Chapter 163: Hiding Our Little Wan
The punishment of the Sage Emperor Cultivation System wasn’t sudden; perhaps there were warning signs.
Realizing this possibility, Wei Wanlan became even more afraid. The discomfort in his body magnified geometrically in that instant.
His stomach, empty just a moment ago, felt hungry after vomiting. The hunger brought waves of panic, making him want to stuff food into his mouth, drastically increasing the probability of choking to death.
The logic made sense in his mind, and Wei Wanlan’s sense of unease grew stronger.
But he couldn’t tell the Regent King about being bound to the system no matter what. He had to digest this emotion himself, his eyes twinkling with glistening tears.
His reaction made the Regent King’s heart ache again. He pinched his nose: “What’s wrong?”
Wei Wanlan shook his head.
His nose was filled with the man’s woody scent. Before seeing him, the Regent King had treated his robes, leaving no trace of smoke.
Wei Wanlan obediently leaned in to sniff. A sense of security gradually spread in his heart. He looked up from the Regent King’s arms: “Zhen doesn’t want to vomit anymore. Regent King, please think of a way.”
Su Jingzhi inhaled gently.
He didn’t know why Wei Wanlan, who was perfectly fine, was suffering from deficiency syndrome and stomach illness again. If Little Wan didn’t want to suffer, he wanted it even less than Little Wan.
He comforted Wei Wanlan for a while, then went to the cookhouse to prepare some food. Following Wei Wanlan’s taste, he put a little extra vinegar in the noodle soup.
Little Wan took a small taste, pursed his lips, felt he could eat it, and slurped it down. He choked while drinking and was held by Su Jingzhi to wipe his mouth. Feeling wronged in his heart, he pouted.
After the meal.
Su Jingzhi said, “You can’t stand the smell of cannon smoke in the camp. Unless we don’t fire the cannons.”
“No!”
The Red Coat Cannons were good things he brought from the bad system, capable of determining victory. Although they held the advantage now, voluntarily giving up the Red Coat Cannons would definitely increase troop casualties.
Wei Wanlan was terrified that the Regent King would act willfully, even though he knew the Regent King wasn’t someone who acted on emotion. But still, he worried.
His worry wasn’t misplaced. The thought did linger in Su Jingzhi’s mind for a moment. Su Jingzhi was even startled by himself. Usually, he wouldn’t change his tactical decisions for anyone. Only for Wei Wanlan was it different. He felt again that he had gone mad.
“Four or five li away from the Iron Mountain Camp, on high ground, there is an outpost called Sunit. The outpost is very concealed and is responsible for observing enemy movements. This King will replace all the sentries there and settle you there.” Su Jingzhi said, “A few li is just a moment away. Even if I ride to see you, it won’t take any effort.”
As he spoke, Su Jingzhi was already planning how to implement it.
Wei Wanlan, however, was thinking: Four or five li—can that fool the Sage Emperor Cultivation System?
He couldn’t possibly lower his participation voluntarily when he had already received a punishment warning. He didn’t want to court death, wuu QAQ.
Wei Wanlan thought for a moment and asked, “Regent King, can Zhen observe in person?”
Su Jingzhi was slightly stunned, worried about him climbing up and down the wooden fences of the outpost: “Why?”
“Since I’m no longer on the front lines, Zhen wants to make some contribution.” Wei Wanlan tried hard to fake participation.
But to Su Jingzhi’s ears, it added a few degrees of respect for Wei Wanlan. Little Wan was truly more than just cute.
Su Jingzhi said, “Then be careful. This King will send soldiers to protect you and stand guard with you.”
Wei Wanlan agreed happily.
The battle on the front lines continued. All the soldiers at the Sunit outpost were rotated.
Wei Wanlan was secretly arranged into the shift change team and arrived at Sunit in less than an hour. So most people in the Iron Mountain Camp didn’t know that the Little Emperor had been hidden away by the Regent King again.
The location of the Sunit outpost was very high. It was surrounded by large mountains rarely seen in Turkic lands. The snow was thick, three or four feet deep.
When the north wind blew hard, it would sweep up fluffy, sparkling fine snow. Occasionally, when the sun came out, the sunlight would hit the snow-capped mountains, sparkling like diamonds everywhere.
Wei Wanlan was about to spend the decisive phase of the expedition in this place.
Far from the intrusion of smoke, cannon fire, and the smell of blood, Wei Wanlan recovered a lot. He originally thought he might not hold up, but now, exercising daily, standing at the outpost to keep watch, and practicing daily with the participating soldiers, his mind relaxed, and his appetite improved.
Wait, the Regent King would visit Wei Wanlan amidst his busy schedule, either by sending war eagles with messages or by riding alone in disguise.
