With that, he turned and went back inside.
The cup that had been resting on the ground vanished in an instant, as if dragged down into the earth by something.
The corner of the courtyard returned to how it had been before.
He Lingchuan blinked and stared up at the hole in the roof. Only after quite some time did he realize that he was in the realm of souls.
The starlit skies of reality and the dream realm of souls were equally brilliant.
He sat up and stretched his back.
Like the rest of the Panlong Army, the Broken Saber squad had already departed the capital of the Xiji Kingdom and reached the easternmost city of the former state, just a single step away from the border.
With a permanent population of over ninety thousand, it was Xiji's fourth largest city and could just barely accommodate the garrisoning needs of the Panlong Army. Of course, Xiji had already fallen. In accordance with Zhong Shengguang's request, General Red had renamed the place Yuheng City.
"The Yuheng Star is the brightest star in the Big Dipper. Every night, it lights the way home for the soldiers of Panlong City."
The army had regrouped here for two days, on standby at any moment to push east.
Just as he finished stretching, Willow's call drifted in from outside: "Hey, come on out and eat dumplings, you lazy bums!"
He Lingchuan flipped to his feet and headed out, but Door Plank, who had been snoring against the corner of the wall, dashed out even faster than him.
A large cauldron had been set up on the open ground outside, where plump white dumplings bobbed and tumbled in the boiling water. A few had burst open, coating the broth in a layer of glistening oil.
One look at the pot was enough to tell that Willow's culinary skills were probably on par with He Lingchuan's. Door Plank sat down, scooped up a few dumplings, and hissed from the heat while praising how well Willow had made them.
A man had to sing his own woman's praises.
Thick-skinned as she was, Willow blushed slightly. "Several of the ones I wrapped broke apart. All the good ones were made by Old Man Liu."
Every dumpling whose guts had spilled into the soup was her handiwork.
Old Man Liu stood right beside her. In his fifties, dark and lean, with a slightly hunched back and a headscarf tied around his brow, he perfectly matched He Lingchuan's impression of an honest, hardworking commoner.
He carried over two more tiers of raw dumplings and set them beside the cauldron, smiling so broadly that his eyes narrowed into slits. "Eat plenty, there's more than enough!"
"Thank you for your hard work, Old Man Liu."
As soon as He Lingchuan sat down, Old Man Liu ladled a bowl of dumplings for him, but the bowl he scooped for Willow was heaped to overflowing.
The Broken Saber squad sat down and feasted with relish.
Ordinarily, army rations were plain and simple—consisting only of filling portions of radish dough-knot soup, dense unleavened steamed buns, and a bit of dried meat and pickled vegetables.
However, the elders of Xiluo who had heard the news in the surrounding area had arrived leading pigs and driving sheep, carrying flatbreads and cooked meals, incessantly delivering supplies to the Panlong Army.
As a result, the Panlong Army had enjoyed several extra feasts. Tonight, the unleavened steamed buns had been replaced with dumplings, featuring two fillings: pork with scallions, and carrot with egg.
Willow and A'luo had gone over to help wrap dumplings in the afternoon. When the finished goods were served, each was half the size of a palm, plump and hearty, bursting with flavorful juices at the first bite.
Old Man Liu, who had traveled over twenty li to deliver meat and vegetables, was originally from Rongshan. The moment he met Willow, he took an immense liking to her and insisted on adopting her as his goddaughter. Only later did everyone learn that he had migrated from the Panlong Wasteland to Xiji in his earlier years, and his wife and only daughter had both died in the Rongshan riots a few years ago.
No one had the heart to turn down his kindness.
Over the past two days, Yuheng City had been filled with laughter and cheerful voices.
Even though they were all stationed on the front lines.
Directly to the east lay another small state, Jintao.
Terrified by how swiftly the Panlong Army had invaded and conquered Xiji, Jintao had concentrated heavy forces along the border, confronting the Panlong Army in a tense standoff.
If He Lingchuan were to climb a tree right now, he could even spot the campfires across the border line.
Those were the armies of Jintao.
It was said that the entire nation of Jintao had mobilized, prepared to defend their homeland at any cost.
With both sides glaring at each other like this, sparks were bound to fly at the slightest provocation.
He Lingchuan understood that the Panlong Army had swept through Xiji as though entering an empty realm solely because of their speed—crossing the Xiji mountain ranges and plunging into the defenseless plains before the enemy could even react.
In He Lingchuan's eyes, Jintao was now both wary and well-prepared, and its terrain was mountainous. For the Panlong Army to achieve a swift victory with minimal casualties as they had before would be exceedingly difficult.
One could say that the Panlong Army's march eastward to return home would only now encounter true resistance.
Zhong Shengguang and the upper echelon had to be acutely aware of this.
It all depended on what strategy they would devise.
He Lingchuan sat halfway up; firelight and the sounds of voices still lingered nearby.
Thanks to their previous resounding victory, morale across the entire army was riding high.
He overheard one of the soldiers say, "Last year, when I accompanied my uncle through Dragon Throat Pass, a petty officer saw we were from Panlong City and demanded that we unload all six hundred crates of goods from our carts to check for contraband! A scuffle broke out back then, and he even spat at us. Heh-heh, would you believe it? Just yesterday, I ran into him on the street!"
"How did you handle him?"
"I tailed him home, then told him his neighbors had reported him for hoarding concealed weapons!" the soldier laughed. "He was so scared he nearly dropped to his knees. I made him haul out every piece of furniture in his house for inspection. Hah, wouldn't you know it, I actually found two broadswords! Then his whole family dropped to their knees before me!"
Laughter erupted all around.
He Lingchuan knew those were soldiers from other Panlong squads.
