Huo Shan was the child of a prominent family, groomed from youth with an elite education. He was particularly skilled in winning people’s hearts.

Since he joined the army, he had deliberately narrowed the distance with the Deputy General, because he knew the other was talented. If he could win him over, his control over the army would take a qualitative leap.

Perseverance pays off, and after much effort, he had finally managed to subdue the other party.

Next, it was time to strike directly at the heart, then achieve great merit and return to the Capital city.

He was already eager to see the faces of those people in the Capital city.

With a slight wave of his hand, Huo Shan led the army and slowly stepped into the valley.

The valley was deep and seemingly endless, surrounded by cliffs and precipices, their view obscured from above. The surroundings were overgrown with wild grass and trees, which, due to prolonged drought, now looked sickly and lifeless.

Huo Shan slowly wiped the sweat from his forehead, complaining, "What kind of damned weather is this year? It’s truly freaking hot!"

For some time now, the weather in Great Ning had been hotter each day. Huo Shan, the privileged young master, was accustomed to being pampered, and had rarely suffered such hardships.

Had it not been for the pursuit of tremendous achievement, he would never have chosen to come to such a desolate place.

But as a scion of a prominent family, he also knew his responsibilities. When his family was advancing, one should never be the one who held them back, or else it would be easy to become dispensable.

"Perhaps it’s because it hasn’t rained, this place hasn’t had rain for over half a year," the Deputy General said, looking up at the sky.

The sun hung high, the sky was cloudless, and the harsh sunlight seemed to bleach the world white. The air carried the scent of dust, a unique smell produced by the sun baking the earth.

For some reason, he felt an unspoken unease. The towering cliffs on both sides seemed to exude a scent of death, causing him to look involuntarily to either side.

"What are you looking at? There couldn’t be beauties on these cliffs," Huo Shan joked.

The Deputy General shook his head with a grave expression, "For some reason, I just feel uneasy."

Upon hearing this, Huo Shan lightly patted the Deputy General’s shoulder, laughing, "Don’t borrow trouble. We are catching them off guard, those bumpkins won’t have much awareness, they probably can’t even track us, let alone set up an ambush here. Before long, we will be out of the valley, and the splendid achievement will be ours for the taking."

These words ignited a fervent look in the Deputy General’s eyes. The victory of this battle was as much about Huo Shan’s future as it was about his own fate.

And now, it seemed as if everything was beckoning to him, just a few quick steps away from grasp.

"Stop daydreaming, let’s break out of here together!" Huo Shan laughed aloud, spurring his horse and starting to run towards the valley’s exit.

The light at the end of the valley was almost within reach, and the Deputy General stopped pondering and urged the soldiers to head towards the exit of the valley.

It was only when they had left the valley that the Deputy General quietly breathed a sigh of relief—there was no ambush!

All was indeed mere wishful thinking on his part; ambition began to burn fiercely within the depths of his heart, and he even started to contemplate what rank he could exchange for his merits this time.

At this thought, he felt an urge to cry, having finally broken through years of hardship to see a glimmer of hope for the future.

Standing nearby, Huo Shan was equally overwhelmed with emotion, feeling that all his family’s hard efforts had not been in vain. With the credit finally in his own hands, he could no longer contain his laughter and burst into hearty chuckles.

"Tell the men behind to speed up!" Huo Shan said proudly.

Looking at the vanguard leaving the valley, Wang Qi said with some urgency, "Shoot the horses first, capture the king first; now the enemy’s Great General has escaped the encirclement."

However, Daoist Qiu remained unperturbed and said, "It doesn’t matter. They are not of any significance. Our aim is to kill as many soldiers as possible. We want their equipment; if these two manage to escape, the people in the capital city will take care of them for us."

His words finally resolved the confusion in Wang Qi’s heart, who then waited patiently for the vanguard to leave.

The Imperial Army was not small in number this time. Therefore, as the vanguard passed through the valley, the following troops were marching mightily into the encirclement prepared by Wang Qi and his men.

Seeing this, Wang Qi’s face showed a bloodthirsty smile, and he gestured lightly with his hand, saying, "Do it!"

The order was given, and innumerable flammable materials, ablaze with fire, were thrown down into the valley, which had become highly combustible due to prolonged drought.

Upon contact, the materials burst into raging flames, and the Imperial Army entering the valley was mercilessly surrounded by fire.

They were surrounded by a sea of fire, the terrifying heat searing their flesh. Dense smoke obscured their vision, leaving them unable to discern the cardinal directions.

Huge rocks fell from above time to time, and being hit meant certain death. Faced with this dire situation, the soldiers, who had always been defending the area around the capital city, completely lost their will to fight. Many knelt on the ground, weeping bitterly, hoping for forgiveness.

Yet fire and water are merciless, and by this point, even Wang Qi could not possibly save these people.

On the other side of the valley, Huo Shan and the Deputy General also saw the towering flames within the valley.

"How dare they!" exclaimed Huo Shan, his eyes wide with disbelief.

A bunch of peasants had outsmarted him. At that moment, Huo Shan felt humiliated. He had always looked down on these rebel peasants, believing that such a Righteous Army was nothing more than a rabble. He thought that as soon as his Imperial Army arrived, they would have no choice but to surrender.

Little did he know that Wang Qi and his group were audacious to the extreme. Far from trembling at the arrival of the Imperial Army, they had long since begun gathering intelligence and formulating plans, ultimately staging a devastating ambush in this valley.

When boulders blocked the valley’s passage in an instant, Huo Shan understood that all was lost; he simply could not rescue the troops trapped in the valley.

From this point on, he would become a laughingstock in the capital city.

The more arrogant he had been before, the more despair he felt now. Huo Shan stared blankly at the flames roaring within the valley, feeling utterly despondent.

Without this army, he was but a commander without troops; more terrifying than the loss of his forces was the end of his own future. His family wouldn’t allow him to continue wasting resources. He knew his several younger brothers had been coveting his position all along.