Chapter 00278: Critical Peril (An Extra for the Pathfinders)
# Critical Peril (An Extra for the Pathfinders)
Chapter 278
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 278: Critical Peril (An Extra for the Pathfinders)
"The mine tunnel has other exits. If you want to catch them by surprise, this would be the best way."
He Lingchuan pointed at Jiao Tai.
"He knows the locations of the tunnel exits."
Zeng Feixiong was overjoyed and clasped his fists.
"Thank you, young master!"
This title stung He Lingchuan's heart, and he waved his hand dismissively.
"Go, earn some merit first and then come back to thank me."
Zeng Feixiong knew time was of the essence and continued to follow Jiao Tai as they headed for the mine.
During their conversation, He Chunhua took out a piece of white paper and, in a hurry, didn’t even bother to grind ink.
He simply bit his fingertip, dipped his blood in, and wrote a dozen or so characters.
He Lingchuan was curious.
"Father?"
He Chunhua didn’t respond but quickly took out the state decree and sealed it with blood, then folded the paper.
He then retrieved something else from his storage ring — a gray pigeon.
Everyone was taken aback, but upon closer inspection, they realized this was actually a mechanical bird.
He Chunhua opened a hidden compartment, placed the blood letter inside, and the mechanical bird flapped its wings twice, its little eyes lighting up.
Then, Steward He tossed it into the air, and it took off with a whoosh, flying eastward.
He Lingchuan let out a long sigh of relief.
"So you brought this! Wonderful!"
The mechanical bird was a masterwork of a puppet master, but few could create one that could fly dozens of miles.
It required extremely intricate construction.
This bird was originally crafted by a capable subordinate of the rebel leader Hong Xiangqian.
When the righteous army was defeated at Woling Pass, Wu Shaoyi had taken several mechanical birds with him.
Later, when Wu Shaoyi surrendered, he presented the mechanical birds for military use.
He Chunhua had been cautious and specifically brought a mechanical bird this time for emergencies.
Now, the "emergency" had arrived.
He Chunhua’s expression turned serious.
"I hope it can reach on time!"
The bird flew much faster than a thousand-mile steed.
If it could warn Xinhwang before Hong Chenglue launched his surprise attack, their side might avoid heavy losses.
There was no need to say it.
He Chunhua immediately ordered the remaining troops to turn around and return to Xinhwang at full speed.
He Lingchuan gradually understood the situation.
His father was thinking that since the army was already here, it wouldn’t be suitable not to make some achievements before returning, so he directed Zeng Feixiong to conduct a surprise attack on the mine.
The bait thrown out by Hong Chenglue was indeed quite tempting, and taking it posed little difficulty.
Moreover, if Xinhwang's food supplies were also burned, at least they could capture one of the enemy generals, Bai Liqing.
On the way, He Chunhua asked in detail about the events that had transpired and upon hearing that Mao Tao had died in battle, he couldn't help but sigh.
"He was one of the old timers with you. Did he have a family?"
"No," Zeng Feixiong replied.
He Chunhua responded with a thoughtful grunt.
"That’s for the best."
He was now anxious, wishing he could sprout wings and fly back to Xinhwang, and had little time to comfort his son.
Xinhwang had stationed troops and had the Yunhua Pavilion assisting in defense.
But Hong Chenglue was at least half a pace ahead of them.
That man had crafty means, and at this point, he had no confidence about whether they would make it back in time.
In striving for achievements, he had ultimately underestimated the situation.
...
In the abandoned mine pit.
Bai Liqing slowly regained consciousness.
It was already dark, and he was extremely thirsty, mumbling, "Water..."
His personal guard quickly brought him a drink.
Soon, two generals arrived, joyfully exclaiming, "Lord Bai Li, you’re finally awake!"
"How long was I asleep?"
"Almost an entire day. Your wound is healing well."
Bai Liqing looked at his severed arm, a bitter smile on his face.
What use was healing if he had lost his arm?
However, he had heard of some secret medicines that could regenerate severed limbs.
On the table lay half a roast chicken, and one of the generals picked it up with a smile.
"I'll heat this up; this was delivered by General Hong as a gesture of respect."
"Where is General Hong?" Bai Liqing glanced outside and saw few people moving about.
"Our spies left in Bailu Town were captured, so the army from Xiazhou came here. General Hong has gone to draw them away."
Bai Liqing's expression changed.
"Is the mine exposed? Why don’t we relocate?"
"Well…," the two generals exchanged glances, "Your injury is too severe, and a hasty retreat might be—"
"Foolish!" Bai Liqing struggled to sit up.
"Order an immediate retreat. Where did General Hong say to meet?"
"In Xinqiao Township."
"Fetch the military doctor to change my bandages," Bai Liqing said, looking at the blood-soaked bandage.
"The doctor went with General Hong."
Bai Liqing was taken aback.
"What did you say?"
The more he thought about it, the more wrong it felt.
He had merely lost an arm; how could he have slept through an entire day?
Poison! He had been drugged.
"How many soldiers can still fight in the camp?"
"General Hong left fifty men."
Bai Liqing slammed the table in anger.
"That treacherous man!"
The two generals remained perplexed, and Bai Liqing urged them repeatedly.
"Quickly give the order to evacuate. Get me a stretcher, hurry!"
Just as his subordinates were about to comply, several anguished cries suddenly erupted outside.
The two rushed to the entrance and saw waves of arrows flying from the woods, flames shooting into the sky!
The Xiazhou army had arrived.
...
In Xinhwang, the grain convoy camp.
Night had long fallen, and the camp was brightly lit.
