Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

After taking care of Lei Zhen...

Lu Chao suddenly looked toward Yangzhou City. It felt as if every bone in his body was answering a summons—a call from the Heavenly Destiny Water Chant Saint Bone. The Saint Bone was getting closer.

Clenching his fists tightly, Lu Chao said, ”Lu Hanyan is here. Let’s go!”

This still wasn’t the time to face Lu Hanyan directly. The gap in their Martial Dao and the disparity in their troop numbers were both far, far too great.

At Lu Chao’s words, the two thousand remaining soldiers of Azure Flame immediately stifled their excited shouts.

They followed Lu Chao and left the scene.

The direction they fled was, shockingly, back toward Yinzhou City.

Just then, Uncle Leng caught up to Lu Chao and asked, ”Hero Lu, why are we still running toward Yinzhou?”

Guan Zanyi had made it perfectly clear.

If they failed to rescue Lei Zhen, their heads would roll. Running toward Yinzhou now was practically serving themselves up for Guan Zanyi to punish.

Uncle Leng couldn’t understand.

Fan Jinhua and the others couldn’t understand either. One by one, they all turned to look at Lu Chao.

”We’ve made a fool of her twice in a row and killed her Personal Guard. With Lu Hanyan’s personality, she’ll hate us to the bone.”

”After she takes Yangzhou City, she’s bound to investigate and find out that Lei Zhen stole the credit for our victory. As soon as she sees the bodies of Lei Zhen and his men, she’ll assume we did it.”

”Her army will immediately lock onto our position, so of course we can’t go in any other direction.”

A chill ran down everyone’s spines as they listened to Lu Chao’s explanation. If Lu Hanyan’s army locked onto them and gave chase, their chances of survival would be slim.

”We have to return to Yinzhou City, then circle around Yinzhou to enter Tiger Flame territory.”

”Let Guan Zanyi’s Tiger Flame troops, and maybe even the Hundred Countries Army, bog Lu Hanyan down so she ignores us.”

GULP...

Everyone swallowed hard and nodded heavily.

For the Descendants of Azure Flame, they still had no other path. They could only enter Tiger Flame territory and see it through to the bitter end.

Wu Caicai, however, hesitated before asking softly, ”We’ve thoroughly offended Guan Zanyi. After this battle, we’ll probably still be held accountable for failing to rescue Lei Zhen. Why don’t we go to another kingdom first?”

At this, the group looked at Lu Chao again...

”Killing Lei Zhen and his son wipes the slate clean for the failed assassination.”

”Besides, it doesn’t matter. Guan Zanyi, the other Flame Countries—they’re all the same. Whether we offended Guan Zanyi or not, all the major Flame Countries want is to eliminate the Descendants of the Azure Flame Sect.”

”What we need to do next isn’t to deal with Guan Zanyi.”

”It’s to make the major Flame Countries agree to give the Descendants of the Azure Flame Sect a place to survive.”

As Lu Chao spoke, Wu Caicai and Uncle Leng fell silent. The excitement the other Descendants of Azure Flame had felt moments ago vanished instantly.

No matter what they did, all they wanted was to survive. Just to live.

To not be eliminated by the major Flame Countries.

It was just as he’d said before. They didn’t even have the option of becoming bandits.

Now, when the Descendants of Azure Flame looked toward Yinzhou City, it seemed like a ravenous beast ready to devour them.

”Don’t overthink it. Let’s just get through this immediate crisis first.”

”Pick up the pace!”

Lu Chao’s voice became deep and firm again, instilling a strong sense of confidence in everyone.

With that, they all clenched their fists once more and followed Lu Chao, quickening their pace.

It was just as Lu Chao had said. At the very least, Lei Zhen and his son had now taken the blame for the failed assassination.

They should have died in Canyang Valley. At least for now, they were still alive.

...

Behind them, at the site where Lei Zhen and his men had been killed, Lu Hanyan arrived with her troops.

She stared intently at the corpses of Lei Zhen and the others, her voice icy. ”We can be almost certain that Fan Jinhua is Fan Changcun’s grandson, the current leader of the Descendants of Azure Flame. That’s why he was sent to assassinate me.”

”And that’s why this piece of trash surnamed Lei felt so emboldened to steal his credit.”

