Chapter 235: Splitting Up

“Why did the Sentalus regular army suddenly come to the Tecks Mountains?” Ram asked, raising another important question.

However, the captured soldier was of too low a rank to have access to such information. He had only vaguely heard that the order came directly from the Grand Duke himself. Otherwise, the duchy wouldn’t have deployed two barons to handle this matter.

“Two barons?” Ram was taken aback.

“Yes! General Roderick Sentalus and Baron Raman Sentalus!” 

The captured squad leader was well aware that there was no way he would survive these people. Confessing everything now was just an attempt to suffer less before his death. His malice showed as he gleefully spat out his answer. 

“Even if you manage to pull off a few successful ambushes, before the two lords, all your petty tricks will amount to nothing. You are destined to—”

Wu Qingsong ended his life with a swift strike, cutting off the man’s venomous curse before he could finish. Silence descended over the group. It was heavy and suffocating.

“What should we do?” Daryl asked weakly, his voice filled with desperation and sincerity.

This situation was far beyond his abilities and well outside the scope of anything he could have prepared for.

The eastern slopes of the Tecks Mountains, where the Silver Moon Wolf Clan operated, were effectively a no-man’s land. To the southwest lay the Nisair Marquisate, the majority of the southern region belonged to Baron Elyar, and to the north and east was largely part of the Noguti Duchy. To the northwest, there was a small portion under the control of the Mesthebes Marquisate. Whenever one of these factions attempted a crackdown on the wolfmen, the clan could quickly escape into another jurisdiction. Additionally, most of the area was undeveloped, covered in vast expanses of forests, making it difficult for any one of these factions to muster the drive or desire to completely eradicate them.

In the past, the wolfkin’s biggest threat had been garrison forces from various states, or mercenary groups looking to claim the bounties placed on them by the Grand Duke Sentalus.

However, whether it was the garrison forces or hunter groups, they were always limited in numbers. In Daryl’s memory, the largest invasion force they’d ever faced was a regiment of nearly a thousand troops. The wolfmen could rely on their numerical superiority and intimate knowledge of the terrain to ambush and fight guerrilla-style battles, eventually driving them off.

But this time, it was six thousand regular troops and two thousand war wolves. Not to mention, two actual elves were leading them.

Just thinking about these numbers made Daryl tremble inside.

He was no longer the naive youngster he once was. After this journey, he fully understood what that kind of force meant.

“Daryl, are you familiar with these forests?” Wu Qingsong asked after a moment of thinking.

“Of course!” Daryl immediately responded. “I know every forest and every valley like the back of my hand!”

“Then…” Wu Qingsong made a swift decision. “Ram, take Beck and the others, find a side path heading south to Umber, and then find a way to catch a boat back to Esola.”

“Wu!” 

“Sir?!” 

Ram and the houndmen cried out in alarm.

“Ram, your hand hasn’t fully healed yet. How will you climb mountains or fight?” Wu Qingsong said. “Besides, I have a more important task for you. Whether the Silver Moon Wolf Clan survives this disaster depends on whether you can complete it.”

“Wu…” Ram shook her head. 

How could she possibly leave Wu Qingsong, Daryl, and the surviving Silvermoon wolfmen at a time like this and return?

“I’m not discussing this with you, Ram.” Wu Qingsong said firmly. “We can’t face such a powerful army head-on. We need to find another way to create a chance for Nina and the others to escape from the encirclement. But where will they go once they escape? Your mission is to return to Esola as quickly as possible, take my letter of appointment, and find a way to secure control of the northern uninhabited area. Then, figure out how to receive them and keep them hidden. Who else can complete this task besides you?”

Ram fell silent. She had thought Wu Qingsong was merely trying to find an excuse to send her to a safer place.

“But you…” she murmured quietly.

“My soldiers will only increase in number,” Wu Qingsong said. “It’s just a matter of repeating what we did on Gale Island. Maybe we can’t defeat these soldiers head-on, but we can certainly pin them down, draw their attention to the east, and create an opportunity for you.”

“Alright, I’ll leave immediately.” Ram gritted her teeth, finally nodding in agreement.

“Be careful,” Wu Qingsong urged. “Beck, your mission is to escort Ram back safely, help her establish a secret base to receive the Silver Moon Wolf Clan, and help them cross the Tecks Mountains safely to reach Esola. This mission is difficult and dangerous, but you must complete it. Understood?”

“Don’t worry, sir!” Beck and the others immediately replied. “Even if we die–”

“I want you to complete this mission alive,” Wu Qingsong interrupted. “Try to avoid conflict with the forces of Sentalus, but if you have to fight, make sure you eliminate them all. No witnesses. Understood?”

Without delay, Ram and the others headed south, while Daryl stood by, his face flushed, waiting for Wu Qingsong’s orders.

“I want you to carefully recall the terrain in this area and then map it out,” Wu Qingsong handed him a piece of parchment and a pen. “Mark the mountains, valleys, rivers, where troops can be stationed, where armies can pass through, where supplies can be transported, where ambushes can be set up, and note any hidden caves or hard-to-find gorges. The more detailed, the better. The accuracy of this map will determine how likely we are to rescue them.”

“Got it!” Daryl immediately got to work by the campfire.

“What about us?” Ling and Liuli asked.

“We’re going to find ghost cypress trees,” Wu Qingsong replied. “We need to turn these corpses into power we can use.”

By dawn, Daryl had finally completed the map. From Wu Qingsong’s perspective, it was a chaotic mess, but with Daryl’s explanations, he managed to form a rough understanding of the surrounding terrain.

The twenty soldiers and six war wolves had all been transformed by Wu Qingsong into a higher form of undead. These weren’t just ordinary skeletons or corpses—they were ghouls. They were stronger in battle, more agile in their movements, and outwardly much closer to living beings.

“We’ll first pick off the scattered forces in the area to grow our numbers,” Wu Qingsong said. “Then, we’ll take out the entire regiment.”