Chapter Ninety-Six: Laying the First Move

"Why didn’t you mention this earlier?" Ye Xin asked.

"Well... boss, I didn’t realize how important this matter was," Xie En replied with a bitter smile. "We’re just chatting casually for now."

"The one I dare not take lightly within the two nations is Demon Finger Xiao," Ye Xin said, frowning. "Feng Qishan is his man. I fear this move has Xiao manipulating things behind the scenes."

"What?" Qiu Jiecha was startled. "Director Feng is a traitor?"

"Yes." Ye Xin paused. "What was the academy’s final decision? Which camps are those students assigned to? Ah... I really am an unqualified older brother, rushing to the northern line and forgetting to ask about my own sister."

"All innate martial artists from the academy will be sent to the battlefield. The number is over three hundred, and many students are bringing their own family guards. So in the end, the academy decided to form its own battalion, cooperating with the City Defense Army and the Imperial Guards," Xie En explained. "Though Tie Shudeng and those kids have already gone to the front lines for training, they haven’t graduated yet, so they’ve been included in the battalion."

"Who leads this battalion?" Ye Xin asked.

"Naturally, the dean, Qiu Xiang," Xie En replied. "No one else is qualified for the position."

"Qiu Xiang..." Qiu Jiecha murmured.

"What’s the matter? Uncle Qiu, do you know him?" Ye Xin suddenly realized that Qiu Jiecha and Qiu Xiang shared the same surname.

"He’s my cousin, but I’m legitimate-born and he’s from a concubine. You can tell from our names," Qiu Jiecha said with a wry smile. "A long time ago, commoners weren’t allowed to have two-character names. Later, the ban was lifted, but old families still kept the rule—legitimate heirs get single-character names. So I’m called Qiu Jiecha, and he..."

"Uncle Qiu, the Young Marshal’s asking about important matters. Don’t ramble about useless stuff," an old general interrupted.

"Heh..." Qiu Jiecha chuckled dryly. "Yes, I know him, but we’re not close. He suffered a lot as a child, the clan didn’t care for him, and his parents died early. He ended up begging along the streets. Later, by chance, he met a benefactor and entered the Dragon Soaring Martial Academy. He rose swiftly to become the dean, but he hasn’t had contact with our Qiu family in a long time. When we meet, we’re like strangers. If the Young Marshal meets him in the future, please don’t mention me—it’ll only make things worse."

"Was Uncle Qiu always so talkative?" Ye Xin asked, unable to understand, looking toward an old general.

"He’s not talkative. The Wolf Commander says one sentence, he’ll say a hundred," the old general laughed.

"That’s because the Wolf Commander scolded him several times. He used to say a thousand," another old general chimed in.

Ye Xin nodded. The few times he’d met Qiu Jiecha before, he hadn’t been this talkative. It must be the thawing of past barriers, and as those fade, so does the reticence.

"Nonsense!" Qiu Jiecha snapped, annoyed. "I’m responsible for coordinating the divisions with the Wolf Commander. How can I not speak?"

"It seems every army has a chatterbox like this. We have one, too," Lin Tong said with a mischievous grin.

Everyone turned their gaze to Xie En. His face changed. "Why are you all looking at me?"

"Enough. Let’s get back to business," Ye Xin said. "Xie En, are Tie Shudeng, Tie Renhao, Wei Qingfan, and Zong Yunjin all in the battalion?"

"Yes, they’re all there," Xie En nodded.

"Could it be... that Demon Finger Xiao wants to catch them all in one sweep?" Ye Xin’s brows furrowed again. "Such a big appetite!"

This was Ye Xin’s greatest strength. The same information—Xie En simply thought Feng Qishan was too aggressive, and Xue Baiqi felt Feng Qishan had ulterior motives, but couldn’t trace it. Ye Xin, however, instantly considered all possible scenarios, analyzed them, and picked the most likely to discuss.

Xie En’s face darkened, his voice low. "It’s possible!"

This time, the academy had mobilized all its innate martial artists—over three hundred. Their combat ability wasn’t outstanding; the City Defense Army had many more. But don’t forget, all these students are under twenty years old!

In a sense, they are the future of the Great Wei Kingdom.

Just then, chaotic howls echoed from afar, and a herd of pigs burst from the village. Fu Shang and several wolf riders ran near the pigs, clearly flustered. The herd was scattered, and they couldn’t just kill them—if slaughtered, they’d have to carry them back. They could only try to herd them, but the pigs scattered in all directions and the few riders couldn’t keep up.

After much effort, they managed to gather the pigs and drive them near the camp, but the herd showed no intention of stopping, skirting the wolf pack widely and trying to flee further.

"Just slaughter them, or we’ll lose all our rations," an old general said, standing with a bitter smile. "I thought my first battle back on the field would be a grand showdown. Turns out we’re just killing pigs..."

"No help for it. The Young Marshal is just too strong," another old general laughed.

Killing pigs is easier than killing enemies. In no time, the fat pigs were all down. The veterans of the Heavenly Wolf Legion dismounted, letting the Boundless Heavenly Wolves feed on their own, and returned to the bonfire.

"I’m really convinced!" Fu Shang said angrily. "Those pigs are more timid than rats. As soon as we entered the village, they went crazy. I had to have the Boundless Wolves taken away so the village pigs would calm down. After finishing business and gathering them to bring back—damn, they scattered again!"

