was faintly audible. “Lord Shu isn’t a match for Shuyu, right? Even two against one, they still wouldn’t be a match for Shuyu. So... what if Shuyu returns, and then...”

Chen Mingguang’s heart gave a heavy thud. He looked at the Seventh Princess. “If that happens, then you can’t...”

The Seventh Princess raised a hand to stop him.

“Don’t say any more, Chen Mingguang. Impossible.”

Luyang Academy held a position of great honor in the Xu Kingdom. Wherever it went, it became the center of attention.

It was the same at Victory Pass.

The ordinary soldiers all watched the adults from Luyang Academy, hoping they would lead them in breaking the Li dogs’ spirit.

But now two had gone missing, and the one who looked the most formidable had lost an arm and was unconscious.

If the Seventh Princess left at a time like this and left only Chen Mingguang, who was in the Spirit-Guarding realm, to hold the pass...

Before the battle had even begun, their morale would already be gone, and defeat would be certain.

General He Jiang still did not know the Seventh Princess’s identity. He was merely somewhat puzzled. When he heard her asking about the details of the fighting, he had no time to dwell on it.

The Seventh Princess truly had the courage to stay, but after hearing the general speak, she too no longer knew what to do.

“If Gu Yi were here, that would be wonderful. He’s so clever, he would surely have a way.”

A voice sounded from outside the door.

“I believe the Gu Yi you speak of is also somewhere else giving his all for the Xu Kingdom. He is doing what he must do, and we must do what we must do.”

“Deputy General Ji, you’re back!” General He Jiang asked eagerly. “Well? Did you bring the person back?”

“No.” Ji Lan’s answer was blunt and dry. “I brought back Xiao Sha. They encountered an ambush by two squads, and there was also a cultivator.”

“Fenggu Pass sent out two squads? And they sent a cultivator too?” He Jiang was slightly taken aback.

If only things were that simple.

But the cautious look on Ji Lan’s face told him the truth might not be so straightforward.

“I’ve never known how to address this little sister from Luyang Academy,” Ji Lan said, resuming her easygoing manner with a broad grin. “My name is Yu’er. Thank you for your hard work, General Ji.”

The Seventh Princess could speak directly, since people on the border would not connect Yu’er to Yin Tianyu. Besides, some of them did not even know that the Seventh Princess was called Yin Tianyu.

“General Ji, you seem to have something left unsaid?”

“Old He.” She lowered her voice. “Send for help from Luyang. Those two squads were not sent out by Fenggu Pass. They were sent to Fenggu Pass.”

The three people present were stunned.

Yet Ji Lan still showed no fear. Perhaps the dangers she had faced before were far greater than this one. She even asked, “That child said his name was Ma Yuan. But he’s actually Gu Yi, isn’t he? The Immortal-Gifted Scholar?”

The Seventh Princess did not react in time, and did not answer.

Silence was as good as agreement.

Losing one cultivator in the Return-to-Simplicity realm was not a major issue, after all. They were defending the city. But if one more Immortal-Gifted Scholar could be brought in, then for Victory Pass it would be tremendously important. Xiaoyuan Mountain could give the soldiers confidence in victory.

Ji Lan let out a sigh.

“I only hope he can make it back.”

Tonight, after midnight, this book will go on sale, but the first chapter will most likely not be released until between 12:15 and 12:30.