Chapter 20

With a leap, Qin Feng had already sprung up to the treetop. His feet slightly sank, causing the tree branch to dip down, and then he bounced up like a cannonball, shooting forward several dozen feet in an instant. When he landed again, he repeated the process, moving like a meteor as he dashed forward along the treetops.

His posture was far from graceful. The lightness technique used by Princess Zhao Hua, Min Ruoxi, in the military camp was incredibly beautiful, making her look like a celestial maiden descending to earth. But in Qin Feng’s mind, he could only describe it with two words: showing off.

Qin Feng believed that the greatest function of lightness techniques was to save one’s life. Over the years, this skill had helped him escape many life-threatening situations during wars. Swift as a galloping horse, fast as a meteor—this was Qin Feng’s pursuit in his lightness technique. Of course, to perform such a technique, one needed a deep foundation in internal energy. While it was indeed fast, it also consumed a great deal of internal energy. However, for Qin Feng, the most troubling thing now was having too much internal energy, which was almost bursting him day by day. In fact, he felt that he was not far from exploding into pieces. If he couldn’t find a solution before that happened, he would have no choice but to disperse his internal energy and become a medicine boy like Shu Fengzi. But was that what he wanted?

With these thoughts in mind, his breathing became slightly disordered, and a faint sound of breaking branches came from under his feet. Qin Feng quickly gathered his focus. Why think so much now? When the time comes, there will be a way. Let’s deal with it then.

This path was extremely familiar to Qin Feng. Over the years, they had fought back and forth along this road. Today you come, tomorrow I go. There were only a few places where one could set up an ambush. The people of the Great Chu were also very familiar with these areas, making it extremely difficult to set a trap. When a large army advances, scouts lead the way, followed by the vanguard, and then the main force. It’s not easy to ambush an entire army, especially one with tens of thousands of soldiers. Even for a force of less than two thousand, it would be challenging to completely surround them, let alone a large army.

Setting a trap beforehand was impossible. No one was a fool. The most likely scenario was an interception at the front, followed by a large-scale flanking maneuver on both sides. This required a large number of troops and extremely high marching speed, which Qin Feng seriously doubted the Western Qin could achieve with their current troop quality and equipment.

His figure suddenly stopped, and like a cannonball, Qin Feng bounced up and down with the movement of the branches. Ahead was the Shadow Reflection Gorge, the last place where the Western Qin could set an ambush. However, everything was quiet. He didn’t detect any abnormalities, and it was impossible for thousands of troops to hide from his senses. Therefore, there was only one explanation: there was no ambush.

For Qin Feng, this should have been good news. Without an ambush, he wouldn’t have to flee in a panic. But he felt a chill. Even if there was no ambush, where were the Western Qin troops stationed in the Shadow Reflection Gorge?

The Shadow Reflection Gorge was a crucial stronghold for the Western Qin. Zuo Lixing had thought about capturing it before, as once past the gorge, the Western Qin would have no more natural defenses. Facing the well-equipped Southern Chu, they would be in a difficult position. However, several attacks had failed here, and the most severe casualties for Qin Feng’s Death Corps had been in this place. The Western Qin troops stationed here were not the ragged, starving soldiers but the elite forces of the Western Qin.

The Shadow Reflection Gorge was empty, with no signs of life. The canyon, which should have been brightly lit, was eerily quiet. There were no tents, no noise, and no human figures.

Where had they gone? Qin Feng leaped down and walked forward with heavy steps.

About a hundred steps from the gorge’s entrance, he stopped because a person was slowly walking out from the depths of the canyon.

Qin Feng squinted his eyes.

The person’s footsteps seemed to make the ground tremble slightly with each step.

“Qin Feng, you’ve finally come. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time,” the person stopped ten steps away from Qin Feng, looking at him with a smile, his white teeth shining in the moonlight.

“Who are you?” Qin Feng took a deep breath. The Western Qin soldiers and officers he had seen before all had yellow or black teeth. A person with such well-maintained white teeth could not be from the Western Qin border army.

“My surname is Bian, and my name is Bian Zheng. I come from Yongdu,” the person said, looking at Qin Feng. “I’ve been waiting for you here specifically.”

“I don’t seem to know you. Do we have a grudge?” Qin Feng asked.

“Eight members of the Bian family have died at your hands,” Bian Zheng said coldly.

“Sorry, I’ve killed too many Western Qin soldiers, from generals to common soldiers. I can’t remember them all. Are you here to seek revenge?” Qin Feng sneered. “Aren’t you afraid of becoming the ninth?”

“I’m waiting for you here because I have confidence,” Bian Zheng smiled. “You must be very curious why the army here has disappeared and why I’m certain you would come here.”

“I was just about to ask,” Qin Feng said.

“As for where the army has gone, I can’t tell you. You can guess for yourself. But the second part, I can tell you. You’ve killed too many of our Bian family members, so we naturally studied you. Over the past two years, we’ve gathered intelligence about you that you might not even imagine. Your personality, your martial arts, your hobbies, your characteristics—I might know you better than you know yourself.”

Qin Feng idly scratched his ear. “That’s a bit convoluted. You just think you can definitely beat me, so you’re waiting for me here. I’m impressed that you could predict I would come to scout, but whether you can kill me depends on your skills. Talking without action is just bluffing. Come on, I’m in a hurry to get back to sleep.”

“Are you in such a hurry to die? Or do you think you can escape and warn your General Zuo? It’s too late. Everything is too late. Qin Feng, you’re dead tonight, and your General Zuo might die even earlier.”

Qin Feng’s heart sank. Bian Zheng’s words revealed a critical piece of information: the Great Chu’s western border army might have fallen into a real trap.

“Arrogant!” Qin Feng drew the iron saber on his back. “I’ve seen the combat strength of the Western Qin border army many times. To think you can swallow us whole is just a dream you haven’t woken up from!”

The iron saber was slowly pulled out of its sheath, and the moonlight reflected on it, casting a blood-red glow.

“Good saber!” Bian Zheng praised.

“It’s just an ordinary saber, but after being nourished by blood for a long time, it naturally has some killing aura,” Qin Feng said coldly. “You will be the ninth.”

“Your confidence is rare. No wonder our border army has suffered so much. But tonight, you are destined to die. I told you, I come from Yongdu. I am a captain in the Thunder Army of the Great Qin. This time, the ones surrounding your General Zuo are not just the Great Qin border army, but half of the Thunder Army, led by General Li Zhi. How confident are you now?” Bian Zheng smiled at Qin Feng.

Qin Feng’s heart turned cold. The Thunder Army, the personal guard of the Western Qin emperor, had appeared here without a sound. Li Zhi, the military commander of the Western Qin, if he truly appeared in the Falling Petals Mountains, General Zuo would indeed be in great trouble.