The orderly craned his neck and hollered several times before a trickle of men finally emerged from the mud huts, ambling sluggishly toward Wei Yuan until they stood clustered in an unruly clump.
"Line up straight! Step forward—what are you cowering in the back for? Let the immortal master get a good look at you! Are you asking for a thrashing?!"
In truth, Wei Yuan's heart had already sunk the moment these soldiers began shuffling out of the mud huts. Only thirty-odd men stood scattered before him now. The old were decrepit and the young mere boys; the few in their prime were skin and bones, devoid of any spirit in their eyes. Their uniforms and armor hung loose and sloppy, belts not even tied properly. Only a handful carried personal weapons, which appeared to be horn-hilted knives rather than the standard straight sabers issued by Western Jin.
Sweeping his gaze across them, Wei Yuan could see their cultivation clearly. Only a few had tempered some muscle and sinew—roughly halfway forged at best—and their training methods were utterly mediocre, rendering the tempering effect barely better than nothing.
"These are garrison troops?" Wei Yuan asked, his face darkening.
"They are! All the garrison troops are right here."
Seeing Wei Yuan's sour expression, the orderly offered, "The fighting has been going on for over half a year, so the strong and sturdy were transferred away long ago. Those left behind in a tiny backwater like ours are the ones nobody wanted. These are all we have."
Wei Yuan asked, "Where did my two sect brethren pick their men?"
The orderly said, "Immortal Master, you saw yourself that they paid immortal silver. With that silver, we can temporarily borrow back soldiers originally assigned to other posts. Since it's a loan, we naturally have to give the original commanders some benefits. Wouldn't you agree, sir?"
The orderly's slick, evasive tone made Wei Yuan unwilling to waste another word on him. Wei Yuan also knew that speaking to him was pointless. Before their departure, the Palace of Grand Beginning had warned that the governance of Western Jin was benighted and corrupt, but Wei Yuan had never imagined it had degenerated to such an extent.
According to the military system of Western Jin, a border county ought to have three hundred garrison troops and a thousand militiamen. Militiamen farmed in ordinary times, trained during lulls in agricultural work, and were levied for battle in times of war.
Wei Yuan knew the military systems of each state inside and out. Two of the five disciples who had arrived with him had no need for garrison troops. Even if the two who paid immortal silver had commandeered the finest soldiers, there should still have been over two hundred garrison troops remaining. Yet Wei Yuan saw only thirty-odd men before him, all old and frail, without a single person who had finished tempering their muscle and sinew. By the standards of the military code, not a single one qualified.
Without a second thought, Wei Yuan knew there was dirty business behind this. Still, he was here to defend territory, not to reform military discipline on behalf of Western Jin. Since only these men were available, Wei Yuan pointed repeatedly, preparing to select twenty who looked reasonably serviceable.
The orderly hurriedly intervened, "Too many, too many! Immortal Master, the county seat needs defenders as well, so you can take ten at most."
Wei Yuan said coldly, "I traveled ten thousand li to repel Northern Liao, yet you place obstacles before me at every turn! Very well, then. I shall report the affairs here to the Perfected Master, and while I am at it, submit a memorial to the commandery governor."
The orderly immediately put on an ingratiating smile and said, "Immortal Master, calm your anger! The truth is, the county's defenses are desperately thin. If the barbarians breach the walls, not one of the tens of thousands of common folk in the city will survive. What the colonel means is for you to take fewer garrison troops, and we will make it up to you with militiamen. Right now, there are a full three hundred militiamen in your defense sector, including quite a few able-bodied youths. The man leading them, Mister Fang, is even a senior Dao Foundation cultivator—a unique asset across all defense sectors!"
A Dao Foundation cultivator was indeed worth a hundred garrison troops. Only then did Wei Yuan's expression soften slightly. With little time remaining, he casually picked ten garrison troops, exited the county seat, and set out toward the three villages under his jurisdiction.
The villages lay twenty li from the county seat. Lacking a mount, Wei Yuan had no choice but to travel on foot. He had a tall frame and took large strides, while the ten garrison troops trailing behind him were a mix of the old and the young. The oldest among them had hair half-gray, and the youngest looked even younger than Wei Yuan's true age. By Wei Yuan's rough estimate, however, their average age was at least thirty-five or thirty-six.
