Chapter 1404: Combat Reconnaissance (Part 2) [It's all over now]

“It was set up a long time ago, but—” Wu Xian hesitated for a moment before continuing, “If the enemy is really like Gong Su, this level of military formation is not enough to confuse the opponent; we have too little intelligence.”

Qin Li's [Cloud Sky and Mist Earth] already has the ability to conduct reconnaissance from high altitudes. Although ordinary elite scouts can also reach the same reconnaissance altitude, they cannot be as free and unrestrained as Qin Li.

It is precisely at times like these that Qin Li's value and reliability become all the more apparent.

Bai Su's brows remained furrowed.

With the arrival of the main force, the morale of the soldiers was greatly boosted.

Even before nightfall, the distant mountains were already shrouded in mist.

Bai Su noticed that the surrounding terrain was different from what she knew. Wu Xian opened the map and pointed to the direction of the mountains, saying, "...More than 30 years ago, this place was under the jurisdiction of a small country. Later, the brothers quarreled and the vassal kings rebelled, so the country was divided along the river. This place under our feet was originally wasteland. Later, the mountains were moved 20 or 30 miles eastward."

The mountains east of Qunshan now have natural barriers.

This natural barrier also firmly controls the strategic pass.

To break out, we must pass through the mountains.

Wu Xian's location is low-lying, while the mountains are high, creating a significant difference in elevation. This is one of the main reasons why scouts face such difficulties. Their geographical position is at a huge disadvantage, while the other side has a natural advantage with its superior vantage point. Bai Su slightly raised her head, gazing at the mountains.

"They moved twenty or thirty li to the east?"

It's not just moving one mountain, it's moving a whole group?

The man-made natural barrier of Chaoli Pass, of similar scale, was also personally modified by a 20th-rank Marquis, but it exists only in legend. In reality, it would be impossible for a Marquis alone to accomplish such a feat. Where did Wu Xian's "small country" find so many people?

Wu Xian said, "There is another explanation."

What do you mean?

Wu Xian said, "These mountains will move on their own."

To put it in a rather alarming way, this mountain is alive; it has moved twenty or thirty miles eastward over the decades entirely by its own efforts. Bai Su almost thought Wu Xian was joking with her: "A mountain that can move on its own? Does the Duke mean this mountain has cultivated itself into a spirit?"

Wu Xian jokingly said, "It's not impossible."

There are too many strange and unusual things in this world, so it's nothing to be surprised about. Putting aside other things, just the fact that martial arts practitioners can transform into their own martial arts totem when they reach a certain level, turning from humans into animals/plants, is quite terrifying. In a sense, it can be considered as becoming a spirit.

Wu Xian continued jokingly, "In the past, spirits cultivated into humans, but now martial artists cultivate into plants and animals. It's just a reversal of the order, but the essence is still the same. Perhaps, the mountains have truly given birth to mountain spirits that can escape when people aren't paying attention."

Bai Su: "..."

It's not appropriate to joke around when a formidable enemy is at hand.

Seeing her cold face, showing no sign of being amused, Wu Xian thought to himself, "Stone Beauty," "This rumor was also found out from the woodcutter. The woodcutter's ancestors lived at the foot of the mountain and made a living by chopping wood for generations. Gradually, they found that it took less and less time to enter the mountain and the distance between the two places was getting shorter and shorter, and they realized that something was wrong."

Especially when I woke up one morning.

The mountains, which were originally far away, suddenly became very close to the village.

The villagers were terrified and scattered in all directions, moving their entire families to other places, fearing that if they stayed any longer, they would be swallowed up by the mountains.

Of course, the above is just one of many strange tales.

The only certainty is that this place is indeed strange.

Thirty percent of the scouts Wu Xian sent out got lost in the mountains without even sending a signal, and the seventy percent of those who returned gave conflicting intelligence.

Bai Su closed her eyes: "Playing tricks."

Military campaigns often employ similar tactics to confuse the enemy's judgment.

She said, "Order our troops to rest and regroup, and we will move out tonight."

Wu Xian hadn't expected Bai Su to be so eager right away. He was a little worried that she was too eager for quick success, so he said tactfully, "The enemy hasn't made any moves yet, and the general must be exhausted from the long journey. Why don't we rest for a day or two and get our energy back?"

It wasn't that Wu Xian was cowardly, but rather that he felt the enemy was too sneaky, and that carelessness could easily lead to a trap. He didn't care whether Bai Su lived or died, but he couldn't ignore Shen Youli's high regard for Bai Su, nor could he ignore Bai Su's secret affair with Gu Chi. If anything happened to Bai Su, he would be in deep trouble: "What does the general think?"

Bai Su said, "Not good."

Wu Xian: "..."

While Wu Xian could tolerate such a humiliation, his deputy was also finding it hard to bear. He felt that Bai Su was indeed as arrogant and unapproachable as rumored. No matter how capable she was, would listening to advice cost her anything? Why the coldness and indifference?

