Chapter 549: - Good!

“Your Highness, why are you back?”

“The Chu forces at West Forest Camp withdrew, so this Prince returned.”

“The Chu withdrew?” Count Pingye immediately realized what the change implied. “What about the other forts and military camps?”

“We will have to wait for the scouts to return. But in this Prince’s view, the Chu are preparing to contract their line.”

Central Mountain Camp, the pivot point in the Chu defensive network, had been smashed by Count Pingye in one stroke amid the mutual trading of armies. He burned the camp, took prisoners, and returned.

Then East Mountain Fort and West Mountain Fort, the two strongest gates on the forward line, had both been broken open.

The remaining forts and military camps were left isolated and divided, waiting to be eaten one by one.

Over the past month or so, the Yan army’s speed at “taking forts and breaking camps” had been astonishing.

After suffering such severe damage, the Chu defensive system north of Zhennan Pass could no longer function as originally intended.

It could no longer “hold the enemy beyond the gates of the realm.”

It could no longer “wear down the edge of the Yan advance.”

And continuing to delay Yan merely to increase pressure on Yan logistics was no longer worth the casualties Chu itself would have to pay.

So the Chu chose to withdraw.

Keep the men and lose the land, and both land and men are gained.

One could call it General-in-Chief Nian Yao cutting his losses in time.

It was easy to imagine how much pressure Nian Yao would now bear.

This entire strategic arrangement had been his work.

The people of Chu had even given him a mocking title because of it: the “Earthworks General-in-Chief.”

The joke was that whenever he faced the Yan, all he knew how to do was lower his head and build walls.

Build walls.

Then build more walls.

Now he was slapping himself in the face and effectively admitting that his earlier strategic deployment had failed.

For his prestige, that would be an enormous blow.

Most importantly, Count Pingye knew perfectly well that Nian Yao’s political position inside Chu was nothing like Old Tian’s position inside Yan.

During this recent period, Count Pingye had handled all these military memorials, from discipline at the front to logistical supply in the rear.

Because the Prince of Jingnan’s absolute prestige supported him, everything moved smoothly.

Take what had just happened.

Two Chief Commanders had still been forced to kneel, admit fault, and accept punishment.

Logistics had been just as smooth.

That felt extremely good.

Throughout history, whenever a great army marched, the thing that caused the greatest headaches was logistics.

The Yan army itself knew its logistical pressure was tremendous.

They were fighting a war across almost the entire width of Jin.

The Chu knew Yan’s supply lines were under immense pressure too, which was why their initial strategy had been to drag the war out and exhaust them.

But from what Count Pingye himself had “seen,” yes, logistical pressure was clearly heavy, yet officials at every level in the rear were actively raising supplies, organizing transport, and keeping the machinery running.

Some memorials asked for a few extra days.

But those delays always had concrete reasons behind them.

This sort of smoothness in the larger direction was deeply comfortable.

Back when Emperor Yan had ridden down the aristocratic clans, one of the loudest criticisms had been this: after the great clans fell, who would fill the offices of Great Yan?

The Jin lands had suffered war without end.

The Situ Clan had been betrayed from within.

The Helian and Wenren clans had offended Yan first and were wiped out outright by the Yan army.

Officials from families deeply entangled with them suffered collective punishment as well.

Yet reality had proved something.

Only a few years later, not only was the administrative order of the Yan heartland functioning, the Jin lands too had settled into a state that... perhaps could not be called efficient, but could certainly be called stable.

Of course, beneath that appearance of stability lay the reality that the people of Yan and Jin were being squeezed dry.

For now, Great Yan still had the momentum of victory after victory and repeated territorial expansion over the past several years.

So the people could still endure it.

Especially the old Yan populace.

But if the war remained deadlocked much longer, or if the military situation suffered serious reversals, then it really would be time for poets to sing:

“Of all who march to war since ancient days, how many return?”

“When the realm rises, the common people suffer; when it falls, the common people suffer.”

But right now, the Chu had chosen to contract their forces on their own.

That meant the Yan army could clear the region north of Zhennan Pass faster and with less difficulty.

At the same time...

The Prince of Jingnan looked at Zheng Fan.

“You probably will not have time to train new recruits.”

They were going to move early.

First, they had to respond to the Chu contraction.

Dragging things out now would become delay for the sake of delay.

Second, they had to consider the larger situation inside Yan.

They had to consider the people.

They also had to consider His Majesty’s health.

