Chapter 502: Decision
Translator: TYZ Editor: X, TYZ
"Sir, we didn’t see Uncle She among them."
"That bastard is indeed treacherous."
"Sir, what do we do now?"
"The only plan is to go the whole hog now."
...
"Night Moth Fruit?"
Mingxiu’s face turned deathly white. Her body involuntarily trembled while her eyes were filled with fear and despair. All she had wanted was to prepare some equipment and items for her junior. She had not expected that this would cause a disaster for her junior instead.
She had heard of the Night Moth Fruit’s notoriety from her eldest brother before. Her eldest brother had mentioned before that even he, himself, would have difficulty detoxifying the Night Moth Fruit.
Uncle She sighed. When he saw the fearful look on Mingxiu’s face, he felt even more guilty. "It’s my fault for not carrying out the task properly. However, Miss, don’t be so worried, Master Ai’s life is not in danger."
Uncle She recounted the process of how Ai Hui used the lightning bolts to counter the Night Moth Fruit.
When Mingxiu heard that Ai Hui had been struck by lightning for several hours, a worried and distressed look appeared on her face. Subsequently, when she heard that Ai Hui’s entire body was charred and covered with bandages, the image of Ai Hui’s appearance flashed across her mind, and she could not help but chuckle.
She felt slightly at ease.
Her junior had an extremely tenacious character. Even if no clues were found, he would still figure something out. As long as he was still alive, he would definitely come up with a plan.
Uncle She also relayed what Ai Hui had told him before he had departed to return to Mingxiu. It was because of Ai Hui’s words that he met Mingxiu and not the family head first. Even though Ai Hui was weak now, Uncle She did not dare to sit idly and do nothing. He was worried about the family head getting angry as well. After pondering for quite some time, he decided to talk to Mingxiu first.
Upon hearing Uncle She’s report, Mingxiu’s facial expression remained calm. Her eyes flickered, looking as if she was pondering over something.
At this moment, a middle-aged man ran over hurriedly. He was Uncle She’s trusted aide and had worked under Uncle She for over 20 years. On the return trip, Uncle She secretly left first without them. The rest of the people returned according to the original schedule.
When he saw Uncle She, he heaved a sigh of relief and said hurriedly, "Uncle She, the convoy was attacked yesterday. Thankfully, Master Mu was there, so we didn’t have many casualties!"
Mingxiu was exceptionally intelligent. Upon hearing these words, she said, "It seems like there really is a spy among us."
After staying silent for a while, she continued, "Uncle She, go back and report this incident to Father first. I will go and have a discussion with First Brother."
Uncle She agreed that this was the only plan for now. He nodded his head and replied, "All right, I will report to Master first. Miss, please look out for your safety!"
"I will bring along some guards." A smile appeared on Mingxiu’s face.
Following which, Uncle She left with his aide. After pondering over the incident for a while, Mingxiu stood up and changed her clothes. Then, she told her servant girl, Tao Su, "I will be out for a while."
After Mingxiu left her embroidery workshop, she flew straight out of the city.
Her eldest brother, Lu Chen, resided in an area that was 100 kilometers to the west of Jadeite City. Lu Chen’s teacher, Dai Gang, who was the Jadeite Forest’s ruler, did not live in Jadeite City either. He lived in area that was 100 kilometers to the east of the city.
The teacher and his disciple lived at the east and the west of Jadeite City, respectively. The two of them were separated by a distance of 200 kilometers.
It was no secret that Lu Chen had defied Dai Gang, but this did not affect Lu Chen’s position in Dai Gang’s heart. Among Dai Gang’s disciples, Lu Chen was his favorite. Lu Chen was also known as a divine physician of this era. His attainments in the art of healing surpassed even Dai Gang. Dai Gang was extremely proud of this fact.
Lu Chen was a kind individual who had a vast network of friends. As he had healed countless experts, he enjoyed an extremely high prestige. Whether it was from the Jadeite Forest, Beyond Avalon, or Blood of God, there were many people that owed their lives to him.
As Mingxiu traveled further away from the Jadeite Forest, the number of people she encountered along the way gradually decreased.
Suddenly, Mingxiu stopped.
A group of masked men blocked her path. With a deep voice, the leader of the group said, "Miss Mingxiu, my master would like invite you to his residence to stay for a few days!"
Mingxiu did not panic at all. She replied with a composed voice, "Who is your master?"
"Miss Mingxiu will know by then."
The group of masked men chuckled as they spread out and surrounded Mingxiu.
A glint flashed across Mingxiu’s eyes as she turned around and raised her voice, "You’re still not revealing yourself?"
A helpless sigh rang across the air. "How did you know it was me?"
A shadow flashed across the air as a tall individual suddenly appeared before Mingxiu.
He carried a huge bow that was around his height on his back. His long hair was tied up using a red string. His small and slanted eyes looked drowsy. There was now a stubbly beard on his familiar-looking face, making him look as if he had been through a lot.
When Mingxiu took a closer look at the familiar figure, she was pleasantly surprised. She widened her eyes and said, "Brother Qiu."
The familiar voice ripped through the man’s thick wall of memory while a ray of sunshine pierced through his heart like a sword. The beautiful image of the girl that had haunted him like a ghost for countless nights in the past now walked out of his cold and pitch-black dream, appearing right before him. Lit up by the sunshine, her bright and beautiful face smiled alluringly at him.
Yu Mingqiu gasped.
…..
