After many twists and turns, the black carriage stopped in front of a tent.
There wasn’t a single person beside the tent, with the nearest soldiers standing more than three zhang away. Those not dispatched to the battlefield pointed at the tent, whispering among themselves.
The guide said, “Go ahead, he’s inside.”
Chen Dachang entered the tent and indeed saw a person lying on the bed, weak and listless, with a pallid complexion, cold sweat streaming down, and black spots on his neck and the back of his hands!
Hearing the movement, the man opened his eyes. His unfocused gaze took a while to recognize Chen Dachang’s appearance, and he was startled: “It’s you!”
Chen Dachang flashed him a toothy smile: “Sir, what a coincidence, we meet again!”
This unfortunate plague victim was none other than the head guard from the afternoon who had tried to send an innocent girl outside the city! In his surprise, his consciousness somewhat recovered, and he pointed at Chen Dachang’s nose, cursing: “It’s you, it was you who infected me with the plague!”
“This is what they call karmic retribution.”
His accusation, though wild, had accidentally hit upon the truth. But Chen Dachang was unconcerned, stepping forward to lift him up like a chicken. Only when they were nearly outside the tent did he change his posture, pretending that dragging the man was quite strenuous.
The head guard shouted: “He’s a spy, infiltrating to gather intelligence. Someone come quickly, seize him for questioning!”
But his voice was feeble due to his serious illness, and besides, who would take the words of a plague victim seriously? He simply didn’t want to be taken away by the black carriage.
So even though other soldiers heard him, they merely looked over without coming to intervene.
Chen Dachang threw him into the back of the carriage, tied him with hemp rope, then looked around before returning to the driver’s seat. He started the carriage slowly, following the route provided by the soldiers.
He had arrived properly and was leaving properly, driving straight ahead without glancing around. Even if someone had been secretly watching this carriage, they would have lost interest by now.
Chen Dachang drove the carriage away, but Feng Miaojun stayed behind.
At the entrance of the camp hung a demon-revealing mirror, specifically designed to break through invisibility and disguises. This object might not reveal her true appearance, but it would likely show that she was female. If she entered with the black carriage, the number of drivers entering and leaving the camp would be counted. So instead of disguising herself and sitting in the front, she had used a mustard seed formation to shrink her body and hide in the back of the carriage. When the Xi soldiers inspected the vehicle and saw that no person could hide in the back, they naturally wouldn’t climb up for a closer look—this was, after all, a black carriage that people avoided at all costs.
When the carriage stopped in the camp and Chen Dachang went to move the sick man, she slipped away in the shadow of the carriage and jumped onto a nearby large tree. Now no bigger than a spider, who would notice her movements?
To sneak into the camp and find Yu Haizhen, she had considered many methods beforehand, but after the evening’s events, she decided to use the black carriage, quietly sprinkling some medicine on the head guard.
What he had contracted wasn’t the plague at all, but her poison powder!
She had studied the Devil Magic Secrets, which contained countless peculiar and unorthodox techniques. She had at least three compounds that could produce effects similar to the early stages of the plague.
That was enough.
Fear of plague is human nature. Once the head guard fell ill in the camp, the army could only call for a black carriage to handle it. In the past two or three months, too many had died from the epidemic, and the commanders could diagnose the condition without even calling for a military doctor. Feng Miaojun had placed a ghost-faced nest spider on the head guard, so she knew when they would summon the black carriage driver.
Infiltrating the military camp—the first step of her plan had been achieved. Next was to find Yu Haizhen herself.
There were tens of thousands of troops stationed here, with tents like an ocean where one could easily get lost. If tonight had been calm, she would have had difficulty finding her target, but now… Feng Miaojun stroked her chin as another cannon blast sounded.
She looked south toward the sound.
That was the front line, and the dutiful Yu Haizhen was most likely there overseeing the battle.
This was the logistics camp. At the front, artillery fire raged, while behind, vehicles came and went, transporting supplies one after another. Feng Miaojun didn’t wait long before slipping into a carriage compartment to hide, hitching a ride.
The closer they got to the front lines, the more chaotic the scenes outside became. If this had been the Wei camp or the Yan camp, Feng Miaojun might have been able to discern order within the chaos. But the Xi people knew that disaster was imminent, and this camp inevitably revealed signs of decline—true chaos.
It was precisely because of this that when she captured a female soldier from the roadside into the carriage, it went unnoticed.
The State Preceptor was female, so the camp needed female guards. Feng Miaojun put on the soldier’s outer armor and changed her appearance, now looking like an ordinary female soldier.
Amid the bustle, the carriage reached its destination. She jumped down and vanished in an instant.
City Head Fort, Xi Army’s main tent.
The continuous artillery fire illuminated the front lines as bright as day.
Having just arranged a series of tasks, Yu Haizhen watched the generals leave and couldn’t help but rub her brow.
For how many consecutive days had she not closed her eyes? Even someone made of iron couldn’t endure this.
Dark circles had formed under her eyes, which seemed impossible for a State Preceptor, but she truly didn’t even have time for a nap. The Xi King, chased into the mountains by the Yan forces, had long lost his courage and directly thrown the military decision-making authority to Yu Haizhen, while he hid in the upper city, living in debauchery. She had gone to the upper city to speak with him that evening, but he simply said he wanted to seize the time to enjoy life, and that she could decide everything herself.
If she could, she’d truly want to throw this heap of mud down a ten-thousand-zhang-deep abyss!
Yu Haizhen gulped down a mouthful of cold tea, just managing to drive away this tempting thought when hurried footsteps sounded from outside: “Report—!”
“Come in and speak.” Another matter had arrived at her door.
“The Xun position’s focal point in the Six Ao Formation is empty.”
“What happened!” Yu Haizhen was startled, turning to question, “Where is Hu Tian? Why isn’t he guarding the focal point!”
“Master Hu left at an unknown time, leaving a substitute at the focal point. The formation master just discovered it and saw that the substitute had ‘Will return at the hour of Xu’ written on his back.”
The hour of Xu? Yu Haizhen’s face darkened. The hour of Xu had long passed; it was now the hour of Zi! This fellow was truly inconsiderate of time and place when throwing a tantrum.
Just then, a series of cannon blasts suddenly sounded from outside.
Dense as rolling beads, seven explosions in total, each one earth-shaking.
Each blast seemed to strike the same place.
The Yan army had never attacked like this before.
Yu Haizhen’s expression changed drastically: “Not good!” She flew out of the tent, forming a hand seal, about to summon new creatures to take up positions when she felt the ground beneath her feet trembling.
Even on the front lines with constant artillery fire, this tremor far exceeded any previous ones.
“Crack”—a strange muffled sound came from beneath the ground, like the tearing of silk but magnified and made heavier a thousandfold.