Chapter 267

The return journey was quite smooth, without any twists or turns.

By the time He Lingchuan hurried back to the military camp in Xinhuang Town, it was brightly lit, personnel were busy, and the atmosphere had not relaxed.

Extinguishing fires, cleaning up the camp, treating the wounded, detaining and interrogating prisoners, counting provisions, and exchanging messages with the county government—under He Chunhua's command, these were still quite orderly.

Seeing He Lingchuan appear, he left the official beside him and walked over: "How is it? Did you capture Dong Rui?"

"No." He Lingchuan shook his head, "I let him run away again."

The one surnamed Dong was probably a loach, slippery and hard to hold.

"This scoundrel is not easy to catch." He Chunhua's face showed disappointment, but he still patted his shoulder, "Let's not worry about him for now; we have more thorny problems." He also knew that after Dong Rui suffered heavy injuries, he wouldn't be a cause for concern in the short term.

"Earlier, the restaurant exploded; the local county magistrate is still alive, though one leg was blown off. But Mr. Mo Zhe..." He sighed deeply, "didn't make it."

He Lingchuan immediately said: "Father, please accept my condolences."

Mo Zhejingxuan was an old man He Chunhua had brought from Heishuicheng, his loyalty beyond question. Falling here suddenly was no small loss for He Chunhua, who was short on talent.

"Also, the Xunzhou mobile cavalry that retreated from here had people meeting them halfway, so our troops turned back."

This group of desperate enemies was chased for over thirty miles, and since no one could claim the reward gold, they had to return dejectedly—

Master Baili's life was too tough.

However, the Xunzhou mobile cavalry suffered heavy losses; nearly three hundred came, but in the end, only one hundred riders escaped, more than half of whom were wounded.

After hearing this, He Lingchuan felt even more ominous: "Someone was meeting them?"

"Chasing to Mamaling Slope, over two hundred people killed their way out from the side, all of them strong soldiers and sturdy horses, so our side had to give up the pursuit and return." He Chunhua's face was gloomy, and he was also angry at his subordinates for not living up to expectations.

He Lingchuan had already sensed something wrong: "Where did these two hundred-plus Xunzhou soldiers come from?" Clearly not under that "Master Baili," otherwise they would have attacked Xinhuang with him long ago.

"According to the prisoners' confession, the general whose arm you severed is named Baili Qing, a Mobile Corps Commander under Nian Zanli. He has quite a reputation and impressive battle records; I didn't expect him to be defeated by you in one round."

"What a pity, this big fish slipped away." The personal guards around Baili Qing were all desperate to protect him as he broke out of the encirclement.

Just at this moment, He Chunhua also summoned the archer from earlier to his side.

This guard looked only sixteen or seventeen, similar in age to He Lingchuan, but just now he had sacrificed his lifespan without hesitation in exchange for the powerful force that wounded the ghost ape; now he was pale, his lips purple.

Although the Ghost Eye Bow was strong, it had aftereffects when used.

He Chunhua patted his shoulder, his face showing appreciation: "Well done, you have merit."

The guard's forehead was covered in sweat, but he was overjoyed: "Thank you, thank you, my lord!"

He Chunhua took a jade pendant from his storage ring and handed it to him: "Wear this amulet; from today on, you are my personal guard."

The guard happily accepted it.

He Lingchuan looked at him and said: "What is your name?"

"This humble one is Hu Xuan."

He Lingchuan nodded; there were more and more new faces around his father. Come to think of it, he didn't actually know how many confidants He Chunhua had.

The fire was extinguished, and the wounded were settled in nearby civilian houses. Seeing there was nothing for him to do here, He Lingchuan went to the camp to occupy a tent, then told Rock Wolf to guard the door, not allowing anyone to enter.

He pressed down the bottom seams of the tent himself to ensure not even a fly could fly in before lighting an oil lamp and taking out the newly acquired glass bottle to examine it carefully.

As soon as the bottle came out, the divine bone necklace at his neck began to heat up again. He Lingchuan could feel its craving, like a person who had been hungry for a day looking at a sizzling, oily roasted lamb leg.

He thought for a moment, took off the divine bone necklace and placed it on a stool, then pulled out the glass bottle's stopper and slowly brought it closer.

He didn't dare to smell it; the scent of some drugs could also poison people to death.

Interestingly, a faint sound of wind appeared in the center hole of the divine bone necklace, as if a small wind tunnel were hidden inside.

He Lingchuan carefully poured a drop of the red liquid from the bottle into it.

Just one drop.

Then this drop of red liquid fell into the round hole in the divine bone and disappeared.

He Lingchuan picked up the necklace and searched all over the stool, but couldn't find even a trace. This meant the red liquid had passed through the round hole and flowed somewhere unknown.

However, He Lingchuan now knew that the divine bone necklace was the entry key to the Great Fanghu Illusion. So who absorbed this kind of liquid? Was it the divine bone necklace itself, or... the Great Fanghu?

He recalled the divine bone necklace's previous two feedings: one was the foundation stone of the Immortal's cave dwelling, and the other was likely Hong Xiangqian's talisman; neither were ordinary items.

Now that this red liquid was favored by the divine bone, could it conversely prove that it was also a rare item? However, after the divine bone necklace ate one drop, it stopped heating up; the wind tunnel in the center disappeared, and it turned back into that plain, unremarkable pendant.