"After we reached ‘Behind the Wall’, everyone was extremely tired. That was the first time the division had traveled such a long distance after it was replenished. The situation was much worse than I thought. Damn it! We only had two hours of rest! Luckily, I never slacked off during the daily training sessions. Even though I only regained 60 percent of my elemental energy, I didn’t turn into a weak chicken that was waiting to be killed on a chopping board. Honestly speaking, when I saw the armies of the Blood of God, I thought I was not going to survive. At that time, my mind was in a blank. Forgive me for being so timid. The enemy’s first wave of attacks almost caused our defensive line to break down. Wei died in front of me when a bone spear embedded with blood crystals pierced through his skull. Subsequently, his body was sucked dry by the bone spear. At that point in time, I think I cried. Yes, I cried. Wei was a good man, but he died in the end. I didn’t die. I killed two enemy soldiers and don’t know how I did it. Back then, I was very scared and my body was trembling. However, I very quickly regained my composure. That was because the enemy attacked us again…"
The battle lasted for three days and three nights and was extremely intense.
The simple and crude fortifications were not really useful to the Infantry and Sky Edge Divisions, and they still had a lot of casualties. However, the divisions had not collapsed like they had been worried about. They had endured through the intense fighting. Other than the heavy losses they suffered on the first day, their situation over the next two days was much better.
"This cannot go on." Silver Soldier was panting heavily as he talked to Karakorum Polaris, "The enemy forces outnumbered us greatly. We can’t get involved in a war of attrition with them."
Karakorum Polaris’s body was sparkling clean. However, the glint in her eyes had dimmed significantly. She listened to Silver Soldier quietly without saying anything. She knew Silver Soldier had to have a plan.
Silver Soldier’s metallic index finger swept across the map as he said, "We will retreat."
"Retreat?"
"But higher-ups want us to defend ‘Behind the Wall’."
"That’s right, Sir. You have to think twice about this decision."
Karakorum Polaris was slightly surprised as well. She knew how much Silver Soldier wanted to battle the Blood of God.
Why would he want to retreat at this point in time?
A cold glint flashed across his silver mask. The eyes revealed by the mask flickered. On the mask, in between where his eyebrows were, the word "Infantry" was deeply marked.
Silver Soldier ignored them and continued, "From the current situation, we can see that Ye Baiyi hasn’t woken up yet. This is evident from the enemy forces that have attacked us. Even though the intensity of the fighting has been very high, the Blood of God have not deployed many of their soldiers. This shows that they are still trying to feel us out. If Ye Baiyi was awake, the enemy forces that attacked us would not be so few.
The others quieted down.
"The enemy forces that attacked our divisions these few days are made up of different divisions. They lacked coordination. This also indirectly proves that Ye Baiyi hasn’t woken up yet, and that they are divided. This is our chance. What’s going to happen next is that we will retreat slowly. Take note, we can’t retreat too quickly. We will try to lure the enemy forces into a deeper position. The conscription order has been issued, and the conscripted divisions will arrive soon. We try to contact these divisions and have them set up ambushes behind us. We will form a pocket and lure the enemy forces into it. Once they are deep in the pocket, we will annihilate them. We can also flank them from both sides and surround them," Silver Soldier explained with a deep voice.
"What if the other party doesn’t take the bait?’
"We will retreat and build a new defensive line," Silver Soldier replied.
…..
Lemon Camping Ground was filled with corpses. There were two people standing amid the corpses.
"Is there still anyone alive?"
"No."
Their tones sounded very casual, their facial expressions indifferent. It was as if they couldn’t see the corpses around them. Both of them were tall and huge. They also looked very similar to each other. Clearly, they were brothers.
If someone saw these two, he or she would definitely recognize them. They were the Xiahou brothers.
The older brother was Xiahou Jun, the younger brother was Xiahou Jie, and they were twins. They were already very talented from a young age. Both of them became Masters at the same time. If they were born in aristocratic families, their tales of their achievements would be widely spread. In reality, they were new citizens who had led a tough life since childhood. This caused them to become cynical and temperamental.
"Have you clarified with them?"
"I have clarified with them."
"Then what about here? Should we set fire and burn them?"
"That will give us away easily. Let’s catch some dire beasts and throw them here."
The conversation between the two men was short and sweet. They did not waste any time talking nonsense.
After a while, both of them caught several dire beasts and threw them into the campground.
The two of them hovered in the air, chatting casually as they watched the dire beasts chomping on the corpses.
Xiahou Jun said coldly, "Shi Xueman has left and Ai Hui has yet to recover. The only one that is capable of fighting is Blind Dou. This is a rare chance."
Xiahou Jie stretched his back and replied with an indifferent tone, "Let’s complete this mission as soon as possible. Newlight City is still more comfortable to stay in. The reward this time around is enough for us to lead a carefree life for quite a long time."
The two of them came here because they accepted a mission concerning the snow lava.
It was no longer a secret that Shi Xueman had requested the envoy to take the Sword of Lightning off the conscription order. Because of this, many people lamented. Shi Xueman indeed had feelings for Ai Hui.
However, covetous individuals were able to also extract a lot of information from this incident. Ai Hui was injured, the Sword of Lightning only had 300 men, etc.
Ai Hui’s refinement method for the snow lava was truly a money-making tool.
Excluding Skyheart City, there were a lot of cities that were very poor. At this point, Central Pine Valley was at its weakest. It was like a child that possessed a precious treasure, attracting all sorts of greedy folks.
"Have you thought about how to obtain the snow lava refinement method?"
"We can get it as long as we capture Ai Hui."
"We have to be fast. There are a lot of people who want the snow lava. If other people get it first, our trip will be wasted."
"Men die in the pursuit of wealth, while birds die in the pursuit of food. These people better not encounter us. Otherwise, they will be dead for sure. Let’s go."