After checking, Hou Shi nodded and said, "Did you see that place? It's a bit far from here and very concealed. I assume that Zhan You will choose to stay there to manipulate those men with nightmare worms."

Hou Shi pointed at a ring-shaped place while speaking.

"True. If he chooses that place, he only needs one person to help guard the entrance. So in comparison, it's safe." Shuo Ling agreed after seeing that place.

Hou Shi continued, "But it may be harder for you to deal with them then."

"Not a big deal." Shuo Ling said calmly.

Hearing that, Hou Shi nodded and said, "Let's go there to have a check."

Then, they walked to the place Hou Shi talked about.

In Xiling's military camp in the meantime

With all the soldiers getting ready, Lan Kuo, Emperor Xiling, walked forward. Seeing him, Zhao Yun, the general who was admonishing soldiers, stopped talking and greeted him, "Your Majesty."

"Are you all ready?" Lan Kuo nodded and asked when looking at Zhao Yun.

Zhao Yun answered, "Yes, Your Majesty. We're waiting for your order to set off to their border camps."

"Good," Lan Kuo said with a smile.

Then he turned around to say to soldiers loudly, "Do you have confidence in breaking into their border areas?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Soldiers answered three times.

Hearing that, Lan Kuo couldn't help but smile. Judging from that soldiers had high morale, he thought it wouldn't be a big problem for them to win this battle.

Then Lan Kuo shouted again, "Alright. I'll wait for you to bring victory back! If you do, I will raise your monthly salary by one tael of silver."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Soldiers shouted with delight after hearing that.

Lan Kuo raised his hand and soon, soldiers quieted down. So he continued, "Well, set off. I'll wait for your good news!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" 20,000 soldiers responded together, showing their high morale.

These soldiers then turned around and headed to the border areas in order.

Right at this time, Zhan You jogged to them.

"Wizard Zhan, why are you here?" Lan Kuo frowned and asked Zhan You when finding he was here.

He was supposed to set off to the border areas together with soldiers. But why did Zhan You come back to him?

Zhan You nodded. Taking a look at Zhao Yun, he walked to Lan Kuo and whispered, "Your Majesty, can we have a private talk?"

Lan Kuo still frowned but followed Zhan You to move.

At this time, Zhao Yun looked at Zhan You and snorted. Zhan You had earned His Majesty's trust since he arrived.

His Majesty even attributed the last victory all to him.

He had overshadowed all his sacrificed soldiers.

His Majesty didn't even mention them.

Thinking of this, Zhao Yun felt aggrieved.

Standing aside, Lan Kuo looked around first and asked Zhan You, "Can you tell me now?"

"Your Majesty, last night, the scout I sent to the Witchcraft City reported that the king of witchcraft left the city two days ago." Zhan You explained.

Hearing his explanation, Lan Kuo asked with doubt, "Does this have anything to do with our battle?"

"At about the same time, Shuo Ling arrived at the border areas," Zhan You added.

Lan Kuo thought for a while and looked at Zhan You. "Do you mean the king of witchcraft followed Shuo Ling to the border areas?"

"I think so but I'm not sure. This matters a lot so I'd like to inform you in advance," Zhan You said in a low voice.

Lan Kuo nodded and said, "It's possible. If the king of witchcraft really followed Shuo Ling there, do you have any way to deal with him?"

"Your Majesty, I can guarantee our victory as long as you send more skilled martial artists to fend off attackers when I'm manipulating men with nightmare worms!" Zhan You said with confidence.

Then, Lan Kuo nodded and answered, "All right. These are not problems as long as you're sure that we can win. You follow soldiers to set off to the border areas now, and I'll arrange people for you."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I'll take my leave." Zhan You curtsied to Lan Kuo and left.

When Zhan You left, Lan Kuo walked to Zhao Yun and said, "General Zhao, I have one task for you."

"What, Your Majesty?" Zhao Yun cupped his hands and asked.

Lan Kuo said, "I want you to protect Wizard Zhan when he is manipulating men with nightmare worms."

"Your Majesty, how can I, the general, leave my soldiers? And I don't know how to explain my absence to them." Zhao Yun said quickly.

Lan Kuo lifted the corner of his mouth and patted Zhao Yun on his shoulder. "Never mind. With his men with nightmare worms, you don't have to worry too much about the battle. Something came up just now. After thinking about it over and over again, I find that you are the most suited for this task!"

