Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 829 - 688 We Haven’t Lost Yet

Chapter 829: Chapter 688 We Haven’t Lost Yet

When Xunfu Lei Li hurried to the scene, he discovered that the ground was littered with remnants of flesh and blood, as well as scattered fragments of the king’s robe.

"What is this?"

"It’s Prince Ning Yu Dianpei! He attempted to flee and resist and was killed by me."

Li Xuan’s expression was indifferent, as if he were speaking of something trivial, "Have someone take care of the remains later; give him a decent burial with commoner’s rites."

The moment Xunfu Lei Li heard this, his face twitched. He had actually glanced over from a distance just a moment ago, and Prince Ning was standing still on this hill, not appearing as someone trying to flee or resist.

However, Lei Li not only refrained from questioning it but was filled with admiration for Li Xuan.

This County Prince of Fenyang was benevolent when he should be, yet capable of making tough decisions when necessary.

Keeping Prince Ning would have been a thorny issue for Lei Li himself, for all the court officials, and even for the Emperor and the Jianguo.

If the Emperor had been older, it would have been easy to simply poison the man. The problem is that the Emperor is still in swaddling clothes, so this decision could only be made by the Jianguo Princess and the regent ministers, which would have led to significant controversy within the court and the public.

But with the death of Prince Ning in battle, there are no more problems. The royal family cannot complain, and they likely would not dare to say anything.

Moreover, Li Xuan’s handling was extremely clean. The body was smashed to bits, and even Prince Ning’s Primordial Spirit was partly devoured by the immortal artifact in Li Xuan’s hands.

The only pity goes to those tasked with collecting Prince Ning’s remains; dealing with the mess of shattered flesh and blood would not be easy.

"Your subordinate understands!" Xunfu Lei Li bowed slightly with a solemn expression, "This issue shall be properly handled; Your Highness need not worry."

He knew that his leap to the position of Xunfu of Jiangxi was solely due to Li Xuan’s support.

According to the rules of the officialdom, he had already become a member of County Prince of Fenyang’s faction.

Lei Li’s greatest fear had been backing the wrong person, but now, he had no such concern.

"I’m naturally at ease with Xunfu Lei handling matters."

Li Xuan caught the meaning behind Lei Li’s words and couldn’t help but smile.

He wasn’t actually worried that the matter with Prince Ning would leave any troubles behind, but he was still satisfied with Lei Li’s loyalty.

Li Xuan then looked toward the south, "How is the recruitment and surrender of the deserters going? How many fleeing soldiers do you expect there are?"

"Approximately two to three thousand have scattered; however, it is not a big issue. These men are likely still east of Gan River, either dispersed in the wilderness or hiding in civilian homes. Your subordinate will soon send people to search thoroughly."

After answering, Lei Li once again expressed his admiration, "Your Highness is benevolent; those deserters have nowhere to run."

He spoke from his heart. On the east side of the battlefield was the Gan River and to the west was the western shore of Poyang Lake; Prince Ning’s rebel army was utterly trapped on this narrow peninsula with no means to escape.

Li Xuan, however, did not opt for slaughter and instead focused on compelling surrenders, doing his best to gather the soldiers and officers of Prince Ning’s army.

Lei Li was all too aware of the damage fleeing soldiers could do to local regions.

Like in north Zhili, after the battle at the Chaobai River, incidents of burglary, kidnapping, and murder in north Zhili increased tenfold, and the transport of grain along the waterways was no longer safe. The Court had to invest much effort in suppressing bandits.

Li Xuan nodded slightly, "Then out of these surrendered soldiers, how many does Xunfu Lei estimate can be reorganized to serve the Court? How much time will it take?"

Lei Li narrowed his eyes and, without hesitation, assured him with a fist salute, "Your Highness, if the Court can promise to waive their crimes of rebellion, then within five days at most, your subordinate can reorganize an army of 120,000 capable of battle for Your Highness. From them, 30,000 penalty soldiers can be chosen as the vanguard!"

The term ’vanguard,’ derived from ’Six Secrets of War: Wufeng,’ signifies being the foremost, outstanding, and an unstoppable force.

