“Master, this is truly too much for us!” Zhutao knelt on the ground, his voice muffled as he spoke.
“All of you, rise and let me finish!” Yun Qingxue raised her hand in a commanding gesture.
The group stood up once more.
Yun Qingxue’s gaze was clear and bright as she looked at them. “I have long understood your loyalty to me, Qingxue, and to our Flower-Wood Clan.
But as your sovereign, I do not need your protection! On the battlefield, only life, death, and victory matter!
So once the plan begins, you need only focus on fighting the enemy and protecting yourselves—do not worry about me!”
“Master, absolutely not! If anything were to happen to you, we would become eternal sinners of our Flower-Wood Clan!” Zhutao urgently protested.
Yun Qingxue suddenly fixed him with a stern glare. “Zhutao! If you still acknowledge me as your master, not another word!
Besides, I am the most powerful cultivator here—do I really need your protection?”
Zhutao lifted his head, lips trembling as if to speak again, but Yun Qingxue shot him a sharp look.
He could only swallow his words in silence.
Yun Qingxue turned back to the group and asked loudly, “Do you all understand my orders?”
After exchanging glances, they responded in unison, “Understood!”
“Good!” Yun Qingxue smiled. “Now we begin our operation! Remember—on the battlefield, only life, death, and victory matter!”
“Yes!” As her words fell, the Green Bamboo clansmen transformed into streaks of green light and flew away.
She turned to look at the lifeless A’Dai, her heart heavier than ever before.
“Afraid?” she asked Daise and Liuli.
“With you here, Master, this servant is not afraid!” Daise’s eyes were resolute.
“Not afraid!” Liuli bared her sharp fangs.
Yun Qingxue smiled.
Soon after, the Green Bamboo clansmen who had left returned, their empty underground chamber once again crowded.
“Master, these are what we’ve gathered.” Each returnee held a sphere of green light.
Seeing Yun Qingxue’s confusion, one of them explained, “Didn’t you say we would use fire against the bat demons? Fire requires fuel—these are highly flammable materials we collected, along with all the strong liquor from our clan!”
“Good.” Yun Qingxue nodded and instructed them to divide the fuel into two portions.
Just as they finished, Zhutao and Zhubai, who had gone to scout the bat demons’ movements, rushed back.
“Master, the bat demons couldn’t find your trail. Some flew out of the bamboo forest to search elsewhere, while others returned to their lair to report to the elder bat demon.”
“Move out now!” Yun Qingxue decisively ordered, assigning roles. “Twenty of you will set fire to the lesser bat demons’ dwelling. The rest will come with me to the elder bat demon’s lair!”
“Master! The elder bat demon’s lair is perilous—taking so few with you is too dangerous!”
Zhutao was the first to object to Yun Qingxue’s arrangement.
“Where isn’t dangerous?! On the battlefield, orders are absolute! Zhutao, do not disappoint me!” Her gaze was unyielding.
“But—” Zhutao frowned, still wanting to argue.
Yun Qingxue cut him off. “If you continue hesitating and disobeying, then none of you need follow me! I’ll face the bat demons alone!”
Zhutao immediately fell silent.
Yet Yun Qingxue still wasn’t reassured…
For the first time, she realized that loyal subordinates could also be troublesome.
To prevent Zhutao from feigning compliance—leading the group to burn the lesser bat demons’ dwelling while secretly following to protect her—she had to reinforce her command.
“If I discover anyone disobeying my orders, then Yun Qingxue will no longer acknowledge them as a subordinate! Our Flower-Wood Clan has no place for traitors who defy military commands!”
“Yes!” the group chorused.
Yun Qingxue placed the unconscious A’Dai into her storage bracelet and, with Daise, Liuli, and the remaining eight Green Bamboo spirits, swiftly advanced through the tunnels toward the bat demons’ lair.
Emerging stealthily, Yun Qingxue flicked her wrist, and the green light containing the fuel dissipated instantly.
In moments, piles of bamboo poles, leaves, dry grass, and liquor bottles surrounded the bat demons’ lair.
Yun Qingxue raised both hands—one pointing skyward, the other at the fuel.
Two beams of light, one red and one purple, shot from her fingertips.
The purple light streaked into the sky, while the red scattered like embers, igniting the fuel into roaring flames.
Sparks flew, and thick smoke billowed upward.
At the same time, Zhutao, stationed at the lesser bat demons’ dwelling, saw the purple signal flare in the sky. He immediately ordered his hidden clansmen to light their torches.
Flaming brands were hurled toward the bamboo huts, followed by jars of strong liquor to intensify the blaze.
“Formation!”
Zhutao commanded, and fifteen of the twenty took positions, channeling their energy.
A pale green barrier materialized, encasing the burning huts. Even if the bat demons inside tried to escape, they would be trapped.
The remaining five stood guard, ensuring no stragglers could intervene.
Soon, movement came from within the barrier.
The blazing huts collapsed, and a dark swarm of bats burst forth.
Leading them were two bat demons, each half a meter long, followed by others the size of a human hand.
The bat demons surged against the barrier, their impact shaking the fifteen maintaining it.
“SCREECH—!” A piercing, furious shriek tore through the air, further straining the defenders.
Smoke filled the barrier, flames raging as the bat demons frantically battered against it.
“Ugh!” One of the fifteen coughed up blood, overwhelmed by the assault.
Zhutao, among them, gritted his teeth. Glancing at his comrades, he saw their forms wavering.
At this rate, the barrier would shatter before the flames could finish the bat demons—and they would all perish.
Worse, if they failed here, their sovereign, the Flower King, would face dire consequences!
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