Just as the deputy general was harboring resentment, he saw the warning look from Wu Xian and could only awkwardly suppress his displeasure. This army wasn't commanded by Wu Xian; for a military officer, the most important thing was to obey orders. If the battle went smoothly, it was due to the commander's good leadership; if it went poorly, the commander was the one to take the blame. Remember this, and keep a calm mind.

Bai Su secretly noticed the tension in their eyes.

He specifically explained, "You haven't seen any stars lately, have you?"

Wu Xian recalled carefully, "I hardly saw any."

"The mountains beneath our feet may be altered, but the stars above our heads are beyond human control. If the enemy were merely gathering intelligence on our movements, a few days would suffice. Why go to such lengths, doing this every day? This suggests that someone is trying to conceal something."

Ground-based positioning doesn't work, but satellite positioning is different.

Is it simply an illusion or is the mountain itself changing?

If it's the former, then breaking the formation will suffice.

If it is the latter, the culprit must be found.

Bai Su's guess might not be correct, so she needed to investigate personally. Wu Xian didn't stop her, ordering that good wine and food be prepared to entertain her, so that she could eat and drink her fill and replenish her energy. Before long, the waning moon disappeared into the thick clouds, and Bai Su's preparations were complete. She ordered three small elite teams to enter the mountain simultaneously, and tied hemp ropes at the entrance, so that they could retreat on the spot if anything went wrong.

Wu Xian also sent one of his own people to be in charge of one of the branches.

"Which side is the general prepared to ally with?"

Bai Su pointed to the sky: "Let our people draw attention on the ground, Lord Gong, stay and oversee things, I'll go up to the sky and take a look."

Wu Xian looked up at the thick clouds.

If I remember correctly—

"The general's martial spirit totem seems to be unable to fly?"

Without the assistance of the Martial Courage Totem, Martial Courage warriors can only rely on their own martial energy to maintain body temperature and respiration in the air, which consumes a tremendous amount of martial energy. Most of the time, Martial Courage warriors without avian totems are just putting on a show in aerial combat, commonly known as showing off.

Unexpectedly, Bai Su left behind only one sentence: "A sea of ​​clouds is also a sea."

It wasn't until she rode away that Wu Xian realized what was happening, and after a long pause, he managed to stammer out, "Why didn't she say that the Milky Way is also a river?"

Isn't that just pure cheating?

Because of the terrain, it would be difficult to conceal their actions from the enemy, so Wu Xian decided to abandon the stealth and ordered his soldiers to light torches and swagger into the mountains. One end of a rope was tied to a boulder at the foot of the mountain, and the rest of the men marked the spot every hundred paces.

The lieutenant, having already arranged for defenses to prevent a surprise attack, returned to report: "My lord, everything is ready. However, there's something I'm unsure whether to say—"

"explain!"

"Isn't this General Bai being a bit too presumptuous?"

Wu Xian said, "Why are you so nosy about other people?"

The lieutenant was still displeased: "In the past..."

"You yourself mentioned the past. There weren't so many tricks in battles back then," Wu Xian deliberately misinterpreted his deputy's words. He knew why the deputy was unhappy; it was simply because he felt Bai Su, so young, was disrespecting the veteran general. On the battlefield, victory is what matters, not seniority. Besides, being a lord and being a general are two completely different things.

As long as Bai Su can win the battle—

She can do whatever she wants.

The lieutenant looked up at the thick, persistent dark clouds overhead and spoke his mind: "My lord, I'm just worried that if something happens to the General, you'll be implicated..."

If we were to categorize people by their closeness to the king, Bai Su would undoubtedly be the king's closest confidante, far surpassing someone like Wu Xian, who went from being a defeated foe to a subordinate. Even in the face of conflict, she would proactively avoid direct confrontation.

Wu Xian warned, "You've talked too much today."

The lieutenant sensed Wu Xian's displeasure and awkwardly shut his mouth.

Every so often, a soldier would tug on the rope. If the other end of the rope sensed something, it would tug in response. If there was no response or the rope broke, it was clear that something had happened in the mountains.

Wu Xian held his breath and concentrated for a while.

Suddenly, the night wind howled past my ears, and I could vaguely hear strange noises.

He suddenly opened his eyes: "Did you hear anything?"

The lieutenant looked blank, listened carefully, and then shook his head.

Just then, soldiers arrived on horseback.

One of the three ropes broke.

Fortunately, the soldiers who went into the mountains reacted quickly enough and withdrew in time. When asked what they saw in the mountains, everyone gave a different account. Some saw suspicious figures, some saw strange beasts, and some said they saw mountain ghosts... Wu Xian rubbed the goosebumps that had risen on his arm: "Strange, did we really encounter a ghost?"

A quarter of an hour later, the other two groups also retreated: "My lord, something's wrong. One of them has suddenly gone mad."

The madmen's pupils were all white, their foreheads were blackened, and streaks of crimson cracks spread from their collarbones to the top of their heads. They roared like wild beasts, and their claws could cut through iron like mud. When they were surrounded and found they could not harm others, they began to tear at their own flesh.

Before anyone could react, thirteen people had already been injured.

