Isolated town in northern border region

Xiao Lie looked at Xu De's agitated state and suddenly laughed.

That smile held weariness, relief, and a hint of inexplicable contentment.

"You... descendants of medical families and my Xiao family have a deep connection."

Xu De's movements suddenly stopped.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed it back.

Xiao Lie didn't ask any further questions, he just looked at him.

"Once we leave Wolf Gaze Mountain, you mustn't hide anything from me. Tell me everything properly."

"Now, administer acupuncture to me."

Xu De clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white.

"I told you, I can cure this poison!"

"Back in Qingzhou, I got some inspiration from those burly men in leather armor. Now, combined with your pulse, I'm very certain I can save you!"

"We have to get out of these mountains alive..."

"Rest quietly for three days, combined with a medicinal bath, and you'll definitely recover!"

"Go out? And rest for three days?"

Xiao Lie interrupted him.

"Look at the birds startled into flight on this mountain! Peng Xuan's men have surrounded the entire mountain!"

Xu De shook his head again.

"I have seen the fierce warriors of your northern frontier. Their discipline and combat prowess are unparalleled in my life... as long as..."

"As long as they join forces, they can definitely get you out of Wolf-Looking Mountain!"

"The princess is waiting for you at the foot of the mountain. As long as you break through the encirclement, no one will dare to kill you in front of the world!"

Xiao Lie rejected Xu De's suggestion without even thinking about it.

"Join forces in one place?"

"I only have a few hundred men under my command. Even if they are all brave and skilled in battle, they will only be sent to their deaths!"

"How many of our brothers in the northern frontier will survive in three days?"

"If we cower in fear, they'll have to fight to the death for me!"

"Even if I manage to leave the mountains alive, I'll be stepping over their corpses. How am I supposed to live?"

Xu De's lips trembled slightly.

"If you go and die now, who will lead them back to the northern frontier?"

Xiao Lie looked at him with eager eyes.

"So, you really do have a way, don't you?"

"help me!"

"As long as I can swagger out of Wolf-Looking Mountain, I will immediately return to the Northern Frontier. Even if I die on the way, the strength of the Northern Frontier is definitely not something the Chu Emperor can touch."

"That way, at least our Great Chu will still have a piece of paradise!"

Xu De remained silent for a long time.

He thought of the villages in Qingzhou that had been swallowed up by the plague;

I remember Xiao Lie standing on the riverbank, tearing the cloth off;

I remember this madman throwing himself into the epidemic area and soaking in it for so long in order to save a group of complete strangers.

He knew Xiao Lie was right.

How could such a person let his subordinates die in his place just to save his own life?

"Our ancestors owed your Xiao family ancestor a life."

Xu De's voice suddenly lowered, as if it were drifting from a great distance.

"At the beginning of the founding of the State of Chu, the first Imperial Physician was my family's ancestor in medicine."

"That's why my uncle-master was able to... never mind."

He shook his head.

"This debt is impossible to settle."

Xiao Lie looked at him.

"Then let's not even bother calculating it!"

"Help me get through this, and I'll owe you my life. I'll repay you in my next life!"

Xu De closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them again.

"I really don't know whether giving you acupuncture is a good deed or a bad one..."

"The imperial physicians of the realm have performed immeasurable deeds!"

Xu De looked up and blinked.

Then he squatted down, opened his medicine box, and took out a row of silver needles of varying lengths, which gleamed faintly in the moonlight.

"Acupuncture at acupoints blocks some meridians, delaying the onset of toxins."

His voice was much calmer, like a doctor giving instructions to a patient.

"Enough to keep you active for three days straight without getting tired..."

"After three days, even a miracle won't save him!"

"Have you thought this through?"

Xiao Lie did not hesitate.

"Let's begin."

Xu De's hand began to move.

He moved with lightning speed, inserting silver needles into Xiao Lie's chest, Jianjing, Tanzhong, Tianchi and other acupoints. The depth of each needle was just right, like embroidering a delicate picture.

Xiao Lie felt a warm current spread from his chest, as if he were wrapped in a warm cotton ball, and all his fatigue and soreness disappeared in an instant.

