The backyard of the posthouse.
Jenny Huang held the teapot and poured half a bowl of hot water into the coarse porcelain bowl in front of Xu Qinghuan.
Xu Qinghuan picked it up and took a sip.
"My Lord, Hundred-Man Commander Xu has been out of the city for almost a whole night." Jenny Huang put the teapot back on the table and rubbed her fingers. "That place, Wild Fox Shoal... I heard Li Sheng say that Helian scouts are always active in that area all year round. What if..."
"What if what?"
Xu Qinghuan put down the teacup and lifted her chin.
"What if my second brother loses two sheep and can't report back to me?"
Jenny Huang was stunned for a moment.
Li Sheng, who was leaning against the doorframe wiping his sword, let out a scoffing laugh.
"Miss Huang, you haven't seen Hundred-Man Commander Xu in action." Li Sheng sheathed his sword and shifted his position to lean against the frame. "Those so-called elites of the Helian people are no different from paper in front of His Lordship. Yesterday, I saw with my own eyes how he smashed a hundred-pound stone lock with one strike of his mace. That vigor, I reckon even if the Overlord came back to life, it would just be like that."
Jenny Huang was half-believing and half-doubting. "Is he really that formidable?"
"Why would I lie to you?" Li Sheng patted the scabbard at his waist. "That meteoric iron single mace you forged is very handy! His Lordship is extremely satisfied."
Jenny Huang's face turned slightly red from the praise, and she muttered in a low voice, "That's because the iron material from the Chief Commander's Office is good," and said no more.
Xu Qinghuan wrapped her hands around the teacup, her fingertips feeling the warmth transmitted from the coarse porcelain.
She wasn't worried about Xu Zhan's safety.
Before leaving the city, Xu Zhan hoisted the meteoric iron mace onto his shoulder, turned around, and grinned at her. "Sister, wait for your brother's good news."
To tell the truth, what she worried about was never whether he could win or not.
What she worried about was time.
Xu Qinghuan nodded, drank the last sip of tea in the bowl, stood up, and straightened her collar.
"Let's go."
"Where to, Miss?" Jenny Huang quickly stood up.
"To the North Gate." Xu Qinghuan strode outside, her tone flat and indifferent. "To welcome our cattle and sheep."
...
On the official road outside the North Gate, dust filled the sky.
Tie Lanshan rode a date-red warhorse, followed by Zhao Xiong, Bai Yushu, Wang Wenyuan, and more than a dozen other civil and military officials. Further back were five hundred elite cavalrymen, their hooves striking the dry, hard yellow dirt road in a continuous, muffled rumble.
Zhao Xiong rode close to Tie Lanshan, stretching his neck out to look ahead.
"Commander, why do I hear sheep bleating?"
Tie Lanshan didn't answer. He tightened the reins and slowed the horse down.
Zhao Xiong pricked up his ears and listened again, slapping his thigh fiercely. "It really is sheep bleating! Listen, Commander! 'Baa—' If that's not a sheep, what is it!"
Bai Yushu rode on his horse, fanning himself with a folding fan. He didn't speak, but he couldn't hold back the corners of his mouth.
The further they went, the clearer the sound became.
First, there were a few scattered sheep bleats, then the mooing of cattle, and then the creaking of wagon wheels rolling over the gravel road, one wave after another, endlessly.
Turning past a dirt slope, the view suddenly opened up.
Zhao Xiong froze completely on horseback.
The official road was densely packed with livestock.
The flock of sheep was driven into a long dragon, stretching for over a hundred paces, their white backs rising and falling in the morning light. The cattle walked on the outside, their sturdy backs still stained with mud from the riverbank. Four supply wagons fully loaded with grain sacks were sandwiched among the livestock, their wheels sinking deep into the mud ruts, and the soldiers driving the wagons shouted loudly at the mules and horses pulling them.
Guarding the sides were about thirty remnant soldiers of the Vanguard Camp, their armor tattered and their bodies wounded.
Zhao Xiong swallowed hard, his voice trembling. "This... how many are there?"
Wang Wenyuan counted the flock of sheep in front on his fingers, gave up halfway, and shook his head. "Countless. There are no less than five or six hundred sheep alone."
