Beside them, Shan Youjun remarked, "I've heard the Mian Kingdom stood for nearly a century as well. Those royals had no real talent for anything else, but they bred like rabbits, fast and thick. Spreading their branches for over a hundred years, their numbers must far exceed thirty or forty thousand."
"Those were only the royal kin who died in the capital and its surrounding areas, along with their maternal relatives, servants, and so forth."
Fine, he'd forgotten that the rich and powerful usually bred faster than rats. "Your legs certainly can travel far. Do you have to visit the scene in person even when the battle doesn't involve the Beijia Kingdom?"
"This was a task assigned by the National Preceptor; it had to be done." The captive hung his head. "Just like last night's battle, which took place between you and the Xunzhou men. I was merely sent here as an envoy of the Beijia Kingdom to collect nightmare energy. Yet... the amount gathered was pitifully small."
"You think not enough people died?" Jiao Tai sneered, raising his fist to punch him square in the gut. "Filthy bastard!"
The blow left the captive dry-heaving violently. Shan Youjun snapped at his companion, "Cut it out, the Boss is questioning him!"
He Lingchuan's focus, however, was on the words "pitifully small":
"Pitifully small? What do you mean?"
"At least nearly two hundred people died last night," the captive wheezed, barely catching his breath. "By all rights, I should have gathered over a hundred streaks of red light—you saw them yourself—yet there was hardly any, barely a dozen at most. Otherwise, I wouldn't have lingered here for so long!"
"It was less?" He Lingchuan's eyes shifted slightly. "Has this never happened before?"
The captive shook his head.
Which meant... was there something here hindering the Dragon-Torture Pillar from harvesting nightmare energy?
On the surface at least, Xinhuang Town was just an ordinary, unremarkable town.
He changed the subject. "The Xunzhou men don't know your purpose?"
The captive shook his head.
"Yet they allowed you to accompany them." Nian Zanli had defected to the Beijia Kingdom, the northern demon kingdom, so there was obviously no reason to turn away an envoy sent by the latter. "So, do you know which general led the raid on Bailu Town?"
"He was originally a general of the Beijia Kingdom named Hong Chenglüe, who had amassed countless military feats. Some of the nightmare energy I collected came from campaigns he initiated." The captive's voice was hoarse, and he reached out for water again.
"Give him some."
After wetting his parched throat with water, the captive continued, "Later on, he retired to avoid warfare and lived in seclusion. For a long time, I heard nothing of him. I don't know what happened this time, but he came out again to command the light cavalry's operations in Xiazhou."
"Was he the one who devised the ambush plan?"
"Yes. The Governor of Xunzhou ordered all the cavalry here to obey his command."
"Do you know where they were hiding before this?"
"I've been there, but... but I don't know Xiazhou well. Once I left, I couldn't find my way back." The captive stammered, "All I know is that they have a base north of Bailu Town; it seemed to be a timber farm. That was where I met Hong Chenglüe."
"Did they discuss what to do if the raid failed?" In planning any offensive, a contingency plan for failure had to be drafted beforehand.
The captive shook his head repeatedly. "I don't know. They never let me attend discussions of battle plans."
"Also, why is Dong Rui, the demon puppet master, operating alongside the Xunzhou cavalry?" He Lingchuan asked, puzzled. "Isn't he a wanted fugitive in the Beijia Kingdom?"
"Uh, I heard that as long as he took part in our operations, he could receive a special pardon."
He Lingchuan raised an eyebrow. "Oh? He committed grave crimes, and even that can be pardoned?"
The captive smiled sheepishly. "I'm not clear on the details."
"Does Governor-General He know about any of this yet?"
Before the captive could speak, Shan Youjun chimed in, "The only ones who've heard his confession are the Boss and the two of us."
He Lingchuan smiled faintly, recognizing Shan Youjun's display of loyalty. "Good."
Next, he went to find He Chunhua and relayed the fresh intelligence.
Hearing that the Beijia Kingdom had sent people to collect nightmare energy to take back for deliverance rites, He Chunhua sneered. "Who are they fooling? Would they ever do this if there were nothing to gain?"
"My thoughts exactly." Like father, like son. "Still, the men Beijia dispatched seem to genuinely believe it without a shadow of doubt."
"The most brilliant scams are the ones that deceive even your own people," He Chunhua mocked. "Not to mention after five hundred years of indoctrination, simply saying 'such is tradition' ensures that no matter how foolish it is, the people of Beijia will never question it."
He held up the miniature scepter handed over by He Lingchuan, inspecting it repeatedly and rubbing his fingers over it several times. When his eldest son began to speak of "Hong Chenglüe," he casually slipped the scepter into his robes, the gesture entirely natural.
He Lingchuan frowned inwardly at the sight, but if his old man wanted the scepter, he seemed to have no valid reason to object.
"Hong Chenglüe? I have indeed heard that name before." He Chunhua wore a pensive expression. "Skilled in military affairs, swift and elusive as the wind. Having such an adversary is truly no blessing for Xiazhou. Hm, it would be best if this march could draw him out and eliminate him; otherwise, allowing him to cause havoc behind our northern front will remain a dire threat."
He looked at He Lingchuan and suddenly said, "Chuan'er, both Maotao and Shan Youjun under you are adept at gathering intelligence. Make a trip to Bailu Town on my behalf. I need more information on Hong Chenglüe."
The Xiazhou army was staying here until tomorrow morning, so there was plenty of time. He Lingchuan agreed without hesitation and rounded up his men the moment he stepped out of the tent.
