Young Master System: My Mother Is the Matriarch-Chapter 192 - 191: Alive And Well

His blade lashed toward her throat, gleaming coldly. Yuan Yi slid backward, sleeve brushing the air. A faint shimmer rippled around her like water catching moonlight.

"You use formations made by others even now?" His blade struck against the barrier with a sharp clang, Zheng staggered back and spat on the ground.

"You need to be ready for any scenario during battle Lieutenant," she said softly. "Do not mistake rage for strength."

Zheng roared, "You talk too much, Let's see how you fare without your parlor tricks." Yuan Yi sidestepped as Zheng swung at her again, letting the blow carve through a pine trunk. Bark exploded, as the tree groaned as it began to fall.

He rushed forward again, but Yuan Yi traced her fingers in a short arc. A faint wind rose, carrying motes of dim blue light. This scene of splendor caused Zheng to halt, while the dirt beneath his feet shifted.

"Wha—" Three sigils lit up beneath him, arranged in a triangular pattern. He recognized them too late, it was a binding formation. The ground tightened around his legs, as if hands had erupted from the soil. It was an appaling feat of strength for the ground to grip his ankles.

Yuan Yi exhaled, looking weary. "I gave you every chance to reconsider."

Zheng thrashed. "Release me!"

"Zheng," she said slowly, "day by day the cult is falling apart. What little remains will not survive a civil struggle, rebuilding can be done. You will soon understand that tearing at the foundations will have drastic repercussions in the future."

"You dare lecture me?" he snarled. "Do you honestly think that men will follow someone who hides behind symbols and charms!"

"They will follow whoever can bring them back from ruin," she said. "You ar not capable of paving the path forward.

Zheng hissed between clenched teeth. "Hah! While you are still pretending this isn't personal."

"It isn't," she replied.

"Speak for yourself…" His hand surged upward toward another talisman hidden within his sleeve. A thin slip of paper emerged from his beneath his garments, etched with black strokes.

This was without a doubt a detonation charm.

"You won't bury me," Zheng said. "If I die….so will you."

Yuan Yi's eye twitched, as Zheng slammed the talisman against his chest. An explosion quickly ignited, but the ridge did not shake. Only a thin puff of smoke rose.

Zheng blinked, stunned as the talisman fizzled in his palm devoid of any power. A soft voice answered the shock in his eyes.

"Once I confirmed my suspicions, replacing your talismans was an elementary task."

Zheng stared at her with wide eyes. "When?" he whispered.

"Just before you attacked me in the tent," she said. "Your charms were visibly unstable, I could tell from a glance. After our brief exchange, I used the confusion of event to make the swap. Upon further deliberation, this choice proved to be correct one"

Zheng trembled with fury. "You actually have the audacity to trick me?"

"Fool, i saved you," she corrected. "Yet you repay it with an attempt on my life."

He lunged despite being bound in place, muscles straining. The formation sigils tightened frantically dragging him to his knees. Yuan Yi took this oppertunity to step closer.

"Zheng Huang," she said softly, "this ends now."

He glared up at her, panting. "Kill me then,Let them watch. Let them see your true color!!

She looked at him for a long moment, Then shook her head. "No. Your death would just split the camp even further, such an action will change nothing. Your time in this world will come to pass, for now you will be watched closely."

"Make no mistake, if you continue these hostile actions…" Her voice lowered slightly, "…I will finish what you began."

Zheng spat. "You think this is over?" He leaned forward with a burning gaze. "The others will come. Even if I fail tonight… the seed is planted." Yuan Yi's expression remained unreadable, "So be it..." she murmured.

She turned her back to him, cloak sweeping behind her.

Zheng felt a chill crawl up his spine.

Although she had spared him, somehow that terrified him more than death. Behind her, the bound lieutenant let out a ragged whisper. "This is not finished."

Yuan Yi paused for moment, long enough to answer without looking back. "Of course it isn't. Nothing is gained from endless conflict, but the promise of power is too much to resist for you weak minded heretics."

The wind rose as pine trees trembled around them. Far below, the camp remained largely unaware that its future was being carved quietly on the ridge.

Yuan Yi disappeared into the darkness and Zheng Huang remained bound to the earth he tried to claim. The foolhardy lieutenant had understood one thing for the first time since his insurgency, this envoy was no harmless messenger.