"Do you want more?" he asked the divine bone necklace. Ever since he learned that the Floating Life Blade could understand his questions, he assumed this thing could too, only it never communicated with him normally.

The divine bone necklace didn't react, as usual.

That meant it had eaten enough. Just one drop—it was actually quite easy to keep.

He Lingchuan put away the necklace and the medicine bottle, walked out of the tent, and with Rock Wolf's help, found the medicine ape Lingguang.

This monkey was treating people in the infirmary, working conscientiously, and its hands and feet were much more nimble than the average military physician, earning the widespread love of the wounded.

When He Lingchuan found it, it had a bib for nuts hanging around its neck, heavy and already full, all gifts from patients.

He fished a few peanuts from his pocket and ate them while peeling: "I got a piece of loot, help me take a look."

"Right away!"

As a result, He Lingchuan waited for a full quarter of an hour before Lingguang retreated from the pile of wounded and returned to the tent with him.

He Lingchuan recounted the whole process of failing to pursue Dong Rui but obtaining the glass bottle, then said to Lingguang: "Dong Rui originally intended to use this for the heavily wounded ghost ape; perhaps it has emergency rescue effects. Since it's medicine, I'll leave it to you to analyze."

Lingguang's eyes lit up after hearing this, and it observed the glass bottle repeatedly, like a child getting a beloved toy, not even having time to spare He Lingchuan a glance: "Good!"

Seeing it unceremoniously occupy the tent, He Lingchuan shook his head and retreated himself.

Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night for the people of Xiazhou.

Zeng Feixiong led people to find the sentries' corpses nearby, which also explained why the sentries didn't sound the alarm when Baili Qing invaded Xinhuang. Therefore, He Chunhua ordered the reinforcement of the perimeter guard around the station and intensified the interrogation of prisoners.

He was desperate to know who the commander of this operation was.

After Zeng Feixiong returned from pursuing Baili Qing, he sat by the campfire with his subordinates, drinking water and eating cakes. He Lingchuan strolled over and handed him a wine flask: "Have a sip?" Tonight was truly thrilling.

Zeng Feixiong shook his head: "I'm changing shifts to guard in a while, can't drink."

He Lingchuan chatted with him about the battle just now and inquired about the process of pursuing Baili Qing. Zeng Feixiong was still a distance away from the soldiers, so he lowered his voice: "Beating a drowning dog is fine, but once we hit a hard bone, we collapse in one strike." Once Baili Qing's reinforcements arrived, the pursuers he led wilted, "This kind of troop we pulled together in Xiazhou can't make it to the northern battlefield."

He had been promoted now and had to worry about what General Manager He worried about. For Xiazhou now, raising a battle-hardened troop was truly a bit of a luxury; neither time nor financial resources were abundant.

He Lingchuan was not surprised by his assessment: "They need to be trained for a period of time. Look at various places and armies; how many are recruited and sent directly to the battlefield after only a few days? Where is the energy or leisure to train troops first? Actually, winning a few more battles is better than anything; you have to know how to pick opponents."

He had personal experience in Panlongcheng; at least half of the Great Wind Army's bravery came from confidence: the Panlongcheng people's confidence that they would win every battle, and their own overflowing self-confidence.

Jiao Tai leaned over and said: "They still let over a hundred escape; this battle was fought stiflingly!"

Zeng Feixiong didn't like hearing this, as he was the one leading the team. He chuckled: "Most of those let go were wounded soldiers, some even heavily wounded; this was the General Manager's intention!"

He Lingchuan said "Oh."

Jiao Tai was straightforward and didn't understand: "What do you mean?"

"We find the Xunzhou people thorny because their mobile cavalry comes and goes, leaving no trace." He Lingchuan explained to him, "Now they are dragging a pile of wounded soldiers and have to find a way to settle them, which makes it easy to show flaws." It was a big trouble for Xunzhou people to operate deep behind enemy lines and be unable to receive effective treatment after being wounded.

Father is truly insidious.

Just at this moment, He Lingchuan suddenly saw a flash of red light not far to the west.

The light was not strong, but it was striking enough in the dark night.

What was that? Under his gaze, it seemed a few more red lights flashed by, a bit like lightning, but they didn't trigger any consequences, and the surroundings remained quiet.

He Lingchuan looked around and suddenly discovered a strange phenomenon: the surrounding soldiers were eating, drinking, and chatting, not even having the interest to glance over there. Even Shan Youjun, Zeng Feixiong, and the others seemed to turn a blind eye to that light.

He Lingchuan tentatively asked: "What is that?"

"Ah?" Jiao Tai was puzzled, "What?"

He Lingchuan pointed in the direction of the red light: "Can't you see it?"

Everyone was blank: "See what?"

They really couldn't see it. He Lingchuan said dejectedly: "Nothing, what is that place used for now?" The place where the red light rose seemed to be a few bungalows as well.

Zeng Feixiong took a look: "Detaining prisoners of war."

He Lingchuan immediately clapped his hands, stood up, and headed toward the red light.

At least in the hearts of generals like Zeng Feixiong who walked out of Heishuicheng, he had long since shed the image of an ignorant rich kid, and even half the credit for saving the military provisions tonight was his, so they didn't ask what he was going to do, and everyone went back to their own business.

(End of chapter)