Chapter 00244: If You're Going to Play, Play Big
# If You're Going to Play, Play Big
Chapter 244
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 244: If You're Going to Play, Play Big
The Zhan family also came to a standstill in Bu County, which only fueled the rumors spreading throughout the area.
Many people began to regret their earlier decisions.
The waiting time always felt especially long.
Four hours later, as the sun began to set in the west, a scout sent by Zhan Song to Dunyu rode back at full speed.
The news he brought back was uncertain, whether good or bad for the Zhan family:
"Dunyu posted a notice at midnight yesterday, and today they are celebrating everywhere, with all the inns filled by noon. The Song family’s troupe set up a stage at the South Gate’s Xiao Jiao Tian Square to perform a play. I heard it was arranged by the state government and they plan to sing for most of the day."
The scout continued, "There are dozens of heads displayed at the city gates, reportedly those of the riding commanders from Xunzhou, including the leader responsible for the most plundering and killings. They have already been coated with lime, and there are many spectators."
"Oh, and Dunyu has reopened; they’re no longer sealed off."
The heads of the enemy hung on the city wall? Dunyu has opened its gates again?
Zhan Song leaned on the back of a chair, slowly sitting down, feeling his heart sink: "We've been fooled, we’ve really been fooled."
The clan members looked at him anxiously, wondering what to do now.
Someone asked, "Could it be fake again?"
"What sense does it make that they sealed the city yesterday and opened it today?"
"We just arrived in Bu County, and news of a great victory is here. What kind of coincidence is that?"
"Exactly," Zhan Song suddenly chimed in, "there’s no such coincidence."
Everyone froze for a moment: “You mean, Supervisor He didn’t win?”
“He won,” Zhan Song forced a bitter smile, “but likely he kept it under wraps, using this news to set us up! After all, when would we hear the good news back? Isn’t that up to him?”
The atmosphere grew heavy.
As they thought about the impending crisis in Dunyu City, their hearts felt uneasy.
Yet knowing Supervisor He had defeated the enemy and taken enemy heads didn’t bring them any comfort.
Now that over two hundred clan members had emerged, what should they do next? Return to Dunyu City?
In the past few days, they had sold everything they could, relinquishing all their properties.
What could they do if they went back?
Besides, the Four Great Families only had them leave; if they returned just like this, wouldn’t they be ridiculed to death by the other three families?
Zhan Song’s heart twisted painfully, like it was being squeezed tighter and tighter.
This was a significant loss, indeed.
But whose fault was it for lacking resolve? Looking at the Li family, who had gone out just yesterday to buy goods and acquire properties, didn’t they seem to have gotten wind of something?
After a long sigh, he released a breath full of resignation: “No more going back, we’ll continue heading south. Our properties are still down south, and our clansmen who moved earlier are in Canglin County, where there are enough houses for us to stay in.”
He still had more to say: Not only were there Zhan family properties down there, but they were also closer to the border.
If Dunyu shows signs of losing, they could simply escape out of Xia State.
The clan members glanced at each other, withdrawing their heads, as no one voiced any disagreement.
But then, Uncle Zhan suddenly slammed the table, furious: “If you’re not going back, then I am! I still have an account with the Li family that hasn’t been settled!”
His wife and children had died at the hands of Li family soldiers.
He was still waiting for justice. “I said before, don’t leave, don’t leave! None of you believed me! Now look at this huge mess; who still has the face to go back?”
Uncle Zhan looked at Zhan Song’s expression and gently cleared his throat: “This isn’t the way to talk, Fourth Brother, you’re being impulsive. We had already planned to migrate south; we didn’t intend to return.”
Zhan Song nodded: “Fourth Brother should return; we can’t let the Li family live too freely.”
He raised his hand and called a steward closer: “Bring two people to accompany Fourth Brother back, take good care of his needs.”
It was better for Fourth Brother to return and keep an eye on things, urging the provincial government to handle matters justly.
Even if the Zhan family had left, they couldn’t let the Li family benefit from it.
The Li family had to pay their share of compensation, not a bit less!
……
Dunyu City.
A day ago, it was a desolate place, with a chilling wind and businesses struggling.
Even the dogs didn’t dare to bark.
A day later, the city was brightly lit, with bustling crowds everywhere.
The drastic change could be attributed solely to a resounding victory.
He Chunhua particularly arranged a banquet at He Su Pavilion to welcome the victorious generals, led by Zhao Qinghe and Wu Shaoyi, treating them to a “welcome back” feast—
Actually, this troop had returned triumphantly the previous morning but had been hiding away in the countryside, only formally re-entering the city today, receiving a warm welcome from the townsfolk.
As the generals discussed the frontline battles at the banquet, their enthusiasm was leaps and bounds above.
He Chunhua deliberately chose not to use a private room but instead booked the entire second floor.
That way, the noise from upstairs could be clearly transmitted downstairs, allowing other guests to hear it perfectly.
As the generals spoke of thrilling moments, guests would rush upstairs, insisting on toasting them.
This happened again and again, and He Lingchuan smartly arranged an open banquet on the first floor, welcoming anyone to come and enjoy, sharing the happiness.
After a satisfying meal, all sorts of gossip and details circulated throughout the city, embellished as expected by He and his son.
This meal lasted from noon until dusk, and only when everyone was thoroughly entertained did they leave with satisfaction.
He Lingchuan grasped He Chunhua’s arm, saying, “Old man, you cannot cheat your son; make sure to settle the banquet expenses quickly!”
He Chunhua was in high spirits today, feeling a little tipsy, and waved his hand decisively: “Put it on the tab, a tab with the provincial government!”
