Chapter 133

Chen Wen's order "Withdraw! Return to the main camp at full speed!" still rang in his ears.

The entire raiding squad hesitated not at all.

They withdrew as swiftly as ghosts from the still-burning Iron Crow Army stronghold.

They plunged headfirst into the darkest darkness before dawn.

On the return route, concealment was no longer necessary; seizing every second was the only rule.

Chen Wen led the way, pushing his speed and endurance to sixteen times their normal limit.

He sprinted in a straight line through the rugged mountains and forests toward the Zhou army's main camp.

He even spared no mental exertion, briefly applying a "fourfold Ability Granting focus" to core members like Shi Dun and Qian Gui.

All to raise the squad's overall marching speed to the utmost limit of human capability.

The wind whistled sharply in his ears, and the icy air scraped his cheeks like blades.

No one spoke; only heavy panting, rapid heartbeats, and the sound of footsteps crushing dry twigs and leaves echoed through the valley.

Everyone felt the gravity of the matter from Chen Wen's unprecedented urgency.

—the ledger taken from the Iron Crow Army's nest must relate to something far more important and terrifying than the outcome of a local battle.

In Chen Wen's mind.

The words on that ledger and the strange terms "purge plan" and "node" continually swirled and collided.

The threat of the Iron Crow Army.

From a vague shadow, it had become a concrete, ferocious, and utterly unreasonable objective.

They not only had to win the Battle of Gaoping, but also, amidst open and covert attacks, protect Commander Chai.

They also had to protect themselves, a group marked as a "variable" that "must be eliminated."

"Faster! We must be even faster!"

Chen Wen silently chanted in his heart, his gaze piercing the darkness, fixed firmly on the direction of the Zhou army's main camp.

He had to deliver this, which concerned the commander's life, before the full-scale war erupted.

Even a warning that could affect the nation's fate!

The mountain path was treacherous, the night deep.

Yet before this team endowed with extraordinary speed and resolve, every obstacle was forcibly broken through.

When Chen Wen and his party, dust-covered and drenched in sweat and dew, appearing as if fished out of water, arrived outside the Zhou army's main gate.

The east had just begun to show a faint fish-belly white.

However.

The atmosphere inside the camp was even more suffocating than when they had left.

The air was thick with the strong smell of iron rust, sweat, and an extreme, pre-storm stillness.

The camp's fortifications had obviously been reinforced, and the number of patrol soldiers had doubled?

Their eyes were sharp as an eagle's, revealing a resolute determination.

In the distance, a low, urgent command from an officer could be heard.

And the muffled footsteps of large-scale troop movements, like the earth's heartbeat, heavy and oppressive.

The great battle was already on the verge of breaking out.

"Envoy Chen Wen of the Jing'an Army, there is a military emergency of utmost urgency; you must see the commander immediately!"

Chen Wen produced his waist tablet.

His voice, hoarse from the hurried journey and inner anxiety, was noticeably raspy.

Yet the urgency in his tone left no room for doubt.

The guard officer recognized Chen Wen, dared not delay in the slightest, and immediately led him inside.

Chen Wen didn't even have time to change out of his uniform stained with dirt, grass, and specks of dark red blood.

Accompanied by Shi Dun and Qian Gui, carrying the ledger bought with their lives and some documents, he headed straight for the commander's tent.

Outside the tent, the guards were clearly several times more numerous than usual.

They were all Commander Chai's most trusted elite soldiers, fully armored, their lethal intent restrained, standing as still as statues.

After reporting, Chen Wen was permitted to enter alone.

Inside the grand tent, Commander Chai was not seated as usual behind the case.

Instead, he wore black armor, hand on sword, standing before a huge topographic map of mountains and rivers, his brows furrowed, exuding authority without anger.

Core civil and military officials such as Wang Pu, Zhang Yongde, and Han Tong were all present.

Everyone's faces were grave; the atmosphere inside the tent was so oppressive it seemed water could be wrung out.

Seeing Chen Wen burst in so disheveled, everyone was startled.

"Wenzhong?"

Commander Chai turned his body, his eyes bloodshot.

Yet his gaze remained sharp as a blade.

"You're back? How is the situation?"

He saw the urgency on Chen Wen's face and the travel-stained attire he hadn't had time to tidy.

"Commander!"

Chen Wen clasped his fists, his voice deep and urgent.

"I, the subordinate, have not failed my mission; I have destroyed a mountain stronghold of the Iron Crow Army, seized important supplies, and… discovered this!"

Without hesitation, he immediately presented the animal-skin ledger he kept close and several key documents with both hands.

Commander Chai took it and flipped through it quickly.

Initially, his gaze remained calm.

But when he saw the "Purge List (Gaoping Node)" and the names conspicuously listed on it.

Especially when he saw his own name followed by the icy "Priority: High".

And when he saw Chen Wen's name followed by the glaring "Priority: Extremely High".