In the armies of former Zhao and later Zhao, elite vanguard camps were formed as the most elite troops.

In the Jin Dynasty, however, it also carried the connotation of readiness to die.

Lei Li wondered how Xiangyang, with its fortified walls, could lack such warriors willing to break through the forefront and storm the walls in battle?

The three thousand battle soldiers from Prince Ning’s three guards could serve as the heavy hammer in attacking Xiangyang.

Upon hearing this, Li Xuan knew Lei Li misunderstood, but he had no intention of explaining.

His original thought was that Hu Guang had been at peace for so long that the Weisuo Institute had become neglected and was unable to summon many capable soldiers.

Furthermore, the Shenji right and left camp soldiers and Liaodong warriors under Li Xuan’s command were about to head towards Xiangyang.

With Jiangxi’s military strength depleted, Li Xuan was truly uneasy about leaving so many surrendered soldiers behind.

Yet those penalty soldiers who would be taken along would indeed bear the heaviest losses in the battle for Xiangyang.

"Then I ask Xunfu Lei to undertake this matter promptly. In a maximum of seven days, I will lead my army toward Xiangyang."

Li Xuan knew that Lei Li was thoroughly familiar with the local military and civil situation; hence, entrusting the reorganization of the surrendered soldiers to Lei Li was the most appropriate course of action.

※※※※

At the moment of Prince Ning Yu Dianpei’s annihilation by Li Xuan, Dasiming, who controlled the ’Ziwu Optic Disk,’ was suspended in the sky above ’Hanzhong Mansion.’

She held a signaling rune, her aura cold as ice.

News that Nanchang had fallen and the newly appointed lord of Zimei Palace, Shi Weichen, was slain by Li Xuan, had been gradually reaching her.

However, she was still far in ’Hanzhong Mansion,’ almost eight or nine thousand miles from Nanchang.

"There’s no need to go now!" Dasiming took a deep breath, suppressing the shock and rage in her chest, "With the loss of Nanchang and Weichen killed in battle, Prince Ning’s cause is beyond salvation."

She was still unaware that Prince Ning’s land and sea forces north of Nanchang had been progressively routed, yet she could infer the ultimate fate of Prince Ning’s army.

Those who accompanied Dasiming on the campaign to Nanchang couldn’t help but change their expressions.

They grieved the death of their colleague and were shocked by Li Xuan’s unbeatable troops.

The newly appointed lord of Baihu Palace spoke with a hoarse voice, "Dasiming, the fact that Li Xuan has defeated Prince Ning Yu Dianpei will certainly shake the whole situation. Heroes across the land, along with the royal families and princes, will likely adopt a wait-and-see approach. This could put our Jinque Heaven Palace’s plan in jeopardy, potentially leading to a complete loss."

He knew that originally Dasiming had intended to trigger a cold wave in the north, causing ice rivers to emerge prematurely. In the south, they planned to use Prince Ning Yu Dianpei as the leader to incite a rising of the heroes, kindling a massive war, thereby shaking the foundation of the Jin Court.

But they had not expected Li Xuan to feign an attack in one direction and divert his forces to launch a surprise attack on Nanchang, ignoring the more threatening and malevolent Prince Yi Yu Jianshen.

This heavy left hook had them seeing stars and nearly unable to stand.

"Xiangyang must not be lost again."

Dasiming flicked her sleeve and spread out a map within the ’Ziwu Optic Disk’, "Now that Li Xuan has defeated Prince Ning, he will inevitably attack Xiangyang. Xiangyang is the heart of the world, the crossroads of seven provinces, connecting heaven and earth, and reaching from the river to the sea. As long as the son of Prince Xiang holds this place, he can make the Jin Court uneasy."

"The question is, can we hold it?"

That was from the lord of Qinglong Palace, who spoke expressionlessly, "County Prince Fenyang is invincible in battle, and always prevails in his attacks. He is now coming with a great force, and his troops have the advantage. His momentum is like the rolling Yangtze River, overwhelming everything in its path. I’m afraid that Xiangyang won’t be able to hold on for long."

