The Zhan clan had also come to a halt in Bu County, which made rumors and gossip run even wilder.
Many began to feel regret.
Waiting was always excruciatingly slow.
Eight hours later, as the sun began to slant toward the west once more, the scout Zhan Song had sent to Dunyu finally galloped back. The news he brought left the Zhan clan uncertain whether to take it as good or bad.
"Dunyu posted notices in the middle of the night yesterday. Today, lanterns and banners are hung everywhere, and by noon every restaurant was packed to the gills. The Song Troupe set up a stage at Xiaojiaotian Square by the south gate to put on operas—word is the provincial government arranged it, and the performances will run for most of the day."
The scout continued, "Dozens of heads are hanging over the city gates. People say they all belong to commanders of the Xunzhou cavalry and the ringleaders who slaughtered and plundered the most. They've all been dusted with lime, and huge crowds are gathered to look at them."
"Also, Dunyu City is open again. The lockdown has been lifted."
Severed enemy heads hung from the city walls?
Dunyu open once again?
Zhan Song braced himself against the back of his chair and slowly sank down, his heart chilled to the core. "We've been had. We fell right into a trap."
The clansmen looked at him with wide, anxious eyes. What were they supposed to do now?
Someone asked, "Could this be fake too?"
"How could a city be locked down yesterday only to open today?"
"We just reached Bu County and news of a great victory arrives at the exact same time—how could there be such a coincidence?"
"Right," Zhan Song interjected suddenly. "There is no such thing as a coincidence."
The crowd froze. "Are you saying Governor-General He didn't win?"
"He won," Zhan Song said with a bitter smile. "But I fear he sat on the news, using it to set a trap for us! After all, wasn't it up to him when the report of victory was announced?"
The atmosphere turned grim in an instant.
When Dunyu City was under dire threat, they had felt miserable.
Yet now that Governor-General He had routed the enemy and beheaded their commanders, they felt even more wretched.
Over two hundred members of their clan were already out here—what were they supposed to do next?
Go back to Dunyu City?
Over the past few days, they had sold everything they could sell and liquidated their properties; if they went back, what would they do?
Besides, out of the four great clans, only theirs had fled. If they slunk back now, wouldn't the other three clans laugh at them until the end of time?
Zhan Song's heart felt twisted like fried dough, knotted in unbearable agony.
They had swallowed a bitter pill of monumental proportions, and they couldn't utter a peep of complaint.
Yet who was to blame other than his own lack of nerve? Looking back at how the Li clan had gone on a buying spree yesterday, could they have gotten wind of this in advance?
After wallowing in misery for a long time, he finally exhaled a foul breath. "We're not going back. We continue south. We still have properties down south, and the kin who moved earlier are all in Canglin County. There are plenty of houses for us there."
He kept the rest of his thoughts to himself:
Not only did the Zhan clan have properties there, but it was also closer to the border. If Dunyu ever showed signs of falling, they could flee Xiazhou in the blink of an eye.
The clansmen exchanged glances, shrinking their necks, offering no objection.
Fourth Master Zhan, however, slammed the table and sprang to his feet, bellowing in fury, "If you won't go back, I will! I still have an unfinished score to settle with the Li clan!"
His wife and child had died at the hands of the Li clan's private soldiers, and he was still waiting for justice. "I told you from the start not to leave, not to leave, but none of you listened! Look at the colossal blunder we've made now—which of you still has the face to go back?"
Second Master Zhan glanced at Zhan Song's expression and gave a slight cough. "You shouldn't say that. You're being reckless, Fourth Brother. We always intended to move south, and we never planned on going back in the first place."
Zhan Song nodded. "Fourth Brother, go back. We can't let the Li clan live too comfortably."
He beckoned a steward over. "Take two men and accompany Fourth Master Zhan back. See to his daily needs."
Having Fourth Master Zhan go back to keep an eye on things was good as well; he could press the provincial government to resolve the case fairly as soon as possible. Even if the Zhan clan departed, they wouldn't let the Li clan off easily—every copper of compensation owed by the Li clan had to be paid in full!
***
Dunyu City.
A day earlier, it had been a bleak, frigid night where every trade was stagnant, and even the dogs didn't dare bark.
A day later, lanterns and banners hung everywhere, and crowds flowed through the streets like a tapestry.
Two completely different worlds, separated only by a resounding, exhilarating victory.
He Chunhua specially hosted a banquet at Hesu Restaurant to welcome home the victorious generals led by Zhao Qinghe and Wu Shaoyi.
In truth, this force had returned triumphant as early as two mornings ago, but they had remained hidden in the countryside and only made a grand entrance into the city today, thereby being greeted by crowds lining the streets.
At the banquet table, the generals spoke of the battles on the front lines, their faces glowing with excitement.
He Chunhua had deliberately chosen not to book a private dining room, instead reserving the entire second floor. That way, the lively commotion upstairs filtered down, audible to every guest below.
Whenever the generals reached a thrilling point in their tales, guests would pound up the stairs, insisting on toasting them.
As this happened again and again, He Lingchuan simply ordered an open banquet on the ground floor—anyone could come and eat, and everyone shared in the merriment.
Once they ate and drank their fill, the gossip and colorful details would surely spread throughout the city embellished ten times over, exactly as the He father and son anticipated.
The feast lasted from noon to dusk before everyone departed in high spirits.
He Lingchuan grabbed He Chunhua and said, "Father, you can't cheat your own son. Settle the bill for today's feast right now!"
He Chunhua was in great spirits and a little tipsy; he waved a hand decisively. "Put it on the tab—charge it to the provincial government!"
In fact, He Lingchuan already knew that the force He Chunhua dispatched had indeed won, but this great victory was inflated with quite a bit of water. The Xunzhou troops they caught and defeated were nowhere near nine thousand.