He clenched his fist, and his strength returned... even more than before!

Every blood vessel in the body is surging rapidly, and you can even see the subtle pulsations through the skin.

Xu De put away the needles, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and his voice was a little hoarse.

"You need to remember that you are currently in a state of 'overdraft'."

"Not feeling tired doesn't mean you're not tired; not feeling pain doesn't mean you're not in pain."

"Three days later, once the effects of the acupuncture wear off, your body will make up for all the losses from those three days in one go."

He paused.

"At that time... I will do my best... to make you feel better."

"But that's assuming you can hold out until then!"

"From this moment forward, for thirty-six hours, do what you want to do!"

Xiao Lie stood up, stretched his shoulders, and his joints cracked softly.

"That's fucking awesome!"

"If there's a next life, studying medicine wouldn't be bad!"

Xu De curled his lip.

"Heh, you don't want to study medicine."

Xiao Lie shrugged and put his arm around Xu De's shoulder.

"Oh, by the way, do me another favor, brother."

"You know how to make human skin masks, right?"

Just then, Ledo strode out from the shadows of the trees.

Xiao Lie turned to look at Le Duo: "Did you find anything?"

Ledo wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Your Highness, Peng Xuan's men have tightened the encirclement; there are men on all four sides."

"But after observing for a long time, I discovered something."

"Peng Xuan's men are all rookies!"

"Although their weapons and equipment are no worse than ours, their military discipline is lax. After setting up camp at night, it is common to see sentries dozing off, secretly drinking, or chatting in groups of three or five."

"On the surface, the encirclement appears to be flawless, but in reality, it is riddled with holes."

He pointed to the east.

"There are several cliff faces over there, and after dark, not even sentries were stationed!"

"If we sneak over there..."

Xiao Lie nodded.

"No rush..."

"Now is the time when their morale is high. Even if they're all new recruits, many ants can kill an elephant!"

"Let the brothers spread out first, three in a group, ten in a team, and spread out in multiple places."

"Don't fight recklessly; if you make a commotion, find another place immediately!"

"Mobilize them, wait until they're tired, confused, and disoriented..."

"Let's find their weakness and break through it in one fell swoop!"

Ledo accepted the order and left.

Xiao Lie stood in the woods, watching the birds flying in the distance and the dust rising. He picked up the iron bow hanging on a tree branch and gently pulled the bowstring. The sound of the bowstring was like the wind blowing through pine needles.

For the next two days and two nights, there was no peace on Wolf Gu Mountain.

The soldiers in the northern frontier moved through the mountains and forests like a group of silent ghosts.

Although Peng Xuan's new army was well-equipped, most of the soldiers were recruits from various places, lacked training, and had no experience in mountain warfare.

A small group of soldiers from the northern frontier crept up to the edge of the new army's camp in the darkness, whistled a few times, threw a few stones, causing a commotion before disappearing into the darkness.

As the new army lined up to give chase, shouts of battle erupted from the other camp.

Everywhere, in all directions, there was movement, shadows, and footprints left by soldiers from the northern frontier. But when the new army surrounded them, they found nothing.

As Peng Xuan rode on his horse, listening to the battle reports from various places, his expression grew increasingly grim.

He tried to regroup his forces, but each time he did, attacks from a certain direction would suddenly become fierce, forcing him to disperse again.

After fighting for a day and a night, his three thousand men were scattered all over the mountain. The soldiers were exhausted and sleepy, and even the sentries on duty began to doze off.

"Xiao Lie! A rat cornered in a dead end can't fly, can it?"

Remembering the humiliation Xiao Lie had trampled under his feet, Peng Xuan wished he could find Xiao Lie and hack him to death!

But repeated disappointments fueled his humiliation, turning it into a raging fire that gradually burned away his reason.

The following night, the two new army squads collided in a valley.

Both sides assumed the attackers were from the northern border region and attacked without saying a word.

By the time Peng Xuan arrived, thirty or forty people had already been killed or wounded on both sides. His eyes twitched as he looked at the corpses on the ground, all dressed in the same military uniform.

"Xiao Lie! I'll tear you to pieces!"