Chapter 36: Ambushed

"The general's beloved concubine is truly as beautiful as a flower, but where did she come from?" Mu Qianxue stood tall and dignified.

"Where did she come from?" Yan'er smiled slightly, glancing at Pan Yueyang.

"Where she comes from doesn't matter. What matters is her place in my heart," Pan Yueyang said, gently stroking Yan'er's belly. Yes, it had grown a little.

Mu Qianxue raised her head proudly. "I am a bit tired. You two may do as you please." With that, she left the tent.

She really has the bearing of a grand princess! Yan'er stuck out her tongue.

"What made you come here?" Pan Yueyang let Yan'er sit on his lap.

"Yueyang, we've been camped here for some time. Why haven't you attacked the city?"

"Why the rush? I am waiting for the right moment." Pan Yueyang tapped her nose.

"The right moment?" Yan'er leaned forward, glancing at the map on the table, then at him.

"You'll know when the time comes." Pan Yueyang smiled, kissing Yan'er. "These days, your belly seems to have grown again."

Yan'er covered her mouth. "It can't be that fast!"

"I should find someone from the village to take care of you." Pan Yueyang gently rubbed her hair.

"Senior brother!" Without announcing himself, Bai Li Mubai pulled aside the curtain and caught sight of the two embracing intimately, his face flushing, uncertain whether to enter or retreat.

"Come in, Mubai." Pan Yueyang smiled at him.

"I've done what you asked." Mubai glanced at Yan'er, then at Pan Yueyang. "Hey, how did you two move from your own tent to this one for more cuddling?"

"You rascal!" Pan Yueyang shot him a glare. "Yan'er, you go back first."

Watching Yan'er leave, Bai Li Mubai immediately sidled up to Pan Yueyang. "Senior brother, the riverbank is solid. I've tried several times, but couldn't succeed. I checked again today. The north side is weaker, but the impact speed..."

"I'll go with you tonight to take a look," Pan Yueyang interrupted decisively.

"General!"

"Come in."

Mu Qianxue lifted the curtain. "Your beloved concubine has left?"

Why is she back again! "Yes." Pan Yueyang rose. "Grand Princess, I have urgent matters and cannot accompany you."

Watching the two leave without even turning back, Mu Qianxue stomped her foot in frustration. Pan Yueyang, I will have you! Between gain and beauty, you will surely choose gain!

...

Guan Canghai reclined on a soft couch, wickedly peeling aside the woman's bodice before him, listening as his subordinate reported on Pan Yueyang's movements.

"I have been probing their main camp. They have made no move to attack, but their defenses are unusually tight. I approached the enemy camp several times and found women coming and going," the shadow guard said, sweating nervously. This master is difficult to serve; he had spent two days and nights exposed to the elements.

"Mm, leave me," Guan Canghai said, kneading the woman's side.

"My lord..." The woman squirmed, her face eager and ingratiating, attempting to climb atop Guan Canghai.

"Out!" A slap sent her sprawling three feet from the door.

The woman hurriedly clutched her bodice and staggered away; this master changed moods in an instant, and a careless moment could cost her life.

Guan Canghai closed his eyes. He had always loved beautiful women. The last time he glimpsed that stunning woman outside the city gate, he still couldn't forget her. "Hmm..." Guan Canghai recalled her delicate face, and just thinking of her stirred his body.

"Someone, come." Guan Canghai's eyes snapped open.

"Master!" The shadow appeared instantly at the door.

"Why has Pan Yueyang remained unmoved for so long? He's quite patient! Tonight, take some guards and go tease them a bit, hahaha..." Guan Canghai tilted his head back, pouring wine straight into his mouth.

"Yes!" The shadow vanished swiftly.

Pan Yueyang! They say you are undefeated in battle. I will make you taste defeat, and take your woman as well. In this world, only I can be truly undefeated!

Guan Canghai crushed the wine cup in his hand, letting blood trickle slowly between his fingers.

By evening, the sky had grown overcast, clouds rolling in, weighing heavily on everyone's hearts. The oppressive sky seemed to sink ever lower.

Pan Yueyang watched the impending torrential rain, a weight lifting from his heart. "Mubai, come with me now."

The late summer rain came quickly, giving the army little time. Soon, large drops pounded the ground, soldiers crowding into tents for shelter, except for a few guards still on patrol. For a moment, only tents could be seen, with no soldiers moving about.

Guan Canghai stood atop the city wall. Heaven assists me; the time and place are right. It is my turn to act...

Thunder rolled amid the rain, rapidly washing the land. Pan Yueyang and Bai Li Mubai stood at the mouth of the embankment, soaked by the downpour.

"Senior brother, let's try together," Bai Li Mubai wiped rain from his face.

"Mubai, the thunder is deafening. Use your full strength!" Pan Yueyang surveyed the embankment. It was truly solid. He intended to split it with the force of his palm.

"Alright!"

The two raised their internal energy. If they could open the embankment, then when the water rose in autumn...

Suddenly, with a crash, lightning flashed across the dark sky. Using the thunder as cover, the two gathered their internal energy and struck together at the embankment. Yet, there was no sign of a crack.