The original plan had been for Liang Cheng to absorb and train new recruits.

In the ideal situation, before entering Chu, Zheng Fan’s force would not merely restore the losses his original army had suffered.

It would inflate beyond its old strength.

Now, the time limit meant they could no longer do it.

“Your choice earlier was not bad. You are permitted to draw five thousand men from the various armies into your central force.”

Five thousand men was not a small number.

But among the several hundred thousand soldiers campaigning against Chu, it truly was not much.

Naturally, he could not fleece a single sheep bald.

He would have to spread the blessing around.

Take two or three hundred men from each Chief Commander.

Fully armored.

Well trained.

Rich in battle experience.

Once integrated and organized properly, they would be elite troops who could answer the call and fight the moment they arrived.

And given Count Pingye’s prestige now, the officers below would not dare raise trouble in front of him.

Most of them would probably submit willingly.

This time Count Pingye did not decline.

Nor did he put on some false show of modesty.

He answered directly:

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Return to East Mountain Fort and make preparations early. Matters at the Wang River should be nearly finished. Whether we can complete the campaign against Chu quickly will depend on you.”

“Your Highness can rest assured. This subordinate general will not fail the mission!”

...

After leaving the command tent, Count Pingye walked to the water point and washed his face.

A’Ming came over and handed him a towel.

A’Ming wore patterned long boots.

Tian Wujing wore the military boots that matched his armor.

With Count Pingye’s current cultivation, he naturally could not sense in advance exactly whose aura was moving around nearby.

And someone at Tian Wujing’s level was difficult for almost anyone to detect beforehand unless the Sword Saint was present.

That was why the Prince of Jingnan had appeared suddenly beside Count Pingye several times before while he was talking.

His identity could make the armored guards around him remain silent.

His cultivation could evade most people’s perception.

But no matter how dull Count Pingye might be, he could still tell the sound made by one pair of boots from another.

It was like Little Sixth building his own “underground organization” right beneath Emperor Yan’s eyes.

It was not that Emperor Yan truly failed to see anything.

His gaze simply stood too high.

He naturally overlooked some tiny details, or chose not to look at them, or did not care.

“We have to start preparing.”

Count Pingye spoke.

A’Ming replied:

“That was fast.”

“The Chu have started contracting their line.”

Count Pingye looked back once toward the command tent.

Tian Wujing had already walked out and entered his own princely command tent.

Count Pingye had once asked the Sword Saint how men at their level perceived the world around them.

The Sword Saint’s answer had been:

Who spends every normal day keeping their perception spread open and sweeping around for no reason? Isn’t that tiring?

The Blind Man, who had been standing nearby at the time, had frowned slightly.

So unless Tian Wujing deliberately wanted to “listen” to what Count Pingye was saying, he would not hear it.

And with Tian Wujing’s personality, he could not be bothered eavesdropping on whispered conversations anyway.

Still, caution had already become instinct for Zheng Fan.

“Help me send several orders.”

“Master, please speak.”

“First, order Jin Shuke and the Blind Man to bring back the new recruits selected from the rear. Jin Shuke is to rejoin the ranks. The Blind Man will take those recruits to Snow Sea Pass first and give them some ideological and political reeducation. Second, tell Fourth Lady to prepare a handover. Affairs at Snow Sea Pass will be transferred to the Blind Man. The capable should do more work. He can carry the whole burden himself. Fourth Lady is to come over and enter Chu with us. Third, notify Gong Wang and Gongsun Zhi. Have each select four thousand direct-line troops from their own forces and personally lead them. Fourth, notify A’Cheng. Our own force will provide seven thousand men. Bring the Savage King’s First Command as well.”

Count Pingye tossed the towel into the basin.

He let out a long breath.

“Final order. Tell the Sword Saint his vacation is over.”

“Understood, Master.”

Count Pingye shook out his hands and returned to his command tent.

The princely seal and tiger tally were still sitting there.

Old Tian had not taken them away.

Count Pingye sat.

Then began writing another memorial.

Each Chief Commander was to select two hundred elite armored soldiers from his command, led by a Lieutenant Commander, and send them to the central army to guard the main command tent.

Once the order was written, he stamped it with the seal.

The memorial would be distributed shortly.

The reason he had not simply ordered the chosen elites to report directly to East Mountain Fort was that the movement would look too obvious.

Adding one extra step bought one extra layer of concealment.

An excellent bargain.

Military movements were difficult to hide from determined eyes.

