The fire spread rapidly and quickly ignited the surrounding dry branches, shooting up into the trees and producing thick smoke.
The Fourteenth Prince's horse galloped swiftly through the forest, while he silently prayed, "Let the fire start quickly." When he smelled a burnt aroma from a distance, the Fourteenth Prince was overjoyed.
The Fourteenth Prince immediately pulled on the reins, and the horse reared up, letting out a high-pitched, drawn-out neigh. Sitting on the horse, the Fourteenth Prince looked back; the sky in the distance was already stained black with thick smoke, and the surrounding trees were ablaze with red from the fire. The Fourteenth Prince breathed a sigh of relief, a faint, unintentional smile appearing on his lips.
"Oh no! Look! The forest over there is on fire!" The woman following behind the Fourteenth Prince also spotted the black smoke and exclaimed in alarm. Everyone stopped and stood not far from the Fourteenth Prince. The woman who first discovered the fire pulled on the reins, about to rush towards the fire, but cried out urgently, "No, I have to put out the fire!"
"Come back!" the leading woman shouted. The woman on horseback looked solemn, her brows furrowed as she said anxiously, "But..." The leading woman glanced at the Fourteenth Prince not far away, then gritted her teeth and said, "There are no buts... The sect leader sent us out to monitor the prince. We can't show ourselves rashly. If the sect leader blames us, none of us can bear the responsibility..."
"Look, the prince is gone..." another woman pointed to where the fourteenth prince had been standing and exclaimed in alarm. The women exchanged glances, then immediately turned their horses around and chased after him.
The Fourteenth Prince noticed the people following him were right behind him, but deliberately ignored them and went straight back to where he had roasted the pheasant. Although the fire was quite fierce, it hadn't burned for long, only igniting the dry branches near the fire. The Fourteenth Prince dismounted, pulled out a blanket he carried with him, covered his nose, and rushed forward to put out the fire.
The people following the Fourteenth Prince hid in seclusion, secretly observing him.
"It seems the Fourteenth Prince didn't intend to set the fire, otherwise he wouldn't have rushed back to put it out!" a woman said in a low voice. "It's all our fault for not checking carefully when we arrived. Should we go and help?"
The woman in the lead raised her hand to stop them, saying, "No need. Since nothing unexpected happened, we should just follow orders!" Knowing Zhu Wanqing's temperament well, the woman knew that if Zhu Wanqing found out they had almost caused a disaster due to carelessness, she would definitely punish them. Therefore, the woman in the lead decided to keep the matter a secret.
The group watched as the Fourteenth Master extinguished the flames. Although he pretended to be in a hurry to put out the fire, he didn't speed up his movements. It took him a long time to extinguish all the flames. Only after confirming that there were no more flames did he hurriedly mount his horse and return to the village.
At this moment, the soldiers on the lookout tower, who were closest to the island, were the first to spot the thick smoke on the sea. Knowing that the matter was of great importance, they immediately reported it to their base.
The Seventeenth Prince and the Fourteenth Prince were still arguing inside, surrounded by a map, about how to encircle and annihilate the small island. Shi Cong, unable to get a word in edgewise, could only wait patiently. Just then, a soldier rushed in, knelt down, clenched his fist, and shouted, "Your Highness, an unidentified smoke has appeared at sea!"
Seventeenth Master and Thirteenth Master stopped talking, and Shi Cong exclaimed in surprise, "What did you say? Are you sure it's smoke?" Seventeenth Master's eyes gleamed, and he pushed Shi Cong aside and walked excitedly to the soldier, asking, "Is it from the direction of the island?"
The soldier said, "Judging from the direction of the smoke, it should be rising from the island we're besieging..."
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