NOVPUB"Ow, ow, ow! It's true what they say about being cautious on the battlefield. Luckily, I noticed just before the arrow hit me—otherwise, I would've been in serious trouble." Fa Zheng looked at the arrow that had pierced under his scapula. "If I hadn't deflected it at the last second with my spiritual capacity, it would've skewered my heart. Catch that guy for me—alive!"
Seeing Fa Zheng still lively and energetic, despite the arrow piercing under his shoulder, and hardly losing any blood, seasoned veteran Gan Mo immediately recognized it as no more than a superficial wound.
Soon, Fa Zheng—with an arrow still embedded in his shoulder—reconnected with Gan Ning, who casually dragged Li Tong and tossed him in front of Fa Zheng. Truth be told, Li Tong had a decent level of skill, but with cloud qi collapsing on both sides after the crushing defeat, Gan Ning had easily toppled him off his horse in just a single blow.
After sealing off Li Tong's inner qi, Gan Ning bound him tightly using his weapon, the Horizontal River Iron Chain, and delivered him to Fa Zheng.
"Xiaozhi, are you sure you're okay?" Gan Ning frowned at the arrow sticking out of Fa Zheng's scapula and asked.
"Don't bring it up! What an embarrassment—it's humiliating enough being hit by an arrow, but for someone like me? I'll be the laughingstock back home!" Fa Zheng replied sourly.
"You're still bouncing around—you should be fine." Gan Ning mused, stroking his beard with one hand, while holding a subdued Li Tong in the other.
"What's your name?" Fa Zheng queried Li Tong while simultaneously instructing his soldiers to seize the enemy captives.
At this moment, Li Tong—tied up like a worm—looked at the obviously under-twenty youth standing before him. A glimmer of shock flickered in his eyes. Though he'd failed to make out Fa Zheng's age from a distance, now that they were close, he could see this cunning adversary was only a teenager.
But now captured and brought down from his horse, Li Tong felt utterly dejected. Saddled with guilt after his earlier defeat, caused largely by his own negligence, his mind was a chaotic mess, and he ignored Fa Zheng completely.
"I asked you—a name!" Fa Zheng, still intrigued, pressed further. Gan Ning, however, wasted no time. He sharply tightened the Horizontal River Iron Chain, producing a bone-popping sound that made Li Tong's complexion go pale. Yet even now, Li Tong remained silent.
"Stubborn, huh? Let's see how tough you really are!" Gan Ning sneered, as the Horizontal River Iron Chain briefly shimmered with a layer of green light, ready to strike harder.
Given Gan Ning's prowess, anyone bound by the Horizontal River Iron Chain—as long as they weren't someone monstrous like Dian Wei or Lyu Bu—would be in dire straits. As for a mere Qi Refining to Gang practitioner like Li Tong, even if his qi hadn't been sealed, he'd still end up pulverized.
"Enough, Xingba—quit toying with him. What about the ambush troops I had you prepare? They'll undoubtedly retreat toward General Zhang first, then head north to Xu County, thinking they've outsmarted us, and subsequently move east to Guangling before retreating across the Yangtze River to Danyang." Seeing Gan Ning about to execute Li Tong, Fa Zheng promptly intervened. He admired Li Tong's ruthlessness and resolve. Though this man lacked martial talent, Fa Zheng saw potential.
"How do you know that?" Gan Ning was about to respond when Li Tong, who'd been silent all along, suddenly spoke.
"Such a simple matter—anyone with half a brain can figure it out. Didn't Zhou Yu tell you I've already taken the entire North Huai River?" Fa Zheng yawned as he replied.
"Impossible," Li Tong roared.
"You may not believe me, but the fact remains—I've conquered the North Huai River. My only question now is whether my vice army managed to kill Sun Ce." Fa Zheng's casual yet enormous boast startled Li Tong deeply, despite its brazenness.
"This can't be possible—this can't be possible…" Li Tong muttered to himself as he began thrashing violently.
"Silence!" Gan Ning jerked the Horizontal River Iron Chain, causing Li Tong to cry out in pain.
"You may not believe it, but at least think about it. Haven't you noticed? Zhou Yu is only working to consolidate the internal ranks of Yuzhou. You were just thrown out there as sacrificial pawns." Fa Zheng shot Li Tong a calculated glance, continuing his psychological manipulation. As long as they talked, Fa Zheng could break them.
"That's impossible!" Li Tong bellowed, eyes bloodshot.
"What's impossible? What matters more—a ten-thousand-strong army or securing the internal cohesion of Yuzhou? Listen to reason. Most of that army was likely made up of private forces. Losing them doesn't hurt the foundation, and it actually allows greater control of Yuzhou…" Fa Zheng explained earnestly, though much of his reasoning was an intentional distortion.
After all, certain truths—if their sequence is inverted—can be warped into heinous lies. For instance, imagine many people contracting a disease due to a virus, then a hospital passionately researching it, solving the problem, and finally developing a cure. The hospital profits, and lives are saved—that's good.
But if you flip the order—now it looks like the hospital intentionally engineered the virus to infect people, then conveniently releases their cure, reaping profits. See? Completely different narratives. Fa Zheng now used this approach of reversing reason to sow seeds of doubt. Once planted, mistrust grows into division and eventually irreparable rifts.
"I don't believe it!" Li Tong raised his head defiantly and glared at Fa Zheng.
"You'll see soon enough," Fa Zheng retorted indifferently. After all, he didn't need Li Tong's belief—undeniable facts would do the convincing. Fa Zheng's ability to reshape reality was formidable.
The battlefield between Li Yan and Zhang Fei had yet to escalate fully, though the clash intensified the moment Pan Rui's forces arrived.
"Hahaha! Reinforcements are here at last! Zhang Fei, Xiapi has fallen—you're now stranded. I'd like to see how you plan to escape!" Li Yan laughed brazenly as Pan Rui approached with his troops.
"Hahaha! Reinforcements? More like routed troops!" Zhang Fei roared with laughter. His keen eyes had already spotted the disarray in Pan Rui's soldiers' armor and weapons—proof Fa Zheng's strategy had prevailed!
Li Yan, taking a closer look, was quickly alarmed. He cried out sharply, "Retreat!" But it was too late. From the southeast, northwest, northeast, and southwest, countless torches flared to life, accompanied by thunderous shouts of "Li Yan, halt!"
"Zheng Fang—urgent retreat! We've fallen into their trap!" Pan Rui shouted.
Troops from four directions swarmed in, joining Zhang Fei's forces in a spree of carnage. After a brief skirmish between Li Yan and Zhang Fei, both factions were forced to flee, combining forces for an eastern retreat. Unfortunately, they lost Liang Xi along the way.
Zhang Fei hoisted Liang Xi—dangling like a chicken—and turned to Chen Deng with a helpless look. "Inner Qi Manifestation practitioners are impossible to chase down. Catching one vice-general is still something, I suppose."
"General, perhaps we should stop pursuing," Gan Lan quickly stepped forward to halt Zhang Fei after chasing the enemy for twenty li.
"Why?" Chen Deng asked, still puzzled.
"Our forces are few. If we fail to round up the routed soldiers and allow the enemy time to regroup, our efforts tonight will be for naught. Remember, the four ambush forces combined are no more than two thousand men. Hehehe…" Gan Lan gave a bitter laugh as he explained. (To Be Continued. If you enjoyed this work, you're welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations or monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com for reading.)
