Being interrupted during cultivation plans can be disheartening, but Qin Mu didn't dare to take it lightly. After inquiring, he hurriedly convened a meeting with all those in charge.

"Today's hunt only yielded rabbits and pheasants—small prey. General Zhai, with your extensive experience, do you know why?" Qin Mu asked. Among those present, Zhai Changsun was undoubtedly the oldest and most experienced, so Qin Mu asked directly.

"The Qin patrol officer was very alert. Something was definitely wrong. How could there be no large wild beasts in such a large mountain? Even if they couldn't kill them, they would definitely encounter them. Among the soldiers, there are many good hunters, and they couldn't track them down, which further illustrates the problem."

"I've only heard about the beast tide, but judging from this situation, it's very likely to happen." Zhai Changsun nodded slightly in agreement.

As one of the commanders of the Xuanjia Army, it was quite strange that he had actually dispatched 500 men to protect the two little princesses. Although he had not received any explicit orders, he was still prepared.

"General Zhai, there are no outsiders here. Could you tell us your true mission so that we can be prepared?" Princess Changning asked seriously.

"Your Highness, I am unaware. His Majesty only instructed us to protect the princess. As for the itinerary, we will follow the orders of Inspector Qin," Zhai Changsun said, shaking his head.

Princess Changning knew that Zhai Changsun would not lie to her, so she turned to look at Qin Mu.

"The biggest problem now is that we don't know how big the beast tide is, when it will attack, or whether it's coming for us. What suggestions do you all have?" Qin Mu asked, frowning.

"Rumors say that the beast tide can range from tens of thousands to hundreds! But for those who are prepared, it's nothing. We have more than five thousand men and the Xuanjia Army. Even if there are ten thousand beasts, we don't need to be afraid, right?" Yuchi Baolin said.

"Ahem! The terror of the beast tide lies in its unknown nature. We can't always be on guard, can we? What about training? We can't go hunting or gather herbs. I think we should end the training and go back to Chang'an, or find another place!" Li Chongyi's lips twitched, a look of disdain flashed across his eyes, and then he made the suggestion.

Qin Mu shook his head inwardly. What he was most worried about was not the beast tide, but the trouble brought by the two princesses. Therefore, there was no need to consider retreating. Doing so might disrupt Li Shimin's plans and be even more dangerous.

"No! In my opinion, we should strengthen our defenses! Also, we should take turns hunting and not go out together anymore." Before Qin Mu could speak, Princess Changning objected.

“But waiting like this isn’t a solution. If anything happens to the princess, who can bear the responsibility?” Li Chongyi said hurriedly.

“The princess is right. Starting tomorrow, Brother Cheng and Brother Yuchi will take turns leading the hunt, while the others will make traps and strengthen the camp’s defenses. We will also dig two wells in the camp and make sure to check the drinking water every day,” Qin Mu arranged.

From the day they arrived, Qin Mu had been constantly ordering people to dig trenches, cut down trees, and set traps. Everyone else thought it was just to train the soldiers and deliberately put them through a lot of trouble, but only Qin Mu understood that he was taking precautions and thinking about safety.

What he regretted most was that the soldiers of the Six Doors were not fully equipped, and the most important crossbow bolts needed to be distributed by the Craftsmanship Bureau.

Seeing that Qin Mu and Princess Changning had both decided to stay, Li Chongyi wisely kept quiet. He knew that he was all alone and no one would support his opinion.

Although they decided not to leave, they did not intend to announce the reason. Although the training was changed the next day, no one cared, since they had seen all kinds of training before.

There were more than 4,000 people hunting, and even if they did not hunt for the next ten days, they would not lack meat, except that they would eat cured meat that had been rubbed with salt.

Lacking bows and arrows was no problem; javelins could be used. The large number of trees felled provided perfect material for spears. What were once just trenches had been transformed into traps by inserting whittled logs.

Not only that, Qin Mu's idea was that, apart from the fixed route, the rest of the place must be filled with traps of all sizes, including the nearby hills and forests.

Sharpened tree branches were stuck everywhere, as this was the simplest form of trap; vines were used as tripwires and tied up in the woods; as for the camp, there were even more, especially the chevaux-de-frise, which made the camp look like a hedgehog; fences separated the camp, making it like a maze.

For three days in a row, there was no movement, making people wonder if there was a mistake. If it weren't for the fact that they still hadn't encountered any large beasts, Qin Mu would have thought that he was overthinking things.

"Woof! Woof! Woof!" As night fell, the situation changed suddenly. As soon as it got dark, the howling of wolves echoed all around.

"They're here!" Cheng Huaimo drew his sword and looked into the darkness.

