Chapter 393: All Killed, Right, All Killed

Time was pressing, Ji Ming didn't linger in the garden, gave the Marquis a tap and then turned to leave.

And Fuguang, whose mind was full of affairs, was about to wave goodbye, but seemed to suddenly recall something and shouted.

"Wait a moment! She betrayed me, shouldn't you have kept her for me to deal with?"

But the question‑mark person didn't even turn his head, just tossed out a line.

"How treacherous! People like you deserve to be betrayed, life and death are fate, wealth is heaven's will, the road is your own choice, think about it."

Then, like the Hunan‑West corpse‑chasing folk, he left with the little maid who hopped with her legs together.

Ai Xiya finally remembered this time, and only spoke after that person had been gone for a while.

"Master, what should we do now?"

"Ah…"

He patted his cold‑sweaty back, and the Marquis felt every bone in his body was about to snap from nerves.

After a while, his face mournful, he pounded his chest and stamped his feet.

"What else can we do? Whether we survive this calamity depends on this afternoon's match, so you stay here, and I'll go to the barracks to find someone!"

Having said that, he hurried out of the garden, looking nothing like the stumbling old woman he had just been.

Ai Xiya stood where she was, counting silently in her mind, but even as the Marquis jogged away around the corner, she never heard the line she expected.

"Wait, actually we still have some time, why don't we first…"

She lowered her head, staring at her own toes.

"So that's how it is."

Hours later, walking on a mountain dirt road, this was undoubtedly the liveliest episode Te Ni Si had heard since departing Sunlight City.

With cheers ahead and behind, everyone shouting and horses neighing, the Northward Squad, which originally had only a dozen riders, now forced its way through the grandeur of a marching army.

It wasn't because each of them was exceptionally dignified, able to march like a unit alone, but because they had truly slipped into a massive formation.

"Honored Archbishop Lady and Princess, your sincere Fuguang is here awaiting your arrival."

Their convoy had just arrived at Hall Village when they saw a pig that could ride a horse speaking to them; after glancing at the emblem on its chest, they dared to recognize it.

In fact, along the way many nobles who directly led people to warmly welcome them were not few, after all it was about interests, so she didn't think it was special.

She exchanged a few polite words, then prepared to find an excuse to leave, but

"You can't leave!"

One can only say the rice wasn't eaten in vain; the thickness of his cheek is truly maxed out.

Brandishing the banner "Since you two have arrived, we must accompany you all the way," they forced his knight order to follow the escort.

Of course, expecting any powerful battle group from a Marquis who has already been pushed to the fringe of the circle is a pipe dream.

Compared with fully armed, system‑trained guardian knights, the Fuguang Knight Order can only be said to be marginally better than mountain bandits.

Their basic horsemanship is a mess; rather than knights or cavalry, they're more like infantry on horseback, moving slowly, and occasionally an unlucky soul falls off.

"Haha, you all pay attention! Safety first, understand?"

In the end even Fuguang was stunned, forcing a smile while ordering his knight commanders.

Nevertheless, anyone who can join a knight order must at least be a professional, so the journey was more thrilling than dangerous.

Since the march was slow, falling off a horse and dying was just a broken‑skin matter, so the soldiers still wore a carefree grin.

Thus his knight commander, a slick‑faced, extremely oily‑smooth Da Huzi, cheerfully approached.

"Lord, you're wise; this wave counts as showing our face!"

But he saw his own Marquis's expression turn even uglier than before, nervously wiping sweat repeatedly.

"Hmm?"

Pondering the saint's will is a subordinate's basic skill, especially for serving nobles, so Da Huzi's eyes flicked, and he suddenly understood.

Damn, to make a good impression before the big shots in the capital, the Marquis this time didn't dare bring the maid, the lord didn't dare look, and they bounced on the horse for so long.

Isn't that… oh dear, it's ruined!

So he quickly flattered.

"Lord! Rest assured! I heard a half‑elf showed up in the alley next door, that look, that waist… ah!"