Among these subordinates, Shan Youjun had been in the limelight lately, with He Lingchuan taking him everywhere. Maotao, an old hand, felt a bit slighted. Hearing that the Boss was heading to Bailu Town, he spoke up before tasks were assigned: "Take me, take me! When it comes to dealing with rustic villagers and local gossips, you need me!"
He Lingchuan gave a slight chuckle. Adding Jiao Tai made three pillars of support. When sniffing around for intelligence in an unfamiliar place, bringing more hands never hurt.
Lingguang leaped onto the horse's rump as well, sitting even steadier than a person. As for a terrifying beast like the rock wolf, it was left behind in camp.
The group rode westward.
...
New strangers had arrived in Bailu Town. The glances cast by the townsfolk were guarded and distant.
He Lingchuan and his companions had come from the east. All along the way, they spotted fallen corpses, mostly clad in Xiazhou military uniforms, some already gnawed on by coyotes and other wild beasts.
By the time they entered Bailu Town, the temporary camp erected by the Xiazhou army had long since been reduced to cinders and ash, with corpses strewn haphazardly everywhere.
Wu Shaoyi had been chased off at the time and never returned, and the Xunzhou soldiers certainly wouldn't clean up after their foes, leaving the bodies of the Xiazhou troops exposed to the open air. The arrival of He Lingchuan's party startled away a flock of crows, as well as feral dogs skulking at the edge of the woods.
The men inspected the battlefield but found not a single survivor. Several corpses showed obvious signs of finishing blows; Hong Chenglüe's troops had clearly done their work with meticulous thoroughness, missing no one.
The method he used here was similar to what Baili Qing had done in Xinhuang: blow up the commander first, then ruthlessly crush the disorganized mob. Before Wu Shaoyi could even react, he had already lost half the battle.
As for the other half, given the quality and caliber of the Xunzhou troops, it was nearly impossible to hold on to either.
According to the feedback Shan Youjun and the others gave He Lingchuan, more than half of the dead had fatal wounds on their backs. In other words, they were cut down while turning tail and fleeing, unable to mount even a semblance of resistance.
The grain and fodder had naturally been burned to a cinder. Yet Maotao still found fresh footprints beside the supply carts, pressed into the burned-out ashes—evidently appearing only after the fighting had ended.
Moreover, they were the footprints of civilians.
This meant that the townsfolk of Bailu Town had entered the battlefield to scavenge for anything edible or useful before leaving.
Finding no further useful intelligence on the battlefield, He Lingchuan made his way into the town.
To his surprise, apart from five or six houses near the temporary camp that were caught in the crossfire, Bailu Town had suffered very little damage. The flatbread shop in town had opened early in the morning, the baker currently kneading coarse flour dough, while local loafers were still idling along the streets.
When He Lingchuan and his men arrived, the townsfolk stayed well clear of them, their gazes exceptionally cold.
He jerked his chin toward Maotao, who took the hint and strode straight toward the flatbread shop.
The others strolled through half the town, Shan Youjun whispering, "Looks to me like the doors and windows on all these houses are intact. They weren't looted."
Xunzhou soldiers not looting civilians? A strange anomaly indeed.
These light cavalrymen had penetrated deep behind enemy lines with few provisions of their own, typically pillaging and eating whatever they could find wherever they went.
Plundering whom? Plundering commoners and prominent local households, euphemistically calling it sustaining the war through war.
Yet Bailu Town was untouched. Could it be that the Xunzhou soldiers had grown fat enough off the grain in Wu Shaoyi's camp yesterday and plundered their fill?
Jiao Tai pointed at a large gate inside an alley and said, "Who says? Look at this household."
The pair of ebony doors of this residence was quite imposing; it was likely an influential, distinguished family in these parts. There was even a plaque above the lintel, but half of it had been smashed down. The front doors stood wide open with not a soul in sight, free for anyone to come and go.
Jiao Tai slipped inside and came back out a moment later.
"A total mess inside. Ransacked. The worthless stuff was smashed to pieces too, and there are bloodstains and hair on the floor."
He Lingchuan nodded and ordered his subordinates to disperse and gather information.
He also tried questioning people himself, but every townsfolk he encountered kept their distance. The moment he approached, they would run away or simply shake their heads, saying, "I don't know, I really didn't see anything."
He touched his own face. Such a handsome young fellow—could he possibly look as fierce and vicious as Lu Xin the rock wolf?
Later, he spotted a boy of about six with a big head and small body scribbling in an alleyway. The "artwork" on the wall was a messy scrawl, all drawn with long charcoal sticks.
Hm? Charcoal sticks?
He Lingchuan walked over, putting on the genial expression of a big bad wolf posing as a sweet granny. "Little friend, where did you pick up that charcoal stick?"
The boy turned at the voice, casting him a wary look. He didn't speak, but he didn't run off either.
"Want some candy?" He Lingchuan prodded Lingguang with a finger. Reluctantly, the latter drew a paper-wrapped piece of maltose candy from its medicine pouch and held it out to the boy.
The boy snatched the candy, peeled off the wrapper with his soot-stained hands, popped it into his mouth, and pointed with his other hand toward the camp. "Picked it up over there."
"When the bandits came last night, did they enter the town to loot anything?"
The boy shook his head.
He Lingchuan asked again, "Do you recognize those bandits?"
The boy fell silent, eyes darting back and forth, clearly thinking.
Without needing a reminder from its master, Lingguang produced another candy and dangled it before his eyes. The boy reached out to grab it, but how could he catch it?
Matching agility with a macaque was no easy feat.
"There's plenty of candy." Lingguang was too stingy; it should have brought out a whole handful. "As long as you tell the truth."
Chapter 264