Chapter 363: 336 Camp

When Tang Zhao first saw the examination site he was responsible for, he felt it was quite ordinary.

The environment at the front line was desolate, similar to the stone deserts of Liangzhou—it was a desert, but the wind was so strong that even the sand had been blown away, leaving only rock exposed on the surface. As far as the eye could see, it was a wasteland, save for unknown wild grasses growing from the cracks in the stones.

Standing on the plain, the wind blowing against him was not hot, but rather slightly cool.

It was already dusk, and the temperature was plummeting with every passing moment. By the time Tang Zhao saw the examiner's camp, it was already cold enough for his breath to turn into white mist.

The weather here was just like this: scorching sun by day and chilling cold by night. A single day and night spanned from winter to summer; only the dawn and dusk were somewhat comfortable times of the day.

Once night fell, the Yin Qi gradually grew heavy, exceeding even the Calamity Moon of the Human World. Although the desert seemed devoid of life, there were rustling friction sounds in the stone cracks and burrows; those were restless hunters stirring into action.

People said the front line was like the Calamity Moon every day, and it was true.

It was just that there were no two moons in the sky at night. There wasn't even a moon in the sky.

In fact, the Calamity Moon itself was not a moon; it only looked like one, but was actually a scar on the Human World.

The Yin Qi of the Human World was external, while the Yin Qi of the front line was inherently entangled with the Suiyu, emerging from the fissures of the sky and earth, never dissipating throughout the year.

But there was a saying that the Yin Qi of the Suiyu was also the illness of the Suiyu, yet it was also the merit of the Suiyu having once protected the Human World.

The camp was not small in scope; the core consisted of several military tents, with two squads stationed there. There were also two clerks responsible for surveying and processing documents.

After Tang Zhao arrived, the two Squad Leaders of this camp, Zhao and Fei, came out to welcome him. Among them, Captain Zhao was also a Colonel and was the person in charge of this camp.

Tang Zhao was welcomed into the tent, where a map was hanging, marked with various symbols; everything was arranged in an orderly fashion.

"This examination site of ours is the penultimate stage. It has two entrances and one exit. Once you rush out from here, you reach the finish line."

"There is a village over here, a village of original inhabitants, which is also designed as the final supply point. You can get food inside and even sleep for a while, but that depends on the students' abilities."

Tang Zhao nodded and asked, "I remember, is this village truly a village of original inhabitants?"

Colonel Zhao said, "Indeed. This is a village under the protection of our Moyun City."

The inhabitants in the Suiyu were the same as the common people in the Human World; they were not all endowed with three heads and six arms, nor were they all like dragons or tigers. Among them were talented people born with natural gifts and endless fortuitous encounters, yet the majority were also fragile, ordinary people, who even suffered from various disasters in the Suiyu, making their lives even more difficult.

In order to survive and live better, most original inhabitants had to join various factions and survive under the wings of the strong.

Because the original inhabitants had long been entangled with Yin Qi, although they often possessed strange appearances, their Inspiration was not bad, and there were some good seeds among them. Large factions also needed fresh blood, as well as tax sources and productivity, so they were willing to accept the original inhabitants.

The roots of Qianjin City were in the Human World, and it had less contact with the original inhabitants, but it would not refuse their allegiance. The army also gradually absorbed original inhabitants into its ranks.

But after all, the upper echelons came from the Human World, and the prospects for the original inhabitants were not as good as in other large factions; under mutual selection, the relationship between the two sides was not very close.

This village was a proper, original village of original inhabitants. Survival in this desert was not easy, and they could only find space where they could. When the Central Army designated the examination site, they could not avoid them, and considered whether to relocate them first and have soldiers pose as villagers to complete the examination process. But in the end, they decided to keep the original residents, as it could also test and cultivate the ability of the young people to deal with local residents.

Captain Zhao pointed to a young man and said, "This Li Lei is a villager from that village; he was the one who made contact."

Tang Zhao did not expect there to be an original inhabitant soldier here. Looking closely, he felt that he was no different from an ordinary soldier, except that his hair was slightly curly and his Eye Bead looked very bright under the lamp light.

The young man cupped his hands and said, "This subordinate is a villager of Red Stone Village. Following orders, I have already told the elders that there is no need to specially care for the examinees, and whether to provide help is entirely voluntary. If any examinee is rude, the villagers may drive them away or even take other actions; we will not interfere at all."

Tang Zhao smiled and said, "That is as it should be. Dealing with people is part of being a person. It's just that dealing with the strange residents here will probably be an advantage for the New Sharp Battalion and the Jing'an Division."

Needless to say, the New Sharp Battalion spent part of every year training in the Suiyu, so they counted as half-natives and naturally knew how to handle it. The Jing'an Division was active outside all year round, and their job was to deal with strangers and build rapport, so they would have no problem coping with this. It was just hard to say how the students from the other two divisions would fare.

Tang Zhao had confidence in his own students; their character was not a problem, but whether they could satisfy the strange villagers was hard to say, as everyone's temperament was different.

Tang Zhao added, "Since I've come, please take me to visit the fellow villagers."

Li Lei was startled and hurriedly said, "Yes, I will lead the way for you. The villagers will certainly welcome you."

Tang Zhao looked at the map again, asked about several important checkpoints, and asked, "This final exit is a mountain pass; it's suitable for an ambush, right?"

