Chapter 651: Heavenly Fire! It Is Divine Punishment!

"Girl, pass through that small town ahead, walk another day, and we'll reach the border."

"Tomorrow we can return to Manda City! Then we'll wait for Po Feng to come greet us!"

Zhui Yu finally showed a smile on his face.

The road back from Hala City was neither especially arduous nor particularly smooth.

We endured the yellow sands.

We faced bandit raiders.

We also endured a knife‑sharp cold wind that forced everyone into a cave, where we could not move for three days.

At one point more than thirty of us were so famished our stomachs rumbled, yet everyone simultaneously gave all the edible food to a few women.

Along the way, we all slowed further out of concern for Li Qingluo's growing belly.

By today we had walked almost a full two months before finally reaching the border.

Li Qingluo stepped down from the carriage.

Que'er and Zheng Mama hurried forward, supporting her on both sides, and said, "Girl, take it easy."

Even her robe could not conceal Li Qingluo's already swollen belly.

Although Li Qingluo still felt agile, mounting a horse and drawing a sword to slay enemies would still be no problem.

But ever since everyone learned the truth, let alone drawing a sword, she hasn't even laid a hand on her longbow.

She is clearly the master.

Yet each of them now acts as her master.

Even the Kill characters led by Kill One have each grown their own opinions and dare to ignore her orders!

Take Kill Twenty‑Seven, the weakest and youngest among the Kill characters; he used to stare at Li Qingluo with hopeful, glittering eyes, hoping her command would fall upon him.

But when Li Qingluo quietly asked him to steal out the bow, he turned out to be deaf.

He glanced straight ahead and walked past Li Qingluo.

Li Qingluo: …

She has covertly recruited the other Kill members a few times; some are deaf, and some who had met her eyes suddenly went blind.

Li Qingluo: …

Enough, enough; they now have their own minds, and their wings have hardened.

She can no longer force them.

Fortunately Que'er and Zheng Mama are considerate; they didn't confiscate Li Qingluo's small weapons and even let her handle them for fun, otherwise she feared her own hands would grow moldy and rusty.

When the day comes she can again brandish knives and swords, she has already forgotten the moves.

Finally, after much hardship she has barely made it to this border.

Now she is not even allowed to ride a horse, forced to sway in the carriage; these two months have been a prison‑like torment.

Such days are finally about to end.

After admiring the vast frontier scenery for a while, Li Qingluo felt a hint of bewilderment: she wondered how many more days this peace could last.

"Let's go, find lodging in the town before nightfall. Rest one night, then set out again tomorrow."

The party was about to turn back down the mountain when Cang Xuan, still gazing ahead, suddenly sensed something amiss.

"Wait!"

"Look, what is that?"

A swarm of tiny black dots moved from afar toward them; from a distance they resembled a legion of ants, yet everyone knew they were not ants at all.

They were countless troops from the Western Regions, an expeditionary army…

Everyone's complexion changed dramatically.

Que'er: "Girl, we haven't heard any sound along the way; why have they suddenly gathered so many troops?"

"Are they… are they coming to attack Manda City?"

Li Qingluo narrowed her eyes slightly: "The Western Regions are co‑built by thirteen small states and the Imperial Court; the troops are also jointly raised by those thirteen states."

"We don't even know how many of the cities Great Chu lost have been reclaimed by Your Highness now."

"But the Western Regions must have suffered a defeat."

"Otherwise they wouldn't suddenly augment their forces."

"And to arrive so quickly, the troops must have come from the nearest small state."

"Kill One, take a few men to scout which state they came from."

"Zhui Yu, send a message to Manda City and inform Po Feng of this matter."

"Everyone else, we must press on through the night, bypassing the city gates."

Everyone grew tense and solemn, immediately bowing their heads to work diligently, and the party set off again shortly.

They had planned to rest a night in the town, but now rushed straight to the border, daring not to linger.

Even when weary, they only built a small fire by the roadside for a brief rest.

When Kill One returned, the horizon had already turned reddish.

"Girl, we inquired, and it's…"

Kill One listed the names of several small states; Li Qingluo was surprised to hear a familiar name.

"Eagle Kingdom? Is the Eagle Kingdom's queen hurriedly pledging loyalty to the Imperial Court?"

"The internal strife has only just ended, yet they still dare to dispatch troops now."

"As I expected, these are all relatively nearby small states to the Central Plains, except for the Eagle Kingdom."

"The Eagle Kingdom helped overthrow General Baza, which is indeed impressive… but we've been to the Eagle Kingdom, so we know some of their background."

Li Qingluo lay on the soft padding of the carriage, repeatedly weighing possibilities; perhaps she could covertly intimidate these Western Regions troops.

Zhui Yu, has there been any reply from Mántuo City?

At this distance, a message should arrive quickly.

However, Zhui Yu frowned and shook his head: "Miss, there is no reply."

Li Qingluo slowly sat up: "No reply? Are you sure you sent it out?"

Zhui Yu: "I am certain; I will definitely deliver it into Po Feng's hands."