But the Marquis, who usually would be eager to lead his subordinates into rapid team‑building activities, this time erupted in anger, scolding:

"Hey, you idiot! If you don't know what's going on, shut up!"

If it were someone else, especially the post‑2000 generation, they'd already be preparing to overhaul the workplace.

—Ami Nuo Si, you old thing, have I given you too much face? Keep pretending and I'll make you fly!

But mixing with such a shameless guy, Da Huzi had long developed the habit of spitting on his own face to dry it.

He even felt that thunder and rain were all the lord's grace—huh? Why does the Marquis only scold me and not others? That's not

"Yes, yes, my fault, my fault…"

Thus he apologized repeatedly, disappearing at light speed.

"Hmph!"

The Marquis was annoyed, of course, not by this, but by

whether it's human or ghost, eating chaff or meat, it depends on

His heart uneasy, the carriage convoy

Although the knights aren't exactly good people, at least they aren't despised by people and dogs, so one can see several young people and children looking over here with curious or envious eyes.

Marquis pulled out a smile, about to put on a populist persona, when he noticed a little girl standing among them.

Moreover, this little girl's courage, surprisingly

While fiddling with her short little legs, she asked in a childish voice.

"Grandpa, grandpa, why are you here?"

Marquis smiled, was about to think up a joke as a reply, but suddenly felt his heart tighten.

Wrong!

If it's a brave child, they should be excited during an adventure no matter what; how could they be as calm as now?

Already extremely nervous, he hesitated, a terrifying thought surfaced, and he tentatively asked in a soft voice.

"Y‑you only want to ask—me—?"

The little girl said nothing, but nodded with a strange look.

Sss…

Marquis felt his hair about to explode, and involuntarily became a stammering, tongue‑tied mess.

"I… ah! I'm actually a guide; aren't we afraid the guests will lose the way? So, uh, lead them."

The little girl still said nothing, but vanished unnoticed, as if she had never been there.

"Damn!"

After a long while, Marquis vented his anger with a curse, but it couldn't ease the frantic dread inside him.

So they've been watching from the side all along? These dense‑forest believers are terrifying; that just now was clearly a strike at me!

But since the choice has been made, there's no turning back; regardless of Marquis's thoughts, he can only grit his teeth now, hoping his all‑in side will win.

Meanwhile, not far away in the woods, the "little girl" shed her disguise, becoming an unremarkable woman, and hurried deeper into the forest.

She truly is a messenger of the dense forest, so she soon arrived near Wolf Fang Valley.

"Will you lead the way?"

If it were before, upon hearing this answer Bai Lixiang would surely point out that the other side might have already switched sides, taking on the responsibility of a commander—or, say, a contrarian artist.

But now the stance and interests differ, so she shut her mouth and, together with Du She, plainly expressed approval, suppressing the only hint of doubt within the group.

At that moment, a believer nonchalantly walked to his side and numbed his arm with a warm electric current.

Bai Lixiang jumped in fright, but quickly recovered, and silently followed the mute believer to the outer edge of the formation.

As a somewhat unstable operative, Du She dislikes socializing, so she was here watching the direction the convoy might arrive from.

Seeing Bai Lixiang, she was about to unleash full firepower, but realized the other side inexplicably brought an ordinary believer who, by appearance, seemed like cannon fodder.

And in the next instant, the believer, as if surfacing, revealed a face hidden beneath the hood's shadow.

Of course, the face needed quotation marks, because it was a question mark.

——Thank you, Ji Ming really doesn't want to meet Du She as the chosen one again in this life.

Thus, seeing that strange unfamiliar face, Du She flinched, and her tail, tipped with poison needles, swept out from under her green robe—a lethal opening move.

However, just before the oddly toxic needle tip firmly pierced the target, a voice in her mind saying "Don't be afraid, we're comrades" stopped her.

Her tiny brain clearly couldn't handle such complexity; her tail swayed between the two people like a finger.

A flash of insight struck, and she froze, gaping at Bai Lixiang.

