“Reporting to the Crown Prince!” A scout from the vanguard of the Ming army rushed back with urgency. “Fan Li’s group has split up and fled in seven different directions. We are unsure which path Fan Li himself has taken.”
“Clever,” Zhang Juzheng remarked, analyzing the situation. “With only seven people, even together they would be no match for Your Highness’s five thousand elite troops. Splitting up increases their chances of escape.”
Crown Prince Wanli scoffed. “Teacher, your knowledge is vast, and you can analyze any situation with eloquence. But what should we do now?”
Zhang Juzheng felt a pang of awkwardness. The Crown Prince was clearly dissatisfied with his recent performance and was resorting to sarcasm.
‘Ah, where in the world would you find a teacher so accommodating to their student?’ Zhang Juzheng sighed inwardly. “Rest assured, Your Highness. Although Fan Li has split his group into seven paths, I have deduced his escape route.”
“Truly? Tell me quickly, Teacher!” Wanli’s face lit up with excitement, his tone surprisingly respectful.
Zhang Juzheng smiled wryly. “Fan Li is a man of high status. Even when using decoys, he would choose the safest path. In this situation, the path furthest from our army would be the safest for him.”
“Due south!” Wanli blurted out. “Haha, I guessed it too!”
Guessed? I practically wrote the answer on my face.
Zhang Juzheng sighed internally but dared not contradict Wanli. He bowed deeply and said, “Your Highness possesses exceptional talent. At your age, my wisdom was far inferior to yours.”
“Hahaha! Teacher, you are too modest. Everyone in the Great Ming knows that aside from Grand Secretary Yan and Grand Secretary Xu, you are the most renowned scholar in our land.”
Finally, a kind word.
Zhang Juzheng chuckled awkwardly and stepped aside. With Fan Li’s location identified, it was time for Crown Prince Wanli to take center stage.
“Inform the troops to pursue only the southern path. Ignore the others!”
“Today, Fan Li will die!”
…
“Strange,” Lu Fubao muttered as they reached the foot of the lone mountain. The Ming army was closing in on them.
“I was worried the five guards would be pursued. Why didn’t Wanli split his forces?”
Fan Li replied, “It’s a good thing. As long as they reach their positions, we have a chance to counterattack.”
“Counterattacking is my job,” Lu Fubao rolled her eyes. “I’ll go to the peak, you continue south and escape.”
Fan Li frowned. He knew his cultivation was lacking, and he was clueless about formations. But he had a suspicion that if he continued south, Lu Fubao wouldn’t be able to lure the Ming army to the mountaintop. After all, he was Wanli’s true target.
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“Stop following me!” Lu Fubao urged as they reached the mountain’s midsection.
With no other choice, Fan Li detoured around the mountain and continued his escape southward.
Seeing Fan Li finally leave, Lu Fubao’s expression grew even more serious. She quickly ascended to the peak and retrieved the materials needed for the Eight Hells of Heat formation.
The Ming army arrived swiftly. Before Lu Fubao could fully set up the formation, she could already hear the clamor of their pursuit echoing from below.
“The Ming army didn’t split up, so the five guards should be in position.”
The Eight Hells of Heat was almost complete!
On the mountaintop, a formation diagram drawn with cinnabar appeared beneath Lu Fubao’s feet. Unlike traditional formations that used Daoist talismans and mystical verses, the Eight Hells of Heat was different.
Lu Fubao used cinnabar ink to write characters representing various types of fire: ‘Human Fire,’ ‘Sandalwood Fire,’ ‘Sun Fire,’ and ‘End-of-Days Fire.’ In the center of the diagram, she drew a tall, imposing city wall, its gate bearing these ominous characters: Fengdu City.
“I use Yin blood to set a Yin formation, borrowing the power of Yin fire,” Lu Fubao chanted, her voice low and solemn, unlike her usual playful tone.
She pricked her finger, letting a drop of blood fall upon the gate of Fengdu City.
“Ghost city opens, Yin fire emerges, incinerate all evil!”
The shouts of the Ming army grew closer, but they remained oblivious to the events unfolding on the mountaintop. They had bypassed the peak, continuing their pursuit southward.
“How could this be?!” Lu Fubao was about to signal the guards to activate the Yin Fire Bombs when she saw the Ming army bypass the mountaintop.
All her meticulous planning had been for naught?
“Fan Li!”
“I’m going to get Fan Li killed?!”
Her face paled as she watched the Ming army continue their pursuit. The Eight Hells of Heat, having absorbed a drop of her essence blood, was ready to unleash its power. But activating it now would only incinerate a few Ming soldiers on the lower slopes of the mountain.
What was the point?
“Fan Li is here!”
“Who dares face me in battle?!”
Suddenly, Fan Li’s voice boomed from behind her.
Lu Fubao turned in astonishment to see Fan Li, who had somehow climbed back up the mountain, shouting at the Ming army below.
“You…?” Lu Fubao was speechless.
“You saw it too,” Fan Li said with a helpless shrug. “Without me here, your formation is useless.”
“I hate you!” Lu Fubao cried out, tears welling up in her eyes.
“There’s only one Fire Repelling Pearl, how am I supposed to protect you?”
“What’s a Fire Repelling Pearl?” Fan Li’s curiosity was piqued.
Lu Fubao sighed and retrieved an object from her sleeve. It was a perfectly round sphere, the size of an egg, crafted from a translucent crystal that radiated a faint chill.
“The Fire Repelling Pearl is a family heirloom, a Heaven-grade, first-rank treasure. Even a low-level Great Vehicle realm fire cultivator wouldn’t be able to harm me with it. But it can only protect one person, which is why I sent you away.”
Fan Li nodded in understanding. “It’s alright, I have a way to protect myself.”
Lu Fubao didn’t believe him, but it was too late. Fan Li’s shouts had attracted the attention of the Ming army, who were now charging towards the mountaintop.
“Haha! Fan Li must have exhausted his spiritual energy and can no longer run!”
“No one is to ascend!”
“I will personally slay him!”
Seeing Fan Li trapped on the mountaintop with nowhere to run, Crown Prince Wanli abandoned his position in the central army and charged forward. Killing the Duke of Jin of the Great Chu with his own hands would be another glorious achievement!
As for the rewards he had promised earlier, Wanli suddenly had second thoughts.
“This world will be mine! Why should I reward these soldiers with my possessions?”
The exhausted Ming soldiers, though filled with resentment, dared not speak out. They parted ways, allowing their Crown Prince to ascend the mountain first.
“Sigh…” Zhang Juzheng shook his head in disapproval. “A descendant of beggars, truly stingy to the extreme. Since when do monarchs compete with their subjects for glory?”
On the mountaintop, Fan Li was surprised to see Crown Prince Wanli leading the charge.
“Excellent! I was worried the formation wouldn’t reach him!” Lu Fubao exclaimed.
Fan Li chuckled. “The son of a nobleman should not place themselves in danger. If it were me, I would still be at the foot of the mountain. Fortunately, it’s Wanli, the most miserly man in the Great Ming…”