The older boy opened the medicine box and examined the medicine inside before popping out one pill from each type and feeding them into Zhao Jingyuan’s mouth.
Tong Shuxue reminded him again: “Give him some water to swallow the pills. Don’t let them get stuck in his throat. There’s a water pool outside.”
As she spoke, she retrieved a disposable paper cup from her dimensional space and handed it to the older boy.
The older boy cupped his hands toward Tong Shuxue. “Many thanks, Miss. My name is Gao Fei.”
Gao Fei accepted the paper cup and hurried outside to fetch water from the pool. The ability Tong Shuxue possessed to make items appear out of thin air truly shocked him, but the situation was too tense for him to think deeply about it.
Outside the cave, both the Feiyu Army and the Tieying Guard wore identical uniforms. They were the same kind of people who had pursued Tong Shuxue several days earlier.
At a glance, they could tell those people were enemy troops, and they harvested lives with swift and efficient movements.
There was no suspense in a battle between cold weapons and modern firearms. The tide of battle reversed instantly.
The man called Mo Shen focused on intercepting the enemy while also dispatching four robots to pursue those attempting to flee.
With the support of scanning and detection functions, coupled with the robots’ extraordinary speed and long-range attacks, the battle lasted barely more than ten minutes before every enemy within the detection range was annihilated.
The moment the battle outside ended, Ling Yi immediately gave a real-time report. Mo Shen remained outside directing the cleanup efforts while also sending someone into the cave to report to Zhao Jingyuan.
Ling San followed closely behind into the cave hall. “Reporting to the Major General. Units Ling Wu through Ling Shi have gone in pursuit to check for escapees. All other enemies within range have been exterminated.”
Tong Shuxue was not surprised by the battle results at all. “Good. Stack all the corpses together. I’ll handle them later.”
This was Zhao Jingyuan’s first time taking modern medicine, and the effects worked exceptionally fast. Judging from his complexion alone, his high fever had already eased considerably.
His head no longer spun like before either. Hearing Tong Shuxue say that she would deal with the corpses, and seeing that she only had around ten subordinates, Zhao Jingyuan took the initiative to speak.
“I wonder how Miss intends to deal with those corpses. My men can at least assist with moving them.”
Tong Shuxue smiled brightly. “Eat them. That’s so much meat. No need to work hard hunting anymore.”
Mo Shen nearly broke out in goosebumps upon hearing that. How could this girl smile while saying something so horrifying?
“Miss, all of us brothers know how to hunt. We would never eat dead people. Who knows if there’s poison on them. Our master’s condition truly isn’t suitable for travel. We ask Miss to allow us to stay here temporarily.”
He had already learned from Gao Fei that the two boxes of unheard-of medicine had been given by this young lady. Since she had neither attacked them nor refused to give medicine to his master, it meant she bore no ill intentions. No matter what, he had to try.
Although the girl had few people under her command, their combat power was simply terrifying.
The corners of Zhao Jingyuan’s lips curved slightly when he saw Mo Shen’s serious expression. Fool. He actually thought this girl wanted to eat corpses.
“Today, many thanks to Miss for your assistance. If it is inconvenient for us to stay here, then after we dispose of the corpses outside, this prince will lead my men away.”
Mo Shen also realized how ridiculous his earlier thoughts had been. With people this powerful around the young lady, there was absolutely no possibility of lacking meat in these deep mountains. How could she possibly eat dead people?
He scratched his head and smiled awkwardly.
Still, he did not agree with his master’s words. This place was enormous, and there was no guarantee they would find another location this suitable deeper inside the mountains.
But since his master had already spoken, he could only obey as a subordinate. He looked at Tong Shuxue with hope and even a trace of pleading. His master’s body truly could not endure further hardship.
“My name is Tong Shuxue. You may stay. I only have one requirement: while you’re here, you listen to me. Of course, I’m not some unreasonable tyrant. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, you can raise them and we can discuss things. But if your reckless actions bring enemies here…” Her smile faded slightly. “Then sorry, I’ll wipe all of you out together.”
How could Tong Shuxue possibly feel at ease letting this group leave? It was not because she feared they would all die to the pursuing forces again. She was simply worried they might expose her location.
There was another reason as well. According to the information gathered by Ling Yi and Ling Er, this Prince of Dingbei had once been considered a hero. Whether the crimes publicly announced by the imperial court were true or not remained difficult to say.
Throughout history, there had never been a shortage of cases where rulers in imperial societies eliminated those whose achievements overshadowed the throne. Even in modern times, those in power often secretly harmed capable people from opposing factions.
Tong Shuxue herself was a soldier, and she naturally felt a sense of closeness toward other soldiers. If Zhao Jingyuan truly had been falsely accused, she would not mind helping him.
So for the time being, it was better to keep him where she could see him. In any case, these people posed little threat to her.
Zhao Jingyuan nodded. “Very well. Many thanks, Miss Tong.”
Two hours later, all the robots that had gone in pursuit returned.
“Reporting to the Major General. The battlefield outside has been cleaned. The four units sent in pursuit have returned to formation. A total of five hundred and sixty-three enemy soldiers have been eliminated. Not a single enemy who entered the mountains escaped. At present, there are no enemy troops remaining within this mountain range.”
Tong Shuxue was highly satisfied. This was modern technology crushing the ancient era on an entirely different level. If the robots said not a single enemy escaped, then the forces that entered the mountains this time had truly been wiped out completely.
She stood and slowly walked outside the cave. The gentle slope outside was piled high with corpses. So many bodies could not simply be left scattered across the mountain, so Tong Shuxue could only temporarily store them inside her dimensional space and think of a way to deal with them later.
Mo Shen followed her outside as well. Their men had just finished moving the corpses and now stood in two rows nearby.
“Miss Tong, the pile over here contains our brothers.”
Mo Shen had wanted to ask whether they could at least be laid to rest peacefully, but the words caught in his throat.
Seventy-five of his brothers had died. No matter where so many bodies were buried, traces would inevitably be discovered.
Miss Tong’s request for them to gather all the corpses together was also intended to erase as many traces of human activity here as possible. He simply did not know how she intended to deal with so many bodies.
The moment Tong Shuxue stepped outside, she noticed the separate pile of corpses. From the clothing alone, she could tell these were Zhao Jingyuan’s subordinates.
Her gaze swept over them one by one, and then every corpse vanished before everyone’s eyes.
Mo Shen was so startled that his hand instinctively moved to the hilt of the sword at his waist. The others were equally shocked into momentary silence.
Tong Shuxue merely smiled lightly at Mo Shen’s small movement. Anyone would fear technology like this. But so what? Since she possessed such abilities, there was no need to hide them. Making them afraid carried more advantages than disadvantages.
“Mo Shen, tell your people to head into the valley. My people will handle the outside. As for your dead brothers, I suggest either cremating them or burying them somewhere far from here. I’ll keep the bodies for you first.”
Mo Shen finally snapped back to his senses because of Tong Shuxue’s words. Cold sweat had already soaked his back. Miss Tong clearly meant that the corpses had not truly disappeared, but had instead been stored somewhere by her.
He swallowed hard. After pausing for a moment, he finally managed to speak with difficulty.
“Yes… many thanks, Miss Tong. If we cremate them, we’ll need to find a suitable location, and I’m afraid that won’t be possible within this mountain range. Could I send several brothers deeper into the mountains to find a burial site instead? But… how would we transport the bodies there?”
Tong Shuxue let him decide as he wished. “If you want burial, then go find the location first. If you want cremation, then first find a place suitable for cremating them.”