The wind on the ridge quieted at last, and with it went the last rumble of Zheng Huang's outrage. His breath rasped in ragged bursts as he knelt, bound by sigils that dug into the soil like skeletal hands.

Below the ridge, the camp flickered with half-doused flames from the sabotage, shadows running wild between tents and carts. Ragged shouts rose, a reminder that the world beyond their quarrel had not paused to watch the outcome.

Yuan Yi stood with her back turned to the defeated lieutenant. Her cloak swayed in the cold ridge wind, the faint shimmer of her earlier formation fading into the night like vanishing petals.

She did not hurry away from the scene. Behind her, Zheng Huang strained against the binding once more. The ground clutched him harder. "Coward!" he shouted after her. "If you were truly fit to lead, you would settle this blade to blade instead of hiding behind runes!"

Yuan Yi did not turn, Her answer drifted through the trees. "If you wish for a blade to settle your life, you are welcome to place it against your own throat. I am not here to bargain with suicide."

Zheng's snarl echoed uselessly across the ridge.

Yuan Yi moved deeper into the darkness, her silhouette swallowed by frost and pines.

Only then did Zheng finally lower his head and curse the earth, the sky, and her in equal measure.

Panic had nearly overtaken the encampment by the time Yuan Yi returned. Flames had been mostly beaten down, though several supply wagons were blackened husks. A handful of injured fighters sat on the ground, coughing from smoke. Others argued in loud clusters, unsure what had happened.

A few turned sharply when they saw her, some glared and stared with hope they were trying to hide. Most simply watched with a great deal of uncertainty. Feng Long pushed through the crowd and hurried to her. "Envoy Yuan Yi, are you unharmed?"

She nodded. "How bad was the fire?"

"Contained," Feng Long said. "Two wagons lost. No fatalities."

The men behind him murmured as they regarded her.

"She was near the northern tents earlier…"

"I heard she left the moment the fire started."

"No, I saw her helping the wounded. She wasn't even close."

"Is that so? I saw her shadow by the ridge."

Rumors already stirred like snakes in tall grass. Yuan Yi's voice cut through the noise. "Break off those whispers. Anyone spreading tales before dawn will work double watch until their knees fail."

The chatter stopped instantly, while Feng Long bowed slightly. "Your orders?"

"Gather every squad captain at the central tent," she said. "We settle this tonight."

"With all due respect… settle what?"

She glanced at the smoke-stained sky. "Leadership."

Her answer rippled through every ear within reach.

The tent felt smaller than it had that morning. Thirty captains, sub-leaders, and scouts gathered, but the mood was nowhere near orderly. Some looked uneasy, others heated. A few whispered among themselves about Zheng Huang, though most noticed his absence.

Lanternlight flickered as Yuan Yi entered.

Every conversation died down as Captain Feng Long stood aside, offering her the center. Yuan Yi faced them all. "There has been sabotage," she said simply. "Not from outsiders. From within."

Uneasy mutters surged again. "Lie to yourself if you want," she went on, "but you all know this camp is cracking. The men are tired and Injured, Half of you do not trust each other. Some of you barely trust yourselves."

A few captains lowered their heads.

"So let me make this clear." Her gaze swept the room, sharp but steady. "This ends tonight. We either rebuild from the ashes—or we scatter like frightened birds until imperial scouts find us one by one."

A younger captain raised his hand. "Where is Lieutenant Zheng?"

"In custody," Yuan Yi answered. "He plotted to splinter the camp."

"That is an accusation," someone snapped from the right. "Zheng Huang led dozens of us. He bled for the cause."

"As did the three hundred men lost because of Li Wuji's madness," Yuan Yi replied. "Zheng wishes to inherit authority and not take responsibility for anything."

The captain glared. "And you? You think you can lead us alone?"

"No," Yuan Yi said. "I need each of you… more than that, I need the collective power of every memebr of the cult to make this possible."

The tent murmured again, more confused than hostile. Mei Yan, a seasoned female cultist whose slender face had bore the sharp lines of hardship spoke up. "If what you say is true… why spare Zheng?"

A flicker of light passed through Yuan Yi's eyes. "Because killing him would make him a martyr," she said. "Bloodshed among our own people is what destroyed us under Li Wuji, I refuse to repeat his mistakes."