Chapter 679

Xu Zengyi said, "My lord's worries are probably unnecessary."

The geography and population of Songzhou are what they are; even if Yu Ren had extraordinary abilities, it would be utterly impossible for him to conjure tens of thousands of troops out of thin air.

Chen Wuji pondered deeply, shook his head, and said, "Sir, you just said you felt this matter had many familiar aspects; I wonder which parts feel familiar?"

Throughout history, there have been many who claimed to be the reincarnation of some deity and proclaimed themselves emperors founding states; I have even seen a village declare itself a state, and there are those who secretly cultivate followers, calling themselves the True Mandate Son. Xu Zengyi said.

"Well..." Chen Wuji murmured softly, thinking that what Xu Zengyi meant by familiarity was something more detailed; if it were just that, it would indeed be quite familiar.

Chen Wuji also knew of a few people who had founded states.

"Sir, one must not underestimate the deceitfulness of the human heart." Chen Wuji murmured, "Actually, there is a part of me that doesn't want to suspect, yet I suspect..."

Xu Zengyi's expression turned solemn, "Please, my lord, give your orders."

"I suspect that Yu Ren's forces are not the ordinary able-bodied youths we think they are." Chen Wuji said.

People who love to play with mysticism are best at manipulating hearts; his army could possibly be—everyone!

For example, by claiming that dying in battle brings merit and blessings, allowing one to stand beside the Divine King in heaven, they deceive the elderly into becoming death soldiers, willingly serving as shock troops, using their frail bodies to wear down our troops. Likewise, they can deceive women and children, treating them as cannon fodder to charge ahead, trading lives for lives, and then, with elite able-bodied youths as their trump card, strike us unexpectedly at the end.

They repeatedly carry Yu Ren's divine statue forward, actively provoking and challenging before Qian Fugui's Daying—isn't that what death soldiers do? Those people can no longer be treated as ordinary commoners,

The hateful part is that they are, after all, ordinary commoners...

Xu Zengyi was stunned.

The example Chen Wuji gave sent a chill down his back, "If my lord's suspicion is correct, then Songzhou would essentially be a nation of soldiers, and worse still, we would be unable to defend against it."

"I need to go to Songzhou myself!" Chen Wuji said in a low voice.

He now felt increasingly that his speculation was highly likely.

Colluding with heterodox practices, manipulating hearts, creating death soldiers, forming daughter armies and child armies—he had seen too much of this in the histories.

Although it is a different world, some patterns might still be similar.

"I will now order the entire army to cancel leave, return to camp and prepare to march!" Xu Zengyi said in a low voice, "Although I have not heard of anything similar happening anywhere, such methods cannot be ignored!"

After only a little thought, he understood how troublesome this matter was.

If this speculation is true, Qian Fugui is very likely to suffer defeat in Songzhou.

"Good!" Chen Wuji's eyes grew stern; he slowly sucked the grease off his finger, then shouted toward the door, "Send a swift horse to order Qian Fugui: reinforce the Yíngzhù, hold position and do not sortie! Tell him that in this battle, even if knives fell from the sky, he must stay put in the Yíngzhù honestly and not engage."

"Yes!"

After drinking the last drop of wine in his bowl, Chen Wuji left the room.

He currently resides in a mansion belonging to a wealthy gentleman in Wuyang City; it is not luxurious, but it has flowers, grass, pavilions, and terraces. Passing through the covered corridor, he goes by a lotus pond where flower buds are just beginning to emerge, and then he leaves the estate.

The Personal Guard quickly brought forward a Warhorse and respectfully invited Chen Wuji to mount.

Chen Wuji prepared to go to the military camp to have a look.

Too many people had died in the two major battles, leaving the troops' spirits somewhat low; as they prepared to march, he needed to go see them himself, to connect heart-to-heart and discuss ideals.

Just as he was about to leave, Lu Chuan hurried over.

"I pay my respects, my lord."

He had been in the camp only a few days when he quietly changed his form of address for Chen Wuji.

The smoothness of his transformation in name and appearance far surpassed that of the laborer Lu Ping'an.

No wonder they are father and son.

"How have your recent duties been going?" Chen Wuji asked.

Lu Chuan respectfully said, "I was about to report to my lord; although there has been no progress yet on the details of the Snake Staff Elder, I have found the whereabouts of Langdu and Gu Wenjie."

"Huh? Where are they?"

This news gave Chen Wuji a small delight.

When assigning this task to Lu Chuan, he actually hadn't expected this fellow to stir up any trouble; he simply had a slight obsession with the Snake Staff Elder, which prompted him to send him.

Unexpectedly, the persons he had ordered all provinces to strictly investigate had not yet sent any information, but Lu Chuan, relying on his meager handful of subordinates, actually managed to get to the bottom of it.

"Yingzui Ridge!" Lu Chuan said, "Langdu left behind a Bīngmǎ of about eight thousand there to provide support. After the battle of Wuyang City, Langdu's defeated soldiers scattered to Dingzhou and Yushan Prefecture; although they fled in disarray, their direction was uniformly toward Yingzui Ridge."

"A convoy under my command noticed traces of several waves of defeated soldiers, then proactively made contact with one of those groups, used some Silver to sway a few of them, and obtained some information."

"It seems that Langdu had already prepared a retreat route in case of defeat before launching his campaign, but this order appears not to be known by everyone; apparently only his direct lineage knows of it."

"After my men learned of this news, they changed direction and scouted Yingzui Ridge. Langdu suffered serious injuries but his life was not in danger, and he had already reached Yingzui Ridge. Gu Wenjie is also there, but his situation seems unfavorable, as if he has been squeezed out by the Qiang People."

"The person now commanding the troops at Yingzui Ridge is called Canlang·Shi Er, from the Canlang Qiang. He has plundered many Dayu Commoners at Yingzui Ridge, selecting the Young Strongmen among them to form a unit of about two thousand, which is now led by Gu Wenjie."

"He seems unable to even go up the mountain, stationing his troops at the town below; the whereabouts of the Snake Staff Elder are unknown. The few Qiang people my men bribed said that the Snake Staff Elder appears to be persuading the various Qiang clans, but they do not know exactly what he intends to do."

The detail of Lu Chuan's report made Chen Wuji look at him anew for the first time.

This fellow's intelligence-gathering ability seems even stronger than that of his wife, who comes from a regular military background.

Qin ZanHong left some time ago, and still no news has come. Lu Chuan merely did a quick check on the side, and yet he managed to find out Langdu's and Gu Wenjie's whereabouts and condition in perfect clarity.

This person, after a bit more observation, could be considered for reuse.

"Where exactly is Yingzui Ridge?" Chen Wuji asked.

This minor place name is likely one of the most commonly duplicated place names in the world.

He had never even noticed it on the map.

"It is the far western part of Dingzhou. That region is sparsely populated, with only a major clan surnamed Lu, and moreover the clan numbers are few. However, the Lu Family has a tradition of farming and scholarship, producing many literati who do not enter officialdom." Lu Chuan said.