Chapter 1221: Yishang's Promise

Yishang has visibly thinned, and he is thinning at an extremely rapid speed, changing almost by the day, which makes everyone feel a bit afraid; the little bit of food eaten every day is no longer enough to alleviate the speed at which Yishang is thinning.

But Yishang himself does not have this feeling, because he cannot see a mirror; he just feels every day that he does not have much strength, but this symptom has persisted from the day he fell ill until now, so this is a normal state, and he has already gotten used to it.

Every day he lies on a stretcher, neither walking nor getting up, though when eating, or rather when resting at night, he will still get up to warm himself by the fire and sit for a while, because lying down for the whole day makes him feel his body cannot take it, and at the same time, he can slightly exercise his body's joints.

It can only be said that it is fortunate he exercises a little every day, otherwise, after such a long time, bedsores would have already appeared; Yishang's life was not meant to end.

After that night when he felt he was about to die, Yishang also began to cherish his life; he tries his best to eat every day, and even if he is about to vomit, he forces himself to swallow it down and cannot vomit it out, for he knows that if he were to vomit it out, he might lose his life.

He rests when he should rest every day; in the past, he would think about riding an ox because he was unwilling to accept his state, feeling he could do it, but now he has completely recognized his situation: just lie on the stretcher and let everyone carry him; speaking less and doing less of other things will actually cause the Soldiers less trouble.

The Soldiers are happy to see Yishang's change, but looking at Yishang's body, which is thinning day by day, they are extremely nervous, terrified that Yishang might suddenly die on the road; they must hurry and set off.

It is already dark now, but the group is still traveling, because in this season, for a while just after dark, the moon is very bright and the visibility is especially good.

Yishang asked in confusion: "Why are you not resting yet? It is already so late; hurry and stop, build a fire and rest. Traveling at night is too dangerous."

The Soldier carrying the stretcher did not speak, just kept his head down and traveled; the Soldier leading the team in front took a moment to reply: "General, we are already a very short distance from the Western Development Group. Let us walk a bit more today; the moon is bright right now, so it is very suitable for traveling."

"This way, by tomorrow, we will definitely be able to reach the Western Development Group. If we stop now, I am afraid we would not arrive at the Western Development Group until midnight tomorrow, and that would be dangerous. It is better to hurry and travel now; we will stop to rest when the moon is no longer bright."

Yishang was very moved, and after a long while, he said: "Good brothers, you treat me this way, and I keep it all in my heart. As long as I, Yishang, can return to Huaxia alive, I will definitely reward you."

"I cannot give you Military Merit, but I can make you wealthy. Grain, Silk, Cloth, and land—I will give you rewards as a token of my gratitude."

"Even if I die here, I will not blame you; you are too thoughtful."

The Soldiers do not think Yishang is making empty promises; since he has promised, he will definitely fulfill it, and with this promise from Yishang, everyone has even more motivation. If they cannot get Military Merit, then obtaining wealth is also fine; once General Yishang makes a move, there will certainly be no shortage of things.

The Soldiers instantly had even more strength; although they had been running for a whole day, with Yishang's reward, the speed under everyone's feet quickened by a few points, and they began to jog, yet no one felt it.

It was not until the moonlight gradually began to dim and everyone was finally too tired to hold on that they hurriedly stopped; now they quickly set up the Tents, then started the fire and cooked the food, and slept as soon as they had eaten.

Because they need to take turns standing guard, but having traveled almost non-stop for a day, even with the strongest willpower, in this situation, wanting to stay awake at night is a bit difficult; even drinking tea is useless.

When they stopped to set up the Tents, some Soldiers were already falling asleep; the moment they touched the animal skin, their eyes were already closed, and almost without any interval, they immediately began to snore.

Fortunately, this might be their last night in the wilderness, so it is not much of a problem.

Then everyone began to divide the work: those setting up the camp set up the camp, those cooking food cooked food, those looking for firewood looked for firewood, and there were a few people who had already fallen asleep.

But everyone will not disturb them, because those few are the ones who will go to stand guard first; let them sleep first now, and when everyone has finished eating and is about to sleep, wake two of them up, let them eat, and then stand guard; when they can no longer hold on, they will switch with the next people.

If they sleep for a while now, even if it is just for two hours, they will have more energy than if they did not sleep for a day; this way, standing guard will also be safer. Even though they are now infinitely close to the Western Development Group, they still cannot let their guard down; wild beasts still exist, and danger is still by their side.

Yishang cannot sleep, but the Soldiers do not allow him to stand guard; even if he just stares blankly inside the Tent, he is not allowed to be outside.

It is not Winter now, but it is cold at night, and the wind is very strong; the wind howls in the middle of the night, so how could they let a sick person be outside with peace of mind? In the morning, there is frost on the leaves and the Grass.

Yishang had no choice; under the cover of the triangular Tent, he finished a bowl of hot porridge and was then helped into the Tent to rest. However, they did not say that they would switch shifts immediately after eating; they still left two people to stand guard first, while also continuing to chop some firewood to make the bonfire burn brighter. As long as the fire is bright enough, it can still ward off wild beasts.

When those two are too sleepy to hold on, they will call the next two people, let them get up to eat, and after confirming they are completely awake, the previous two can leave to rest; then the whole night is spent rotating in pairs like this, letting everyone rest and letting everyone get some sleep.

As for the length of time, it is until both people can no longer hold on; also, one can refer to the position of the stars. The position and brightness of the stars will change to a certain extent throughout the night, and once one is familiar with them, one can make a rough judgment.

When they saw the morning star getting brighter and brighter, the Soldier on guard duty woke up the last two people on duty, let them get up to tidy up and make breakfast, and then went back to take a nap; the task for this night was considered finished.