Facing pursuit from the Jiangnan troops, the rebel army had no courage to fight. One by one, they abandoned their armor and fled in utter chaos. Prince Colin’s forces naturally seized the opportunity, spurring their horses to chase after them, cutting down rebels along the way and ignoring their cries of surrender.
If you wanted to surrender, you should have done it earlier—now it’s too late!
"Chase them! Don’t let those bastards get away!"
Prince Colin’s troops were strong, but the rebels were running for their lives. After dozens of miles of pursuit, they lost track of the remaining rebels in a dense forest.
"What now?" The forest was full of danger, shrouded in mist. If they charged in, they wouldn’t just fail to find the rebels—more likely, they’d end up in trouble themselves.
"Let’s go back and regroup." The pursuing commander was unwilling, but had no choice. The rebels had rushed into the forest determined not to die, but he couldn’t let his own men die for nothing.
The city was defended, the rebels driven off, but letting the rebel commander escape with a portion of his men left Prince Colin deeply dissatisfied.
"They’re good at hiding. Now the ordinary people will suffer." Prince Colin slammed the table, his cold eyes flashing with murderous intent.
With no supplies left, the rebels would surely start raiding civilians for food.
"Damn it. We know exactly what they’re going to do, but all we can do is stand by and watch—we’re powerless to stop it." The rebels were hiding; no one could predict which village they’d target, making it impossible to prepare in advance.
Prince Colin’s fears were quickly realized. On the third day after the rebels escaped, news arrived that a remote village dozens of miles from the forest had been massacred.
Prince Colin had stationed men in villages near the forest, but the rebels chose one far away and especially poor.
"The whole village—seventy-nine households. Three hundred and twelve people, including newborn babies. Not a single survivor." The news stunned not just Prince Colin and the Prince of Jiangnan, but also Serena and the Valley Master. Even Divine Doctor Guile and his colleagues lost all interest in studying the Lizardman’s illness.
There were only a little over a thousand rebels, but their whereabouts were a mystery. Finding them would be no easy task. Prince Colin knew that even if he led troops out now, he wouldn’t be able to catch the rebels, but he couldn’t bear to sit inside the city, watching the rebels slaughter civilians.
Prince Colin immediately reorganized his forces, splitting the thirty thousand troops outside the city into five groups. He set ambushes at key passes leading to Warcrest Mountain. If any rebels appeared, they were to be killed on sight—no more accepting surrenders.
The moment they raised their blades against civilians, these rebels ceased to be mere traitors—they became bandits, utterly undeserving of mercy.
Leaving most of his men behind, Prince Colin took two thousand troops and a detachment of assassins from the Assassin Alliance, heading toward the blood-washed village. He planned to use the village as a center to track the rebels’ movements.
"Take care of yourself." The Prince of Jiangnan knew he couldn’t stop Prince Colin, so all he could do was urge him to be careful and come back alive.
Caleb Wang didn’t sleep a wink after hearing about the massacre. The day before Prince Colin set out, he found Colin: "I want to go with you." On the day of the siege, he’d said Serena was too cruel to the rebels—now he understood that sometimes what seems kind is actually a different kind of cruelty.
If Serena hadn’t forced the rebels to turn on each other that day, even more people would have died.
Caleb Wang, a pampered young master who couldn’t carry a load or wield a weapon, was the last person Prince Colin wanted to bring along—he had no interest in playing nursemaid. But Serena privately spoke up for Caleb, arranging for one of the Seven Old Monsters who was guarding her at the yamen to secretly protect Caleb, and promised repeatedly that Caleb wouldn’t cause trouble for Prince Colin.
Prince Colin had no choice but to agree. "If Grand Heir William Wang Jinling blames me, you’ll have to explain yourself."
"Don’t worry, I’ll write to the Grand Heir and make sure he doesn’t give you any trouble." William Wang Jinling had always protected Caleb too well—especially after Caleb was injured, William kept him away from anything and anyone dangerous.
During his time in Jiangnan, Caleb had matured a lot, but he’d still seen little of the blood and brutality of war.
Prince Colin led his troops out, while the Prince of Jiangnan stayed in the city to handle the aftermath and calm the unrest caused by the rebellion.
The rebel army was in shambles, no longer a threat, and the city was heavily guarded. The Prince of Jiangnan came to discuss with Serena whether they should send the wealthy guests they’d ‘invited’ back home.
The royal manor was large, but with so many people living there, it was crowded. Besides, these guests couldn’t stay at the yamen forever.
Did he really need to discuss this with her?
Serena looked at the Prince of Jiangnan, her face twitching. After a long pause, she said, "Your Highness, you can decide. I have no say in Jiangnan’s affairs."
"Since you have no objections, I’ll get someone to take care of it. Jiangnan won’t fall into chaos again." The Prince of Jiangnan took Serena’s response as agreement and didn’t give her a chance to say more, turning away to make arrangements.
"Getting sneakier by the day," Serena muttered as she watched the Prince of Jiangnan walk away. None of Ninth Royal Uncle Nolan’s nephews were simple characters.
There shouldn’t be any more trouble in Jiangnan for a while. Once Prince Colin’s men brought the grain stores from Warcrest Mountain, they could make up for the losses and send the official silver and grain back to the capital. Serena wondered if they might skip returning to the manor and just head straight for the capital.
Serena planned to find Victor Feng and discuss their departure date with Zuo An.
Victor’s health still needed time to recover, but as long as they didn’t rush, he could travel. Serena wanted to take it slow and turn the journey into a leisurely trip.
As Serena walked, she considered where she could take Victor to have some fun. But just as she neared the courtyard where Victor and the Valley Master were staying, she heard the sounds of a fight...
Startled, Serena broke into a run. After only a few steps, she heard the Valley Master’s furious shout: "Are you trying to get us killed? It took me ages to draw that vial of poisoned blood, and you smashed it! Are you tired of living?"
"Cut it out! Can’t you see their target is Victor? If anything happens to him, I’ll wipe out your Mystic Healer Valley." Serena was surprised to hear Zuo An so flustered.
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"Wipe out my Mystic Healer Valley? Big talk! Old Shui... get them!" The Valley Master, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, jumped and shouted. Even without seeing him, Serena could imagine him hopping mad.
With these two causing such a commotion, Serena’s unease faded. She slowed her pace, and as she passed through the moon gate, she saw the Valley Master grabbing Zuo An. Zuo An, both angry and anxious, had a face as dark as ink. He tried to push the Valley Master away but didn’t dare use force, so he let himself be dragged along.
Divine Doctor Redwater ignored the squabbling pair, crouched on the ground, and carefully collected blood with a small card. On the other side, the Lizardman and Snow were locked in combat with a group of black-clad men.
Well, the truth was that the Lizardman and Snow had teamed up to toy with the black-clad men—neither of them fought seriously, treating the attackers more like playthings than enemies.
Spring stood outside, holding Victor and watching the spectacle. Snow wanted to show off for Victor, so he didn’t finish off the attackers too quickly or make things too bloody—he didn’t want to frighten Victor.
Little boys all seem to have a love for battle. The fight before Victor wasn’t bloody, just a pure contest of strength. Victor watched with excitement, cheeks flushed, clapping his little hands and calling out, "Wolf, go!"
"Wolf, beat the bad guys..."
Seeing Victor so happy, it was clear he wasn’t afraid of Snow anymore.
Looking at the chaos inside, Serena’s eyes were full of gentle laughter. Victor glanced up and saw Serena standing at the door. His smile grew even brighter, and he squirmed in Spring’s arms, reaching desperately toward Serena: "Sister, hug... home, go home."
Victor wanted to go home too.