Chapter 00274: The Dilemma of He Chunhua
# The Dilemma of He Chunhua
Chapter 274
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 274: The Dilemma of He Chunhua
"Seeking fame through heavy profit?"
"Otherwise, faced with such great disaster, one would either be left with a heart full of despair, hiding one's name and living in obscurity, or be filled with resentment and itching for revenge. How could one be so actively pursuing a position in government?"
By the time Gu Yuan was barely rescued from the gates of the underworld by Dong Rui, the sun had started to set in the west.
Hong Chenglue had just received a report from his scout.
This person had been hiding in Xinquang City for a night, gathering intel on the enemy and had now returned to the mine.
"They plan to set off tomorrow morning?"
Hong Chenglue waved this person away, tapping his fingers on the broken wooden table twice before asking, "What about the scout sent to Bailu Town? Has he returned?"
Xu Yingshan replied immediately, "Not yet."
"With us being so close to Bailu Town, how could he not have returned?"
"That's...," Xu Yingshan seemed to realize, "I will immediately send someone to check again!"
Hong Chenglue remained silent until Xu Yingshan had walked out the door when he called him back: "Come back!"
"General?"
"Who did you send?"
"Liu Si."
"Is this person reliable usually?" After all, these were the Xunzhou cavalry who had only recently recognized him, not the Beijia army he previously led.
He did not yet have a deep understanding of their combat habits or capabilities.
"Liu Si has always been punctual and cautious; if he's late this time, it's the first occurrence."
This abnormal situation caused Hong Chenglue's heart to jolt.
He thought to himself that something was wrong.
He had lived in Bailu Town for many years, and the traces he left behind were not something that could be erased quickly.
"No need to look for him."
This was his oversight.
"Order the camp to move; this place is no longer safe for us! We will find another location!"
This dilapidated mine was known only to a few locals, making it an excellent hiding place.
What a pity.
"Ah?" Tao Ze was taken aback, and others heard it as well.
Xu Yingshan immediately responded with a "Yes," but the other two generals stood up: "That's not right! Perhaps Liu Si faced delays on the road; it doesn’t necessarily mean something happened in Bailu Town!"
"Generals Bai and many brothers were just rescued and should be resting; it is unwise to move them around. We cannot assume that just because Liu Si is half an hour late, he has been caught by the enemy and should raise a commotion."
"Yes, that's not right!"
These were all people from Xunzhou, under Yan Zanli’s command.
Even though Yan Zanli designated Hong Chenglue as the main general to act behind enemy lines, they did not genuinely respect him and instead had a closer relationship with Bai Qingsheng.
Even if there were other places to reside, they could not simply walk the official road openly; the path ahead was guaranteed to be a difficult mountain path.
Riding a horse normally could make an ordinary person’s behind numb, let alone Bai Qingsheng and others, who were already severely ill and could not bear any jolting.
With a few bumps, their wounds could reopen, and they would be in life-threatening danger.
In this situation, they felt that Hong Chenglue was overreacting.
Hong Chenglue was not furious, merely asking them: "Then what do you think we should do?"
"Send someone again to Bailu Town to find out the truth."
Hong Chenglue had no objections and even smiled: "Alright, let’s do that."
These two generals felt that General Hong seemed quite amiable, unlike the ruthless and decisive figure described in legends.
He Lingchuan and the others entered the mountains under the guidance of an old man.
This old man, surnamed Shan, was not good at riding, so He Lingchuan even hired a cart for him, fearing that his old bones would fall apart before they reached their destination.
"I haven't been to that mine in ten years."
Old Man Shan leaned against the window to discern his surroundings, fearing he might miss a small path.
"Mr. Hong is a well-recognized good person. My wife once borrowed things from his family, and he didn't mind; he often went into the mountains to hunt and would share some with us. I remember he caught a huge wild boar once, it must have weighed over five hundred pounds. He was quite generous and shared it with the neighbors in the alley. Sigh, I never expected he would work for the people of Xunzhou."
Is Hong Chenglue really working for the people of Xunzhou? Clearly, he was going to be their leader, but Old Man Shan simply did not know.
He Lingchuan casually remarked, "There are plenty of wild delicacies in this mountain."
"In the past, they were everywhere, but in recent years, they are getting fewer and fewer. If one could catch a rabbit after a full day in the mountains, it would be heaven's favor."
Old Man Shan shook his head.
"Once, Mr. Hong spent two days in the mountain and came back empty-handed, saying the woods were completely barren."
"Have they all been eaten?" After walking for so long, they indeed hadn't seen a single wild rabbit.
"Yes, in recent years, the harvest in the fields has not been good, and the government is demanding money aggressively. How could everyone live if they couldn't afford food?" Old Man Shan suddenly pointed ahead, "It's here, go in!"
The place he pointed to had no path, only dense grass.
Jiao Tai grabbed a machete and hacked away at the long grass, eventually revealing a small path that appeared barely passable, with saplings sprouting everywhere, looking to have grown in the last few years.
"Indeed, it’s here. Look, I carved markings on that big stone!" As everyone looked, they indeed found a triangular mark on the black stone by the low locust tree, though covered in moss, making it hard to recognize.
"In the past, when we returned from work to the town, we would take this shortcut—could save half an hour!"
The cart could not go in any further, so Shan Youjun let the old man sit on the front seat while the others continued on foot.
The entire route was undulating, even requiring fording rivers and crossing ravines.