In truth, the enemy had only numbered twelve hundred.
After Nian Zanli tore a breach through Zhao Pan's defensive line, he redeployed his main army south, hoping to seize several more cities and expand his gains to establish a firm foothold; otherwise, venturing deep without support would only make them easy pickings.
At the same time, however, he had also sent out several cavalry detachments further south to wage small-scale guerrilla raids—harassing towns and villages, plundering the populace, and scouting routes of official grain transport convoys in preparation for surprise ambushes.
These cavalry detachments were highly mobile, but each numbered only a few hundred men.
He Chunhua knew that Xiazhou's troops were poorly trained and their combat capability was abysmal; on an open battlefield, a single charge would likely rout them. However, on their own turf, outnumbering the enemy gave them a fair chance.
Before departure, he had rehearsed tactics repeatedly with several of his key generals. Wu Shaoyi and Zhao Qinghe also had great luck this time, hitting their targets spot on. Coordinated by local citizens in Xinhuang, Hetao, and Lu'an, they successfully ambushed two enemy detachments, while the final one had actually retreated without fighting, never engaging them directly.
The Xunzhou forces suffered because they didn't know He Chunhua had already arrived in Dunyu, assuming Xiazhou's defenses were completely empty. Furthermore, during their previous raids on towns and counties, they hadn't encountered any decent resistance and the garrisons collapsed at the first blow, making them careless and overconfident.
He Chunhua caught them off guard to achieve such spectacular results. Even so, friendly casualties still reached over four hundred men.
When He Lingchuan learned the real numbers, he couldn't help giving He Chunhua a thumbs-up. "As expected of you, Father! If you're going to play, play big—pumping that much water into the exaggeration!" Inflating the numbers by five times!
"How else do you think morale and military resolve are built up?" He Chunhua smiled bitterly. "Half of it comes down to bragging!"
"With this victory as a foundation, their courage will be a bit stronger the next time they face the Xunzhou army." Governor-General He's eyes held equal parts joy and worry.
The joy came from how this resounding victory laid a solid foundation for his prestige in Dunyu, causing a subtle shift in power and status between him and the prominent clans led by the four great families.
Half of the heavy stone pressing on He Chunhua's chest was lifted. With this victory, many of his subsequent government orders could be carried out smoothly.
The worry was equally evident: the fragile reality of Xiazhou's forces had been laid bare. His recruitment and training plans had to be implemented as quickly as possible.
Still, in any case, the most difficult hurdle of their initial arrival in Dunyu was behind them.
***
That night, He Lingchuan entered the dreamscape again, but Meng Shan, who had just finished pummeling several opponents, hung out a sign refusing challenges, claiming he was exhausted from fighting and needed to rest for a few days.
Last time, He Lingchuan had nearly crushed his Adam's apple.
Although Meng Shan had ultimately hoisted He Lingchuan by the neck to forcibly disconnect him, Meng Shan did not enjoy the special care of the dreamscape like He Lingchuan did. Any wounds he took couldn't simply heal overnight; he needed several days to recuperate.
By now, He Lingchuan could hold out against him for over a quarter of an hour.
Reasonably speaking, the rules of the Martial Review Hall actually favored Meng Shan, since the sharpness of blades had no effect here, giving blunt weapons and sheer strength an obvious advantage. Meng Shan had tough skin, thick flesh, and immense strength; whether He Lingchuan used a saber, spear, staff, or thrusting weapon, the damage he could inflict was limited.
On top of that, these were face-to-face duels where sneak attacks and ambushes were basically useless.
Yet even so, He Lingchuan lasted longer and longer each time.
Although he didn't have enough military merits to exchange for new supernatural abilities, spending so much time in the Martial Review Hall allowed him to learn from others' strengths and equip another extremely useful weapon:
The sleeve arrow.
As the name implied, it was hidden inside the sleeve, capable of striking enemies within thirty-four paces with a flick of the wrist. The sleeve arrows provided by the Martial Review Hall had both cases and bolts made of wood, meaning poor durability and mediocre quality. Even so, when He Lingchuan used it to ambush Meng Shan, he nearly blinded the man's eye.
Once back in reality, he immediately went to Li Fubo to commission a custom sleeve arrow. The launcher case was made of red copper, the arrowheads blended with refined gold, and it fired two shots in succession.
At the same time, two talismans were to be engraved on each bolt—meaning two array formations were added: one for "Wind Ward" to shield the bolt from wind interference and prevent it from veering off course, and another for "Penetration" to enhance the tip's piercing power. After all, the punch of a sleeve arrow inherently fell short of a longbow and required extra enhancement.
A set consisted of one launcher case and six short bolts, which could also be coated with poison.
He also asked Li Fubo to combine a grappling cord with the sleeve arrow—namely, allowing the end of the bolt to attach to a cord in case of emergency.
Crafting just this one contraption wiped out another three hundred taels of silver.
That was worth half a storefront! Custom masterwork from Songyang Mansion was just that expensive, and this was even a friend's price at half off.
Li Fubo gave him repeated thumbs-up, attempting to soothe his customer's emotional trauma. "This thing is practical. Eldest Young Master has a discerning eye. It's a must-have for many regular patrons of Songyang Mansion—when they run out, they always come back to us for refills."
He Lingchuan couldn't even be bothered to roll his eyes. *If it's so useful, why didn't you recommend it to me earlier?*
It wasn't as if he hadn't considered another famous hidden weapon he'd read about in books, the legendary "Torrential Pear Blossom Needles." But once Li Fubo quoted him the price, especially the fact that the dozens of specialized needle-pins launched in a single volley couldn't be recovered, he abandoned the thought in an instant.
*Who came up with such a ruinously wasteful contraption!*
Chapter 238