Chapter 148: Saw the Regent!
Ha Shi Man galloped forward!
Chaotic shouts of killing rang out from the Turkic army…
Wei Wanlan wasn’t afraid; he just shifted his body slightly.
During the army’s rest, he had already pulled an item out of the Wise Ruler System in advance. He had carefully selected this item and hidden it on the supply cart he was sitting on. To avoid attracting attention, he usually kept it covered with a large piece of oilcloth.
Now, raising his eyebrows slightly, although he was burning with fever, he couldn’t hide the excitement in his heart.
Because he was certain that once this weapon of mass destruction was unleashed, let alone Ha Shi Man, even ten Ashina Shalis wouldn’t be enough to survive its blast.
It was:
—The Red Barbarian Cannon!
A treasure that did not belong to this era.
Wei Wanlan got off the cart and lifted the oilcloth. The Red Barbarian Cannon faced Ha Shi Man and the other Turkic cavalry, revealing a cannon barrel seven or eight feet long. The muzzle was pitch black, and the cannon shimmered with a color as deep and gloomy as the Reaper.
The Turkic army approached again.
Zhang Zhibei raised his saber to fight.
Wei Wanlan shouted a string of reminders, standing behind Zhang Zhibei under the cart, yelling hurriedly: “General Zhang, don’t go, don’t go! Use this, use this…” He strongly recommended his cannon.
But Zhang Zhibei didn’t turn his head back. He had already engaged Ha Shi Man and his large bronze hammer. The sounds of chaotic battle clanged and rang.
Seeing he couldn’t help, Wei Wanlan had to remind the other soldiers beside him. Grabbing a soldier, he said:
“Little brother, listen to me, use this, use this! This is useful!”
Unexpectedly, no one responded. The cannon was left on the cart while the Wei army and Turkic cavalry fought inextricably nearby.
Amidst the flash of swords and shadows of blades, Wei Wanlan was a bit anxious. His doe eyes blinked, and his throat hurt so much it felt like it was smoking. He only hated that no one recognized the goods.
At this time, a Wei soldier blocked a blade aimed straight at Wei Wanlan. As the two blades clashed, he looked back and said, “Prince of Cheng’en, how can you daydream on the battlefield? Hide quickly!”
Another soldier shouted, “Hurry up and get away from those two iron pillars! Lean against the cart board and hide outside the battle circle…”
No one recognized that it was a cannon.
It’s over QAQ.
Only then did Wei Wanlan realize with hindsight that because he wanted to take advantage of the era too much and attempted a dimensionality reduction strike with firearms, he had outsmarted himself. He forgot that Great Wei had no gunners who knew how to use the Red Barbarian Cannon, and he didn’t know how either. Absolutely no one could understand this thing.
To use an exaggerated example, it was like giving a primitive man a computer.
How could he forget that being too advanced wouldn’t work either?
Buzz—
While Wei Wanlan was condemning himself amidst the battle, his vision shook. Zhang Zhibei elbowed him out of danger.
Then he heard a heavy humming sound, like the muffled grunt of a giant beast. The Turkic Ha Shi Man swung his heavy hammer. One sweep hit a large swathes of Wei soldiers. Bang bang, countless heads and sternums were shattered. The muffled sounds made Wei Wanlan grit his teeth, but he couldn’t help.
“Borkashi! Borkashi!” Ha Shi Man shouted provocatively in Turkic.
Ha Shi Man excelled in strength. The heavy hammer combined with his terrifying power amplified his destructiveness a hundredfold. Zhang Zhibei’s blade was light and thin. Fighting with force against force, his weapon was at a disadvantage. Under Ha Shi Man’s sweeping hammer, neither he nor the Great Wei soldiers could get close.
Then another Wei soldier had his head smashed, blood and brain matter splashing!
Wei Wanlan was so anxious he was about to cry.
Was there an instruction manual for firearms in the Wise Ruler System?
He hurriedly rummaged through it. The System items just happened to refresh a pile of book icons. He chose for a moment among titles like Classic of Mountains and Seas, Muscle Tendon Change Classic, Fire Dragon Manual, and Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon, then dragged out the Fire Dragon Manual, wanting to mend the fold after the sheep were lost.
The book was entirely in Traditional Chinese, vertical layout, classical prose, and the diagrams were super abstract…
Help QAQ.
Zhang Zhibei’s weapon was knocked out of his hand, shaken four or five feet away by the heavy hammer, the blade sticking diagonally into the ground. The man had retreated close to Wei Wanlan, his expression painful; it seemed the big hammer had caused internal injuries, blood trickling down the corner of his lips.
It’s over!
Ha Shi Man raised his hammer towards Zhang Zhibei again.
Wei Wanlan closed his eyes, but what he heard was the collision of metal.