In fact, He Lingchuan already knew that the troop He Chunhua sent actually did win.
However, the extent of the victory had some embellishments; the enemies they captured and defeated did not number anywhere near nine thousand.
In truth, there were only about twelve hundred of them.
After Yan Zanli broke through the defense line of Zhao Pan, he redirected a large force south, hoping to seize more cities while expanding the fruits of victory, establishing a foothold.
Otherwise, penetrating too deep alone would risk calamity.
At the same time, he dispatched several cavalry units to continue targeting small groups, harrying the towns, plundering civilians, and scouting routes of official grain transport for a surprise attack.
These cavalry units were highly mobile, but each unit only had a few hundred troops.
He Chunhua knew that the Xia State army was lax in training and their combat capability was pretty poor.
Engaging directly on the battlefield would probably lead to their scattering.
However, fighting with numerically superior forces on their own ground still provided some odds of victory.
Before departure, he had repeatedly gone over strategies with several generals.
Wu Shaoyi and Zhao Qinghe had good fortune this time; they managed to catch two enemy troops off-guard with solid support from the local people of Xinhung, Hetao and Lu'an, successfully ambushing them.
The last unit didn’t even fight in earnest but retreated without resistance.
The Xunzhou army had fallen into a trap, underestimating how prepared He Chunhua was already in Dunyu.
They believed the defenses to be weak, especially after the past raids on the towns had met little significant resistance, so the defending soldiers fell apart at the first blow, leading them to be overconfident.
Thanks to He Chunhua's timely strike, they reaped such great success.
Yet even so, their own casualties reached over four hundred.
When He Lingchuan learned the real numbers, he couldn’t help but give He Chunhua a thumbs-up: “No wonder you’re the old man; if you’re going to play, play big, even the embellishment is five times greater!”
“Don’t you think morale and the spirit of the soldiers need a boost?” He Chunhua sighed, “Half the reason comes from blowing up the victory!”
“With this victory as a foundation, they can be bolder when facing the Xunzhou army next time.” He, the Grand Supervisor, felt a mixture of happiness and concern.
The joy stemmed from the solid foundation this great victory laid for his prestige in Dunyu, subtly shifting the balance of power and status between him and the prestigious families of the Four Great Families.
He Chunhua felt a weight lift from his heart.
With this victory, many of his subsequent policies could now be smoothly implemented.
The worries were evident as well; the Xia State army’s weakness had been exposed without a doubt.
His plans for conscription and troop training needed to be enacted as soon as possible.
Nevertheless, the most challenging moment of their initial arrival in Dunyu had already passed.
That night, in a dream, He Lingchuan again faced Mengshan, who had just repaired several adversaries, but had now raised a white flag, citing it was too tiring and needed several days to rest.
The last time, He Lingchuan had almost crushed Mengshan’s throat.
Although in the end, he was forcibly disconnected by Mengshan, the latter wasn’t treated specially by the dream realm like He Lingchuan was; his injuries prevented him from recovering overnight and now required several days to recuperate.
Now, He Lingchuan could maintain the confrontation for more than a minute against him.
According to the rules of the Martial Arts Hall, it was actually a favorable environment for Mengshan, because the sharpness of weapons didn’t work well here; the advantages of blunt instruments and brute strength were vastly apparent.
Mengshan was tough-skinned and big-boned, with immense strength; no matter how He Lingchuan attacked him with knives and spears, the damage dealt was quite limited.
Besides, this was a direct confrontation, making sneaky attacks and ambushes nearly impossible.
Even so, the time He Lingchuan lasted continued to increase.
Although military achievements weren’t enough to exchange for new divine abilities, having spent enough time in the Martial Arts Hall, he had learned from others’ strengths and had equipped himself with another useful weapon:
Sleeve arrows.
As the name implied, this item could be concealed within the sleeve and allow attacks against enemies within thirty-four paces as soon as one raised their wrist.
The sleeve arrows provided by the Martial Arts Hall were made of wood for both the arrow and case; hence, their durability and quality were not great.
Nevertheless, when He Lingchuan set out to ambush Mengshan with it, he nearly stabbed the opponent’s eye out.
When he returned to reality, he immediately sought out Li Fubo to custom-make sleeve arrows, ensuring that both the arrow case was made from purple copper and the arrowheads contained a bit of fine gold, with two arrows firing simultaneously.
Moreover, he requested that the arrow shafts be inscribed with two talismans, adding two magical arrays: one for “Wind Barrier” to avoid being disturbed by wind, to prevent crooked shots, and the other for “Refinement,” to increase the penetrating power of the arrowheads since sleeve arrows originally held less power than longbows and required additional support.
One set of arrow cases with six short arrows could also be poisoned.
He also demanded Li Fubo combine the hook and sleeve arrows, meaning the rears of the arrows needed to be able to connect to ropes for emergencies.
Having created this contraption cost him another three hundred taels of silver.
It equaled half the price of a storefront.
Customization from experts in Songyang Prefecture was just this expensive, even after a discounted friendship price.
Li Fubo gave him a thumbs-up, trying to soothe his customer’s wounded feelings: “This thing is practical; young master has a keen eye. Many regulars from Songyang Prefecture must have them; they come back to us for arrow resupplies once they run out.”
He Lingchuan was too lazy to roll his eyes; since it was so useful, why didn’t you mention it to me sooner?
He had considered the other renowned hidden weapon he had read about, the notorious "Typhoon Pear Blossom Needle."
But after Li Fubo disclosed the cost, particularly that once fired, dozens of specially-made large pins could not all be recovered, he immediately abandoned that thought.
Who would come up with such a wasteful thing!
(End of Chapter)