Chapter 316 - Stay Or Go Home?
Ming Hui's expression turned ashen when he looked at the wounded Soujin on the horseback. With Yan and Shu help, he quickly carried Soujin to the tent and tended his wound. The wounds were deep and he could easily recognize several blades strike.
For a powerful general like him to suffer a lot of wounds, how many powerful people that surrounded him? Focusing on the treatment, Ming Hui sped up his hand and cleared the wound. He would not let his friend die in front of him.
Behind him, Jun Hua was helping by bringing the necessary equipment. Although Jun Hua was not a doctor, she was proficient at handling the wound, so she knew what Ming Hui needed. With her assistance, the treatment for Soujin's wounds quickly finished.
The only one who couldn't help was Yan, so he calmed the soldiers down. Seeing their general in such a state, there was no way their morale didn't get affected. Calming them down was such an arduous task and Yan found himself being overwhelmed.
On the side, Shu wholeheartedly helped Yan to calm the soldiers down. No matter how hard Yan tried to hide it, Shu knew that he was feeling troubled and worried about Soujin. He was sure that Yan blamed himself for suggesting the tactic, but Yan forced his feeling down. There was nothing he could do other than calming the soldiers in order to not let his feeling disturb him.
"General Soujin will be fine and the battle is still ours," Yan said in a confident tone, completely hiding his real feeling.
The soldiers were not stupid. Even when Soujin was still leading them, they were being suppressed over and over again. Now that Soujin was wounded badly, could they still win the fight? Nevertheless, most of them stayed quiet and chose to fool themselves.
After the treatment was finished, Ming Hui sighed with a heavy feeling. Judging from the wound Soujin suffered today, there was no chance for him to go back to the battlefield tomorrow. In addition, he has a high fever, and it was possible that he would not be awake for days.
Clenching his fist, Ming Hui felt that he was really stupid to allow Soujin set the ambush. He would never think that Soujin would lose this miserably. No, Soujin shouldn't have wounded himself this hard if not for him trying to take most of his soldiers back. He was really stupid.
"Doctor, will he be alright?" After treating his wound, Lou has been standing in front of the tent for a long time. He was waiting for the treatment to finish, so he could ask Ming Hui about the general condition.
"He will be fine, but there is no way he could fight tomorrow," Ming Hui answered.
That answer was the same as saying that they would not be able to fight Ye Jiu tomorrow. At best, they could only defend themselves or retreating back. Lou looked towards the ground; he could not accept this result.
"Tell me, what happened?" the clear voice of a girl sounded out from the tent. From the way she spoke, no one would be able to tell what she was feeling. The voice was loud and devoid of any emotion. However, Lou knew that the girl must be feeling rather down or troubled and most importantly angry.
"Prince Ye Jiu suddenly appears to set an ambush on us. We didn't know how, but he knew our location very well. Because we are losing in numbers, Soujin led the soldiers personally and break the way while fighting against Ye Jiu."
Dividing his concentration while fighting against someone as powerful as him, that was stupid. Jun Hua knew very well that Soujin didn't want to lose his men, so he tried to take them out as much as possible. As the backside, he suffered several wounds to his body.
"Is there anything that Prince Ye Jiu says to Soujin?" Jun Hua asked again.
"Yes, he said something like 'This time, I would not fall for the same tactic anymore' and 'Of course, you would not know because in your memory we hadn't met before.'"
Never met before? If they hadn't met before, how could Ye Jiu knew about the tactics that Soujin going to use? Jun Hua frowned. Could it be that the nickname of the future dreamer he had was real? She couldn't believe it, though. But if it was true, she just needed to do something that was completely different from the original future. The problem was she didn't know what the future in Ye Jiu's dream was.
"Yamin, you have your own investigation, right? Are there some cases when Prince Ye Jiu startled or anything?"
"Answering Miss, there is some report saying that Prince Ye Jiu only sees part of the future, but after doing some outrageous thing, usually he cannot do anything right again."
"I see," if Jun Hua was correct, he only saw part of the future, but after he changed it, he didn't know what would happen. She could only hope that in this battle, it would be the same.
Shifting her gaze back to Soujin, Jun Hua felt her heart has been pierced countless times. She didn't know since when, but she already placed Soujin deep into her heart. In fact, she may have carved his presence with a permanent mark. Although she tried her best to suppress it, everything just came forward at this moment.
"Jun Hua, are you alright?" Ming Hui was worried that Jun Hua would do something reckless. After examining her body before, he knew that Jun Hua shouldn't come back to the battlefield anymore until her body recovers fully. She already rested for a year and a half, but it was not enough yet since she still stubbornly used her martial art from time to time.
"Ming Hui, did you trust me?" Jun Hua asked.
Ming Hui was startled, but he nodded.
"Then, wait for the news of victory from me," Jun Hua stood up. "Take care of Soujin, I will be back."
The small back of Jun Hua was no longer the same as before. Exuding power and full of determination, everyone who saw it would know that she was dependable. Ming Hui smiled at the sight, the sight of hope for the battle. He was still worried about her, but at the same time, he knew she was the only one who could change the tide of the battle.
"Soujin, the battle is not over yet."
Walking out from the tent, Jun Hua saw Yan busy calming the soldiers by speaking out his thought. Her light step came closer to him and she stood in front of Yan, making him startled. From looking at the gaze Jun Hua gave him, he chose to step back.
"Everyone," Jun Hua started, "I'm Jun Hua, the princess of both the Mountain Kingdom and Ming Kingdom. Currently, I also hold the important position as the strategist of Mountain Kingdom."
The soldiers started to murmur towards each other as they look towards Jun Hua, interested in her speech.
"I have been following this campaign for months and the last few weeks of battle are utterly trash, am I right?" Jun Hua said in a malicious tone.
"What the…" Yan had never heard Jun Hua spoke ill before. This side of Jun Hua scared him.
"The enemy is strong, and the strategy didn't work, so what?" Jun Hua raised her voice. The annoyed tone could be heard crisp and clear, "The Soujin's army are well known as the strongest army, but do you have the power to back up those words? Seeing how you all go depressed so quickly because of your leader get wounded, does the army only depends on Soujin?"
The words Jun Hua uttered were completely correct. The appearance of Soujin was important, but they too have their own role.
"Did you always face someone weaker than you on the battlefield? Remember the time when you're still weak and you follow after the leader in front of you. The enemies might be stronger, but you can use tactics and number to your advantages. Years of fight turn even the weakest soldier to a better one.
As for all of you? You're the soldiers Soujin had trained for years. You have dedicated your time and effort to become a great soldier for years. The result of years of your own hard work and the hellish training you undergo is not one to be taken lightly. If you still think that you're weak and there is no chance to face that prince, then you're welcomed to go home."
Jun Hua paused to watch the soldiers pale face, "Now choose, stay and fight back with the intention of victory or go home and become the disgrace of the army."
"That's harsh…" Yan whispered to himself. However, he could somehow understand Jun Hua's feeling. These soldiers shouldn't lose their morale that easily because they were strong and they should have their pride as the part of Soujin's army. Now, all they could do was waiting for the soldiers to answer Jun Hua by themselves.