Tie Lanshan pulled the reins, and the date-red horse spun in place.
He didn't make a sound, only swept his gaze from the front of the convoy to the back, and then back again.
The soldiers guarding the gate on the city wall had already exploded into a frenzy.
"Cattle! There are cattle!"
"Grain wagons! There are grain wagons too! Look!"
"Holy crap! Hundreds of sheep?! I'm not seeing things, am I?"
Heads popped out from the crenellations. Some shouted at the top of their lungs toward the inside of the city, while others ran and tumbled down the stairs of the city wall, heading straight for the North Gate.
The speed at which the news spread in Zhenbei City was faster than a horse.
In less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the North Gate was packed with people, three layers deep inside and out. Soldiers, cooks, horse breeders, wall repairers, and even military doctors and scullions all came running.
During these days of grain shortage, these soldiers had been so hungry that they had even gnawed on tree bark and grass roots.
Suddenly hearing that hundreds of live sheep were being driven into the city, who could sit still?!
Tie Lanshan dismounted and strode toward the front of the convoy.
Zhao Xiong followed closely behind.
At the very front of the convoy, Xu Zhan was slowly leading a packhorse.
Tie Lanshan stopped in his tracks.
Xu Zhan let go of the reins, took two steps forward, knelt on one knee, and held his mace horizontally across his chest with his left hand.
"Vanguard Camp Hundred-Man Commander Xu Zhan, acting on the orders of the Imperial Envoy, went to Wild Fox Shoal to receive supplies."
"Beheaded Helian Centurion Helian Wu and thirty-seven others, captured cattle, sheep, and grain. Mission accomplished. Requesting the Commander's inspection."
Behind him, more than thirty remnant soldiers knelt on one knee in unison, the sound of their weapons striking the ground uniform and sharp.
Tie Lanshan looked at this group of soldiers kneeling on the ground, missing arms and legs, and remained silent for a moment.
He bent down, grabbed Xu Zhan's elbow, and pulled upwards forcefully.
"Get up."
Tie Lanshan's strength was not small, forcefully yanking Xu Zhan off the ground.
He patted Xu Zhan's shoulder, his calloused hand pressing heavily twice on Xu Zhan's tattered armor plates.
"Good lad!"
Tie Lanshan raised his voice and roared at everyone on and off the city wall.
"Vanguard Camp's Xu Zhan, attacked on orders, annihilated thirty-seven Helian elites!"
"Captured cattle, sheep, and supplies and brought them all back!"
"Record a merit!"
The city wall was quiet for a moment, and then a landslide of cheers erupted.
Zhao Xiong's eyes grew red, and he clenched his fists, roaring along. "Well done! Vanguard Camp... truly well done!"
Tie Lanshan turned around and waved at Qian Fugui.
"How many supplies are there? Report the numbers."
Qian Fugui had been waiting for this sentence.
He darted out from the crowd, cleared his throat, and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Reporting to the Commander! Seven hundred and twenty-six live sheep! Forty-three live cattle! Eight packhorses! Four grain wagons! Two hundred and forty shi of millet!"
"Also captured various weapons and armor of the Helian elites! One Right Luli Prince's Centurion token!"
With every number reported, there was a gasp of amazement from below.
When the last four words "Centurion token" came out, the entire North Gate, inside and out, completely boiled over.
"Over seven hundred sheep!"
"We can eat our fill tonight!"
"We can eat meat, brothers! It's been half a year! I haven't touched a bit of meat in half a month!"
Some were laughing, some were cursing, and some squatted at the base of the city wall, covering their faces, their shoulders trembling.
Tie Lanshan stood in the middle of the crowd, watching these soldiers who had been hungry for half a year cheering around the cattle and sheep. His back, soaked with sweat, unconsciously straightened a bit.
Zhao Xiong squatted down and patted the forehead of a cow. The cow mooed at him and nudged Zhao Xiong, making him stumble, but Zhao Xiong wasn't angry; instead, he laughed heartily.
Right at this moment.
A rapid clatter of horse hooves echoed from the direction of the city.
"Xu Zhan! You killed my men, and today you must answer to me!"
