Chapter 37: The Oops Incident

Li Bucai was startled, as if a soft, cottony feeling had just arisen. "He… is he a woman?"

Twelve youths in blue robes quickly gathered around, encircling the White-robed Youth.

Five girls also rushed over and surrounded Li Bucai.

Qian Feng whispered to himself: This time it's my turn to act. He shouted, "Capture the thief, capture the king, first seize that one in white clothes. Charge!"

Leading more than ten soldiers, he let out a sudden shout, and they surged forward in a swarm.

Li Bucai and the others rushed forward, standing between the two groups, trying to force them to concede.

The White-robed Youth had already thrown his dual knives to the ground, his two hands clutching his cloak, unable to act. In the earlier duel, the one‑on‑one fights were evenly matched; the opponent had more people, so the twelve blue‑robed youths dared not attack lightly, protecting the White-robed Youth while repeatedly retreating, until they reached the center, where a huge protruding ant tree blocked the way, leaving no retreat.

At that moment, a voice from above shouted, "Here, here, quickly go protect the Young Marshal."

Li Bucai, using the firelight above, looked up; the person was strikingly familiar. Upon a close look, it was the envoy of Sky City, Zou Ying, who leapt down the stairs at speed. Behind him, Luo Ping Hai's attendant Xu Rong appeared on the platform at the cave entrance, accompanied by a large contingent; dozens wore Sky City battle armor, clearly Sky City soldiers, and another five or six lords with their retainers followed Xu Rong down the stairs.

Li Bucai hurriedly gestured to halt the people behind him.

After a short while, Zou Ying came before the crowd, seeing Li Bucai and the others, he said, "Young Marshal! Lord Li! Lord Qian! What is this…?"

Li Bucai and Qian Feng, among others, were stunned and replied, "Young Marshal?"

Zou Ying said, "So you are our own people, gentlemen, this is the commander of our Holy Spirit Sixteen Divisions." He then turned to the White-robed Youth and said, "Young Marshal, these two are also our own, fine generals under your command. What exactly happened?"

The White-robed Youth shouted, "Our own? Or fine generals? How could my fine generals be so foolish as to not even recognize their own commander, nearly killing Mingyan's life? How could the commander's subordinates have such utterly stupid generals? They are not obeying at Sand Spring, yet they come here; clearly they are traitorous bandits colluding in secret. Capture these traitors for me at once."

"I think there must have been some misunderstanding, and we still need to recall from the long memory." Zou Ying came before Li Bucai and the others, saying, "Lord Li, Lord Qian, what exactly is going on? Why are you committing insubordination?"

Li Bucai said, "Bandits? So the Thirteen King is indeed trapped by bandits; didn't Lord Zou say he was trapped by a strange beast?"

Zou Ying labeled the bandits as strange beasts to arouse the interest of the lords, because only from strange beasts can one obtain Magic Crystals. This time he was in charge of gathering the troops of the Holy Spirit Sixteen Divisions, and fearing that someone would shirk, he omitted any mention of bandits.

"Bandits or strange beasts, they are all enemies. Let's set this matter aside for now. Why didn't you wait at Sand Spring for the commander to arrive, yet you ran here on your own and besieged our Young Marshal?"

Li Bucai said, "That sentence should be reversed: it's not us besieging them, they besieged us first. Didn't Lord Zou say our commander was already waiting at Sand Spring? We arrived at noon, night fell and the commander still hadn't come. The commander is delayed; Luo Ping Hai is full of ant tribes. To protect Sand Spring from raids, we came to sweep the ant nests—what's wrong with that? I want to ask about our 'young and promising' Young Marshal's background. Why does he appear here so late?"

Seeing the commander receive no salute and daring to question his background, the White-robed Youth spoke with obvious contempt and instantly shouted, "How audacious! Is my identity something a Xiaoxiao lord like you can inquire about? I am the commander, of course I must think of my people. There are ant nests around Sand Spring, so we must eliminate the threat first."

