Chapter 320: Ask Yourself These Three Questions

In a side hall on the outskirts of the field camp, the teacup in Wang Qian the Xiang Marquis’ hand let out an audible crack as fissures appeared on its surface.

There was also a projection here. Anything that appeared on the sand table in the main hall would appear here as well. It was a subsidiary artifact of the imitation of the Go Board of Heaven and Earth.

He watched as the Liao tribesmen donned the red armor and clothes to disguise themselves as King Fu’s soldiers, and the leaders cast spells to alter their appearances. He watched as the Crown Prince’s force blocked their path, only for their second-in-command to be beheaded in a single stroke, and for the rest of the troops to be routed under the Liao’s onslaught. It took all the self-control Wang Qian had ever possessed to keep from crushing the teacup he was holding.

“Useless! Utterly useless!” Wang Qian ground out the words through clenched teeth.

The mystic treasure-grade long saber had been a family heirloom. Relying on King Fu’s favor, he had snuck the practically cheat weapon into the hunting party to massively improve his force’s chances of winning. However, he never imagined that the hunting party would be wiped out, and the saber would fall into the hands of the Liao almost immediately after the autumn hunt began.

Worse still, the Liao group had used their looted saber to behead the Crown Prince’s deputy general and, under their disguised identities, annihilated the rest of the Crown Prince’s forces. Wang Qian could only imagine what the Crown Prince must be feeling at this very moment.

In the main hall of the field camp, the Crown Prince gripped the armrest so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Aside from that he showed no other signs of distress, though he couldn’t help but cast a glance of barely concealed loathing at King Fu.

In the projection, the Crown Prince’s troops were routed and scattered in disarray. However, with the exception of a dozen or so skirmish cavalrymen who had at the very start of the battle, the rest could not escape the Liao forces’ pursuit. The entire hunting party was wiped out in the blink of an eye. In particular, the military officers had put on a pitifully weak resistance—even inferior to that of King Fu’s men.

The King of Jin glanced at the Crown Prince and remarked, “Cultivating relationships in many quarters is a good thing, but you should also associate with those who are useful.”

The Crown Prince quickly rose to bow and replied, “I have remembered your teaching, Father!”

The King of Jin said indifferently, “Sit down. Unnecessary theatrics are unnecessary.”

The Crown Prince’s palms grew slightly clammy, which he discreetly wiped on his rope twice. His heart felt as chilly as the autumn air right now.

Officers selected to participate in the autumn hunt could not only make a good impression before the King of Jin, but could also earn military merits if they performed well. With a bit of luck, they might even be directly appointed to an official post. Consequently, the officer slots allocated to the Crown Prince were highly sought after.

The crown Prince had always prided himself on widely recruiting talented individuals, but his office had long become oversaturated, putting quite a strain on him whenever he tried to bestow rewards. Consequently, the officer slots for this hunt had been allocated to various parties well in advance.

However, this year’s hunt had taken a completely unexpected turn. First, the Liao prey had launched a surprise attack against the hunters and stolen their clothes and equipment. Then, they used them to launch consecutive surprise attacks against other hunting parties. Second, this group of prey was way stronger than those in past autumn hunts, sporting not just multiple middle-stage Dao Foundation stage cultivators, but also late-stage. None of them were ordinary Dao Foundation-stage cultivators either. Judging by their combat prowess, they were at least Heaven-tier, with some that could very well be Immortal-tier. Now, one of them had even gotten their hands on an Avatar-stage mystic saber!

How could people like this have been sent into the autumn hunt? Moreover, every Liao elite was required to consume a poison pill that suppressed their cultivation. How could they have regained their full strength?

Due to all these unexpected twists, these unlucky souls who had entered the autumn hunt to pad their credentials not only failed to earn any military merits but also lost their lives—and in doing so, made a complete fool of themselves in front of the King of Jin.

To be fair, the Crown Prince’s troops had suffered this defeat largely due to circumstances far beyond their control. One could not fault them for how they had acted during the confrontation either. The entire point three treasure troves had been set up was to encourage everyone to compete for them. There was no “first come, first served” rule either; whoever managed to seize the loot would get to keep it. Arriving early but failing to hold onto the loot was pointless.

Therefore, when the Crown Prince’s deputy general saw that King Fu’s troops had just emerged from a fierce battle—with many troops still bearing fresh bloodstains on their armor and clothing—his desire to take advantage of their weakness and steal whatever loot they had obtained was only natural. Although he didn’t understand why King Fu’s troops had chosen to spare several hundred Liao tribesmen instead of killing them outright, he certainly wasn’t going to let these walking bags of military merit slip away right under his nose, not to mention that the Crown Prince and King Fu had never been on good terms to begin with.

