Chapter 152: Unbearable Pain

"No! No!" Zhang Zhao cried out in terror. Before his eyes, countless zombie-like monsters were gnawing at the brothers and comrades under his command.

From the first to fall, Huosheng'er Zhang Zhao, to Man Xiong, Dunzhu, Ma Yaozi, Yan Jin, and Shanzhu'er — one after another they went down, each crying out for Young Lord Erlang to save them, yet Zhang Zhao was utterly powerless.

Zhang Zhao knew this was a dream, but it was precisely this absurd feeling — unable to wake, unable to stop it — that made him unbearably miserable.

Suddenly the scene shifted, and he seemed to return to the later age, lying on a warm, soft, large bed. On the bed was not only him but also a beauty whose face he could not make out clearly, yet whom he dimly knew.

Seemed she was some big star? Zhang Zhao shook his head hard, but just couldn't recall who she was; she only felt very familiar. To hell with it — she's already in bed with me, so how could I let the meat at my lips get away?

Half-dreaming, half-awake, Zhang Zhao shed all pretense and revealed humanity's most primal form.

The feel of plumpness in his hand, an extremely soft and full touch, drew from his throat a whimper like a puppy guarding its food.

No gentleness, no tender regard for beauty — Zhang Zhao vented all the fear, bewilderment, thrill, and unreality he had felt in the year since transmigrating.

The violently swaying bed curtains and the brocade quilt fallen to the floor seemed to tell of the ferocity of the battle.

At last! A shuddering pleasure made the blur before Zhang Zhao's eyes vanish, and his vision seemed to begin focusing.

"Seems you've recovered well — well enough to bully someone! You men! Why is this always the first thing you think of?" A remarkably familiar female voice came, carrying that familiar hint of detachment and admonishment.

"Mom?" Zhang Zhao, his brain still in shutdown, called out softly.

"Mom? Hahahaha! You people use that word? How strange!"

Laughter even more violent than his bed exercise moments ago rang out, and then a woman in a chest-high ruqun, her head full of pearls and kingfisher ornaments, appeared before Zhang Zhao's eyes.

She laughed wildly, doubling over back and forth, so much that one couldn't help suspecting that if she laughed any more, that slender waist of hers might just snap.

This woman seemed to be his cousin Jin Niang, Cao Yuanxin.

"Hahahaha!" Cao Yuanxin was still laughing hysterically, tears nearly coming out.

"Zhang Erlang, you'd better look clearly — though Jin Niang is also a 'niang,' I am not Princess Fengtian, nor Sister Song. But if you insist on calling me mother, I don't mind either."

With that, Cao Yuanxin very naturally sat down on the edge of the bed and tapped Zhang Zhao's forehead.

"You! Truly reckless with your life! Two or three thousand infantry, and you dared to intercept twenty thousand Khara-Khanid cavalry. Even if you were a nephew, even Congde wouldn't have reason to fight so desperately!"

Zhang Zhao had just bared his teeth in a smile when suddenly he was so terrified he nearly leapt out of bed.

The one sitting by his bedside was Cao Yuanxin — then who was the one he'd just been making love with in his haze? Surely not...!

In ancient times, cousins weren't generally taboo, but this wasn't just a cousin! And if the Great Sage Son of Heaven found out, wouldn't he kill him!

"What are you still sniffling for? Haven't we Sogdians always valued following the strong? Is this cousin of mine not better than that stray dog Satuq? Get up and help the Commandery Duke dress!"

Zhang Zhao was scared out of his wits, but Cao Yuanxin suddenly called out sharply. Only then did Zhang Zhao notice that beside him, a woman was struggling to climb to her feet.

"Cousin will wait for you outside. I've cooked fine fresh-fish congee and made crispy sesame flatbread and a few side dishes by hand. You've just woken, so rich food isn't suitable!"

Cao Yuanxin said this and went straight out. Zhang Zhao then turned his head to look — so the woman he'd just been in bed with was none other than Satuq's queen, born of the Eastern Cao royal house and also a descendant of the Han-Sun race, the Lady Cao.

At this moment, Lady Cao's clothes were torn, her body bruised purple in many places, and large teardrops were still falling down her face.

It seemed that for a queen of a kingdom to fall to such a state had utterly broken this recently wed queen of Satuq.

What was Cao Yuanxin thinking? Why would she let this woman sleep in his bed? Was she afraid Li Shengtian would come to demand her back?