This is the first time we've seen this situation since the two armies reached a stalemate.

Wu Xian's eyelids twitched violently: "Tie him up."

The soldiers obeyed orders and bound the crazed man tightly.

The remaining wounded were sent to the wounded soldiers' camp.

The military doctor rushed over and carefully examined the crazed soldier. After a long while, he said with a strange expression, "It seems like he's been poisoned by a curse."

insanity……

This word sent chills down Wu Xian's spine.

He was also a well-read man, and for various reasons, he had also studied the history of the Gu calamity in the Wu Kingdom, so he naturally knew that the Kang Kingdom was in a similar situation to the Wu Kingdom back then. As far as he knew, there were only two people in the Kang Kingdom who knew how to use Gu worms: the mysterious Ji Moqiu and Lin Feng. The former was practically subservient to Shen Youli, and the latter was completely devoted to Shen Tang; neither of them would betray him. After much thought, he suspected that either the Gu worms were innate, or that the enemy also used them.

Is there a solution?

Military doctor: "Let's give it a try."

He then thought of Bai Su: "How long has General Bai been gone?"

Bai Su is talented and has had no shortage of martial arts luck in her training over the years. She has also worked hard, but unfortunately, she started a bit late. No matter how fast her training speed is, she is not fast enough to stay in the air for a long time at this age, let alone thousands of meters in the air. The higher the altitude, the more martial energy is consumed.

Wu Xian frowned as he looked at the towering mountains in the distance.

The mountains shrouded in darkness resembled a pack of ferocious beasts baring their fangs: "There is indeed something strange about these mountains. Let's wait a little longer. If General Bai has not returned, then raise the whistle."

"Your subordinate obeys."

The thick fog under the night sky resembled a giant black-gray python coiled around the entire mountain range, exuding an ominous premonition. Bai Su stood on the back of the Martial Gallant Totem, the enormous totem leisurely swaying its tail as it roamed above the sea of ​​clouds. Its movements were slow, yet the oncoming wind could sting one's face, and the extremely low temperature caused even martial armor to be covered with a layer of frost.

Bai Su warned it softly, "Swim slowly."

The Courageous Totem was in high spirits and carried her in a 360-degree spin and jump, closing her eyes and flapping her flippers incessantly.

Bai Su: "..."

At times, she had the urge to saddle up the Martial Spirit Totem; this guy was practically a "whale" going crazy, always on a whim. Before his transformation, he could still listen to Bai Su's commands, but ever since he could swim in the sky, the whole whale had become a wild horse.

Perhaps sensing Bai Su's urge to grill shark fins, the Martial Gallant Totem let out an innocent cawing sound, reluctantly lowering its flight altitude with its master. Bai Su took out her compass, but the compass was completely ineffective in this area, so she looked up at the stars again.

The orientation of mountain ranges is determined by the position of stars.

With a charcoal pencil in his mouth, he unfolded a piece of paper and flattened it out.

The paper rustled in the night wind. Before Bai Su could even make her first stroke with the charcoal pencil, she suddenly channeled her martial energy into it and launched it like a flying blade. A flash of black light followed, leaving only specks of blood.

"Tsk, finally someone alive has appeared."

There was no sign of life in the mountains below.

The Martial Spirit Totem circled twice in the sky but found no living creatures. If Wu Xian hadn't said that the scouts had discovered a lot of traces of enemy activity in the mountains, Bai Su would have doubted that the enemy was even here.

bite--

A loud metallic clang rang out.

Bai Su was suddenly thrown away by a tremendous force, her feet leaving the ground.

The combat boots sparked as they scraped against the back of the Martial Warrior Totem. Using the flippers for leverage, she returned to her original position, simultaneously recognizing the attacker. In that single glance, her pupils constricted sharply.

Well, it can't really be called a human being.

It cannot be called an animal either.

Its body resembled a human, with a pair of enormous, bat-like wings sprouting from its ribs, and its eyes gleamed with an eerie, ghostly green. Realizing it hadn't managed to kill Bai Su with a single blow, the creature grinned menacingly and landed on the orca's back.

"Bai Shaoxuan, a military general of Kangguo."

"I will not change my name or surname, this is me."

The man's voice was extremely strange, like the scraping sound of long fingernails on a glass plate, making one's hair stand on end: "I see that the general is also a young and talented man. Why not abandon the darkness and seek a bright future?"

Bai Su inwardly rolled her eyes with a haughty air.

Listen to him, is he even speaking human language?

While the other party was still waiting for Bai Su's reply, she grabbed at the air with both hands, and a pair of gleaming swords appeared in her hands. Without saying a word, she started fighting.

A flash of sword light appeared, a silver snake cleaved the sky, and a chilling killing intent pierced through the clouds. Bai Su said, "Today I will cut you down, you bat."

Uェ*U

I stayed in the hospital with a relative for two days, and I felt like I was about to ascend to heaven.

P.S.: My elderly relative refuses to go to the hospital. After two days of this, they seem to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown... I feel like I'm the one who should be sick.

(End of this chapter)