According to past hunts, violent clashes had often broken out during the scramble for the loot, and many lives had been lost in the process. However, everyone had also exercised restraint—at most, a few dozen rank-and-file soldiers would die, but never an officer. All things considered, how could the Crown Prince’s deputy general have imagined that the enemy would strike with lethal intent from the very start using a mystic saber that should not have existed in this hunt?

Meanwhile in the projection, the short battle had ended, and the Liao tribesmen had begun to loot the corpses and deliver the finishing blows. Seeing that the Crown Prince’s forces had been completely routed, the King of Jin expressionlessly cut back to Wei Yuan’s scene.

Wei Yuan was still contemplating the sword, his big face just as expressionless as the king’s.

The King of Jin did not change the scene for some time, so much so that the crowd thought that the mystic artifact had malfunctioned and frozen the image there. Then, the scene shifted again and returned to the Liao group. By now, they had stripped the Crown Prince’s men of all their armor and clothing, assigned some of the gear to their own men, and cast spells to alter their appearances. Now, they looked just like the Crown Prince’s men.

The corpses were tossed into a nearby ravine and haphazardly covered with loose rocks.

Cavalrymen dressed in the colors of King Fu or the Crown Prince rode back and forth, gathering intelligence on the surrounding area. The Liao leader wielding the mystic sword was clearly well-versed in military strategy as he continually gave orders and set up a new trap in no time.

Another unit emerged from behind a hill. Their armor was somewhat tattered, but every man was burly and fierce. They were none other than the border army of the northern frontier.

They immediately saw two opposing forces facing off against each other in the open field ahead, flanked by several hundred bound Liao preys. The banners of both sides were clearly distinguishable: one belonged to King fu, and the other the Crown Prince.

The commanding generals of the two forces were trading insults in booming voices, while their soldiers were stirring restlessly as well. It was clear that a clash was imminent.

But upon witnessing this scene, the border troops unexpectedly turned on their heels and marched off in a different direction, leaving the disguised Liao tribesmen utterly bewildered.

In the main hall of the field camp, the border army general let out a sigh of relief. Before the autumn hunt began, he had repeatedly warned his men to avoid all competition and disputes, especially those involving the princes.

With the Crown Prince and King Fu locked in a standoff, siding with either side risked being misinterpreted as taking a position. Moreover, it was a major taboo for the border army to intervene in a succession dispute. His only goal in this hunt was to make a good impression in front of his king and secure some benefits and military pay. The matter of who would emerge victorious was for the three princes to decide, not him.

The Liao leader did not lose heart despite failing to deceive the border troops. While continuing to rally his scattered people, he had several dozen of King Fu’s stragglers run ahead while the Crown Prince’s main force was hot on their trail. Further back were the mixed ranks of King Fu’s troops and the Liao tribesmen escorted by several dozen of the Crown Prince’s men. From an outsider’s perspective, it was as if they were prisoners.

This was the setup King Wei’s forces had encountered right after they had successfully opened a treasure trove and were descending the hill in triumph.

In the main hall, King Wei suddenly couldn’t smile anymore.

A moment later, the King of Jin switched the view back to Wei Yuan’s big, expressionless face and stared at it intently for quite some time.

King Wei was furious beyond control, the Crown Prince had resumed his wooden expression, and King Fu, incapable of hiding his feelings as he was just a child, wiped his tears and broke into a smile once more.

King Wei’s forces were outnumbered to begin with, and they had moved in with the intention of playing the oriole[1]. Naturally, they were wiped out when King Fu and the Crown Prince’s forces suddenly turned around and caught them in a pincer attack. Once more, their armor, weapons, and clothes were all seized.

At this point, this autumn hunt had obviously gone off the rails. However, no one dared to call a halt since the King of Jin remained silent.

The scene finally shifted away from Wei Yuan’s big face back to the hunt, this time focusing on Xu Tongshou, the Military Commissioner of Northern Pacification.

It was a massacre. At the beginning, his troops found themselves surrounded by what looked like the combined forces of the three princes. When the fighting began, his men were naturally confused and hesitant, whereas the enemy had struck with lethal force. Naturally, they suffered heavy casualties in the very first clash. Surrounded by an enemy force several times their size, they collapsed like a house of cards and suffered total annihilation.

But no one saw it. It was because the scene had shifted to Wei Yuan’s big, big face right as the three princes’ forces launched their surprise attack.

The King of Jin kept a blank expression and breathed evenly. This time, he stared at Wei Yuan’s unchanging face for the entire duration of a meal.

