It was Meng Yuxiu. If it weren't for Meng Yuxiu, the Great Shun army wouldn't have suffered such a crushing defeat, and her Yuan'er wouldn't have been humiliated and died.

If that's really the case, then Chang Lili absolutely cannot continue to be entangled with Meng Yuxiu like this. Between them, there is not only national hatred, but also family feud.

The mother-in-law gripped the letter tightly in her hand; the letter, which she had just carefully unfolded, had become damp, soft, and crumpled in her grasp.

Her hands trembled, her face filled with helplessness and sorrow.

"Yuan'er, tell me, isn't this a tragic fate?" she said, unable to suppress a soft laugh, a laugh tinged with bitterness and helplessness.

In a secluded courtyard in the capital, Hu Pin paced back and forth, extremely anxious and wanting to punch someone.

Zheng Xuan, the young man who often accompanied him, strode into the courtyard. As soon as Hu Pin saw him, he went up to him and asked anxiously, "How is it?"

Zheng Xuan frowned slightly and said with a look of shame, "The mission failed, and no one survived."

Hu Pin stared wide-eyed and took a few steps back, his burly body trembling. He said in disbelief, "Failed again?"

He then angrily roared at Zheng Xuan, "Look at the kind of people you've gathered! I've never seen you so incompetent before. Now you've failed time and time again to kill a defenseless little girl! What use are you to me!"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Xuan knelt down on one knee, looking as if he had admitted his mistake.

Hu Pin was furious and raised his foot to kick Zheng Xuan, but after thinking for a moment, he pulled it back and slammed his fist on the table, making the teacups on the table almost jump.

"You useless lot, it seems I'll have to handle this myself!" He said resolutely, but his tone quickly turned helpless. "If I don't do this well, how am I supposed to explain it to my cousin Shu'er?"

In the Light Machine Unit, although a dangerous incident was discovered yesterday, everything is as if nothing happened today.

The corpses and bloodstains in the forest had been cleaned up, leaving no trace. Only the broken, giant mechanical bird that had been removed from the forest and the fallen trees testified to what had happened last night.

Early this morning, Chang Lili walked briskly to the cabin in the woods. Last night, she was thinking about what Meng Yuxiu had said about setting up a new trap array around the forbidden area, and her mind started racing, pondering many things over and over again.

But as soon as she arrived, she found that not only Zhang Ziqing, but also the drunkard uncle, Zhou Lue, and Jiang Yingxue had arrived. Zhang Ziqing and the drunkard uncle were still busy with their own things, while Jiang Yingxue and Zhou Lue had ulterior motives. On the surface, one was casually eating sunflower seeds, while the other was fiddling with equipment at the long table.

But as soon as they saw Chang Lili appear, both of them lost their focus and stared at her with shining eyes. Then Zhou Lue put down his melon seeds and Jiang Yingxue put down the equipment in her hand. The two of them rushed towards Chang Lili without prior arrangement.

Chang Lili looked puzzled. Seeing the two of them, she suddenly panicked, took two steps back, and crossed her arms in a defensive posture: "What are you doing?"

Zhou Lue and Jiang Yingxue looked on with anticipation, each holding one of Chang Lili's arms and staring at her curiously.

“Yesterday we saw you ride the mechanical bird into the sky. When can you take us on a mechanical bird ride into the sky?” Jiang Yingxue showed no trace of her usual hostility; her brows were full of girlish hope.

Even the elderly Zhou Lue chimed in, "Although I, senior, am highly skilled in light-body techniques and can go anywhere, whether it's on the ground or the sky," Jiang Yingxue rolled her eyes, "I've never ridden such a novel thing before. When can you take this old man for a ride?"

Chang Lili sighed, shook off their hands, and walked to the long table, saying, "It seems we won't have a chance to sit for a while. That mechanical bird was something we worked so hard to make. We were only forced to use it last night because of an emergency, but now it's ruined."

“It can be repaired if it’s broken. What materials do you need? I’ll go get them for you. If you need any help, just let me know!” Jiang Yingxue was unusually kind and helpful.

Chang Lili leaned forward and looked at Zhang Ziqing, who was engrossed in his work. She saw that he had drawn something on the white paper in his hand, but she couldn't make out what it was at all.

Jiang Yingxue wasn't angry at all, and even stepped forward enthusiastically, saying, "Ziqing is drawing up the new traps that we're going to set up in our forbidden area. Ziqing has always been in charge of setting up the traps around our forbidden area."

Her words revealed an undisguised pride.

“But this…” Chang Lili frowned, staring at the messy mess on the paper, completely baffled. “What… is written on this paper?”

Jiang Yingxue glanced at it and immediately said, "Oh, Ziqing wants to add earth spikes on the outermost edge to kill people without them even realizing it. Ziqing is really amazing!"

As she spoke, she clapped her hands and jumped up, looking happier than anyone else.

Chang Lili watched for a while longer with difficulty, and then she realized that Zhang Ziqing's painting skills were comparable to her calligraphy skills.

Seeing them enthusiastically discussing mechanical arts again, Zhou Lue suddenly felt bored and went to find the drunkard uncle for a drink.

"Ground spikes?" Chang Lili pondered. "Is that the kind of spikes that are laid out on the ground to kill people?"

Jiang Yingxue nodded: "Yes, Ziqing is really amazing. Let's see who dares to cause trouble in our Light Machinery Department this time!"

Chang Lili frowned, pondering, "Then this is just as terrifying as those formations in the mechanical array. Isn't this kind of formation a bit unsuitable?"

"What's inappropriate? This formation is a guaranteed kill. Tell me, what's inappropriate about it?" Jiang Yingxue was displeased upon hearing this, her words filled with anger as she glared at Chang Lili.

Zhang Ziqing also looked up at her, a questioning glint in his eyes.

Chang Lili wasn't angry. She said seriously, "I'm not saying the mechanism itself is bad, but I feel that starting with ground spikes right away, which is a bit too much to kill people. And what if such a formation accidentally injures someone?"

Jiang Yingxue said angrily, "What do you mean by accidentally injuring someone? Look at the people who came last night and before. Weren't they all aggressive and full of murderous intent? Everyone else is in this state and you're still worried about those people. You might as well just offer your neck up to be killed!"

“But it’s not impossible to accidentally kill them. Besides, these people don’t seem to have any good intentions, but we don’t know who they are. It would be a shame to just kill them like this. Wouldn’t it be better if we could capture them alive?” Chang Lili asked innocently, wondering why Zhang Ziqing had set up such a formation.

Jiang Yingxue was still rambling on and on, trying to justify herself, when Zhang Ziqing stopped writing and asked, "What's your opinion?"

As expected, Jiang Yingxue still didn't have a good look when Zhang Ziqing was involved. Before Chang Lili could answer, she said in a shrill voice, "What opinions could she possibly have!"

“I think setting up such a powerful formation right from the start could easily lead to friendly fire. Even if the soldiers are familiar with the mechanisms and know how they work, if they are careless, then…” Chang Lili said, turning her hand into a chopstick and slashing her own neck.

She continued, "So, I think we can set up a small trap, and then gradually make them proceed cautiously, seeing enemies everywhere. Even if we can't kill them all, they can still get down there, and maybe we can even capture a couple of survivors."