”So Fan Jinhua took this opportunity to turn back and cut him down. Fan Jinhua is just ahead... Pursue!”

Just as Lu Chao had predicted...

After breaking through Yangzhou City, Lu Hanyan had immediately searched for Fan Jinhua’s whereabouts, learning about the stolen credit in the process. When she saw Lei Zhen’s body, she naturally guessed that Fan Jinhua had killed him in a fit of rage.

And the latest intelligence she had received was precisely about Fan Jinhua’s other identity.

Before, she couldn’t be sure...

But now she was certain: Fan Jinhua was Fan Changcun’s grandson.

’Fan Jinhua... what impressive Soldier Dao abilities. Fan Changcun’s grandson is truly no ordinary person.’

Lu Hanyan’s voice was grim. She still believed Fan Jinhua was the one commanding everything. As for Lu Chao of the Life-taking Bone, she had completely forgotten such a person existed.

With a single command, Lu Hanyan led her soldiers in pursuit.

But wary of the so-called Soldier Dao tactics of Fan Changcun’s grandson, she didn’t dare to pursue too aggressively, fearing an ambush up ahead.

...

Below the walls of Yinzhou City, Lu Chao returned with his two thousand men.

Guan Zanyi, who was waiting in high alert, couldn’t help but widen his eyes in fury when he saw them. ”Fan Jinhua, you dare to come back?”

’Shouldn’t they have taken the chance to circle around and flee?’

Below the city wall, Lu Chao stepped forward and replied, ”Grand General Guan, General Lei Zhen and his men were killed by Lu Hanyan. We were too late to save them.”

’Save them my ass. You definitely didn’t even try. But why did you come back?’

On the surface, of course, Guan Zanyi couldn’t ask that. Instead, he said in a low voice, ”How many soldiers does Lu Hanyan have?”

Lu Chao replied, ”They are everywhere, in every direction. Too many to count.”

At once, the faces of the people on the walls of Yinzhou City turned pale...

’Now we get why the two thousand men from Azure Flame ran back! Dammit, they couldn’t escape! There are Great Wu Soldiers and Horses in every direction!’

’This... this is terrifying!’

”Grand General Guan, let us into the city, quickly,” Lu Chao added hurriedly.

As soon as he said this, Guan Zanyi’s expression turned frigid. ”For now, I, the Grand General, will not punish you for the crime of failing to rescue Lei Zhen. I command you to go and assassinate Lu Hanyan at once. If you succeed... you will be handsomely rewarded!”

’You humiliated me, and you still want to enter the city? You only think of coming inside after realizing you can’t escape the encirclement of Great Wu’s forces?’

’Not a chance...’

Right now, the envoys from the various countries, and even people within Tiger Flame, were all secretly laughing at him, Guan Zanyi. They said that in his attempt to snatch glory for Lei Zhen and his son, he had been completely duped by Fan Jinhua, making him look like a total idiot.

So now, of course, Guan Zanyi wanted the two thousand Descendants of Azure Flame to hurry back and get themselves killed.

Hearing this, Lu Chao feigned anger and said, ”No matter what, we still have two thousand men! At the very least, we can help you defend the city!”

’Two thousand men? What damn use is that?’

Guan Zanyi’s gaze grew colder. He waved his hand dismissively. ”Either go get Lu Hanyan’s head, or stay and defend from below the walls.”

Remaining below the walls was a certain death sentence.

Guan Zanyi felt an immense sense of satisfaction. Seeing Lu Chao’s seemingly devastated expression was quite thrilling.

Finally, Lu Chao said, ”Thank you, Grand General Guan, for not punishing us for our failure to save General Lei Zhen. We’ll be on our way.”

With that, he abruptly turned his horse and led his men away to the east...

Watching the two thousand Descendants of Azure Flame depart, Guan Zanyi sneered, ”There are Great Wu Soldiers and Horses in every direction. What damn use is there in going east?”

The moment the words left his mouth, Guan Zanyi suddenly frowned. ’Wait, did I get duped again somehow?’

...

Lu Chao, now leading his men east along the perimeter of Yinzhou City, couldn’t help but laugh.

’An unexpected bonus. The matter of failing to save Lei Zhen and his son has been settled.’

’Guan Zanyi said it in front of so many people. He can’t use this as an excuse to punish us anymore.’