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    "Fang Qingyun, Chen Sansi! Stop blustering here, do you think I don''t know you have only three thousand men?! The forces you''ve mobilized to ambush us won''t exceed two thousand!"

    Fan Jiuxiao raised his sword towards the sky and shouted, "And today, I''ve mustered more than ten thousand men, along with six at the Mastery of Meridian Passage, and we''ve been ready to enter the ambush from the start, just to lure you out!

    "Once I capture you two, my vanguard will immediately head for Hu Lao Pass!

    "Slay the White Robe, capture the Phoenix, guard Hu Lao!

    "Today will be the day Fan Jiuxiao becomes renowned throughout the world!"

    What a tremendous feat it would be, a marvel unseen for a hundred years!

    At the peak of the valley, Fang Qingyun sat in his wheelchair under an umbrella, letting the torrential rainfall pour heavily from the sky, yet not a drop touched him. He simply pointed with the flute in his hand towards the young general riding a green horse below and laughed uncontrollably, unable to hold back his amusement.

    His laughter was soft.

    It sounded like he was guiding a child in a game of chess upon discovering the child''s naively misplaced move, with not the slightest hint of ridicule in his voice, but rather a touch of concern.

    "Fang Qingyun!"

    Fan Jiuxiao froze, feeling first insulted and then inexplicably panicked, "What are you laughing at?!"

    "Oh me?"

    Fang Qingyun shook his head, "I''m laughing at myself for not having fought a battle in so many years and now, even a greenhorn insists on taking me prisoner."

    "Stop pretending to be calm!"

    Fan Jiuxiao exclaimed through clenched teeth, seething, "You only have three thousand men under your command, an entry-level in the Profound Image Realm. That''s straight from the mouth of Aliased King Li Gong of Qing Country. With such a small number of troops, even you will be encircled and trapped by me today!"

    "Oh?"

    Fang Qingyun chuckled, "Tell me, Mr. Si, is there a chance that Li Gong deliberately misled you, and we actually have thirty thousand?"

    "Bullshit!"

    Fan Jiuxiao retorted, "Do you take me for a three-year-old to be fooled?!"

    Though he spoke defiantly, deep down, he dared not linger any longer in the valley. Raising the Mystic Iron Shield, the explosive force of his green horse carried him through the arrow-strewn gorge in a few breaths, taking him back to the expansive wilderness.

    At the same time.

    A series of disastrous news kept ringing in his ears.

    "This is bad! Mr. Si!"

    "They are on both sides!"

    "We''ve been surrounded!"

    "If we keep attacking the mountain top, we''ll be caught in a pincer attack and have no choice but to rendezvous with you!"

    "... "

    Liu, Assistant General, and Vice General Zhang did not go up to attack the mountain top but instead gathered together with their troops towards this side one after another in the pitch-dark rainy night, over ten thousand men scared out of their wits.

    "It''s impossible, absolutely impossible!"

    Fan Jiuxiao bellowed in the rain, "They have no more than three thousand men, how can they possibly surround our ten thousand?!"

    "Mr. Si, it''s true, absolutely true!"

    "... "

    Fan Jiuxiao looked up to Fang Qingyun perched atop the cliffs and completely lost his nerve, "If that''s the case, then we retreat!"

    He did not believe the Sheng people had thirty thousand men.

    This wasn''t just blind faith in Li Gong, but based on the situation at hand. Sёarch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The Sheng people had their limits in terms of manpower.

    Deployed in Lai State, while also contending with Emperor of Qing''s army in Green Ridge Mountain, plus Yong Yue Prefecture, practically speaking, the number of forces they could reroute to Hu Lao Pass was at most five thousand.

    Unless...

    Li Gong had indeed already been decisively defeated, and the forces at Yong Yue Prefecture were down to less than ten thousand, only under those circumstances could the Sheng people possibly allocate over thirty thousand troops to Hu Lao Pass.

    But even that seemed unlikely.

    Yong Yue Prefecture, after all, was one of the most fortified cities in the world, and they still had several months worth of supplies. Plus, with Li Gong as a Martial Saint, even amongst Martial Saints he was known for his exceptional combat ability, how could he have been defeated so quickly?

    This battle...

    Fang Qingyun was most likely employing some sort of deceitful strategy.

    He was the founder of Deceit, after all.

    However...

    Fan Jiuxiao saw no need to continue taking risks.

    So far, they had only lost a few hundred men. If they retreated to camp, it would be as if nothing had happened at all.

    "Retreat―"

    "Mr. Si, we can''t retreat!"

    "We''re genuinely surrounded!"

    "Follow me and retreat, the whole army with me!"

    Fan Jiuxiao shouted loudly, leading the masses towards the south to retreat.

    "Crack―"

    Just then.

    A bolt of lightning lit up, revealing the scene on the vast wilderness ahead.

    Rainy night, wilderness, lightning.

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    As far as the eye could see across the plains, there were masses of people, countless gleaming points of cold steel flashing under the electric light, much like the ghostly soldiers of the underworld come to claim souls, and judging by the brief visibility provided by the lightning, there were at least ten thousand men!

    "There are forces in the south, head west!"

    Fan Jiuxiao ordered a change of direction for the main force.

    Yet, no more than a mile out, the same scene unfolded before them.

    "To the east!"

    Just the same.

    Across the wilderness, the masses surged, warhorses neighed, numbers indiscernible and finally, even the recently exited gorge was tightly sealed off, as if enemies surrounded them from all sides, with pursuers everywhere.

    Could it be!

    There were really thirty thousand men?

    Fan Jiuxiao was terrified.

    The Aliased King Li Gong was not just lying; he himself had also been utterly defeated?

    Otherwise, where did all these men come from?!

    "National Stabilizing General Sha Wenlong is here―"

    The menacing Sha Wenlong, wielding a heavy broadsword, charged forward, followed by a dense array of Black Armor Iron Cavalry.

    "Don''t panic!"

    Having learned with Zhong Hu and Ran Junshi, Fan Jiuxiao soon steadied his nerves in this unclear situation, "Mystic Iron Shield, Confinement Formation!

    "Don''t be afraid!

    "Sha Wenlong is merely an entry-level in the Profound Image Realm! Three Assistant Generals at Mastery of Meridian Passage in formation can contain him with just two thousand men. The rest keep breaking out!"

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