Chapter 620: Changing Course

Chapter 620: Chapter 620: Changing Course

They ran for a full thirty li before finally shaking off the wolf riders behind them.

Upon counting again, their numbers had dropped below eighty. Nearly thirty percent of their men had been lost forever in the previous breakthrough.

Now, it was impossible to try heading to the Central Military Camp, at least for the time being. Turning back, it was impossible to know if they’d run into the Barbarians again—and if they got surrounded once more, they’d truly be in trouble.

In the end, Shen Hao felt he was still somewhat lucky. Even though they’d encountered Barbarian infiltrator cavalry, fortunately their numbers were few, and no cultivators with deep cultivation appeared to block them off. That allowed him to hack his way through as if no one could oppose him, so they didn’t get sandwiched by a second wave of wolf riders from behind.

"Should we head to the Upper Military Camp now?"

"..." Chen Zifang fell silent.

They had less than a hundred men left—just a lightly equipped cavalry squad. Not to mention providing reinforcements, they’d starve if they roamed outside for too long. So they either had to divert to the nearby Upper Military Camp, or just turn back to the Fish Stone Military Station.

The chief officer for this mission wasn’t the greenhorn Shen Hao, but Chen Zifang. Chen Zifang pondered for a long while before finally speaking: "We continue onward. We’ll rest after ten li. Captain Xu, arrange the cavalry team’s watch."

"Yes, sir," came the reply.

Captain Xu began rearranging the personnel, especially the scouts. Despite the smaller numbers, not only did he not reduce the scouts, he actually sent out two more teams. The rest continued to head northwest at a slightly faster pace.

Chen Zifang gestured for Shen Hao to change his clothes. Once blood dried on the body, it would harden and become uncomfortable. He also took the opportunity to listen to Shen Hao’s opinion.

"Lord Shen, do you think we should retreat to Fish Stone for shelter, or continue to the Upper Military Camp?"

Shen Hao pulled a fresh jacket from his storage bag and put it on. The inner armor beneath his shirt wouldn’t get soaked through with blood, so there was no need to take it off—besides, the Black Beast Tattoo on his chest must not be seen by others.

"Alchemist Chen, what’s your take?" Shen Hao replied with a question.

"My idea is to skirt the Central Camp’s range for now, rest, and wait for more information to come before deciding our next step."

Shen Hao nodded in agreement: "That’s the safest plan."

He would never suggest returning to Fish Stone Military Station. The risks were too great. A single misstep and he’d get labeled as ’cowardly in battle’. Chen Zifang’s option was the prudent one.

After advancing more than ten li, the cavalry stopped. The wounded began tending to each other’s injuries, while the rest spread out to keep watch. The wild at night was not peaceful; aside from watching for possible Barbarians, they also had to guard against packs of roaming beasts—especially now, when nearly everyone was carrying blood, which was a powerful lure to those wild animals that got riled up at the smell of blood.

Shen Hao followed Chen Zifang as they walked a lap around the temporary camp.

To call it a camp was an exaggeration—it was really just a small circle where the men sat together. Fearing another Barbarian encounter, they hadn’t lit any fires. By moonlight, many were applying medicine and bandaging each other. Most wounds were minor—anyone seriously injured didn’t have the ability to make it out alive during the cavalry fight earlier.

Shen Hao watched as Chen Zifang treated some of the wounded, feeling intrigued by his techniques. For example, to close large wounds, instead of needle and thread, he used a kind of big insect clamp that could firmly close the wound after passing through the skin. Allegedly, when it needed to be removed, you just held it over a fire briefly, and it’d loosen and drop off by itself. This was different from Xuanqing Guard’s methods, which usually involved the use of magic for treating wounds.

There wasn’t any alcohol or iodine here, but there was a viscous medicated liquid called ’Red Ointment’ that sterilized the wounds and brought an intense burning sensation—some soldiers bit through the corners of their uniforms from the pain.

By around mid-7 p.m., Chen Zifang received new orders from the Daoxing Chief’s Office.

After reading them, Chen Zifang handed the order slip to Shen Hao and said: "Marshal Zuo wants us to head to the Upper Military Camp."

But the order didn’t just change their route. There was also a brief battle report. Earlier, it wasn’t only the Central Military Camp that was attacked by Barbarians—the Upper Camp had been assaulted ferociously as well, perhaps even worse than the Central Camp. Its situation was described as ’even more precarious’.

Why did the Daoxing Chief’s Office direct Chen Zifang and Shen Hao to abandon the trip to the Central Camp and instead head to the more dangerous Upper Military Camp?

He couldn’t figure it out. But a military order could not be changed.

"We’ll sleep in the wild tonight and take turns standing guard." After Shen Hao finished reading the order, Chen Zifang turned to give Captain Xu his formal instructions. They wouldn’t march at night—it wasn’t safe, and most of the soldiers were exhausted. After barely escaping death, extreme fatigue always set in. It was best to relax their nerves a bit.

Shen Hao did not sleep. He sat cross-legged on the ground, seemingly resting with his eyes closed, but actually reviewing his performance during the cavalry battle in his head over and over.

It was his first time in battle, and Shen Hao felt he’d performed just passably. He’d been able to cut his way in and out because no Barbarian cultivator with high-level cultivation had appeared. The enemy probably hadn’t expected a mere hundred-strong cavalry squad to have three Primordial Pill Realm and one Gathering Spirit Ninth Layer cultivators—otherwise, they likely would not have chosen to surround them head-on.

From Shen Hao’s perspective, it could be said the fight was a one-sided slaughter. But there had still been many problems. For example, his horsemanship during the cavalry fight was unskilled, he lacked suitable weapons for mounted combat, he was unfamiliar with cavalry special tactics such as the ’dragging blade’ maneuver, and most importantly, he failed to properly control his True Qi expenditure during the fight.

He’d started by going wild with Black Cut—though it felt great, the consumption was massive. If he hadn’t quickly switched to Blade Gang midway, he would have found himself in serious trouble.

This battle had been quite different from any previous skirmishes Shen Hao had experienced. In the battle array, one’s moves and attacks didn’t need to be refined—what mattered was killing in a single, simple blow. The same was true for magic; anything involving deception or hidden tricks wasn’t suitable for killing in the battle array. Straightforward skills like Palm Thunder, Palm Snake, or Blade Gang were practical, while Soul Suppressing Skill and Soul Power were useless.

Of course, Shen Hao figured that if he faced a cultivator of similar or higher cultivation, he’d have to go all out and use whatever means he had.

The fights between cultivators were a different matter entirely.

As night fell, Shen Hao could occasionally hear the cries of wild animals—packs of them charging in, only to be shot down by the well-prepared soldiers. The corpses couldn’t be buried, so they just lay where they fell. The blood attracted even more beasts, who soon started having a feast of their own.

At dawn, the cavalry set out again. Some of the beasts shot the previous night were edible, so the cavalry men collected them. As the day broke, they used brief moments of rest to build a fire and roast the meat for rations. Many were starving. Most hadn’t eaten the night before—only a few with hard cakes in their pockets got to pad their stomachs just a bit.

But a dozen or so beasts were not enough for dozens of people. They still needed to reach the Upper Military Camp soon to get a real meal.

By afternoon, as Shen Hao rode in the distance, he could already see a giant fortress of timber and stone up ahead. Outside the fortress, embers that had only just been extinguished still smoked. The stench of blood and scorched flesh drifted their way on the wind, making Shen Hao and his men tense up instinctively once more.