Chapter 389: Want to Give It Another Shot

The Li family sent someone to reply to Li Run, saying their forces were insufficient and they were trying to gather more troops, asking Li Run to hold on for two more days.

To put on a show, you have to go all out with Li Run—he took the family's envoy, walked twice around the battlefield he'd prepared, then launched into a furious tirade that left Li Linguo's aide unable to lift his head, and the aide hurried back to report.

After seeing off the messenger, Li Run personally went to Chen Wuji's camp on the opposite bank and recounted what had just happened.

Even if he didn't say these things, Chen Wuji would know them anyway.

But Li Run still came in person.

"There's no need to say anything else—if I didn't trust you, you wouldn't be standing before me now. Suspect those you employ, trust those you use." Chen Wuji cut Li Run off, saying, "What you've done is plain to see; there's no need to make a fuss or go into excessive detail."

"Yes!" Li Run replied earnestly.

Chen Wuji didn't doubt Li Run, but he was suspicious of the person Li Linguo had specially sent to deliver the message: "Is Li Linguo already having doubts?"

"He's always doubted me." Li Run said.

"The Li family is now dominated by Li Linguo's branch; in their eyes I'm essentially an outsider, and he's always wanted the bit of authority I hold."

"Besides, our battlefield arrangements are very realistic; he shouldn't be able to spot any flaw. Li Linguo sending someone to deliver a message surely means he wants to see for himself—perhaps he suspects I'm pulling some trick."

"Now it seems he can rest easy."

Chen Wuji frowned slightly, thought for a moment, then asked: "After you decided to surrender, did any of your troops desert?"

Li Run shook his head.

"Then we'll wait a bit longer." Chen Wuji said.

On the opposite side lurks a vicious strategist; the current heads of the Li and Xue families are no nobodies, and while Li Run's plan is indeed sound, there's no guarantee they won't guess in that direction.

"Yes."

Li Run received the order and left Chen Wuji's main camp.

After he left, the bored Chen Wuji took his bow and went into the mountains again.

Yang Tiejiang was personally drilling the troops, and no new news had arrived in the city.

Chen Wuji really had nothing to do.

Although he brought a bow and arrows, he wasn't going out to hunt today but to look for medicinal herbs.

Of course, this was just a pretext to save face ahead of time.

After searching the whole mountain high and low, he managed to shoot only three wild pheasants—really embarrassing.

To avoid a repeat, Chen Wuji this time took preventive measures first.

Fortunately, his excuse today was gathering herbs, not actually hunting.

Otherwise he'd be embarrassed again.

After wandering the mountains for most of the day, Chen Wuji found only a few hares and pheasants, bringing back three in total.

One hare, two pheasants, making three altogether.

This nearly drove Chen Wuji into withdrawal.

The sunny slope where the army is camped on this mountain indeed has sparse vegetation and few resources.

But the shady slope has complex terrain and lush vegetation—places that see no sunlight all year—so it certainly doesn't look resource‑poor.

I don't know whether the problem lies with this place or with Chen Wuji's hunting talent after leaving Shenxian Ling, but either way there's simply no game.

Given this situation, if it were Chen Wuji right after his time‑travel, forget making money—he'd likely starve to death.

Although he found no game, the mountain's medicinal resources are indeed abundant.

Chen Li and the others ate their fill again today.

On the way down the mountain, the same classic scene from the day before reappeared—each of them looked as if they'd just eaten someone, with blood smeared all over their faces.

The nosebleeds came so fast they couldn't wipe them away.

Yet Chen Li and the others were all delighted.

Those aged medicinal herbs actually have an effect on internal energy.

But the effect varies from person to person; each of the twenty‑eight people including Chen Li felt something different, with no standard answer.

After two forays into the mountains, aside from Chen Wuji not being very happy,

the others all had abundant gains, their mouths practically splitting up to their ears.

Back at camp, Chen Wuji tossed the hunted game to Chen Wushuang, telling him to handle it and make a stew.

The game wasn't enough, so they supplemented it with herbs.

Although the game was scarce, that previous pot of herb‑stewed pheasant still left Chen Wuji feeling comfortable; but at night his inner fire suddenly flared wildly, forcing him to sneak out in the middle of the night to find Qin Zhanhong and Xiao Yuji, and after a fierce battle lasting most of the night he finally calmed down.

Chen Wuji felt no internal energy, but the herb‑stewed pheasant had a particularly noticeable effect on his kidney qi.

Entering the camp tent, Chen Wuji moved a small stool to sit by the fire.

In this season, the fire's sole purpose is to help Chen Wuji boil tea and warm wine.

After poking at the ashes of the burned firewood, Chen Wuji rekindled the fire and hung the kettle above it.

When the water in the kettle began to bubble and steam, he pulled a handful of leaves from his pocket and dumped them all in. Although he was in the prime of life with vigorous qi and blood, upon finding something good he didn't mind giving himself an early boost.

After all, there are now five women in his household, so he ought to prepare some measures early on.

Perhaps when he reaches middle age he'll long for beauty as one longs for the ocean.

"Commandant, Xiao Yuan requests an audience."

Chen Yuan appeared at the entrance of the camp tent and reported.

"Please come in." Chen Wuji said.

"Yes!"

The Xiao family's second uncle has been driven nearly mad by Xiao Yuji these past few days; he and several old-timers, together with Chen Wuji, have started hiding away, and normally you wouldn't see a soul.

Today he actually came forward to request an audience, which is quite a rare occurrence.

Bearded Gentleman Xiao Yuan entered the camp tent, clasped his hands toward Chen Wuji, and said, "I've paid my respects, Commandant; I'm here to take my leave."

Chen Wuji was just about to pour a cup of his fiercely brewed tea for Xiao Yuan, but upon hearing these words he was slightly stunned for a moment, "Xiao Ershu, why do you suddenly want to leave?"

Xiao Yuan said, "I've heard that there are many medicinal herbs in these few mountains; I plan to bring a few old brothers up the mountain to have a look, to search. Originally I intended to wait until after helping Deputy Commander Chen finish this battle before making plans, but these past few days I've seen that the deputy commander's troops are strong and his horses sturdy; we few old fellows probably can't be of much help."

Chen Wuji poured a cup of tea and handed it to Xiao Yuan, saying, "Xiao Ershu, that's not right; the difference between whether you few help or not is huge. Please, you must stay and help me a bit more."

"What medicinal herbs are you few looking for? Should I send people to find them? I also know a bit about medicinal herbs and understand some medical principles; I won't delay your affairs."

Xiao Yuan then felt a little embarrassed, "Deputy Commander, you've misunderstood; we aren't intentionally going to look for certain specific medicinal herbs, we'll just walk around and look, as long as they're aged. We've heard that aged medicinal herbs have the effect of boosting internal qi."

He had heard that Chen Wuji's Personal Guard, after consuming aged medicinal herbs, had shown an increase in internal qi, which moved him to act.

At their age, both internal qi and body are on the decline, not advancing but retreating.

But Xiao Yuan still unwilling to yield wants to make another effort.