Chapter 646: with translation of chapter title

Chen Wuji finally personally entered the Qiang People's Daying.

At this point, the battle had completely entered its final stage, with only a small number of Qiang People still holding out in some corners, putting up a desperate resistance.

In the vast Lìng ground, corpses and blood‑stained Knife and spear lay everywhere.

The scene's brutality was comparable to a Shura field.

But this is just the norm of cold‑weapon warfare.

Chen Wuji had long grown accustomed to such scenes.

At first he still felt some psychological discomfort, but now he has become numb to all of this.

He walked casually, and whenever a comrade fell, he would squat down to tidy the enemy's armor and close the enemy's wide‑open, glaring eyes.

Almost every fallen soldier bore that same expression.

Glowering eyes wide open, they still held the posture of an attack.

This sight made Chen Wuji, who had long been accustomed to such scenes, momentarily tear up.

He had indeed grown used to battlefields of all kinds.

Yet seeing such a scene, he still couldn't bear it.

Whenever this happened, he couldn't help but question his original intention.

What he had done—was it right or wrong?

Chen Li, his armor smeared with countless bloodstains, led a large unit of Bīngmǎ over from afar.

"Family Head! Great victory!"

Chen Wuji rose to his feet, "How many got away?"

"Not yet tallied, but I'm afraid it's not a small number, perhaps nearly ten thousand." Chen Li said, "I can't guess either, but during the battle, there have constantly been Qiang people surrendering and fleeing, the scale is not small."

Chen Wuji nodded slightly, sizing up Chen Li from head to toe, "Can you still hold on? Shi Yi Shu."

"I'm still okay, but the troops probably can't continue fighting; after a night of continuous battle, many soldiers have collapsed." Chen Li said, "Family Head, any other orders?"

Chen Wuji shook his head, "No other arrangements, just asking: if tired, gather the Bīngmǎ, withdraw to rest, let the troops have a good meal, take a bath, and sleep comfortably."

"I'll first send people to clean up the battlefield." Chen Li said.

"No need, let Wuyi and Wushuang handle the battlefield." Chen Wuji waved his hand, "Right, first sort out the Military Merit; that's urgent, otherwise we'll be confused even after sleeping."

"Yes!"

After Chen Li left, Xie Fengxian and Chen Ruoshui came one after another to report.

They came in batches, causing Chen Wuji to repeat the same words three times over.

Hu Bu Gui was the last to arrive.

Upon suddenly seeing him, Chen Wuji was startled.

It felt like seeing a murderous maniac.

But this murderous maniac now looks in bad shape, as if he might collapse at any moment.

This guy was clearly only responsible for external support, joining the battlefield last, yet his condition is worse than anyone's. His leather armor is stained with blood so much you can barely see the original pattern, his face is covered in bloodstains, his eyes are full of bloodshot veins, red and gleaming, making him look like he's just eaten someone.

"What... what have you done?" Chen Wuji asked in astonishment.

Hu Bu Gui cupped his fists, "Reporting to the Commander, we intercepted a Qiang force attempting to break out; their forces are several times ours. The Qiang attacked fiercely, and my troops and I have gone berserk."

"Why didn't you send someone to call for reinforcements?" Chen Wuji shouted.

"The night was too dark; at first we couldn't make out the Qiang's numbers, only sensing their attack was somewhat fierce, so we fought while retreating, later lost our direction, sent two groups to seek help, but both came to nothing." Hu Bu Gui said.

"After the battle ended, the sky was already a bit light; we then realized we hadn't gone far at all, just circled into a mountain hollow."

Chen Wuji remained silent for a moment.

He had always been aware of the movements of Hu Bu Gui's Bīngmǎ.

But the Qiang had too few torches, and he also misjudged the enemy's numbers.

These bastards actually came up with a deceptive tactic while fleeing.

"How could you lose direction? I've been keeping track of your position, and I also noticed you intercepted the Qiang's fleeing soldiers over there, but the Qiang had too few torches, and you moved frequently, so I didn't pay attention—who knows what happened to you... anyway, what are the casualties?" Chen Wuji sighed.

Talking about anything else now is pointless.

However, Hu Bu Gui's experience last night did give Chen Wuji a heads-up.

Fighting in pitch-black darkness at night requires equipping a distress signal.

One could consider using fireworks, or directly using the Shocking Heaven Thunder as a signal.

"I used three hundred men to block over a thousand Qiang soldiers, and still have over eighty left." Hu Bu Gui curled the corner of his mouth, saying with some pride, "As for why we lost direction, it's probably because we dug into the woods."

"You almost died in there, yet you can still laugh!" Chen Wuji laughed and scolded, "However, you led three hundred not-yet-fully-familiar Bīngmǎ to defeat three times your number of enemies, which indeed warrants some pride."

"Take the men and go rest now; the rest doesn't need you to worry about."

"Yes!"

Chen Wuji watched Hu Bu Gui limp away, then sighed to Xu Zengyi, "I really don't deserve this; all the fierce people I've encountered under my command are like this. Everyone's so ferocious, it's suddenly putting some pressure on me."

Xu Zengyi lightly laughed and said, "My lord, the Mandate of Heaven gathers; naturally, a constellation of generals assembles."

"I knew you'd say that; hurry up and send people to clean the battlefield—really, it's pointless to nag you about this." Chen Wuji waved his hand and said.

He really couldn't understand it, but he didn't quite believe Xu Zengyi's saying.

He doesn't look like someone blessed by the Mandate of Heaven at all.

"Besides that, if we just talk about Hu Bu Gui, he's always been rather fierce; the fact that he led a lone army deep into Qiang Land suggests he's done this sort of thing often." Xu Zengyi said, "People like him willingly surrender to my lord—doesn't that mean my lord is favored by the Mandate of Heaven?"

"Okay, okay, I believe you; hurry up and arrange to clean the battlefield." Chen Wuji said.

"... Yes."

The battle lasted a night, and cleaning the battlefield took most of the day before the Qiang's Daying was finally put in order.

Although it was pitch dark, the scope of last night's battle was very wide, almost spreading to the entire eastern foothills of Wuyang Mountain; the rugged, hard-to-traverse dense forest added much difficulty to clearing the battlefield.

After the battlefield was cleared, many graves appeared at the foot of Wuyang Mountain, and the memorial mound built from Qiang people's heads also grew higher and larger; now it really looks like a small hill.

As evening approached, the results of last night's battle were only then brought before Chen Wuji.

Xu Zengyi entered the Qiang people's Zhongjun Camp looking weary, bowed in salute, then placed a thick stack of papers before Chen Wuji: "In yesterday's battle, we killed 26,527 enemy troops; our side suffered 11,300 casualties."

Chen Wuji, who had been dozing, suddenly sat upright: "That many casualties?"

"Yes."

"How many killed in action?"

"Six thousand seven hundred fifty people."