Chapter 123: The Soldiers, to Protect Daxuan, Resolve to Capture Xiao Qidi!

"My subordinate speculates that his conspiracy is…" the Deputy General said word for word, "to destroy Daxuan!"

The General was stunned for a moment, then immediately wore a helpless expression, smiled and shook his head, "I was expecting you to say something else! That's simply impossible! Which His Majesty would want to destroy his own country? Even a foolish or tyrannical king would only cause the nation's ruin due to his own problems or lack of ability, but would never intend to destroy his own country."

"He would!" the Deputy General still insisted on his view.

The General was speechless, waved his hand and said, "Enough, you should go rest, stop overthinking."

"General, please listen to my detailed explanation," the Deputy General said seriously, "May I ask, General, if you were a ruler of a nation and held an enemy nation's Crown Prince as a hostage, what would you do?"

The General replied, "Of course you would use this important hostage to obtain the greatest benefit; it can serve as a crucial leverage over the enemy nation, making them tread carefully, and also compel the enemy to cede territories or cities—there are endless advantages."

The Deputy General said, "Exactly, even a warrior like us can think of that. But what about Xiao Qidi? What did he do?"

The General furrowed his brow, "His Majesty's sudden beheading of the Yu Guo Crown Prince is indeed... hard to understand."

"Xiao Qidi not only beheaded the Yu Guo Crown Prince, but also slashed the Yu Guo envoy who came to negotiate!" the Deputy General continued, "He even sent someone back to Yu Guo carrying two heads! General, don't you think this is deliberately provoking Yu Guo, ensuring a full-scale war between the two nations? Moreover, having done it so decisively, Yu Guo will certainly fight Daxuan to the death! There is no chance of peace!"

The General thought briefly, "Perhaps... this is His Majesty's aim? He wants a life-or-death battle with Yu Guo, making the situation so final that he cuts off any retreat. I guess this is to prevent the ministers in the court who oppose war from being able to block it. I have heard that some ministers in the court still hope to reconcile with Yu Guo and turn enemy into friend."

The Deputy General immediately asked, "Fine, even if that point is barely plausible, why then does Xiao Qidi mobilize our hundred thousand troops, demand we march light and fast, and not even prepare logistical supplies?"

"This..." the General's brows furrowed tighter; after thinking, he could only shake his head.

The Deputy General said, "The life-or-death war between Daxuan and Yu Guo is already nailed down and unavoidable, and the border between the two lies in the Xi Tun Guan region. Whether we launch a preemptive attack or prepare defenses, we cannot bypass this place. Moreover, it is remote, barren, and has been in drought for months, so we cannot obtain grain or supply support here... General, would you say this is intentionally weakening our combat power?"

The General's complexion grew even worse; he pursed his lips and remained silent.

The Deputy General continued, "Under such circumstances we cannot possibly defeat Yu Guo; then Xiao Qidi will have a reason to keep reinforcing at Xi Tun Guan, and again use the same method to weaken the reinforcements, enough to exhaust Daxuan's hundreds of thousands of troops!"

The General's eyes widened in shock, "Do you mean that His Majesty is helping Yu Guo?"

After saying that, he quickly shook his head to reject it, "No, no, that doesn't make sense! Yu Guo's king has only one sole son; how could His Majesty help them by beheading the Crown Prince? It's utterly unreasonable!"

"Because he is not helping Yu Guo," the Deputy General asserted, "He actually wants Daxuan and Yu Guo to both be crippled, or—mutually destroyed! That exactly matches what I first said, to destroy Daxuan! Yu Guo is merely a tool for him to achieve this plot!"

After sorting through the cause and effect, it almost completely matched the Deputy General's speculation.

The General grew increasingly nervous as he listened, but although he believed about seventy to eighty percent, there remained a crucial factor he could not fathom.

He paced back and forth, his face composed, and said, "What you just said is all reasonable, but... as I said at the start, this Daxuan is His Majesty's country. Why would he plot to destroy Daxuan? If Daxuan is gone, it only harms him, with no benefit at all!"

"He does!" the Deputy General continued, "There have been rumors that Xiao Qidi is not the son of the former king; some say he is the illegitimate son of Si Tu Wei and Jiang Peihuan, others claim his biological father is someone else. However, from Xiao Qidi's handling of the Si Tu Wei case, the rumor that he is Si Tu Wei's illegitimate son is disproved, leaving only one possibility: his biological father is a person from one of the other five vassal states besides Xuan Guo and Yu Guo, or even a neighboring Barbarian small state!"

