“I wonder when the supplies will arrive. The provisions in Songshan County will last ten days at most, and that’s with the garrison tightening their belts and the Li Gu warriors surviving on corn buns…”

While Mo Sang and Miao Youfang were engaged in grand discussions about becoming top scholars after the war, Xu Er Lang’s thoughts were preoccupied with the supply situation.

The Li Gu warriors and the Heart Gu’s Beast Riders had practically eaten Songshan County into bankruptcy.

The flying beasts’ enormous appetites were understandable given their size. But it was the Li Gu tribesmen who truly astonished the garrison troops.

Where the garrison soldiers ate from bowls, the Li Gu warriors dined from buckets.

The garrison ate three meals a day during wartime and two during peacetime.

The Li Gu warriors ate four meals daily, increasing to five during battles.

Xu Er Lang had somewhat prepared himself mentally, given how Lina and Ling Yin’s appetites alone had made his mother’s head spin, even with the Xu family’s current wealth.

But when it came to four hundred Li Gu warriors, he had still underestimated their consumption. Using Lina and Ling Yin’s regular portions as a reference had been inaccurate.

After all, how could his foolish sister and her equally foolish master, who spent their days laughing and playing without expending energy, compare to warriors who lived on the edge of death?

“As long as we receive supply reinforcements, I can hold Songshan County indefinitely,” Xu Xinnian thought to himself.

The Great Feng’s cannons and crossbows provided covering fire, while the Heart Gu’s Beast Riders struck from above. The Corpse Gu’s controllers manipulated fearless dead warriors, and the Shadow Gu’s people handled assassinations.

The Li Gu warriors were responsible for clearing enemies who managed to scale the walls.

Combined with his tactical prowess, Songshan County was as secure as a fortress of gold and iron.

The rebel army outside the city—nine thousand elite troops and twenty thousand irregular forces—had changed their strategy from direct assault to siege, attempting to turn Songshan County into a second Wanjun.

Worth noting, the irregular forces consisted of a civilian militia, comprised of refugees and forcibly conscripted able-bodied men, led by martial artists recruited by the Yunzhou rebels.

“Last time, Er Lang mentioned that conditions in Qingzhou would improve after the Spring Festival?” Miao Youfang multitasked, chatting while playing chess, feeling quite pleased with his genius.

“The situation will improve across the entire Central Plains. The winter disaster is the primary cause, followed by food shortages, which led to the current chaos. Once spring arrives, first the cold will no longer threaten the common people,” Xu Cijiu set down his half-eaten corn bun on the table, trying to conserve it, and explained:

“Second, farming is in the common people’s nature—spring planting leads to autumn harvest. Many refugees will choose to take up their homes again. As long as the court redistributes the abandoned lands by then, it can resolve a large portion of the refugee crisis.

“However, countless gentry and nobles will surely take advantage of this opportunity to annex land, leaving the common people no way to survive. It all depends on whether the Yongxing Emperor has the resolve to handle it.”

At this point, he frowned his delicate brows. The new emperor was good in every way except for his lack of resolve, being more suited to maintaining the status quo.

He couldn’t be counted on for great undertakings.

If only the Yongxing Emperor would follow his strategy of secretly “sacrificing” the gentry, nobles, and powerful landowners—after spring, the number of those attempting to annex land would sharply decrease.

“What if we still can’t hold out after the Spring Festival?” Miao Youfang raised his usual contrary argument. “Will you die defending Songshan County, or escape?”

Mo Sang lifted his chest proudly:

“Li Gu warriors never flee. If I die in the Central Plains, remember to send my remains back to the Southern Borderlands, to my father.”

Miao Youfang looked toward Xu Er Lang, who pondered before responding:

“We do our best and leave the rest to fate. If death becomes inevitable, as a scholar, I naturally know when to sacrifice myself for righteousness. What about you, Brother Miao?”

“How could I possibly die in battle? I’m destined to become a great hero. Hmm, if such a day comes, remember to carve ‘Great Hero’ on my tombstone. And tell Inspector Xu I’m sorry.”

Miao Youfang thought for a moment and added, “Oh right, make sure to burn paper servant girls for me every year. Even in the netherworld, this great hero needs female companionship.”

Xu Cijiu shook his head, his eyes not leaving his military treatise as he reached for his corn bun, only to grasp empty air.

Huh? He turned his head to see the table empty, then looked up to see Mo Sang chewing and swallowing the last of the bun, pretending nothing had happened while concentrating on his chess game with Miao Youfang.