"The Timberwolves are mostly lone wolves, and even if there are many, there are only a few," Zhai Changsun said seriously.

"Judging from this sound, it doesn't seem like a few birds!" Yuchi Baolin said, looking around.

"Greetings, General! A pack of wolves has appeared around the camp!" a soldier from the Xuanjia Army reported.

"Strengthen security!" Zhai Changsun waved his hand and said.

"Let's go take a look!" Qin Mu led them to the back of the camp fence, and sure enough, they saw many wild animals with their green eyes in the darkness outside.

"This is a ferocious beast commanded by orcs; it must not be treated like a hunter!" Zhai Changsun warned.

"Thank you for the reminder, General! Please protect the princess! If the camp falls, escort the princess out!" Qin Mu said, clasping his hands in a fist salute.

“Alright! If the camp falls, I will protect the princess and your sister and fight our way out!” Zhai Changsun looked at Qin Mu and nodded solemnly.

"Thank you!" Qin Mu solemnly clasped his hands and bowed. For the first time, he regretted bringing his sister along. He had initially thought the danger would come from people, which he didn't care about, after all, this was Guanzhong, under Li Shimin's watchful eye. But now, the first wave of danger came from wild beasts. Just by looking at the eyes outside the camp, he knew that the wolf pack alone numbered more than a few hundred.

There was some good news, though: this time, only the army's elite troops had emerged, so they weren't intimidated by the sight before them. Qin Mu ordered more fires to be lit, illuminating the area outside the camp.

If you had to name the most things at the camp, it would definitely be timber. It's been almost twenty days, and a lot of it has been cut down. Besides cooking and making traps, a lot of timber has been left behind. Now that it's summer, the felled timber dries very easily under the scorching sun.

Wild beasts fear fire, and Qin Mu wanted to force them back and hold out until dawn to see if he could find the orcs' temporary lair, since fighting during the day was easier than at night. Even though leaving the camp was more dangerous, Qin Mu preferred to fight during the day.

However, Qin Mu underestimated the ferocious beasts enslaved by the beastmen. The incessant howling of wolves was unsettling, and an hour later, the roar of tigers appeared, with the howling of tigers and wolves echoing around the camp at the same time.

The first wave of attacks came from wild boars, these thick-skinned creatures that charged headlong into the camp under the cover of darkness. A massive earthquake served as a reminder to Qin Mu and his men that the attack had begun!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" A huge impact sound rang out as countless dark figures rushed headlong towards the camp, then crashed into the barricades.

Although many wild boars fell outside the camp and cried out in pain, these creatures were indeed too fierce and attacked recklessly. With their thick hides and tough flesh, they knocked down many large wooden stakes.

Intelligence makes all the difference; the wild boars quickly adjusted their position, charging again towards the widest side.

"Brothers! The food's here! Watch closely and fire!" Cheng Huaimo grabbed a javelin the size of an egg, shouted, and then hurled it.

His accuracy wasn't great, but the force was immense, and given the target's proximity, he hit the bullseye. A wild boar was instantly impaled, though not dead, and continued charging forward with the javelin still on its back. The soldiers, however, became excited, roaring and throwing javelins.

"Waaaaah!"

"Roar!" The howls of wolves and tigers rang out again, followed by a dense array of green lights appearing around the camp.

After the wild boars, what appeared next were not wolves or tigers, but black bears. These bears were not blind at all; they rushed over, leaped over the trench, and swung their huge paws at the barricades.

Behind the black bears came the tigers and wolves. These creatures were agile and powerful, and many of them landed right next to the camp fence.

Fortunately, the camp was very well fortified, and the soldiers couldn't just stand by and do nothing; they attacked with javelins, arrows, and spears.

Qin Mu was already horrified by these ferocious beasts. These creatures were significantly larger than those in the other world. No wonder the people of this world were terrified of them; this tiger was no different from a water buffalo. Ordinary people, without good weapons, probably couldn't kill even a few dozen of them.

The key is that they are truly thick-skinned and tough. Everywhere you look, there are ferocious beasts with stakes and arrows stuck in their bodies, frantically pounding the camp. When you thrust a spear at them, often it's difficult to even break their skin; you have to channel your vital energy and killing intent to get through.

Although Qin Mu felt he had taken the beasts seriously enough, he realized it was still insufficient when the time came. At least the camp's defenses were inadequate; the chevaux-de-frise and fences were destroyed, and then the beasts charged in.

Fortunately, the soldiers were elite and experienced in dealing with these creatures. They formed teams of a hundred and began to surround and kill them. Moreover, there were chevaux-de-frise in the camp, which prevented the beasts from maneuvering their massive bodies and provided them with enough space to accelerate.

