“Greetings, Commandant.”
"Commandant, sir."
Chen Sheng and Wu Kuang hurried forward, bowing in salute.
Nie Yuanliu gave a slight nod, then casually tossed a blood-soaked cloth bundle onto the ground, his tone flat as he gave his orders:
"Cut off the left ears of the rebel corpses as proof for recording merit. Bury the rest where they lie—leave no trace. Once we return to camp, I, your Commandant, will see that your deeds are properly reported."
Now that the ambush had been brought to a successful conclusion, Nie Yuanliu naturally would not continue escorting them to their postings.
"Thank you, Commandant!" the two replied in unison.
Once the Commandant's figure had vanished into the woods, an expression of belated realization and lingering fear appeared on Chen Sheng's face, and he quietly probed Wu Kuang:
"Sir, could it be that today's ambush... was something Commandant Nie had foreseen all along?"
Wu Kuang clapped him on the shoulder, his tone tinged with complexity and emotion:
"Your guess is right. Commandant Nie had already obtained the intelligence, but for the sake of secrecy, he kept it hidden. I had originally intended for you to serve as vanguard and give you this chance to earn merit, but who could have known..."
He had meant to grant Chen Sheng the top merit of this battle, paving the way for his future promotion. Yet Chen Sheng had never volunteered, and the eager-to-prove Huang Ren had seized the opportunity instead—paying for it with his life.
Thinking of this, he could only let out a sigh.
"Wasn't the main force of the rebels already wiped out?" Chen Sheng pressed, seeking to learn more.
"Easier said than done."
Wu Kuang shook his head, his expression growing graver.
"This rebellion has swept through most of Yunzhou and half of Qingzhou—how could it be quelled in a matter of days? The imperial army has only destroyed the bandit forces that openly gathered in revolt. In truth, in the waterways, forests, and hidden corners of cities and villages across every prefecture and county, large numbers of the Way of Grand Peace's remnants still lurk, waiting for their chance to strike."
He paused, then lowered his voice further:
"Precisely for this reason, the higher authorities have drawn elite soldiers—men like us, tempered by real warfare—to fill posts in local prefectures and counties. They mean to use our hands to strengthen local control and suppress these hidden threats, lest a single spark reignite the blaze."
"The Way of Grand Peace?"
This was the first time Chen Sheng had heard the specific name behind the rebellion.
"Indeed."
Wu Kuang nodded, a flicker of dread passing through his eyes. "This sect ensorcells the hearts of men with its cunning methods. Behind most of the great rebellions of recent years, its shadow can almost always be found. Its ambitions are no small thing—it seeks to throw all the world into turmoil... Enough, this is not a matter to speak of too freely."
He waved a hand, cutting off the topic, then ordered Chen Sheng to oversee the clearing of the battlefield, tallying the casualties and dealing with the corpses and spoils.
Chen Sheng was already well practiced at such matters.
Months on the battlefield had made him expert at it. Even without the prompt of [Auspicious Fortune], he could instinctively scour the corpses and wreckage for well-hidden valuables and coin.
Though most had to be handed over, skimming off a share as it passed through his hands was enough to refill his purse, which had shrunk from buying his office and greasing palms.
It was also Chen Sheng's own hands that buried Huang Ren's body.
He felt little guilt over the man's death—it had been within his expectations. Wu Kuang had only two deputy commanders; if it wasn't Chen Sheng, it would be Huang Ren. Better my friend dies than I. In troubled times, survival was the only true path.
And yet, it was because Huang Ren had died in his place that he had escaped calamity. Chen Sheng stood silently before his grave for a long moment, and in the end poured out a jug of coarse wine as a token of his regard.
Wu Kuang grieved Huang Ren's death far more deeply. After all, the man's elder brother had entrusted him with solemn care, and in the blink of an eye they were parted forever. Their future meetings would surely be awkward and shameful—but it ended there. In troubled times, life and death were ordinary things.
Before long, Commandant Nie truly slipped away, and before departing, he seemed to exchange a few quiet words with Wu Kuang.
After the tally, the losses among the troops in this battle were not small.
Including Huang Ren, twelve men had died in total—most felled by the first sudden rain of arrows—and more than a dozen others bore wounds.
To lose nearly half their strength before even reaching their posting was undeniably a poor start, and it greatly slowed the journey that followed.
Chen Sheng naturally would not let the time go to waste. After delegating the marching chores, he once again threw himself wholly into cultivation.
Though this battle had been won, it had made him feel all the more keenly the inadequacy of his own strength and the peril of the world. As chaos spread across the land, only the martial power he himself possessed could be his greatest reliance.
[Basic Blade Art — Grand Completion (680/1000)]
[Golden Bell Body-Forging Method — Minor Completion (345/500)]
[Toad-Angling Secret Art — Entry (84/100)]
Sweeping his gaze over the data floating before his eyes, Chen Sheng steadied his heart and calmed his spirit, continuing to hone his techniques.