Captain Zhao said, "Exactly, this is also the final checkpoint. It is suitable for fast-moving examinees to lie in ambush here and attack others."

Tang Zhao nodded; this was designed specifically for that purpose.

In fact, to pass the exam, one only needed to find their own horse to pass directly; there was no need to conflict with others, but what if they didn't find it?

Then wouldn't they think, was it taken away by someone else?

If it was taken by someone else, where would one look for a needle in a haystack? It would be better to guard the finish line at the final juncture and wait to see who took their horse, take it back, and then beat up this grandson.

Since they hadn't found their horse, they could also fight for the horses others were leading; it all counted as points.

One could imagine that this mountain pass would be a place of strategic importance.

"Then our personnel need to be arranged in various places to supervise the progress of the exam." Tang Zhao thought for a moment and said, "You have a contingency plan, right? Tell me about it?"

The several captains looked at each other, thinking that this Sword Guest was quite easygoing.

Although Tang Zhao was a novice and they were veteran soldiers, a Sword Guest was different; if Tang Zhao had taken charge and assigned tasks, they really would have had no way to refuse.

Unless Tang Zhao's assignments were too outrageous, they could only obey, at most adjusting things themselves in private.

Fortunately, Tang Zhao had self-awareness. Captain Zhao then pointed out the distribution of personnel on the map one by one and added, "Regarding you, do you want to stay and guard the main camp, or sit in command at the mountain pass?"

Staying to guard the main camp allowed for mediation from the center, which was convenient for overseeing the overall situation, while sitting in command at the mountain pass meant guarding a dangerous point and also preventing the final decisive battle from becoming too large and causing too many casualties.

Tang Zhao pondered and said, "There are still three or four days before the main force arrives, so I will first patrol the examination site before making plans."

The several captains had no objections, nor did they say anything about disobeying orders or criticizing. For the soldiers on the front line, they had seen many Sword Guests come and go; each one would do a short internship before taking command of a squad, and each one liked to pick on the troublemakers in the squad.

These squad-level non-commissioned officers had all been subordinates to Sword Guest squads, so they were very used to listening to orders from strange Sword Guests.

Relatively speaking, Tang Zhao was easy to serve.

Tang Zhao asked again, "How are the preparations for the Fierce Beasts and Phantoms coming along?"

Captain Zhao immediately said, "They are all locked in the rear camp. Would you like to see them?"

Tang Zhao followed Captain Zhao to the rear camp.

The so-called rear camp was actually underground. Despite the camp above having only a few tents, there were huge burrows underground, divided into two chambers, housing the Fierce Beasts and Phantoms respectively.

There were very few Fierce Beasts and Phantoms in the safe zone. To meet the needs of the exam, one had to artificially release some Fierce Beasts and Phantoms inside.

"Underground, the Yin Qi is cut off, and the Fierce Beasts have lost their vitality, but once released, the Fierce Beasts will quickly become active. Moreover, these two days are exactly when the Yin Qi is at its strongest, so the strength of the Fierce Beasts will also increase. You decide when to release them; if you release them early, they will be stronger, but if you release them late, it will be advantageous for the students."

Tang Zhao pondered, "If they are released early, what if they endanger the residents of that village?"

Captain Zhao was startled, then said, "That won't happen. These Fierce Beasts are not at the Heavenly Demon level; the Array of Red Stone Village can absolutely defend against them."

Tang Zhao said, "What about the Phantoms? Will they attack the villagers?"

Captain Zhao smiled and said, "It doesn't matter, the Array is complete. Moreover, those Phantoms all have a Lock Core implanted, so their positions can be tracked. If they harass the villagers or go out of control, they can be killed at will."

Tang Zhao said: "That is good. There is such Rune Formula technology?"

Captain Zhao said: "This is technology that all the major powers at the Qianxian have; otherwise, these Phantoms would have long since gone out of control. Furthermore, the Phantoms have also received orders. As long as they complete their tasks during the examination, they can be released. They have hope, so they are unwilling to act recklessly."

Tang Zhao knew that Phantoms were the Spirit Images of Heavenly Demons, just like the Spirit Images of Spirit Officials; they had consciousness. The Phantoms in the Human World all operated with the intention of never returning and were almost impossible to communicate with. It seemed that was not the case at the Qianxian; the two sides could actually trade.

He could not help but examine the Phantoms in the cages carefully, discovering that he could see them more clearly than in the Human World.

When he looked over, one of the Phantoms looked back at the same time, and their gazes met.

Tang Zhao saw an unusual intelligence in those eyes; that kind of gaze was no different from a Human's.

They really could communicate.

Tang Zhao had no intention of investigating; official business was more important. If he were interested, he could naturally capture Phantoms to study. The two sides were enemies, not friends, so there was really no need to be polite. He said: "Fine, release them early. The Phantoms as well, release them all."

In truth, with only these few days of difference, how much could the strength of the Fierce Beasts vary? But Tang Zhao decided to go to the examination grounds to patrol starting tomorrow. He wanted to see just how ferocious these Fierce Beasts and Phantoms were. If they were all under control, then naturally it would be fine, but if any were truly out of control, he could directly take action to eliminate them. He needed to leave time for himself.

Captain Zhao received the order, and after the two sides discussed some more details of the examination, they each returned to their camps to rest.

The next day, Tang Zhao rose early to patrol the examination grounds.