The main camp had been relocated a mile away from the foot of West Mountain. The massive fire dyed half the sky crimson, its magnificent and wild colors churning into the dark curtain of night, blending yet standing out in stark relief.
A troop of horses suddenly burst from the side of the woods, and the crowd waiting around the camp instantly erupted into a frenzy.
"They’re out! They’re out!"
"It’s the Duke of Zhen and the others! They’ve returned safely!"
"What a stroke of luck! With a fire that big, it’s truly a blessing from the heavens that they could make it out alive!"
"Indeed, indeed..."
Having trekked through the fire, Wei Xiyang and his party were all covered in soot and ash, their faces streaked with black and white in a state of utter disarray. The hems of their robes were riddled with holes burned by stray sparks, but fortunately, they were unharmed and had made it out alive.
Wei Xiyang flipped down from his horse. Old Madame Wei and his son and daughter-in-law, who had been waiting at the front of the crowd, immediately swarmed forward.
Wei Xiyang felt a surge of relief, but now was not the time for delays. Just as he was about to speak, the Wei family members were shoved aside by a great force. It was Ye Zhao’s parents.
After searching the group repeatedly and confirming their son was not among them, Father Ye used his physical advantage to squeeze in front of Wei Xiyang. He asked anxiously, "Where is my son?! Where is my son, Ye Zhao? Why didn't I see him come out?!"
Wei Xiyang focused his gaze and recognized the enlarged face before him. He raised a hand, signaling for silence.
The surrounding crowd quieted down. He scanned the people around him and said in a heavy voice, "Ye Zhao, General Xiao, the Fourth Prince, and Jiaojiao are still on West Mountain. When we encountered them, an accident occurred. They were being pursued by assassins and fled toward the summit."
"Ah?!" Upon hearing this, Father Ye’s vision went dark. He felt lightheaded and began to topple backward, letting out a wail, "My son!"
To remain on the mountain during such a massive fire meant certain death. Furthermore, they were being hunted...
"Hey! Hey! Lord Ye! Lord Ye?!" The people nearby scrambled to catch Father Ye and dragged him to the side.
Ye Zhao, Wei Jiaojiao, the Fourth Prince of Wei, and a High General of Dongling—the status of any one of them was significant.
Not a single person present looked relaxed. Some sighed with heavy hearts, others wore expressions of deep distress. The Dongling envoys were even more pale, looking as though they had lost their own parents, already breaking into tears or shouting curses.
Amidst the cacophony, Mother Ye stared blankly at the forest engulfed in raging flames. Her expression was a total void, and two deep red flickers of fire danced within her dark pupils. The fire before her occupied her entire vision and mind.
"Son... my son..."
Two faint breaths escaped her trembling lips, vanishing into the air in an instant.
The scene was chaotic. Just as Eunuch Babao was about to return to the imperial tent to report the matter to the Emperor of Wei, a voice rang out from the edge of the crowd. "Um... I don't think Ye Zhao and the others will necessarily die."
The tone was three parts confusion and seven parts taking it for granted.
No one wanted to pay attention to the speaker.
Jiang Ziqi looked left and right. Seeing that no one believed him, he brushed the hair by his cheek with some embarrassment and continued, "After all, before entering the mountain, Ye Zhao had Master Yunting take a separate group of people out for some unknown purpose. I suspect he made other arrangements..."
Before he could finish, Jiang Ziqi was startled into a halt by the sudden, scorching gazes directed at him, and even the end of his sentence went out of tune.
The first to react was Pei Shian. Supported by Xie Yusong, he had been standing by his horse staring into the distance in a daze. But almost the moment he heard Jiang Ziqi’s words, a spark of light suddenly flickered in his hollow, lifeless eyes. "What else did he say?"
Xie Yusong also understood something. No wonder he hadn't been able to find Pei Yunting earlier. So that was it...
Wei Xiyang strode toward Jiang Ziqi, his serious face appearing even more fierce due to his anxiety. "Speak! What else did that brat tell you? Where is Yunting? What did he tell him to do?"
