Zheng Ankang was extremely frustrated.

He had already internally criticized himself for being unqualified as the chief bodyguard, but Leng Aofu gave him a ruthless dressing-down, and he was forced to reflect on his actions as a background figure.

Shenxi laughed inwardly; she wouldn't participate in the aunt-niece's battle of wits.

Although the topic concerned her, she knew that Leng Aofu had been forced to come here by Zheng Ankang using his status as the sect leader and his sect leader's token, and she hadn't yet vented her anger.

It's good to let Leng Aofu vent her anger, so she doesn't bottle it up and might explode at any time.

Haha, better you die than me! Ankang, you'd better suffer!

Leng Aofu, however, felt much better and laughed heartily.

Taking advantage of her good mood, Chenxi asked, "Aunt Leng, you are really good at this. Did you use fireworks to signal us?"

"Fireworks?" Leng Aofu tilted her head and thought for a moment, then said, "That's a good name. Let's call it Fireworks from now on."

"But we all call them fireworks. We people in the martial arts world often use them as signal flares."

Do you know why wildfires spread so quickly?

Shenxi shook her head. Although she didn't know the specific situation on the mountain, judging from the current state of the fire, it was definitely not something that could be achieved simply by lighting a fire.

The reason Chenxi lit the fire was because Leng Aofu fired two signal flares, indicating that the other party wanted to escape and that it was time to light the fire.

Chen Xi lit the fire, not expecting to burn the other party to death instantly.

It takes time to ignite a fire, and even though the wind direction is currently in their favor, most of the enemy will still be able to escape.

Chenxi's goal was to force the enemy to retreat.

A fire that burns for a day or two is enough to attract the attention of surrounding towns and villages.

Her people will definitely receive the message, giving them a day or two to catch their breath. Once her people arrive, they will be safe.

They could endure going hungry for two days.

She couldn't possibly fight against more than 800 soldiers with only a few dozen guards and a little over a hundred civilians.

Although she couldn't know the exact number of the enemy's troops, she guessed that the number must be considerable to have led her here.

At this moment, Leng Aofu became even more arrogant when she saw Chen Xi shake her head, and pointed to the quiver behind her.

"I've used up all my rockets."

"Rocket?" The name sounds familiar, but Shenxi knows it's definitely not that giant rocket that soared into the sky in the new century.

"Yes, my arrowheads are coated with kerosene, which I light and then shoot out."

"I launched dozens of rockets in a row."

"If it weren't for the time wasted on launching rockets, I would have finished shooting long ago if it were just shooting arrows."

Shen Xi could imagine the difficulty Leng Aofu faced. The other party was not an idiot. Even if the fire Leng Aofu set was fueled with oil, it would still be difficult to withstand the efforts of more than 800 people to extinguish it.

However, due to the panic when the fire broke out, the army collapsed like a house of cards. Some people panicked and things became chaotic. No one thought of putting out the fire first. The first thing they thought of was running. Once one person ran, a group of people would follow and eventually they all ran away together.

In addition, Hu Axiong thought that Chen Xi would set fire to the vines, and that the fire set by the vines would be different from the fire set by Leng Aofu. The fire would spread and burn the surrounding trees as well.

And a lot of smoke will come up.

All eight hundred of them were within the smoke-filled area, making escape difficult.

It was because Hu Axiong had thought of this that he was the first to run away.

Then the soldiers will become even more chaotic.

This also gave Leng Aofu room to maneuver.

However, Shenxi greatly admired Leng Aofu. Despite carrying so many odds and ends, she could still move with incredible speed; she was truly an extraordinary expert.

The imperial court's military examination required archers to shoot sixty arrows consecutively.

That's a situation where ignition is not required.

Adding the need to light the arrows, shoot them, and dodge the enemy, it's really not easy.

"The other side is such a coward. If anyone hadn't panicked, they would have noticed my presence."

"I always launch my rockets into densely wooded areas. They explode in all directions at once, and coincidentally, the wind was really strong at the time."

This is why Hu Axiong is so unlucky.

The exceptionally strong winds, coupled with Leng Aofu's series of bizarre actions, caused the soldiers to riot, resulting in so many being burned to death.

Saying that this forest can burn for a day or two is a conservative estimate; it will burn much faster when the wind is strong.

Or if someone outside is putting out the fire, it will be much faster.

After burning for about half an hour, the wind began to subside.

Therefore, of the eight hundred soldiers in Linchuan County, only those who ran fast and were lucky had a chance to survive.

However, the vast majority of them still couldn't escape. They weren't all burned to death directly by the fire, but rather by the smoke. Some were suffocated to death by the smoke, while others were knocked unconscious by the smoke, but eventually they were still burned to death by the fire.

At this point, Company Commander Li De was so anxious that his legs felt like they were spinning.

"Hurry, let's go."

The raging fire and thick smoke in the mountains were clearly seen by Li De and his group, who had just arrived outside the mountains.

If something really happens to the leader, he'll be the one who suffers the consequences.

The soldiers dared not slack off and quickly followed.

They didn't want anything to happen to their leader. Things were just starting to look up, and the family was finally able to have a decent meal. What would happen if something happened to their leader?

Nobody wants to go back to the days of being displaced and living hand to mouth that were just over two months ago.

They can join the army, and even go to war in the future, but their families still need a stable life.

As soon as they entered the mountains, a wave of heat hit them.

The wildfires haven't reached here yet, but the temperature in the mountains feels higher.

Occasionally, a few birds would take flight, their cries filled with a sense of desolation.

If birds could talk, they would definitely be cursing.

They had barely survived droughts, locust plagues, and human predation, enduring until now, but who knew that a fire would completely destroy their home.

But who would care about these birds? Li De just wanted to go straight in.

A platoon leader stopped him: "Company commander, you mustn't."

Li De shook off his hand, his eyes red, and roared, "What do you mean 'no'? If we don't rescue the commander, none of us will survive!"

Platoon leader Dou Yong went up and grabbed Li De again, analyzing, "Company commander, if we go in, we might not be able to come out."

Li De wasn't brainless; he was genuinely panicked just now.

Given the current wind direction, if they went into this dry woodland, they would definitely be burned to death inside.

"Then tell me, what can we do?"

It would be impossible to control such a large-scale forest fire by drawing water now.

Dou Yong could only sigh, "With the likes of us, we'd just burn inside. We can only pray that the commander is alright, and that he's not inside."

How could anyone possibly get inside such a massive forest fire?

"However, Company Commander, I do have a way to prevent the fire from spreading."