...
In the blink of an eye, seven or eight days had passed from breaking camp to reaching the borders of Ning'an Prefecture. The journey had been slow, burdened by the wounded, but it had unexpectedly provided Chen Sheng with long stretches of peaceful, undisturbed cultivation time.
Supported by ample Blood Qi Pills, half a month of arduous training pushed his strength forward once again.
[Basic Blade Art — Grand Completion (850/1000)]
[Golden Bell Body-Forging Method — Minor Completion (425/500)]
[Toad-Angling Secret Art — Entry (95/100)]
His progress in the blade art and body-forging method could only be called astonishingly swift. The cultivation of the Toad-Angling Secret Art, however, proceeded at a pace so slow it made his heart anxious—its progress was excruciatingly gradual.
Part of this was because Chen Sheng devoted most of his energy to the stance work that consolidated his foundations and to practical blade drills, but the technique's sheer difficulty was plain to see. It made him miss all the more that irresistible, unstoppable feeling he'd had when refining the Pure Origin Pill.
Upon arriving at the city of Ning'an Prefecture, Wu Kuang was required by regulation to first proceed to the prefectural yamen to pay his respects to the Prefect and the Garrison General who commanded the troops of Ning'an Prefecture. He ordered Chen Sheng to lead the unit in finding a place to encamp outside the city and await word.
It was not until noon the next day that Wu Kuang returned to the camp, his face heavy, an ineradicable shadow of worry between his brows.
Seeing this, Chen Sheng immediately stepped forward and asked with concern:
"Sir, did you encounter some trouble on your errand?"
Wu Kuang waved a hand, signaling they should enter the command tent. Once seated, he heaved a long sigh:
"Trouble isn't quite the word. It's just that from the Prefect and the Garrison General I learned of recent developments in Changshan County... Ah. Far grimmer than we had anticipated."
He rubbed the space between his brows and continued:
"Three scourges now run rampant in Changshan County. First, the bandits of the Qinglin Waterway are brazen, robbing merchants and harrying the villages and towns along the banks. Second, the gangs within the city are deeply entangled, fighting endlessly, treating the county offices as if they were nothing. Third, the local magnates have grown powerful, swallowing up land and keeping private armed forces, nearly a law unto themselves.
"The Prefect has given explicit orders: upon taking office, I must swiftly restore order, sweep away the water bandits, and subdue the gangs and magnates... He has granted me discretionary authority to act as circumstances demand, but this..."
His face full of gloom, he sighed without end.
He had gone to such pains pulling strings to transfer to the rear not because he truly wished to become some paragon administrator—he merely wanted to use this lucrative post to scrape together resources in preparation for breaking through to the Innate realm. Now that this crushing burden had descended upon him, it gave him no end of headaches.
"This... this is simply making the impossible the requirement!"
Chen Sheng chimed in at just the right moment, taking up his superior's grievance.
"Hearing your account of Changshan's old state of affairs on the road, I thought it troublesome enough already. I never imagined reality would be worse."
Wu Kuang exhaled a mouthful of foul air, his gaze gradually turning sharp and resolute. "You grew up in Changshan and know the local abuses well. In the days to come, I will need your diligent assistance in many matters."
Even if Changshan County was a dragon's pool and a tiger's den, it would not stop his determination to scrape together resources and amass wealth. He had invested heavily to obtain this post of county commandant—if he didn't earn it all back with interest, would it not all have been for nothing?
"Rest assured, sir! Since I follow you, I shall give my utmost—through fire and boiling water for you, sweeping away every obstacle in your path!" Chen Sheng declared at once with solemn resolve, his tone ringing like struck iron.
After their deliberations, the column set out once more, heading straight for Changshan County, over a hundred li away.
At dusk the following day, the column finally arrived at the borders of Changshan County.
Gazing into the distance at the familiar yet strange silhouette of the county town, the residual will of the original owner stirred restlessly in Chen Sheng's mind once more, countless fragments of memory surging upward, entangled with complicated emotions.
He drew a deep breath and silently circulated his cultivation method, slowly pressing the turmoil back down.
Yet when they approached the city gate, the expected welcome from officials never appeared.
Only a great crowd of sallow-faced, gaunt refugees in ragged clothes gathered near the gate, along with a handful of listless, idle-gazing guards atop the wall—a tableau of desolation and cold indifference.
"It seems the people of this Changshan county yamen intend to give you a demonstration of power first, sir," Chen Sheng murmured, frowning at the scene before them.
Wu Kuang's face was dark as still water, as if he had long expected this. He gave a cold snort, a flicker of sternness passing through his eyes, and with a light shake of the reins, urged his horse forward.
"Enter the city!"