"I—I—I don't know!"
With his shoulders firmly gripped by Wei Xiyang’s large hands, Jiang Ziqi felt an immense pressure from within. He was incredibly nervous, but he tried his best to steady his voice. "Ye Zhao left word with me before he went, telling us not to worry about him. At the latest, he would bring the assassins back by tomorrow morning."
"And," Jiang Ziqi continued in a low voice, "he would find the true culprit hidden among us—the existence he should have uprooted back then."
As Jiang Ziqi finished, the expressions of everyone present changed drastically.
Pei Shian and the others froze on the spot.
There was no doubt that Jiang Ziqi was relaying Ye Zhao’s exact words. But why did he say... *back then*?
Did... did this mean...
"He... he remembers?!" The expression on Wei Xiyang’s face was momentarily stunned.
Jiang Ziqi didn't say yes or no; he simply shook his head honestly and said, "I don't know."
After saying that, he shut his mouth and shrank back, standing there quietly without another word.
Seeing Jiang Ziqi’s cramped and bewildered appearance, everyone knew he wasn't lying, and they all began to ponder.
Only Xie Yusong took an extra look at Jiang Ziqi. He felt that... something about the man seemed strange?
But before he could think further, a brilliant firework suddenly exploded in the dark red sky in the distance.
"That’s... a Signal Flare!" Wei Feng’s gaze sharpened as he looked toward the summit of West Mountain.
A flash of inspiration struck Wei Xiyang’s mind, and he suddenly shouted, "Bring me the map of the West Mountain area!"
***
Meanwhile, at the edge of the cliff on West Mountain, Ye Zhao and the others were surrounded by a large group of men in black.
Seeing Ye Zhao’s sudden actions, Xiao Hongfei narrowed his eyes slightly. "You were prepared?"
The two stood back-to-back, shielding the two younger ones in the middle.
Ye Zhao let out a light chuckle, showing no signs of tension. His eyes remained fixed on the wary enemies surrounding them. "Otherwise? Did you think I ran over here specifically to die with you all in some tragic romance?"
Xiao Hongfei scoffed, "Tch... With you? Forget it."
Ye Zhao didn't care about his response. He shifted his gaze to the people eyeing them like tigers watching their prey and mocked them unreservedly, "I really have to thank you for setting this fire. How does it feel to have cut off your own retreat and be unable to escape even with wings?"
Just as he finished speaking, people were suddenly seen climbing up the edge of the cliff.
The leader was none other than Pei Yunting. Behind him, one Yulin Guard after another was climbing up using ropes.
The men in black were startled but reacted quickly. A portion of them rushed toward Pei Yunting’s side, intending to cut the ropes, while the attacks against Ye Zhao’s duo became even more ferocious, as if they intended to fight to the death.
"A pack of mad dogs," Ye Zhao cursed under his breath, a cold light flashing in his narrow eyes.
"Then you’d better be careful not to get bitten." As his voice dropped, a silver light shot out. Xiao Hongfei’s long spear was like a flood dragon emerging from the sea, unstoppable. In an instant, he was locked in combat.
Ye Zhao’s martial prowess was weaker. He used every ounce of his strength to barely fend off the attacks of those before him. Wei Yang hid behind him, screaming in terror, one moment calling for his Imperial Father and Brother, the next denouncing Ye Zhao’s unreliability.
Fortunately, as more and more Yulin Guards brought by Pei Yunting climbed up, the tide of battle gradually turned.
Soon, the ones in the disadvantageous position were the men in black.
"How the tables have turned..."
With the addition of strong reinforcements, Ye Zhao considered himself a weak scholar who didn't understand martial arts. Fighting and killing really weren't suitable for him.
Xiao Hongfei, who was also being protected in the central area, glanced sideways at the man beside him. Ye Zhao looked completely relaxed, having entirely forgotten the tension of being hunted just moments ago.
He couldn't help but say, "You seem quite proud of yourself?"