"You…"

Bai Lixiang, being a face‑saver, flushed slightly, turned his head away in respect.

"Why are you, with those thick brows and big eyes, too!"

Du She didn't finish the second half, because her shock quickly turned into an exaggerated laugh, rolling on the ground while twirling her tail.

However, perhaps the high‑IQ state from that flash of insight was still active; she laughed halfway, then stopped, and with a swoosh she stood up again.

"Wait! Bai Lixiang, there are many holes in my plan that you clearly see! Yet you helped me… no, what does this mean!"

Having figured everything out, Du She broke her composure.

"I'm the most loyal follower of the Divine Lord! Why am I the last to know such an important matter? Don't you trust my loyalty to the Divine Lord?"

Thus Ji Ming must reveal the answer at the final moment, because then he can.

"I am the envoy sent by the Divine Lord. Listen, now is not the time to discuss this; the big picture matters. What I'm about to say is the final, most crucial step. I'll say it only once…"

Du She wanted to go berserk, but hearing that it was the Divine Lord's mission, she could only bite her lip and stay silent, leaning in to listen.

After dozens of seconds, she returned to her shocked state, and the first thing she opened her mouth to say was:

"Truly insane!"

"Whether mad or not, it's the Divine Lord's plan; you and I just have to carry it out."

He cut off Du She's speech, and Ji Ming, tugging at his tiger‑skin, vanished quickly, leaving only:

"Hurry and get ready; they could arrive at any moment."

Although the final task here was already arranged, the hidden‑line Ji Ming did not leave; instead he found the most suitable seat, sat down and laid out watermelons, cantaloupes, honey‑melons, sweet melons, and various seeds.

After a long hustle, what could be more exhilarating than watching a spectacular grand performance? A four‑sided war this splendid must not be missed.

The seeds weren't even a handful yet when the chattering from the hillside below arrived, the Floating Light Knights escorting the Northward Squad's spring outing.

Originally at the front, Marquis, daring as ever, slipped beside the Archbishop's carriage; it was still not summer, yet sweat poured down his chubby face.

Seeing him there, the Archbishop pulled back the carriage's curtain.

"Marquis, the gorge ahead looks perfect for an ambush. Does your territory have bandits or thieves?"

"Uh, huh? Oh! No, no! My domain isn't large, and the Knights are stationed there; even the boldest villains wouldn't dare to run amok here."

Floating Light tried to appear as natural as possible, and this sweaty, foolishly plump look clearly helped complete the disguise.

But the Archbishop, being cautious, nodded silently while ordering a guardian knight on the other side.

"Understood!"

The knight nodded, shouted to two companions on either side, seized the horse's belly, accelerated, and pulled away from the group.

They made a loop through the gorge, then looked up at the dense vegetation atop the slope and, without hesitation, chose a full sweep.

But at that moment, an arrow shot out of the grass and struck one of them hard on the head.

Although his sturdy helmet saved him, the force knocked him off the horse, confirming the ambush in the gorge.

Shadow cultists are believers of the evil god, so they will learn various evil arts to let fierce ghosts possess them, letting enemies experience the power of who-knows-which ancestor.

Holy Light cultists are extremely martial, so they will use all kinds of messy but definitely big, heavy, and powerful cold weapons to face enemies.

So, the jungle cultists who excel at plant cultivation and continuously develop in the biotech field, to the point that their attributes are somewhat evil, how do they fight when secretly carrying out covert operations?

The answer is to pull out a vial of injection from one's bosom and viciously stab it into one's own heart.

Ji Ming has fought the Jungle God and fought the Jungle Envoy, but this is absolutely the first time he has witnessed a completely new combat style belonging to the believers.

He doesn't know what this thing is, nor its effect; he only knows that after the believers stabbed themselves with this thing, they all went crazy.

「Wah—！」

It seemed as if everyone had been infected by the Blood Cross, and they strode down the slope amidst wild howls, chaotic shouting, and exaggerated laughter.