Chapter 1001: with translation of chapter title

"First time encountering this kind of thing, feeling any pressure?" Chen Wuji asked with a smile.

Wushuang thought seriously for a moment before saying: "I also don't know if it counts, uh… I guess it does, after all I've never done this kind of thing before, I don't understand many things."

"From what you're saying, it seems I've been too lenient with you?" Chen Wuji asked teasingly.

Wushuang quickly shook their head: "My lord, that's not it, I mean… what I'm doing is going fairly smoothly, I'm not facing too much trouble."

Pang Danniang and Tang Xiaoyan have already been caught; next we'll follow the vine to catch their superiors, and handle the mopping up and liaison for this small detachment—the situation has actually been opened up.

"You damn it!" Chen Wuji cursed Chen Wushuang with a string of unprintable Martian text, laughing and scolding, "Fifth Lord's mouth was pried open by me personally; interrogating Pang Danniang and Tang Xiaoyan, Chen Ruoshui surely contributed plenty of ideas, yet you little brat still tell me things are going smoothly."

"Go, run fifty laps outside first, then come report to me!"

"... Yes!"

Wushuang turned and ran, not wasting a single second.

"Such a straight‑minded straight‑intestine, really deadly!" Chen Wuji rubbed his forehead, a bit headache.

Chen Li walked in from the doorway, saying, "Family Head, this child Wushuang has been like this since young; wanting to enlighten them is probably not easy, better let them watch more for now; it's not appropriate to put more burden on them at the moment."

"I've really felt it clearly!" Chen Wuji sighed, "What they just said, you also heard—completely lacking priority, yet they still tell me there's no pressure."

Chen Li chuckled.

He had just felt that some people wanted to beat someone up.

"Family Head, I'll add a word: from now on let Wushuang guard the Big Tent; this kind of work that requires thinking and arranging people isn't suitable for them."

Chen Wuji nodded, "That's all we can do for now; we'll see later."

He thought that Wushuang and Chen Wuyi had been by his side for a while; he couldn't keep making them his personal guards all the time—it wasn't fair to them; they should be sent out to gain experience.

Chen Wuyi did very well.

But with Wushuang, problems constantly arise, mistakes never cease.

"The secret line that Snake Staff Elder left in the Refugee Gathering will, from now on, be led by Chen Ruoshui with the Intelligence Camp as support, letting Wushuang withdraw." Chen Wuji rubbed his forehead and finally made up his mind.

There are more pressing battles ahead; he doesn't have time to stay in the Refugee Gathering waiting for Wushuang to intern.

That's too much of a waste of time.

Chen Li nodded, "Family Head, you're thinking too highly of them; Prefect Wang is currently in the Refugee Gathering, with his assistance, plus Ruoshui actually suffices—there's no need to drag the Intelligence Camp into this."

Chen Wuji shook his head, "Our time is precious now; putting in a bit more manpower doesn't matter."

"The Snake Staff Elder's layout across the entire Nanyue Jun consists of an inner and outer net that complement each other; if we can follow the vine to pull out this second net of the Snake Staff Elder entirely, the upcoming battles will achieve twice the result with half the effort, allowing precise breakthrough."

"Without that meddlesome Snake Staff Elder, our view will become much clearer ahead; I've really had enough of this Lao Zamao's scheming plots, sneaking about like a ghost."

Although the Snake Staff Elder hasn't caused Chen Wuji much trouble so far, he truly disgusts Chen Wuji greatly; this is also the fundamental reason Chen Wuji personally stayed in the Refugee Gathering after learning of Fifth Lord's news.

Chen Li nodded, "I've ordered someone to summon Ruoshui for a visit."

"No need, Elder Shi Yi Shu can just pass on the orders later; I have nothing else to convey." Chen Wuji said, "Just two requests: if we can't temporarily dig up and uproot the Snake Staff Elder's second net, then we'll first focus on the Snake Staff Elder's deployment in Lingshouzhou."

"Also, have Ruoshui pay special attention to Fifth Lord—this old thing still has something unclean in his mouth! At his age, actually acting as a lickspittle for a woman in her twenties—this looks wrong no matter how you see it; I suspect there's more to it."

"Yes!"

……

Wushuang ran fifty laps around the camp in earnest, and upon returning, hearing that Chen Wuji had relieved them of the authority to investigate spies in the Refugee Gathering, they felt no disappointment—instead they grinned, happy as if they'd received new clothes for New Year.

Not wasting a second, they quickly straightened out their sweat‑soaked armor, then happily went to stand guard outside the Big Tent.

This action almost drove Chen Wuji to withdraw completely.

Suddenly realizing, Chen Wuji suddenly felt they had been overly sentimental.

After a moment of bird song and floral fragrance, Wushuang inexplicably led another fifty‑lap patrol run around the camp.

Wushuang didn't know what they'd done to provoke the Family Head again, but the punishment was honestly fair—Chen Wuji told them to run, and they did, not missing a lap, not cutting a single step.

……

The next day, the sky was overcast, with a gentle breeze and signs of rain.

The army that had been stationed in the Refugee Gathering for several days broke camp and marched north.

Wang Yu led the remaining few residents of the Refugee Gathering out five li to see them off.

The people of the Refugee Gathering were extremely poor—many households could only eat half a meal a day, barely keeping their stomachs full to avoid starving to death on this barren land.

But they were very generous toward Chen Wuji's army.

The troops marched north along the Ancient Road, with the crowds on both sides shouting triumph, desperately stuffing all kinds of food and supplies into the soldiers' arms; the most common were dry biscuits mixed with plenty of wild vegetables and straw sandals.

Watching this scene, Chen Wuji suddenly felt the wind and sand in the Refugee Gathering were a bit strong.

Damn it, it seemed to be making his eyes a little blurry.

His central army, which he commanded, set out from Yunan, traversed Nan Jun, circled most of Qiang Land, then marched north to here; the number of times the locals lined the road to welcome them had increased, but this was the first time they lined the road to see them off.

A group so poor they couldn't even open their own pots, who couldn't afford clothes, yet were extraordinarily bold, grabbing the soldiers' arms and stuffing biscuits and grass‑shoes padded with leather into their arms.

"Halt!"

Chen Wuji bellowed suddenly.

The bugle sounded, and the command flag swiftly waved.

The marching column, winding like a long snake, quickly halted.

"Everyone dismount, turn about, and perform three bows to thank the elders and villagers!" Chen Wuji roared.

"Whoosh!"

The uniform armor tore with a synchronized rip.

The central army's soldiers, leading their warhorses, turned in place and gazed at those ragged‑clothed civilians.

"Thank you, elders and villagers!"

Chen Wuji led the way, clasping his hands and bowing deeply.

"Thank you, elders and villagers!"

The soldiers' voices rumbled like muffled thunder, they clasped fists and bowed deeply.

The commoners suddenly panicked.

Some hastily imitated the bow, some waved their hands repeatedly, and others directly performed the full kowtow ceremony.

They had never experienced such a scene; their eye sockets felt a little wet, their hearts pounded unusually hard, as if a war drum were being wildly beaten by a mighty strongman.