Chapter 273: Hong Chenglue's Deduction

Do not look at the old woman's home as if it were a trash heap; her memory is astonishingly good. Only she could rummage through the nooks and crannies to find where each item was stuffed. Before long, the black and white jars were found—there were actually eight of them. He He Lingchuan opened them carefully to inspect them, then revealed a relieved smile: "Excellent, they haven't been dampened." He then stored them in his storage ring.

This is where the great benefit of storage space becomes apparent.

Shan Shan Youjun took out a tael of silver and handed it to the old man: "Let's go."

￥￥￥￥￥

Northwest of White Deer Town, abandoned mine pit.

This was a poor mine, very small in scale, with an excavation period of only a dozen years or so. The mine shaft had long since become a large pool of water, with greenish ripples and even fish, and the dilapidated house where the miners lived had new owners.

A large group of warhorses was grazing in the woodland, and sentries were guarding the perimeter of the mine pit. Inside the dilapidated house, a military physician was performing emergency aid on Master Baili Qing.

After his arm was severed by He He Lingchuan, he had continued to command the battle and the retreat; by the time he was snatched back by reinforcements, he had lost too much blood, and his consciousness had blurred.

Deputy Captain Xu Xu Yingxian, who had been sent by Hong Chenglue to reinforce them, was reporting that their forces had crossed the river to return, using the river water to shake off the "tail" that had been following them.

The other three commanders were also in the room, one of whom, named Tao Ze, asked Hong Chenglue: "General, what are our plans for the future?"

Hong Chenglue's expression was heavy.

The number of scouts was not large to begin with, and he had split them into two teams, gambling on a surprise attack. He had led the team to White Deer Town himself and succeeded, but the Xinhuang operation had failed, costing them two hundred men.

For the Xunzhou scouts behind enemy lines, this was a major loss. In particular, there were many wounded, and the medical supplies and personnel for their care were far from sufficient. Of the men Master Baili Qing had brought back, two had just died from their wounds.

"What other plans could there be? Naturally, we take advantage of the unstable morale of the Xiazhou people to burn the remaining half of their grain, leaving Zhao Pan's army to drink the northwest wind!" Another commander slapped his thigh hard. "I didn't expect the Xiazhou Superintendent to come himself. To kill a snake, one must strike the head; to capture the bandits, one must capture the king... Eight!"

"Right, as long as we finish off the Xiazhou Superintendent, the entire Yuanbei will fall into chaos. It's possible Zhao Pan's army will collapse without a fight! General Hong, you are going to lead us to a great victory!"

Although Master Baili Qing was unconscious, his personal guards had recounted the entire process of the Xinhuang ambush.

Tao Ze immediately poured cold water on the two: "We just lost two hundred men! With the few men we have left, you want to kill the Xiazhou Superintendent? Xinhuang Town was an ambush set by General Master Baili, and he ended up severely wounded and defeated. How do you and I compare to General Master Baili?"

The other two were choked up, but their expressions were unconvinced: "Don't we still have General Hong?"

Could an unknown Xiazhou Superintendent outmatch the long-renowned General Hong?

"Quiet." Seeing Master Baili Qing frown in his coma, Hong Chenglue told the men to lower their voices. "The Xiazhou Superintendent wasn't blown to death; I don't know if it was luck or caution." He had laid this trap himself, yet He He Chunhua had escaped it. "The ones blown to death in the restaurant were his subordinates, which means this man surnamed He likely didn't publicly reveal his identity."

Otherwise, for a normal social engagement like a County Magistrate hosting a banquet, what reason would He He Chunhua have not to attend? The commander wondered: "A provincial governor, sneaking north with a grain transport team?"

"This man has some methods. Ever since he took office in Xiazhou Prefecture, he has been very high-profile. I heard he brought the four great families of Dunyu to heel; if he wants money, they give money, if he wants grain, they give grain. Otherwise, Zhao Pan wouldn't have been able to afford those two recent victories." When Hong Chenglue was a commoner in White Deer Town, he had been instinctively collecting intelligence. "I heard he was originally a minor official on the Yuanxi frontier and later achieved repeated military merits. If we don't figure out this man's temperament, the coming battles will be hard to fight."

Just then, a sentry from outside ran in to report: "Report, there is a situation in the sky!"

The group went out to look, and a black dot in the sky was growing larger, heading toward the mine pit.

Hong Chenglue took one look and said: "Dong Rui is back."

A commander beside him couldn't help but sneer: "Look at this man, arrogant all day long, with his eyes on the top of his head. General Hong sent him to help General Master Baili, and he also returned in a crushing defeat!"

The strange bird soon landed on the edge of the mine pit, and the man fell silent.

Dong Rui jumped off the bird's back. Others saw his palms wrapped in cloth strips, his arms cradling a monkey, and his clothes covered in blood; the monkey was closing its eyes, on the verge of death.

He looked very disheveled, seemingly no better off than Master Baili Qing.

This was a wanted criminal granted amnesty by the State Preceptor of Frost Leaf, serving as a guest advisor during the Xunzhou cavalry operations. Hong Chenglue remained polite to him, stepping forward to ask: "Are you badly hurt? Do you need to call a military physician?"

He had heard from Master Baili Qing's subordinates who escaped that the monkey Dong Rui kept with him could transform into a giant ape, possessing immense strength and even fearlessness against armies.

Once Hong Chenglue heard this, he understood where this "guest advisor's" value lay.

"Your physicians can't treat its wounds." Dong Rui's face was livid. "The life-saving elixir was looted. Where is the Ghost-Head Ginseng you promised me? Bring it here, quickly!"