Ye Zhao looked back at him and said as if it were only natural, "Shouldn't I be?"
"Your plan didn't fail, and it saved our lives. That’s good. But don't you still owe me an explanation?"
He was answered by Ye Zhao’s puzzled hum. "Hmm?"
Xiao Hongfei pointed out the truth directly. "This fire in the forest today. And, they said they came to assassinate me, but the moment you arrived, those people wanted nothing more than to hack you to pieces. Such deep-seated hatred... I seem more like someone who was dragged into your mess."
He thought for a moment and added, "And that Huhante who died in the tent. The person behind the scenes—the one they truly want to deal with is you, isn't it?"
"Heh..." Ye Zhao didn't deny it. Instead, he admitted it calmly. "I’ve caused General Xiao some trouble."
The man before him gave a reserved nod, looking as though he truly felt some embarrassment for involving others. But upon closer inspection of his eyes, posture, and that ambiguous tone in his apology, Xiao Hongfei wasn't sure if the sense of casualness he felt from the other man was real.
As his gaze lingered on that face for too long, his attention shifted unconsciously. He suddenly asked, "When you call me General Xiao, are you addressing me?"
His tone carried three parts doubt and seven parts conjecture.
Ye Zhao was busy observing the surrounding battle. Hearing this, he was confused. "Otherwise? Do I know a second general surnamed Xiao?"
After Ye Zhao said this, the other man didn't answer. It was only after a while that his voice rang out, sounding slightly muffled. "There is one. You called his name not long ago."
*Hmm?* Ye Zhao turned his head to look at him, clearly not remembering the incident the man was referring to.
Xiao Hongfei’s gaze was fixed on him. "My name isn't Xiao Mu. I am Xiao Hongfei. Xiao Mu is my adoptive father."
Ye Zhao was stunned for a moment. A certain scene flashed through his mind. It seemed... back in the woods, when he had fired that arrow, in his haste, he had indeed shouted a short phrase: "Xiao Mu’s godson!"
Right, that was it. At the time, he didn't know what the man was called. In a surge of adrenaline, he had shouted that for some inexplicable reason.
As it turned out... his voice had cracked halfway through, and the last three words were silenced. The most deafening part that remained was—"Xiao Mu."
To have such an embarrassing thing happen to him, Ye Zhao wished he could have a bout of intermittent amnesia.
He gave a stiff tug at the corner of his mouth. "That was... a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. A slip of the tongue, I called the wrong person."
To his surprise, Xiao Hongfei’s expression didn't change at Ye Zhao’s explanation. He only raised an eyebrow slightly and said with an unreadable tone, "Do my adoptive father and I look very much alike?"
How would he know? Ye Zhao expressed it diplomatically: "That is a question you shouldn't be asking me."
*You should ask those who have seen both you and your adoptive father.*
Xiao Hongfei replied, "If I don't ask you, who should I ask? You looked at me but called me by my adoptive father’s name. Before this, no one has ever confused the two of us. You are the first."
*Ugh...*
He really didn't do it on purpose! Ye Zhao had a bitterness in his heart he couldn't voice. He chose silence.
Fortunately, while they were talking, the Yulin Guards brought by Pei Yunting had captured all the men in black. Aside from the large number of dead on the ground, only four were captured alive, all of whom were knocked unconscious and had their hands and feet bound.
Pei Yunting wiped the blood off his blade and looked at the two men who were chatting. "The targets have been captured. We should not linger."
Desperate for someone to bail him out, Ye Zhao immediately responded with excitement, "Right, let's wrap this up and head back."
Pei Yunting didn't pay much mind to Ye Zhao’s sudden enthusiasm. Having received a response, he immediately ordered his men to prepare for the retreat.
When they had initially checked the map of West Mountain, they knew the summit was a clearing without trees or other flammable materials. Though they had escaped the disaster by a stroke of luck, the layers of heat and smoke blown up the mountainside by the wind still made things quite uncomfortable.
***
