In the drizzle, a streak of pale purple light cut across the sky and landed outside the mouth of the Ji River, where its waters narrowed again northeast of Juye Marsh. It was none other than the Exorcising the Dragon Gang's foremost fighter, the Purple-Faced Heavenly King, Xiong Bonan.
Ignoring the alarm of the Qi-Lu Government Army below, he found several high vantage points and surveyed the rain. Seeing no Core Formation or Condensing the Core experts appear, he seized a horse and immediately headed east along the Ji River. Boats passed constantly along the river, many carrying tightly covered supplies, while government soldiers crowded both banks, even causing some congestion. At the mouth where the Wen River joined the Ji, he saw an enormous transit camp built against the river.
The two sides had fought directly for half a year, and their intermittent standoff at Yuncheng had lasted several months. Xiong Bonan naturally knew this was the Qi-Lu Government Army's logistical hub. Supplies passed through here during advances, and retreats brought them back through here. He and Zhang Changgong had tangled here countless times.
Today, Heavenly King Xiong stopped here as usual. Sure enough, a streak of white light soon sprang from the camp. It did not approach, merely watching from a distance, while crossbowmen gathered despite the rain.
At this, Xiong Bonan immediately understood that Yu Baimei or Fan Hu was probably overseeing transport and covering the retreat here. He could not be bothered to confront them with a show of force. After a brief hesitation, he chose the nearest of the three routes ahead carrying troops and supplies, the southern route toward Pinglu in Lu Commandery.
There were some troops at Pinglu, but very few. Xiong Bonan made a circuit without finding the person he wanted to