Chapter 1225: Mission Failure

As they crossed She Shan, they finally saw some traces of humans: branches that had been trampled and broken, and ashes on the ground. It was clearly left by humans, and not too long ago.

This reignited hope in the hearts of the group, who had already given up. As long as humans had come, it meant the Golden Autumn Gathering might still be held successfully.

Seeing hope, they quickened their pace. Led by a familiar Soldier, they headed toward the lake at top speed.

However, the further they went, the heavier their hearts became. Because they were now so close to the lake, yet they heard no human sounds—not even the slightest noise—nor did they see any firelight. This dealt them a heavy blow.

Sure enough, when they walked to the lakeside, they found it completely empty. There wasn't a single tribal camp. Everyone instantly felt like a deflated ball, their backs hunching over.

Ju and Ma exchanged a look. Their mission was destined to end in failure, but what else could be done?

They had no choice but to have everyone set up camp on the spot. After cleaning up the location where they had camped last year slightly, it was usable again.

The lake remained the same, with many leaves floating on it, and the water level had no obvious change. Everything felt no different from last year.

Ju took a few Soldiers and prepared to walk around to see if any tribes had been there. After all, they had seen human traces on the road.

After walking a circle around the lake, they really did find a few areas where tribes had camped. However, it seemed none were very large. Only four tribes had come here this year, as there were only four sets of camping traces. There was also a patch of ground trampled into a muddy mess; they had likely held a centralized exchange there.

With only these few pitiful tribes, it seemed they also believed no other tribes would come, so they left in a hurry after trading. Looking at the ashes and such, they had likely left two or three days ago.

If Ju and the others could have arrived a few days earlier, they could at least have let Huaxia make an appearance. It would have counted as completing half the mission, and they could have given away some of the salt they brought to win over these tribes, which would have lightened their load for the return trip.

"Regimental Commander, what do we do now? Do we go back directly, or wait here for a few more days?"

Ju felt a bit sorrowful and plucked a precarious yellow leaf: "Let's return to the camp first. We'll discuss it together."

"Aye!"

Everyone sat together. The people from the Western Development Group were in an even lower mood now.

Ju broke the silence: "We just went to take a look. About four tribes came here a few days ago. Judging by the fire pits and such, they were all small tribes—groups of just over a hundred, or perhaps even smaller."

They didn't stay long either; there wasn't much ash piled up. They likely only stayed here for two or three days before leaving. If calculated this way, even if we hadn't been affected by that Snow and had traveled normally, our Huaxia would still have arrived a bit late this year.

Of course, this also has to do with the long distance, but our mission this year is basically a failure; we didn't see a single tribe.

Ma, tell me your thoughts. Should we head back tomorrow, or wait another day or two?"

Ma rubbed his face in frustration. He didn't want to go back so dejectedly; he really wanted to achieve some results.

Ju saw his thoughts and comforted him: "You don't need to be too sad. For a mission like this, even if there are no results, Huaxia City will definitely record it. This time, there will certainly be commendations and subsidies for you all."

"Commendation? What is a commendation?"

Ju no longer expected to receive a commendation himself, and he didn't need a commendation without much value, but he still explained it to Ma once: "A so-called commendation is for work like ours this time.

It's quite dangerous, and the road is long. As long as you leave our Huaxia City, or your Western Project group, you are already in danger. So, regardless of whether the mission is completed, as long as you don't retreat because you feel it's too difficult, there will be a commendation. It's just that because there is no merit and no results, you won't be given a specific rank of merit.

This time, we successfully reached the assembly point of the Golden Autumn Gathering. Our mission is considered half-finished. The remaining half isn't because of our own reasons; it's because other tribes didn't come. So it's not our problem, and the commendation that should be there will still be there."

"Then, can this commendation allow me to go to the school in Huaxia City to study?"

Ju thought he hadn't heard clearly, so he perked up his ears and asked again: "Ah? What did you say?"

"Can I go to Huaxia City to study? That Official School." Ma said, speaking very slowly.

This question stumped Ju, because he didn't know either. So he could only say truthfully: "I'm not clear on this. As for commendations, they can add points when you are promoted, and there are some material rewards. I haven't heard of the kind of reward you're talking about."

Ma's head gradually lowered, but Ju thought of another possibility: "Eh! When you go back, you can ask Changle Prince about this. The Prince definitely knows if it's possible. Even if it doesn't work like that, truthfully, as long as you perform well and make a request to Changle Prince, he might let you go.

Changle Prince has great authority. Letting you go to school like this definitely won't be a problem. Besides, aren't you an official now? You can just say you want to go for advanced studies. Winter is just right for it; there's no work in the Western Development Group that requires you to stay."

This was indeed a method, a possibility, which gave Ma a bit of hope. But he also said to Ju quite embarrassedly: "Regimental Commander Ju, I am not an official. I don't have an Official Seal. I... I don't even know what my status is supposed to be right now."

Once these words were said, Ju didn't know what to say. In the Huaxia concept, an official without an Official Seal is indeed not an official; at most, they count as an intern.

But Ma occupied a certain role in the Western Project group, so what did that make him? An official who only draws a salary but has no Official Seal—a tenant official?

Ma also explained: "I want to go to the Official School to study so that I can become a real official and get an Official Seal. Otherwise, I might only be able to go farm in the future."