Chapter 476: Are You Toying With Me?

Prada's face turned ashen, yet he refused to answer.

"Oh? Looks like it worked! Leader Prada, I heard that Wang Fei Princess Sukama is also your sister — is that right?" Gervas didn't mind at all; instead, he smiled and continued speaking.

Hearing this, Prada finally showed shock. "You… you already knew? You human noble, didn't you not know before? You… are you toying with me? You knew from the very start?"

Prada believed he had deduced a real possibility.

He immediately hated Gervas enough to gnash his teeth.

After all, he had been following this human noble the entire way; this information could only have been known by this human in advance, with no one else having told him.

And being toyed with like this felt even more unbearable than being defeated in martial strength.

"My lord, is it really… really true that we can head south?"

At this moment, Knight Mi Gen, Lei Meng, and the rest of the knights finally reacted as well.

Even though they didn't know the specifics, Prada's reaction had already given them the answer.

"Yes! Once I happened to obtain a piece of information, saying that Wang Fei Princess Sukama is extremely important to the Beast King and the beastfolk. It's said she is the person prophesied by the beastfolk's Grand Shaman, able to bring the beastfolk good fortune."

"However, this time it concerns the lives of over a thousand of us, so I couldn't confirm it directly. That's why I pretended to retreat westward, then suddenly changed direction to test this Prada!"

"Now it seems this rumor is true. Even if we encounter the Beast King, we can guarantee our safety — and even use it to threaten the Beast King and help our army!" Gervas had long since prepared a reasonable explanation.

Knight Mi Gen and the others naturally had no doubts; moreover, at this point how could they possibly care about so much?

"My lord, doesn't that mean not only can our own safety be guaranteed, but we also have a chance to rescue the main army?"

"If that's the case, how great would the merit be — my lord, wouldn't you be able to become an Earl…"

"Don't get ahead of yourselves. Nothing is settled yet. Even if you want merit, we need to wait until we're truly safe and the beastmen have completely retreated before talking about it!" Gervas directly cut off Knight Mi Gen and the others' fantasies.

Of course, the reason he was willing to risk heading south was, for the most part, also because of the merit.

If he could rescue the main army, combined with the beastmen and Blood Knight riders he had slain along the way, an Earl's title should be well within reach.

But the danger level going forward would also rise sharply, so he definitely couldn't let his subordinates grow careless.

"Yes, my lord!"

And so, Gervas immediately led the group to turn back.

But Morall, a little over a li away, had long since detected the sudden change over here.

Originally, he had been celebrating with his two subordinates beside him that this human Gervas had actually chosen to head west.

Otherwise, choosing to head straight south might well ruin His Majesty the Beast King's plan to annihilate the hundred-thousand-strong human army.

But the moment this thought fell, that human Gervas suddenly began to turn back.

"Human Gervas, what are you trying to do?" Once Gervas and the others drew near, Morall immediately questioned him.

"Great Leader Morall, I've suddenly changed my mind. I'm not heading west anymore — I'm heading straight south!" Gervas wore a brilliant smile, smiling so innocently and harmlessly.

But upon hearing this, Morall felt as if his chest had been struck a heavy blow, wishing he could leap up immediately and split this Gervas in two with his axe.

"Why? Wouldn't heading west be safer for you? If you head south, there are other beastfolk armies there. When the time comes, I can't guarantee they would be as willing as me to let you go…"

"Enough, Great Leader Morall, stop pretending. I was only teasing you before — don't really think I didn't know the importance of Wang Fei Princess Sukama and this prince."

"Surely you're well aware of the prophecy of your Behemoth beastfolk's Grand Shaman?" Morall had only spoken halfway when Gervas directly cut him off with a teasing tone.

"You… you knew all along? Who the hell told you?" Morall was both shocked and furious, because he had previously vaguely suspected that Gervas might not yet have realized the importance of Wang Fei Princess Sukama.

But now Gervas had suddenly come to his senses — could it be that Prada had leaked the information?

At once, he glared viciously at Prada.

Prada immediately grew anxious. "Great Leader Morall, this has nothing to do with me. Wang Fei Princess Sukama is my sister — how could I possibly harm her…"

Gervas, however, did not explain, nor did he intend to give the two of them any extra time for chatter. "Great Leader Morall, I'm not asking for your opinion right now."

"I'm giving you five minutes. Immediately order your subordinates to retreat to both sides, two li away, and clear the road south for me. Otherwise, I'll have to invite your Wang Fei Princess Sukama and the prince out again!"

Morall's face alternated between green and white, but what could he do when Wang Fei Princess Sukama and the prince were in the hands of this damned human noble?

He had no way to flare up, and could only grit his teeth and say: "Let's go!"

Immediately, Morall took his subordinates and left, preparing to have the thirty-thousand-strong army ahead clear the way.

And so, Gervas's force of a thousand completed the change of direction and began heading straight for Lindongcheng.

And because it was a straight-line distance, this place was only a little over a hundred and fifty li from Lindongcheng — roughly about three days' journey.

Gervas now only hoped that the kingdom's army could hold out, and not collapse before he arrived.

……

Time flew by, and soon three days had passed.

"Gentlemen, are you all prepared?"

Lindongcheng Castle, the council hall.

Today, all the nobles, great and small, had gathered.

The Grand Leader stood at the head of the long table, looking at the assembled nobles.

And the current Grand Leader was much thinner than before.

In fact, it wasn't just him — even all the other nobles, great and small, had haggard expressions.

If even these nobles were like this, one could well imagine what kind of scene their subordinates would be in.

"Grand Leader, we are prepared!"

"Very well, gentlemen, I won't waste words then. This breakout is our only chance to survive!"

"In the past, I know many of you nobles harbored petty schemes — putting in work without putting in effort! But now it's different. If everyone still doesn't fight with everything they have, then there really won't be another chance!"

"Therefore, I hope all of you can give it your all — only then will we have more chance of breaking through!"

"Grand Leader, we understand!" The nobles nodded one after another, knowing this was a life-or-death moment.

Even if the Grand Leader didn't say it, they would still give it their all.

"Good. Then everyone go back and prepare. In one hour we breakout — the location is the mountain path on the right, breaking straight down the mountain. When the time comes, we won't need to pass through Lindongcheng city!"

Just like that, the various nobles, great and small, returned one after another to gather their own troops.

"Adams, this is your father's seal, and this scroll—keep them safe. If anything happens to your father, from now on the Marquis Marquis Aosiding family will depend on you!"

"Oh right, I know that brother of yours has ambitions, but after all he's still your brother. In the future, just send him far away, that way he won't be able to stir up any more trouble!"

Looking at the golden seal and the magical contract scroll his father handed over, Adams was first stunned, then his expression changed.

He naturally understood what his father meant. "No, Father, we must return to the family together! I have not yet reached the point of being able to take charge of the family, so our Marquis Marquis Aosiding family still needs you, Father!"

Marquis Hou Jue of Marquis Marquis Aosiding, seeing Adams's anxious look, immediately smiled. "Adams, of course your father wouldn't deliberately go to his death. This is just in case. If the situation truly becomes critical, don't worry about your father. Only once you are safe can your father retreat without any worries!"

"Father, nothing will happen to you! I also don't want anything to happen to you!"

Adams still couldn't set his mind at ease. After all, Gervas had already met with an accident; if his own father were to meet with an accident as well—

He didn't know what else in this world there was that could make him feel attached.