However, looking out from the camp, the entire town of Xinhwang was nearly immersed in darkness, with barely a few lamps lit.
A young soldier standing guard on the western ridge yawned and said to an accompanying comrade, "It’s so devoid of life here; it’s like a ghost town. We might as well camp out in the wilderness; at least we could hunt something to eat."
Yawning is contagious, and the comrade couldn’t help but yawn, too.
"Haven’t you heard these bumpkins say that all the game in the area has been eaten? Alright, keep your spirits up; I'm off."
The young soldier was startled.
"Hey, don’t leave me alone!" His partner had died during a surprise attack by the people of Xunzhou yesterday.
"I've been on guard for five hours; I'm exhausted!"
"I have things to do. With everyone gone, what work do we have to do?" The comrade waved his hand and turned to leave.
"If you want to complain, blame the scheduling for not giving you a proper shift, leaving you out here alone."
The western ridge was the outermost point of the camp, and the young soldier felt quite bored being alone.
The gentle spring night wind blew, and before long, he leaned against the wall and dozed off.
Suddenly, something gray plummeted from the night sky and landed in front of him, twitching a few times.
But the young soldier slept so deeply, a slight whistle escaping his lips, oblivious to the movement before him.
He had no idea how much time had passed before three people walked by the western ridge, led by Elder Liang from the Yunhua Pavilion.
He spotted the gray figure on the ground at a glance and halted.
One disciple stepped forward to pick it up and exclaimed, "What is this?"
He initially thought it was a dead pigeon, but upon touch, it was icy cold, obviously a mechanical creation.
A mechanical carrier pigeon?
It had scrape marks on its back, likely attacked by some night bird as prey.
This explained why it had not flown all the way to Wu Shaoyi; it was probably damaged.
Elder Liang took it and examined it, fiddling with it, and a hidden compartment opened on the bird's belly, revealing a note inside.
Then, Elder Liang swiftly took the note and the mechanical bird and ran into Wu Shaoyi’s tent!
Wu Shaoyi was reading under the light, and as soon as the tent flap was flung open, he hadn’t even had a chance to question before Elder Liang slammed the two items onto his desk.
An urgent matter!
Wu Shaoyi’s face changed dramatically at a glance, and he slammed his palm on the table and stood up.
"This is outrageous! Immediately go on alert!"
With He Chunhua absent, he was the highest-ranking officer at the camp.
Wu Shaoyi quickly issued several urgent orders, and several drums sounded within the camp, rousing the soldiers.
Most had been busy throughout the day, and after lying down at night, they were dead to the world.
But at the sound of the drums, their hearts jolted with alarm.
Wu Shaoyi commanded his subordinates to prepare for battle, moving the barricades to the camp entrance, readying for confrontation; while Elder Liang led the disciples to set up formations, which were especially effective at resisting large-scale attacks, such as showers of arrows or fires.
However, they had barely completed the second formation when urgent hoofbeats suddenly echoed outside Xinhwang town.
These people didn’t have torches and ran through the darkness, heading straight toward them with obvious malintent.
Wu Shaoyi's face tightened as he ordered the archers within the camp to fire a wave of arrows.
Striking first was the best strategy.
He had suffered a major loss at the hands of Hong Chenglue last night, losing the camp, provisions, and dignity; now that Hong Chenglue had come for a second raid while he was in camp, it was simply intolerable!
This time, both old and new grudges were to be settled together!
...
He Chunhua was anxious, with the over-thousand-strong force pushing their way back with all their might.
Along the way, several warhorses stumbled, directly breaking their legs.
This was the official road, even though it hadn’t been maintained for many years.
Just after turning a corner, a "bang" sounded as a fire arrow shot off from the mountaintop above, exploding into a large red firework in midair.
There were people on the mountain!
He Lingchuan’s expression froze, but He Chunhua treated it as if he hadn’t seen it, urging everyone to keep moving forward.
This place was about a mile away from Xinhwang town, a necessary route to enter and exit the small town from the west.
It was evident that Hong Chenglue had specifically stationed scouts on this mountaintop to capture the movements of the officials.
Those like He Lingchuan who noticed immediately felt a tightening in their hearts, for this indicated that Hong Chenglue's forces had already arrived in Xinhwang!
The enemy had come a step earlier.
As they rushed near Xinhwang town, while there was a fierce firelight visible ahead, the sounds of shouting and fighting caused He Lingchuan to feel slight relief.
The sounds of combat and shouting indicated that the camp had not yet been completely taken over.
It seemed evident that the camp could still be saved.
Indeed, He Chunhua led his troops into Xinhwang town; the flames in the military camp had not yet extinguished, but Hong Chenglue's forces were already gone — they had retreated eastward after seeing the signal flare shot from the mountain to the west.
Wu Shaoyi and Elder Liang led the remaining troops to fiercely pursue the retreating enemy.
Seeing He Chunhua return, the soldiers of the grain convoy cheered with joy.
He Lingchuan glanced around and found chaos within the main camp.
After the night’s raid, the supply carts were spread out, and now dozens were burning, the flames still not extinguished.
There were signs of battle everywhere, and in just a few steps, he could encounter a body or two.
He Chunhua sent a team to help extinguish the fires and salvage food supplies, while he himself led the troops toward the east to assist Wu Shaoyi.
Given the stark numerical inferiority of the two sides, there should be no suspense.
He Lingchuan stayed behind to help in the camp.
As promised, this chapter is dedicated to the lucky Pathfinder who opened the reward of 6,666 monthly tickets.
Continue to seek out those monthly tickets to maintain our ranking!
(The End of This Chapter)