Pan Yueyang looked at Bai Li Mubai. "Continue! We must damage the embankment!"

Again and again, they attacked. Whether to be grateful or dismayed, it was hard to say—the magistrate of Moon City was truly a worthy official; the embankment was so well built it seemed utterly unbreakable!

Still, they refused to give up, continually gathering their internal energy to attack with palm strikes.

As their internal energies converged for another strike, a third force suddenly joined theirs. Pan Yueyang turned—Xueqing smiled at him.

Pan Yueyang nodded. "Xueqing, let's channel all our energy into Mubai!"

Xueqing nodded. The three formed a line, with Mubai at the front, his energy strongest, able to absorb theirs for a more powerful attack.

Xueqing gathered her internal energy, channeling it slowly into Pan Yueyang. Pan Yueyang in turn combined theirs, pouring it into Bai Li Mubai.

Bai Li Mubai felt his internal energy surge, his dantian pulsing with heat. A pure yang energy mingled with his own and Xueqing's gentle yin force. The palm strike erupted—

All three were knocked backward by the force, their own energy sending them flying. As they got up and looked at the embankment, a crack began to form on one side, two inches wide.

"We did it!" Bai Li Mubai looked at Pan Yueyang and Xueqing.

Both their faces were pale, especially Xueqing, whose face was almost deathly white. Pan Yueyang fared a little better, but this was the price of transferring all their internal energy to another.

"Senior brother, senior sister!" Bai Li Mubai looked at their pale faces.

"I'm fine. Carry your senior sister; she's a bit weak." Pan Yueyang's internal strength was deeper than Xueqing's.

Bai Li Mubai quickly hoisted Xueqing onto his back, supporting Pan Yueyang as they staggered along the muddy road toward camp.

This was the reason Pan Yueyang had held his troops back! He was waiting. Every year, Moon City suffered floods starting in August. That was why the embankment was so solid—if disaster struck, half the city could be destroyed, the waters mercilessly swallowing countless lives. To retake Moon City, Pan Yueyang had no choice but to take this risk. If he damaged the embankment, then when the waters rose, it would be his chance to capture the city.

Pan Yueyang, with Xueqing and Bai Li Mubai, had barely entered the camp when he sensed something was wrong.

"General!"

Before Pan Yueyang could ask, the soldiers were already kneeling.

"What happened?" Pan Yueyang felt a foreboding chill.

"The lady was captured by Guan Canghai," a young officer lowered his head in shame.

Pan Yueyang's fury erupted. "Useless fools! She was abducted from my camp! Where is Gu Yinhe? He will face military justice!" Nearly mad with rage, Pan Yueyang felt the abduction of his woman was a personal humiliation.

"General Gu is gravely wounded!" the soldier reported at once.

"Wounded? Where is he?" Pan Yueyang rushed toward Gu Yinhe's tent as he spoke.

Sure enough, Gu Yinhe lay half-naked on the bedding, his face pale and bloodless, eyes tightly shut.

The military doctor was busy at his side. Pan Yueyang grabbed him by the collar. "What happened?"

The doctor trembled in terror, stammering, "Just... just now... General, I..."

Smack!

Before he could finish, Pan Yueyang kicked him away.

"Yinhe?" Pan Yueyang, drenched, sat at Gu Yinhe's bedside. "Yinhe?"

He called several times, but Gu Yinhe didn't open his eyes. Pan Yueyang then looked at the doctor, who had crawled back to kneel at the tent entrance. "Hurry up and get over here!"

The doctor scrambled to Gu Yinhe's bedside, examining his injuries. "General... General Gu has external wounds and was poisoned. The coma is mainly due to the toxin."

"Wake him up!" Pan Yueyang stood, gazing at Gu Yinhe's ghastly pale face—Guan Canghai!

Mu Qianxue had warned him that Guan Canghai's silver threads were all laced with deadly poison. Looking at Gu Yinhe's half-exposed torso, he saw knife wounds and deep, thin marks from the threads.

"I have already used silver needles, but General Gu remains unconscious. I will study what kind of poison it is!" The doctor hurried out, ignored by Pan Yueyang.

He pointed to a guard. "You—tell me exactly what happened."

The young guard immediately knelt. "I deserve death, General! During the heavy rain, a group of men in black suddenly appeared in the camp. They were agile, but didn't harm our troops—almost as if they were toying with us. When General Gu appeared, they changed tactics, launching fierce attacks. At first, General Gu handled them easily. Then Lady Yan'er came out, and suddenly a man in purple, moving so fast we couldn't see his face, charged at her. General Gu also leapt to fight them, but the man in purple used some unknown weapon; they didn't come to close quarters, but then General Gu collapsed in front of Lady Yan'er. Even wounded, he fought to protect her. The men in black then attacked, and after the man in purple abducted her, they withdrew. We tried to pursue, but General Gu shouted for us to guard the camp, then fainted."

Pan Yueyang listened, eyes narrowed, taking a deep breath. Guan Canghai's target was—Yan'er!?