He spoke without any courtesy, but Hong Chenglue did not hold it against him. He hesitated before walking into the house and saying to the military physician tending to Master Baili Qing: "Bring the remaining Ghost-Head Ginseng."

The military physician was startled, found a jade box among the medicines on the table, and handed it over.

Hong Chenglue opened the box. Inside lay half a green-skinned ginseng; the entire head of the ginseng looked just like a wailing evil ghost, with expressions so lifelike and refined down to the lines.

However, although this thing was dubbed a "ginseng," it was not actually ginseng, but a mutated variety of monkshood that could change its toxicity based on the nutrients it ingested and its surrounding environment.

The Ghost-Head Ginseng in the box only had the upper half left, meaning only the part above the "mouth." Thus, its expression was far less ferocious.

Dong Rui followed him in, took one look, and was displeased: "Half a piece? This does not conform to our agreement!"

"Human lives are at stake. Just now, many soldiers returned from Xinhuang, critically wounded, so I authorized the military physician to use it to save them first." Hong Chenglue knew his side was in the wrong and said gently, "Take this half for now. After we return to Xunzhou, I will apply to my superiors for another one for you."

"Another one?" Dong Rui laughed in anger. "Are you kidding me? Do you know how hard it is to get a Ghost-Head Ginseng?"

To cultivate a Ghost-Head Ginseng, one must plant a spirit-formed monkshood inside the abdomen of a powerful monster or a Daoist practitioner; this step must be a live planting.

A spirit-formed monkshood must be of a certain age, but a monkshood of a certain age is not necessarily spirit-formed. This is the first threshold.

A spirit-formed monkshood can not only absorb nutrients from the soil but also extract essence from flesh and blood.

After planting it for seven months, and perhaps changing one or two culture dishes, the "Ghost-Head" is finally formed. At this time, it possesses the efficacy of being "highly toxic yet highly nourishing," equivalent to a shot of adrenaline plus a potent tonic; used well, it can drag a wounded person back from the edge of death.

Hong Chenglue smiled: "Marshal Nian or the Between Beijia Kingdom will have a way."

If it were before, Dong Rui would have flicked his sleeves and left, never saying another word.

But now, the Ghost Ape's condition was truly critical, and Dong Rui had no time to argue with him. He snatched the precious ginseng and chose another dilapidated house to prepare the medicine on the spot.

Ghost-Head Ginseng cannot be taken directly; he had to grind away most of the toxicity first.

Hong Chenglue followed him in, watching this demon-puppet master's fluid operations. Though busy, he was not flustered, and his medical skills seemed far superior to the military physicians in their unit.

Refining demon puppets inevitably involves dealing with biological bodies, using both medicine and blades; it would be strange if he weren't skilled.

"Who wounded the Ghost Ape so severely?" Hong Chenglue wanted to hear first-hand combat intelligence.

Dong Rui didn't even lift his head, only squeezing a few words through his teeth: "The He father and son!" He then recounted the previous battle process. "I have a long-standing grudge with them."

Hong Chenglue immediately became interested: "How did this come about?"

Dong Rui briefly described the failed ambush at Deer-Cry Garden in Shi Huan City, then said hatefully: "If not for their interference, Ke Ke Jihai would have been dead long ago."

Once Ke Ke Jihai was dead, there would be one less Yuan Kingdom general capable of blocking the Grand Marshal.

Hong Chenglue asked him: "Were you specifically going to kill Ke Ke Jihai?"

"... And He He Chunhua." Dong Rui glanced at him. "They were in the two carriages, one after the other, so I thought I'd do them both while I was at it."

He had committed the grave error of being too greedy to chew.

"It sounds like they have quite a few useful magic treasures and some men around them." Hong Chenglue asked him, "Is there more information about this father and son?"

"Yes. Sun Sun Fuping died at his hands."

Hong Chenglue was moved: "What, the Yuan Kingdom's State Preceptor Sun was killed by him?"

"Right. I heard this incident happened in the Panlong Desert; no one knows the real details. Anyway, Sun Sun Fuping and Nian Nian Zanli's son, Nian Nian Songyu, tricked his father and son into leading an army into the Ancient City of Panlong to search for treasure. In the end, no treasure was found, and those two didn't come out either; only the He father and son returned alive—during the wind season of the Panlong Desert. It is said that in that season, no living thing can walk out of the Panlong Desert."

Hong Chenglue frowned: "With such a figure, how could you underestimate him?"

Dong Rui coughed lightly: "He He Chunhua's cultivation isn't impressive either. I thought such a person could kill State Preceptor Sun Sun Fuping mostly through luck, so I was careless."

"By the way, his entire family was killed by the old Emperor."

"Which old Emperor?" This intelligence was too important for Hong Chenglue.

"The father of the current Emperor of Yuan." Dong Rui wiped the blood from his hands with a cloth. "They say he mistakenly believed slander and had the entire He family executed, not even sparing a six-year-old child. Only He He Chunhua was alone away from home and escaped death. The old Emperor didn't pursue him further and sent him to a remote border town."

"If you cut the grass but don't remove the roots, you usually feel guilty." Hong Chenglue smiled. "Even so, He He Chunhua is still willing to serve as an official in the Yuan Kingdom?"

"What else?" Dong Rui was dismissive. "What other good options could he have?"

Hong Chenglue shook his head: "The Yuan Kingdom has only been established for sixty years; its people's hearts and traditions cannot be compared to an ancient country like Between Beijia. Here, how could there be much loyalty to the monarch? Hmm—"

He fell into deep thought: "He He Chunhua carries the blood feud of his entire family, yet is still willing to sell his life for the Yuan Kingdom. This man must be a character with deep schemes who also values profit and seeks fame."

(End of chapter)