"Hiss..." the General inhaled a cold breath, his pupils suddenly constricted, "You mean..."

The Deputy General clasped his fists, "Having analyzed up to this point, General, you should understand that Xiao Qidi is highly likely acting according to his father's plan to annihilate Daxuan! If his father is one of the other five Zhong Yuan states excluding Yu Guo and Xuan Guo, then his purpose is naturally to eliminate two rivals for his own country. If his father is from a Barbarian small state, then it is to sow chaos in Zhong Yuan and take advantage, for the surrounding barbarians have coveted Zhong Yuan since antiquity; their thief's heart to seize our Huaxia lands and extinguish our Huaxia lineage has never faded!"

His words made the General break out in cold sweat down his back.

At first, when he heard the Deputy General say Xiao Qidi had a plot to destroy Daxuan, he didn't believe it at all.

But now, all the signs and deductions interlock with overwhelming logic.

The more he thought, the more terrified he became.

"General!" the Deputy General fell to his knees, "Whether Xiao Qidi aims to eliminate Daxuan for any of the nations, or to disrupt Zhong Yuan for the barbarians' benefit, we cannot stand by and watch his scheme succeed! Otherwise Daxuan will perish, and the people will be drenched in blood and fire!"

The General unconsciously clenched his fist, the veins on his temples bulging, "But... your speculation, though reasonable, cannot be fully proven."

The Deputy General said, "We are already in a desperate situation with no time left! General, now the fate of our hundred thousand troops hangs in the balance, and so does Daxuan's survival! Please, General..."

The General's face showed inner conflict, "The Daxuan army has always been loyal to the King of Daxuan; could it be... could I now betray His Majesty..."

"General! You cannot hesitate any longer!" the Deputy General, his face full of grief and anger, "We did not betray him; he betrayed us and Daxuan first! Even if we die, even if we bear the crime of rebelling against the king, we must protect Daxuan!"

Blood oozed from the General's clenched fist. He looked up, let out a long sigh, then steadied his gaze, "Send me a squad to prepare, covertly lurking behind me. I will go meet Xiao Qidi shortly; you must act at the right moment, sparing no cost, to capture him, regardless of my life or death."

"Yes, General!"

The Deputy General, tears in his eyes, accepted the order and resolutely rose to leave the camp tent.

About the time a incense stick burned out, the Deputy General reported that the personnel had been arranged and all preparations completed.

The General nodded and went alone to the outside of the camp.

He learned from a patrolling soldier that Xiao Qidi had just come and left, and had been outside the camp, seemingly waiting for something; he was alone with only a horse and no escort.

The General raised a torch and arrived at Xiao Qidi's location; from afar he saw a bonfire burning under the moonlight, a herd of warhorses beside it, and a towering figure standing among the horses.

The General slowed his steps, quietly glancing to his left and right.

In the hazy night, dozens of people had divided into several squads, lurking around the perimeter.

Because the area was relatively open, they could not get any closer, lest they startle the grass and scare the snakes.

The General kept walking forward and shouted, "His Majesty, why aren't you resting inside the camp?"

Xiao Qidi, looking into the distance, seemed to be waiting for something; hearing the voice, he turned his head, "Why did you come out?"

The General stepped a little further, "His Majesty, you said food and water would be delivered; I was eager and couldn't help but come out to see."

Xiao Qidi smiled, "I ordered you to rush here; it was indeed hurried, thank you for your effort."

"Not at all, not at all," the General's right hand quietly grasped his waist sword, "Please forgive my foolishness, His Majesty; this Xi Tun Guan is remote, desolate, and in a drought, I truly cannot imagine where enough food and water could be found for our hundred thousand troops..."

"You will soon find out," Xiao Qidi turned his head, still looking toward the direction he had been watching.

While speaking, the General had already moved to behind Xiao Qidi, less than two zhang away.

He again covertly surveyed the surroundings, confirming no one else was hidden nearby, and he slightly exhaled in relief, assuming Xiao Qidi hadn't expected his plot to be uncovered, thus hadn't brought guards to avoid unnecessary suspicion.

This was perfect; perhaps he wouldn't need the trailing hidden soldiers to act, and I could capture Xiao Qidi alone.

If it turned out that the Deputy General's overthinking was wrong, he could take all the blame for offending His Majesty onto himself.