By his mother’s… Xu Xinnian cursed internally while maintaining a neutral expression, and said:

“Brother Mo Sang, seeing you always reminds me of your sister.”

The dark-skinned Mo Sang turned back bewildered, asking:

“How so?”

He knew Xu Xinnian was Inspector Xu’s brother, and that Lina had stayed with the Xu family for over half a year.

Xu Er Lang replied with complete sincerity:

“Brother Mo Sang and Lina are both pure souls who embody the saying ‘food is the people’s heaven’ to perfection. If everyone in the world were like you siblings, the Nine Provinces would govern themselves without effort, and there would be no such wars.”

Mo Sang hadn’t expected such high praise from Xu Xinnian, a scholar who had passed both imperial examinations. Delighted, he laughed heartily:

“Your Excellency flatters me. I’m too foolish to deserve such praise. Now Lina, my father often says she’s been clever since childhood.”

Your father must have some misunderstanding about what “clever since childhood” means… Xu Xinnian nodded and quietly returned to his book.

Miao Youfang sensed there was more to Xu Er Lang’s words, but he had no proof.

Mentioning Lina had increased Mo Sang’s enthusiasm for conversation:

“These past few days we’ve been so busy fighting since you all moved in Central Plains circles, do you know my sister Lina’s nickname in the martial arts world?”

Rice bucket, probably… Xu Er Lang couldn’t help but think sarcastically.

Miao Youfang, being unfamiliar with Lina, didn’t participate in the internal commentary. Otherwise, given the survival instinct that had led him to call someone “Ugliest Sister-in-law,” he might have already launched into a rap criticizing Lina in front of Mo Sang.

“What nickname?”

While Mo Sang turned to look at Xu Er Lang, Miao Youfang used his master-level martial arts to secretly switch a chess piece.

Mo Sang puffed up his chest, gathered his breath, and proclaimed like a Buddhist-speaking sacred word: “The Flying Swallow Heroine!”

“What?!”

Xu Er Lang looked up in shock.

Miao Youfang stared at Mo Sang in bewilderment.

Mo Sang was quite satisfied with their dumbfounded expressions and proudly declared:

“Lina has been in the martial arts world for half a year and is deeply beloved by you Central Plains folk, who call her the Flying Swallow Heroine.”

Xu Cijiu, living up to his scholarly nature, maintained his composure and slowly asked:

“Who told you this?”

“Lina told me herself,” Mo Sang replied.

Just as Miao Youfang was about to expose the truth, he caught a meaningful look from Xu Er Lang and transmitted a message asking:

“What’s wrong?”

Xu Cijiu hadn’t yet mastered the technique of voice transmission and could only slightly shake his head.

I get it, Er Lang wants to wait until Mo Sang has spread this far and wide before watching him make a fool of himself—the entertainment value isn’t high enough yet… Miao Youfang hadn’t studied under Inspector Xu for nothing.

He suddenly thought of the Holy Son.

We’ll tell him after the war, otherwise, it might affect his morale and fighting spirit… Xu Er Lang thought to himself.

Just then, the cry of a black-scaled flying beast rang out, followed by a great gust of wind. The three men in the barbican knew that the Beast Riders had landed on the city walls.

Moments later, hurried footsteps approached, and a Heart Gu master wearing vine armor rushed in, speaking rapidly to Mo Sang in the Southern Borderlands language.

Miao Youfang and Xu Er Lang looked to Mo Sang, who sprang to his feet and announced in increasingly fluent Central Plains official language:

“The rebel forces have joined with reinforcements ten miles away and are heading this way.”

…

Guo County.

After half a month of field battles with the Yunzhou rebels, the Qingzhou army defending Dongling City had lost sixty percent of their soldiers. Unable to hold on, they had withdrawn from Dongling territory and stationed themselves in nearby Guo County to rest and reorganize.

Their opponents were the “Black Armor” and “Green Python” elite forces led by Ji Xuan, plus three thousand irregular troops.

The Black Armor consisted of six hundred heavy cavalry and twenty-three hundred light cavalry.

The Green Python comprised four thousand elite infantry, equipped with eighty cannons, thirty crossbows, and two thousand firearms and bows.

Such a well-equipped and valiant force was naturally more than the Qingzhou army could handle.

Even though Sun Xuanji had brought plenty of firearms and equipment before heading to Qingzhou, it was proven that the Qingzhou garrison troops were far inferior to Yunzhou’s elite forces.

The Qingzhou army wasn’t the Great Feng’s ace unit, yet they faced one of the rebels’ elite forces.