Count Pingye believed the Chu Phoenix Nest Guards could probably still uncover the transfer.

But if they learned a little later, then a little later was enough.

Most importantly, Old Tian’s scheme depended on “the power of nature.”

When Zheng Fan first heard the plan, even he had been stunned.

No matter how skilled the Chu Phoenix Nest Guards were at drawing threads together and penetrating everywhere, it was nearly impossible for them to uncover the Yan army’s whole strategic plan in a short period of time.

And even taking the worst possible scenario, even if they somehow did uncover it, given the speed of communication in this age, by the time General-in-Chief Nian received the intelligence, Zheng Fan’s side should already have been able to say:

“The light boat has passed ten thousand mountains,” while looking out toward Jing City.

Perhaps because Tian Wujing had dragged him onto the carriage again and again, Zheng Fan had simply become used to it.

So much so that now, Count Pingye felt almost no sense of danger at all.

This was clearly an extraordinarily risky strategic maneuver deep behind enemy lines.

Yet somehow, he now regarded it almost like an ordinary march.

True, he had once launched a surprise attack on Snow Sea Pass.

But if he spoke honestly, the Chu were not something the Savages could compare with.

Sigh.

Count Pingye stretched lazily.

A sudden fit of enthusiasm surged through him.

His chuunibyou instincts became impossible to suppress.

He hummed:

“How lonely it is... to be invincible...”

...

Snow Sea Pass.

The Count’s residence.

Tian Tian sat in the courtyard.

Beside him was a fox and a black cat.

This child, from the time he was very small, had slept atop a zombie’s head, played with the Resentful Infant of Ten Lifetimes, and most importantly, whenever Count Pingye needed to go out, even the Demon Pill had to follow.

So most of the time, Tian Tian played by himself.

He did not fuss.

He did not cry.

He could sit alone in one place and happily play for an entire afternoon.

When it was time to eat, he ate.

When it was time to sleep, he obediently climbed into bed, pulled up the blanket, and slept.

Fourth Lady came to see him every day.

That made him happy too.

Right now, Tian Tian was playing with the two yao.

Both the fox and black cat knew this little master held extraordinary status, so they did their best to entertain him.

Fortunately, the little master had no strange tendencies and a very good temper.

During the day, he dragged them around to wander, look, and explore.

At night, he shared his snacks with them.

The outside world was far too dangerous even for yao.

So both creatures rather liked the quiet life they had now.

Most importantly, they had discovered something astonishing.

Ever since the two of them began accompanying this little master, when they cultivated and absorbed the essence of sun and moon, the effect had become much stronger than before.

Leisurely.

Safe.

Helpful to cultivation.

Was there anything happier in the world?

At that moment, the Sword Saint walked in from outside.

Tian Tian recognized him.

The Sword Saint came to see him from time to time.

Tian Tian stood, patted his backside, and raised one chubby hand.

“Up...”

The Sword Saint bent down and picked him up.

Truthfully, Liu Dahu was his stepson.

When the Sword Saint got together with the boy’s mother, Liu Dahu had already been old enough to remember things.

Tian Tian, on the other hand, had been carried in the Sword Saint’s arms all the way east not long after he was born.

If one insisted on counting, the relationship between the Sword Saint and this child should actually have been closer.

“Tian Wujing himself is the kind of man no one dares approach. His son, on the other hand, is lively and adorable.”

The Sword Saint tossed Tian Tian into the air.

The Longyuan Sword flew out with its scabbard and caught the boy beneath him.

Tian Tian was not afraid in the slightest.

Instead he cried out in excitement.

The two yao beside them began trembling.

They knew what kind of object that sword was.

Longyuan possessed a spirit.

Famous swords naturally carried spiritual resonance of their own.

They could express simple likes and dislikes.

And at this moment, Longyuan was actually humming with joy.

Which meant it felt extremely close to this child.

The Sword Saint suddenly remembered what Zheng Fan had once said.

He had asked whether the Sword Saint wanted to accept Tian Tian as a disciple.

The Sword Saint had refused at the time.

No matter what, this was still Tian Wujing’s son.

Someone else casually said one sentence and he was supposed to accept the boy?

At the very least, Tian Wujing himself should come and ask.

Then he, Yu Huaping, would still have to consider his mood before deciding whether to agree.

But the sight before him now made the Sword Saint’s heart move.

When people reached a certain age, they began thinking more about inheritance.

