NOVPUBAfter taking the medicine, Taishi Ci, with his Sky Piercer in hand, charged towards Yan Liang, whose light blade wasn’t particularly formidable, but Yan Liang, already grievously injured, had no way to defend himself.
"Retreat!" Yan Liang’s shrill cry rang out as he turned his horse and fled.
Taishi Ci gave chase for several hundred meters before reluctantly planting the Sky Piercer into the ground, seemingly due to his horse’s dwindling strength and his own isolation.
The soldiers nearby, their morale boosted by Taishi Ci’s lead, were ready to continue the chase and finish off Yan Liang when Taishi Ci reined in his horse, standing resolute, then turned and ran towards where he was to regroup with Gongsun Zan. However, before he had run a few hundred meters, a mouthful of fresh blood spurted out, his face, which still had a hint of color, instantly turned pale as the wound he had barely managed to contain with inner qi bled once more.
"Retreat quickly!" Taishi Ci ordered the soldiers nearby, thinking how could there possibly be such a fast-acting medicine. Although he admitted that the medicine Chen Xi had developed was indeed effective for excessive blood loss and severe depletion of vital energy, such a rapid effect was a joke. He had merely pressed on the wound and put on an act!
See, this is a matter of combat intelligence. At least Taishi Ci knew, fight alone and injured, to leave the enemy with the impression of a swift recovery—creating the special effect of a divine medicine instantly filling up one’s health. Just like that, Yan Liang, that straight-shooter, believed it; the idea that there was a medicine that could instantly restore one’s health...
"General, please dismount. We’ll dress your wounds and then you can take another packet of the powder. After that, eat something nourishing like tiger or leopard meat, and I assure you, you will recover within half a month," the medic said, realizing what was happening as soon as he saw Taishi Ci spitting out blood. He had been wondering how the medicine could be so miraculously effective. Although its effects were indeed very good, they shouldn’t have been that astonishing!
"Hurry up," Taishi Ci said as he dismounted and sat on the grass, allowing the medic to quickly tend to him. Soon enough, the medic applied the hemostatic medicine—a powder that Chen Xi knew of only two types: Tian Qi and Cogongrass root. As for Tian Qi, a substance Chen Xi had never seen, he was more inclined to believe in Cogongrass root, something abundantly found everywhere...
The medic applied the external powder and wrapped it with linen. Then, he mixed the powder into the water, boiled it quickly, and Taishi Ci gulped it down. After all this, both he and the medic felt relieved. Although these soldiers weren’t particularly knowledgeable about changing dressings, the tightness of the bandages, or other wound treatment details, they were capable enough to save many lives with the skills they had. Surprisingly, despite this basic and almost skill-less approach, not many medics had been trained.
Although Taishi Ci still looked somewhat pale, he felt much more at ease. After being bandaged, he felt a great deal lighter; all that was left was to eat well for several days, and he would recover in no time. The recovery power of someone at the Inner Qi Manifestation Rank shouldn’t be underestimated.
"Put out the fire, let’s go!" Taishi Ci rested for a while, gnawing on a rabbit caught by one of his men, feeling his strength return considerably. He could barely continue projecting his inner qi now, ensuring his life safety with this technique at hand.
On the other side, Yuan Shao was petrified by the sight of Yan Liang’s extensive injury. Fortunately, Yan Liang insisted it was but a minor wound that would heal itself with a month of rest, but Yuan Shao still summoned a physician to treat Yan Liang and nourished him on fine wines and rich foods. He then commanded others to pursue and kill Gongsun Zan.
"Big brother, how did you end up like this?" Wen Chou was shocked to see Yan Liang wrapped up like a mummy.
"Don’t mention it. I always thought Gongsun Bogui had no experts under his command, but this time I encountered one and got hurt. If I hadn’t moved quickly, I would have been chopped in half by him. And you, second brother, be careful. Don’t trade injuries with him. We can’t afford that; he has a kind of medicine that makes him better right away," Yan Liang warned Wen Chou.
"I’ll be careful. You rest, big brother. I’ll go avenge you!" Wen Chou nodded. He paid no attention to how unreasonable Yan Liang’s words were. Since they had a medicine that could heal them, they would simply overwhelm their enemy with numbers.
"What? The White Horse Righteous Followers were defeated?" Gan Ning grabbed the collar of a routed soldier from Gongsun’s Army and asked, initially stunned and then overjoyed, "The military advisor truly lives up to his name! Come on, lads! Let’s go avenge Gongsun Bogui!"
After traveling a few dozen more miles, they encountered another routed soldier from Gongsun’s Army. The news this time took Gan Ning completely by surprise, "What do you mean the main camp has been taken? Haven’t we been consistently overpowering Yuan Shao?"
This piece of news scared Gan Ning to the core. Even someone as brave as he realized what this meant. Wasn’t this tantamount to saying Gongsun Zan was thoroughly finished? Was the entire army wiped out? Fifty to sixty thousand troops captured? How was Gan Ning supposed to turn the tide? Try saving just one with three hundred men!
"Boss, should we pull back?" a junior officer from the river bandits, who were under Gan Ning’s command, whispered.
"Call me supervisor! Not boss! I’m not a water pirate; I’m a naval war commander! Pull back my ass, seize the opportunity when it arises! If Gongsun Zan has been defeated and we haven’t shown up, how am I supposed to explain later?" Gan Ning turned his head and asked with a look of annoyance.
"Yes, boss!" the officer straightened up and responded.
"..." Gan Ning glanced at the officer, but ultimately gave up on further reprimanding, "What do you think we should do? We haven’t achieved any military exploits, and the enemy was finished off before we could even catch a battle opportunity. We surely can’t expect our three hundred men to wage war against Yuan Shao’s victorious troops!"
As he was speaking, Gan Ning suddenly seemed to have an idea. It wasn’t impossible, after all. The thought of three hundred men fighting tens of thousands was thrilling. He looked at his men with gleaming eyes. If they couldn’t win head-on, couldn’t they just launch a surprise attack? 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝒑𝙪𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝙢
"Report, boss, just now when I was hunting, I caught a logistics soldier from Yuan Shao’s Army!" an underling ran over excitedly to report.
"Well done! Let me think about what’s written in that book the military advisor gave me. Right, let’s go burn their food supplies!" Gan Ning said excitedly.
A group of water pirates, not knowing the meaning of the word ’death’ and audaciously courageous, followed Gan Ning’s lead and crouched in a clump of bushes. Then, when Yuan Shao’s logistics soldiers arrived, they sprang up suddenly and overwhelmed all of Yuan Shao’s soldiers.
"Quick, quick, quick, change clothes fast." Gan Ning watched his men chuckling as they dragged the corpses of Yuan Shao’s soldiers into the bushes and then stripped off their armor and dressed themselves in it.
Gan Ning, escorting the food supplies, soon arrived at Handan Granary. The Logistics Officer stood at the entrance and asked Gan Ning, "Did you encounter any problems on the road?"
"Psh, only ran into a few of Gongsun Zan’s fleeing soldiers." Gan Ning said with disdain, which wasn’t feigned but genuinely heartfelt. With such a huge advantage lost, did you really expect Gan Ning to admire you? (To Be Continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes, monthly tickets, and your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)