"But, Your Majesty..." Zhao Yun continued.

But Lan Kuo interrupted him, "This is an order. I know what you are thinking now but I did all these for Xiling. I have to do so in order to break into the border areas."

While speaking, Lan Kuo sighed.

Seeing that Lan Kuo was determined, Zhao Yun nodded and answered, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

"Alright. Keep up. I'll wait for your good news." Lan Kuo waved his hand to Zhao Yun.

Zhao Yun moved to mount his horse and followed the Xiling army.

When Zhao Yun left, Lan Kuo still felt worried. He said to Yan Hao, "Prepare a carriage for me. I'll go to the battlefield in person!"

"Your Majesty, this is...." Yan Hao frowned at his words and tended to persuade him.

But Lan Kuo interrupted, "No persuading. Just do it!"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Yan Hao answered and he walked quickly away to prepare the carriage for him.

Soon, Emperor Xiling also headed to the border areas.

But Zhao Yun looked unsatisfied. The emperor just said they had to protect Wizard Zhan for Xiling.

Thinking of that, Zhao Yun sneered. Then what did he and the soldiers mean to Xiling?

Although the emperor said something to comfort him, he knew it was just claptrap.

He understood. However, he couldn't disobey the imperial order. Although he felt unhappy, he had to take the order.

Then, Zhao Yun held the rein and speeded up to ride forward.

Xiling soldiers were talking while on the march.

"We're sure to make the salary rise."

"It's hard to say. I heard that Marquis Shuo had arrived at the border areas."

"So what? Those soldiers haven't eaten anything for days and they lack energy. So no matter how skilled Shuo Ling is, he alone can't defeat us. Moreover, Wizard Zhan will manipulate men with nightmare worms to help us!"

"That makes sense."

"What are you talking about there? Hurry up." Zhao Yun took a look at them and shouted.

The two soldiers shut up at once.

In the meantime, border soldiers were ready for enemies outside the camp.

At this time, the scout rode back fast and jumped off the horse when getting close to General Li. He cupped his hands and said, "General, enemies are five kilometers away!"

"I see. Keep spying on them!" General Li nodded and ordered.

The scout responded, "Yes, General."

Soon, another scout reported, "General, now 2,500 meters away."

"Alright, you can leave now." General Li said.

Then he turned around and said to soldiers behind loudly, "Everyone, get ready!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" soldiers who grabbed their spears shouted louder and louder.

At this time, General Li said to General Cheng, "Cheng, don't push yourself too hard. You have to go back to the camp if your wound opens up."

"Okay. But General Li, why do you nag a lot now?" General Cheng frowned and said.

He knew General Li worried about his condition. However, even with Shuo Ling's help, they still couldn't let down their guard.

He had fought with those freaks before. There were many men with nightmare worms so he worried that Shuo Ling and Hou Shi couldn't defeat them.

It would be great if they could handle it. But if not, he could join in to play for some time.

Hou Shi who stood in a high position already saw the Xiling army so he walked to Shuo Ling. He said, "My Lord, get ready. They're coming."

"Alright, act as planned!" Shuo Ling nodded and ordered.

Hou Shi took a pill out of his pocket and handed it to Shuo Ling, "Take this."

"What's this?" Shuo Ling took it over and asked Hou Shi with doubt.

Hou Shi replied, "People who practice witchcraft have a sensitive nose. Take it and you won't be detected when lying in ambush."

"I see." Shuo Ling nodded and put the pill in the pocket around his waist. Then he headed to the place Hou Shi mentioned before.

He had to ambush first and pour the potion down to the nightmare worms when no one noticed him.

At this time, the Xiling army got closer.

General Li led a troop of soldiers to fight with them first.

He did so for one purpose. If they just waited before the camp and didn’t launch an attack, the enemy army would suspect that they had set traps.

But if he led a troop to attack first, they wouldn't have such doubts.

Sure, he had told soldiers in advance to bypass those traps.

Seeing the Dongling army, Zhao Yun held the rein and stopped the horse. He raised his right hand to ask soldiers to stop.

General Li also stopped at a place three meters away from the Xiling army.

Then General Li said, "We've waited here for you for long. We thought you wouldn't come."