Li Bucai gave a cold smile and said, "Eliminate the threat? How do we explain those few men in black just now? They are not from our Holy Spirit Sixteen Divisions, and there are no other friendly neighboring troops around Sand Spring, yet this Young Marshal attacks us on their behalf. The treacherous bandit colluding with them must be this Young Marshal."

The White-robed Youth erupted, "How dare you call me a traitor? When they saw the commander they displayed the Red Crow waist badge, obviously they are ours. And you? Knowing the commander has arrived, you didn't show the badge. Now that you recognize the commander's identity, you still call me a traitor—clearly you intend rebellion. No more words, General Xu, execute them on the spot."

Xu Rong, with a sudden shout from the soldiers, surrounded them.

This Young Marshal, without clarifying the matter, just says whatever he wants. As the crowd closed in, Li Bucai's blood boiled; his spear had broken, and he drew his bronze sword, pointing at Xu Rong. Others also brandished weapons, clashing with the soldiers, about to turn into a melee.

"Wait!" Zou Ying hurriedly halted everyone, went to the White-robed Youth's side and whispered, "Young Marshal, only a few senior ministers have the Red Crow waist badge. Among those sent to Luo Ping Hai this time, none have such a badge. Could it be that the Young Marshal has mistaken them for rebels?"

The White-robed Youth was startled; when he first saw the seven men in black, they claimed to be friendly neighbors, and upon seeing the waist badge was from Sky City, he thought nothing more of it.

"So there truly is no Red Crow waist badge?"

"Indeed, there is none."

Mistaking rebels for friendly neighbors, his first foray resulted in this blunder; if word got out, it would be a disaster, and even when sparring with them his clothes were torn, now he still dares not let go of his hand. This first outing has been full of embarrassments, all thanks to this person. The White-robed Youth fumed, "Even if there truly is none, this Xiaoxiao lord dares to defy the commander. He still resists; if we don't capture him, how can we establish authority!"

Zou Ying said, "If you truly saw rebels, some misunderstanding is inevitable; it's not surprising that Lord Li mistook the Young Marshal for a rebel. With a great enemy before us, it's a crucial time to employ men. We cannot act rashly. The Holy Spirit Sixteen Divisions are already the smallest contingent among the forces this time, and Lord Li has a fiery temperament; if we take him lightly, we certainly can't capture him handily. Should a fight break out, losses are inevitable. Our numbers are few; we cannot afford further losses."

"Then what do you suggest? I am the commander; I must establish authority."

"Of course we must establish authority, of course we must establish authority, but now is the time to employ men…" This Young Marshal is also someone not to be provoked; he says establishing authority must be done, otherwise no one gets a good end. Zou Ying was at a loss, thought for a moment, and said, "How about we first take a few of their retainers for execution, and after the battle we will discuss the matter at length. The Young Marshal has been exhausted all day, the camp is already built, so let him return to the camp to rest. Let this matter be handled by the subordinates, how does that sound?"

That White-robed Youth is a descendant of the Emperor; after countless pleas, the Emperor reluctantly placed the weakest Holy Spirit Sixteen Divisions under his command, not expecting him to achieve any military merit, only to have fun. He sent a hundred elite guards to protect his safety, and also dispatched the clever and capable Zou Ying to assist. Upon arriving at Sand Spring, the new official, eager to make a name, heard that ant tribes often appeared nearby, and while Zou Ying and others were busy building the camp, he led twelve personal guards to see the ants, happened upon the entrance of an ant nest, found four corpses, and thus stormed into the cave.

At that moment he thought that mistakenly helping rebels besiege them was indeed a blunder, but I am the commander; whatever I say must be obeyed. You insult me, you cannot be lenient. My forces are few; let you be arrogant for a few days, first we will cut your retainers, and after rescuing the Thirteen King, we will settle the score!

Now eager to change clothes, the White-robed Youth said, "You may have them, but we must not be lenient with them. Let's go." With that, he walked up the stairs amid the crowd of blue‑robed youths.