His pupils contracted sharply, and a layer of icy frost instantly covered his face.

He handed the register to Wang Pu beside him.

Wang Pu glanced at it, and his usually composed face showed great shock and deep confusion.

Zhang Yongde, Han Tong, and others gathered to look, and the tent immediately filled with suppressed exclamations and angry rebukes.

"Damn it! What kind of monster is this Iron Crow Army?!"

Han Tong, whose temper was the most explosive, couldn't help but growl lowly, his fists clenched until they cracked.

"Purge plan? Maintain the node's original state?"

Chai Rong's voice was icy, tinged with a sense of unbelievable absurdity.

"Wen Zhong, you've experienced this firsthand—what's your take?"

He stared intensely at Chen Wen, knowing only he could truly grasp the strangeness of it.

Chen Wen took a deep breath, organizing his words:

"My lord, generals."

"I, the subordinate, believe this Iron Crow Army is certainly no ordinary enemy!"

"Its actions are bizarre, its goals unfathomable."

"From this register and the captured documents, it seems they…"

"They are not simply serving Northern Han or the Khitan; rather, they appear to be carrying out some kind of…"

"some kind of extremely obstinate rule or belief."

He pointed to the fragmented phrases on the document:

"'Guide history's reflux, correct deviation, script……' these terms, I, the subordinate, cannot fully grasp their deep meaning."

But combined with their actions—they seem stubbornly to believe that this Battle of Gaoping.

must proceed according to the 'original state' they have determined!

Anyone who tries to change this 'original state,' whether it be you, my lord, or me the subordinate,

or even Commander Zhao, are all 'deviations' they must eradicate!

The tent fell into dead silence.

Chen Wen's inference, though limited in some ways, precisely pinpointed the core of the Iron Crow Army's behavioral pattern.

the most central and unsettling anomaly.

This has completely surpassed their conventional understanding of warfare, scheming, and even vendetta.

"Absurd beyond reason! Can the outcome of a war, the course of mountains and rivers, possibly be pre‑plotted?!"

Zhang Yongde spoke in a low voice, his brows furrowed, feeling an inexplicable chill.

Wang Pu gently rubbed the beast‑skin cover of the register.

He then said slowly:

"Although its reasoning is absurd, the threat is certainly real."

"If what Wen Zhong says is true, then in this battle our forces must not only face the enemy head‑on,

but must also constantly guard against this Iron Crow Army lurking in the shadows, acting without scruples and pursuing bizarre goals.

"Their primary target is likely not merely to kill and wound our soldiers."

"but also to…… ensure the 'node' runs according to their 'script,' that is to say……"

He looked at Chai Rong, the meaning unmistakable

——Chai Rong himself is one of the Iron Crow Army's most important eradication targets.

Chai Rong fell silent for a moment, the coldness in his eyes growing stronger.

It eventually solidified into an unshakable resolve, capable of cleaving through any mist:

"Whether they are human or ghost, no matter what absurd purpose they harbor,

"they wish to make me, Chai Rong, stretch my neck for the slaughter, to let the blood of my Great Zhou soldiers flow in vain.

"they wish to let this world continue to sink—nothing but a foolish daydream!"

He looked at Chen Wen, his eyes conveying unreserved admiration and a heavy trust:

"Wen Zhong, you have rendered great merit this time!"

"This intelligence is of utmost importance!"

"It lets us know that the danger of this battle far exceeds imagination!"

He paused, his tone turning exceedingly solemn.

As if placing a tremendous burden upon Chen Wen's shoulders:

"The great battle is imminent; our army's deployment is set."

"Wen Zhong, you and your troops of the Jing'an Army, having been tempered, possess outstanding combat strength and moreover can discern this hidden enemy."

"I have an important task to entrust to you……"

Just as Chai Rong's words fell.

At the moment when a burden concerning the safety of the entire army and resisting the strange power was formally entrusted to Chen Wen.

Chen Wen clearly felt that the responsibility on his shoulders had suddenly increased by more than a thousand jin!

This is not merely a military task.

It is also a direct confrontation with a strange force that seeks to strangle all "variables" and solidify "fate"!

Guarding Chai Rong is guarding the rare fire of hope in this chaotic world!

In his sea of consciousness, the 【Growth Progress Bar】 that had been stuck at 98% for a long time.

Under the dual drive of this immense sense of responsibility and the insight into part of the cruel truth.

That final sliver of a gap was finally completely filled.

In the flow of radiance, it steadily leapt to——

99%!

Only one step remains before the breakthrough that startled Shi Potian.

That membrane, under immense pressure, has become as thin as a cicada's wing.

Chen Wen took a deep breath, suppressing the subtle ripples arising in his heart from the growth of the progress bar.

Focusing all his spirit on this life-or-death battle before him, he clasped his fists solemnly, his voice ringing like metal and stone:

"The last general, I will not refuse to die ten thousand times!"