From the news brought by the war eagles and the battle situation Su Jingzhi told him personally, Wei Wanlan could roughly understand the current combat situation. Since the Iron Shield Formation was broken, the morale of the remnants of Tuyuhun and the Turks had sharply declined, leading to several more defeats.
The Regent King even waged psychological warfare against these two enemies.
Murong Bohan was arrogant, thinking he was still the alliance leader, superior to Ashina Shali. So Su Jingzhi deliberately sent subordinates to spread the word before the formation, saying that the Wei soldiers felt the Tuyuhun King wasn’t worth mentioning, and only the former Turkic Khan was worthy of a fight.
This angered Murong Bohan into challenging the Wei soldiers twice, but the Wei army beat him back without even firing the cannons.
Murong Bohan must be filled with depression.
…
In fact, the Regent King’s visits to the Sunit outpost were never long, just enough for the two of them to have a complete meal together.
The increased distance and the rarity of meetings made Wei Wanlan look forward to them even more.
It supported him to continue standing at the Sunit outpost, day after day.
“Little Wan, we’re almost winning.”
“Wanwan, when we return to Chang’an, I’ll have the Imperial Medical Office hold a consultation at Zichen Palace. You’ll be fine.”
A falcon circled in the firmament.
The snowy field was vast, the cold wind biting. Looking into the distance from this place, one could see rolling thick smoke rising straight up and hear the intermittent, thunderous roars echoing off the mountain walls.
Ashina Hebo leaned on a piece of withered wood, looking up at his falcon, and the pillars of black-gray smoke in the sky.
“Is this… a battle?”
“What exactly is that noise?”
Ashina Hebo naturally didn’t know that during his time in darkness, the Wei army had been equipped with Red Coat Cannons.
Hebo had fled the Royal Court, stepping deep and shallow into snow pits. The cold barely masked the smell of blood all over him.
He was wearing the clothes of Antang’s confidant whom he had strangled with his own hands. When thirsty, he grabbed two handfuls of snow and stuffed them into his mouth. The dirt-tinged ice and snow melted in his mouth, very cold, stinging like needles.
He had to live to see his Father Khan and join the coalition army.
He heard the battle was at Iron Mountain. From the Royal Court to Iron Mountain, he had no horse, so he walked slowly, relying solely on a ruthless drive.
But.
When human strength contends with nature, human power and will appear so insignificant.
Hebo traveled day and night, without proper rest for a long time. First, his legs felt heavy, then his mind became muddled.
Although he was still moving, he was like a walking corpse. So he had to mutter intermittently. Muttering gave him a bit of motivation, his eyes incredibly sinister:
“The new… Khan… is me.”
“I didn’t kill my brother. I didn’t kill my sister either. I had no choice. He forced me. He deserves to die!”
“Antang deserves to die. Wei Wanlan deserves to die!”
“All, deserve to die…”
Thud—
A stone underfoot tripped him. Hebo suddenly fell backward into the snow, pain shooting through the back of his head.
“Ugh.”
He only wanted to lie down for a moment, to rest his feet. But the snow beneath him was too fluffy and soft, like the finest cashmere rug spread in a felt tent. Hebo’s body was heavy, and his eyes gradually closed.
!!!
The moment before losing consciousness, Hebo’s body jerked violently, suddenly realizing his life was in danger.
Not good.
He wanted to call for help, trying ceaselessly to drive his body to get up, but he couldn’t rise, and he couldn’t open his mouth. His large knuckles slowly closed on the snow surface, hooking up half an inch of snow, his fingers growing weaker with each attempt.
In Hebo’s vision was a lead-gray sky. Snow-capped mountains were near and far. The falcon descended slowly from the sky, nudging his face with its beak.
Hebo’s lips moved weakly.
His gaze flickered with hatred and unwillingness, and then, gradually, gradually, his vision narrowed to a line.
…
“Look, there’s something in the snow!”
“Careful of enemy ambush, shh—”
Voices appeared in the snowy field. Thumbs pushed open military sabers, cold light spilling out. It was scouts sent from the Sunit outpost. While conducting a routine check of the vicinity, they suddenly discovered someone lying in the snow.
They thought it was a spy from the coalition army and bowed low to approach the snow pit, but found the target strange—motionless, not scouting, nor lying in ambush waiting for someone.
When the scouts got closer and examined carefully, they saw a motionless man in the snow.
Several scouts narrowed their eyes and approached until they surrounded the man, exchanging glances.
One scout squatted to check the man’s chest temperature and nodded slightly: “A Turk. Can still be saved.”
So, to save or not to save?
The Turks had just submitted to Great Wei, and the new Khan had just been titled King Shunyi. Logically, encountering a Turk trapped in the snow meant they should save him.
