Chapter 161: Chaos in Xiaocheng (Part 1) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
"Whatever it is, the sound of smoke is never a good omen." Chu Yao stared intently at the direction from which the first plume of smoke rose. Before he could ponder anything further, he saw out of the corner of his eye that Qi Shan had taken off his outer robe and handed it to Shen Tang, which he snatched away.
Qi Shan frowned: "What are you doing?"
Chu Yao retorted, "And what are you doing now?"
Shen Tang, who was about to reach out to take it, looked at Qi Shan, whose wrist was being grabbed by Chu Yao, and asked the two of them with suspicion.
"...What are you doing?"
Gong Shuwu: "..."
Ah, that feeling of being completely ignored is back again.
Qi Shan understood Chu Yao's intention in an instant. She twitched the corner of her mouth, pointed at Shen Tang, and asked Chu Yao in return.
"You don't actually believe it, do you?"
So why avoid the idea of him, an "outsider," offering to borrow clothes?
That's really unnecessary.
If Qi Shan was still somewhat skeptical before today, she completely stopped believing Shen Tang's nonsense after today.
Tell me, what family's daughter could be like this?
Even with Lin Feng as an example proving that women can also open their dantian, look at his style, and then look at Shen Xiaolangjun's style? It's truly beyond his knowledge. Therefore, Chu Yao's reaction seems somewhat "incomprehensible" to him!
Chu Yao remained expressionless: "One nine."
One part belief, nine parts doubt. This one part belief was given out of the filter of destiny, and the reason for the obstruction was simple—he disliked that Qi Shan's outer garment was not clean.
Qi Shan: "..."
Chu Yao added, "Your clothes are stained with blood."
Because the clothes were a dark color, it wasn't very noticeable, but Qi Shan did exude a faint smell of blood. If you got close, you could see blood seeping out from the inside, even staining her outer garment.
Chu Yao was slightly surprised: "When were you injured?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Tang also looked over.
His eyes flickered with worry, and a hint of confusion.
Although the scholar-official Wenxin wasn't particularly strong in combat, Qi Shan's swordsmanship and mastery of incantations made him difficult even for ordinary soldiers to capture. In the previous battle, Qi Shan was so far from the center of the fighting; where did he get injured? Crucially, his outer robe was completely undamaged…
There is only one possibility—Qishan had been injured before, and her clothes were soaked with blood because she accidentally broke her clothes.
Qi Shan calmly frowned, then casually put her outer robe back on: "I'm not injured. I probably wasn't paying attention when I rushed over and got splashed with some unlucky guy's blood."
Chu Yao carefully examined Qi Shan's expression and found it to be rosy, healthy, and full of vitality, showing no trace of hidden pain. He then overlooked any doubts. He took off his outer robe and draped it over Shen Tang—regardless of whether it was Wu Niang or Wu Lang, the collar was slightly open, the clothes were tattered, and it looked quite disheveled, but Shen Tang did not refuse.
She yawned sleepily.
An unusual flush rose on her face, and her head bobbed up and down, as if she might fall asleep at any moment. Based on past experience, Chu Yao knew that she was sobering up, so he said, "If Wu Lang is tired, find a place to sleep first, and leave the rest to us."
Shen Tang didn't answer but forced herself to walk around Gong Shuwu three times, leaving the latter's square face bewildered. After confirming several times that her "treasure" was still there and that the enemies who came to intercept the "treasure" had been driven away, Shen Tang nodded in relief and stretched out a big yawn.
The next moment, to the astonishment of the three, he closed his eyes on the spot.
Qi Shan: "..."
Chu Yao: "..."
Gong Shuwu: "..."
A moment later, a soft, even snore could be heard. Getting drunk after just a sip of alcohol was already outrageous enough, but to fall asleep standing up instantly was even more astonishing. Gong Shuwu was so shocked that he didn't even have time to ask Shen Tang why she was walking around him; his gaze was rather strange.
After a few moments of stunned silence, he asked somewhat dazedly, "Gentlemen, this...this...what should we do???"
There were only four of them... no, three.
Can such a small force be of any use? Even if he could conjure up soldiers with martial energy, he couldn't move that much tax silver. Besides, tax silver is too conspicuous; there's no guarantee that Commandant Yang wouldn't return with his troops. If the tax silver is intercepted, the situation will become much more tense in the near future.
It's not good to "go against the grain".
Chu Yao and his companion exchanged a glance.
Having planned for so long and considered this possibility, they naturally hid the tax silver in a secluded, sparsely populated area, making it difficult for anyone to discover. Even if Commander Yang and his men returned, they probably wouldn't expect the tax silver to still be nearby.
Any criminal who gets such a large sum of money would immediately try to move and hide it. Wouldn't it be risky to wait until things get complicated?
They would secretly transfer the tax money after the storm had passed.
Gong Shuwu did not raise any objections to this. In his view, this was the best solution at present. Hiding nearby was much less strenuous and more efficient than moving.
Meanwhile, Commandant Yang and his men led their defeated troops toward Xiaocheng at breakneck speed. The atmosphere was tense along the way; even his most trusted subordinates dared not breathe too loudly, for fear of accidentally offending Commandant Yang's sensitive nerves.
After traveling for two hours, the first rays of dawn appeared in the east.
Commander Yang's eyes were bloodshot from exhaustion, but he knew that the soldiers couldn't keep up. If they rushed on regardless, even if they returned to Xiaocheng as quickly as possible, or encountered the enemy on the way, a few hundred exhausted soldiers would only be giving the enemy credit for their victory!
They had no choice but to rest by a stream.
"Commander Yang—" At this moment, Zhai Huanwen had recovered half of his strength, and his complexion looked much better than when they retreated last night.
"Mr. Zhai." Commander Yang's previous arrogant and disdainful attitude had changed, replaced by a more respectful and grateful one. This behavior was not feigned; if it hadn't been for Zhai Huan's repeated assistance yesterday, not only would he have lost his own life, but so many of his soldiers would have been lost as well.
Zhai Huan asked, "What was the signal fire yesterday...?"
Commandant Yang did not hide anything and replied in a deep voice, "That was intelligence from the beacon fires signaling a desperate return to the Sibao Prefecture."
Previously, during the retreat, Zhai Huan and his companion had no reason to follow the remnants of the army, as this was beyond the scope of their mission. However, the two young men still came.
It's easy to add flowers to brocade, but difficult to provide charcoal in the snow.
Commander Yang was not an ungrateful wretch, so he naturally wouldn't use the same attitude as before.
Zhai Huan was startled: "Is Xiaocheng in trouble?"
Commander Yang nodded solemnly.
Upon hearing this, Zhai Le's handsome face darkened.
Although the information that can be conveyed by beacon fires is very limited, the fact that such beacon fires were necessary to recall troops stationed elsewhere suggests something else—
The enemy's numbers have surpassed those of the garrison!
If we consider that the garrison also has the home-field advantage of defending the city, then given that the disparity in troop strength between the two sides is not significant, the need to raise smoke signals is simply unthinkable. Conversely, this suggests that the enemy's forces might be three to five times larger than ours…
Sending reinforcements back would be tantamount to sending them to their deaths.
Zhai Huan asked, "What kind of force is it?"
Lieutenant Yang rubbed his face vigorously with both hands, trying to rouse himself—he had been too exhausted yesterday and had suffered internal injuries from the thug's attack; his current condition was not much better than that of a "last gasp."
|ω)
I really feel like I wasted my time dyeing my hair; it's not even noticeable in daylight.
(End of this chapter)
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