Eighteen vultures flew into the vast mountains and landed in a hidden canyon.
This place is only thirty miles away from Xianxia Pass.
Taking advantage of the last darkness before dawn, Chen Ke steered his small boat, following closely behind, and slowly descended in order to get a better view of the canyon.
Beep beep, beep beep!
The entire radar screen in the cockpit turned red!
Red screen!
Chen Ke broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly pulled upwards.
Only after all the dense red dots disappeared did he breathe a sigh of relief and stabilize the Shenzhou.
How many orcs, and how many orc masters, are hidden in the dark canyon?
Considering the length of the entire canyon, it can at most accommodate ten thousand orcs.
It's highly unlikely that 10,000 men could retake Xianxia Pass!
Xianxia Pass is a formidable stronghold, occupying the highest point of the Ten Thousand Mountains, and is supported by nine auxiliary peaks, each guarded by tens of thousands of soldiers.
Moreover, Chen Ke could see it clearly every time he passed by. The city walls of Jiufeng (Nine Peaks) were equipped with the empire's most advanced crystal cannons and spirit crossbows, as well as many other powerful weapons that Chen Ke had never even heard of.
Chen Ke had witnessed the siege of Mei City in Shuzhou (Shu Prefecture). Even the powerful flying army of the demon race suffered heavy losses in the face of such a powerful weapon. How much more so would the small force of the orcs?
Chen Ke frowned deeply, then suddenly realized something and his heart skipped a beat.
Counting the days, the Qin princess has been away for almost a month, and it's time for her to return.
Could it be that the orcs hiding in the canyon are there to ambush the princess?!
Chen Ke was nervous. He activated his invisibility to the maximum and slowly descended again, trying to see the situation in the canyon through the jagged rocks and dense forest.
The eastern sky was beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.
A bright line pierced the darkness, sweeping across the vast land at incredible speed.
The beam of light swept across the canyon from above, exposing the three thousand fully equipped orcs to Chen Ke's line of sight.
The three thousand orcs stood silently, like the calm sea, yet Chen Ke could sense the overwhelming killing intent emanating from them even through the spiritual energy barrier of the ship.
After observing for a moment, Chen Ke couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
It seems the orcs have only gathered together, but haven't started taking action yet.
He still has time.
Without further hesitation, Chen Ke soared into the air and flew towards Xianxia Pass.
Regardless of the goal of the three thousand orcs, he had to give a warning to the garrison at Xianxia Pass.
We must not allow the Qin State to leave Xianxia Pass.
Ding!
[Congratulations! Your mastery of the Ghost King's Escape Technique has been upgraded from beginner to master, and your maximum mental strength has increased by 500 points.]
Suddenly, a dialog box popped up, startling Chen Ke.
To improve his skill proficiency, Chen Ke activated both the "Thousand-Faced Guanyin Technique" and the "Ghost King Escape Technique" while piloting the Shenzhou.
With his current powerful soul force, he doesn't need to worry about the energy consumption of these two skills.
Unexpectedly, the "Ghost King's Escape Technique" improved at this time.
In the blink of an eye, the Yiwei Divine Boat arrived in the skies above the Xianxia Pass area.
Chen Ke hovered high in the air, thought for a moment, and quickly took out paper and pen, writing a few lines on the paper.
A note alone is not enough; a token is needed to truly convince the Qin princess.
Chen Ke rummaged through the space in the ring and suddenly pulled out a wooden plaque, which made his eyes light up.
He folded the note, put it and the wooden plaque into a deerskin bag, tied the bag shut, and then airdropped it.
On the high city wall, one of the nine peaks, a soldier on duty was patrolling the wall with high spirits when suddenly, with a thud, an unidentified object fell behind him.
The soldier was startled and turned around, looking warily at the deerskin bag and the four shocking characters on it: "To the Princess!"
After a short while, the city gate, which was suspended by iron chains, was lowered, and a troop of fast horses galloped out, rushing towards Xianxia Pass.
Half an hour later, Chen Ke's superstitious letter was finally presented to the Qin princess through Ding Bo's hands.
The Qin princess didn't read the letter; instead, she picked up the wooden plaque and curiously examined it.
The front of the wooden sign has several numbers, and the back has a person's name written on it.
"Ma Xiaoshu?" The Qin princess looked suspicious. "This name sounds familiar. I feel like I've seen it somewhere before."
Ding Bo bowed and said, "Your Highness, Ma Xiaoshu is a new generation member of the Ma family, a family of cultivators in Shu Prefecture, and also Chen Ke's best friend. The two of them studied at Haotian Academy at the same time."
The Qin princess suddenly remembered and couldn't help but snort coldly.
She would never believe it, not even if you beat her to death, that it was Ma Xiaoshu himself who traveled a long way to deliver the message, and that he was even using his exam number tag.
Needless to say, it's that sneaky guy again!
Even if it wasn't him, it's still inextricably linked to him.
Upon opening the letter, the Qin princess's expression changed drastically.
Three thousand orcs, eighteen vultures, and several warriors lurked in a hidden canyon thirty miles away!
The Qin princess regained her composure: "Ding Bo, have you read the secret letter?"
Ding Bo nodded, his face grim, and said, "Your Highness, this time, a traitor has appeared among our own ranks!"
Two days ago, the Qin princess made the decision to leave Xianxia Pass and return to Capital City.
After all, she had already paid respects to her ancestors and summoned many former Qin officials; she had done everything she needed to do.
If we delay going back any longer, it will not only be disrespectful to the Chen family, but also to the Emperor Emeritus and the Empress Dowager.
Yesterday morning, she issued the order for her subordinates to prepare for the return journey.
In other words, in just one day and one night, the orcs had already grasped her movements and quickly rallied.
This shows that the orcs had planned to ambush her long ago and had been preparing in secret; otherwise, they could not have assembled an army of three thousand so quickly.
This also proves that there was a traitor in her life who had leaked her itinerary to the orcs early on, which is why the orcs were able to time it so accurately.
The Qin princess frowned slightly and suddenly asked, "Uncle Ding, how do you think that guy knew the orcs' whereabouts?"
That guy?
Ding Bo shook his head with a wry smile. If this problem could be explained, there would have been an answer long ago, instead of waiting until now.
Clearly, His Highness's mind is distracted; now is not the time to think about this.
The Qin princess realized she had lost her composure and came to her senses.
She did not doubt the authenticity of Chen Ke's information; Chen Ke had proven with his actions several times that he would at least not harm her.
Therefore, she only had two choices: to leave Xianxia Pass as originally planned, or to stay and observe the situation.
However, the Qin princess was not satisfied with either of these choices; the former was too frivolous, and the latter too weak.
Raising a slight brow, the Qin princess calmly asked, "If we send the best soldiers from our garrison, along with our guards, can we wipe out these three thousand orcs?"
Ding Bo was startled and stared in astonishment at the nobleman behind the layers of curtains.
Is the princess about to launch a counterattack?!