September 30.
By the time the carriage entered the ward gate, the sky was already nearing dusk.
Xu Yuan lifted the carriage curtain. Most of the shops lining both sides of the street were tightly shut, and only now and then did a few pedestrians hurry past, their expressions carrying a hint of vigilance.
This was the last supply point along the route. Beyond this place lay the territory of the Level Four zone. Resource replenishment was most urgently needed here, so naturally this was where the supplies had to be delivered first.
Once the carriage came to a stop, Old Liu lifted the curtain and jumped down, saying he was going to gather information.
Xu Yuan leaned against the wall of the carriage and rested with his eyes closed. In his ears came the marketplace’s distinctive clamor, mixed with the faint sound of drilling and shouted commands from afar.
About half an hour later, Old Liu hurried back with an extremely complicated expression on his face.
“Workshop Master Xu, it was just as you expected.”
He sat down heavily in the carriage and lowered his voice. “Of the five convoys that went out, almost all were completely wiped out.”
As he spoke, he felt both heartache and relief.
The heartache was naturally because of the lost supplies. Even if their value was not especially high, they were all essential goods in wartime.
Now that all of them had been taken, the people in the two zones would probably start putting pressure on him.
As for the relief, it came from the fact that he had listened to Xu Yuan’s plan. With a seven-meridian expert like him present, at least the three most important things had been preserved: their own lives, the spirit beast meat, and the medicinal treasures.
“This time, we were forced to respond in haste from the start. Being able to preserve the key resources is already not bad.”
Xu Yuan glanced at him and spoke calmly.
“What Workshop Master Xu says is absolutely right.” Old Liu nodded in deep agreement.
His gaze fell on the bandages wrapped around Xu Yuan’s arm, and he asked with concern, “Has Workshop Master Xu’s injury improved at all? Should we change the medicine again?”
Xu Yuan waved a hand. “It’s nothing.”
The burn had been minor to begin with, and over the past two days it had already healed for the most part.
Even so, he had no intention of removing the bandages.
Before this incident, he had secretly submitted a report upward, only for Han Li to reject it outright.
And what happened afterward? The Bai Family really had come, and in overwhelming force.
Now, not only had he preserved the supplies, he had also slain two of the Bai Family’s six-meridian fighters and one seven-meridian fighter, while he himself had been injured in the process.
In the eyes of outsiders, that made him a perfect tragic hero.
As long as the Shangyang Residence still cared about its reputation, it would never send a wounded hero with merit straight back to the front lines.
From that perspective, it would actually be better if this minor injury did not heal too quickly.
Suddenly, Xu Yuan thought of something else and added, “By the way, Old Liu, there’s no need to rush to spread the victory report from the battle at Kushui River.”
Old Liu was stunned. “Why is that?”
“To avoid any unexpected complications.” Xu Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Also, let’s replan the rest of our route. Keep it as concealed as possible. Once we finish delivering everything, things will get easier.”
When Old Liu heard the words “unexpected complications,” his expression shifted slightly. He nodded heavily and said, “Don’t worry, Workshop Master Xu. I understand.”
At this point, he truly was like a startled bird, instinctively rejecting anything risky.
Xu Yuan gave a slight nod at that.
What he did not say was that this was even more about reducing his own risk.
Right now, the Bai Family was eagerly waiting for the good news of this operation to come back. Since they were already at a disadvantage, they would surely use it for massive publicity to boost morale and recover some of their lost ground.
But what was the result?
The supply line had not been plundered. Instead, the Bai Family had suffered severe losses.
Naturally, that was good news for the Shangyang Residence, but the Bai Family would be furious... and who was to say they would not send more people to intercept and kill him?
Even if he could escape, these supplies might not remain safe.
‘There are still three or four days of travel left. I still need to proceed cautiously.’
Xu Yuan looked out at the sky growing darker beyond the window, his gaze deep and unreadable.
The most urgent matter now was to complete the escort mission as quickly as possible, deliver the resources to the two zones, and then return.
Although he had only just won a great victory, he still felt that the world outside was like an unseen dark forest, filled with danger everywhere.
...
However, while Xu Yuan had concealed the victory report from his own side, the news that the other five routes had been completely annihilated was spread by certain people.
Those people were precisely the Bai Family martial artists who had attacked those five supply lines earlier.
Once they realized that this news could strike at the Shangyang Residence’s morale, they reported it upward layer by layer. The Bai Family’s upper ranks made a swift decision and ordered it to be spread far and wide.
The moment the news came out, the Shangyang Residence was shaken!
They had already been plundered once by the Bai Family before, and now the second shipment had been robbed as well?
That very day, even the Family Head of the Shangyang Residence was alarmed and personally demanded an explanation from the chief steward in charge of logistics.
The chief steward, in turn, furiously berated the stewards below him, and the scolding eventually reached Zhao Yan in the Level Three zone.
