Chapter 27

As the soldiers of Auckland surged forward wave after wave, He Ping reaped them one after another. Those who could keep up with He Ping and block his path were ultimately just a few; most of the soldiers merely trailed far behind. As for the Auckland generals, seeing that Wolf had already disappeared, they were no longer in a hurry. They all wore expressions of indifference. Although Wolf's adjutant was eager to fight, considering his isolated position, he could only suppress his impulse to join the battle personally.

As for the soldiers killed by He Ping, they were even less of a concern to these generals. They were all commoners. If they were noble offspring, they would have at least been centurions upon joining the army. Now, apart from ordinary soldiers and the bodyguards, the highest-ranking soldiers were merely decurions or centurions. They were all commoners, not worth much. For these noble generals, their deaths were of no consequence; they could always recruit more when the time came.

Faced with He Ping's ferocity, the Auckland soldiers had lost their initial morale. At the beginning, everyone understood that many would die at He Ping's hands, but no one doubted that he would be killed in the camp. With a glimmer of hope, the soldiers all hoped to be the one to deliver the decisive blow. Now, He Ping's escape was only a matter of time, and with General Wolf missing, the soldiers who continued to pursue him were already showing remarkable bravery.

Finally, He Ping reached the border between Tianhua and Auckland. At this moment, all the Auckland soldiers hesitated. After all, moving forward would mean entering the territory of Tianhua's Qingyang region, where there were certainly Tianhua spies. If Auckland soldiers were discovered crossing the border, Tianhua's army would surely respond swiftly. At that point, not only would they fail to catch He Ping, but their own safety would be at risk. As an agrarian people, the Tianhuans had an unwavering attachment to their land, and they would show no mercy to border crossers.

The Auckland generals also saw the situation ahead. Although the two countries were at war, and all rules were null and void, the nobles still had to maintain a facade. Any battle, regardless of its scale, needed a justifiable cause. Entering the enemy's territory without reason was a blatant provocation. With Wolf gone, these generals were clearly unwilling to take on that responsibility.

"Pass the order to stop the pursuit. Place some soldiers at the border for observation. If He Ping moves out of our sight, withdraw everyone. At this point, it's no longer up to us to decide. Inform Lord Brian. Knowing that Lord Wolf is in trouble, he will surely come. Once Lord Brian arrives, he will take charge of everything," Wolf's adjutant said helplessly. With Wolf gone, he was the highest-ranking commander, but his authority was not enough to control the other generals, so he suggested informing Brian.

"What about Lord Trevor?" another general asked. "Lord Wolf is Lord Trevor's uncle, and Lord Chris is his cousin. Shouldn't we inform Lord Trevor and see if he has any ideas?" This general was clearly a loyalist of Trevor. Seeing that the adjutant, a staunch supporter of Wolf, only wanted to inform Brian, he was unwilling. In such an emergency, the first person to inform should be Lord Trevor.

The adjutant's face darkened. These generals were not all Wolf's loyalists. Even a powerful figure like Wolf could not place all his people in key positions. While Wolf was still around, he could use his authority and strength to keep these people in line, making them follow his commands. But now that Wolf had just been captured, these people were already bickering, completely disregarding him as the nominal acting commander.

"Notify, of course. Not just Lord Trevor, you can notify anyone you want. Let Lord Trevor and the elders know about this. My capabilities are limited, and I can't handle what comes next. The mess is for anyone who wants to take it. Hmph, you do as you please; I'm not sticking around!" With that, the adjutant turned his horse and left the generals behind, heading straight for the camp.

Seeing the adjutant's face, the generals naturally had no good expressions. Each harbored their own thoughts and, with forced laughter, dispersed to find their subordinates, eager to pass the information to their masters as quickly as possible. The soldiers, seeing the generals retreating, lost their desire to stay and slowly withdrew under the lead of their superiors.

Regardless of the actions of the Auckland side, after successfully breaking through and returning to Tianhua territory, He Ping ran for a while longer. Finding no one following him, he found a secluded place. After confirming that no one was around, he waved his hand, and a person tightly bound like a pig appeared before him. The man, just thrown to the ground, struggled to sit up and looked around with a puzzled expression. It was "Poison Wolf" Brian, whom He Ping had captured earlier.

Brian had already woken up in the cell. He Ping had only knocked him out with a hand strike, but upon waking, Brian was even more confused. The cell was a small, enclosed room with minimal living essentials, but it was incredibly cramped. Brian had never seen such a place before and couldn't understand how he had ended up there after just a nap.

Looking at the smiling Tianhua youth before him, Brian immediately realized that his current predicament was due to this person. Despite his youthful appearance, Brian felt an intense sense of threat. Instinctively, he knew his life was in the hands of this child, and he had no chance of resistance. When was the last time he felt this way? Brian couldn't remember.

"Who are you? Where am I? How did I get here? What did you do to me?" Brian asked a series of questions. It was understandable; anyone in this situation would have many questions. However, He Ping did not answer. He just smiled, his eyes filled with a cold, merciless killing intent that made Brian tremble with fear and led him to the most unwilling conclusion.

"No, no, no! This can't be true! Could it be that you... you are... He Ping!"

[PS: Third update of the day! More tomorrow!]