Chapter 1181 – Taking Down Xu Pei, The First Kill of the Feudal Lords (51)
“Is something bothering you, Lieutenant Xie?”
Stepping down from the battlefield, Xie Ze seemed to be carrying some heavy thoughts, his two sword-like brows nearly twisted into a knot, looking deeply worried.
Han Yu, sharp-eyed as ever, caught on to this and quietly inquired.
Xie Ze snapped back to attention at the sound, instinctively raising his guard, but when he realized it was Han Yu who was asking, he let down his defenses.
“Han, military adviser—” He initially didn’t want to respond, but since it was Han Yu, he felt he could share a thing or two. After all, he trusted him, “It’s nothing much, just that silver spear general I encountered today… I can’t shake the feeling that he looks familiar. More importantly, the spear technique he used… it seems… it seems to be the ancestral martial art of the Xie family. The Xie spear technique is only passed down to direct male descendants.”
Han Yu asked, “Are you certain that the technique he used is unique to the Xie family?”
Xie Ze nodded firmly.
Unlike other noble families, the Xie family prided themselves on martial prowess, and martial arts were prevalent throughout their clan.
Many of their young members began practicing with a small wooden spear before they could even walk, laying the groundwork for their martial training from a young age.
Their spear skills were stellar, and they were also proficient with other weapons.
By the time Xie Ze officially began martial training, his peers weren’t even as tall as his specially made wooden spear. The Xie spear technique was deeply ingrained in his very bones; even if he were blind, he could spar with Li Yun and instantly recognize his moves. There was no way he could mistake it.
However, he didn’t want to shout about it. If it weren’t for Han Yu’s trustworthiness, he wouldn’t have let it slip.
Han Yu continued, “There aren’t many military generals under Liu Xi proficient with a spear, besides herself. There’s only one other—Li Yun.”
“Li Yun? Heard of him,” Xie Ze recalled. “Considering age, appearance, and skill, the one who intercepted me should have been him.”
Han Yu added, “Li Yun hails from Dongqing Wanzhou, adopted by a farming family. He has no relation to the illustrious Xie clan.”
Those two families were worlds apart.
“Are you absolutely certain?” Xie Ze looked puzzled. “If that’s truly the case, why would he use the Xie spear method and look so familiar?”
Ever since the incident with his uncle Xie Qian, the Xie family had gone quiet, and their younger members rarely left Huan Ning County.
Li Yun possessed skills that couldn’t possibly have been developed without at least seventeen or eighteen years of dedicated training.
In other words, if a member of the Xie family had trained him, that would surely mean it was a direct descendant who had been away from the clan for an extended period.
Xie Ze ran through all his relatives in his mind, yet he couldn’t find anyone that fit the criteria.
“Sigh, if there were no wars, I might have gone to ask him who his master was.”
If someone outside had learned the family’s ancestral spear technique, as a member of the Xie clan, he had to look into it; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to explain it back at the clan.
Han Yu said, “Perhaps there will be an opportunity in the future.”
Xie Ze could only respond absently.
Meanwhile, Li Yun had his own bout of frustration.
Gulping down a large bowl of water, he managed to suppress the raging anger in his chest.
“What an absolute scoundrel!” Li Yun said angrily, “How could that person be my cousin?”
Unlike Xie Ze’s confusion, Li Yun knew their relationship.
Before he met Xie Ze, he had some positive feelings toward the Xie family, but now he felt like he had swallowed a fly.
Was that Xie Ze a bit too naive?
On the battlefield, swords and blades were no joke, and that guy dared to mess with him! Li Yun regretted not having poked a couple of holes in him.
“No, I actually think he proved your blood relation through his actions.” Jiang Pengji was losing her mind from battle fury and had no attention to spare for anything else, but she still had the audience in the live stream, and those dried fish had already elaborated on the earlier events.
It had to be said, if they weren’t family, they wouldn’t be in the same room; these two were quite the spectacle.
Whether it was Xie Ze’s remark, “You look really good; I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere,” or Li Yun’s quip, “With such a towering figure as our Lord, disguised as a woman? I didn’t get a good look at him yet,” both had their share of charming cluelessness; perhaps it was hereditary?
Just then, the military doctor entered with a medical kit.
“General, please remove your clothes for the injury check.”
Jiang Pengji had intended to leave, as those dried fish in the live stream were already drooling, eagerly waiting for Li Yun to strip off his armor.
If she stayed, she was sure those dried fish could lick a hole in the screen.
As the leader, she felt it was her duty to protect her subordinates’ dignity.
“Does my Lord need me to contact him?”
Li Yun didn’t grasp Jiang Pengji’s “compassion” and called out to her.
Jiang Pengji had no choice but to halt and turn to face Li Yun.
The guy casually tossed aside his empty water pouch, raised his hand to unfasten his heavy, blood-stained armor, revealing a shirt soaked in blood.
It looked alarming, but most of the blood was from others; Li Yun had only sustained minor flesh wounds without serious injury.
“Contacting Xie Ze? For what purpose?” Jiang Pengji was taken aback.
Li Yun replied, “To sway him over, just like Military Adviser Meng Heng did with Nie Xun—”
After speaking, he shot her a look filled with eager expectation.
What Meng Heng could do, he could surely pull off too!
Jiang Pengji: “…”
She had missed something—the fact that this kid learned scheming so adeptly on his own?
“Your situations are different; they cannot be compared. Besides, you and Xie Ze have no emotional ties. You may be cousins, but Xie Qian has been stripped from the Xie family; whether they recognize him is still in question. Moreover, Xie Ze is closely related to Xu Pei, making their bond stronger compared to yours. What could you possibly sway him with?” Jiang Pengji chuckled, “It’s not that I don’t trust you; it’s just that your straightforward nature is not suited for such intricate schemes. Don’t end up getting used instead.”
Li Yun frowned, “My Lord is not like Xu Pei; you won’t be easily fooled!”
Jiang Pengji couldn’t help but laugh.
Li Yun’s priorities were indeed puzzling.
As the dried fish audience drooled over Li Yun’s half-exposed muscles, they lamented his simplicity.
[Old Driver Alliance]: Silly kid, the broadcaster is mocking your simple-mindedness; why are you so stubborn?
Every time the broadcaster teased the little angel Li Yun, his mom fans and grandma fans would be a bundle of nerves.
How could Li Yun not know?
But he understood that his Lord had a loose nature; otherwise, she wouldn’t joke around with her subordinates.
He could tell whether the remarks held malicious mockery or kind-hearted humor.
Jiang Pengji smiled, “I’m certainly not Xu Pei.”
Just then, Jiang Nongqin called in with urgent matters.
“What’s the matter?” Jiang Pengji asked.
Jiang Nongqin’s expression grew serious, “We’re short on the stitching thread for the wounded soldiers; the supplies for treating wounds and clean water are also critically lacking.”
During battles, not many soldiers died on the spot; most succumbed later from injuries due to lack of treatment.
As such, logistical medical support became extraordinarily vital.
With proper medical care, the death rate would dramatically decrease.
On Jiang Pengji’s side, a relatively complete medical logistics unit had already been formed, leading to new lows in death rates.
In a sense, the importance of medical logistics was on par with military rations and supplies.
“Has anything been transported from Hujun?” Jiang Pengji frowned.
Jiang Nongqin replied, “Not yet, I worry… the transport line may have been disrupted again…”
A couple of days without food wouldn’t kill a person, but if they ran out of medical supplies, the wounded soldiers in the camp might not hold on.