Jogging the entire twenty li, not a single one of the ten garrison troops fell behind, which came as something of a surprise to Wei Yuan. The sun hung high as noon had just passed, and the outline of a village was already visible in the distance.
Wei Yuan headed straight for Shayang Village, the largest and most forward settlement. Shayang Village was encircled by a wall of rammed earth and stone, roughly a zhang in height.
Before this journey, the Palace of Grand Beginning had distributed intelligence documents. Ganzhou was desolate and remote, its folk customs fierce and rugged. Not only did Northern Liao stage frequent raids and pillages, but countless horse bandits also roamed the region. Consequently, the local inhabitants all had to construct fortified settlements for self-defense, or at the very least raise rammed-earth walls.
Marks from sabers and spears still scarred the earth wall, and several arrows remained lodged along the parapet, clear signs that combat had taken place here not long ago. At this moment, many men atop the wall were hauling stones and ramming earth, striving to raise the rampart higher.
The arrival of Wei Yuan and his party quickly drew the attention of those working on the wall. Moments later, a man stepped up to the edge and called out, "Who goes there?"
A mere zhang-high wall was naturally no obstacle for Wei Yuan. With a light leap, he landed right before the man, presented his identity waist tally, and declared, "Wei Yuan of the Palace of Grand Beginning. Bound by my sect's orders, I have come to oversee the defense of this land and repel the invading Liao barbarians."
The man, initially tense, breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and said with delight, "So it is an esteemed disciple of the immortal sect! We've been longing for your arrival!"
Wei Yuan scrutinized the man before him. His face was covered in dust and mud, and his hair was a disheveled mess, tied loosely into a topknot that had gone unwashed for heaven knew how many days. His robes were equally filthy, a muddle of grime, sweat stains, and old blood that had long obscured their original color. He was actually wearing a scholar's robe, though the hem had been torn away to allow ease of movement.
The man was gaunt and wore a short beard, his eyes sunken from days without proper sleep, yet his gaze remained spirited, clear, and blazing.
At first glance, Wei Yuan could tell the man possessed an extraordinary bearing. Channeling the Qi-Gazing Technique, he was surprised to discover a soft cluster of white light at the man's glabella—the mark of an established Dao Foundation. It seemed this was the Mister Fang mentioned by the orderly, indeed a Dao Foundation cultivator.
However, in Wei Yuan's eyes, that cluster of white light was not particularly bright; its texture was faint and loose, devoid of any wondrous luster. It was likely a Mortal Tier Dao Foundation.
Wei Yuan bowed once more in salute. "You must be Senior Brother Fang. To think Senior Brother is also a fellow traveler on the immortal path."
The man smiled and said, "I dare not presume to be called Senior Brother. I am Fang Hetong—'Hetong' as in seeking harmony without conformity. I hail from a minor sect and originally only wished to study the principles of the sages. Achieving a Dao Foundation was mere good fortune; I cannot compare to those of the immortal sects. This is no place to talk—come with me, please."
He gave orders to open the main gate and let the garrison troops inside, then called up to the men laboring on the wall, "Put your backs into it, everyone! Let's raise the wall by another half foot today! Every extra foot of wall means fewer lives lost!"
The men working atop the rampart roared in assent, their movements quickening.
After descending from the wall, Wei Yuan looked around the village interior. The dwellings here all had rammed-earth walls topped with thatch, and the doors were mostly woven from tree branches, with timber boards rarely seen. Many men sat propped against the base of the walls basking in the sun, most wrapped in bandages and stained with blood. As one man sat there, his body suddenly tilted, and he collapsed sideways. Two men beside him scrambled to support him, calling his name repeatedly, but he gave no response.
Fang Hetong strode to his side, placed a hand over his chest, and channeled a strand of dharmic power. Only then did the man regain consciousness, opening his mouth to retch up a mouthful of sour, yellowish-green bile.
"Feed him some food and water, but don't rush it," Fang Hetong instructed, having two men carry him away for treatment before turning back to greet Wei Yuan.
Chapter 65