He opened his eyes. Zhang Zhibei had clamped the dark, heavy cannon barrel under his arm, then spun his body and swung it with all his might. The tens of catties of heavy iron whooshed through the wind, colliding squarely with Ha Shi Man’s copper hammer.
Clang—
After the ringing sound, Wei Wanlan was almost deafened. Looking closely at Ha Shi Man again, his weapon was actually not as heavy as this cannon barrel. His thick wrist trembled, and his face was full of confusion.
Wei Wanlan was stunned.
Zhang Zhibei laughed loudly: “Good weapon! Fight again!!!”
???
No, no, no, that’s not right, that’s not how you use it…
Here, Zhang Zhibei changed weapons and swung at the Turkic general with absolutely no recognizable technique. The cannon barrel broke bones wherever it touched. Ha Shi Man didn’t dare approach. He tore off the ox-horn whistle from his neck and pressed it to his lips, blowing a rapid tune that traveled extremely far.
Wei Wanlan panicked.
He didn’t expect that after the horn sounded, there were still Turkic cavalry on this supply line, popping up continuously. Ha Shi Man shouted in surprise: “Ba Sen!”
Zhang Zhibei paused his cannon-swinging. What he saw were two more units. Behind Ba Sen, another man dressed as a Turkic general charged on horseback wielding a scimitar. Who knew this place could attract three groups of enemy soldiers?
Seeing these people, Zhang Zhibei knew all was lost. Seeming to drain his strength in an instant, he shouted hoarsely to Wei Wanlan:
“Order the supplies burned!”
Wei Wanlan carried a fire starter. All soldiers also had fire sources.
If the dream was true, once the heavy snow arrived suddenly, if the Wei army couldn’t get heating equipment but Ashina Shali’s subordinates did, the Wei army would face a catastrophe. None of the supplies could be left behind.
Wei Wanlan: “Burn the supplies, disengage from combat!”
Just as the flame of the fire starter was about to touch the oilcloth on the supply cart, his doe eyes flickered. A feathered arrow flew past two or three feet in front of his line of sight, nailing a Turkic soldier. He heard the sound of a bowstring.
It was a bit familiar. He had heard this sound before. To counter the Turkic cavalry, the Wei army was equipped with bows of exceptionally long range.
He quickly turned his head and saw Great Wei’s new military armor shining like sunlight. Then he saw Wei mounted archers surrounding the battle circle in a fan shape, rapidly converging on the Turkic troops. The light cavalry was like a gale passing through, arrows falling like rain.
The supply troops shouted one after another:
“It’s reinforcements!”
“Great Wei’s reinforcements have arrived!”
Wei Wanlan was instantly pressed behind the heavy supply cart, waiting for rescue using it as cover. Arrows occasionally nailed into the wooden boards of the supply cart, making thud-thud sounds. Only when they were close did he hear the bowstrings stop, the cavalry switching to Mo blades.
The reinforcements charged up.
Wei Wanlan suddenly held his burning breath. Before his eyes, a warhorse galloped past like black lightning. He recognized the person on the horse, but the other party didn’t look at him. Those sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes were filled with focused killing intent, the smell of blood masking the woody fragrance.
It was… the Regent.
Wei Wanlan’s heart beat heavily, his throat burning even more.
He wanted to call him because he had been missing Su Jingzhi the whole way, but realized now wasn’t the time for a reunion. He curled his toes, his body temperature uncomfortably hot. swallowing saliva, he watched Su Jingzhi charge into the crowd.
Heavy hammers swept past, scimitars turned sharply; the momentum was like a violent storm.
Su Jingzhi revealed a bloodthirsty look Wei Wanlan had never seen before in group combat. Dodging a hammer, his blade tip picked diagonally, cutting a bloody mark on Ha Shi Man’s chest armor. Turning his wrist sharply, he chopped straight down, using the momentum to parry a scimitar, and kicked Ba Sen in the chest, sending him flying two feet away!
Tang Tuan followed closely behind, taking Zhang Zhibei’s position and coordinating with Su Jingzhi. seizing the opportunity to behead Ba Sen. At this time, Ha Shi Man and several others also fell.
With the Wei army capturing the leaders of these small Turkic units, the rest were mediocre and lost their fighting will. Before long, they either surrendered or were killed, stabilizing the situation. The ground was covered in corpses, both Turkic and Wei, with weapons and arrows scattered about.
Zhang Zhibei had suffered internal injuries earlier and fallen to the ground. Now he was panting heavily:
“Prince… Your Highness, this general is useless.”
The soldiers slowly returned to the supply carts, and the convoy moved again.
As the transport officer leading the supply team to the front lines, having seen the Regent, it was only right for Wei Wanlan to have a handover process with Su Jingzhi. He suddenly felt guilty, remembering he had sneaked out. He also thought that although he looked very much like Wei Wanqing, he probably couldn’t fool the Regent.
Moreover, he had only applied a sloppy disguise.