Lü Wenbai suddenly felt that the chair beneath him wasn’t quite as hard, and his collar wasn’t quite as tight as before—unlike moments ago, when it had been choking him to the point of suffocation.

Unlike his unfortunate fellow, at least he still had 50 mounted scouts and 200 bare-bottomed men under his command.

As night fell, all sides retreated to their temporary campsites and began to rest. However, the Liao tribesmen continued to send out search parties and gather their scattered tribesmen. Their numbers swelled rapidly, and soon, they had amassed a force of 4,000. Thanks to the clothing, armor, and weapons contributed by several units, as well as the opened armory, nearly all of these Liao tribesmen were now armed. Their leaders had acquired two more top-tier mystic artifacts as well.

That night, King Ying and King Cheng’s forces set up camp and kept watch. Their performance so far had been perfectly average. Meanwhile, the border troops took advantage of the cover of darkness to move constantly and pick off the scattered Liao forces bit by bit. They stayed well away from the hidden treasure troves and kept their distance from the eastern sector where King Fu and the Crown Prince’s forces were operating as well. They stuck to the southwestern corner of the hunting grounds and diligently collected the scattered spoils that no one else wanted, much like cats or dogs picking at the bones their human masters had tossed below the dinner table.

The main body of the Liao forces, with their camouflaged scout cavalry at the core, continuously explored the area and rounded up their kin. After working tirelessly for the whole night, they were able to sweep across half the hunting grounds and assemble a force of 6,000 men!

As night fell, Wei Yuan finally sensed that the eerie feeling of being watched had vanished. He immediately stood up to stretch his limbs, then materialized a cauldron as smooth as a mirror to examine his appearance and correct anything that might be out of place. Once he was sure that his appearance was flawless, he deepened and elevated his aura, adopted the demeanor of a reclusive sage, and resumed contemplating the sword before the feeling of being watched returned.

As Xu Wenwu had written, one should examine themselves three times each day and ask: Am I tall? Am I rich? Am I handsome?

As dawn broke, King Ying and King Cheng’s forces ran into one another. The two sides exchanged glances from a distance before going their separate ways—King Ying’s forces headed west, while King Cheng’s went east.

As King Cheng’s forces were marching east, they encountered the Liao as expected. They pursued a small detachment of fleeing Liao tribesmen and were soon lured into an ambush. After a bitter battle, the entire force was annihilated. That said, King Cheng’s troops were formidable and, after realizing they could not escape alive, they fought to the last man and inflicted even heavier casualties on the Liao.

This time, the King of Jin did not switch the scene to Wei Yuan’s big face.

......

In a different corner of the hunting grounds, King Ying’s forces had unknowingly marched past a small detachment of Liao tribesmen. Separated only by a single mountain ridge, neither side had detected the other. The small detachment continued to move northward until they discovered an army camp. The camp wasn’t big, and at that moment, only a few dozen men were keeping watch.

Although this Liao detachment numbered fewer than 100, everyone was a Dao Foundation-stage cultivator and was highly skilled in combat. They infiltrated the camp, killed all the guards, and pleasantly discovered that there were 200 horses inside!

......

Meanwhile, the situation in the hunting grounds had shifted once more. The large contingent of Liao tribesmen reorganized themselves on the spot and, in just the span of an hour, formed 6 thousand-man units, each with its own uniforms and banners: the three princes, the two military commissioners, plus King Cheng’s.

Once the reorganization was complete, the Liao leader drew a map on the ground with his mystic sword and pointed to the northeast corner, saying, “There’s nothing here, and the defenses are weak. Outside the hunting grounds, only one two-thousand-man unit could reach us in time, but they do not have the strength to stop us at all. Once we’ve escaped a hundred li beyond the hunting grounds, we’ll regain our freedom!”

“Will the humans keep their promise?”

The Liao leader smiled and said, “It doesn’t matter. As long as we break out of the hunting grounds, the human garrison will appear in full force to surround and kill us. That will be the Great Khan’s opportunity to return to the plains. As long as the Great Khan returns safely, it doesn’t matter if we all die.”

When dawn broke, the Liao leader pointed his long saber northward and shouted, “All units, advance!”

At his command, thousands of Liao tribesmen set off with a remarkably disciplined formation. They looked every bit like a well-trained army.

Wei Yuan, who had been meditating and contemplating the sword this whole time, suddenly felt a sharp pain between his eyebrows. It was as if someone was pointing a saber tip at him.

His intuition would not fail him now, so he immediately rose to his feet and stepped out of the tent, declaring, “All units, be on full alert and take up your positions! I believe there are fools coming our way.”

1. The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. ☜