Chapter 625: The Horn

Chapter 625: Chapter 625: The Horn

The scent of roasted meat lingered in the air all night, but it failed to whet anyone’s appetite—in fact, the smell made many in the military camp nauseous, some even vomited. Even those who didn’t throw up looked grim.

Shen Hao wasn’t used to it either, but what could he do? The brutality of the battlefield rivaled the Xuanqing Guard’s interrogation rooms, perhaps even surpassing them. At least, Shen Hao had never seen so many corpses before today. And judging by what Wu Kai and Xu Jie had said earlier, Jianchuan had seen this scene more than once.

Sitting in the temple hall, or even in a tent by Wu Lake, just watching the battle reports could never compare to experiencing the site firsthand.

"Tell the brothers: sleep dressed, keep your weapon at hand, and place the talisman where you can reach it easily. Night vigilance must not be relaxed. By the way, where’s that Captain Xu who brought us here?"

"Captain Xu pitched camp with us, not far from your main tent. He’s in the third tent from the edge of the group, separated by Alchemist Chen in the middle."

"They haven’t been put under the Upper Military Camp’s jurisdiction, have they?"

"No. I asked him. He said all hands who should have stayed at Fish Stone were left behind there, plus some were killed on the road, so those remaining all move with us now."

That gave Shen Hao some confidence. At least he wasn’t left with only thirty Personal Guards—it was thin, but with the former riders added, nearly a hundred could make a difference.

"Tomorrow, remember to coordinate with Captain Xu. It’d be best if you and the riders could drill a battle array for emergencies. You understand what I mean?"

The Small Banner Officer sure understood—after a moment’s thought, he realized Lord Shen was preparing for the unexpected. He quickly saluted, agreed, and exited the tent.

Shen Hao looked at the hazy moon outside, feeling uneasy. The Upper Military Camp of Jianchuan seemed a dangerous place—he should get out soon. The feeling was inexplicable, but Shen Hao dared not ignore it.

Leave—Shen Hao had seriously thought about it, but escaping here wasn’t easy.

First, Shen Hao had come to Jianchuan’s Upper Military Camp with Chen Zifang as Chief of Miscellaneous Affairs. He’d just arrived and set up a corpse-burning array, and now wanted to leave? Not even toured the camp? That wouldn’t make sense.

Second, the original plan was to head to Jianchuan’s Central Military Camp, but after the Barbarian Race’s sudden assault, they fought and retreated, worried about being encircled, so avoided the Central Camp and sent word back to the Daoxing Chief’s Office at Wu Lake for further instructions, and ended up reassigned to the Upper Military Camp.

It wasn’t until Shen Hao thought through this sequence that he noticed the wording on the order sent from the Daoxing Chief’s Office: "dispatch."

Dispatch—assignment, transfer. Not "may," not "possibly," not "you may." The tone of command was explicit. Meaning even when Shen Hao, as Chief of Miscellaneous Affairs, finished his stint in the Upper Military Camp, he couldn’t leave without another order from the Daoxing Chief’s Office confirming the cancellation of the previous order. This was way beyond his and Chen Zifang’s previous purpose of simple inspection.

Thus, Shen Hao affirmed they’d been nailed down by the Daoxing Chief’s Office to stay put for now. That’s why he told his Personal Guards to quickly coordinate with Captain Xu tomorrow for the battle array. Since they couldn’t leave for now, they’d best maximize their combat power to protect themselves.

But the question was, why would the Daoxing Chief’s Office issue such a forced assignment?

When Shen Hao first entered the military, he didn’t notice; only now, thinking hard, did it strike him: had Chen Zifang, a veteran officer, known all along but said nothing on purpose? Or was it so routine he saw no need to mention it?

The key point was, at first the Daoxing Chief’s Office hadn’t issued such a compulsory command—it was only after the sudden assault on the Central Military Camp en route that the order came. Suggesting the Daoxing Chief’s Office acted on a sudden decision.

Shen Hao now couldn’t help but see the assignment order as a "forced conscription."

Such a small group, not even a hundred, yet worth conscripting? Shen Hao hadn’t thought so until he saw the three Primordial Pill Realm Guards with him—then it started to make sense.

But logically, Shen Hao’s identity was special; now the "temporary bridge" acknowledged by both the Military and Xuanqing Guard, pushing him to the front like this was risky—if something happened, it wouldn’t look good, plenty would be embarrassed.

Yet Shen Hao, by professional habit, always liked to simulate the worst-case scenario. For example: would a drowning man complain the drifting plank beside him was too flimsy? Surely not.

So, what kind of situation counted as "drowning"?

Naturally, when the enemy’s vanguard arrived and reinforcements failed to reach in time!

This deduction startled even Shen Hao. Once the thought occurred, he couldn’t shake it. But he couldn’t voice it outright—he’d be accused of stirring panic and might lose his head. He could only be even more vigilant in his heart.

"Not easy to survive here! They say military folk are straightforward, always acting openly and aboveboard, rarely resorting to tricks. Tsk, I guess Zhang Qian and Gan Lin misled me. Those two aren’t reliable—I shouldn’t have trusted them."

Shen Hao mockingly blamed himself for letting Zhang Qian and Gan Lin’s description of "military life" influence his judgment—not just once, either. Looks like he really needs to strip out ideas like "straightforwardness," "frankness," and "no beating around the bush" from the Military’s reputation.

Maybe it was all the mental scrambling, plus the hour—already 3 a.m., and after an afternoon of brutal fighting—Shen Hao felt weary, sitting on a stool, eyes closed, rubbing his forehead.

Tomorrow at dawn, he planned to urge Chen Zifang to finish their round of the Upper Military Camp, then use the excuse of inspection to head out to the patrolling defense points on the line. Those places weren’t fit for large-scale battles, so Shen Hao felt they’d be much safer than the camp here.

As for fighting to the death for the Jingjiu Dynasty—Shen Hao lacked such resolve, nor did he think he’d ever get there.

He cleared his mind, resting for a bit.

But a piercing horn blast instantly shot Shen Hao out of his chair.

"Woooo..."

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

It wasn’t just the horn that was shrill—patrolling soldiers banged their signal gongs, howling hoarsely as they ran.

In an instant, the once-silent military camp ignited: everyone who could still stand grabbed their weapons and scrambled out of their tents. Faces were tense, but not panicked; led by their Decurions and Captains, they orderly rushed for their assigned defense positions.

Shen Hao stepped out of the tent, his Small Banner Personal Guards, along with Captain Xu of the former riders, fully armored, had already come to receive orders. Naturally, Chen Zifang was in the line as well.

"Alchemist Chen, I think we’d best head to General Cheng’s tent for instructions right now." Shen Hao didn’t stand on ceremony with Chen Zifang—his words were a question, but his feet were already moving.

"As we should, Lord Shen. Let’s go!"