"Chief, we're almost at the woods."

An Jiu tightened the reins, urging his spirited horse forward, and quickly approached Lu Qiqi to give her a warning.

Before leaving the camp, Lu Qiqi ran wildly towards the forest. An Jiu, who had been at the border for a year, was amazed by her keen sense of direction at night.

Lu Qiqi has been drinking spiritual spring water for a long time, so her night vision ability is naturally unmatched by ordinary people.

Even before An Jiu reminded her, she already knew that the forest was not far ahead, after descending the low hill.

Therefore, she gradually slowed down the speed of the spirited horse, and when it was almost at the edge of the low hill, she pulled on the reins and walked to the edge.

Looking down from above, the two dense forests appear as dark as swamps in the night, giving a sense of oppressive heaviness.

Taking advantage of the darkness, Lu Qiqi said, "We need to enter the dense forest before dawn."

The reason is simple: once you leave the dense forest on the grassland, it's as if you're naked and exposed to the sun.

It's only a matter of time before we attract enemy troops.

She and her Shadow Guards numbered only about twenty people; their purpose in leaving seclusion this time was to search for Song Yanqing's whereabouts.

Once they become the target of public criticism, not only will they be unable to support Song Yanqing, but they will likely perish on this vast grassland.

An Jiu naturally understood Lu Qiqi's implication and immediately ordered the Shadow Guards, "Take advantage of the night to reach the forest and set off!"

At a command, the sound of horses' hooves rang out, and more than twenty men galloped away into the darkness.

As dawn broke, Lu Qiqi finally reached the edge of the forest before daybreak.

The path between the two groves is about four meters wide, wide enough for a horse-drawn carriage to pass through.

However, it is precisely in places like these that we must not let our guard down.

An Jiu ordered two Shadow Guards to scout ahead, and the two Shadow Guards returned shortly afterward.

Riding a tall horse, An Jiu asked the two as they returned, "How was it?"

The two men looked rather grim. One of the Shadow Guards said, "About a mile ahead, there are signs of a fight. More than a hundred Tatars have died, and there are also the bodies of two Shadow Guards."

Upon hearing this, An Jiu knew something was wrong.

The discovery of the Shadow Guard's corpse here indicates that the Crown Prince had a direct confrontation with the Tatars at this location.

Upon hearing this, Lu Qiqi's heart skipped a beat, but she quickly regained her composure, because she absolutely could not panic or lose her composure at this moment.

Her mind raced, and she looked again at the Shadow Guard who had gone ahead to scout the way, "How stiff is the corpse?"

After recalling the condition of the two corpses, the Shadow Guard replied, "They were cold and stiff. I suspect they died last night at 9 PM."

Upon hearing this, Lu Qiqi and An Jiu exchanged a knowing glance, tacitly tightened the reins, and headed towards the scene of the incident.

Upon arrival, the bodies of about a hundred Tatars lay sprawled on their sides, in various poses, some with wide-open eyes, dying with their eyes wide open, others with contorted faces, displaying extreme suffering.

Upon seeing this, An Jiu immediately ordered the Shadow Guards, "Quickly search for the whereabouts of the Crown Prince."

Lu Qiqi dismounted to check the situation and found a clump of black powder the size of an eyeball next to a corpse with blood dripping from the corner of its mouth.

She reached out and touched the powder, then held it to her nose and sniffed it gently.

The smell of smoke was mixed with a specially made sleeping potion, a thunderbolt she had prepared specifically for Song Yanqing.

However, the sleeping potion in the thunderbolt had already released its effects, so even if it were swallowed now, it would have no effect.

She slowly stood up, looked around at her surroundings, and gazed at the roadside littered with corpses, secretly making guesses in her mind.

There are only two possibilities now. The first is good news: Song Yanqing successfully escaped the Tatars' interception thanks to the thunderbolts she gave him.

The second, worst-case scenario is that the limited number of Thunderclap Bombs will run out, and the Tatars will capture Song Yanqing and the other Shadow Guards.

If it were the first scenario, Song Yanqing would have arrived at the West Gate last night and returned directly to camp.

It's most likely the second possibility, or perhaps they escaped to another place.

Unaware of Lu Qiqi's secret weapon, An Jiu, seeing the corpses scattered on the ground, ordered his Shadow Guards to carefully inspect the area, making sure nothing was missed.

He hoped the crown prince wasn't there, but he was also worried that the crown prince might be captured by the Tatars.

When a commander-in-chief is captured alive by the enemy, it is tantamount to a defeat, leaving the army leaderless and demoralizing the troops.

Just as he had anticipated the worst-case scenario, he suddenly heard Lu Qiqi's urgent command, "Shadow Guards, hide in the woods!"

Upon hearing this, An Jiu immediately chose to obey, "Quickly!"

Therefore, the Shadow Guards quickly disappeared into the forest.

A moment later, heavy hoofbeats came from the narrow passage between two groves, indicating that quite a few people and horses had come to this place.

The birds in the woods were startled by the sound of horses' hooves and flew away, flapping their wings.

The neighing of horses rose, the sound of hooves gradually faded, and the forest seemed to return to tranquility.

Prince Tadar, riding a tall horse, saw the corpses lying on both sides of the road and slowly tightened his grip on the reins.

He was a nomadic man who grew up on horseback, and his palms were already calloused from years of constant use. At this moment, he felt no pain, but rather that his anger was not being released.

Tadar wished he could chop up the damned enemy prince and feed him to the eagles!

He gritted his teeth and asked, "Has Ketu still not found the person?"

"Your Highness, there has been no news yet regarding the carving."

Upon hearing this, Tadar suddenly shouted, "Useless!"

Behind him stood a hundred or so tall, burly men, who, under his rebuke, all bowed their heads and remained as quiet as chickens, like quails.

A moment later, Tadar rode his steed, stepping over the corpses scattered on the ground, and galloped away to the other end of the alley.

This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!