Chapter 22: Not Here to Chat
Li Zhi really knew that his chances of obtaining victory were slim, but to be honest, the outcome had been decided before the military test had begun. It wasn’t him, Li Zhi, who lost to Bao Yun. It was Duke Hui’en who had lost to the Bao Clan. Even so, he refused to march north and engage the girl in a decisive battle. He clung to the sliver of hope and resolved to hold the southern front no matter what.
As he waited, the forty candidates Li Zhi dispatched to hold the wings had all perished. Jiang Qun and Xu Yu’s remaining forces combined didn’t even total up to twenty people at this point, but they still remembered Bao Yun’s order. Thus, they mustered their remaining numbers and charged the enemy’s main force instead of heading back to reorganize themselves.
Li Zhi let out a deep sigh knowing that Bao Yun’s main force had to be on the way already. They should appear at any minute.
He knew he was going to lose, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to fight to the bitter end. He finally mobilized his main force to attack Jian Qun and Xu Yu.
The outcome of this battle came as a surprise to no one. Li Zhi’s main force was well-rested, whereas Jiang Qun and Xu Yu’s remnant forces were few and weary. Like a wave that crashed against a rocky shore, they were shattered in the blink of an eye.
However, Bao Yun’s main force never showed up even after Jiang Qun and Xu Yu themselves had dissolved into light.
Li Zhi wasn’t expecting this outcome at all. His main force still numbered over fifty people, and Bao Yun was probably sitting at ninety or so. It was still a massive, almost insurmountable gap. However, Li Zhi’s personal guard of thirty was perfectly intact. Moreover, the only subordinate capable of using a secret technique of fortune that he lost was his vanguard commander, Wang Fang, while Bao Yun had lost both Jiang Qun and Xu Yu since she failed to follow up their assault in time. This meant that the actual gap between them was narrower than it should have been.
Li Zhi was just about to dispatch a few men to find out what was going on when a scout emerged from a side forest. He practically ran up to the boy on all fours while yelling frantically, “Senior Brother Li! The blue team’s main force is routed! Bao Yun herself was killed in action!”
His first thought was that his scout was talking horseshit. Who else beside him stood a chance at eliminating Bao Yun?