Clutching her mother’s sleeve, Ha Mi whispered, "Elder Brother, what is going on?"
Ha Tuo watched until Fan Wanming and his team vanished from sight, then shook his head. "Let’s go in and sleep. If something happens, we will hear of it tomorrow."
Knowing it was useless to worry over the unknown, Ha Mi nodded. Supporting her mother, she said, "Mother, let’s go inside."
While Ha Tuo and his family returned to sleep, Gui Ying sat on top of the watchtower on the western city wall.
Leisurely fanning himself, he watched Fan Wanming and the others disappear into the night. Tilting his head back, he gazed at the star-filled sky.
A moment later, his brows lifted slightly. With a hint of surprise, he murmured, "Oh... the course of fate has changed. Besides the Gui Clan, there is actually someone who can alter fate and time."
"Things are getting more interesting." Snapping his folding fan shut, Gui Ying pondered for a moment.
Looking toward Fan Wanming’s direction, he rubbed his chin with a slight frown on his handsome face. "This won’t do. This young master must see this change of fate for myself."
As his voice was carried away by the night wind, Gui Ying vanished from the rooftop.
Half an hour later, Fan Wanming and the elite soldiers arrived at the Ji Army’s temporary camp.
Raising his hand, Fan Wanming ordered, "Wait."
As they stopped outside the camp, he scanned the silent surroundings. ’It’s too quiet.’
Still keeping his eyes on the surroundings, Fan Wanming reminded the others, "Be careful. Something is not right here."
The elite soldiers nodded and responded in unison, "Yes, General Fan."
After warning the elite soldiers, Fan Wanming lightly clamped the warhorse’s belly. The next second, the warhorse walked slowly into the camp.
After searching the entire camp, Fan Wanming and the elite soldiers still couldn’t find Ji Hui and his men.
Just when he was going to order a retreat, one of the elite soldiers spotted something in the distance.
"General Fan, look at that."
Following the elite soldier’s gaze, Fan Wanming saw the corpse. Dismounting from his horse, he ordered, "Two of you, come with me. The rest of you, keep watch for us."
With that, two elite soldiers followed Fan Wanming to check on the corpse while the others formed barricades around them and kept an eye on the surroundings.
As Fan Wanming walked closer to the corpse, he noticed something strange about it. Soon, he found the reason for the weirdness.
While Fan Wanming stood a few steps away from the corpse, one of the elite soldiers squatted down and examined it.
Moments later, he turned to look at Fan Wanming and reported, "General Fan, these wounds were caused by biting. But, strangely, these bite marks and tearing wounds don’t match any beasts that could exist in this place. Moreover..."
Seeing that he was hesitating, Fan Wanming calmly said, "Continue."
The elite soldier pointed at the tearing wound on the corpse’s arm and continued, "This kind of tearing wound seems more like it was done by humans instead of any beasts."
The moment Fan Wanming heard this, his expression sank. His fingers tightened around his sword as he said, "It’s the Yuezhi Tribe."
The elite soldier nodded and asked, "General Fan, should we investigate this matter or chase after Ji Hui?"
Fan Wanming looked at the wounds on the corpse for a moment and said, "This man should have just died not long ago. The wounds are not bleeding much, so he should have been eaten after he died."
Looking at the empty boxes, he added, "We haven’t seen anyone since we arrived in this place. There are only two explanations for this. One, the people from the Yuezhi Tribe had already left this place. The second one is..."
The elite soldiers’ eyes flickered, and the two of them completed Fan Wanming’s words in a low voice, "...or they are still hiding here and waiting for the next prey."
Realizing something, Fan Wanming walked back to his warhorse as he ordered, "Chase after Ji Hui."
Without wasting any more time, the elite soldiers mounted their warhorses and rushed out of the Ji Army’s temporary camp.
On their way, one of the elite soldiers noticed faint footprints left on the sand and said, "General Fan, there are footprints here."
Fan Wanming stopped, looked at the messy footprints, and thought, ’Based on the footprints, there should be more than thirty people passing by this place.’
Looking up, he checked the stars. A moment later, his eyes flickered with realization.
’These people are going to the east. There is only Xiquan City in that direction. So these people are hunting down Ji Hui? Not good. I need to get to him before it’s too late!’
With that in mind, Fan Wanming said, "Chase after them!"
While Fan Wanming and the elite soldiers rushed toward the east, A Lu was running for his life.
Carrying Ji Hui on his back, A Lu reached toward the leather bag tied to his waist and pulled out three hidden weapons.
Turning around, he circulated his internal energy into the hidden weapons. Aiming at the pursuers’ foreheads, he threw the hidden weapons with all his strength.
Not expecting the sudden attack, three of the Yuezhi Tribe’s soldiers were hit by the hidden weapons.
A second later, they fell heavily to the ground.
After successfully killing three more of their pursuers, A Lu turned around and sped up.
Behind him, the captain of the Yuezhi Tribe’s soldiers was furious when he saw three more of his soldiers die under A Lu’s hidden weapons.
When he noticed the other soldiers greedily staring at the three corpses, the captain kicked them and shouted, "Chase them! Otherwise, I will eat you!"
Trembling under the captain’s threats, the soldiers could only reluctantly give up the three corpses and continue their chase after A Lu.