Furthermore, given Po Feng's nature, he would absolutely not fail to reply unless something unexpected prevented him.

Since the last time she received a letter from Duan Rongshi, Li Qingluo has not received any other family letters up to today.

Therefore, she also does not know what the situation in the Central Plains is like now.

Now even Po Feng does not reply—could there really be some unforeseen incident?

Li Qingluo felt a little uneasy.

She remained silent.

Zhui Yu, fearing she would overthink, quickly said: "Miss, Po Feng is always steady, and he has Your Highness behind him; I think we need not be too anxious."

If we wait until tomorrow and go back to see, we will know exactly what is happening.

Li Qingluo: "Not in a hurry to return."

Zhui Yu: "What did you say?"

Li Qingluo looked at the soundly sleeping Nanping beside her and whispered: "Tonight, the northwest wind."

It is the cold winter, the twelfth lunar month, already the year's end.

Regardless of what happened in Mántuo City that prevented Po Feng from replying, we must also delay these Western Region troops for a while!

Zhui Yu couldn't help but turn his head to look at the Sha Yi beside him.

After the two exchanged a glance, Zhui Yu then asked: "What do you intend to do?"

Li Qingluo: "Borrow the wind, burn the mountain!"

The wind at the frontier is sharp as a knife.

And the mountains at the frontier are all earthen slopes.

Let alone burning the mountain, even if we wanted to burn, there is nothing to burn.

On the bald stones and dirt, even the grass has been scraped clean by the locals.

The Sha Yi and Zhui Yu stared at each other, utterly unable to comprehend what Li Qingluo intended to do.

Li Qingluo no longer explained; she simply sat cross-legged and uttered one word: "Wait."

Wait for the clearly shaken-off army to approach.

Wait for the sun to rise to noon.

Wait until everyone's patience is about to vanish completely, then Li Qingluo lifted her head to look at the sun in the sky.

Previously she had borrowed rain to summon thunder.

Today, she borrows the sun to burn the mountain.

As the Western Region army drew ever closer to the frontier of the Central Plains, a cry of terror suddenly burst from the crowd.

Fire... fire!

The mountain is all fire, it's fire!

But... how could there be fire? Look, those mountains are clearly bare of grass—what is burning?

The terror in the crowd spread wider and wider; many even trembled, their legs going weak as they collapsed to the ground.

All that could be seen before them was a continuous expanse of earthen slopes engulfed in roaring flames.

The red flames leapt like a dance, rising higher and higher, soon forming a towering wall that completely blocked the Western Region army's path.

They originally needed to cross this mountain to reach the border of the Central Plains.

After another hundred li they could reach Mántuo City!

But now that mountain has become a mountain of knives, a sea of fire.

Everyone stared with horror at this extraordinarily strange sight.

Indeed, there is nothing on the mountain to burn—so what exactly is this fire consuming?

It is heavenly fire, this is heavenly fire!

No, this is clearly divine punishment, it is divine punishment!

Allah does not permit us to wage war, does not permit us to invade other nations; thus this is a warning to us, and also divine punishment!

Let us turn back; Allah has warned us, not allowing us to advance further.

Yes, let us go back.

No one is born loving warfare.

Even the bravest warrior.

Therefore, upon seeing this strange sight before them, the soldiers who had just been conscripted onto the campaign all began to beat a retreat in their hearts.

They have year after year launched campaigns against the Central Plains.

Their nations have long been exhausted from warfare, their populations dwindling.

They cannot conquer the Central Plains, nor can they relinquish this obsession.

The original ambition of the Thirteen-Nation Alliance has also, with the passage of time and successive generations' failures, gradually collapsed, even losing confidence.

Now, with another heavenly omen appearing, what else could it be if not a warning from Allah?

The crowd became agitated.

Everyone believed this explanation.

They considered it Allah's warning, forbidding them to advance even a single step further into the Central Plains.

However, among the several generals leading the troops, the general of the Eagle King Kingdom took the lead and did not believe this.

It must be someone messing around behind the scenes!

Their Eagle King Kingdom had just freed itself from Baza's control over the populace, and freed itself from that damned Shatuo Buddha curse.

This measly heavenly fire dares to trick him again!

Go!

You few, go ahead and investigate.

This damned heavenly fire is surely just a mirage, or some petty person is pulling tricks behind the scenes.

Our Eagle King Kingdom will never fall for this again!

Today we will expose this lie, show everyone what exactly is the true revelation of Allah, the Lord—

Soldiers! We will enter and take over the Central Plains.

To let the people live better lives.

The Central Plains' land is fertile and vast, the people prosperous, the mountains clear and waters beautiful; once our people occupy the Central Plains, once our people slaughter them all, only then can we truly enjoy good days!

We will make them slaves.

We will make them submit.

Let their Central Plains become a blessed land for our descendants, a land that our Western Regions can also flourish—

The general, mounted on his horse, renewed morale among the already scattered troops.

Seeing the soldiers' faces regain hope and confidence, the few soldiers sent ahead to scout had already smoothly reached the edge of the sea of fire.