Wei Wanlan curled his toes even harder inside his boots, lowering his head for fear that the Regent would see him. Right now, his mind was full of thoughts on how to explain if he was caught by the Regent on the spot.
Su Jingzhi would probably think he was messing around and throw him directly onto a supply cart to be shipped back to Chang’an.
Su Jingzhi pulled the reins and ordered: “The enemy was many and we were few; there is no need for self-blame. Return to camp immediately.”
Zhang Zhibei kowtowed devoutly.
Wei Wanlan watched from a distance.
But he hurriedly grabbed a handful of dirt and smeared his face, turning into a little speckled cat. He hid even further away, wanting to see him but not daring to, peeking secretly with wet eyes.
But the Regent was the Regent, after all. Although the Prince of Cheng’en was a noble, he definitely didn’t rank high enough for Su Jingzhi to dismount and meet him, especially during wartime.
Tang Tuan’s voice came from afar at this moment, carrying laughter:
“Haha, Ashina Shali is running circles with us on the grassland. The Prince sent a decoy force to play with him. We just happened to receive news of the supplies arriving, so we came to support.”
“I heard early on that the transport officer is the Prince of Cheng’en. The Prince doesn’t like meeting strangers, and we are covered in blood. It won’t be too late to meet at the camp. Many thanks for the Prince’s intent to join the army. Also, upon returning to Chang’an, please send our Prince’s regards to His Majesty!”
That “regards to His Majesty,” spoken by Tang Tuan on his behalf, landed in Wei Wanlan’s ears, causing a ripple in the lake of his heart.
Tang Tuan waved his horsewhip, the horses galloped, and the support army moved away.
Wei Wanlan was let off the hook as a social recluse and breathed a sigh of relief, albeit with some regret.
Another soldier helped Wei Wanlan up:
“The Prince has been startled. General Tang has already informed us of the camp’s location. The Regent will also return to camp soon. Let’s go.”
The expeditionary army’s camp was pitched at the foot of Yin Mountain. At this time of late summer and early autumn on the grassland, the temperature difference between day and night was stark. It got colder deeper into the night. The sky felt very close to the ground, filled with stars.
The camp covered a large area. Deep in the night, there were thousands of lit tents, all looking about the same.
Legends of the Wei army conquering Yin Mountain circulated in the camp.
Because Yin Mountain was completely controlled by the Wei army, the detour through the Gobi Desert was changed to openly stationing troops there.
Wei Wanlan listened to the story as soldiers guided him.
It was said that back when the expeditionary army set out from Chang’an, Su Jingzhi had led a light cavalry unit alone, caught the Ashina tribe off guard, and rescued An Tang.
Ashina Shali thought the Great Wei army had descended from the heavens, failing to anticipate that it was just one unit. His army’s morale wavered instantly, and he led his troops to flee in panic. Thus, the Yin Mountain line was recovered.
The guiding soldier praised, “The Prince moves troops like a god or ghost; it is truly admirable!”
Wei Wanlan nodded. The entire military camp trusted the Regent, and his heart felt sweet along with them.
The soldier added, “I heard when An Tang was rescued, he had only one breath left. He cried and entrusted his family to the Regent, insisting on entrusting his wife and little daughter to him.”
Wei Wanlan stopped walking and raised his eyes to look at him.
The soldier laughed, “Guess what the Prince said, Your Highness?”
Wei Wanlan maintained his character and shook his head.
The soldier said, “The Prince said, ‘Since you have people you cherish, stay alive.’ He didn’t look at the wife or daughter at all. Heh, I actually feel that compared to the last expedition, the Regent seems to have changed a bit.”
Changed how?
Wei Wanlan tilted his head.
The soldier seemed to be talking to himself, scratching his head as he continued, “He’s still that same King of Hell (Yama), just… feels a bit gentler.”
Wei Wanlan’s eyes suddenly felt sour.
The Prince of Cheng’en’s tent was not large. Outside, there were tents high and low everywhere; it was just a tiny mushroom unobtrusive within a forest of different mushrooms.
Finally ending these nearly twenty days of heart-stopping events, Wei Wanlan burrowed uncomfortably into the bedding. When sick, one tends to feel aggrieved, curling up into a ball like a little dirty cat.
Little dirty cat Wei Wanlan fell asleep when the medicine kicked in.
His sleep wasn’t peaceful; his whole body felt like it was on fire.
Dazed and confused, he endured until the latter half of the night, hearing only the ceaseless sound of horses’ hooves in the camp. Wei Wanlan opened a slit in his eyes and vaguely heard someone say:
“The Prince has returned to camp! The Prince is injured…”
Wei Wanlan couldn’t lie still anymore. Weak when he got up, he couldn’t sit steadily and fell off the bed.
T/n: Enjoy reading! Another chapter coming as well. 2 updates today! Yay~
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