"Nonsense. Boundless Heavenly Wolves are high-level fierce beasts," Xie En laughed. "If you were a pig, you’d be worse than them."

"Sister-in-law, tell me, isn’t your mouth foul?" Fu Shang grew more annoyed. "I think you’re the pig! You’re all pigs!"

Suddenly, the atmosphere became extra quiet. Fu Shang froze, realizing he’d blurted out something, and hurriedly smiled apologetically to Ye Xin. "Sir, of course you’re not a pig—I meant them... Ah, no, Hao Fei, could you stop glaring at me? You’re not... Baiqi, what’s our relationship? How could I target you? Oh my—my dear Suying, you’re so beautiful, how could you be a pig? I wasn’t talking about you. Uncle Qiu... Uncle Qiu, of course you’re not a pig. Fine, fine, I’m the pig! I’m the pig, alright?!"

Xue Baiqi and the others burst into laughter. Xie En said, "Alright, change your name. From now on, you’re Pig Shang."

"Go to hell! Can’t you ever let it go?" Fu Shang shouted.

"Enough fooling around. Fu Shang, come with me," Ye Xin said.

Ye Xin and Fu Shang walked aside, exchanged a few quiet words, with Fu Shang nodding repeatedly.

Moments later, the two returned. Fu Shang whispered, "Sir, when do I leave?"

"Once the Boundless Wolves finish eating, you set out," Ye Xin instructed. "Be extra careful on the road, don’t provoke trouble, avoid conflict with the enemy if possible, stick to side paths, not main roads. Understand?"

"Understood, sir, don’t worry," Fu Shang replied firmly.

About an hour later, the Boundless Wolves were full. Fu Shang and his team packed up to depart. Ye Xin walked with him for a long distance, giving repeated instructions, as this mission was of utmost importance.

"What are they going to do?" Qiu Jiecha whispered to Xue Baiqi, having noticed that Xue Baiqi seemed to be Ye Xin’s deputy in the Sky Crime Camp, wielding similar authority, so he tried to become familiar with him.

"I don’t know," Xue Baiqi shook his head.

"Why not ask?" Qiu Jiecha inquired.

Xue Baiqi fell silent. After a while, he sighed deeply. "At first, I was curious and often asked..."

"Did the Young Marshal refuse to tell you?" Qiu Jiecha seemed to understand.

"No, sir answers any question, unless he hasn’t sorted it out himself," Xue Baiqi replied. "After hearing his explanations, I’d feel like a fool—such simple reasoning, yet needing him to point it out."

"That’s a good thing," Qiu Jiecha nodded. "It means you’re growing!"

"I know it’s good," Xue Baiqi sighed again. "But realizing you’re a fool every day doesn’t feel great. Sometimes it’s discouraging, like you lose heart. General Qiu, you haven’t spent much time with sir yet, but you’ll understand in time."

"Indeed," Lin Tong chimed in. "So now we don’t ask unnecessary questions. If sir tells us to do something, we just agree. If the reasoning matters, sir will explain. Why seek unpleasantness for ourselves?"

"It hurts the pride..." Xie En added. "It really hurts..." His face was dejected, clearly already battered by Ye Xin’s lessons.

"Everyone in Sky Crime Camp thinks they’re the cleverest," Hao Fei laughed. "Until we met sir, then we realized just how far off we were."

"Right, tell us how you survived in the Grand Summoning Kingdom," an old general said. "Seven Breaks of Golden Mountain, Three Burnings of Spirit Peak—ha, you’ve become legends!"

"Honestly, at first, everyone just wanted to stay alive, following sir as we fled here and there, always looking for easy targets. But after every victory, no one felt happy, because more and stronger enemies kept coming," Xue Baiqi said. "After escaping Grand Summoning Kingdom, entering Nine Cauldrons City, we looked back at those life-or-death struggles and realized... we really were amazing!"

"Sir was right—we were dancing on the edge of the blade," Hao Fei remarked.

"Luckily, our luck held, and we made it back alive," Xie En said. "Many good brothers will forever remain in that land."

(To be continued.)

PS:
Many thanks to Yu Zhi Jue, Home Cat Xiao Miao, Bang Ye, lontankee, diabio, May It Last a Lifetime, A Little Fish, Still a Fan or a Noodle, Lin Yu, 570037602, Ye Mi Er, Shou Shou, Gold Medal Rookie, qiao1971, Begging Bowl Li Tianwang, Courteous in the West Chamber, Starting Over, Azure Sea Distant Sky, hgx, Hehe Po, all these friends for today’s rewards.

It’s the third day, and suddenly this month feels long. In the past two days, I’ve worked over twelve hours each day, feeling a bit overwhelmed. Let me rest for two days. On the 5th, I have a meeting, apparently with a red carpet, and formal dress is required. I look down at my belly, up at the mirror—how can I wear formal attire with my looks? I’d rather dress casually as before, but my wife won’t allow it. Tomorrow, we’ll shop all day—just thinking about it stresses me out...

After I return on the 7th, I’ll resume extra chapters. I owe a few alliance leaders some chapters, and I’ll definitely make up for it. I’ve always failed to keep promises before—this time I won’t let it happen again.

Vote for the monthly ticket, vote for recommendations! With your support, I’ll go all out to the end!