Ordinary people thought about passing on their bloodline, because ninety-nine percent of the world had little else they could pass down.

People with true skill thought about passing on their craft.

Or perhaps their Dao.

Finding a gifted successor could excite them even more than the birth of a biological son.

The Sword Maid was a natural sword embryo.

Someone like her had been born for the sword.

Qian’s Second Sword might have been unreliable in almost everything he did, yet he treasured this disciple immensely and always kept her at his side.

There was also another kind of person.

Someone whose acquired sensitivity forced open a road that had not appeared naturally.

That did not mean such a person was stupid.

It meant jade lay wrapped inside stone and required cutting before the green within could be revealed.

The Sword Saint was that kind of person.

The child in front of him, however, did not seem to be either type.

Because he was not merely sensitive to swords.

Perhaps every object with a spirit would resonate with him.

Tian Wujing had reached the peak of Third Grade as a Martial Artist several years ago.

That was not the most frightening thing.

The most frightening thing was that Tian Wujing had also cultivated Daoist arts.

And his greatest ability of all was commanding armies.

When people beneath Heaven spoke of the Prince of Jingnan, their first thought was his title as a god of war.

Only afterward did they mention his personal cultivation.

Which meant his main attention had never even been placed upon cultivation.

And yet...

Was this the talent of Tian Wujing?

And the talent of his son?

The Sword Saint closed his palm.

Longyuan flew back.

Tian Tian landed on the ground.

“Mm...”

Tian Tian crouched down and stroked Longyuan.

“Fly. Fly more. Mm... tired?”

Tian Tian thought Longyuan must be tired.

So he dug into his pocket, pulled out a small handful of dried fruit, and placed it on the body of the sword.

“Eat. Eat full.”

The Sword Saint stood over him.

Then asked:

“Son of the Tian Clan, are you willing to bow to me as Master and learn the sword?”

Tian Tian froze.

He spent too much time alone ordinarily.

And he was still young.

So his speech and expression were somewhat slow.

But one could see that he was thinking about the question very seriously.

At last Tian Tian pointed toward Longyuan, which lay on the ground with dried fruit balanced on it.

“Sword?”

Longyuan trembled.

The dried fruit fell.

It seemed to be answering him.

The Sword Saint nodded.

Tian Tian shook his head.

With effort, he raised both hands above his head and swung them downward.

Then he lost his balance and staggered several steps backward.

“Tian Tian... Godfather... learn... saber.”

...

Above, the Sword Saint was asking the child whether he would become his disciple.

Below, Fourth Lady walked down the steps into the secret chamber.

A coffin rested there quietly.

From Meijiawu to Tiger Head City, to Cuiliu Fort, to Shengle City, and finally to Snow Sea Pass.

Within the army, stories had always circulated about Count Pingye going to war with a coffin.

What no one knew was that the thing he carried was the first true bond he had ever possessed in this world.

Before Old Tian, there had been one man who was the first to truly treat him well.

He had been asleep for a very, very long time.

Fourth Lady held the Jade Figurine Token.

Soft clear radiance spilled from it like light through a lampshade.

When she reached the coffin, Fourth Lady knelt.

Strictly speaking, she was a Demon King.

Zheng Fan’s subordinate.

From another perspective, she could also be considered Zheng Fan’s woman.

Emotionally and by propriety, there was nothing wrong with kneeling before this “Godfather.”

“A great war is about to begin. Master is leaving. The others are leaving too. I am leaving. The man with the sword will be leaving as well. There are enough troops inside the pass. The Savages on the snowfields would not dare cause trouble at a time like this. But I am still worried. When none of us are here, what if someone tries to harm this child? I do not know how much longer you need to sleep. But if you can, I hope you will wake now. While none of us are here, please help watch over this child. After all, you watched him grow up. From the time he was only a few months old, he has always eaten, played, and slept above your head. You should be able to sense him. And I believe he has always been able to sense your presence too.”

Fourth Lady bowed forward and knocked her head to the ground three times.

Humm!

The coffin began to tremble.

Clang!

The lid slowly shifted open by itself.

Black mist spilled from within.

Through the haze, one could vaguely see a figure slowly sitting up.

His eyes released a dark green glow.

Yet there was nothing sinister about it.

Instead, a domineering aura belonging to the wild frontier poured outward.

There was no arrogant proclamation after waking.

No overbearing posture of a hero returning to the world.

There was only one simple word:

“Good...”

[End of Chapter 549]