Cheng Huaimo and Yuchi Baolin personally fought a fierce tiger alone; the soldiers' bloodthirsty aura merged together, surrounding and attacking other beasts that entered the camp.

"Princess, wait a moment! Keep a backup plan in case of beastmen experts!" Qin Mu stopped Princess Changning, who was about to rush forward. He remembered his secret scroll, which had a bonus against wolves, and now was the perfect time to use it.

He unfurled the scroll, then exhaled and began reciting the "Hunting in Youzhou" poem. This was an ability gained after advancing to the rank of scholar; no longer needing to write, he could directly draw upon the righteous energy within his chest and read aloud. This was eloquent speech, a Confucian skill.

Two blinding white lights appeared one after another, illuminating the camp, and then a large number of soldiers appeared in the form of illusions.

Qin Mu felt a sudden weakness creep into his body and quickly steadied himself, looking at the results of his transformation. This was the first time he had used the secret scroll and the divinely bestowed poetry since advancing to the Scholar level. Looking around, he was stunned. This time, he had conjured over three hundred soldiers, nearly ten times more than before. But that wasn't the key point; the key point was that these soldiers had even conjured armor, clearly far more elite than before. The hunting dogs were larger than wolves, and the falcons could snatch leopards from the darkness.

As soon as they appeared, the soldiers formed from the aura of righteousness brandished their weapons and charged at the beasts. Two summons brought forth more than six hundred soldiers, along with two mounted generals who galloped about, their bows drawn from both sides, white arrows shooting out like meteors, one after another.

The difference between soldiers formed from righteous energy and human soldiers lies in the fact that the weapons used by human soldiers are merely imbued with bloodthirsty energy, while the soldiers formed from righteous energy are emanating from their entire being, including their weapons. Their attack power is completely incomparable, especially in terms of penetrating defenses.

The soldiers, more fearless of death and pain than wild beasts, wielded their weapons with deadly precision, continuously wounding and killing the beasts! In an instant, the offensive was swiftly halted.

"Kill!" Seeing the ferocious beasts being killed one after another, the soldiers burst forth with tremendous fighting spirit, roaring and swinging their weapons to hack and slash.

"Wow, you're amazing! Even the most senior scholars aren't as formidable as you!" Zhai Changsun exclaimed in surprise.

"Hehe! General Zhai is joking. How can I compare to a Grand Secretary?"

“No, I’m not joking. Although I don’t know much about Confucianism, most Grand Scholars are indeed no match for you in poetry. I’ve seen it a few times; when they summon soldiers, although there are more of them, they’re like a shadow, easily shattered.” Zhai Changsun shook his head and said.

"Really? I didn't know! Perhaps it's because I've invoked a poem bestowed by heaven!" Qin Mu guessed.

"Maybe! With your trick, it seems there won't be any problems today!" Zhai Changsun said.

"Alright, I'll handle the current situation first. General Zhai, please keep an eye on things." Qin Mu nodded and said.

"Envoy Qin, please proceed with your duties!" Zhai Changsun solemnly agreed.

Qin Mu took a deep breath, stepped forward, walked to the vicinity of the fence, and began to read aloud again. For a moment, his voice seemed to echo throughout the camp.

A surge of righteous energy rose up, and more than a thousand soldiers appeared and charged out.

Qin Mu once again felt that emptiness after a night of passion, his legs went weak and he almost fell, but a hand caught him. Smelling the milky scent, Qin Mu leaned closer.

"Sigh! I thought I'd be really strong after becoming a scholar, but I didn't expect to be unable to last even after five tries!" Qin Mu sighed, then deliberately pretended to be weak and leaned limply against the wall.

Princess Changning wasn't afraid of Qin Mu's weight, but having him lean against her, his masculine scent made her heart flutter, especially with his head buried in her shoulder, his warm breath constantly blowing on her neck, almost making her weak in the knees. Fortunately, she gritted her teeth and persevered, trying hard not to think anything, but her face was burning hot!

In the darkness, no one noticed her face. Zhai Changsun quickly stepped forward and asked, "Inspector Qin! Are you alright?"

Seeing Zhai Changsun's concerned gaze, Qin Mu couldn't blame him for interrupting his chance to take advantage of him, so he forced a smile and said, "It would have been better if General Zhai hadn't come."

"Hehe!" Looking at Qin Mu's expression, Zhai Changsun revealed a knowing smile that all men understood, and then said, "I'll go take a look. You rest for a while!"

As soon as Zhai Changsun left, Princess Changning couldn't help but reach out and pinch him.

"ah!"