The others teased him, "Is this one bear gallbladder enough to pay for your third brother's bride price?"
Door Plank clapped him on the shoulder. "Want me to chip in a bit? But mind you, that wife will be partly mine!"
"It's enough, it's enough! And there's none for you lot!" Skinny retorted breezily, carefully placing it into a box.
His squadmates all knew he was the eldest son in his family, with four younger brothers and two younger sisters below him. His second brother had lost a leg in battle and could no longer handle the heavy labor needed to support the household.
After their parents passed away, Skinny, as the eldest brother, had to take on the responsibilities of a father. With the bear gallbladder in hand, his confidence swelled. "Let's see what the in-laws dare demand this time!"
Just as everyone was preparing to bid farewell and head home to rest, Squad Leader Liu Tong walked back over. "Don't disband yet. The next mission is here."
Door Plank froze. "Right now?"
From tracking and ambushing to the actual fight, they had been working for over a dozen shichen before finally slaying the bear demon. Right now, they should have been resting and recovering their energy.
"This is a mandatory mission; there's no room for negotiation." Liu Tong looked solemn. "Tend to your wounds and prepare five days of supplies. Regroup at South Gate Square after resting for one and a half shichen. This time, it's legion-scale warfare!"
Everyone was startled and began chiming in at once. "We're taking part in legion warfare too?"
"Is it finally our turn?"
"A pitched battle is great—it pays way more military merit!" And more money, too. Skinny licked his lips. "I'm sick and tired of slaying monsters anyway."
He Lingchuan asked instead, "How many legions are taking part?"
"I don't know, that's classified." Liu Tong instructed them, "Time is tight. Hurry and restock your rations, water, medicinal pills, arrows, and other weapons. Lead your horses back to the stables to rest; I'll go arrange a fresh batch of warhorses to swap them out. Once we leave the city, we might have to make a long march."
Door Plank's expression turned serious. "Are we going to Puxigou?"
"I don't know." Liu Tong hurried away.
Willow twisted her neck, producing a few crisp cracking sounds. "The horses get to rest, but we don't get that luxury." After toiling for over a dozen shichen on the hunt, returning to the city utterly exhausted, they were suddenly ordered to set out again immediately. "I'm heading back to sleep for a bit."
Skinny had to rush home to deliver this trip's spoils to his family, but before leaving, he didn't forget to ask his squadmates, "Hey, there's only one shichen left—none of you will have time to shop, right? How about doing it like last time: twenty scallion-and-meat pancakes and five pieces of cheese each?"
Door Plank frowned. "Every single time we buy from your sister-in-law, and she doesn't give us a discount?"
"For you lot, my family always uses good flour and extra oil. When you eat them, don't you find them rich, glistening, and fragrant?" Skinny counted on his fingers. "Even so, each pancake is a copper coin cheaper than the market price. That's a teammate discount, a price of good conscience!"
"Then why is the meat in the pancakes a bit sour?" another squadmate chimed in, leaning closer. "What kind of meat did you actually put in there?"
"Good meat! It's completely proper, genuine meat!" Skinny said solemnly. "I watched them make the pancakes with my own eyes. Don't worry, there's absolutely no cutting corners."
"I even bit into a fly in my pancake," the squadmate countered unconvinced. "Since you watched the whole process, didn't you see a fly dive right in?"
"One more fly is one more mouthful of meat! It's crisp and crunchy—why pick it out?"
Everyone booed him, yet tacitly agreed to keep buying dry rations from his family. Skinny had a large household to feed on his own; he was always strapped for cash and wouldn't let slip even half a copper coin. In any case, scallion-and-meat pancakes tasted about the same no matter whose stall they came from. At least Skinny was right about one thing: the pancakes his sister-in-law griddled had plenty of oil, making them far more filling.
With the others gone, Skinny turned to He Lingchuan. "Broken Saber, do you need anything else?"
"Get me another five jin of beef jerky. Make it dry and firm, not soggy."
"Deal!" Skinny knew bachelors like He Lingchuan had no family to support and only needed to feed themselves, so they were naturally much more generous with food and expenses.
Cattle were precious draft animals; unless injured, sick, or old, who would bear to butcher one? The price of beef jerky was at least three times that of cheese.
He Lingchuan emphasized, "No cat meat, no civet meat. Real, proper beef."
"Got it, got it!" Skinny laughed it off and turned to run, but He Lingchuan called out to stop him.
"Help me get a few ghost shadow cicada sloughs as well."
"Ghost shadow..." Skinny paused. "Those things aren't cheap."
"Exchanging military merit for them is even pricier." Every city had an underground black market, and strict Panlong City was no exception; rare goods not easily found in regular markets circulated there. If not for Hu Min and A'luo both being away, He Lingchuan wouldn't have troubled this fellow with it.
The ghost shadow cicada slough was the indispensable "seed" required to cast Sacrifice the Plum to Preserve the Peach. Once He Lingchuan learned this divine ability, as long as he placed it on the ground beforehand, he could freely swap positions with it within five zhang.
Although it had a cooldown of three shichen, when used properly, it was truly a god-tier skill.
After Skinny left, He Lingchuan returned to the Pengcheng Office and used his accumulated military merit to redeem Sacrifice the Plum to Preserve the Peach.
Then he found an inn nearby and took a room. The shorter the interval between battles, the more urgent it was to seize every moment to recuperate.
Hu Min had departed yesterday afternoon without saying where he was going. Coincidentally, A'luo had done the same, leading He Lingchuan to deduce that they had set off for the Panlong Wasteland ahead of him.
