In the darkness, Baichuan sat among the cavalry, lost in thought. The joy of her victory that day hadn't dispelled her doubts: How could such an easy victory have been achieved? The demons had suddenly withdrawn on their own accord when the battle was at their upper hand. When the Zichuan family's cavalry launched their attack, they encountered almost no organized resistance... This wasn't the style of the typically formidable and skilled demon army.
Of course, victory was victory, irreplaceable, and unquestionable. The demon corpses, piled densely on the ground like harvested autumn crops—that was the proof. Only then did she feel the cold sweat soaking through her clothes. If her judgment had been even slightly wrong, the Zichuan family's cavalry would now be lying on the ground in large numbers. And she would bear primary responsibility for that. Even if she survived the battle, she would surely be executed by the Inspectorate's military police upon her return... She couldn't take any more risks. Luck wasn't always so generous as to favor the same person twice.
"Stop the pursuit," she commanded.
The cavalry halted their horses, relieved. After five full hours of pursuit, they were exhausted. But no one dared to try to persuade the female tyrant—everyone had witnessed what had happened to Changchuan. To the soldiers, she seemed even more terrifying than the supposedly invincible Great Demon King.
"All units camped on site. Arrange scouts. Increase the night shift from four to eight. Double the scout coverage area. Use torches for warning!"
The messenger dispatched, and Shirakawa instructed, "From now on, headquarters will be under the command of Deputy Commandant Changchuan. I'm going to see Commandant Hidekawa."
Changchuan emerged from the cavalry, his expression unfriendly. "What? Put it in my hands? Deputy Commandant Bai, aren't you afraid I'll steal all the credit from you?"
Shirakawa smiled at him, a smile that instantly made Changchuan lose half his temper. The other half... that was a minor matter, not worth mentioning.
"Are you still mad at me? Isn't it enough that I apologized? Changchuan, be a real man, and don't bother with us women, okay?"
Changchuan smiled bitterly. "I'm afraid of you. Whatever. It's not like you haven't beaten me before."
"I have something to tell you. I just questioned some prisoners, and they're telling you a strange story. They say that during their attack, Commander Gesha and Deputy Commander Yunshen were assassinated. The entire army lost its leadership, leading to complete moral chaos and collapse without a fight."
"Oh!" Baichuan was astonished. "Who did it? They helped us so much."
"They only knew it was a human—you know, to the demons, we humans all look the same, just like those green-skinned monsters all look the same to us. What a terrifying person! They buried themselves in the sand, waiting for the demon commander to pass by, then suddenly burst through the sand and kill, and they always kill with a single blow."
Shirakawa pondered, "I didn't know there were such masters in the Far East. So skilled in martial arts, yet so Stoic and ruthless. Burying himself in the sand..." She shuddered.
Nagakawa: "But I suppose our hatamoto must have known, right? Otherwise, he wouldn't have ordered us to attack..."
The mention of Zichuan Xiu filled Shirakawa with rage: "You think too highly of that idiot! Do you know what he was doing while we were risking our lives? Bathing, eating, sleeping—he almost had sex with a woman—but that was probably because he couldn't find one. How does he act like a commander of an entire army..."
Nagakawa said slowly, "As long as we can win the battle, he can do whatever he wants. I don't care. Why are you so angry?" He glanced at Shirakawa, his eyes full of meaning.
"This time, it's just luck. He got lucky against the demons!"
"I'm afraid it's more than just luck. It was luck this time, but was the Imperial Capital counterattack six years ago also luck? In the two major campaigns against the Liufeng Clan, only his troops returned intact; in the confrontation with Liufeng Shuang three years ago, he was the only one to escape without a single loss... For an 'idiot' who joined the army at eleven, fought in over seventy battles, both large and small, and never lost a single one—his luck is a bit too good, isn't it?"
...
Bai Chuan galloped through the night, Chang Chuan's words echoing in his mind. He thought to himself, "Yes, his luck is a bit too good, isn't it?". Has he been hiding his true strength this whole time?"
Yes, I need to ask him the truth, to uncover his true face hidden behind his lazy, lustful, and cowardly facade!
Ahead were the lights of the central army. Before Zi Chuanxiu's guards could stop him, Bai Chuan rode into the main camp.
Guard Captain Gu Lei stepped forward to greet him: "Deputy Bannerman Bai, the master has ordered you not to enter!"
"Why?" Bai Chuan ignored him, thinking to herself: "Could it be that he is revealing a hidden side of himself right now? I absolutely must enter!"
She strode into the central army tent, only to see Zi Chuan Xiu embracing a beautiful girl, about to kiss her...
Instantly, her rage surged, and she drew her saber and struck: "So this is your true form, Zi Chuan Xiu! Prepare to die!"