Zhao Yan had been sitting at home when the blame fell out of the sky onto his head. Instantly enraged, he confronted Han Li, and after learning that Xu Yuan had secretly submitted a report to him earlier, he cursed Han Li so viciously that the man was left utterly humiliated.
It was said that after Battle Overseer Han came out from Zhao Yan’s place that day, his expression was terrifyingly gloomy, and even his subordinates’ morale had been affected.
Good fortune never came in pairs; misfortune never came alone.
On the very night the news returned, the Bai Family seized the momentum and launched a counterattack on the Level Three zone’s side, achieving repeated successes in a short span of time.
Seeing that the situation was turning bad, Zhao Yan immediately raised the division of battle merits somewhat, and only then did he barely manage to steady the troops’ morale.
For a time, the entire Level Three zone was thrown into chaos, with fear and unrest spreading everywhere.
And amid that turmoil, another piece of news quietly spread as well.
Xu Yuan, the Workshop Master of Changlin Ward, had been ambushed while guarding the supply line, and his fate was still unknown.
...
October 2, Hongyun Restaurant of the Level Three zone.
Huo Gang, Yuan Danqing, and Xiao Han met once again.
Unlike before, every one of them looked rather grim today.
Han Li had been scolded by the Chief Overseer, so naturally he had not shown them any kindness when he came back.
Over the past two days, he had been putting them under intense pressure, saying that the Level Three zone’s current state had everything to do with their negligence.
Bang!
Huo Gang slammed his cup down heavily and said in an indignant voice,
“It’s all because Xu Yuan was too useless. He couldn’t even guard a supply line properly. People kept saying how capable he was, but now look at this. We’re the ones getting dragged down with him.”
Yuan Danqing’s expression stayed calm. She neither agreed nor refuted him.
Xiao Han frowned and said unhappily, “Can’t you see that the Bai Family came prepared? In that kind of situation, neither you nor I would have fared well.”
“Even so, I wouldn’t have been as worthless as him, completely unable to do anything.” Huo Gang let out a cold snort.
“That’s enough.”
Seeing that the two were about to start arguing again, Yuan Danqing spoke in a low voice.
“What matters now is not Xu Yuan’s situation. We still don’t know what happened to him. What we need to consider is how to crush this growing momentum the Bai Family is trying to build.”
Huo Gang said irritably, “What is there to consider? The Bai Family is just a grasshopper after autumn. At most they can jump around a few more times. Over in the Level Four zone, we clearly have the advantage. Even if we just drag things out, we can exhaust them to death!”
“If the family could just use resources to wear them down to death, what would it still need you for?” Xiao Han sneered.
“Cut the sarcastic nonsense...”
Huo Gang had just been about to snap back when something suddenly occurred to him, and a sharp gleam flashed through his eyes.
“Right. Quite a few men under us are injured now, and manpower is short. But Xu Yuan’s ward seems to still be relatively intact, doesn’t it?”
Xiao Han’s expression changed. “You want to target the people in his ward?”
“He took on a hot potato for you and me back then, and now there still isn’t even any definite news about whether he’s alive or dead, yet you’re pulling this? That’s going too far!”
“What do you mean, pulling this?”
Huo Gang immediately became displeased. “We’re all working for the family. What, we go out to the battlefield and fight while they hide in the rear and watch the show? How is that appropriate?”
Xiao Han sneered. “Then why didn’t you think of sending them up when the situation was favorable before? Right now, aren’t you just trying to use Changlin Ward as cannon fodder?”
“What cannon fodder? What kind of talk is that?”
Like a rat whose tail had been stepped on, Huo Gang flew into a fury out of embarrassment.
Yuan Danqing revealed a hesitant expression. “This... doesn’t seem very appropriate, does it?”
“How about we report it to the battle overseer first?”
Hearing that, Xiao Han glanced at her and felt speechless inside.
Her mouth said it was inappropriate, yet she was already preparing to report it directly?
“There’s no need to say anything more.”
At that moment, a low voice came from the doorway.
The three turned their heads and saw Han Li striding in. “I approve of this plan.”
Huo Gang and the others immediately rose to their feet and cupped their fists toward him.
Han Li’s gaze swept across the three of them before finally resting on Xiao Han. He looked at him deeply and said, “Workshop Master Xiao, those words of yours were out of line. We are all serving the Shangyang Residence, so where does this nonsense about cannon fodder come from?”
“If you make remarks like that again, I will not let you off!”
Xiao Han’s expression changed slightly, and he nodded in silence.
Han Li withdrew his gaze and said indifferently, “I will inform the Chief Overseer of this matter. Presumably, he will also agree.”
“After all, this is precisely the time when manpower is lacking. Changlin Ward has stayed in the rear this whole time, so they must also want to earn battle merits.”
With that, he turned and left.
Xiao Han stood where he was, watching that departing figure with a complicated look on his face.