C7 Chapter 7

Still, he couldn’t help asking, “Why here? What are you basing that on?”

Tang Yao smiled. “I studied the night sky and saw good signs rising over this spot. This should be the way out.”

Deputy Zhang: “...”

That one short line brushed him off.

But the truth was, she’d used a complex nine-star formation, reading the terrain and the positions of the moon and sun, and worked out that there was likely a massive tomb here. With the burial chamber hollowed out, there would naturally be passages.

And this little hill was the place where you could get in. Death feeding life—backed into a corner, you find a way through. That’s how an escape route formed here.

If her calculations were right, once they entered the tomb, they could bypass the trap array above. Of course, the tomb itself would be dangerous.

But with her familiarity with burial sites and her grasp of geomancy, avoiding the worst of it and finding the safest path wouldn’t be a problem.

So if there really was a way out, she was probably the only one who could lead them through. She wasn’t the type to talk big—everything she’d said earlier was the real deal.

Ten soldiers dug for nearly two hours, and by then it was getting dark.

In fact, they were already at the final moment before the decisive clash. They could even hear the enemy’s war drums—driving their troops on. Once the drumming stopped, the attack would begin.

Then, all of a sudden, the ten soldiers vanished.

A large section of the hill collapsed.

Tang Yao’s eyes lit up, and she shouted in delight, “We’re through!”

Deputy Zhang, completely baffled, hurried over to look. Sure enough, a huge hole had opened in the hill, and the ten soldiers had dropped straight in without warning. They were covered in dust, but thankfully none of them were hurt. They struck their flints and peered into the darkness.

General Lang came up as well. The moment the soldiers saw him, one of them said, “General, it’s huge down there!”

General Lang snapped his head around to stare at Tang Yao, like he couldn’t believe it. Tang Yao, embarrassed under his gaze, shrugged and gave an awkward grin. “I told you it went through. Believe me now?”

By now, Deputy Commander Zhang was completely stunned.

General Lang kicked him down the side of the hill. “Get the soldiers over here. Now.”

The deputy scrambled to his feet, about to run, when General Lang added, “Have them light signal fires as fast as they can and raise the white flags! Don’t take down the tents. Leave everything behind—everything except your weapons.”

“Yes, sir!” Deputy Commander Zhang was sharp enough to catch General Lang’s intent right away, and he passed the orders along exactly.

This unit was well-trained—organized, disciplined, and quick to follow instructions.

Twenty thousand troops filed into the tomb in under an hour.

The last men to enter could already hear the enemy’s charge horns in the distance.

Once everyone was inside, they found a way to seal the entrance, then covered it with sod. In the dark, unless you were looking closely, you’d never notice anything unusual about the mound.

...So, without a doubt, when the enemy stormed into the camp and saw the fires burning and surrender flags everywhere, they smugly slowed their advance.

But when they reached the camp, they found it deserted—tents still standing, but not a soul in sight. Other than the bodies of the Seventeenth Squad and Sixth Squad, there was nothing.

The enemy was completely thrown off. With the trap formation hemming them in, how had the Wind God Battalion vanished in an instant?

Meanwhile, the Wind God Battalion, led by Tang Yao, had already slipped away through the tomb passageways.

It really was a massive tomb. Along the way, they found plenty of burial goods—gold and silver among them, and no shortage of valuables.