Only after the enemy fully retreated did Axel regroup the troops and tend to the wounded. The ambush had cost the Artillery Corps nearly half its men, with almost all horses lost. Fortunately, Princess Yaoji and Ji Xuanxuan were unharmed—a silver lining in the disaster.

  “It’s the Gray Wolves!” Yang Hao concluded after inspecting the sin foes in the dense woods. “Only they excel at mountain and forest combat, using such dirty tricks. Their weapons give them away.”

  “Gray Wolves?” Axel’s worry deepened. The Gray Wolves were notorious bandits across Eastern Xuan Kingdom, haunting its rugged peaks. Years of official crackdowns hadn’t touched them, yet they’d plundered merchants and vilges aplenty. Rumors hinted at a vassal king’s backing, expining their unchecked reign. Being targeted by them was grim news for Axel.

  A quick tally showed just over six hundred men still fit to march. The dead were hastily buried, the gravely wounded left behind with a messenger sent to the nearest county for rescue. Axel led the remaining six hundred toward Jin City.

  The journey was pgued by relentless traps and assaults. By the time they emerged from Ghost Wail Forest, another hundred had fallen. Still deep in the desote Dayao Mountains, they faced nearly a thousand li to the capital.

  “Young Master Axel, this won’t do,” Xia Feng said. Never seeing himself as a sve, he felt no qualms advising Axel directly. Nearby officers gaped, baffled by this sve’s audacity.

  Ignoring their stares, Xia Feng pointed at the circling Winged Folk overhead. “If they’re the bandits’ eyes, we’ll face ambushes and traps all the way. We won’t reach Jin City.”

  Xia Feng had little interest in these Eastern Xuanese games—they weren’t thrilling.

  But when he’d rolled out of the carriage with Yaoji, her trembling, pitiful form had sparked his instinctive urge to py hero.

  Even knowing it was just a game, he didn’t want this pure, Lin Daiyu-like girl falling to brutes like the Gray Wolves. Since he was heading to Jin City anyway, he’d help her out.

  “What’s your pn?” Axel asked, his gaze earnest, showing no disdain for Xia Feng’s status.

  Xia Feng shared his brewing scheme. “Openly repair the pnk road, secretly cross Chencang—or call it luring the tiger from the mountain, feinting east to strike west.”

  These were terms cribbed from martial arts novels, war films, and history—not from real battle experience. Still, they left Axel and his officers baffled. Yang Hao stammered, “Openly repair what road? Cross what Cang?”

  “Oh, simpler then,” Xia Feng said, a smug superiority swelling as these men clueless about famous tactics boosted his confidence like a victorious general. “Our goal’s getting the princess to the capital. The main force is too big a target, easy pickings for Winged Folk and bandits. So, use the bulk to draw them off, while a small, elite group escorts her under night’s cover via another route.”

  “You’d have me abandon hundreds of Artillery Corps lives?” Axel challenged, displeased.

  “What’s the big deal? The princess is a burden with them, and you can’t help them much anyway,” Xia Feng shrugged, his gamer’s mindset—task completion first, costs be damned—kicking in.

  Though the words stung Axel’s pride, he mulled it over. Staying with the corps offered no bandit counter; they’d all die together. This “crossing Chencang in secret” might work.

  He looked up suddenly. “I heard you saved the princess?”

  “No biggie—not worth mentioning!” Xia Feng said nonchantly.

  Gratitude flickered in Axel’s eyes. He whispered to an aide, who left camp and soon returned with a document. Axel scribbled on it and handed it to Xia Feng. “Your svery contract—I’m giving it back. You’re free now. With my signature, you can cim a new ID in any Eastern Prefecture city. Consider it thanks for risking your life for her.”

  “Thanks!” Xia Feng took it casually, stuffing it into his shirt without a gnce. Noticing the officers’ stunned looks, he checked himself, puzzled. “What? Something off about me?”

  Axel sighed. “You’re the oddest sve I’ve met. Freedom’s the greatest dream for most—when it drops from the sky, they’d kneel in thanks, weep, or dance in joy. You treat it like it’s nothing. You’re a mystery.”

  “You want me to kneel and thank you?” Xia Feng teased, exaggeratedly miming. “Too bad I’ve never had the chance—or pulled off such a tricky move. How about you show me first?”

  The officers bristled, itching to thrash this insolent ex-sve, but Axel held them back. Ignoring the jest, he said sincerely, “Troops win with skill, not numbers. I’d like you to join me in escorting the princess to Jin City.”

  The officers erupted. “With so many loyal soldiers, why trust this vital task to a lowly sve?”

  Amid their protests, Xia Feng cackled, jabbing at them. “Know why Axel’s the boss and you’re all ckeys? He’s got vision—sees this ‘lowly sve’ outshines all you ‘warriors’ combined.”

  The tent exploded. Hotheaded officers drew weapons, fists and bdes aiming for non-lethal spots before Axel could intervene.

  Cries of “Ow!” and “Agh!” rang out. When Axel barked a halt, three or four officers y groaning, clutching bloody noses.

  Xia Feng twirled a knife zily, grumbling, “Heavy, clumsy—way worse than a Swiss Army knife. But it’ll do.”

  He beckoned a fallen officer. “Borrowed this—gimme the sheath too.”

  The man fumed, but Axel’s command stayed his retaliation, leaving him red-faced.

  Axel unhooked his own sword, presenting it with both hands. “This ‘Cicada Wing Bde’ is light and sharp—not a divine weapon, but rare. Hope you won’t mind, Brother Xia.”

  “No compints!” Xia Feng grabbed it, drawing it with a cng. A white gleam fshed, chilling the tent. He swung it twice—light, agile, just over a foot long, perfect to carry. Grinning, he sheathed it. “I know you want me to risk my neck getting Yaoji to the capital. I’ll take this as my fee. A bde for my life—you’re still ahead.”

  “Brother Xia, you jest,” Axel said, blushing as Xia Feng hit the mark.

  He’d seen Xia Feng drop those officers—blinding speed, uncanny reflexes, unlike anything he’d witnessed. He’d aimed to win him over, offering his prized bde without hesitation. Seeing Xia Feng’s indifference to it, he thought: This guy’s appetite’s huge—not easily swayed.

  But with Xia Feng agreeing to escort Yaoji, Axel rexed, saluting him. “With Brother Xia, I’m confident in the road ahead.” He then huddled with Yang Hao and the officers, mapping out the decoy and route per Xia Feng’s pn.

  At dawn, the remaining five hundred-plus Artillery Corps, led by Yang Hao, marched west along the main road as pnned. A crude sedan, carried by two sturdy soldiers, held a maid in Yaoji’s clothes. Meanwhile, Xia Feng, Axel, Yaoji, and Ji Xuanxuan, disguised as hillfolk, hid in a secret cave, waiting for nightfall to slip through a side path out of Dayao Mountains toward the capital, a thousand li away.

  Ji Xuanxuan had pestered Axel to join after learning the pn, and he couldn’t risk her as bait with the corps, so he brought her along. The four watched the sky warily from the cave. The Winged Folk followed the army westward until they vanished. For safety, they’d wait until dark to move.

  “Why bother hauling the princess to the capital?” Xia Feng blurted during the dull wait, voicing a regret to Axel. “If I were you, I’d take her and run far away—never back to Eastern Ling.”

  His foot throbbed—Ji Xuanxuan had stomped it hard. He’d forgotten this scheming girl pined for Axel too, hating his rogue advice. Realizing the only two beauties he’d met here felt nothing for him—one even exploiting his charm—Xia Feng slumped, doubting his appeal.