44 Preparations 1

The Second Ducal Prince yawned as he stepped out of the meeting tent in the late afternoon. He had stupidly agreed to remain behind, to sit in on his maternal uncle's meeting with his other staff officers as they discussed the myriad details of their preparations. Apparently, the New Marquis was taking no chances against the Barbarians in the coming conflict, and had pulled in a larger number of his troops than Li Sanlang had expected him to.

At least, that was what he thought, when he heard all the reports being made during the same. Not that he could understand half of the jargon that was being used by these seasoned military men. He had not served in an army himself - not even his father's Ducal Fief Guards which were being led by his older brother. So he hardly had any experience that allowed him to make sense of what was being discussed.

Still, he had to start somewhere, and it didn't look as though his father or older brother was going to give him an opportunity back at home. So he might as well try to pick up a few tricks there, at his uncle's.

That was what he thought.

But no one warned him that the meeting would go on for so long! Nor did he expect that they would be eating dry army rations and drinking cold tea as they went on! Didn't these soldiers ever hear of having a proper hot meal? It was still Winter, after all!

So when the conference was finally done, and Li Sanlang managed to escape from the testosterone-laden atmosphere within the tent, the first thing that he was after was a good meal! He had a few snacks leftover from his journey to the camp.

So he was intent on heading back to his personal carriage where he had left them when he spotted a familiar figure in a sergeant's uniform headed his way.

Lei Kongwei's face wore a look of surprise and he clearly did not notice the Second Ducal Prince's presence in his hurry to get to the Marquis. Which was enough to send a warning signal to Li Sanlang.

What could have happened to make the spy look like that? Did it have anything to do with Qin Feng? He was supposed to monitor the young fellow, wasn't he?

Which was why Li Changhai quickly turned about, and hurried back into the Marquis' Briefing Tent once more.

And he barely got there in time to hear the tail-end of Lei Kongwei's report:

"... that Qin Feng has just reported his success to the Adjutant, my Lord."

"What? He is back? Already?"

Li Changhai's jaw was hanging open before he realized that he had just blurted that out loud. And he looked towards his uncle with an aghast expression, as soon as he had understood that he had interrupted the officer's report.

But Feng Laixue looked similarly distracted by what he had heard, and did not seem to notice his nephew's gaffe at all!

"It has only been six hours and he's back? But ... Wait! Did he manage to get the signature of the camp commandant from the Sixth Camp? That was where he was told to go, wasn't it?"

"My Lord, all of his papers were in order, and he has been released to ... the guest tent. He is the only one there now, since none of the other candidates have returned," came Lei Kongwei's reply. The spy's face seemed a little pale.

Which was exactly how Li Changhai was feeling himself. How had Qin Feng managed to cross that distance in such a short time? He had used that Lightness-of-Body art of his earlier on to get away from the crowd, of course. But had he continued to use it once he was safely away?

That was the only explanation that Li Sanlang could think of. But ...

Didn't that mean that he had continuously channeled his zhenqi for close to three hours? In either direction? How could an Initial Realm practitioner do something like that? Li Sanlang knew for certain that he couldn't do it!

And from the look on his maternal uncle's face, the Marquis was similarly shocked by what that meant.

"Then ... he has broken the record for speed, hasn't he? I take it that it means that he has passed this particular trial?"

Marquis Feng Laixue laughed in reply to his nephew's question. "Of course he has passed! I had expected him to have some plan, to deal with those other participants. But I had never thought that his Lightness-of-Body martial arts was so outstanding! He managed to cross over a thousand li in merely six hours! How many couriers do we have who can do that?

"Of course he passed!"

Then the older man's face grew a little more stern, as he turned to the Second Ducal Prince. And his voice was certainly more serious, when he spoke again:

"I am interested to know just what his level of cultivation is right now though. There aren't many who can attain such outrageous Lightness-of-Body martial abilities without first attaining the Initial Realm. And you have already said that you could not read him, didn't you?" he asked Li Sanlang quietly.

The Second Ducal Prince made a face at that. "I have not been able to read him since the first day that I met him. But I remember Lei Kongwei telling you that he could not tell his level of cultivation either, just this morning? So ..."

The Marquis sniffed as he looked up at the ceiling of the tent then. "So either he is so far above the Initial Realm that his cultivation cannot be detected by the same ... Or he has some sort of artifact, some device, that can mask his zhenqi and prevent us from figuring him out? That would be a little worrisome, if it is the case."

"Why? Why would it worry you?"

"We were concerned that he was a spy, weren't we? Back when he first appeared in Changqing City? Well, if he has such a device, doesn't he warrant greater attention?" Feng Laixue asked, as he raised his eyebrows at his nephew.

Who realised at once what his uncle was concerned about. Just what sort of operative had the Heaven Sword School sent to them? And just how concerned were they, to do that?

Li Changhai sighed, as he rose from his chair at last. "I think it is time that I have a word with our ... friend. Let me see if I can find out exactly how he managed to do this. It would be easier to get the story from his lips, I think, by appealing to his pride.

"Let me invite him out for a drink, and see what I can find out."

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