Qin Yu slowly opened her eyes. The pain in her chest made her feel completely exhausted, but her body had relaxed, leaving only a dull ache in her limbs from yesterday’s cramps.
“What time is it…”
Qin Yu crawled out of her sleeping bag. Her clothes had already dried, thrown in front of her by Chen Yufei.
She put on her clothes and walked out of the tent.
Chen Yufei was already wearing her armor and practicing swordsmanship.
Seeing Qin Yu arrive, she raised her sword and thrust it at Qin Yu.
“Hey?” Qin Yu chuckled.
‘Is she challenging me to swordplay?’
Unwilling to back down, she materialized her staff from the void.
The staff and the sword clashed violently with a crisp sound.
At first, Qin Yu could hold her own against Chen Yufei using instinctive movements and ample strength.
But as the fight progressed, Qin Yu felt herself gradually losing ground.
‘Without magic, I feel like I can’t fight at all…’ Qin Yu thought, stepping back.
“Why don’t we end it here? Shouldn’t we be on our way?”
“Scared?” Hearing this, Chen Yufei sheathed her sword.
“If I used magic, you’d have lost long ago!” Qin Yu muttered.
However, Chen Yufei didn’t hear Qin Yu’s muttering. She turned and went back to the tent.
“Put on your armor quickly. We’re about to leave.”
“What about breakfast?”
“Breakfast?” Chen Yufei was taken aback.
“You still want breakfast? I didn’t bring any food. Where would breakfast come from? Go hungry.”
“Fine.” Qin Yu rubbed her already empty stomach. Yesterday’s fierce battle had consumed a lot of her energy. She was starving.
Qin Yu put on her armor, and Chen Yufei packed up the tent. They were ready to set off on their journey.
“How should we go?” Chen Yufei helped Qin Yu onto the warhorse.
“Head east. Our march route is roughly a straight line from east to west. We went north only a few dozen kilometers last night. If we keep going east, we might run into my scouts.”
“Alright.” Chen Yufei spurred the horse, galloping eastward.
The horse’s back rose and fell as they ran. Qin Yu and Chen Yufei’s armor clanked together with a crisp sound.
Chen Yufei’s black hair occasionally brushed against Qin Yu’s face, tickling her.
Qin Yu estimated that Luo Shangyu could cover about 50 kilometers a day with the main army. At this point, she was only about 150 kilometers away.
Chen Yufei and Qin Yu rode the warhorse at great speed. Later that day, they had already traveled over 140 kilometers.
Night fell over the forest again. Chen Yufei slowed down, moving cautiously.
According to Qin Yu, they had now entered the alert range of Qin Yu’s army.
Moving slowly through the woods, Qin Yu and Chen Yufei listened to the sounds around them, hoping to encounter scouts so Qin Yu could be taken back to the military camp.
After a while, just as sleep was beginning to embrace Qin Yu again, she suddenly saw lights in the distance through the trees, faintly accompanied by voices.
“Are those your soldiers?” Chen Yufei asked quietly.
“Yeah.” Qin Yu nodded.
“Just drop me off here. I’ll walk over on my own.”
“Alright.” Chen Yufei pulled the reins, dismounted, and helped Qin Yu off the horse.
“Thank you.” Qin Yu stepped forward and hugged Chen Yufei.
“Uh…” Chen Yufei gently pushed Qin Yu away.
“Princess, isn’t this a bit too intimate?”
“Not good?” Qin Yu poked Chen Yufei.
“Last night we slept together in the same bed, and you watched me take a bath. Now you say it’s not good?”
“…” Chen Yufei blushed, not knowing what to say.
“Alright, I’m leaving.” Qin Yu stepped back.
“Our cooperation ends here. Next time we meet, we’ll be enemies.”
“I will definitely defeat you!” Chen Yufei said without holding back.
“You didn’t get your fill from yesterday’s battle. Next time, I’ll make sure you leave satisfied!” With that, Qin Yu turned and walked into the forest.
Watching Qin Yu’s silver armor disappear among the trees, Chen Yufei mounted her horse, turned it around, and galloped toward her own troops.
Qin Yu walked through the forest. The trees were thick, forcing her to be very careful to avoid getting scratched by sudden branches.
She thought her people were close, but after nearly half an hour, she still hadn’t encountered them.
Finally, she spotted her scouts.
They were a ten-man scout squad, patrolling the area ahead of the main force.
“Who’s there!” The scouts quickly spotted Qin Yu.
“I am Qin Yu!” Qin Yu stepped forward and said loudly.
The scouts were astonished, unable to believe it. But Qin Yu’s silver armor and white hair left them no choice but to believe.
“Greetings, Princess!” The scouts dismounted in unison and saluted Qin Yu.
“I need to return to the central command tent immediately,” Qin Yu told them.
The scouts exchanged glances. They noticed Qin Yu had no warhorse.
“Princess, how about riding one of our warhorses?”
“What about you?”
“We ten can manage with nine horses for a while,” the scouts replied.
Qin Yu nodded and swung onto the nearest warhorse. This was not a time for modesty or politeness. She needed to get back to the central command tent quickly to ensure her safety.
Inside the central command tent, Luo Shangyu was staring at a map in deep thought. On the map, all the hills and high ground in the eastern half had been taken by her.
‘Where exactly are the enemies…’ Luo Shangyu pondered. She was very worried about a surprise attack on her own camp.
Just then, shouting came from outside the tent.
“What’s going on?” Luo Shangyu rushed out of the central command tent.
She saw many soldiers cheering and making a commotion around a few people.
“What’s happening…” Luo Shangyu pushed forward to disperse the curious soldiers, but she was immediately stunned.
“Qin Yu?” She looked at the person being surrounded in disbelief.
“It’s me,” Qin Yu nodded.
Luo Shangyu looked again. There was no one else behind Qin Yu—only Qin Yu alone. Not a single one of the 3,000 soldiers she had taken out was visible. She realized something must have gone wrong.
“Alright, everyone go back to rest. Those on night duty, go stand guard!”
After dispersing the soldiers, Luo Shangyu quickly went to Qin Yu’s side and helped her into the central command tent.
“What exactly happened?” Back in the tent, with only the two of them, Luo Shangyu asked Qin Yu in a low voice.
Qin Yu took a deep breath and recounted everything that had happened over the past two days in detail.
After hearing it, Luo Shangyu was very surprised.
“Are you saying Chen Yufei brought about 10,000 troops and engaged you in a skirmish on the mountain?”
“Probably…” Qin Yu recalled the events of that night. In the final battle on the mountaintop, she vaguely remembered an endless stream of enemies charging up the hill.
Luo Shangyu fell into deep thought. Chen Yufei had actually dispatched so many troops, lightly armed, for a surprise attack in such a short time?
‘What exactly is Chen Yufei’s strategy…’