New Strategy Deployed, Decisive Battle Approaches

News that the Black Crow Squad had arrived ahead of schedule exploded through the military camp like a red-hot iron thrown into a vat of oil. Chen Wuya stood beneath the flagpole, the wound on his palm still seeping blood, but he did not wipe it away.

Footsteps drew nearer. Several generals, wrapped in cloaks, rushed through the camp gate, their armor clattering sharply. One of them spoke at once. "What do we do now? If the City-Burning Cart really finishes setting up before midnight, we won't even have time to establish a retreat route!"

Chen Wuya did not move. He merely lowered his palm slowly toward the ground. Misaligned Force sank through his meridians into the earth. The sand's surface rippled faintly, wave after wave spreading from his fingertips. The others froze as they watched a wooden stake three paces away sway twice, then tilt and fall.

"This isn't a miracle." He raised his head. "It's a question of how far force can travel. They use mechanisms. We use people."

An old general from the Greenwood frowned. "But no matter how strange this force of yours is, can it shake down a whole cart?"

"I'm not shaking the cart." Chen Wuya straightened. "I'm shaking the people. As long as they push the cart, light the fire, and move into position, they have to step on the ground. I'll make the ground stop listening to them."

The lamplight in the tent suddenly flickered, casting faces into shifting light and shadow. Another Qingfeng Sect elder said coldly, "Even if you can disrupt the enemy, a direct clash is still a dead end. The foreign troops outnumber us three to one. If our main force is tied down, how will the flank break through?"

Chen Wuya looked at Bai Zhi. She had