In terms of mid-tier combat strength, the Dongling garrison still couldn’t match Ji Xuan’s elite troops.

The only factor that could turn the tide was Sun Xuanji, a Third-Grade Artificer.

Indeed, while an artificer’s combat power was far inferior to a warrior of the same grade, in terms of destructive capability in the Third Grade, artificers were second to none.

White-haired Guardian Yuan walked along the city walls, telling everyone he met:

“The Monster Nation has been rebuilt.”

The Dongling army had long grown familiar with this demonic ally, feeling both love and hate—love for his Fourth-Grade strength making him a reliable comrade, hate for this comrade’s tendency to “stab” you at any moment.

This morning, news of the Southern Demons’ restoration reached Qingzhou, and Guardian Yuan was overjoyed, howling to the sky to express his delight.

Then he went around telling everyone about it.

“Congratulations! The Monster Nation is a great ally of our Great Feng.”

A company commander watched Guardian Yuan approach with an eager smile.

Guardian Yuan, however, looked at him unhappily and said:

“Your heart tells me: ‘When will this damn monkey shut up?'”

The company commander’s face suddenly flushed red, unsure whether to explain or pretend he hadn’t heard, awkwardly wanting to abandon his post.

Fortunately, Guardian Yuan didn’t press the issue and tactfully walked away to announce the good news to other familiar garrison members.

“Ah!” The company commander sighed, watching Guardian Yuan’s retreating figure.

He wondered if they could hold Guo County, and for how long. They hadn’t even had time to collect the bodies of their brothers who died in the field battles.

Just then, a tremendous sound came from the sky, and a red light exploded high above.

This was the enemy attack signal, sent by Sun Xuanji, who was floating in a gun platform above Guo County, using his art of reading qi to detect approaching enemies.

…

Wanjun.

Counting carefully, Wanjun had been under siege for a month.

During this time, the rebels had launched dozens of intermittent attacks on the city. The Qingzhou Provincial Administration Commission had repeatedly dispatched troops for support, but they were all devoured by the Yunzhou army.

Only after the arrival of the Heart Gu’s Beast Riders did this declining situation begin to reverse.

But for the garrison defending Wanjun, exhaustion had seeped into their bones. Even the most battle-hungry among them longed for an early end to this beast-like struggle.

For Zhang Shen, the military strategist who had lived in seclusion for over twenty years, being forced into such a predicament in his first battle was a tremendous humiliation.

Though he had defended Wanjun until now without support, living up to his reputation.

Zhang Shen climbed to the top of the city wall and looked around. The walls were covered with cannon-blast craters, scorch marks, and cracks. In some places, entire sections had been blown open, the parapets destroyed, like someone with broken teeth.

Half the garrison had been killed or wounded. They had forcibly conscripted militia, and now half of those militia were also casualties.

The shadow of war loomed over this small city.

At the edge of the azure sky, a giant beast flapped its membrane wings, flying toward Wanjun.

The beast glided down, slowly landing on the city wall. The Heart Gu master riding on its back said to Zhang Shen:

“Large enemy forces are approaching from thirty li south.”

Zhang Shen, who had spent time learning the Southern Borderlands language since the Beast Riders came to help, nodded gravely and replied in fluent Southern accent:

“I understand.”

He shifted slightly, gazing southward, and slowly said:

“I can see thirty li away.”

As he spoke, his vision underwent an earth-shattering change. The surrounding scenery disappeared as his viewpoint stretched infinitely far, reaching thirty li away.

In his sight, an endless column of enemy troops slowly approached, banners fluttering.

The flags whipped in the wind, unfurling to reveal the character “Qi.”

Zhang Shen snorted and withdrew his gaze, muttering to himself:

“Army against the army, general against general, this bastard has finally come.”

…

Dongling City.

Xu Pingfeng, dressed in snow-white robes and carrying a wine jug, ascended to the clouds in a single step.

Golden light followed close behind, transforming into the Garuda Tree Bodhisattva, standing at Xu Pingfeng’s side.

Opposite them, the white-haired, white-robed, white-bearded Supervisor had long been waiting.

“Master Supervisor.”

Xu Pingfeng half-flew, half-drifted to the space between them, sat cross-legged among the clouds, and with a sweep of his wide sleeve, produced a chess board and two boxes of pieces.

“I remember when I studied under you, every three days we would play a game of chess, and I never won,” Xu Pingfeng said calmly, in a reminiscent tone.

“It’s been twenty years since I left the capital, with no chance for us to meet. Twenty whole years without a game. Master Supervisor, would you honor your disciple with one more match?”