During these past several dream journeys, he had made a conscious effort to gather intelligence. He quickly discovered that Panlong City and the Baling army had already traded blows several times across the battlefield of Puxigou. Faced with the harassment and wear-down tactics employed by the Baling army, Panlong City chose to focus on major threats while letting minor ones pass, refusing to wait passively; they only dispatched troops to secure the perimeter during the concentrated crop harvesting or when merchant caravans departed the city.
After several raids proved futile, the Baling army simply committed more troops to plundering merchant caravans.
After all, Puxigou's local specialties were genuinely lucrative.
Prior to today, the Baling army had successfully carried out three raids and failed four times, the most recent being three days ago.
Mobilizing troops to raid seven times in a mere two months showed just how intense the clash between the two sides had become.
For medium-scale, high-frequency operations like this, relying solely on the Gale Army was out of the question; it had other missions to carry out. Thus, the Patrol Guard was brought in as reinforcements, becoming one of the primary forces in every Puxigou escort detachment.
Many Patrol Guard squads had already been deployed there; now, it was finally the turn of He Lingchuan's squad.
The moment he lay down on the couch, the exhaustion accumulated over the past dozen-plus shichen surged over him like a deluge, pulling him straight into sleep.
During his past few missions, He Lingchuan had been surprised to discover that he could actually fall asleep inside the dream.
Only, such rest did not produce a dream within a dream; it was simply a deep, heavy slumber, and waking from it left him full of vigor, his fatigue completely wiped away.
With two quarters of an hour left before the assembly time, He Lingchuan walked over to a small eatery nearby. He ordered a basin of boiled sliced mutton, two enormous unleavened steamed buns, and a large bowl of wonton soup, scarfing it down with gusto.
Of all foods, meat kept hunger away the longest. As for the scallion-and-meat pancakes from Skinny's family, He Lingchuan intended to delay eating them as long as possible.
Yet those who could eat like this in a small eatery were likely only Patrol Guards. Anyone else would hesitate for ages before even ordering a bowl of mutton soup with merely a few drops of fat floating on top.
A child sitting nearby was practically drooling to the verge of tears, nibbling slowly on a plain steamed bun while stealing glances at He Lingchuan's bowl.
He Lingchuan focused solely on eating and drinking his fill.
The waiter held two water bladders filled to the brim and courteously handed them to He Lingchuan. Many Patrol Guards dined here, and the shop would offer whatever assistance they could, such as topping up dry rations and fresh water.
He Lingchuan stood up, paid the bill, and then pointed at the soup bowl, asking the child, "Do you want it?"
The child nodded furiously. There were still several large wontons left in the soup, along with fragrant scallions and a glistening layer of fat.
The child's mother looked on wistfully; it felt as if her household had not tasted meat in two months.
He Lingchuan placed the bowl on the child's table and turned to leave.
Panlong City, South Gate Square.
When He Lingchuan found his squad, seven or eight hundred people had already gathered on the square, mostly dressed in Patrol Guard uniforms.
Skinny arrived with his second brother's wife, handing out dry rations with one hand and collecting coins with the other.
The young woman was fair-skinned and rather pretty, carrying two baskets on her arms filled with freshly made scallion-and-meat pancakes that steamed through the greaseproof paper. She smiled at everyone, not minding at all when the men cracked jokes or bantered crudely with her.
Door Plank said to Skinny, "If you want me to buy again next time, your sister-in-law had better deliver the pancakes herself!"
Skinny rolled his eyes. "Then you'd better live through today first." He jutted his chin toward Willow as he spoke.
Door Plank looked over to find Willow glaring daggers at him, her eyebrows nearly bristling with fury. He ducked his head and coughed twice.
Liu Tong came over and led his squadmates into a nearby alley, where someone had brought over sets of light leather armor.
He Lingchuan started slightly, while Door Plank blurted out, "Ah, isn't this the Gale Army uniform?!"
The standard equipment of the Gale Army differed from that of any other unit; it could be recognized at a glance.
To be inducted into the Gale Army and don this uniform was a glory countless people strived for!
"What are you yelling for? Afraid people won't hear you?" Liu Tong made a shushing gesture. "Put it on right here. Quick."
No one asked further questions, deftly changing gear while attendants took away their Patrol Guard uniforms.
Door Plank stroked the Gale Army uniform on his body, eyes filled with emotion. "Are they giving this gear to us for keeps?"
The equipment was neither entirely new nor worn out, evidently having been worn by its original owners for some time. He Lingchuan even spotted dark red bloodstains on the vambraces.
Meat pies didn't fall from the sky—not even half-eaten ones. Willow asked suspiciously, "What do they want us to do?"
"Why ask so many questions when you're just soldiers?" More people arrived leading horses, each sleek, spirited, and brushed immaculately, with their own fodder strapped behind the saddles.
On a forced march like this, horses could graze on wild grass and drink from wasteland streams, but to give them endurance and sustained stamina, the cavalry had to carry concentrated feed of their own.
Seeing this, everyone exchanged glances.
Were there not a tough battle ahead, why would the preparations be so meticulous?
Liu Tong called for everyone to lead their horses back to the square.
Willow and the others had already had their wounds redressed with fresh medicine. Panlong City's miraculous medicines were extraordinarily effective on superficial wounds, so their movements were now barely hindered.
By now, over a thousand soldiers and mounts had assembled on South Gate Square. A burly man clad in heavy armor stepped up and began rallying the entire force.
He Lingchuan heard people say that this was General Nan Ke.
Chapter 188