While pondering, he slowly drew the sword at his waist.

The sound of his feet on the dry ground perfectly masked the faint noise of the blade sliding from its scabbard.

Just as he held his breath, closed the distance enough, and prepared to swing the sword to rest on Xiao Qidi's nape.

"General, do you think I'm deceiving you?" Xiao Qidi said abruptly.

The General's movement halted abruptly, his heart leapt to his throat, and he hurriedly looked around.

What is happening?

Clearly there is no one beside Xiao Qidi.

His own movements—could they have been noticed? Did he grow eyes on the back of his head?!

"His Majesty... I..." the General clenched his back teeth, not knowing what to say, and simply steeled himself to act directly.

Swish—

All the battle swords were drawn.

And Xiao Qidi raised his hand and pointed forward, saying, "General, please look, they're here."

Only to see a strange light suddenly flare up in the distance.

It was a bright white light never seen before, two beams shooting straight ahead, able to shine far away.

At the same time, a strange rumbling could be heard, like a monster's low growl in the darkness.

The General couldn't help but freeze, staring fixedly in the direction where the light appeared.

Pairs of white light appeared one after another, and the monster's low growl grew ever closer, its speed astonishingly fast.

"What... what is that?" the General grew increasingly tense.

"That's a supply convoy," Xiao Qidi said calmly, "a motorcade."

"Motorcars?" the General was bewildered, "I only know horse carts, donkey carts, ox carts, even sheep‑drawn vehicles… what is a motorcar?"

Xiao Qidi glanced back and saw the General already tense, his face pale—clearly frightened by this strange scene beyond his comprehension.

No wonder, in this wilderness at night, anyone of this era seeing a motorcade would inevitably mistake it for some terrifying monster.

"Come over, let me show you." Xiao Qidi pulled out a drone remote controller from his waist.

Hum—

A light sound came from above their heads.

The General hurriedly looked up and saw a black shadow shoot up into the air.

"What... what is that?!" the General's voice began to tremble.

"That's a drone," Xiao Qidi said softly, "it had been hovering in mid‑air before you came over."

The General couldn't process it, still dazed, when Xiao Qidi placed the drone remote controller before his eyes.

On the remote controller's screen, a clear view from high above appeared, and even in the darkness it was astonishingly clear.

"What... what... what is this?!" the General's eyes widened.

Xiao Qidi explained: "This device can control the drone and, through it, see the scene; I'll now fly the drone over the convoy to let you broaden your horizons."

The General was so shocked by the successive strange sights and objects that he could not speak, his eyes fixed on the remote controller's screen.

As the drone passed over the convoy,

the General also saw the shape of the vehicles.

Each vehicle was far larger than an ordinary carriage, with no animals pulling it ahead, yet its wheels spun and it raced at incredible speed, leaving him dumbfounded.

As he stared, goosebumps suddenly rose on his back, and he stammered, "Your Majesty... you... you've been using this thing all along?"

Xiao Qidi gave an affirmative hum.

The General nearly lost his breath, for this device could look down from high above—surely that meant……

It meant that all his covert actions, which he thought were unknown to gods and ghosts, had been fully seen by Xiao Qidi?!

Just thinking of that, he nearly went weak at the knees and almost knelt!

Just as his mind was in turmoil, the motorcade had arrived before the two of them.

Urgent braking sounds rang out one after another, and a cloud of dust rose like a tornado, sweeping across the sky.

Not far behind the two of them,

the Deputy General, leading his men in covert observation, saw this scene and was all stunned, mouths agape.

The flying dust obscured the silhouettes of the General and Xiao Qidi; only beams of light could be seen shining through the dust and smoke, vaguely outlining huge, strange shapes, while the low rumbling roar incessantly struck their hearts.

"What kind of monster is that?"

"Is it some giant beast summoned by Xiao Qidi?"

"Could the General…… have already been…… eaten by that monster?!"

The soldiers were both fearful and worried, the hands gripping their battle swords dripping with cold sweat.

"Follow me in killing it! No matter what monster that is, we'll risk our lives to take down Xiao Qidi!" the Deputy General snarled, brandishing his battle sword and charging ahead of the troops.

Several dozen other soldiers, without the slightest hesitation, followed close behind, all resolved to fight to the death, raising their battle swords and rushing into the dust and smoke to slaughter that huge, terrifying monster!