Zhang Zhao shook his head. He also felt that the storm just now had perhaps been a bit excessive. He raised a hand to wipe Lady Cao's tears, but the beauty before him recoiled as if bitten by a venomous snake, nearly falling off the bed in terror.

Forget it! Zhang Zhao stood up, grabbed the half-sleeve jacket and short trousers from the bed, put them on himself, and walked straight out.

A mouthful of warm fresh-fish congee went down, and Zhang Zhao felt his soul suddenly return in full.

"Jin Niang, how long did I sleep? Is this Lower Artush? How are Hanshan Command and the Fengtian Army? Did you capture Satuq?"

Although Cao Yuanxin referred to herself sometimes as Jin Niang and sometimes as cousin, Zhang Zhao could not call her cousin — he had to call her Jin Niang.

And he only remembered that at the end, on the battlefield, he had ordered Hu Lale and Bai Congxin to lead men and keep biting at Satuq's heels. Everything after that was like a blank.

Cao Yuanxin looked at Zhang Zhao with pained affection. "How long could you sleep? About twenty double-hours, more or less. If you'd slept longer, could your cousin here still be so calm?

You suddenly fainted on the battlefield and nearly scared people to death. The Great Sage Son of Heaven personally rode with me day and night from Shule to rush here, for fear something had happened to you.

This is Lower Artush. Rest easy. That day Satuq was pinned here by you, and in one battle he lost over a hundred armored riders and more than a thousand light cavalry. Most of them scattered, and your Hu Lale and Bai Congxin are still biting at his heels.

Even if he escapes, he's nothing but a stray dog. The Great Sage Son of Heaven has also sent Prefect Pei personally leading elite cavalry in pursuit — perhaps they'll catch him outright."

Hearing this, Zhang Zhao could no longer stomach the fresh-fish congee in his hands. He knew it must be that Hanshan Command and the Fengtian Army had suffered too many casualties, which was why Cao Yuanxin was evading the subject like this.

"Tell me, Jin Niang. I can still bear it!"

Cao Yuanxin was stunned for two seconds, then suddenly sighed. The bond between Zhang Erlang and his Hanshan Command armored soldiers was known to everyone in the Golden Kingdom of Khotan, and this time the casualties were indeed rather heavy.

"Liu Zaisheng is gravely wounded and has not yet woken. The five hundred palace guards suffered thirty percent casualties. Your Shenji Command was nearly wiped out. Monk Zhitong lost his right hand. A third of the recruited sworn followers of the Three Teachings are gone. That monk Huitong, however, is unharmed."

After another moment of silence, Cao Yuanxin drew a breath before speaking again.

"Your Hanshan Command lost nineteen men. Nearly everyone is wounded. Even Zhang Zhong broke his leg. Few can get out of bed now. Hu Lale's Yueqi riders and Bai Congxin's men have not yet returned from pursuing the enemy, so their casualties are still unknown."

Zhang Zhao felt the world spinning around him; the scenery all around seemed to sway and distort. His chest felt as if blocked by a great stone, leaving him unable to breathe. Cao Yuanxin cried out in alarm and rushed over to support him, and several Khotanese palace maids also surged over.

Zhang Zhao slowly waved his hand, signaling that he was fine. Past events began revolving in his mind like images on a screen.

These one hundred and seven men were ones he had personally built up and poured his heart into. They were his subordinates, his brothers-in-arms, and even more, his kindling.

At the ancient city of Loulan, Huosheng'er was lost; at Wuni City in the Zhongyun Kingdom, seven were lost; at Shule City, another seven were lost; and now, outright, nineteen were lost.

In less than a year, thirty percent of the one hundred and seven were gone — a full thirty-four men. Truthfully, this casualty rate wasn't all that high, but for Zhang Zhao, it was still very hard to accept.

His Hanshan Command armored soldiers had always had the best equipment, the best training, the best food and treatment, and he had personally instructed them.

From literacy to life principles and ideals, he had even been instilling nationalist viewpoints in them.

Such armored soldiers could no longer be regarded simply as soldiers. The cost of training one could support a company of fifty militia soldiers.

But fortunately, after this battle, they probably wouldn't need to stake their lives so desperately anymore, and the remaining men likely wouldn't suffer such heavy casualties again.

All chapters have been cached for you. Download the APP to view.