But now was wartime. No one knew if this Turk on the ground belonged to the coalition or the Royal Court side. Rashly saving him might cause trouble.
Moreover, saving him meant taking him back to the Sunit outpost…
The Little Emperor was hiding there!
The scouts felt even more conflicted, almost wanting to heartlessly leave this dying man and walk away.
These men were death warriors carefully selected by Su Jingzhi. Selection prioritized gentle character and cautious handling of affairs. They had to prioritize the Little Emperor’s safety, but they wouldn’t be too cruel either.
Someone found a token on the man, frowned slightly, and showed it to the other scouts: “Look, he’s Antang’s man.”
“Antang?”
If King Shunyi sent someone to contact the Iron Mountain Camp, it must be something important.
Everyone knew the Royal Court was basically one of the Wei army’s rear areas now. They had to save this person.
The scouts looked at each other and nodded. Opinion unified, they clumsily carried the heavy man back to the outpost.
Hebo wasn’t taken directly to see the Little Emperor.
The outpost scouts took off his dirty clothes, covered him with a quilt, and brought a charcoal basin to warm him. The room temperature gradually rose.
Hebo’s breathing began to change from weak to steady. Color returned to his face, and he even moved his fingers inside the quilt.
He slowly woke up, regaining consciousness. His eyes opened a slit, and what entered his vision was the familiar round tent roof of a military camp.
Hebo’s heart tightened: He didn’t remember coming here. Could it be he was caught back to the Royal Court?
Because the situation was unclear, he didn’t dare speak. He observed first, listening to them talk:
“This guy is awake!”
“Check his physical condition first. Hey, wait, did you disarm him just now? Is he clean?”
“…”
The people nearby were speaking the official language of Great Wei. Crisp, standard Great Wei dialect.
He could speak Wei dialect too; in fact, the military nobility of the Royal Court could all speak a few sentences. But speaking it so standardly, and in a military tent—this shouldn’t be the coalition army.
This was a Wei army camp!!!
Hebo’s scalp exploded in that instant. It was over. He wanted to defect to the coalition but stumbled into Great Wei by mistake. He had entered a thieves’ den.
Rumor in the Royal Court had it that many Turkic generals had surrendered to Great Wei. If he was in the Iron Mountain Camp, many people would recognize him. Once discovered, he feared he would be tied up and sent to the front to blackmail the coalition into surrendering. Hebo was terrified, his throat dry!
His hand clenched tighter and tighter under the quilt…
Those scouts asked, “Are you King Shunyi’s man?”
Hebo half-opened his eyes. Hearing Antang’s name, he wanted to tear him to pieces.
But Hebo didn’t want to die. Remembering he had taken the clothes and token of Antang’s confidant, he held onto a sliver of luck. He nodded tentatively, pretending to be too weak to speak.
In fact, he was indeed quite weak. He acted the part well.
The Wei soldiers continued to question: “What is the situation in King Shunyi’s family? Can you tell us?” This was to verify his identity.
The method was correct, but unfortunately, this person was Hebo. Ashina Antang was his youngest uncle. Even if the two families had reached the point of stabbing each other, Hebo naturally knew about Antang’s affairs.
Hebo paused, thinking of phrasing, pursed his lips, and swallowed hard:
“King Shunyi has a mother, Ayina, titled Lady Silver Moon by the court.”
“King Shunyi married the daughter of the Yilifa clan. Later he became the greatest warrior of that tribe, protecting the tribe’s animal husbandry and trade routes.”
What he said was all correct. The two or three scouts by the bed nodded secretly.
They asked again: “Anything else?”
Hebo answered without thinking: “He has two daughters, both very cute. Mother, wife, daughters… family is everything to him. He loves all his relatives and wants to protect them, killing anyone who threatens them.”
At that moment, Hebo secretly sneered, filled with contempt for Antang. Womanly benevolence.
The scouts looked at each other again, seeming to trust the newcomer’s identity a bit more. Their tense bodies relaxed slightly.
The leader among them said, “Go report. Get him some food. We’ll ask more later.”
“Yes.”
Hebo relaxed slightly. The soldier went out and returned quickly, holding a bowl. The intense will to live made Hebo attracted by the steaming white vapor and the aroma wafting from the bowl. He struggled to sit up from the bed board.
Only by recovering his strength could he plan other things.
The food was brought before Hebo: “Here. Eat.”
Hebo held the bowl, looked at the food, and wolfed down a few mouthfuls to stop the hunger. The solid feeling of food sliding into his stomach filled him with satisfaction. He covered his face with the bowl rim, his falcon-like eyes darting around behind the bowl.
He sensed something different about the food in his mouth. It was very puzzling.
This… how is this possible!?