The Panlong Army was quartered in the western sector of Yuheng City. This area was filled with grand residences belonging to wealthy families, which the Panlong Army had temporarily requisitioned as barracks so as not to disrupt the lives of the common folk.
General Red had even issued a public proclamation declaring that so long as residents were law-abiding citizens, their lives and property in Yuheng City would be safeguarded.
Of course, the unspoken condition was that the final interpretation of "law-abiding" belonged entirely to the Panlong Army.
Over the past several days, the major cities had resumed normal operations under the watch of the Panlong Army. Shops on the streets had reopened for business, and foot traffic in the markets was steadily increasing.
The city was returning to its ordinary rhythm, as if the conquest that had raged for over half a month had never happened.
In truth, because the Panlong Army had advanced so swiftly, desperate resistance had only occurred around the royal palace. Even the capital's infrastructure and ecology had suffered minimal damage, making restoration relatively easy.
Once the Panlong Army completed its rest and resupply in Yuheng City, it would set out to continue its eastward journey home. General Red had already dispatched several teams of scouts to gather intelligence on Jintao's forces.
This had been the hot topic throughout the ranks over the past few days. A major victory achieved at minimal cost filled everyone with eager anticipation for their return to their homeland.
War was never simple, but He Lingchuan knew that the truth was far more complicated than that.
After finishing his dumplings and soup, He Lingchuan climbed back onto the roof and began playing the xun.
A rat scurrying along the rafters stumbled upon hearing it.
As a novice, he was still sorely lacking in tune and rhythm.
Hu Min rolled his eyes and said to Door Plank, "Here he goes again. The boss hasn't spared our ears for the past several nights."
Door Plank lowered his voice as well. "He's still better off on the flute."
A poorly played xun sounded like a wailing ghost, which was strangely fitting for a battlefield where people died every day.
Whenever the fighting, killing, and bandaging were done, He Lingchuan would practice his instrument whenever he had spare time, claiming that military life required musical enrichment.
There was no helping it; Master Sun would test him upon his return.
Other squads had intended to protest, but when they drew near and realized it was Broken Saber wailing—no, playing the xun—they promptly turned on their heels and retreated.
War heroes always enjoyed certain privileges.
Fortunately, Broken Saber did not get to torment them for long tonight, as a rapid sequence of military whistles suddenly shrilled in the distance:
"Assemble! Assemble! Proclamation of critical military intelligence!"
Critical military intelligence? Everyone dropped what they were holding and rushed to assemble at the plaza in the western sector of the city.
This area had once been densely built, but most of the structures had been ruined during the street fighting when the city fell. The Panlong Army had simply ordered the ruins razed, clearing a plaza large enough to hold several thousand men.
Soon, several thousand soldiers were in formation. Torches burned bright, casting thick smoke, and every man stood ramrod straight. The entire plaza was dead silent.
Clad in full armor, General Red stepped forward, accompanied by another man.
The man's attire was distinctly different from that of both Panlong City and the former Xiji.
Reflected in the torchlight, his expression was visibly uneasy.
"This is an envoy sent from the royal capital. He arrived here first, and must later carry word onward to Panlong City!" General Red projected her voice to offer a brief introduction, then turned to the envoy. "Come, read the sovereign's decree aloud!"
"What?" Hearing the second half of her words, the envoy looked flabbergasted. "General, this decree is addressed solely to you and Commander Zhong!"
"Oh?" General Red held out her hand to him. "Then hand it over to me."
The envoy was deeply affronted. "You must receive it on your knees!"
With a flick of her hand, General Red snatched the decree from his grip, moving so fast that the envoy failed to react before she had unrolled it and begun reading aloud in a clear, resonant voice.
It turned out that what the monarch had commanded the envoy to deliver by forced march day and night was an order of reprimand. It denounced Zhong Shengguang for raising troops without authorization and ruining diplomatic ties, claiming that marching through Xiji Kingdom did not display Xiluo's national might, but rather harassed a friendly neighbor and created enemies on all sides—failing to comprehend the monarch's benevolent intent and plunging the motherland into war and strife.
It further stated that Xiluo had never issued a resettlement decree to Panlong City, and therefore:
"'The Panlong Army is hereby commanded to turn west at once, defend our borders, and cease trampling upon friendly neighboring states!'" Reaching the final line, General Red spread her hands. "Finished reading."
A commotion swept through the ranks below. Every man's eyes went wide, and even the strictly disciplined Gale Army could not help looking at one another in disbelief.
Such a thing had actually happened! While they were striving eagerly to return home, the monarch had issued a decree of reprimand!
They had struck like lightning and swept through all opposition, yet their motherland regarded it not as an honor, but as a disgrace!
The sovereign actually wanted them to go back!
Back to an isolated realm surrounded by enemies, completely devoid of aid.
Willow murmured, "No way... is this for real?"
Door Plank's voice was grim and muffled. "Those dog bastards... they won't let us go home!"
Discontent like this spread through the army like wildfire, heedless of the setting.
Unable to bear the furious glares directed at him from below, the envoy from Xiluo wiped sweat from his face incessantly. "This defies protocol! General, you have overstepped your bounds!"
Seeing was truly believing; General Red's insolence was even more outrageous than the rumors claimed. She had actually read the sovereign's secret decree aloud to common grunts!
This was a matter of state importance and critical military secrecy; the monarch had explicitly ordered him to ensure Zhong Shengguang dismissed everyone present so that no third party would hear it.
Now look at this! Thousands of pairs of ears had heard every word!
These common soldiers were simple-minded brutes; what could they possibly understand of grand statecraft and high strategy?
He would report this truthfully the moment he returned!
Ignoring him completely, General Red merely looked at the soldiers assembled below the platform and asked, "Did every one of you hear that clearly?"
Chapter 451