Without a guide, there would be no way to find the way.
After more than half an hour, Old Man Shan pointed to the small hill ahead: "You can see the mine after climbing over this."
Mao Tao crept to the top of the hill and peered down, and then nodded to He Lingchuan.
He Lingchuan immediately took out a few pieces of silver and handed them to Old Man Shan: "Thank you, this is for your trouble."
He gave more than the agreed amount, causing Old Man Shan to be extremely grateful.
He wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, "Do you want to know about another exit from the mine?"
The crowd was taken aback: "The mine has another exit?"
"It didn't use to have one."
Old Man Shan took a sip of water, tantalizingly keeping everyone in suspense.
He Lingchuan gave him a few more coins, and only then did Old Man Shan lead everyone around to the back of the mountain.
This small aspect made He Lingchuan feel that he and the old lady were indeed a match; they were not a family, but they entered the same door.
"Fourteen years ago, there were still mines here, and nearly a hundred people worked here every day. I remember when New Year was approaching, everyone wanted to finish quickly to return home. As a result, just when we were digging enthusiastically, the mine collapsed suddenly."
"Four or five died on the spot, and more than a dozen were trapped. We thought we were doomed, but we didn't expect the stone wall deep in the mine to be shattered, letting light shine through, but the opening was too small. We used pickaxes to open a hole, and the middle section of the mountain slid down several times, blocking that crevice multiple times. We dug several times, and it was through much hardship that we finally escaped."
"It's been so long; I don’t even know if that exit still exists."
Walking down the mountain for more than a mile, Mao Tao suddenly hissed: "Don't move!"
The five of them were just passing between two giant stones.
Through the crack, they could see two people sitting around a fire outside the gorge, with weapons at their waists.
These were guards.
He Lingchuan's heart sank at this sight.
If the mine didn't have a backdoor, why would the Xunzhou people post two guards here?
Sure enough, Old Man Shan pointed there, indicating "the exit is over there."
Hong Chenglue chose this abandoned mine as their base, clearly having considered it thoroughly, even preparing an escape route.
At that moment, the five of them quietly retreated, careful not to disturb the two guards.
Returning to the vicinity of the mine, Old Man Shan immediately said: "Gentlemen, I’ll be heading back now."
This looked like a prelude to a brawl; the old man surely couldn’t withstand it and needed to leave promptly.
At the end of the small path, a cart awaited him, and he would drive the cart away.
Until his figure disappeared at the end of the path, Mao Tao then turned and started to sneak towards the mine.
The three people patiently waited.
About fifteen minutes later, Mao Tao returned, whispering: "There are at least six sentinels around the mine, all guarding from high points, able to overlook everything. The diameter of the open mine must be around seventy to eighty zhang, making it difficult to shoot arrows at people below from here. Oh, and they are cooking down there, with over a hundred people sitting on the stone steps of the mine waiting for food. There are also a dozen low houses at the mine's edge, and Xunzhou people are coming in and out. I saw some carrying out bloody water; perhaps there are the wounded inside."
"I also heard a loud scream; it sounded like Dong Rui's strange bird was up on the roof, grooming its wings."
Indeed, the aroma of rice wafted up with the wind, and everyone asked He Lingchuan: "What should we do now?"
There were hundreds of enemy soldiers down there, whereas their side had only four.
They couldn't take them down.
He Lingchuan thus pointed to Jiao Tai: "You go back to Xinhuang and report to the old man, let him decide. The rest of us will stay here and nibble on our dry rations."
Jiao Tai obeyed the order and turned to leave.
Since Dong Rui's strange bird was also here, that creature had keen hearing and sight, so they had to act more covertly.
...
He Chunhua sat in a simple house, staring at the military loss report on the table.
The grain transport team had been defeated in Bailu Town, losing ten thousand shi of grain; while things were a bit better in Xinhuang, over a hundred had been killed or injured, and more than four hundred jin of grain were burned.
Given the current situation in the Yuan Kingdom, each grain collection effort had to be executed with tightened belts, practically requiring the conscription of the common people again.
Just this quantity of grain would make Ke Jihai in the west salivate.
However, this time He Chunhua personally oversaw the transportation, and even before reaching the front lines, half of the twenty thousand shi allocated by Wang Ting had been lost.
This would shrink his confidence significantly upon meeting Zhao Pan.
This left him quite dissatisfied.
At the same time, he found himself in a dilemma: should he stop to chase the remaining Xunzhou cavalry or prioritize securing the grain supply to the front lines?
From a broader perspective, he should choose the latter.
As a grain transport team, ensuring the safety of the supplies was paramount, and prioritizing the front-line soldiers' nourishment came first.
However, even if he planned this, it was hard to say whether Hong Chenglue would strike again, intending to burn the remaining supplies as well.
Then their side would be left in a passive position.
If they took the initiative...
The surviving staff had discussed this with him twice, and everyone insisted on securing the grain first.
But He Chunhua had yet to make a definitive decision.
Just as he was about to finalize a course of action for this ambush, he felt reluctance, thinking it would be hard to report back.
At that moment, there was an announcement from outside:
"The young master’s attendant requests an audience."
Finally, news had arrived! He Chunhua's spirit lifted: "Come in."
Jiao Tai rushed in, dusty and weary, his lips a bit cracked.
Without taking a moment to drink water, he hurried to report to He Chunhua about the situation in Bailu Town and the mine.