711 Confrontation (1/2)

”Tell me, why did you let yourself be caught on purpose? What are you trying to do?” As he rode on the galloping Flame Foal, Gu Shenwei asked Han Fen this without looking back at her.

Han Fen, who was sitting behind him and humming a strange tune, took awhile before puzzledly answering with a question. ”Is the Dragon King talking to me?”

”Mmm.”

”Hee hee, I just wanted to experience the uniqueness of the little girl that you chose over the Master Commander.”

”What else?”

”And… I wanted to kill her to please the Master Commander.”

”But you didn't do that.”

”How could I have made a move when you're always keeping an eye on me and giving me a cold feeling in my back? Also… she's cute. I'm a bit reluctant to sully that image.” It was precisely this occasional 'reluctance,' that had almost eliminated her from the Waning Moon Hall.

Gu Shenwei suddenly stopped the horse, dropped her off, and looked down into her eyes as he asked, ”Is Lotus badly hurt?”

Han Fen's eyes sparkled. ”Dragon King, are you concerned about the Master Commander?”

”Tell me the truth.”

Han Fen would either keep silent or tell the truth. There was no such thing as a third option to her in this situation. And she liked talking to the Dragon King, so she said, ”To tell you the truth, the Master Commander is dying. She was seriously injured by you. The Master Commander feels so cold that she's always shaking as if she were poisoned. She took a Bone Shrivelling Pill, but that didn't do much. She then took two Zombie Suppressing Pills, but they were also ineffective. Then she found someone to practice the Psychotic Divine Drain, which worked a bit. After that she…”

Han Fen wanted to explain the whole treatment method in detail, but Gu Shenwei hurriedly interrupted her. ”Stop, stop. Where is she hiding now?”

”She's hiding… Heehee, I can't tell you. Dragon King, you are so bad, trying to sound out my secrets when I'm unaware. You know, I am the best at keeping secrets. Otherwise, why would the Master Commander trust me?”

Gu Shenwei tried ask again in another way, ”Where are Han Xuan and Shangguan Shaomin? You promised to tell me where they were.”

”I only know that the two of them were still in King Shengri's camp when I left yesterday.”

Gu Shenwei was a bit surprised that Han Fen would play such a trick in her answer. ”Is Han Xuan still your friend?”

”Of course.” Han Fen appeared quite confused about why the Dragon King would ask this. She continued, explaining, ”As the saying goes, 'A lifetime of friends and a night of men.' Friends will always be friends, how can they… not be friends?”

Gu Shenwei had never heard of this famous saying from the Waning Moon Hall, nor did he care about it. Time was urgent, and he had to wrap up the conversation as soon as possible. ”Han Xuan may be Han Wuxian's daughter.”

”The Hall Leader is lying.” Han Xuan was filled with indignation, on behalf of her friend rather than herself. ”Han Xuan clearly told me that the person who went to see her every year was nothing like the Hall Leader.”

”She might have disguised herself.”

”Their temperaments were also different. The Master Commander had asked her in detail. Besides, the Hall Leader couldn't have left the headquarters at that time.”

At that time, the Waning Moon Hall had been restricted by the truce agreement and its couldn't have left the desert. Han Fen hummed and continued saying, ”The Hall Leader wants to mislead everyone and have us believe that we can rest easy if Han Xuan is under control. Then she will kill us all when we are unprepared.”

These words were obviously from Lotus.

Gu Shenwei thought for a moment and said, ”You can go now.”

”Really?”

But I won't let you to touch any of my men, including those soldiers. Do you understand?”

”What if I already did?”

Gu Shenwei wanted to threaten her by answering 'then I'll kill you,' but that was meaningless to Han Fen because the other side only cared about whether her corpse could be scattered far and wide. ”I won't care about you or talk to you anymore.”

Fortunately, there were no outsiders around; otherwise, the Dragon King's reputation would likely be totally destroyed.

Han Fen, however, was startled, ”Please don't. I'll try not to touch your subordinates. If the Master Commander orders me, then I'll find an excuse and have someone else do it.”

Han Fen quickly ran away. She had already disappeared into the grass while Gu Shenwei was still thinking of a way to clarify what he meant by 'touch.'

Lotus was hiding in the dark. And Han Fen was probably the only clue that Gu Shenwei could use to learn about the Waning Moon Hall's movements. He had spared her life, but also greatly doubted the veracity of her words.

Han Fen wouldn't lie, but she also interpreted everything Lotus had instilled in her mind as the truth and told it as such.

Gu Shenwei felt like he was fighting against himself when dealing with Lotus. They knew each other too well, which made him feel like it was nearly impossible to discern between the truth and lies.

Gu Shenwei met Shangguan Ru's guards at the border of the patrolling area and ordered them to set off at once to meet their instructor.

Gu Shenwei finally ran back to the camp when the sun had risen high. From afar, he could see patches of troops which appeared miniscule in contrast to the vastness of the prairie. As the distance shortened, the crowd grew larger and the pressure of the sabers, spears, bows, and steeds pressed down upon him.

The battle hadn't begun yet, which gave Gu Shenwei the chance to make a stop at a nearby hillock and finally observe how the Norland people conducted battle.

There were nearly 30,000 people on each side, stationed about a mile or so from each other. As they moved around each other very slowly in circles, it could clearly be seen that both sides wanted to flank the enemy while avoiding a siege.

Both sides had adopted the same tactic, but King Shengri's side was slightly outnumbered.

Occasionally, someone would leave their battle formation and challenge the enemy. Just as Gu Shenwei was watching, two men fired arrows at each other and one of the two fell off of their horse after three exchanges.

The Norland Army had no strict battle formation, and outsiders who were not familiar with them might think that both armies were as disorganized as a rabble of militia, but Gu Shenwei knew that the Norland Army had very clear ranks. The soldiers followed the decanus, the decanus moved with the flag of the centurion, the centurion would follow the chiliarch, and so on and so forth; in the end, no one was allowed to act of their own accord.

The seemingly disorganized team actually had complicated rules guiding them internally. With proper gaps left between the horses, they could gather and separate in a very short amount of time.

After annexing the forces of the other two kings, King Shengri's army had expanded again, but he didn't send out all his forces this time.