"We must hold it even if it seems impossible!"

Dasiming hummed softly, her eyes revealing a hint of murderous intent, "Xiangyang is a strong fortress. Later Zhao held Xiangyang against Mongo for decades. I refuse to believe that with over 200,000 soldiers of the Xiangyang Fan and our full support from the Jinque Heaven Palace, we can’t hold it for five months?"

She believed that after a stalemate near Xiangyang for three to five months, the situation would improve. The heroes of the world would then see through the Court’s true strength.

The royal families’ and princes’ fear of Li Xuan would be greatly alleviated.

The lord of Qinglong Palace guessed her thoughts and could not help but snort coldly. He thought that the current situation was completely different from the battle of Xiangyang.

Just then, Dasiming glared coldly at him, "If you dare to hold back in this battle, I will strip you of your title as Palace Master! I mean what I say."

At that moment, Dasiming’s expression shifted, and she turned her gaze outside the ’Ziwu Optic Disk’, where she saw a one-armed man looking at this place with a cold and merciless gaze.

"Master Zhongliu?"

Dasiming’s heart chilled, and then she reached out and dragged the one-armed man over with an overpowering force, causing the entire Ziwu Optic Disk to emit a sharp ’crackling’ sound.

"It’s rare that you’d step out of Jinque Heaven Palace," the eyes of Master Zhongliu were burning with a faint fire. "Now that you no longer have the protection of the Book of Jinque, we can have a fair fight."

By then, his power had already seeped into the Ziwu Optic Disk. Rune after rune inside this Immortal Artifact shattered.

Dasiming reacted quickly, teleporting out of the Ziwu Optic Disk and slapping it, sending the treasure flying a hundred miles away.

"You go to Xiangyang first; I will follow shortly!"

At this time, she had already dragged the one-armed man into a deathly ash-colored space.

In the center of this space was a high platform, with a broken guillotine blade.

After entering, Dasiming pointed at Master Zhongliu from a distance.

"Heavenly Law! Seal!"

In an instant, the chains that filled the ’Tianxingtai’ space writhed like dragons and snakes, twining towards Master Zhongliu.

But these chains had barely gotten halfway before they froze in place.

Master Zhongliu had already employed his Rule of Extreme Heaven ’Hunxiao’.

This was a powerful law that grew stronger with a stronger opponent and weaker with a weaker one, allowing Master Zhongliu to remain undefeated in most situations.

The chains, though wrapping towards him, could never find their actual target.

A cold smile played on the lips of Master Zhongliu, "Is this the best you can do? You have become much weaker than you were before. Without an array to aid you, you’re not much."

As he spoke, raging flames surrounded Dasiming.

This was another of Master Zhongliu’s Rule of Extreme Heaven, ’Ranmie’!

Unfazed by the fire, Dasiming pointed at the broken piece of the guillotine blade on the Tianxingtai, "Heavenly Law! Zhansha!"

In that instant, the broken blade turned into a streak of light that slashed toward Master Zhongliu.

Though ’Hunxiao’ had affected its target, the blade still managed to cut a deep wound to the bone on Master Zhongliu’s left shoulder.

By the time Master Zhongliu dealt with the blade’s attack, Dasiming had already vanished.

He quickly left the Tianxingtai space, but he couldn’t see Dasiming in any direction.

Frowning, Master Zhongliu huffed, thinking the woman had managed to escape cleanly. At the same moment, the wound on his shoulder healed as if it had never been.

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, Dasiming suddenly spat out a mouthful of black blood, which burst into flames the moment it left her mouth.

She appeared uninjured, but Master Zhongliu’s ’Ranmie’ had already incinerated her internal organs.

Plus, the lingering effects of Shaosiming’s Rule of Extreme Heaven within her made Dasiming extremely uncomfortable.

Yet, without showing any emotion, she continued on her way towards Xiangyang.

Master Zhongliu was indeed a formidable enemy, particularly in her current state, where she found it very difficult to counter his ’Ranmie’ technique.

But in the vicinity of Xiangyang, he was still no match for her.